594: Chapter 594 The Saintess

Biyou Pool.

Liu Residence.

Since the Liu Clan took over, the underwater yin fiend energy has gathered, making the originally emerald-green and deep water even darker. From a distance, it appears almost completely black.

Pavilions and towers stretch across the water in concentric circles; the entire Biyou Pool is, in fact, the Liu Residence.

The Liu Family Artifact Refining Workshop, Liu Clan Alchemy Tower, Liu Clan Talisman Hall, Liu Clan Formation Hall... these industries are built in a semi-circle along the shore. Further out is a ring of cultivation market streets controlled by the Liu Clan Merchant Alliance.

With Biyou Pool at the center, almost the entire central area of Biyou City consists of Liu Family properties. The closest ordinary Cultivators can get to the center is the City Lord's Mansion by the pond.

The Liu Clan is different from ordinary cultivation families. Because Old Ancestor Liu places such great importance on Family development, its cohesion is stronger than any Family or even Sect.

In the backyard of the Liu Residence, there are over a thousand women with the status of Concubine. The Family forces behind them have entered the Merchant Alliance to become vassals of the Liu Family, forming a massive power structure.

No matter how vast or complex the power is, the core lies with Liu Xuan's Concubines and his children.

His children's cultivation levels are insufficient, so they cannot hold power for now, but the overall strength of Liu Xuan's Concubines is not weak. Almost all the Merchant Alliance's assets are registered under their names.

Despite the turmoil in the outside world, Liu Xuan basically ignores it. Now that the situation is favorable and Peach Blossom is there to oversee things, he only needs to enjoy himself, occasionally checking on the Family businesses when bored.

The Liu Residence backyard.

Fishing Pavilion.

There were originally few aquatic creatures in Biyou Pool, and after the last great war, there wasn't a single fish left.

This Fishing Pavilion was set up recently by Liu Xuan's daughter, Lingyue. She enjoys fishing, so she specifically used a Formation to cordoned off an underwater area to raise spirit fish.

The three hundred meters of water surrounding the Fishing Pavilion is a fishery, considered a Family business contracted by Lingyue.

However, the fish in the water were not raised by her, but by her full brother Dao Yu, who meticulously tended to them. She just plays at fishing.

When Liu Xuan has nothing else to do, he also likes to come here and fish. If he's in a good mood, he'll give the two siblings some rewards.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host, your 1,440th descendant has been born. Ninth-Grade Spiritual Root. Obtained 125 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]

While leisurely fishing, the System notification suddenly rang in Liu Xuan's Sea of Consciousness.

'The reward has been reduced to a quarter; another grandson has been born!'

Ever since receiving the grand prize for a thousand descendants, Liu Xuan had become somewhat lax about fathering children, focusing purely on enjoyment.

However, as the second generation of the Family gradually began to exert themselves, the growth rate of descendants did not decrease; instead, it was getting faster and faster.

'1,440 descendants. At this rate, it won't take ten years to reach two thousand. I should be able to claim another grand prize then, right?'

The grand prize for the number of descendants couldn't be rushed. If Liu Xuan wanted a grand prize in the short term, it mainly depended on whether he could father a child with Heaven-Defying talent.

Peach Blossom was the primary object of Liu Xuan's attention. If she were to conceive again, the reward wouldn't necessarily be inferior to the two thousand descendants prize.

Unfortunately, the higher the cultivation, the harder it is to conceive. Peach Blossom is already a Hua Shen Demon Saint, and after all this time, there is still no sign of pregnancy.

Besides Peach Blossom, Liu Xuan also showed extra care to the four Nascent Souls: Yun Yao, Bai Jie, Li Xihe, and You Ruo.

Among the four, Li Xihe, who should have been relatively the easiest to conceive, had no news. The two members of the Yao Race, Yun Yao and Bai Jie, also had no news. Instead, it was You Ruo, the most unlikely one, who seemed to have conceived.

Why 'seemed'? Because neither Liu Xuan nor You Ruo themselves were certain if she was pregnant.

You Ruo is a ghost Cultivator with incomplete Yin and Yang; she doesn't even have a Physical Body. There has never been a precedent for such a pregnancy.

But strangely, a speck of Pure Yang spiritual light had been born within her soul body's abdomen, as if a life was being nurtured.

There was no precedent for such a thing, and it had happened too recently to be one hundred percent certain it was a pregnancy.

As his thoughts drifted while resting with closed eyes, Bai Shan, dressed in a plain white gown and followed by two tall, slender maidservants, flew through the air towards him.

“Husband, the results of the beauty pageant are out. The top hundred have been arranged to stay temporarily in Zhongxiu Hall. Will you go there to take a look, or do you have other arrangements?”

Zhongxiu Hall is a palace on the edge of the Liu Residence's inner courtyard, usually where high-ranking maidservants reside.

The beauties selected in the pageant wouldn't necessarily all enter the backyard. Thus, they were temporarily settled in Zhongxiu Hall until Liu Xuan personally met them to decide their true destination.

Hearing this, the drowsy Liu Xuan immediately perked up and instructed, “Bring them all here!”

If they were all sitting formally in a palace, he wouldn't see enough. Liu Xuan wanted them to move around so he could intuitively sense each person's temperament and charm.

“Yes!”

Bai Shan bowed and then led her two subordinates toward the nearby Zhongxiu Hall.

About half a quarter of an hour later, like a flash of five-colored light, a hundred stunning beauties flew to the Fishing Pavilion like fairies descending to earth.

The women lined up neatly along the corridors over the water. There was no noise; they all looked curiously toward the figure fishing by the waterside pavilion.

“Greetings, Old Ancestor Liu!”

“Greetings, Old Ancestor Liu!”

...

The women bowed in greeting together, their voices crisp and pleasant, like celestial music.

“Don't call me Old Ancestor, I am still young! From now on...”

Liu Xuan was just about to have a good exchange with these stunning beauties when he suddenly sensed that a few of the women were not quite right.

Nascent Soul True Lords!

Among this group of women, there were actually three hidden Nascent Soul True Lord female Cultivators!

Old Ancestor Liu was, after all, only taking Concubines, and through the somewhat unseemly method of a beauty pageant. Most applicants' cultivation levels were Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment; even Golden Core True Persons were rare. What were so many Nascent Soul True Lords doing hiding among them?!

Female Cultivators at the Golden Core level and above had many opportunities to get close to Liu Xuan. Unless their beauty was truly exaggerated, they could completely use a more dignified way to marry into the Liu Residence.

For a dignified Nascent Soul True Lord to participate in a beauty pageant—it would be one thing if they ranked at the top, but if they ended up at the bottom or were eliminated, wouldn't they lose all Face?

The higher the cultivation Realm, the more everyone cares about dignity. With Old Ancestor Liu's current status, it wouldn't be surprising for a few beautiful Golden Core Cultivators to appear in a pageant for Concubines.

But for three Nascent Soul women to suddenly pop up, all hiding their cultivation—it was clearly suspicious.

Before Liu Xuan could ask, one of the Nascent Soul female Cultivators stood up and stepped forward, passing the other women to reach Liu Xuan. She waved her hand to cast a soundproofing barrier, then cupped her hands in a respectful salute and said softly, “I am Liu Xiaowan, the Saintess of the Red Dust Branch of the Joyous Union Sect. Greetings, Saint Liu!”

Joyous Union Sect? Another Saintess?

Liu Xuan raised an eyebrow. Before he could speak, the other two Nascent Soul female Cultivators also stepped into the soundproofing barrier and came to the edge of the pavilion.

“I am Dong Xiangjun, the Saintess of the Caixuan Lineage of the Joyous Union Sect. Greetings, Saint Liu!”

“I am Saint Daughter Gu Yujing, the Saintess of the Hehuan Lineage of the Joyous Union Sect. Greetings, Saint Liu!”

Looking at the three Joyous Union Sect Saintesses, Liu Xuan was a bit dazed!

'Have I really become the Joyous Union Sect Saint??'