389: Unexpected results

"Young Master Liu, do you know what your biggest trouble is right now?" Peach Blossom Demon Lord asked.

"Lady Peach Blossom, there's no need to keep me in suspense. You can speak your mind plainly."

Peach Blossom Demon Lord was slightly dissatisfied with Liu Xuan's lack of cooperation and gave him a reproachful look.

"Young Master Liu, as far as I know, ever since you joined the Red Pine Sect and showed your talent, everything you've done has been to sire children and strengthen your Family. Am I right?"

Liu Xuan's heart jolted. Peach Blossom Demon Lord had seen straight to the core. If she used this as a threat, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Everything in this world leaves a trace once done. Liu Xuan's emphasis on his Family couldn't be hidden; anyone with a discerning eye could see it at a glance.

"Young Master Liu wants to strengthen his Family while deliberately hiding his cultivation and talent. What you seek is stability."

Seeing Liu Xuan's silent admission, Peach Blossom Demon Lord continued, "Your biggest trouble now is instability. There are too many abnormal issues with both you and the entire Liu Family!"

"Your wives and concubines have broken through to become Foundation Establishment Cultivators one after another. The Spiritual Roots of your hundreds of offspring are absurdly high, and every single one of them is a Genius. You yourself are self-taught and omnipotent in alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and arrays. Xiao Changfeng and Wang Qiao, two Golden Core True Persons, help you unconditionally..."

"Taken individually, these things are nothing and all have good explanations. But put together, they will inevitably arouse suspicion."

"I can see it, and others can too. Heavenly Sword True Monarch, True Lord Haoran, and the other Nascent Soul True Lords of the Beast Taming Sect and Azure Profound Sect—if they discover you also have a Golden Core cultivation, how do you think they will treat you?"

How could Liu Xuan not know what Peach Blossom Demon Lord was saying? However, while he could hide his cultivation, it was impossible to hide the entire Family.

Over the years, the Liu Family's development had been smooth sailing, seemingly without any problems. In reality, it was gained by Liu Xuan clinging to powerful figures.

From Lin Tianyue at the beginning, to Ancestor Qingyun and Immortal Master Xiao Changfeng later on, and then to True Lord Haoran and Eldest Senior Sister An Yunmiao.

Although clinging to powerful figures allowed for rapid development, it constantly exposed the abnormalities of Liu Xuan and the entire Liu Family.

Furthermore, there were risks involved. If True Lord Haoran ever decided to move against him, his previous support would instantly turn into resistance.

Just as before he used the Puppet Gu to control Xiao Changfeng, Liu Xuan was now walking a tightrope with the Liu Family. One slight misstep, and they would fall off the cliff.

Knowing the danger, Liu Xuan still chose to show his talent and become a Disciple of True Lord Haoran. It wasn't that Liu Xuan liked taking risks, but that he found he had no choice.

As someone at the bottom of the cultivation world, talent alone was far from enough to break through and grow all the way. One had to fight for it!

Liu Xuan himself might not fight, but his children had to. Without his current status as a Disciple of True Lord Haoran, the Liu Family would have been suppressed long ago. How could they have the good life they enjoyed today?

Without Liu Xuan's protection, those children would have to fight and kill like ordinary Cultivators on the battlefield. Rather than that, it was better to take a gamble with them.

"Since Lady Peach Blossom mentions this, do you have a way to help me solve it?" Liu Xuan calmly took a sip from his wine cup, not panicking at all.

Liu Xuan had considered the issue of True Lord Haoran becoming suspicious. On one hand, True Lord Haoran had good character, and with the connection through An Yunxi, plus the fact that he and the entire Liu Family were useful to True Lord Haoran, exposing some peculiarities wasn't actually a big problem.

Besides, even if it came to the final step and True Lord Haoran was about to act against him immediately, he still had an Incarnation to resurrect with, and the Red Pine Sect's Star Space as an escape route.

"Of course!" Peach Blossom Demon Lord picked up the wine pot and refilled Liu Xuan's cup. "I have a proposal. Why don't you hear it first?"

"The biggest problem with you is that many things have no explainable source. But if I endorse you, everything becomes reasonable."

"You aren't the son of an ordinary farming Family from the Red Pine Sect, but a pawn secretly cultivated by me, the Peach Blossom Demon Lord. This way, all those suspicious points about you won't be a problem."

"With my protection, even An Haoran cannot touch you. As long as a Spirit Transformation Dao Lord does not appear, your Liu Family can develop in peace!"

Peach Blossom Demon Lord stared at Liu Xuan with burning eyes, a natural air of arrogance radiating from her.

Liu Xuan, however, felt a bit guilty. He had this very idea when he first used the Love Gu on Peach Blossom Demon Lord.

He had originally planned to wait until his cultivation reached the Late Golden Core Stage, narrowing the gap between their Realms and enhancing the Love Gu's effect, before bringing it up.

Now that Peach Blossom Demon Lord had taken the initiative herself, Liu Xuan was instead caught a bit off guard.

The effect of the Love Gu hadn't reached the point where Peach Blossom Demon Lord was completely in love with him. Getting too close to her now carried a significant risk.

Things having reached this point, what Liu Xuan needed to consider was not retreating, but first stabilizing Peach Blossom Demon Lord.

"Lady Peach Blossom couldn't possibly be helping me out of pure kindness! What do you need me to do?" Liu Xuan asked.

"Alas~" Peach Blossom Demon Lord sighed with a resentful expression. "Am I just a mercenary person in the Young Master's heart?"

"If I said I really just wanted to help you, would you believe me?"

Liu Xuan didn't respond, picking up his wine cup to sip slowly. Whether he believed her or not, he wouldn't say it.

"How boring!" Peach Blossom Demon Lord returned to her normal expression and said directly, "I want you to sign a Natal Spirit Beast contract with me."

"A Natal Spirit Beast contract?"

"You mean you want to become my natal spirit beast?!"

"Correct!" Peach Blossom Demon Lord nodded. "Once I become your natal spirit beast, we will be one, and there will be no need for other suspicions."

"Are you serious?!!"

Liu Xuan said seriously, "By becoming my natal spirit beast, your cultivation will be dragged down. Do you really believe what I said last time?"

"I don't!" Peach Blossom Demon Lord shook her head, then smiled. "But I'm betting that you didn't lie to me completely."

With a hint of bitterness in her eyes, she said slowly, "Before I met you, I planned to use the Opportunity of the war to bet on that sliver of a chance—perhaps the only one in this life—to reach Soul Transformation through the Myriad Spirits Grand Array. I would have died without regrets."

"The probability of success was extremely low, estimated at less than one-tenth. With the Lord of the Demon Court and the Dao Lords of the Beast Taming Sect potentially intervening, the chances of survival would drop several times over."

"Your appearance showed me another possibility. Just based on the pure Divine Beast Bloodline in your body, it's worth changing my way of betting!"

Peach Blossom Demon Lord looked slightly excited as she gazed sincerely at Liu Xuan. "For some reason, even though there are many flaws in what you say, my heart tells me that everything you say is true. You are the greatest Opportunity I have ever encountered in my life!"

She didn't realize she was under the influence of the Love Gu, instead attributing this feeling to a mysterious background that might exist behind Liu Xuan.

The reason there were flaws in Liu Xuan was that her level was not high enough to understand him. The reason she unconsciously trusted Liu Xuan was that there was the influence of a Mighty Being behind him that she could not comprehend.

The Divine Beast Essence Blood in Liu Xuan's body triggered Peach Blossom Demon Lord's speculation. This speculation, under the combined influence of her own situation and the Love Gu, produced an unexpected effect.