same way he would pet a puppy. It seemed to enjoy it, closing its eyes softly.The few adult Snow Lions nearby let out low growls and turned away.When Hao Ren got up again, these young Snow Lions obedi...Chapter 322: Son-in-law, it’s not that I’m saying anything...

"Xie Yujia is your girlfriend; if you don’t go, let Xie Yujia attend on your behalf!" The guys who saw Xie Yujia volunteer to replace Hao Ren and celebrate Huang Jianfeng's birthday started making a racket.

Hao Ren didn't want to distance himself from his brotherhood but he had to visit Zhao Yanzi’s home tonight to inquire about the situation.

"If I can make it, I'll come back later," Hao Ren said.

Xie Yujia nodded at Hao Ren slightly, reassuring him to go ahead and handle his matters.

"Stop making such a fuss, class has started!"

Professor Zhang entered the classroom with his lecture notes, sporting a shaved head.

The classroom instantly fell silent as they transitioned into lesson mode.

After class ended, Huang Jianfeng and company went to have dinner at the Macro Plaza Square. Xie Yujia pulled along Marissa, joining them too. Since she had already mingled with this group of guys from last time’s soccer match, there was no awkwardness in her chattering along with them.

Meanwhile, Hao Ren went straight to Zhao Yanzi's home via bus station. Although inspectors could freely fly through the sky, it wasn't appropriate for him to do so unless on duty.

By the time he walked down from the bus and reached Zhao Yanzi’s doorstep, it was just 5pm.

Zhao Hongyu was cooking in the kitchen while Zhao Guang and Zhao Yanzi were yet to return. Going by usual patterns, if Zhao Yanzi went straight home after school, she would arrive around 5:20 pm. This gave Hao Ren exactly twenty minutes to help out with household chores.

"Auntie."

“Ren, you’re here.” With a slight smile and raised corners of her eyes, Zhao Hongyu greeted him warmly.

Hao Ren rolled up his sleeves and stepped beside Zhao Hongyu to assist with washing the vegetables.

The quick-cooking stir-fried veggies were usually left for last because they cooled down fast. By the time these dishes were ready, all other meat and fish would have been cooked too, coinciding exactly with Zhao Yanzi’s homecoming at 5:20 pm; the family could then eat their hot meal.

All of this was meticulously planned by Zhao Hongyu upon her early return to buy groceries and cook. Hao Ren thought if Zhao Yanzi were half as virtuous as her mother, his life would be exceedingly smooth sailing.

With two people working together in the kitchen, speed doubled. Not only was Zhao Hongyu a top-notch designer but also an excellent chef; her movements were fluid and almost as graceful as tea ceremony performances.

"Mom, I'm back!"

A clear voice rang out from the living room.

She rushed into the steamy kitchen and suddenly found that Hao Ren was already there. She couldn't help but pout her nose and give a little humph. On Sunday evening, after coming out from Zhao Hongyu's studio, she had invited Hao Ren to have dinner at her place, but he didn’t even show up; it was very inconsiderate of him.

"As soon as you come back, go wash your hands and rest for a while in the living room. When your dad comes back, we'll start eating," Zhao Hongyu pinched Zhao Yanzi’s pouted nose with her finger and said lovingly.

"Okay!" Wearing a light blue school uniform, Zhao Yanzi flew out like a little bird.

Hao Ren helped Zhao Hongyu to carry the dishes one by one. At this moment, the front door clicked open as Zhao Guang walked in with his suitcase and hung his coat on the rack at the entrance.

"Dad!" Zhao Yanzi happily called out but then she noticed her father's gloomy face and quickly shut up.

"Let’s get ready to eat," said Zhao Hongyu, wiping her hands gently.

Zhao Guang didn’t say a word as he walked straight to the dining table and sat down at the main seat in the center.

With no idea what was going on, Zhao Yanzi cautiously moved towards the table and sat next to Hao Ren.

From her previous experiences, when things turned serious at home, it was usually because she had caused trouble again. But thinking carefully, lately she had been quite obedient. Could it be… that her father knew about her sneaking into the Fifth Heavens!

Zhao Yanzi slightly turned her head and cautiously glanced at Hao Ren to seek information from him.

However, Hao Ren maintained an extremely calm expression, which made Zhao Yanzi a bit frustrated. Under the table, she gave him a hard kick.

We went to the Fifth Heavens together; if we’re going down, let’s go together! Why are you so calm!

Still, Zhao Yanzi knew that in normal circumstances, her father would be even stricter with her if she got into trouble along with others.

Cautiously picking up the chopsticks, Zhao Yanzi waited for Zhao Guang to speak.

"Let’s eat first; we can discuss anything after dinner," Zhao Hongyu intervened.

Zhao Guang picked up his chopsticks but then put them down again.

Since he didn’t start eating, no one else dared either.

Anxiously putting her chopsticks back on the table, Zhao Yanzi cast a pleading look at her mother, Zhao Hongyu.

Although Zhao Guang often kept his stern face at home, it was the first time he was this serious today.

Zhao Hongyu didn’t respond to Zhao Yanzi’s little eye signals but instead held her breath and calmly looked at Zhao Guang.

"Cough...

Dad, I'll speak! I shouldn't have gone to the Fifth Heaven Realm! I shouldn’t have let郝仁 take me there for fun! And also, I shouldn't have taken human cultivators' things!" Zhao Yanzi hurriedly spoke.

She pulled out a storage bag from her waist and took out the short sword that Hao Ren had given her, placing it on the table.

Generally speaking, if she confessed to her crimes, her father Zhao Guang would be lenient. So before Zhao Guang could speak, she immediately admitted everything without being prompted.

Hearing Zhao Yanzi's words, Zhao Guang was taken aback for a moment.

Seeing her father's expression, Zhao Yanzi also froze.

What Dad doesn't know I went to the Fifth Heaven Realm

Zhao Yanzi felt her heart sink to the ground.

"Your matter will be dealt with later," said Zhao Guang sternly.

Zhao Yanzi blinked, Ah, even secretly entering the Fifth Heaven Realm isn't a big deal

Her little brain was immediately confused.

Zhao Guang's gaze slowly turned towards Hao Ren.

Hearing Zhao Guang's stare, Hao Ren couldn't help but sit up straight.

"Today’s topic is about Hao Ren," said Zhao Guang word by word.

Although Hao Ren felt a chill in his heart, he was less panicked than Zhao Yanzi and awkwardly smiled.

"Grand Elder Sun has already told me about what happened at the martial arts academy today. Do you know the current situation" said Zhao Guang.

Zhao Yanzi stared blankly at her father then at Hao Ren, even more confused as to what the big deal was.

"Yes, I do understand it," said Hao Ren. "I came over today not only to help Zi with her lessons but also to hear your thoughts."

“There are two options,” Zhao Guang pushed his chopsticks forward, indicating he wasn't going to eat for a while. “The first is for our Eastern Sea Dragon Palace to call an early dragon clan assembly; the second is that we in the East have one Heaven Dragon level expert who can awe the Four Seas.”

"Dragon Clan Assembly Isn’t this held every two years" asked Zhao Yanzi.

However, when she saw the glance Zhao Hongyu threw over, she quickly clamped her mouth shut.

"If it's a dragon clan assembly, then it will definitely be a tough negotiation. The West Sea Dragon Palace will surely take this opportunity to make a big fuss and force us from the East Sea to compensate them for their losses or isolate our East Sea. If we can send out a Heaven-Dragon level expert whose strength far surpasses other dragon clan forces, they won't have anything to say," Zhao Guang continued.

Hao Ren nodded; he was very clear that the latter situation was almost impossible. Therefore, resolving this predicament could only be done through relatively peaceful meetings.

"If we were to hold a meeting, how would it likely go" Hao Ren asked.

"Even though the West Sea Dragon Palace is in dire straits, they still have one-sixth of乾坤level experts within the entire dragon clan's cultivators. Destroying the West Sea Dragon Palace might be beneficial from our perspective, but from a broader perspective of the entire dragon clan, we would undoubtedly be infringing on our fellow clansmen."

Zhao Guang’s tone was icy cold, clearly representing his stance.

Hao Ren could only nod again. Back then when he and Zhen Cunming went to trouble the West Sea Dragon Palace, he hadn't anticipated how formidable Zhen Cunming's treasure would be, nor had he thought things through thoroughly enough.

Destroying half of the West Sea Dragon Palace was satisfying indeed, but it left us with the label of infringing on our ally. This put the East Sea Dragon Palace in a public relations dilemma.

The West Sea Dragon Palace, having sustained irreparable losses and losing its face, would rather drag down the East Sea Dragon Palace as well, portraying themselves as the weaker party and the East Sea Dragon Palace as the aggressor.

With many dragon clan forces witnessing the fate of the West Sea Dragon Palace, they couldn't help but turn their respect for the East Sea Dragon Palace into suspicion. Normal interactions became coldly distant.

The East Sea Dragon Palace didn't gain any tangible benefits from the defeat of the West Sea Dragon Palace and was instead isolated by the entire dragon clan.

In contrast, the West Sea Dragon Palace, portraying itself as a victim, received sympathy from many dragon clan forces and became the core of an anti-East Sea alliance.

Put simply, the East Sea Dragon Palace fell into unprecedented diplomatic crisis because of this incident.

If abandoned by all dragon clan forces, the decline of the East Sea Dragon Palace would become a foreseeable trend. Meanwhile, the West Sea Dragon Palace, which suffered only financial and power losses, still had opportunities to rise again!

This was also why Zhao Guang was worried.

Never should they have destroyed the West Sea Dragon Palace! Never should they have smashed its signboard or washed away its palace!

"Uncle, tell me what we should do," Hao Ren thought for a moment and said.

Zhen Cunming was just a kid; Hao Ren didn't intend to blame him. The conch belonged to him, the dragon palace was destroyed by him, Zhen Cunming merely provided an opportunity.

"For the Dragon Clan Assembly, we will strive to salvage the situation. And as for the worst-case scenario that our elders have discussed," Zhao Guang stared at Hao Ren, "it is for the East Sea Dragon Palace to cut ties with you."ette squad.Unbeknownst to them, it had already approached 8 AM, and all the students who were due to arrive had done so; any later arrivals would likely be considered late.Hearing this command, Zhao Y...