560: Chapter 560 Compensation

"Dad, how long am I going to be locked up this time?" Tong Xiao suddenly jumped up from the lounge chair, looked at the soul body condensed from Liu Xuan's Divine Sense, and complained, "It's too boring in here, there isn't even a single small animal!"

"It depends. It could be as short as three to five months, or as long as three to five years. If Daoist Lord Lihuo still hasn't come by then, I'll take you to the South to play."

"Three to five years? That's way too long!!" Tong Xiao collapsed onto the lounge chair, looking utterly despondent and drained of strength.

"Who told you to get targeted by a Spirit Transformation Dao Lord? If you're willing to be someone's mount, you could leave right now." Liu Xuan lightly flicked his sleeve, making the lounge chair beneath Tong Xiao disappear, and he landed on his buttocks.

A lounge chair appeared in front of Liu Xuan, and he lay down leisurely, comforting him, "Just treat it as a period of secluded cultivation. While you're at it, help me look after the zhengyang flowers here. I'll teach you how to ripen them in a bit."

The wither-thrive life-death cauldron absorbed the vitality of spirit plants without Liu Xuan needing to worry; he just had to put the spirit plants into the Small World.

Using it to ripen Spirit Medicine was a bit more troublesome. Every stalk grew differently, and to maximize efficiency, it was best to dedicate a portion of one's mind to look after them constantly.

zhengyang flowers were just ordinary Spirit Medicine and weren't hard to care for; they only required a bit of learning. Liu Xuan grew them primarily for business with Lianyue Immortal Palace. Because the demand was so high, he had driven up the price of zhengyang flowers in the Southern Border. Using the wither-thrive life-death cauldron to ripen them was simply to lower costs.

"No way!" Tong Xiao had just stood up from the ground, but upon hearing this, he sat back down again. "Your son is already miserable enough, and you still want me to work in here?"

"Aren't you bored? You won't be bored if you find something to do." Liu Xuan smiled. "In a bit, I'll send your sister Yu Chi and your brothers Jinglei and Jing Zun in to help you. How's that?" (The previous generation name was wrong; it's Jing Zun, not Yuanzun.)

Yu Chi, Jinglei, and Jing Zun all possessed at least peak fifth-order Yao Beast Bloodlines, with the highest being a seventh-order High Grade Azure Dragon. Daoist Lord Lihuo was likely to come to the Southern Border in person soon. Keeping them at the residence carried a high risk of exposure, so it was better to send them all inside for a while.

Hearing his father's words, Tong Xiao instantly perked up. "Three isn't enough. Can you send more brothers and sisters in? I'll teach them to Cultivate the True Dragon Fate Reversal Scripture."

"Mind your own business!" How could Liu Xuan not know what this boy was thinking? He just wanted more siblings to suffer along with him.

"They are different from you. They haven't been marked with a Divine Soul imprint by a Dao Monarch. Once I obtain High Grade space-attribute Materials to craft teleportation tokens, they will be able to enter and exit freely."

The Small World within Liu Xuan's body, combined with the wither-thrive life-death cauldron, had already begun to take the shape of a Grotto-heaven. Once inside, one was completely isolated from the outside world, and even the threads of Karma would be severed.

If Liu Xuan could apply his insights into the Great Dao of Space, combined with his attainments in Artifact Refining, Formations, and Talismans, to refine teleportation tokens for internal and external transport, this Small World would become the Liu Family's most stable core.

From then on, he wouldn't have to worry about the Geniuses of the clan dying prematurely while out adventuring. If they encountered an unbeatable enemy, they could simply teleport back to the Small World to escape.

Although it wasn't absolute insurance, reducing the risk to a controllable range was enough.

Since it was an adventure, danger was inevitable. Over the years, Liu Xuan hadn't let the children wander too far, not because he couldn't accept them facing risks, but because the risks and rewards were disproportionate.

The Liu Family had developed too quickly; though the children Cultivated fast, they hadn't reached a level that matched the Family's power.

Despite the Liu Family being able to do as they pleased in the Star Academy, they actually had many potential enemies. Once they let their guard down, while enemies couldn't touch Liu Xuan and his peers, it wouldn't be hard to target those children.

Without chatting much more with Tong Xiao, this wisp of Liu Xuan's Divine Soul dissipated into a plume of blue smoke.

That same day, Liu Xuan summoned his three Yao Race children—Yu Chi, Jinglei, and Jing Zun—and sent them into the Grotto-heaven within his body after some instructions.

At the same time, he sent in a batch of small animals, as well as various Spirit Medicines and spirit plants. Not only could they keep the children company, but they would also accelerate the evolution of the Grotto-heaven Small World by creating an ecosystem.

...

A few days later.

The guest hall of the Liu Residence.

"Fellow Daoist Li, where is my son?!" Liu Xuan's face was grim, his voice suppressed with anger. "Why has my son's Divine Soul aura gone to the Demon Court? Tell me!"

"I... I'm sorry!"

Li Xihe opened her mouth to speak, but found that nothing she said would matter, so she could only helplessly utter an apology.

She spent half of each month at the Liu Residence with Tong Xiao and knew very well how close the father and son were, and how much Liu Xuan valued Tong Xiao.

Now that this had happened, the greatest responsibility lay with her. No matter what she explained, it couldn't make up for it.

"My son is a living being, and you think a simple apology is enough?!"

Liu Xuan swept his sleeve, his Nascent Soul True Lord aura surging through the hall, shattering various decorative items.

"My son Tong Xiao possesses a fifth-order Bloodline and was destined to become a Hua Shen Demon Saint in the future; he was the future of my Liu Clan!"

"All of that has been ruined because of your negligence! You've destroyed the future of thousands in our Liu Clan and ruined my son's life! Do you understand?!"

Li Xihe had already been consumed by guilt and worry over the past few days. Under Liu Xuan's barrage of accusations, she suddenly began to break down.

"What could I have done?!"

"Demon Saint Xuanyu acted personally. The Sect Grand Formation couldn't even block him for a moment. By the time I realized and informed my Revered Master, he had already been taken to the Demon Court's territory!"

Li Xihe felt incredibly wronged. Tong Xiao had the protective treasures she had given him, plus the Sect Grand Formation and the li huo decree in her hand. Logically, it should have been foolproof.

But a Golden Core Great Demon like Tong Xiao had been snatched away silently, only being discovered when the intruder reached the edge of the Formation's boundary.

Ultimately, the greatest responsibility lay with Tong Xiao; he must have been tricked to be caught so easily.

Otherwise, if he had just bought a few breaths of time, not only would Demon Saint Xuanyu have been unable to take him, but he would have also had to pay a heavy price to escape.

However, Tong Xiao was just a teenager, a child who had grown up in a greenhouse. She couldn't shift the blame onto him because of that.

"I don't care about the reason!" Liu Xuan waved his hand, cutting off Li Xihe's excuses, and said heartlessly, "He was captured while in your care, so you must get him back for me."

"Otherwise, I will take this matter to the Beast Taming Sect, all the way to Daoist Lord Lihuo."

Seeing Liu Xuan being so unreasonable, Li Xihe also grew angry. "I'm also very sad that Tong Xiao was captured. It's not like I did it on purpose! What exactly do you want?!"

"What do I want?"

"I want you to compensate me for my son!"

Li Xihe sighed. "Even my Revered Master can't get Tong Xiao back. I am truly powerless."

Liu Xuan's figure flickered, appearing right in front of Li Xihe, their faces almost touching. "If Tong Xiao can't be brought back, then you'll just have to give birth to a new one for me!"

Having said that, he wrapped one arm around her slender waist while the other moved upward, as he simultaneously pressed his lips against her vibrant, fiery-red ones.