"Young Master."
Outside the quiet room.
Beishan Hu, the chief steward of Di Ta Peak, hurried forward to greet him.
"These are the gifts left by guests from the major powers of Anchan Commandery over the past two days. Please inspect them, Young Master."
Xia Manggan accepted the Storage Magical Treasure, which resembled a scented sachet. After refining it with a thread of Origin Force, he discovered that the space inside was quite large, nearly a thousand zhang in both length and width.
"This Storage Magical Treasure is also one of the gifts, sent by Daoist Qionghua of the Hundred Flower Fairyland," Beishan Hu explained.
"Mm." Xia Manggan swept his Divine Sense through the space within the sachet.
There, dozens of Human Rank and Earth Rank magical treasures, all manner of Jade Bottles, and even Essence Cards that could be directly exchanged for Essence Liquid at Heavenly Treasure Mountain had been neatly arranged by category.
"Have their values been assessed?" Xia Manggan asked.
"They have." Beishan Hu nodded. "Although the various powers wish to befriend you, Young Master, I made my requirements clear in advance. They may send gifts as congratulations, but their value must not be excessive."
"Top-tier powers may not exceed one thousand jin of Essence Liquid, while large powers may not exceed one hundred jin."
"Other than the Zhenhua Sect, whose Young Master Qu came in person, I did not refuse their gift worth two thousand jin of Essence Liquid. Aside from that, the most valuable gifts were the ten thousand jin of Essence Liquid and three top-grade Earth Rank magical treasures Bai Wei sent earlier."
"Everything in this Storage Magical Treasure, including the treasures and Essence Cards, is worth roughly twenty thousand jin of Essence Liquid..."
Beishan Hu spoke with great satisfaction.
These past two days had truly been his finest hour.
Compared to the mocking looks he had received from the prominent figures of various powers a month ago, when Xia Manggan had taken him in as a follower at the Cave of Carefree—
The pride and exhilaration he felt now, as the various powers flattered and fawned over him, were just as immense.
In the past, people had addressed him respectfully as "Young Master Hu" this and "Young Master Hu" that.
But Beishan Hu knew that was all because his father was Beishan Yin, the strongest contender to become the next Marquis of Anchan.
But now—
He had earned his young master's approval through his own efforts, allowing him to receive guests as the chief steward.
In a sect like the Black-White Academy, such status would only belong to its headmaster.
"You handled it well." Xia Manggan nodded approvingly.
Using the sizes of the powers to determine the value of acceptable gifts, and setting limits that neither put himself at a loss nor left him owing enormous favors—
At most, it allowed them to get acquainted, so that they could exchange a nod and a few words when they met in the future. The balance had been handled perfectly.
Xia Manggan tucked the sachet into his robes, intending to see later whether there were any magical treasures he could use.
Anything useless would be sold for Essence Liquid to improve his Qi Refining cultivation.
"Do you have any other instructions, Young Master?" Beishan Hu beamed after being praised in person.
"Prepare some immortal brew. I have guests to entertain." Xia Manggan raised his head and looked toward the sky.
"Young Master intends to receive them personally?"
Beishan Hu also looked up in confusion. "Who has such great standing? Uh... Father?"
Two figures descended from the sky, one of whom was his father, Beishan Yin.
"Young Master Xia Mang."
Beishan Yin first smiled and bowed, then explained, "This is Immortal Lianshan, one of the two immortal leaders of the Yinglong Guard branch in Anchan Commandery. Since my son serves as your follower, Young Master, he came to find me and asked me to introduce him."
As he spoke, Beishan Yin smiled at his son, Beishan Hu, his eyes filled with approval.
"Young Master Xia Mang."
Immortal Lianshan bowed. "When I was at the Yinglong Guard headquarters in the Royal Capital, I served under Prince of Anqing. Hearing that a young master of the imperial clan had arrived in Anchan Commandery, I came specially to pay my respects."
"Prince of Anqing..." Xia Manggan's eyes showed contemplation before he suddenly understood. "Xia Mangqing, from Uncle Prince Qi's line."
In truth, he did not know Prince of Anqing Xia Mangqing at all.
It was merely that the information about the various powers which his mighty father had implanted into his mind contained records of Xia Mangqing. He knew that Xia Mangqing was an Earth Immortal descendant of the Heavenly Immortal Prince Qi's line, separated by who knew how many generations, and one of the imperial clan's upper echelons responsible for managing the Yinglong Inner Guard.
As for why he had acted as though he knew him, even speaking as if the Earth Immortal Xia Mangqing were his junior—
"Yes. Prince of Anqing is indeed an imperial clansman of Prince Qi's line." A trace of shock flashed through Immortal Lianshan's eyes.
When he looked at Xia Manggan again, his expression became even more respectful, and he even bent slightly at the waist.
"Come over here and let's talk."
Xia Manggan gestured for the two of them to head toward a stone table in one corner of the courtyard.
"Yes." Immortal Lianshan respectfully complied. Only after Xia Manggan invited him twice did he dare settle half his backside onto a seat.
It was no wonder he acted this way.
After all—
Ordinary Yinglong Guard members were extremely free, essentially serving as guest cultivators of the Great Xia Dynasty.
They merely needed to complete certain tasks at regular intervals, and in return could enjoy some of the Yinglong Guard's benefits and privileges.
For instance, they could freely use the teleportation arrays spread throughout the land. Their clans could possess territory spanning ten thousand li, protected by the Yinglong Guard, and so on.
Beyond that, ordinary Yinglong Guard members could do whatever they wished in their daily lives. The Great Xia Dynasty would neither interfere much nor care to interfere.
But the Yinglong Inner Guard was different.
The Yinglong Inner Guard were the Great Xia Dynasty's most loyal soldiers.
They were an army of cultivators selected by the Great Xia Dynasty from Purple Mansion Myriad Phenomena cultivators, and even Xiantian cultivators, then trained at the expenditure of tremendous resources.
They were incomparably loyal to the Xia Emperor, incomparably loyal to the Xia Mang Clan, and incomparably loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty.
Therefore, for an Yinglong Inner Guard member like Immortal Lianshan, facing an imperial clansman like Xia Manggan—someone who could casually call an Earth Immortal commandery prince by name and apparently even knew a Heavenly Immortal prince—
It was like meeting his master. No amount of respect would be strange.
"This is a small gift prepared by Lianshan, to congratulate you, Young Master, on becoming the foremost member of Anchan Commandery's younger generation." Immortal Lianshan took out a Storage Magical Treasure and respectfully placed it on the stone table.
"What sort of gift requires a Storage Magical Treasure to hold it?" Xia Manggan smiled faintly.
"They are a specialty of the Red Dragon Mountain Range, where our Anchan Commandery branch is located: Red Phosphorus Flame Fruits." Immortal Lianshan glanced at Beishan Yin, feeling somewhat uneasy.
Although Red Phosphorus Flame Fruits were formed by absorbing the dragon qi of the earth veins and Solar Power, making them a fairly decent spirit fruit—
They bore fruit once every century, and there were many fruit trees throughout the Red Dragon Mountain Range.
After countless years of accumulation, the Yinglong Guard's Anchan Commandery branch had an enormous stockpile. They were hardly rare.
Giving such things as a gift to an imperial clansman of unknown but unquestionably exalted status...
Even though Beishan Yin had assured him several times before they came, Immortal Lianshan still felt uncertain.
"Red Phosphorus Flame Fruits?"
Xia Manggan's eyes lit up. He immediately took the Storage Magical Treasure and refined it to inspect its contents.
When he saw the Red Phosphorus Flame Fruits piled into a small mountain within the storage space, he nodded.
"You were thoughtful."
To others, Red Phosphorus Flame Fruits were merely spirit fruits used in alchemy.
But to Ah Huang, they were an excellent nourishing delicacy.
Moreover, after Ah Huang consumed them and absorbed the dragon qi of the earth veins, he could transform the Solar Power contained within the spirit fruits into Divine Power, then feed it back to his master.
It is time to improve my Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map and Body Refining Divine Ability cultivation as well, Xia Manggan thought.
The second update is here. There will be an additional chapter at 23:59 on Sunday night. Those who stay up late can take a look then. Those who sleep early need not wait; reading it tomorrow is the same.
Lastly, I still ask for votes and support. Suifeng offers his thanks!
Before you continue