Let them offer their loyalty!

Certainly! Below is the translated text:

At this moment, as Qiu Tu was lost in thought, Ai Li softly coughed and said in a gentle voice, "The Princess said that once you obtain the card, you'll naturally know how to use it."

"There's no need for me to relay it."

Hearing this, Qiu Tu nodded slightly. Indeed, there was no need for Ai Li to explain. After all, the moment he held it, the method to use it would naturally surface in his mind.

This meant that the Princess must have applied some kind of special technique to this "Dream Invitation Letter."

A technique that would activate upon detecting Qiu Tu's presence or meeting certain conditions.

'It seems… Princess Xi is not weak at all.'

With this thought, Qiu Tu recalled the scene earlier today when he suppressed the entire envoy group.

Unless a Cataclysmic actively unleashed their power or was provoked to the extreme, outsiders would never truly know their strength.

Thus, when Qiu Tu abruptly released his aura to suppress the whole envoy group, it was a deliberate attempt to agitate the Cataclysmics among them—to see if any hidden experts were lurking within.

However, the result was less than ideal.

Aside from discovering that the envoy group was quite powerful—with a majority being Cataclysmics, many of whom were of the Second Order and Third Order—he only noted that Kou Yu's strength stood out as exceptional.

At that moment, when his aura swept across, Kou Yu's own aura distinctly rose, as if prepared to contend with him.

But perhaps, despite his arrogance, Kou Yu still retained some sense, knowing not to reveal all his cards. His aura flared briefly before quickly withdrawing.

Even so, Qiu Tu could roughly gauge that Kou Yu's strength likely reached the Fifth Order.

As for his exact realm, it remained unclear.

Yet Qiu Tu believed he was not an ordinary Fifth Order beginner.

This was evident from the way Kou Yu later interacted with Qiu Tu—while he was no longer as disdainful, there was still a trace of arrogance that lingered in his demeanor.

—Deep down, he clearly still thought himself superior to Qiu Tu.

But that was understandable.

From the intelligence regarding Kou Yu provided by Guan Xiao at the time, it was clear: Kou Yu was highly gifted, extraordinarily so.

In his early thirties, a Fifth-Order Cataclysmic, a high-ranking member of The Sixth Sanctuary, belonging to the Northwest's First Family, with a brother who was a power-hungry authority capable of usurping thrones...

Faced with someone like Qiu Tu, who had little in the way of a background—a mere State Speaker from the Eighth Sanctuary—how could Kou Yu not be conceited?

After all, the greatest divide between individuals often lies in their origins.

Some things are simply granted at birth. If you have it, you have it. If you don't, you don't.

Trying to catch up might require a hundred or even a thousand times the effort, and even then, you might not succeed.

Compared to Kou Yu, however, what surprised Qiu Tu more was Princess Xi.

Princess Xi's strength seemed to be anything but weak.

Although she, too, withdrew her aura quickly, it was evident she was at least at the Third or Fourth Rank.

Still, that woman was clearly playing the role of a cunning fox, hiding her true power even more swiftly than Kou Yu.

This made it hard for Qiu Tu to ascertain the extent of her abilities.

Now, upon reflection, she was likely at least Fourth Order.

Of course… conversely, her estimation of Qiu Tu's strength was likely just a rough guess, and even then, she probably underestimated him.

After all, if she had truly understood Qiu Tu's capabilities, she wouldn't have withdrawn so quickly after testing him in the carriage.

And tonight, for her to suddenly have Ai Li reach out to him, it was evident she had updated her information on him.

'Was Yanyan behind this?'

With that thought, Qiu Tu felt he had more or less pieced together Princess Xi's mental journey regarding him throughout the day.

He put away the card and said, "Yes, I know how to use it."

"Now, tell me—what exactly did you discuss with Princess Xi tonight?"

As he spoke, Qiu Tu lifted Ai Li and settled her onto his lap.

The two were now in an interlocked position. Qiu Tu placed his hand behind Ai Li, fiddling with her twin ponytails.

Ai Li couldn't help but feel that this posture was a bit strange, not to mention… it felt somewhat uncomfortable.

As a result, she instinctively squirmed slightly in an attempt to adjust herself.

However, whether it was just her imagination or not, after shifting, she no longer felt discomfort, but instead… there was an odd itchiness, along with a damp, warm sensation spreading through her.

Feeling this change, she bit her lip lightly, restraining the increasingly uncontrollable thoughts running wild in her mind, and began recounting everything that had happened with Princess Xi earlier that evening.

Qiu Tu listened silently, but his hand didn't stop toying with Ai Li's sleek legs. Her soft skin seemed to mold perfectly to his touch, and every so often, he would tug on her twin ponytails.

For some reason, Ai Li couldn't shake the feeling that her twin ponytail hairstyle might have been a mistake.

The good news was… it seemed to increase her attack power.

The bad news was… it seemed to buff Qiu Tu, the scoundrel, instead.

And so, under Qiu Tu's constant teasing, Ai Li ended up spilling every detail of the evening's events with Princess Xi.

As Qiu Tu expected, there were no surprises—it was indeed Yanyan's doing.

That little vixen had proven herself highly capable once again, managing to deliver him another "hunt" every now and then.

When the time was right, Qiu Tu thought it might not be a bad idea to reward her for her efforts.

For now, though… the one who deserved a reward was Ai Li.

With that thought, Qiu Tu suddenly lifted Ai Li up mid-sentence, his hands supporting her from underneath.

Startled by his abrupt move, Ai Li let out a soft gasp, her legs reflexively wrapping tightly around Qiu Tu's waist.

Qiu Tu gazed at her with a grin and said, "Last time, you were so forward. I already understood your feelings."

"So this time, let me take the initiative."

Ai Li froze briefly at his words and hurriedly protested, "W-wait—last time..."

Though Ai Li didn't know the truth about what happened last time, Qiu Tu did. And there was no way he was going to give Ai Li the chance to back out now.