"My Lord!"
"I've missed you so much."
At the east gate of Fengqi City, leaning against the city wall and chewing a blade of grass, Liya spotted Chen Yu and immediately spat out the grass, opening his arms wide and laughing heartily as he rushed forward.
Chen Yu almost instinctively retreated, causing Liya to miss him.
"Be normal."
Chen Yu frowned slightly, a hint of disdain in Liya's eyes.
He hadn't felt this way about Liya in Tatu Royal City.
Seeing that he hadn't managed to embrace his beloved lord, Liya grinned, unconcerned. He scratched his head, a look of honest laughter on his face.
"It's just that I missed you."
"Spare me." Chen Yu, still frowning, showed no less disdain. He then turned his attention to Liya's retinues, "Has your master taken the wrong medicine lately?"
The retinues smiled and remained silent.
Their master was always inscrutable, and nothing he did was surprising.
"Let's go into the city."
Chen Yu gestured towards the city. Liya smiled and followed behind Chen Yu.
Strolling through the city,
Chen Yu's pace was not fast. He had personally come to the outskirts to pick up Liya, also intending to survey the city's conditions to plan Fengqi City's future development.
Liya, on the other hand, was looking around.
He gasped at the mess within the city.
"I never thought Hurricane City would become like this. I remember when I visited Hurricane City as a child, the city was quite prosperous. Back then, Hurricane City could be compared to Sky City."
"You've been to Hurricane City?" Chen Yu glanced sideways.
"How could I not have been?"
Liya grinned upon hearing this, clasping his hands behind his head and shaking it.
"I was a good-for-nothing from a young age."
"My favorite thing to do was to travel. Hurricane City was definitely on my travel itinerary. Moreover, the lord of Hurricane City back then was the Old Prince, and the Old Prince was an old friend of my father."
"The Old Prince treated me very well."
As he spoke, Liya looked at the dilapidated city around him, his eyes filled with emotion.
Perhaps it was the place that brought back his memories.
The light in his eyes softened considerably.
"It's truly lamentable that a once prosperous city has fallen to this state. Since the Old Prince passed away, Hurricane City has experienced noble unrest. If it were five years ago, the nobles of Hurricane City would not have dared to be so arrogant, and the Batu Free Federation would not have dared to declare war on the Tatu Kingdom." Liya murmured with a sigh.
Chen Yu frowned slightly at his words.
The Batu Federation declared war, and it was related to the Old Prince of Hurricane City's death?
"What do you mean?"
Chen Yu looked at Liya, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"According to you, if the Old Prince were alive, the Batu Free Federation wouldn't have dared to attack the Tatu Kingdom?"
"Even if they did fight, they would have to think twice."
Liya nodded noncommittally and said, "At the very least, the Batu Federation's invasion route would never have been through Hurricane City into the Tatu Kingdom."
"Oh?"
Chen Yu, not very familiar with Hurricane City's situation, became interested and looked at Liya with great curiosity.
"Why is that?"
"The Old Prince was a Half-Saint." Liya answered almost instantly, spreading his hands. "Throughout the entire cave, there are very few Saint-level existences, and Half-Saints are rare. The Batu Federation only has its chief whose strength is decent. How would they dare to provoke a Half-Saint?"
"A Half-Saint, would die?"
Chen Yu was stunned by this news. He first looked at the little demon, then at Liya, who was half a step behind him, with disbelief.
According to Chen Yu's understanding,
The higher one's cultivation level, the longer their lifespan would also be.
The lifespan of cave dwellers was inherently longer than that of humans outside.
As the little demon had mentioned, even cave dwellers in the Withered Wood realm, if they did not encounter accidents, could generally maintain normal life functions until around 150 years old.
It was just that due to the scarcity of resources in the cave and the lack of food.
The long-term labor and nutritional deficiencies of the common people were the reasons their lifespans appeared shorter.
The generally common cultivation realms were:
Black Iron, Bronze.
Their lifespan could reach around 200 years.
Silver, Gold realm, could extend their lifespan to 300 to 500 years.
Obsidian realm dwellers had a lifespan of nearly 800 years.
Those in the Prismatic realm could live for over a thousand years!
If one could truly step into the mysterious Saint realm after the Prismatic realm, even a Half-Saint could transcend their mortal form.
Barring accidents, they could almost achieve eternal life.
"Theoretically speaking, a Half-Saint would certainly not die." Liya still maintained his carefree demeanor, then suddenly leaned towards Chen Yu conspiratorially, "But the Old Prince's death was not from natural causes. Although that is what is spread outside, the truth of the Old Prince's demise is known within the royal family, and I, of course, know it too."
"How did he die?"
Chen Yu saw Liya cautiously glance around, then look at Chen Yu with a solemn expression for a long time.
"I'm telling this to you, my lord, please do not spread it."
"Speak."
"Actually, the Old Prince's death was..." Liya whispered into Chen Yu's ear.
Chen Yu's eyes widened instantly upon learning the truth.
"Are you serious?"
"How could this be false? My father received the news, and it would certainly be without any deviation." Liya spread his hands and shrugged. "When I first heard it, I was also very shocked. I had no idea such a thing had happened before."
Chen Yu, deeply shocked, remained silent for a long time.
"Unbelievable."
After this, Chen Yu and Liya did not exchange any more words. The truth Liya had told Chen Yu replayed in Chen Yu's mind, and his heart felt heavy.
He even forgot to inspect the city.
After more than half an hour, Chen Yu and Liya returned to the Lord's Mansion of Fengqi City.
Chen Yu raised his hand and poured himself a glass of water.
He drank it down in one go.
The water seemed to quell some of the shock in his heart. When he came to his senses, he saw Liya staring intently at him.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"I'm waiting for my lord to speak," Liya blinked matter-of-factly. Chen Yu looked at him for a moment, then, too lazy to argue, gestured for him to sit down before speaking, "How is the matter I entrusted to you progressing?"
"It's all prepared."
Saying this, Liya took out two exquisitely crafted rings from his pocket.
"300 tons of grain and various seeds."
"Your efficiency is commendable. With how short of food the cave is, you managed to procure these. You've worked hard." Chen Yu nodded slightly. Liya grinned, "A small matter. I just found a few nobles and pried some out of them. As for you, my lord, why are you buying so many seeds? And you asked me to find you here, you wouldn't be..."
Liya trailed off. Chen Yu smiled.
"As you suspect, this city now belongs to me, and it has been renamed Fengqi City. Hurricane City is now history."