Became a Hot Commodity

Became a Hot Commodity

He had enjoyed himself, and he had found the source of the incense offerings. While everyone else was still watching from the sidelines, Ning Xuan returned to his usual routine.

But before long, he began to feel depressed.

His Golden Winged Thunder Duke had been delivered, yet he could no longer muster any interest in it.

The servant who raised chickens tried every trick he knew, even claiming he had discovered a strange chicken in some village, but Ning Xuan was uninterested. After casually teasing the Golden Winged Thunder Duke for a bit, he had the servant take the chicken away.

His favorite fast horse had been named Chasing Wind. He had loved galloping across the countryside on its back, with plenty of lackeys at his side clapping and cheering. It had given him the feeling of being a dashing young master in fine clothes atop a spirited steed. But now, he could not summon any interest in it either.

When a weak little animal could give everything it had and still fail to reach even half your speed, what was there left to enjoy?

He was not some child. He did not like playing house.

He wanted the real thing.

Besides chickens and horses, he also liked hawks and hounds.

A yellow hound in his left hand, a falcon perched on his right—who would not want that?

But training a hawk required staying awake with it, and he had done that once.

That time, the hawk had stared at him, bright-eyed and full of spirit, wanting to test its will against his. But as he kept at it, he realized the whole thing was boring. So he stopped, and instead kept two guards at Ning Manor whose job was to train hawks.

The guards trained the hawks, while he brought the guards along—that was the style of a young master.

Whenever he went hunting, he would call up his friends, with hunting dogs trailing behind him and guards carrying hawks on their raised hands at his sides. That feeling had been exhilarating.

But now, whether hawk or hound, he could crush them to death with a casual flick of his hand.

In the end, it had all become playing house.

Ning Xuan suddenly realized that everything he liked had become low-class in an instant.

Seeing their young master like this, the servants, guards, and lackeys were all left at a loss.

Old Master Ning, on the other hand, found it quite gratifying. He felt that his son truly had begun to resemble a general somewhat; he no longer cared for the things wastrels liked.

While Ning Xuan had been fooling around these past days, Old Master Ning had been using his connections to make arrangements while waiting anxiously for the outcome.

By the rules, if someone with the aptitude to become a general appeared in a certain place, the local official was supposed to report it upward, after which those above would decide.

Of course, there were many ways to submit such a report.

Discovery was one way; claiming credit was another.

The former meant the person could be transferred freely, sent somewhere that truly needed a general—usually a dangerous place. The latter meant the great general below would need to "part with someone dear." Though the Son of Heaven held immense power, talented people were the one thing he never lacked. For the sake of local stability, when faced with a request to claim credit, the Son of Heaven would generally leave the reported person where they were, unless he himself developed a fondness for that talent. Only then would the great general have no choice but to "part with someone dear."

As for Ning Taiyi, the Ning Family's roots lay in Wangyue Prefecture. He had built his foundations there for over thirty years, and he did not want to move.

That was why he would not lose his head in pride and excitement and report over Great General Qin's head.

He was waiting.

While Old Master Ning waited, Young Master Ning did not.

After letting himself run wild for a while, he had resumed his training.

With Heavenly Demon Scrolls like the Yin Wind Ox and Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey, both possessing a Constitution of "3.5," his own constitution had begun to draw closer to theirs.

He deliberately avoided Manfeng Mountain.

Because he knew that a Stealing Incense Rat was still due to arrive at Manfeng Mountain.

That demon was no small matter.

Though he had slaughtered the strongest one in the nightmare, who knew whether the Stealing Incense Rats had come in a whole nest?

If the mountains were covered in Bodhisattva Golden Bodies by then, the sight alone would scare a person to death.

Even if it was not a whole nest but merely one, that would still be dangerous. Judging from the banquet hosted by the three demons, it did not look like they had invited an entire clan, but rather individual demons.

The Mountain Crashing Bear had the Brocade Kasaya. The Yin Wind Ox had the Yin Wind Banner. Who knew what kind of treasure a demon like the Stealing Incense Rat, which already toyed with incense offerings by nature, would bring with it?

He had to see clearly before making a move.

In the blink of an eye, less than half a month passed.

In the setting sun, Ning Xuan comfortably stretched, then curiously glanced toward Manfeng Mountain.

He was especially curious why the Stealing Incense Rat had still not arrived.

At least, up to this day, he had not heard of any disappearances in the surrounding area.

But given the nature of demons, once one had appeared, how could it possibly refrain from eating people?

He let out a long breath of stale air, then performed hundreds of high-knee raises on the spot before checking his panel.

[Ning Xuan]

[Life (Constitution): 3.5]

[Nature (Spirit): 1]

His physical strength had already reached the same level as the Yin Wind Ox.

And the attribute the Yin Wind Ox could provide had become "1.75."

His physical constitution had improved as smoothly as a favorable wind and a following tide.

But his spirit was another matter.

Over the past half month, he had considered using the "Stealing Incense Rat's spirit" to drive an improvement in his own spirit, only to find it futile. No matter what he did, he could not raise it by even 0.01.

Likewise, he had tried to comprehend the "Yin Wind Fiend" and the "Concealment Art" as he had comprehended "Bear Prowess Mountain Collapse," but that too proved entirely futile.

Clearly, he had run into a bottleneck.

He still did not know where the problem lay.

Ning Xuan was not in a hurry.

After all, he had grown stronger again.

The incense offerings within the four Bodhisattva Statues had been quite substantial. He had siphoned them all clean, but he had more or less reached his limit.

The amount of incense offerings one could steal was not limitless. Just as everyone had their own appetite, there was a limit to Stealing Incense.

That limit was one's "spirit."

However much spirit one had was however much incense offering one could consume.

After summoning the Heavenly Demon Scroll, his spirit had been 5.5. Thus, his current Bodhisattva Statue was a little larger than the Stealing Incense Rat's had been when he first saw it.

With such a Bodhisattva Statue shell, coupled with the strengthening of his constitution, he had taken another step forward compared with his time on Manfeng Mountain.

Yet he still could not use the "Humming-Haw Technique." Unless he forcibly consumed incense offerings and paid with the depletion of his Bodhisattva Body, he could only forcefully raise his own power that way.

This... was another trump card.

After all, the Stealing Incense Rat had actually been killed by him long ago. It was only by using this move that it had escaped death, letting out a single hum-haw before turning the tables and killing him.

With a sturdier foundation and more trump cards, Ning Xuan felt thoroughly pleased.

He was already thinking about what tune he should listen to at Chenxiang Pavilion tonight.

Things had truly been quiet lately. Even Liu Shirong, the Young Master of the Wealthy Merchant Guild who wanted to "sell" his younger sister, had stopped coming to see him.

Ning Xuan found everyone being so realistic quite comfortable.

If Liu Shirong had come to him regardless of everything, declaring that no matter what lay ahead, he, Liu Shirong, would forever be his brother, and the Wealthy Merchant Guild would forever stand at his side, Ning Xuan would have been deeply alarmed.

He would have wondered whether Liu Shirong was sick in the head.

Or perhaps he had received some inside information and wanted to make an early investment? Or had he offended someone he could not afford to provoke and wanted to gamble everything on one throw?

Fortunately, none of that happened.

Ning Xuan rather liked friends like Liu Shirong.

There was no pressure in associating with them.

When there were benefits to be had, everyone gathered together, laughing and joking, calling each other brothers.

When great disaster descended, they flew their separate ways. No one needed to worry about anyone else.

That was best.

As for his elder brother, after helping their father obtain those two strands of Dragon Qi from Manfeng Mountain, their father had naturally given all the Dragon Qi to him. He was currently in seclusion, refining it and seeking a breakthrough.

The place where he was in seclusion was called Purple Cloud Temple.

Purple Cloud Temple was not merely a Taoist temple in Wangyue Prefecture, but a vast power spanning hundreds of prefectures, dozens of provinces, and several regions.

Ning Xuan had heard this from Ugly Slave.

Ugly Slave said, "Many years ago, there were many Taoist temples. But after Purple Cloud Temple emerged, it unified every Taoist temple at an astonishing speed."

Ning Xuan immediately became cautious.

Such an enormous force had to be exceedingly terrifying, and the process of unification must surely have been drenched in blood.

Then Ugly Slave added, "Mr. Taiyi said it was an order from above. No matter what your Taoist temple was called before, all of them were to be renamed Purple Cloud Temple. That night, every Taoist temple changed its signboard, and that was considered the unification of all Taoist temples under heaven."

"Oh."

Ning Xuan replied with only one word.

At present, Ugly Slave was cultivating in a Taoist temple that bore the name Purple Cloud Temple but was, in truth, their father's territory.

A regional governor, even merely at the prefectural level, was still a local emperor.

Before sunset.

Ning Xuan returned to the residence.

The moment he entered, he heard a familiar voice—his father's.

Besides his father, there was evidently a guest his father had brought along.

His father was saying with a smile, "My Xuan'er is fond of Buddhist teachings, so he moved out from home, away from worldly clamor, and burns incense and worships Buddha at the nearby Kushi Zen Temple."

The guest responded with several "Mm-hmms."

His father said, "Look at what faces the main gate. Chenxiang Pavilion, the largest pleasure house in all the towns and villages within ten li of Wangyue Prefecture. Mr. Tang, you know this: to those who cultivate the Dao, women are inner demons. Yet Xuan'er chose to establish his residence here."

His father clapped his hands repeatedly. "Excellent! Even this old man cannot help but say it. Excellent!"

Only then did the guest give a slight nod. "Using inner demons to temper one's own character is indeed not bad."

Old Father smiled. "Mr. Tang is in the prime of his life. He governs Ping'an Prefecture and has at least twenty years left in his term. If my son can form a marriage bond with your family, that would be quite good as well."

Mr. Tang smiled. "No matter what happens, my Tang Family can at least protect your Ning Family for twenty years."

Ning Xuan listened from afar.

With a turn of thought, he understood.

It seemed this matter concerning his qualifications was developing in a favorable direction. This Mr. Tang had come to invest early.

The Tang Family would protect the Ning Family for twenty years; afterward, he would need to protect the Tang Family.

Such a marriage alliance was rather stable.

But he was not very willing.

He did not want to get tangled up in other people's messy bullshit.

Nor did he need resources from other families.

If the Ning Family did not need "him to become a general," he would not even want to be one.

Still, he did not shout something like, "Xiao Jie, your young master is spending the night at Chenxiang Pavilion again today."

Since Old Father had brought the man here, he naturally had his reasons.

Even if Ning Xuan wanted to refuse, this was not the time to do so by ruining his own image in such a manner.

So he straightened his robes. Turning the corner and seeing the main hall, he fixed his gaze on Old Father and a nobleman in brocade robes in the reception room, then bowed.

Old Father said, "This is your Uncle Tang."

Ning Xuan bowed. "Uncle Tang."

Then he smiled. "I've just returned from martial training, and I'm covered in the smell of sweat. Please forgive the discourtesy."

The nobleman in brocade robes studied him, nodded with a smile, and said, "Not bad, not bad. A good child!"

Having said that, he continued, "Ning Xuan, perhaps you do not know me yet. I come from Ping'an Prefecture. In Ping'an Prefecture, I hold the same position your father does in Wangyue Prefecture.

"Your father and I are close friends. My Bing'er is about your age as well.

"Bing'er is no sheltered young lady. Quite a few concealed-weapon designs in the martial world of your Wangyue Prefecture came from her hand—for example, Stormy Pear Blossom, Four Generations Together, and Five Sons Chasing Heart. In the future, she may even be able to tailor a weapon suited specifically to you.

"What do you say? Would you like to see how the two of you get along?"

The moment his words fell, Ning Taiyi beside them was stunned.

He had brought this nobleman in brocade robes over only because he did not wish to slight him, and wanted to preserve a good relationship.

In his heart, he knew clearly that if the Ning Family wished to be as solid as a fortress, they still had to form a marriage alliance with Great General Qin's family. Moreover, as a great general, Great General Qin naturally possessed cultivation methods belonging to generals, which would benefit Xuan'er.

On the other side, Ning Xuan naturally would not make promises carelessly.

The air fell silent.

The nobleman in brocade robes broke the stillness with laughter.

"Bing'er is immersed in concealed weapons day and night. Perhaps she does not even know that her father has come to arrange her marriage in private. Ning Xuan, I came in haste this time as well. Later, I shall have someone send over a portrait first, according to custom.

"And afterward, even if the marriage does not come to pass, you called me Uncle today, after all. Should you run into trouble in the future, this uncle of yours certainly will not stand by with folded arms."

Ning Xuan smiled. "Uncle Tang, I have a problem right now."

The nobleman in brocade robes was startled.

Ning Xuan said, "The manor has just acquired a batch of fine new wine, but these past few days there has been no one to drink it with. Might I trouble Uncle Tang to share a cup with me?"

The nobleman in brocade robes smiled, pointing at him. "Very soon, you will no longer have to worry about finding no one to drink with."