Chapter 0724 Totoro

Chapter 0724: Dragon Cat

"Yuemei, what kind of Mystic Runes should I craft?" Qin Yun asked.

"Just make some casually! Not too good, but not too bad either. It’s best if they can showcase your Runes Master skills!" Xiao Yuemei said. "Low-tier Mystic Runes will do!"

Qin Yun thought for a moment and had a rough idea of what to craft.

He took out some pre-prepared talisman paper.

Those Mystic Rune papers were made from beast hides, high-quality materials crafted by Liu Jingmeng and Jian Linglong. Qin Yun had taken some when he last visited them.

Qin Yun’s specialty was crafting Blazing Fury Runes.

Owing to his Flamefury Rune Soul, he could carve fire-element runes with exceptional speed and precision. The fire-attribute runes he was currently crafting were all fire-element.

Using his Spirit Rhyme Mystic Pen, Qin Yun swiftly carved fire-element runes. However, the runes he engraved weren’t high-grade—he didn’t want to give those people anything too valuable.

The runes Qin Yun had obtained from the second bead of the Nine Sun Godly Pendant were few. Later, he collected more from other sources, such as Mo Mo cracking runes from mystic tools or those given by Mu Fengxiao and Chu Binyu.

Jian Linglong had also provided many runes before.

"Brother, what’s your current level as a Runes Master?" Xiao Yuemei widened her eyes and whispered.

"I’m not exactly sure myself, but I’m definitely not a Mystic Rune Master yet! Likely a notch above an intermediate Runes Master," Qin Yun chuckled.

"Brother, in your past life, you were also a Runes Master and even knew how to forge Celestial Artifacts! If you recover your past memories, you might improve significantly!" Xiao Yuemei stood behind Qin Yun, messing up his hair and murmuring.

"If I recover my past memories, Sister Bingxing will surely give me hell!" Qin Yun was more concerned about this. Of course, he still didn’t know how to regain those memories.

Xiao Yuemei nodded. "Brother, it’s best you don’t recover your memories right now! We regained ours early, but we always have to rein in our soul power—it’s troublesome!"

The reason Xiao Yuelan and Qi Meilian were in such a hurry was also to deal with this matter.

"Yuemei, how many runes should I craft?" Qin Yun asked.

"As many as you can make! I’d like to keep a few for myself too!" Xiao Yuemei said.

"Yuemei, what if they ask you to forge something on the spot?" Qin Yun asked again.

"I won’t casually forge anything. If it comes down to it, you can just cover for me!" Xiao Yuemei giggled.

Qin Yun suddenly had a bad premonition and frowned. "I’m a guy—wouldn’t that be weird to impersonate you?"

"If necessary, it won’t be a problem at all!" Xiao Yuemei smirked impishly.

Qin Yun pursed his lips and continued engraving runes.

Three shichen later (a shichen is two hours), someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"They’re here!" Xiao Yuemei whispered.

Qin Yun hurriedly cleared the table.

Xiao Yuemei had also received two or three dozen fire-attribute runes and went to open the door.

Qin Yun quietly marveled at Xiao Yuemei’s foresight—those young nobles had indeed brought their elders, all Martial Lords from the Profound Martial Realm.

In addition, Manager Li from the Rune Hall and a few veteran Runes Masters were also present.

Qin Yun immediately rose to his feet.

Xiao Yuemei pretended to be very polite, inviting those people to sit down, making the elders laugh heartily, as if they thought Xiao Yuemei would marry into their families.

"Xiao Yun, these guys are all trying to take advantage, thinking they can snatch an excellent young lady from a great family, so these minor clan elders have all come out in full force," Ling Yuner giggled. "Yuemei is precisely exploiting their greed for petty gains, stringing them along perfectly!"

Those elders looked at Qin Yun, their faces full of disdain.

"The Murong family? That’s a second-tier family! How dare they act so arrogantly in front of us!" the elder from the Ji family sneered.

"What if the Murong family is second-tier? At least I’m generous—unlike you, who can’t even produce a respectable gift!" Qin Yun mocked. "Your juniors even look down on my clothes, yet I can spend a billion purple crystal coins to buy Miss Long a dress. What about you?"

Xiao Yuemei, disguised as Long Xiangyue, appeared gentle, polite, and somewhat naive, as if afraid of causing trouble. She made a show of intervening to calm things down, but the elders wouldn’t back down.

"Young Murong, you claim you gave Miss Long a 50,000-year blood ginseng? Is that true? As far as I know, your Murong family couldn’t possibly have such a thing!" the elder from the Ye family questioned skeptically.

The other elders all turned to Xiao Yuemei. The Ye family elder asked, "Miss Long, could you take out the blood ginseng? We’ll help you verify its authenticity!"

Xiao Yuemei looked troubled. "Esteemed elders, I’ve already used the blood ginseng to feed my spirit beast."

As she spoke, she released a small cat—white in color but radiating faint golden draconic aura.

"This… this is a dragon cat!" the elder from the Xia family exclaimed, bolting upright from his chair in astonishment.

For a young girl to possess such a legendary draconic creature was truly astonishing. Now, all the elders present believed that this "Miss Long" was genuinely from the Long family of Tenglong Province—after all, only the Long family there had many dragon-blooded beasts.

"They say this kind of cat can transform into a powerful dragon!" Young Master Ye stared at the dragon-cat with barely concealed envy.

"I couldn’t say. My family gave it to me," Xiao Yuemei said softly, stroking the kitten’s head before placing it back into her spirit beast pouch.

Now, the elders couldn’t inspect the blood ginseng either.

Qin Yun mentally applauded Xiao Yuemei’s quick wit.

"Esteemed elders, the blood ginseng was real—my little cat confirmed it for me," Xiao Yuemei added. "Everyone, let’s put this matter to rest. Let’s maintain harmony, and please, no further gifts for me… How about this? I’ll give each of you a modest gift instead!"

Xiao Yuemei took out a stack of fire Mystic Runes and distributed one to each of them.

Steward Li was the most shocked. As the steward here, his Runes Mastery was considerable. Upon seeing the Mystic Runes, he gasped, "This craftsmanship is exquisite!"

The other Runes Masters also exclaimed in amazement.

"Even we couldn’t achieve this level of precision!" one Runes Master said in disbelief, staring at Xiao Yuemei.

"Miss Long, did you really craft these yourself?"

"This level of precision… only a Mystic Rune Master could achieve it!"

"Miss Long, I don’t mean to doubt you, but… this is simply too extraordinary. Please understand!"

Xiao Yuemei smiled faintly. "Esteemed elders, I did indeed make these. Your skepticism is understandable—it’s no problem."

Seeing the reactions of the Runes Masters, the elders from the various families realized these fire Mystic Runes were extraordinary. If it was truly confirmed that this young girl had crafted them, she would undoubtedly be a once-in-a-generation Runes Master talent.

"Miss Long, where are your elders? Are they here?" Steward Li quickly asked.

"They’ve ventured into the Shadowmoon Mountains. They said it was dangerous inside, so they had me wait for them at the Runes Hall first," Xiao Yuemei replied. "Esteemed elders, what’s the current situation in the Shadowmoon Mountains now? Is it truly very dangerous?"

When Xiao Yuemei asked this, the elders rushed to speak, talking over each other about the situation in the mountains.

Qin Yun listened quietly, growing uneasy. He hadn’t expected so many powerful figures to gather in the Youyue Mountains.

Indeed, the Youyue Mountains were teeming with dangers, including deadly creatures known as Youyue ghost beasts, which only appeared at night and could easily kill Xuanwu Realm Martial Lords.

Moreover, factions from other provinces had dispatched Martial Kings and Emperor Wu into the Youyue Mountains, conducting organized searches for Yang Shiyue.

Yang Shiyue had indeed appeared once before, wounded by a Martial King from the Long family. Many had witnessed the Martial King chasing her, drenched in blood.

Xiao Yuemei and Qin Yun both felt their hearts ached with rage upon hearing this.

Just as Qin Yun grew worried for Yang Shiyue, Xiao Yuemei sent him a voice transmission: "Xiao Yun, showtime—let’s provoke them a little!"

After a moment’s thought, Qin Yun said, "Miss Long, does your pet dragon-cat need any more medicinal herbs? I have some here—think of them as a present for the little one!"

It was obvious to everyone that this scion of the Murong family was bending over backwards to impress Long Xiangyue.

The major families bristled at this. If they did nothing, they would be overshadowed—how would they forge alliances then?

They quickly brought out extravagant offerings: precious high-grade Xuan artifact materials, mostly beast bones and ores.

"Since Miss Long is a Runes Master, these will be most useful to you!" the Ye family elder said with a smile.

"Since you’re all so generous, Xiangyue won’t refuse!" Xiao Yuemei accepted them one by one, making the elders beam.

Though the gifts were decent, Qin Yun felt they weren’t enough. After some thought, he took out a Dao artifact armor and said, "Miss Long, though you’re a talented Runes Master, you can’t forge Dao artifacts yet. Think of this armor as borrowed—return it once you can craft your own."

"As a woman, having good Dao artifact armor will keep you much safer!"

The elders from the major families were stunned.

Steward Li and the other Runes Masters strained for a better look at the armor, utterly astounded.

"Young Master Murong, this is too valuable—I can’t accept it!" Xiao Yuemei’s eyes were shimmering with desire, but she still refused.

"It’s just a loan!" Qin Yun smiled. "We’re good friends now, and it’s natural to care for friends. Take it!"

"Then... thank you, Young Master Murong!" Xiao Yuemei beamed. "Once I can forge Dao artifacts, I’ll make one for you too!"

The elders noticed a hint of admiration in Xiao Yuemei’s eyes. They hadn’t expected the insignificant Murong family to sire such a reckless spender.

As representatives of major families, they couldn’t be outdone—especially when courting such a promising young woman for their own descendants. They were prepared to spare no expense.