523: Chapter 523 Netherworld

Establishing order is considered an act of Karma. Liu Xuan's move was aimed at organizing the Yin and Yang order; to call it a point of Karma was not an exaggeration at all.

The world is divided into Yin and Yang. Where there is yin fiend energy, there will be ghost cultivators, and ghost cultivators can never be completely eradicated.

Liu Xuan believed the Dao Court's approach was wrong. Toward vengeful spirits and ghost cultivators, one should not simply suppress them blindly, but rather establish another set of order for them and incorporate them into the system.

Just like the Reincarnation and the Underworld of his previous life, only by establishing order could the problem of ghost cultivators causing chaos be truly solved.

Of course! This was still too far off for the current Liu Xuan; he only had a small inkling of an idea.

At this stage, the primary function of the Yin Sha Hall was for the Liu Family children to perform Body Refining; it couldn't do anything else.

...

Liu Residence.

Outer Court Main Hall.

Immortal Qi drifted, immortal music echoed, and guests gathered like clouds. Today was the Core Formation grand ceremony for the Liu Family's Prodigy, Liu Tongxiao.

Since Tong Xiao's Bloodline had already been exposed, Liu Xuan simply went public with it, announcing the close connection between the Liu Family and Daoist Lord Lihuo's lineage.

The son of the Liu Family Head was a Rank 5 Bloodline Yao Beast who would become a Hua Shen Demon Saint in the future, and more importantly, he would be the natal spirit beast of Daoist Lord Lihuo from the Beast Taming Sect.

Who would dare provoke them?

Not to mention ordinary Golden Core Sects, even Nascent Soul Sects like the Heavenly Sword Sect, Cloud Top Sect, and Chongming Sect would have to weigh their options when dealing with the Liu Family in the future.

A Rank 5 Bloodline Yao Beast, with the support of Daoist Lord Lihuo, was very likely to ascend to Yao Saint within a thousand years.

By then, the Liu Family would be promoted to a Soul Transformation Family, becoming the core of cores within Daoist Lord Lihuo's lineage, sufficient to dominate the Southern Border for thousands of years.

The Core Formation ceremony was extremely grand, and the guests attending were even more extraordinary; basically all the Nascent Soul True Lords in the vicinity who had received the news had come.

As the war on the front lines cooled down, everyone tended toward competing for internal power and the distribution of interests.

As a major city second only to Biyou Pool, Star Immortal City was a place where the Liu Family had both local Foundation and close ties with Daoist Lord Lihuo, so everyone was naturally willing to give them Face.

The guest reception duties were handled by the two Nascent Soul Demon Lords, Yun Yao and Bai Jie, while Liu Xuan received Li Xihe, who had returned with Tong Xiao.

“True Lord Li, in the future, Xiao'er should remain at my Liu Residence to Cultivate,” Liu Xuan said casually, sitting at the head of the hall.

“Why?” Li Xihe asked with a frown.

“I have more resources here and better conditions. If Xiao'er follows you, I'm afraid he'll suffer.”

Li Xihe's mouth twitched, but she couldn't refute him. Compared to the Liu Family, she was indeed somewhat poor.

Not only was she poor, but even her Revered Master, Daoist Lord Lihuo, was poor. Although the Beast Taming Sect occupied nearly half of the Endless Demon Court's territory, these areas were basically controlled by the Academy; taxes, industries, and the like were directly taken by the Academy.

This Pioneering War was originally funded by Daoist Lord Lihuo mortgaging the next hundred years of tax revenue, along with various harsh conditions to invite the Academy's assistance. Strictly speaking, he not only had no money but was also buried in debt.

Star Academy was nominally managed by True Lord Haoran, and the tax revenue belonged to the Academy; even if Daoist Lord Lihuo came in person, he couldn't just seize it.

“No!” Li Xihe refused. “If Head of the Liu Family is worried about Xiao'er suffering, you can give him the resources to take back to the Sect to Cultivate.”

“True Lord Li!” Liu Xuan's expression soured. “My son joined your Lihuo Lineage, and not only is there no benefit, but we even have to provide the Cultivation resources ourselves. Don't you think that's going too far?”

Li Xihe also felt a bit embarrassed, but she feigned composure and said, “What do you mean 'yours' and 'ours'? We'll be one of our own in the future. Why do you care about such trivial immediate interests?”

“Once the Pioneering War ends, the Endless Demon Court will be the Lihuo Lineage's orthodoxy. How can Head of the Liu Family be so short-sighted?”

“That's not how it works!” Liu Xuan looked toward the north. “My Liu Family is not only part of the Lihuo Lineage but also a part of the Gentlemans Academy. I have to consider all my Family members. Xiao'er can naturally receive the best treatment at my Liu Residence, but following you—forget it!”

“What do you mean by that?” Li Xihe suddenly stood up. “Do you think I would actually steal your son's resources?!”

“You said it, I didn't!” Liu Xuan picked up his spiritual tea and sipped it slowly, completely unconcerned by Li Xihe's anger.

Li Xihe glanced at Tong Xiao, who was feasting on the opposite side, and slowly sat back down. After a moment of silence, she said, “How about staying at each place for half a month? I will personally escort Xiao'er over.”

For Xiao'er's sake, she endured it! Besides, thinking carefully, what Liu Xuan said wasn't actually wrong.

The grand ceremony officially began.

Since Tong Xiao was a Yao Beast, the stage for demonstrating techniques and preaching the Dao was skipped. Li Xihe, in her capacity as Tong Xiao's Senior Sister, took him around to get acquainted with the various Nascent Soul True Lords.

A Rank 5 Bloodline Yao Beast was certain to reach Nascent Soul within two hundred years and had hopes of Soul Transformation within a thousand. Although Tong Xiao was only at the Early Golden Core Stage, the Nascent Soul True Lords did not dare to be arrogant and treated him as an equal.

Tong Xiao's mother was the crane Yun Yao. The Crane Clan was very prominent within the Beast Taming Sect. It was said that the Crane Old Ancestor was the Palace Revered Master of the 'Earth Palace' at the Beast Taming Sect's Main Mountain, with a status second only to the Sect Leader of the Heaven Palace Beast Taming Sect.

Therefore, Tong Xiao was also very well-received among the Nascent Soul Demon Lords of the Beast Taming Sect. There were even cranes who came to pay their respects and invite him to the Crane Clan Holy Land.

A few days later.

The ceremony ended. Tong Xiao followed Aunt Miao in the Clan School to learn common knowledge of the Cultivation World. Li Xihe also stayed on the outskirts of the Clan School, studying the Liu Family's Great Sun True Fire Method.

She felt that the Great Sun True Fire Method was of a high level and wanted to ask Liu Xuan to borrow the high-level portions, but Liu Xuan refused her outright. She had no choice but to study the basic parts carefully to see if she could discern anything.

“The Great Sun True Fire has an extraordinary concept. Liu Xuan must have at least a fire-attribute Cultivation Technique Legacy no lower than the Nascent Soul realm, perhaps even higher!”

While she was lost in thought, her Disciple Jiang Wanying flew over in a panic. “Revered Master, this is bad! Something happened at the Sect. The array was destroyed by something unknown, and the treasury has been robbed!”

“What?!!”

Li Xihe's expression became extremely ugly. Her Lihuo Lineage didn't have many treasures to begin with; if they were robbed...

“Who has such audacity to dare rob the treasury of my Lihuo Lineage?!”

Li Xihe immediately stood up intending to return, but she suddenly paused. Tong Xiao was still at the Liu Residence's school, and her Revered Master had strictly instructed her to protect him well.

‘The Liu Family has the Star Array and multiple Nascent Soul True Lords guarding it. Even if they encounter a Peak Nascent Soul enemy, there will be time to call for reinforcements. It shouldn't be a problem!’

Thinking this way, she no longer hesitated. Taking Jiang Wanying with her, she turned into a streak of fire and flew toward the southern mountain gate.

Fifteen minutes after she left.

Beneath the Peach Blossom Palace.

An extremely dense concentration of yin fiend energy gathered. At the edge of the array barrier, an illusory man appeared.

He resided underground, surrounded by lingering nether mists. His figure was tall and slender like bamboo, and his black wide-sleeved robe surged with ghost energy. His temperament was aloof and cold.

“A Rank 4 top-tier array, and a rare Star Array at that. Troublesome!”

The man's deep purple pupils looked toward the underground area ahead, which was shrouded in the power of the stars, a trace of weariness appearing on his Face.

He restrained all of his nether ghost energy, planning to sneak inside the array first.

“Hmm?”

When he hid his aura and slipped inside the Star Array, he actually sensed a familiar scent of yin fiend energy.