Chapter 0345: The Patriarch’s Bastard?

Four months later, Huang Long and Kennedy returned to the Luning Headquarters.
Upon returning, Kennedy arranged a residence for Huang Long. The Tiandi Residence was only for his temporary stay, so it couldn’t serve as a long-term home.
Since the Supreme God had asked Kennedy to provide special “care” for Huang Long, Kennedy rarely allowed him to make requests. As per Huang Long’s wishes, his new residence was located in the southeast corner of the Luning Headquarters.
Although this residence wasn’t as spacious as the Tiandi Residence, its layout was quite similar.
In the Luning family, ordinary direct descendants couldn’t own their own separate residences within the headquarters city—only those who reached at least the seventh level of the Underworld King could do so.
Huang Long, with only mid-tier godly power, already had such a residence, likely making him the only exception in the Luning family.
Huang Long could name his new residence himself, so he used the name of the Four Seas Dragon Palace from the Dragon Mountain Range, calling it the Four Seas Residence.
With this new residence, Huang Long finally had a place to settle in the Luning Headquarters.
He secretly transformed the Four Seas Residence further. Besides setting up spirit-concentrating arrays around his cultivation area, he also deployed some arrays to conceal his presence. He didn’t want his intense cultivation activities to draw attention from the entire Luning family.
After returning to the Luning Headquarters, Huang Long occasionally “visited” Donald. As one of the elders of the Luning family, Donald managed the city of Riga, located at the border between the Ning Residence and the Pus Residence. He also had his own separate residence in the headquarters. Unless there were urgent matters, Donald would stay in the headquarters, leaving the daily affairs of Riga to a direct descendant of the Ning Residence.
With Huang Long’s identity confirmed and his special status, Donald rarely hid anything from him. Gradually, Huang Long learned quite a bit about the higher-ups in the Luning family. He also discovered the name of the Water System Supreme God behind the Luning family—it was Susan!
However, to Huang Long’s surprise, he learned that Susan had two suitors.
One was the ancestor of the Elvis family—the Supreme God of Light, Elvis!
The other was none other than Bazel, the supreme god at the highest level of the Luning family!

Later, Huang Long learned that the Baazel lineage of the Lu Ning family’s Supreme Deity of Perfect Mastery shared the same background as Kennedy. Although their lineage concentration reached 96, they were not Susan’s direct descendants but rather her descendants after countless generations, whose lineage concentration reached 96 due to some kind of mutation.

Some major families among the Supreme Deities had reproduced for billions of years, with their descendants spread across various divine realms. Apart from belonging to the same family, there was no other connection between them, as many families practiced endogamy.

So, although it was surprising that Baazel admired Susan, the people of the Lu Ning family did not consider such behavior outrageous. Moreover, as a Supreme Deity of Perfect Mastery, even though his status was lower than that of the Prime Deities, no one thought he was overreaching.

“Elvis, Baazel!” Huang Long stood in the Four Seas Mansion, gazing up at the night sky.

Although Baazel was a Supreme Deity of Perfect Mastery, he posed little threat to Huang Long. But Elvis, that bird-like creature’s ancestor, was another matter.

There were nine Prime Deities per system, six major rules, and seven system laws—adding up to 127 Prime Deities in total. Huang Long knew that his strength was the strongest among the nine Great Light Prime Deities, placing him among the top ranks even among all the Prime Deities.

“Jade Emperor, Elvis!” Huang Long couldn’t help but compare the two, his eyes flashing with cold light.

“Elvis, it seems you really are everywhere!” Huang Long mocked himself inwardly.

From the Hengyuan Realm to the Dragon Mountains, and now to the Lu Ning headquarters, there was always the shadow of the Elvis family.

A month passed.

One day, after completing his practice of the “Water-Fire Primordial Dragon Technique,” Huang Long left the courtyard and entered the hall. As soon as he stepped out, a young man with purple hair came in. Seeing Huang Long, he smiled and said, “Brother Huang Hai, I’m sorry to disturb you. I hope you won’t blame me?”

Huang Long, a descendant of a mid-tier deity, had his own mansion in the Lu Ning headquarters, which naturally caught the attention of some of the direct descendants there. Although Kennedy and other high-ranking figures had ordered that Huang Long’s identity be kept secret so these descendants wouldn’t know, it didn’t stop them from speculating.

This young man with purple hair, Chester, had visited Huang Long out of curiosity and speculation a month ago. After several visits, they became good friends, and Chester started addressing Huang Long as a brother. Coincidentally, Chester turned out to be Angus’s elder brother!

Because of Angus’s relationship, Huang Long treated Chester politely. He instructed the mansion’s guards not to stop Chester if he came to visit, but not so for other descendants.

Chester is quite strong—Level 7 of the Underworld King. He’s considered excellent among the direct descendants of the Runing family.
“How could that be? Please, sit,” Huang Long said with a smile, then sat down with Chester.
Chester didn’t hesitate either and sat down beside Huang Long, then said with a smile, “Brother Huang Hai, the family trial will take place in a few days. I wonder if you’ll participate?”
“Family trial?” Huang Long was taken aback.
“That’s right. Every ten years, the family holds a one-year-long trial, and the top ten participants receive generous rewards,” Chester said with a smile.
Huang Long knew a bit about the Runing family’s trial from Arld’s memories. Not all direct descendants could participate; only those designated by the family elders could, with each elder able to nominate three candidates.
Of course, for the Runing family’s descendants, participating in such a trial was a great honor and a great desire. Chester mentioned that the top ten participants received generous rewards. Though Huang Long didn’t know exactly what those rewards were, he knew they were highly tempting for the family’s descendants.
Huang Long smiled and said, “I’ve heard of it. But I’m not sure if any elder will nominate me to participate.”
Chester was surprised for a moment before laughing. “Hehe, Brother Huang Hai, you’re joking. Given your special status, how could you not get the chance to participate in such a trial?” After saying that, Chester stared at Huang Long. Over the past month, Huang Hai had always seemed mysterious to him. Despite several conversations where he tried to probe further, he still couldn’t figure out Huang Long’s true standing in the Runing family.
A few days ago, when he asked his great-grandfather about Huang Hai, he was scolded and told never to investigate anything related to him again. This only increased his curiosity.
What exactly was Huang Hai’s status in the family? After all, his great-grandfather was the fifth elder. It seemed even he avoided discussing Huang Hai’s identity.
Hearing Chester’s indirect words, Huang Long shook his head and laughed, “What special status could I possibly have?”
Chester looked disappointed. Then, Huang Long continued jokingly, “Well, in a few days, I’ll talk to Elder Donald. I just don’t know if he’ll give me the chance to participate.”

Chester’s eyes lit up. Elder Donald! Could this Huang Hai have a deep connection with Elder Donald?! He had also heard that Huang Long had been frequently visiting Elder Donald’s residence lately. It seemed this rumor was true after all.
Although Donald wasn’t among the top ten elders of the family, his status among the elders was quite high due to his high seniority within the Runing family.
Chester smiled and said, “If Brother Huang Hai mentions it to Elder Donald, Elder Donald will surely recommend Brother Huang Hai.” Yet still, Chester was puzzled about the exact relationship between Huang Hai and Elder Donald. Even if they had a close relationship, it was unlikely that Huang Hai could own a separate residence in the Runing family’s headquarters. Moreover, this Sihai Residence was far more luxurious than those owned by the children of the Seventh Rank of the Kings of the Underworld.
After half an hour of conversation, Chester bid farewell to Huang Long, saying they would meet again during the trials.
Huang Long watched Chester leave, shaking his head with a smile. He had deliberately revealed his connection to Donald. He knew that some of the Runing family’s children were speculating about his identity lately. In that case, it was better to let Chester spread the news, so as to prevent those children from making wild guesses. Huang Long had even heard rumors that he might be Kennedy’s illegitimate son. Hearing such absurd rumors, he shook his head and smiled. He wondered what Kennedy would think if he heard it.
As for what Chester would spread about his relationship with Donald and his status within the family, and how those children would speculate, Huang Long didn’t bother to pay attention. Whether they believed it or not didn’t matter to him.
However, after Chester left, Huang Long didn’t go to Donald’s residence to discuss the trials with him.
Sure enough, not long after Chester left, rumors about the relationship between Huang Long and Donald spread among some of the Runing family’s direct descendants. Donald also heard these rumors and became intrigued.
“You mean, for this family trial, you want to nominate Huang Hai?” Inside his residence, Kennedy asked Donald.
“Yes, Patriarch,” Donald nodded. “I came to ask for your opinion.”
Kennedy pondered for a moment. “It’s fine. Those children outside are spreading rumors wildly. If you nominate him, it will confirm some of their suspicions and prevent further speculation.” He had also heard the rumors among the direct descendants outside.
Donald hesitated. “I’m just worried.”
Kennedy asked, “Worried about what?”

“Huang Hai is only at the mid-stage of the Divine realm. Participating in the family trial now, although I nominated him and the other disciples dare not say anything, if his rank in the trial comes out as last, he might not be able to bear the setback, which could be detrimental to his cultivation,” Donald expressed his concerns.
For the family trial, the elders usually nominate disciples with the strength of the Seventh Level of the King of Darkness. If Huang Long were to participate, it’s no wonder Donald thought he might end up last.