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墨書 Inktalez
The Nine Li Sect suddenly became bustling with activity.
The Demon Sect discovered that since the beginning of spring, many powerful presences had emerged in the Lüliang Mountain area, arriving in waves. Initially, they thought it was reinforcements sent by the Immortal Sect, but upon investigation, they found that this was not the case. These experts all had strange and unique appearances, and no matter how one looked at them, they seemed odd. A demon with the Insightful Eye recognized them at a glance; they were a large group of Beast Cultivators.
These were not ordinary Beast Cultivators, but rather Ancestor-level figures that ranked among the entire Beast Cultivation and even the Cultivation World. Most had participated in the great battle between immortals and demons six thousand years ago, with cultivation levels measured in tens of thousands of years. They had all been part of the Immortal Sect and were quite experienced in dealing with the Demon Sect.
Several small skirmishes to test the Demon Sect ended in complete disaster for them.
News quickly spread throughout the Demon Sect. Some began to feel restless, and plans to attack the Nine Li Sect came to a halt.
In contrast, everyone in the Nine Li Sect was jubilant, their spirits lifted.
This time, Chu Hongzi and Ling Yizi had made significant contributions. It was unclear how they managed to persuade so many Beast Cultivators to come to their aid! Moreover, these Ancestor-level Beast Cultivators were incredibly sincere; upon meeting Ling Xuzi and others, they either treated them as brothers or engaged in delightful conversations with an air of worldly charm.
In short, these Beast Cultivators did not resemble the aloof old monsters described in legends; each one was more personable than actual humans! Of course, there was one crucial point: never refer to them as "monsters" in front of them. This was an important reminder for everyone in the Nine Li Sect.
After the arrival of the Beast Cultivators, Li Hong was busier than ever, spinning like a top. Not only was there no time for cultivation, but his schedule for socializing and drinking stretched from dawn until dawn again.
He understood that all of this was thanks to Du Yizi and Jiang Xuanzi. These two held high esteem and remarkable reputations among the beast clan; when they called out, most Beast Cultivators joined the Nine Li Sect without hesitation. Even many who had been reclusive for years came out of hiding, feeling ashamed if they did not join as elders of the Nine Li Sect.
An important factor was that the Nine Li Sect treated these Beast Cultivators equally. After joining as honorary elders, they were immediately given identical Crimson Elder Robes and allowed to choose treasures from the Artifact Hall or select Elixirs from the Heavenly Pill Hall. Everything necessary was provided; whatever resources were available to sect elders were also available to Beast Cultivator Elders. The treatment was simply unparalleled.
This aspect greatly satisfied the Beast Cultivators. In past battles against demons, although they had allied with the Immortal Sect and fought valiantly, their treatment had always been unequal—essentially being used as cannon fodder. Despite exerting themselves fully, they received little in return. However, this time joining as honorary elders of the Nine Li Sect required only minor efforts on their part while yielding substantial benefits. They were extremely pleased.
It is well-known that human cultivators' treasures and Elixirs have always been what Beast Cultivators desired most.
Furthermore, Li Hong played a significant role during this period. He formed a brotherhood with Du Yizi as an elder; this was unprecedented between the Immortal Sect and Beast Cultivators. In truth, Li Hong himself did not realize what this meant because he had never looked down on Beast Cultivators. However, for them, hearing this moved many hearts; though they dared not criticize Li Hong for lowering himself before Du Yizi, it was an unspoken understanding among them. Moreover, forming a brotherhood with Du Yizi—an ancestral figure among Beast Cultivators—effectively elevated Li Hong's status among them. As a result, Beast Cultivators naturally treated higher-ranking individuals like Ling Xuzi and Spirit Stone with great respect; even if they wanted to act out, they would first consider their own standing.
The Nine Li Cave Heaven was a fascinating place for Beast Cultivators; many had never entered any of the Nine Major Sects of the Immortal Sect's cave heavens before. Once inside, many Beast Cultivators—especially those who were solitary cultivators—immediately wished to stay longer and subtly expressed their desire to establish residences within Nine Li Cave Heaven.
Ling Xuzi readily agreed and designated a large area specifically for Beast Cultivator residences while instructing disciples not to enter without permission. A mountain peak was also set aside and named Jiuya Peak in reference to Nine Li Six Meridians; an inn would be built atop it specifically for those Beast Cultivators who did not wish to settle permanently but would frequently visit.
The chief elder of Jiuya Peak became Du Yizi, who naturally assumed leadership among the Beast Cultivators. He increasingly valued his status and often restrained those still somewhat wild among the Beast Cultivator Elders.
Two months later, incoming Beast Cultivators became sparse; however, when Li Hong and Ling Xuzi counted them up, there were fifty-two settled Beast Cultivators along with three hundred thirty-six guest elders including Jiang Xuanzi and Shooting Jade—all capable cultivators—bringing their total close to four hundred. The cultivation levels of these four hundred Beast Cultivators were mostly above Nascent Soul Stage; even excluding those who frequently traveled through, nearly one hundred remained permanently.
This nearly encompassed the entire Beast Cultivation Realm and truly delighted Ling Xuzi and others beyond measure.
To know, the entire Nine Li Sect currently has only twenty-one elders at or above the Nascent Soul Stage, and now their numbers have increased fivefold. This means their strength has enhanced five times, not including the often visiting guest elders from Beast Cultivation. This level of power is enough to dominate the entire Immortal Sect, even surpassing the first major sect, Kunlun.
Ling Xuzi sighed, realizing that Li Hong was a blessing for the Nine Li Sect. He decided to take him as his "personal" disciple, which was essentially just a title, but it implied that he would be the successor to the next sect leader.
He shared his thoughts with Spirit Stone, who understood Li Hong's temperament well and shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to, but I know Old Six's temperament too well. He is straightforward and prefers to bend rather than break. Currently, he has a good rapport with the Beast Cultivation folks, and to put it bluntly, these Beast Cultivation individuals are quite direct and lack the scheming nature of us human cultivators. Li Hong gets along well with them, which is why he thrives and is well-liked. If it were human cultivators instead, he wouldn't handle it well. It's not that he refuses to engage in schemes; it's that he looks down on them. Over time, this will definitely lead to trouble. Speaking of this, my Old Eight is indeed a good seedling. Unfortunately, Old Six is right; he has great ambition and is related by blood to the Song Dynasty Ruler. These two points are indeed undesirable."
After hearing this, Ling Xuzi couldn't help but admire Spirit Stone's worldly wisdom and insight. He had no choice but to suppress his thoughts and went to find Li Hong.
The trouble arose in the Artifact Hall. The Heavenly Pill Hall was fine; the Beast Cultivation folks voluntarily provided many years' worth of treasured elixirs and herbs. Coupled with the large number of immortal herbs Li Hong brought from the Heavenly Grain Immortal Field, there was no shortage of alchemical materials. Recently, they had been refining many good products in the furnace, even successfully testing several varieties of Human-Level Spirit Pills from over ten Ancient Pill Formulas. Once this news spread, who wouldn't be excited?
However, in the Artifact Hall, treasures were scarce; each item was hard to come by. Even though the Beast Cultivation folks lowered their standards and only sought artifact-level treasures, with each person contributing one or two items, the quantity was still considerable. The materials warehouse was already empty. Yue Changzi was worried that if this continued, there would be no treasures left for selection in the Artifact Hall.
Li Hong laughed heartily after hearing this: "Watch me!"
He found Du Yizi and whispered something to him.
The next day, Du Yizi spread the word that the Artifact Hall was currently lacking refining materials and encouraged anyone with good items not to be stingy; leaving them unused was a waste. Instead, they should contribute them to the Artifact Hall for refining into treasures that could then be shared.
As soon as this was announced, Elder Peak became bustling with activity as numerous Beast Cultivation individuals gathered at the hall entrance. One brought forth a large pile of top-quality Heavenly Gold Essence Iron; another produced rare Eternal Water Jade Essence; someone else pulled out an unassuming black wooden stick that turned out to be Ten Thousand Year Water Agarwood—something Yue Changzi had long sought after but couldn't obtain. Some Beast Cultivation individuals even brought out their own fur and beast horns...
By that day, the materials warehouse of the Artifact Hall was filled to capacity. Moreover, these Beast Cultivation individuals had additional specific requests for their desired treasures that left Yue Changzi wide-eyed in astonishment; he realized that treasures could be refined in such ways. He promptly recalled his three disciples and had them immerse themselves in Fire Jade Cave every day for closed-door refining sessions.
As for Li Hong, he had already given up hope; this Little Monkey disciple was too busy—he couldn't even sit still before someone came looking for him—so it was better not to involve him in artifact refining.
Yun Jiuzi had been particularly quiet since joining Beast Cultivation and rarely appeared before others. Li Hong tried several times amidst his busy schedule to visit him but would get interrupted after just a couple of sentences as Yun Jiuzi cheerfully pushed him away. One day, he finally managed to carve out some time to see him but found Yun Jiuzi talking with Ling Xiangzi.
Upon seeing Ling Xiangzi, Li Hong felt uneasy and quickly tried to slip away. However, Ling Xiangzi had already spotted him and coldly raised her voice: "Come here! I have something to say."
Li Hong's heart sank as he steeled himself and slowly approached.
Ling Xiangzi coldly stated: "You've been making quite a stir lately. A tall tree attracts the wind; you must remember not to bring trouble upon our Nine Li Sect. However, from my perspective, you don't seek trouble but trouble will find you. Listen carefully! Don't think just because you're currently popular in Nine Li Sect that you can act recklessly; everyone’s eyes are sharp! Our Nine Li Sect does not prohibit marriage nor look down on Beast Cultivation; however, you cannot use this as an excuse to take a Beast Cultivation partner and make our Nine Li Sect a laughingstock among all Immortal Sects!"
Li Hong was taken aback by her words and thought about where such nonsense came from—when did he ever consider taking a Beast Cultivation partner? This was truly an outrageous accusation! Suddenly thinking of Green Lotus made him panic; did Ling Xiangzi hear some gossip? Realizing this made his expression quite unnatural.
Ling Xiangzi immediately noticed his reaction and felt more convinced of her suspicions; her face turned pale with anger as she abruptly stood up and said: "Seeing your face disgusts me; I’m going back to my Nine Purple Peak!" With that, she summoned White Reed and swiftly vanished in a flash of white light.
Li Hong looked at Yun Jiuzi and exclaimed: "Ling Xiangzi! Master Uncle! Where did this come from? I have no intention of marrying Green Lotus!"
Yun Jiuzi sighed, "Look, you know very well what the situation is! Being overly enthusiastic has led to others taking advantage of you. You might not know this, but Jiang Xuanzi has privately mentioned to his Beast Cultivation friends that he wants to recruit you as a son-in-law. Although he hasn't explicitly stated that you have something with his daughter, his words are quite ambiguous, clearly suggesting that there is something between you two. I believe you wouldn't be swayed by beauty, but the problem is that others don't know that. Now the title of Jingwei Clan's son-in-law has already fallen on you and cannot be shaken off. Everyone else knows about this except for you; they just haven't said anything in front of you. If Chu Xi hears about this when she comes out, she will surely be heartbroken. Sigh..."
He let out a long sigh.
Li Hong panicked and shouted, "You have to believe me, I really have nothing with Green Lotus!" He then recounted the entire story in detail.
Yun Jiuzi listened in silence, realizing that he really couldn't blame Li Hong. A person like him in such a situation would never refuse to save someone. As for seeing someone else's body, given Li Hong's personality, he would have seen it without any malicious intent. It was clear that Jiang Xuanzi had taken a liking to Li Hong.
He frowned and said, "This is indeed difficult."
Li Hong sincerely said, "I am willing to recognize Green Princess as my sworn sister. Do you think this could clear things up?"
Yun Jiuzi sighed inwardly and replied, "Don't rush into recognizing any sworn sister yet. Find an excuse to step back for a while and avoid too much contact with Jiang Xuanzi. Cool down his enthusiasm; over time, he will understand that you have no interest in this matter and will naturally stop bringing it up."
Li Hong was overjoyed, "That's a good plan!" He immediately went to discuss it with Spirit Stone.
Yun Jiuzi shook his head repeatedly; how could they just let it go? Jiang Xuanzi was willing to sacrifice his daughter's reputation. Thinking of Chu Xi made his frown deepen as he felt trouble brewing in his heart.
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