456: Chapter 456 Heaven and Earth

On the battlefield front line, a fourth-rank Celestial Phenomenon Flying Boat suppressed a node of a grand formation, with wisps of thunder wandering above it.

"Second Senior Brother, didn't your people say Liu Xuan's strength wasn't high? I was almost beaten to death there!!"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Song Shulian's tone was agitated; he coughed for a while after speaking, his face pale.

Two days ago, he had been knocked unconscious by a single palm strike from Liu Xuan in Great Sun City, and his fellow Disciples had hurriedly taken him away.

Originally, everyone was going to follow Liu Xuan's instructions to take him to see True Lord Haoran, but he woke up halfway and instead came here to his Second Senior Brother, Immortal Master Yunhe.

The reason Song Shulian held hostility toward Liu Xuan to the point of provoking him at his doorstep was all because of the deception by the subordinates sent by his Second Senior Brother to welcome him.

After taking a beating, he instantly cleared his head, realizing he had been used as a pawn!

If Liu Xuan really did all sorts of evil and had low strength, Second Senior Brother would have dealt with him long ago; why wait until now?

"He actually dared to strike!" Yunhe's aged face looked extremely grim. "Junior Brother, rest assured, as your Elder brother, I will certainly seek justice for you from our Revered Master!"

"No, no, no!" Song Shulian hurriedly waved his hands. "I was in the wrong first in this matter; there's no justice to seek!"

He paused, picked up his spirit tea, took a slow sip, and said meaningfully, "Junior Brother Liu Xuan showed mercy. I should go to Revered Master to explain the reasons and ask for punishment instead."

He slightly emphasized the words "ask for punishment," and after speaking, continued to sip his tea in small gulps.

Song Shulian had inquired about Liu Xuan's situation again while coming to Yunhe's place.

He didn't know until he asked, but once he did, he was shocked. This man's network of connections reached the heavens; he was a confidant of the Peach Blossom Demon Lord, had a partnership with Third Elder Jiang Nishang, and there were even rumors that the Fourth-Tier Artifact Refining Master Zhou Qingwei from Tiangong Immortal City was refining artifacts at the Liu Family Artifact Refining Workshop!

How could he provoke such a person? Going to complain to Revered Master True Lord Haoran now wouldn't be making a complaint; it would be turning himself in!

However, he couldn't take this beating for nothing. Since he couldn't afford to mess with Liu Xuan, he would look for the culprit.

Song Shulian's meaning was simple: in the end, this matter was because you, Yunhe, deceived me. If you don't give me some benefits, I'll go tell Revered Master the truth.

"Junior Brother, you are heavily injured and should focus on recovery; it's not suitable for you to run around for now," Yunhe squeezed a smile onto his old face. "Rest here in peace to recover. I will have someone bring you healing Medicinal Pills later."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Song Shulian stood up and bowed, knowing when to stop. He couldn't afford to provoke Yunhe either, so he didn't dare use this to blackmail him; he just wanted some compensation.

"Junior Brother, it's not that I intentionally tried to harm you, but that Liu Xuan is too much!"

Yunhe sighed, "The profitable businesses of our South Courtyard have all been snatched away by his Liu Family, and Revered Master is extremely indulgent toward him."

"We are fighting on the front lines while he enjoys himself in the back. After the war, he will obtain the most benefits. If things continue like this, where will there be a place for us in the South Courtyard?"

"You will understand in the future; we are the true allies!"

Leaving these words behind, Yunhe slowly paced away. Song Shulian drained his spirit tea in one gulp, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Yunhe's words.

Yunhe was anxious for Nascent Soul Formation, so his actions were inevitably rushed. Song Shulian was still young and had many options.

...

Great Sun City.

Liu Xuan didn't take the matter of Song Shulian from a few days ago to heart. If it were someone else, he would have needed to check their background, but Song Shulian was a Disciple of True Lord Haoran, his Fifth Senior Brother, so everything was even simpler.

Not to mention that he was in the right; even if he weren't, he could do as he pleased. Isn't it obvious who is closer, a son-in-law or a Disciple?

Liu Xuan was more concerned about the situation of the Beast Taming Sect's Main Mountain army. According to his understanding, Daoist Lord Lihuo had only recently been promoted to Soul Transformation, and his Foundation was still shallow. The two main forces of this Pioneering War were the Heaven and Earth Palace and the Gentlemans Academy.

The Heaven and Earth Palace was the ruling core of the Beast Taming Sect, divided into two parts: the Heaven Palace and the Earth Palace. The Heaven Palace was the Sect Leader's dao arena, while the Earth Palace was where the Spirit Transformation Dao Lords discussed major affairs—the place where major decisions were truly made.

For Daoist Lord Lihuo to be promoted smoothly, he must have had the support of the Heaven and Earth Palace, and the Pioneering War also had the approval of the high-level big shots.

The Gentlemans Academy was a subordinate of the Earth Palace, but it was the largest main force in this Pioneering War, including the previous vanguard, the South Courtyard, which was also ordered by Lady Yaoguang.

Ultimately, the Heaven and Earth Palace was just a high-level deliberative body and the Main Mountain's General Affairs Hall.

Unless it involved major Sect matters or the Sect Leader personally gave an order, it was generally useless in daily life; the real power was held separately by the various Dao Monarchs.

To put it simply, the Heaven and Earth Palace's support for Daoist Lord Lihuo was more of a nominal support.

The Heaven and Earth Palace dispatched troops not because of Daoist Lord Lihuo's orders, but purely because after a long period of stability, the number of low-level Cultivators had become unbalanced, and they were using this as an opportunity to deal with it.

Even so, these Cultivator armies weren't given for free. Daoist Lord Lihuo had to pay a price in exchange. If he didn't have enough Spirit Stones, it was fine; he could mortgage the Endless Demon Court's territory in advance and pay it back slowly after the war was won.

The Beast Taming Sect's Heaven and Earth Palace's support for Daoist Lord Lihuo's war in the Southern Border was limited; on the contrary, the Gentlemans Academy's investment was enormous.

This was all Liu Xuan could find out, and some of it was just his speculation; he knew nothing about the specific cooperation between the Dao Monarchs.

Regardless, the Main Mountain's support force was already on the way, and the Star Academy's crisis was about to be resolved.

"The Gentlemans Academy is good!"

Compared to the other Dao Monarch factions in the Beast Taming Sect, the Gentlemans Academy was clearly more rule-abiding, and what Liu Xuan liked most was doing things according to the rules.

Moreover, True Lord Haoran's lineage belonged to the Gentlemans Academy, which would be beneficial for him to cling to even bigger supporters in the future.

"Lady Yaoguang! If I could cling to her..."

Liu Xuan didn't know much about this Demon Saint Lady who liked Confucian etiquette and established the Gentlemans Academy, only that her true form was a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox. Her status in the Beast Taming Sect's Heaven and Earth Palace was extremely high, truly above all and below only one, far beyond what a newly promoted Dao Monarch like Daoist Lord Lihuo could compare to.

"Husband, what are you thinking about? You're so engrossed."

Yun Yao had completely digested the insights brought by her Bloodline promotion. As soon as she exited seclusion, she saw Liu Xuan leaning back in the courtyard in deep thought, with a few children playing nearby.

Liu Xuan turned his head to look. Yun Yao's face was like translucent jade, her lips red and teeth white, her eyebrows like crescent moons, and her eyes containing clear frost. She had a tall figure, a slender waist, and long legs—she looked exactly like a Crane Maiden.

As the saying goes, "training one's body to be like a crane's," but Yun Yao didn't need to train; she truly was a crane!

"Yaoyao, I haven't seen you for a few days, and you've become even more beautiful!" Liu Xuan reached out and pulled her, and the cute Crane Maiden with a hint of immortal coldness fell into his arms.

A Yao Beast like a crane naturally carried a cold and otherworldly aura, an Immortal Qi that didn't belong to the mortal world. Combined with Yun Yao's innocent and cute little face, it was simply perfect!

"I'm not..." Yun Yao shyly squirmed a little, a hint of blush coloring her cheeks, her beauty soul-stirringly captivating.

She reached out her jade-like hand to block Liu Xuan's mouth as he was about to kiss her, blushing as she looked at the children around them who were giggling and staring. "Don't mess around, the children are watching!"

"It's fine, just one kiss!"

Liu Xuan pulled away her small hand and then gave her moist red lips a light peck.