"Sect master? Well, you could say that. I'm the dragon head," Heart Moon Fox nodded.

"Let's not talk about that. I'm very curious—why do you use this short flute as the Azure Dragon Token?" Xiaoyao was somewhat puzzled. This was really incomprehensible. If the facts weren't right before his eyes, he wouldn't believe this item was the Azure Dragon Token.

"The Azure Dragon Token is just an object. A token plaque could be one, and this short flute can be one too. Do you think the Azure Dragon Token must be made to look like a token plaque?" Heart Moon Fox asked with a smile.

"No, as long as it's a token of trust that everyone recognizes, even a chicken feather could be a command arrow," Xiaoyao shook his head. This made sense and was understandable to him.

"Don't underestimate this short flute either. Although it looks ordinary, it has quite a history—you wouldn't imagine how much history it has," Heart Moon Fox said.

"From the jade quality, it should have several thousand years of history. I can't say precisely," Xiaoyao guessed. This jade flute's style was too ordinary. Although very exquisite, no particular craftsmanship could be discerned, and there were no extra markings on it. It was really difficult to guess.

"It's even longer than that," Heart Moon Fox said.

"Even longer? Could it be over ten thousand years old?" Xiaoyao looked at Heart Moon Fox. Wasn't that what she meant?

"Yes, that's right. Back when the Azure Dragon was just established..." Heart Moon Fox nodded, clarifying one point—that the Azure Dragon's existence already had over ten thousand years of history.

Xiaoyao wasn't particularly surprised by this. It wasn't strange—many sects had existed for over ten thousand years. Take the Haoran Sect, for example—it might be even older.

"You're named after constellations. Besides the Azure Dragon, are there also White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise?" Xiaoyao asked.

"Correct. We're collectively called the Four Symbols, and the Azure Dragon is just one of the Four Symbols," Heart Moon Fox nodded.

If the Azure Dragon was just one of the Four Symbols, wouldn't the Four Symbols be even more powerful?

"You're probably thinking the Four Symbols should be more powerful. This is actually just a designation—the Four Symbols is all of us together. There's no separate force," Heart Moon Fox said with a smile.

"I see, so you're like an alliance," Xiaoyao asked.

"You could say that, but we're unified," Heart Moon Fox corrected, specifically clarifying that they were unified.

"I remember now—previously in Flowing Stone Kingdom, a group appeared. Their names were strange, like 'White Seven.' Could they be from White Tiger?" Xiaoyao recalled that incident. At the time, he had felt something familiar about those people. Now he somewhat understood—that feeling was similar to what he sensed from Heart Moon Fox.

"Yes, White Seven is from White Tiger. White Tiger's people, except for Zui Fire Monkey, are called by their rankings. Azure Dragon is the same. Cuihua and the others can't yet be counted among them," Heart Moon Fox said.

"I see," Xiaoyao understood.

"By the way, how did you end up in Flowing Stone Kingdom?" Heart Moon Fox asked. She didn't know about Xiaoyao going to Flowing Stone Kingdom, nor that Xiaoyao was from the Luo family, much less what had happened to Xiaoyao in the Luo family.

She was the Azure Dragon Leader and wasn't responsible for organizing intelligence. Generally, when there was important intelligence, others would tell her, but for the Azure Dragon, the matter of the Luo family and Qi Bupo wasn't significant enough to require informing Heart Moon Fox.

"I'm considered part of the Luo family. In the future, if you have any benefits, please look after the Luo family more," Xiaoyao said with a smile. This was just a half-joking remark.

"I can do that—consider it a benefit for obtaining the Azure Dragon Token," Heart Moon Fox nodded.

Xiaoyao hadn't expected Heart Moon Fox to actually agree. This was quite good—he was too lazy to say anything more.

"I say, Lady Heart Moon Fox, did you come alone today? Where's Cuihua?" Xiaoyao asked.

"Cuihua has other matters to attend to. Do you miss her? That girl is quite good—how about I betroth her to you?" Heart Moon Fox said with a smile.

"No!"

Before Xiaoyao could say these two words, Hei Xue had already said them.

"What are you to him?" Heart Moon Fox looked at Hei Xue with no expression, making it unclear whether she was happy or unhappy about this question.

"I'm his wife," Hei Xue said.

"Oh, then how about this—Cuihua can be a concubine," Heart Moon Fox said very casually.

"..." Xiaoyao fell silent, and Hei Xue was also speechless. She hadn't expected Heart Moon Fox to say such a thing.

"Do you really dislike Cuihua? You seem determined to give her away," Xiaoyao asked.

"No, I like her very much, which is why I want to find her a good home. You're not bad," Heart Moon Fox shook her head and looked at Xiaoyao.

"That works," Xiaoyao nodded.

"Works my foot!" Hei Xue immediately pushed Xiaoyao away angrily, saying, "Any woman will do for you, is that it?"

"Well, Cuihua is really good—pretty, good figure, about my age. She completely meets the conditions for being a wife," Xiaoyao answered honestly.

"Do you only want these conditions? Don't you pursue love or anything?" Hei Xue said irritably. At this moment, she forgot that it was precisely because Xiaoyao was like this that he might marry her.

"I'd like to pursue it too, but what if there isn't any? Love is too ethereal—I don't think I can wait for it. Besides, when I encounter it later, I can marry her then. Men can have multiple wives and concubines," Xiaoyao said indifferently.

"Get lost!" Hei Xue was furious.

"Your objection is useless—he'll definitely have several wives and concubines in the future," Heart Moon Fox said. Perhaps because this phenomenon was too common, she found it natural.

"Exactly. If it weren't like this, why would I consider marrying you? Otherwise, even if you let go of your feelings, I wouldn't marry you if love was required," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"Hmph!" Hei Xue pouted, very displeased. But thinking about it, it seemed true—if love was required, what would her situation count as?

"Actually, when husband and wife are together, they don't necessarily need love—what's needed is just a promise, a promise for a lifetime. After living together, love doesn't account for much of the proportion. What matters more is having a heart that tolerates the other person. Couples with love don't necessarily grow old together, and those without love aren't necessarily unhappy..." Xiaoyao sighed. This was his reflection after observing some situations. The way of husband and wife lay in the heart, not just in love.

"I'll be tolerant of you and let you marry several more, but I must be the primary wife," Hei Xue nodded.

"... That's not what I meant... Forget it, let's not talk about this," Xiaoyao was somewhat speechless. He hadn't expected Hei Xue to think in that direction. He was too lazy to continue this topic—they weren't thinking along the same lines.

"Very good. Kid, I'm leaving now. I used your Yihong Courtyard earlier—just informing you," Heart Moon Fox stood up. Without giving Xiaoyao a chance to ask more questions, she left directly.

This was just informing you—whether you agreed or not didn't matter!

"Why is this Heart Moon Fox so strange? She just leaves when she wants to."

Watching Heart Moon Fox disappear into the night, Hei Xue found it very odd. This Heart Moon Fox came suddenly and left suddenly. She seemed to have a good relationship with Xiaoyao, but it also seemed very casual.

"That's just how she is—don't mind her," Xiaoyao said unconcernedly. He had met Heart Moon Fox several times, and it was always like this. He was already used to it.

Xiaoyao had originally wanted to ask some things, but it wasn't too important—just asking about the Azure Dragon's actual strength so he could cling to this powerful backing and ask Heart Moon Fox for help when he had problems in the future.

Heart Moon Fox probably wouldn't answer this question too directly, but she would tell Xiaoyao some comparisons. The Azure Dragon should be similar to the Carefree Sect, but the Azure Dragon was united and organized—their cohesion couldn't compare to the Carefree Sect.

Many people said that if the Carefree Sect united, even all ten great orthodox sects combined wouldn't be a match for the Carefree Sect. One could imagine how powerful the Azure Dragon was.

And this was just talking about the Azure Dragon—the other Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise weren't included. It could be said that the Four Symbols were the strongest force in the world, just that they had always kept a low profile, hiding in various places.

The Four Symbols had some forces operating openly. Everyone knew about these forces on the surface, but they didn't know these forces belonged to the Four Symbols.

However, Xiaoyao currently didn't know this situation. Whether he could know in the future would depend on his opportunities. But he didn't really care—not knowing didn't matter anyway, and it wouldn't affect his life.

"Come, let's continue drinking..."

Xiaoyao poured another cup of wine and began drinking with Hei Xue. At this time, Hei Xue also accompanied Xiaoyao in drinking, putting other matters aside—Heart Moon Fox's matters aside. After all, Heart Moon Fox belonged to forces outside the Demon Domain. Forces here wouldn't have much impact on the Demon Domain, so they weren't very useful to her.

For something not very useful, she wouldn't let it affect her alone time with Xiaoyao.

Time passed—at least in Hei Xue's feeling, it seemed like just a moment, but in fact, one or two hours had already passed.

At this time, Pan Jiao walked over. She only came after confirming that Heart Moon Fox had left, wanting to probe Xiaoyao's identity. Originally, she didn't want to come, but currently, only she had talked with Xiaoyao relatively much.

"Young Master Xiaoyao, we were quite offensive earlier. Please forgive us," Pan Jiao said as soon as she arrived. Now understanding that Xiaoyao's identity was different, "Passerby A" had become "Young Master."

"You haven't offended me anywhere—no need to apologize. I know your purpose in coming. Heart Moon Fox and I aren't that familiar, so you don't need to worry about anything," Xiaoyao said directly. If he didn't understand this change in attitude, he would have lived these many years in vain.

(End of Chapter)