196: Someone from the Tianjian Sect

Compared to Zi Lan, Lin Xue'er, Lin Anqi, Zhang Kexin, Qin Yun, Yan Qingyao, Xia He, She Xiaorong... were all more suitable for attempting the Foundation Establishment Breakthrough.

However, none of them had reached Qi Refining Perfection. Even Xia He, who had the highest cultivation base, was only at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, so Liu Xuan could do nothing about it.

In any case, the System would provide the foundation establishment pill, and once he controlled the Sect, he could refine them himself, so giving one to Zi Lan first was no big deal.

Zi Lan had a high innate Spiritual Root and a cultivation base at Qi Refining Perfection. If he was lucky, the reward for the child's birth would be far greater than a single foundation establishment pill.

No matter how he calculated it, Liu Xuan was making a huge profit!

With his current cultivation base, he only needed to reveal a little bit, and even if Zi Lan reached Foundation Establishment, she would have no chance to rebel; she would never be able to escape his grasp.

As long as she remained obedient like she was now, everything would be fine. If she harbored ulterior motives after her Breakthrough, she would simply be the next Xu Bin!

Yan Qingyao was pregnant, Zhang Kexin was carrying twins, and now Zi Lan was also pregnant.

Their Spiritual Roots were grade four, grade three, and grade four respectively, and their cultivation bases were at least at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, with Zi Lan even being at Qi Refining Perfection.

With a total of four children, Liu Xuan did not believe that not even one would have a better Spiritual Root!

… That day.

Liu Xuan had a new Junior Sister serving by his side; she was not used to being teased and would blush at the slightest provocation.

Just as he was having fun, Yang Xiaoyun came to report that something major had happened on Xia He's side in the county town.

Liu Xuan straightened his clothes and took the letter from Yang Xiaoyun's hand to read. The handwriting was elegant yet carried a hint of sharpness; it was clearly written by Xia He herself.

"A Foundation Establishment Cultivator?! A Disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect?!"

According to the letter, the Sect had suddenly sent a Foundation Establishment Cultivator over, and the original County Magistrate, Fang Qingyuan, had been demoted to a subordinate.

Why would the Sect suddenly send a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to Yongning? Liu Xuan was puzzled!

What puzzled him even more was that this Foundation Establishment Cultivator was not the Foundation Establishment Ancestor Red Pine, but someone from the Heavenly Sword Sect, and their specific purpose was unknown.

"A storm is coming! I hope it does not affect the development of my Liu Family!"

Connecting this to the earlier anomalies with the Peach Blossom Sect, Liu Xuan estimated that there must be a connection between these two events.

However, he was not too worried; the situation had not yet reached the point of being out of his control.

With the Heavenly Sword Sect sending people over, True Person Xiao must be aware of the inside story!

His identity was special; he was the Possession target carefully cultivated by True Person Xiao. If there was truly danger in Yongning, True Person Xiao would have long since recalled him to the Sect!

True Person Xiao was now his strongest backing; if something really happened, he would help settle it.

At the end of the letter, Xia He said that the Foundation Establishment Cultivator who came from the Heavenly Sword Sect was named Peng Jiayu. He was at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage, yet he was only a little over one hundred years old, and it was said that he was a Core Disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Peng Jiayu had not come alone; he had brought a large group of subordinates, among whom a Qi Refining Perfection Cultivator named Zhu Zhiheng was his eldest Disciple.

Xia He had sent this letter to Liu Xuan not only to report the news but also for another reason.

That was that this Zhu Zhiheng wanted to meet Liu Xuan, the leader of the Yongning Merchant Alliance.

"He wants to see me as soon as he arrives?"

Liu Xuan pondered for a moment and decided to go and see him, taking the opportunity to witness the demeanor of a Heavenly Sword Sect Disciple.

An hour later, Liu Xuan, accompanied by Zi Lan, Zhang Kexin, Lu Ping, and one hundred Law Enforcement Team Disciples, flew toward the county town on the cloud-breaking flying boat.

"Hum~" White Crane Lake was not far from the county town, and in less than a quarter of an hour, the Flying Boat appeared above the Liu residence.

"Husband!" "Revered Master!" "Father!" …

The Liu residence had not been abandoned; Xia He lived there, Liu Xuan visited occasionally, and some Concubines would also come over to handle matters.

"Dao Yong, where is your mother?" Liu Xuan reached out and ruffled the hair of a delicate-looking boy.

The boy was named Liu Dao Yong, Xia He's first son, and the twenty-first in the line of succession.

He had delicate features and resembled his mother more; he had a shy and introverted personality and was often called to the county town by Xia He to live.

He was also nearly thirteen years old and was about to begin his path into martial arts cultivation.

"Mother is working at the county government office; she should be back soon!" Dao Yong said, looking toward the direction of the county government office.

The cloud-breaking flying boat was massive and extremely conspicuous, so Xia He soon knew that Liu Xuan had arrived and indeed returned to the Liu residence from the county government office.

"Husband!" Xia He came to Liu Xuan's side; her pretty Face lacked its usual radiance and carried a hint of sorrow.

A Foundation Establishment Ancestor had come to the county town, so she was no longer the one in charge; the power she had managed for so many years had easily collapsed.

She finally understood that power was extremely fragile without the support of strength.

"What is wrong? Have you been bullied?" Liu Xuan teased with a smile.

This girl, Xia He, was greedy for power and had been throwing her weight around in the county town all these years, even neglecting her cultivation. Otherwise, with Liu Xuan's support, she would probably have already broken through to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining by now!

"No!" "It is just that I feel like all my efforts over the years have been in vain, and I am just feeling a bit emotional!"

"Let us not talk about this!" Xia He pushed Lu Ping away from Liu Xuan's side, hugged his arm, and said: "Zhu Zhiheng has great ambition. I am worried that he has designs on the Merchant Alliance; Husband, you must be careful!"

Lu Ping was pushed aside, her brows furrowed slightly, but she recovered a moment later and walked with a smile to the other side to stand next to Zi Lan.

Since Liu Xuan had accepted Zi Lan, Lu Ping had immediately changed her approach and easily formed an alliance with this fellow Sect Senior Sister, and their relationship was quite good.

It was this Xia He; even though they had not met many times, she inexplicably did not get along with her, which made her very annoyed.

"Oh?" "Tell me about it?" Curiosity arose in Liu Xuan's heart.

"Zhu Zhiheng used the name of his Revered Master, Old Ancestor Peng, to quickly take over the affairs of the county government office and even interfered with the business of the shops in the city, showing absolutely no respect for me or you, Husband."

There was a trace of worry on Xia He's Face. Although Liu Xuan had a deep background, the other party was also dispatched by True Person Xiao and was a person from the Heavenly Sword Sect; if a conflict occurred, Liu Xuan might not necessarily come out on top.

"He'er, do not worry!" "As long as he does not go too far, it does not matter if we yield the county town to them; when the time comes, you can just return to White Crane Lake with me."

With True Person Xiao covering for him, Liu Xuan did not take Zhu Zhiheng seriously, and the same went for his Revered Master, Peng Jiayu.

As far as Liu Xuan knew, True Person Xiao could be considered a prominent figure in the Heavenly Sword Sect, so there would be no major issues even if he offended a mere Foundation Establishment Stage Disciple!

Liu Xuan did not go to see this Zhu Zhiheng; instead, he sent someone to deliver a visiting card to the Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Old Ancestor Peng.

Afterward, he accompanied Xia He to rest in the Liu residence. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so it was a good time to Cultivate their relationship and, incidentally, smooth over the relationships between several of his Concubines.

It was fine for the Concubines to be jealous of each other, but he would not allow the tragedy of them killing each other to occur; not even a hint of it was acceptable.

… The next day.

There was no news from Old Ancestor Peng at the county government office, but two strange Cultivators wearing moon-white magic robes came to invite Liu Xuan to the county government office for a discussion.

On the chest area of their magic robes, a pale cyan bamboo pavilion was embroidered, with a Flying Sword-style pattern next to it; they should also be people from the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Although their cultivation bases were only around the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining, they carried an inherent Aura, which was clearly different from ordinary Cultivators.