Ever since Xie An's Longevity Destiny advanced to the second level, he had become particularly sensitive to the word "Spirit."
Whether it was sensing exotic beasts and spiritual objects, or obtaining spiritual energy to increase the fusion of his Destiny… everything was inseparable from this word "Spirit."
However, for such a long time, besides the Seven Treasure Exquisite Box and the Spirit Communication Treasure Mirror, Xie An hadn't sensed any other spiritual objects.
Now, he had sensed his first exotic beast.
Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox!
Xie An felt that the things sensed by his Destiny were all top-tier treasures. The bloodline grade of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was probably much higher than that of the Nine-Tailed Red Fox.
He originally thought that the little white fox was just a little fanboy of Master Huang, and that their relationship was perhaps deep, so they were fleeing in hardship together.
Now Xie An felt that things weren't that simple.
Following this line of thought, he constantly expanded his imagination. Finally, a more reliable deduction flashed through his mind: Was Master Huang fleeing to protect the white fox?
If that was the case, then Master Huang was hiding very deeply.
Gah gah.
The white fox resisted, baring its teeth, indicating through gestures that Xie An's strength was too great. Xie An loosened his grip slightly, and the white fox actually wanted to run. Xie An immediately pressed it down: "Don't make noise, or I'll flick your head!"
Faced with Xie An's fierce "reminder," the white fox was ultimately afraid, lying still and unmoving.
Xie An continued to check the panel information in his mind.
There was only one line of text, with no indication of its use or effect, just like when he sensed the Seven Treasure Exquisite Box and the Spirit Communication Treasure Mirror before.
This made Xie An feel very unhappy.
Treasures were placed in front of him, but he couldn't use them.
It was like going to a brothel in his previous life, where the madam arranged a row of girls to sit beside you, but stipulated that you couldn't touch them, only look.
This was very mentally taxing…
Fortunately, Xie An's self-adjustment ability was good. Although he didn't dare to claim to be a genius, he was by no means a person who would give up on himself. Since his Destiny hadn't clearly given a way to use it, Xie An began to ponder based on his own experience and thinking:
Then the question arises: His Destiny didn't sense spiritual energy in the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox… but its name contains the word Spirit.
"Is it possible that the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox is too weak and still in its developmental stage? When it develops well in the future… will spiritual energy be produced in its body?"
If spiritual energy is produced in the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox's body in the future, wouldn't he be able to increase the fusion of his Destiny?
After this idea appeared, Xie An was greatly shocked.
He held the white fox up with both hands, put it close to observe, and liked it more and more. Even when the white fox bared its teeth at him, he thought it was very cute.
'What a good thing. It would be great if Master Huang gave it to me.'
Master Huang…
Xie An's mind began to scheme again.
He was still too weak, otherwise he could just snatch it directly…
Obviously, it wouldn't work now, he could only take it slowly.
With this thought in mind, Xie An put down the white fox. In order to gain some favor with the white fox, he earnestly said to the white fox: "When I was kneading you earlier, it was actually out of kindness. I wanted you to restrain your temper a bit, so that you wouldn't suffer when you go out in the future."
Hiss.
The white fox lay on the long table, turning its head to one side, clearly looking disdainful.
Xie An: "…"
It seemed that this little white fox held a lot of resentment towards him.
Looking closely, Xie An found that this white fox was very similar to an Arctic fox, so he changed his approach, "Do you want to eat lemmings?"
Hearing this, the white fox immediately perked up, straightened its body, and looked at Xie An expectantly, nodding constantly.
Xie An was delighted and immediately called a Demon Suppression Guard, then gave the other party two hundred taels of silver, asking the Demon Suppression Guard to run errands to buy live lemmings.
It was good to have money, and soon, the Demon Suppression Guard came over carrying a cage of lemmings. The white fox was so happy that it arched its paws at Xie An for the first time, then ran over to eat.
Looking at the white fox eating with excitement, Xie An was very happy: This white fox was easy to raise.
It's a pity it's not his…
Putting aside his distracting thoughts, Xie An sat down cross-legged and began to practice his skills.
Recently, he had gained a lot of information, and there were many treasures. Even the Demon Court had appeared. Xie An knew that he needed to continue to strengthen his strength in order to have a chance to get a piece of the pie.
An afternoon passed quickly.
When it was time to leave the office, Xie An wasn't in a hurry to go home.
Instead, he asked the Demon Suppression Guard to buy a few more lemmings for the white fox to eat.
After eating twice, the white fox's attitude towards Xie An had indeed improved a lot, and it would occasionally act cute in front of Xie An.
It provided a lot of emotional value.
Xie An asked, "Do you miss Master Huang?"
The white fox pointed to the empty cage, then shook its head, indicating that it didn't miss Master Huang.
Xie An couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
Definitely a foodie.
Xie An sat in meditation until late at night before returning to the Xie Mansion.
He thought that Master Huang would be worried about the white fox because he came back late.
Xie An found that he was overthinking it.
Master Huang was still sitting in the east wing playing with the bronze mirror, so much so that Xie An stood outside the gate for a while before Master Huang noticed.
"Master Huang."
Master Huang then woke up as if from a dream, and reluctantly returned the bronze mirror, "Lord Commander is righteous and noble. I wonder if I can continue to observe the ancient mirror tomorrow?"
Xie An glanced at the little white fox lying on his shoulder, "What about the white fox?"
Master Huang said: "Naturally, Lord Commander will continue to take care of it."
Xie An held the mirror, pretending to be very reluctant.
Master Huang was very nervous when he saw Xie An's expression. He had been practicing with the treasure mirror for a day, and his injuries had improved a lot. In another three or four months, he would be able to recover his injuries and reach his peak state.
Naturally, he didn't want to delay the time, and restoring his strength as soon as possible was more stable than anything else.
"Lord Commander, if you have any requests, please make them. As long as I can agree, I will definitely not be ambiguous."
Xie An wanted to say that you might as well give me the white fox, but obviously it wasn't possible yet. So he pretended to be generous and said: "I treat Master Huang as a friend, how could I make requests to Master Huang again. Master Huang, please come again tomorrow."
Master Huang was overjoyed and surprisingly cupped his hand at Xie An, "Lord Commander is noble. Little White, let's go."
Master Huang instinctively walked forward. Usually Little White would definitely follow, but when he walked to the hanging flower door, he didn't find Little White following, so he couldn't help but look back at Little White, "Huh?"
Little White lay on Xie An's shoulder, shaking its head. The delicious taste of lemmings appeared in its mind.
Finally, Little White was forcibly dragged away by Master Huang amidst "woo-awoo" sounds, "Go back, domestic discipline!"
Xie An shook his head as he watched Little White's reluctant gaze.
Little White was such a foodie, pitiful.
Brushing aside his distracting thoughts, Xie An returned to the living room and carefully examined the treasure mirror.
"Looking at Master Huang's emphasis on this treasure mirror, it's not as simple as playing with it. He might be doing something with the treasure mirror. Otherwise, it wouldn't be…"
The next day, Xie An got up early and found Yu He, asking Yu He to trim the flowers and plants in the central courtyard during the day, taking the opportunity to secretly observe Master Huang's actions.
It would be most appropriate for Su Yuqing to do this.
Unfortunately, Xie An couldn't order her. He could only let Yu He do it.
He had just finished breakfast when he saw Master Huang waiting outside the door with the white fox in his arms.
Woo-awoo!
Little White was particularly enthusiastic when he saw Xie An, grinning excitedly, and finally jumped onto Xie An's shoulder. Xie An then welcomed Master Huang to the east wing of the central courtyard and gave him the mirror. Then he went out to the Demon Suppression Division.
After arriving at the Demon Suppression Division, Xie An had a few cups of tea with Chen Tie and slipped away to the southeast courtyard to cultivate in seclusion. During this time, he inevitably spent money to buy lemmings for the white fox.
Returning home from the office, after seeing Master Huang off, Xie An immediately found Yu He to inquire, "Did you discover what Master Huang was doing?"
Yu He said, "Master Huang seems to be using that mirror to heal his injuries."
So that's how it is!
Xie An suddenly understood. No wonder Master Huang was so enthusiastic about coming to the central courtyard, and even entrusted the white fox to his care.
Master Huang was still not honest…
But Xie An thought to himself, he was not honest either…
If he could convert Master Huang and take in the white fox at the same time, he would make a lot of money.
In the following days, life returned to calm again.
Every day, Master Huang came early in the morning, handed the white fox to Xie An to take care of, and he stayed in the central courtyard to heal his injuries with the treasure mirror.
The two sides gradually became familiar with each other, and their mutual vigilance also relaxed a lot. Master Huang would also eat the lunch sent by Chunlan at noon.
Three days later, Xie An brought vintage wine and had a drink with Master Huang. During the banquet, he did not hide his admiration for Master Huang, and his words were all about friends, long friends, and short friends. He also suggested that Master Huang simply live in the central courtyard and let him study the mirror at night.
Master Huang was very grateful, and was so happy that he was incoherent for a while, praising Xie An for his noble and generous character.
In this way, Master Huang moved into the Xie Mansion and healed his injuries with the treasure mirror day and night.
A small Xie Mansion suddenly housed two Martial Dao Grandmasters.
You must know that there were only two Martial Dao Grandmasters in the entire Nanzhou.
This Xie Mansion… was already comparable to the entire Nanzhou.
Xie An's life was also easy and comfortable, taking the white fox to work from nine to five, eating all over Qingwu County. The white fox became more and more fond of Xie An, and almost obeyed his orders. If it could speak, it would definitely call Xie An big brother.
That night, Su Yuqing called Xie An to the backyard and handed Xie An a letter.
It was the reply from the Azure Dragon Martial Saint.
The above described a major speculation: the Bianhua flower might be the totem of the Demon Court, representing the Demon Court's civilization. However, it was only speculation, with no definite evidence.
In addition, the letter also mentioned that the information on the paper manuscript and the fragmented information obtained by the Martial Saint were not significantly different.
Xie An breathed a sigh of relief.
The existence of the Demon Court could be confirmed.
But at the end, the Martial Saint also made a suggestion: if the specific location of the Demon Court could be found out and verified, it would be a great achievement, worthy of being granted the title of Duke.
After reading the letter, Xie An felt a little scalp tingling.
The Martial Saint spoke in a truly豪横 manner, immediately offering the title of Duke.
It had a bit of the tone of speaking on behalf of His Majesty.
The most up-to-date novels are first published on Liu 9 Shu Ba!
But thinking about it, it also made sense.
During the Jingtai Dynasty, there was only one Azure Dragon Martial Saint, and Jingtai was able to establish the country because of this old man's martial prowess. His status was so high that even the Jingtai Emperor had to respect him. It was no problem for him to grant the title of Duke.
Xie An returned the letter, thanked him, and then returned to his room, leaned on the Drunken Weng chair, and rubbed his temples.
"Duke... that would be on par with Wei Haoran's father. It's good, but finding the Demon Court won't be easy..."
"I still have to rely on Master Huang."
Now that the reply from the capital had arrived, Xie An should have returned the treasure mirror. However, Xie An did not intend to return it so quickly.
At least he had to become more familiar with Master Huang, and also study the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox.
Even if Master Huang eventually left with the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, he would at least have to figure out how to use spiritual objects and exotic beasts. That would be a great gain.
Days passed by.
Xie An did not slack off, and continued to diligently cultivate.
The Bright Jade Skill, Tiger Form Qi Gong, and Water Drop Inner Strength Method were all slowly improving.
One evening, a sharp tiger roar came from the southeast courtyard of the Demon Suppression Division.
The white fox, who was dozing off on the long table, was startled and jumped up. Looking back, he saw Xie An sitting cross-legged on a futon, surrounded by a vortex of hot air, with faint tiger roars coming from it.
The white fox was a little confused.
The sound of a tiger?
Upon closer inspection, after the hot air slowly dissipated, Xie An, who was sitting in it, had white light flashing on his right hand. His fingernails and knuckles were flashing with white light, as sharp as tiger claws.
Huff!
Xie An breathed a sigh of relief and slowly opened his eyes, looking very contentedly at the white light flashing on his right hand.
"Sure enough, after the Tiger Form Qi Gong reached 10/100, it underwent some transformation. These claws are much sharper than those of a tiger. If I were to push out a needle-like force with it, a sneak attack would definitely kill a ninth-rank grandmaster!"
Xie An had never seen the power of a ninth-rank grandmaster, but he just felt that he could do it.
Provided it was a sneak attack.
If it was a direct confrontation, then definitely not.
In addition to being happy, Xie An opened the data panel.
The progress of the Bright Jade Skill had also reached Winter Solstice 36/200.
Although the progress was not great, it was visible to the naked eye.
"According to Su Yuqing, there are still at most six years until the end of the centennial agreement. I have to find a way to break through to Grandmaster within these six years!"
"Now the Water Drop Inner Strength Method has also made considerable progress. Although I can't yet turn my inner strength into droplets of water, my control over inner strength is obviously becoming more and more refined. When I have cultivated my inner strength into water droplets, I can go and receive the Eighth Level Inner Strength Pill."
With this in mind, Xie An began to circulate the Water Drop Inner Strength Method.
Just then, a rush of footsteps came from outside the door.
Xie An had no choice but to stop his cultivation and get up to open the door. He was shocked to find Liu Chun and Chen He standing outside the door.
"Brother Chen He, please come in and talk."
Chen He did not enter the door, but cupped his hands and bowed, "Li Hongming... is dying. If Chief Xie is not busy, Old Li wants to see you one last time."
Xie An's heart sank, and the kind and amiable old man appeared in his mind.
"Okay."
Xie An agreed immediately, "Headman Liu, please prepare two horses."
By the time they arrived at the Li family in Wutiao Town, it was already late at night.
As soon as they entered the door, they smelled a pungent smell of medicine. The small room was filled with candles. Li Han was kneeling on the ground sobbing, while Chen Lei was sitting at the head of the bed, holding Li Hongming's hand tightly, comforting him.
"Chief Xie is here."
Chen He hurriedly entered the room to report.
Chen Lei quickly got up and made way, while cupping his hands at Xie An, "Chief Xie."
Xie An nodded in greeting, and finally quickly walked to the bed and sat down, "Old Li, I'm here."
Li Hongming was already on his last breath, his eyes cloudy. Although he was looking at Xie An, his expression was dull, and he couldn't recognize Xie An for a while.
Xie An knew that when a person was about to die, their memory would be interrupted, and their five senses would also fail. Even if they opened their eyes, they couldn't really see things clearly, let alone recall relevant memories.
Xie An leaned down, got much closer, and said in a louder voice, "Old Li, it's me, Xie An. I'm Xie An."
Li Hongming's cloudy eyes became brighter, as if he finally remembered, "It's Xie An, you're here, it's good that you're here."
He trembled and stretched out his hand, grabbing in the air, as if struggling to hold something.
Xie An stretched out his hand and held Li Hongming's hand tightly.
Li Hongming held Xie An's hand, a rare look of relief on his face. He stretched out his other hand, grabbing in the air, "Chen Lei?"
"Old Li, I'm here."
Chen Lei hurriedly came over, held Li Hongming's hand with both hands, and said with a slight sob, "I'm here, Brother Li, I'm Chen Lei."
Li Hongming finally became relieved, and then laboriously moved his hands, putting Xie An's and Chen Lei's hands together, and said weakly, "I am incompetent and failed to make Wu Shrine flourish. But Wu Shrine is the ancestral shrine of the 30,000 villagers of Wutiao Town. It can't end with me. Please, take good care of Wu Shrine. Unite the villagers of our Wutiao Town... Unite the people's hearts, everyone is a poor person, when people get old, they just want to return to their roots. Life is miserable, but after death, there must be a decent place to return to the soul."
After saying this, Li Hongming seemed to have used his last breath, his body trembled, and then there was no more movement. His hands slowly drooped down.
"Dad!!"
Li Han cried out on the ground.
Outside the door, there were also hysterical cries from the Li family's women and descendants.
Chen Lei was already in tears, "Brother Li, you have suffered in this life!"
Xie An was stunned for a long time before putting Li Hongming's hand back into the quilt, then got up and bowed deeply to Li Hongming, "Old Li, you have worked hard for Wutiao Town all your life, may you rest in peace. Chen Lei and I will continue to run Wu Shrine."
...
Xie An asked for seven days of leave.
He lived for several days in the courtyard that Li Hongming had previously sent.
When the funeral was held, Xie An personally carried the coffin.
Compared to the death of Madam Li, the scene of Li Hongming's funeral was much larger, with truly tens of thousands of people attending and seeing him off for ten miles.
Three days later, on New Year's Eve.
Wutiao Town held a year festival at Wu Shrine.
In previous years, the main priest was Li Hongming, but this year, it was hosted by Xie An.
Chen Lei, as the deputy, was very familiar with the process of the year festival. He set up memorial tablets early, prepared offerings of livestock, and then led 4,000 villagers to the large square in front of the ancestral hall.
"Press the paper, hang the ancestors!"
With Chen Lei's loud shout, villagers put yellow and white paper, each paper with the life and years of the ancestors of their respective surnames, next to the spiritual tablets inside the ancestral hall.
After the subsequent processes of drawing circles and burning paper, offering sacrifices, etc., Chen Lei shouted, "Please Xie An, come forward to offer wine and worship the ancestors."
Xie An had long been clear about the process, and immediately walked to the front of the crowd, took a glass of wine from Chen Lei, and bowed to the heavens and the earth at the entrance of the ancestral hall.
The four thousand villagers outside the ancestral hall followed suit.
Xie An sprinkled the wine on the ground in front of the four thousand villagers.
"Worship the heavens and the earth, bless our Wutiao Town with peace and prosperity, good weather, and abundant harvests."
The four thousand villagers followed suit.
Chen Lei sent the second cup.
Xie An held the cup with both hands and bowed deeply to the ancestral tablets in the ancestral hall. After the four thousand villagers followed suit, Xie An opened his mouth:
"Respect the ancestors, bless the thousands of people in Wutiao with a lifetime of peace, without illness or disaster!"
Sprinkle wine on the ground.
Chen Lei sent the third cup.
Xie An took it, turned around, and bowed to the four thousand villagers present, "Respect the good sons of Wutiao, the sons diligently cultivate, the wives and daughters are virtuous at home, help the villagers, extend the offspring, and protect Wu Shrine for hundreds of generations."
Sprinkle wine again.
The ceremony is over.
Next, the villagers lined up and entered Wu Shrine to burn incense.
However, at this moment, the white Dao Talisman in Xie An's mind moved, with bursts of white light.
[Detected 4000 strands of faith energy. Absorb?]
Xie An was shocked, looking at the simple villagers who were queuing up to enter the ancestral hall and greeting him, but his face was not happy, but full of relief.
In the dark, Xie An felt that he had established an unspeakable connection with Wu Shrine and the villagers here.
As if, he had roots in this world for the first time.
