552: Chapter 552 Nominal

Liu Residence.

Guest Hall.

Liu Xuan leaned back in his seat reading a book, while a ten-year-old girl played games with a five-year-old boy nearby.

Compared to the adult children, Liu Xuan preferred spending time with the little ones between five and ten years old; there was no need to consider their Cultivation Techniques or guide them in anything—he could just watch them play quietly.

The formation of a person's character is heavily influenced by their childhood environment, and if he noticed any issues, he could still educate them in time.

"Liu Xuan, you're playing me!"

Li Xihe stomped in furiously, and seeing Liu Xuan's leisurely appearance only added fuel to her fire.

Liu Xuan put down his book and said in a low, frowning voice, "Keep it down, don't frighten the children."

"How exactly am I playing you? Tell me."

"You suddenly moved against Ye Gu, Su Yun, and the others. Why didn't you notify me first?" Li Xihe questioned.

"Why should I notify you? Could you have helped me with anything?" Liu Xuan countered.

"I..." Li Xihe paused for a moment. "I am Revered Master's only personal disciple and the Sect Master of the Lihuo Lineage in Southern Border. You're acting under my banner, so of course you must notify me!"

Liu Xuan smiled and beckoned to his son, Tong Xiao, who was gorging himself in a corner of the hall.

"Tong Xiao is your Junior Brother. This matter was ordered by him, so ask him."

Tong Xiao, who was eating, stood up, bowed to Li Xihe, and said respectfully, "Father is right, I did it all."

"You, sit back down!" Li Xihe glared at Tong Xiao.

"Oh!" Tong Xiao glanced at his father, and seeing him nod, sat back down to continue eating.

Li Xihe was silent for a while before her expression softened. She walked to the top seat on the left and sat down, saying slowly, "Since things have come to this, I won't hold you accountable, but you must give me half of the gains."

"What do you mean, half?" Liu Xuan asked with a look of confusion.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Li Xihe lightly slapped the armrest, her tone sharpening. "You wiped out two Nascent Soul forces, along with so many shops and industries. If you don't give me anything at all, believe it or not, I'll report this to Revered Master!"

"Are you threatening me?"

A terrifying, oppressive Aura instantly filled the hall. The space around Li Xihe seemed to freeze, yet the children near Liu Xuan were unaffected, their large eyes wide with curiosity as they looked around.

"Liu Xuan!" Li Xihe felt a chill throughout her body. She sensed a hint of killing intent within this Aura, and she actually felt a surge of terror, as if she were facing not an Early Stage Nascent Soul True Lord, but a Late Nascent Soul Stage Great True Lord.

Just as Li Xihe was about to resort to her Divine Ability, Liu Xuan suddenly withdrew his power and smiled. "Immortal Master Li, don't take offense. I was just joking. We are fellow disciples; how could there be any threats?"

"Don't you just want a share of the benefits? I'll give them to you!"

Liu Xuan rose from his seat and walked slowly to face Li Xihe. "However, there are no Spirit Stones. I can only give you other benefits."

Liu Xuan's uncharacteristic and sudden purge of the Star Academy was not primarily for Li Xihe or the Lihuo Lineage, but for Spirit Stones.

Liu Xuan was desperately short of Spirit Stones!

Peach Blossom needed a massive amount of Spirit Stones to compensate for her Spiritual Vein's deficiencies to Breakthrough to Soul Transformation; over a thousand descendants and a thousand women in the Family consumed a vast amount of Spirit Stones for cultivation daily; purchasing ghost cultivators from Lianyue Immortal Palace also cost a fortune; and acquiring Spirit Medicine to nourish the vitality of the wither-thrive life-death cauldron required more Spirit Stones than he could ever have...

Other matters could be taken slowly; with the Liu Clan Alchemy Tower, Artifact Refining Workshop, and Liu Clan Merchant Alliance, maintaining development was certainly sufficient.

But the Spirit Stones needed for Peach Blossom to break through the Soul Transformation Bottleneck could not wait; they had to be prepared as soon as possible to avoid missing the opportunity.

Liu Xuan had to control the Star Academy. Even if Li Xihe hadn't come to him, he would have used another excuse to clear everything away.

"What benefits?" Li Xihe asked.

Her expression remained sour. She no longer believed Liu Xuan would truly give her anything; this man was stubborn and had never intended to truly cooperate with her from the start—he only wanted to use her.

She had thought that by allying with Liu Xuan she could contend with her Junior Martial Uncle, Demon Lord Chixia, but she hadn't expected Liu Xuan to be even more black-hearted. At least when Demon Lord Chixia ate meat, he would leave her a sip of soup.

"How about I give you the Liu Clan Merchant Alliance? And those Thousand Star Guard Sword Cultivators—all of them for you!"

Hearing this, Li Xihe did not look happy; instead, her face darkened. "Is it fun to mock me? Do you really think you have me completely under your thumb?!"

As the only personal disciple of Daoist Lord Lihuo, Li Xihe had her own pride. If Liu Xuan went too far, she wouldn't mind summoning her Revered Master's Dharma Image to preside over justice.

"You don't believe me?" Liu Xuan wore an 'I knew it' expression and explained, "Since my Liu Family has joined the Lihuo Lineage, we will be subordinates of Daoist Lord Lihuo in the future. I might dare to lie to you, but I wouldn't dare lie to Daoist Lord Lihuo, would I?"

Li Xihe's gaze gradually softened, thinking Liu Xuan's words made sense, but she still felt this fellow was tricking her and that there might be some conspiracy involved.

"Fellow Daoist Li, we are both of the Lihuo Lineage. Why distinguish between what's yours and what's mine?"

Liu Xuan waved his hand to move a table over, personally poured a cup of Spirit Wine for Li Xihe, and enticed her:

"The territory of the Endless Demon Court is vast; the entire Star Academy combined doesn't even account for one percent. We shouldn't fixate on small immediate gains, but rather take a longer view. Only then can we grow big and strong!"

"For the sake of our Lihuo Lineage's rapid development, I am willing to support your growth with all my strength."

"The Liu Clan Merchant Alliance can help you open shops and establish industries; the Thousand Star Sword Cultivator Guard can help you clear obstacles; I can even give you good things like the Duotian Yiqi Secret Technique!"

"Would you really be so kind?" Li Xihe didn't believe it in her heart, but she was tempted.

What Liu Xuan described was far more valuable than simply giving Spirit Stones; he was not only giving her essential manpower but also helping her build a force she could control herself.

"Why not just try it and see? It's not like I'm asking you for anything in return."

Liu Xuan wasn't lying to her; he truly intended to incorporate her into the Merchant Alliance system, or rather, to incorporate the Liu Family into the Lihuo Lineage.

Currently, Liu Xuan had ascended to Nascent Soul True Lord and could be considered invincible below the Spirit Transformation Dao Lords. The Liu Family's only threat was the several Dao Monarchs.

Old Daoist Qingxuan presided over the Azure Profound Sect, so the probability of him moving against him was very low; Demon Saint Xuanyu and Ghost King Lianyue were even less likely to act; only Daoist Lord Lihuo was unpredictable.

Once Daoist Lord Lihuo's true body came to the Southern Border, the Liu Family—possessing Tong Xiao with his Rank Five Bloodline and a Merchant Alliance with immense profit-making capabilities—might attract his attention.

What Liu Xuan was doing now was preemptively assigning the Merchant Alliance to the Lihuo Lineage.

That way, even if the Dao Monarch came, he would feel that everything the Liu Family owned was his and could be taken at any time, so there would be no need to covet it.

The Merchant Alliance would always be the Liu Family's Merchant Alliance; what was being given away was merely a name. Once Peach Blossom ascended to Hua Shen Demon Saint, everything could be reclaimed. No loss!