Dividing the Lotus Seeds

The orange cat froze abruptly, maintaining its arched back posture. After a few seconds of stiffness, it suddenly let out a piercing scream and rolled around on the ground.

One of its pupils turned pitch black, while the other was stained with pure crimson gold, making it both eerie and sacred.

The orange cat's cries were shrill and hoarse, its limbs flailing wildly, as if it were enduring immense pain.

Xu Qi'an didn't delay any longer. With a flick of his finger, he sent Cao Qingyang's soul into his brow, then turned and approached the orange cat.

The White Lotus Daoist nun stopped him, glanced around at the disciples, and scolded, "Don't stand there like an idiot! Quickly form the Supreme Array and transfer the merit!"

As she spoke, she tossed out a thin rope woven from gold thread, binding the orange cat tightly.

The orange cat's screams grew increasingly piercing.

The disciples of the Heaven and Earth Society seemed to awaken from a dream, and swarmed forward, surrounding the orange cat in the center. They made hand seals and chanted incantations.

"Misfortune and fortune have no fixed gate; they are summoned by oneself. The retribution for good and evil follows like a shadow. Therefore, Heaven and Earth have gods who oversee transgressions."

The sounds were initially chaotic, but gradually became unified, merging into a single voice. After a moment, it seemed as if only the chanting could be heard throughout the entire world.

Xu Qi'an clearly saw strands of golden light, like the morning sun, emanating from the brows of the Heaven and Earth Society disciples, as gentle as spring rain, sprinkling onto the orange cat.

The orange cat's left eye shone with a brilliant golden light, overshadowing the darkness of its right eye. It gradually stopped struggling and howling, and quietly lay down on the ground, becoming completely still.

On the other side, Cao Qingyang had just regained consciousness when he heard layers upon layers of grand chanting. He looked around somewhat blankly, then turned to the members of the Martial Alliance:

"What happened? I remember I lost to the leader of the Human Sect in the end, and my soul was scattered."

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether his previous experience was a hallucination or reality.

Seeing him wake up, the members of the martial arts alliance breathed a sigh of relief.

The owner of the Myriad Flowers Pavilion said with a smile, "Alliance Leader Cao, it was Young Master Xu who saved you."

"The Imperial Advisor only captured your soul; just now, Young Master Xu brought it back."

Yang Cuixue and others offered explanations, implying that Xu Yinluo's "plea" played a crucial role in allowing the Imperial Advisor to show leniency and not exterminate them all.

The members of the Martial Arts Alliance wore smiles, their eyes filled with gratitude and approval as they looked at Xu Qi'an.

Although they didn't manage to get the lotus seeds this time, the martial arts alliance and Xu Yinluo became friends through their conflict. These members, who secretly admired Xu Qi'an, were filled with excitement.

Cao Qingyang nodded slowly, his upright and dignified face turning to Xu Qi'an. He clasped his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you, Xu Yinluo, for your kindness."

Xu Qi'an returned the greeting, "Alliance Leader Cao, you flatter me. It is I who should be thanking Alliance Leader Cao."

He paused, then said in a deep voice, "I don't think Alliance Leader Cao is a greedy person, so why is he so obsessed with the Nine-Colored Lotus?"

Cao Qingyang did not answer, but said calmly, "Tonight I am hosting a banquet at Quanrong Mountain, and I hope Xu Yinluo will do me the honor of attending."

It means it's inconvenient to talk like this. Cao Qingyang seems interested in befriending me and wants to take our relationship to the next level. Xu Qi'an nodded:

"Then I'll take my leave. By the way, could you please drive away the Rogue Person around here for me, Alliance Leader?"

Upon seeing that he had agreed, smiles immediately appeared on the faces of the martial arts alliance members.

Cao Qingyang nodded. "I will leave some people behind around the manor to guard against the Earth Sect Daoists taking the opportunity to return."

With the Heaven and Earth Society's fighting force so close, if the Earth Sect and the Prince of Huai's spies were to return, it would be difficult to withstand them.

Alliance Leader Cao, as expected of a seasoned veteran, was experienced and his actions were flawless. Xu Qi'an cupped his hands in thanks.

After the martial arts alliance members left Yuezhi Manor, Xu Qi'an and the others waited quietly for a while. Soon after, the chanting of the Heaven and Earth Society disciples subsided and then disappeared.

call.

As if they had just finished a fierce battle, the sound of exhaling filled the air, and the disciples kept wiping the sweat from their foreheads.

The orange cat remained lying down, motionless.

Xu Qi'an looked at the orange cat, then leaned closer to the White Lotus Daoist nun and asked, "What happened?"

Chu Yuanzhen, Nangong Qianrou, and a few other outsiders looked over curiously.

"A wisp of divine thought from Senior Brother Jinlian and Black Lotus has merged, and it's difficult to determine a winner for the time being. We were just transferring merit to Senior Brother Jinlian to help him suppress Black Lotus's demonic thoughts."

The White Lotus Daoist nun explained, "This was a plan that had been prepared beforehand."

Xu Qi'an asked in surprise, "How could Daoist Jinlian be entangled with a wisp of demonic thought from the leader of the Earth Sect?"

He thought to himself, "This doesn't make sense. The Earth Sect Master's clone is a third-rank cultivator, and the Golden Lotus Daoist is at most a fourth-rank cultivator. It can't be a third-rank cultivator. How did he do that?"

"Senior brother is using Secret Method from the Earth Sect," the White Lotus Daoist explained with an unchanging smile.

Xu Qi'an nodded, accepting the explanation.

Therefore, Master Jinlian already had a plan to deal with the avatar of the Earth Sect leader. The task of the holder of the Earth Book fragment was to deal with the Martial Alliance and others. No, in Master Jinlian's view, Li Miaozhen and Chu Yuanzhen were just extras. What he really valued was me.

The White Lotus Daoist nun frowned and said, "Just now, they wanted to seize Cao Qingyang's body, but for some reason, they suddenly changed their minds and instead possessed a cat."

The disciples of the Heaven and Earth Society also arrived, puzzled.

Why? Probably because of his deep love for cats. Xu Qi'an shrugged, pretending he didn't know.

At this moment, the orange cat's tail twitched slightly, as if it had regained consciousness. It slowly got up, sat down, and its one black and one gold eye slowly swept over the crowd.

"It's me!"

The orange cat spoke in human language, and came the slightly weathered voice of Master Jinlian.

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've suppressed it for now. Hmm, where is the Nine-Colored Lotus?" Master Jinlian asked impatiently.

"It's with me," Li Miaozhen said.

The orange cat nodded slightly and said gently, "Give the lotus seeds and lotus roots to Bai Lian, Junior Sister Bai Lian. We're going to our next hiding place."

Just then, a ghostly light flashed in the orange cat's jet-black right eye.

"Hiss."

The orange cat bared its teeth and pounced on Daoist Bailian, a cold and sinister voice emanating from within it. "Junior Sister Bailian, come back to the Earth Sect with me for dual cultivation."

Snap!

Xu Qi'an brandished his sword sheath and slapped the orange cat to the ground.

"Hissing!"

The orange cat struggled for a moment, its left eye glowing with gold, then regained its senses, gracefully sat down, and coughed:

"Although I managed to suppress him, he occasionally took the initiative. Junior Sister Bai Lian, please don't mind."

The white-faced nun's smooth forehead was now covered in black lines. Her face twitched slightly, and she said calmly, "Chanyi, chase away all the female cats in the manor."

Master Jinlian raised one of her front paws and slammed it against the ground, her voice slightly panicked. "No, there's no need for that."

The White Lotus Daoist nun said softly, "Senior Brother Golden Lotus would naturally not do anything morally corrupt. What we need to be wary of is the demonic Black Lotus. He has already fallen into the demonic path and is capable of anything."

Was she trying to save face for Daoist Jinlian? Xu Qi'an couldn't help but burst out laughing.

His lead immediately...

"Puff!"

"Puff!"

"Puff"

Chu Yuanzhen, Li Miaozhen, Lina, and the others couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

The disciples of the Heaven and Earth Society were both saddened and wanted to laugh, their expressions unusually strange.

"By the way, Daoist Jinlian, there's something I need to discuss with you." Xu Qi'an looked at Li Miaozhen, gesturing for her to take out the nine-colored lotus flower.

The Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect took out a fragment of the Earth Book, placed it face down, and gently tapped the back of the mirror. Two pieces of dark golden lotus root, one large and one small, along with a lotus pod, fell out.

"Master, a small section of the lotus root has been cut off," Xu Qi'an said.

"It's alright," the orange cat glanced at it, "It can recover after more than ten years of gentle care."

Xu Qi'an then asked, "Could I have this small piece of lotus root?"

"You're going to use it to make medicine?" the orange cat retorted.

"Um, my aunt asked me to get it." Xu Qi'an thought for a moment and said, "I'm doing this on someone's behalf."

A blatant hint.

The orange cat nodded in sudden realization. "Lotus roots wither after twelve hours when separated from the main root, and die within twenty-four hours. Only then can they be used as medicine."

"The Daoist priest is quite generous. I thought this task would be quite difficult." Xu Qi'an, feeling relaxed as he thought about how he could report back to the Imperial Preceptor after returning to the capital, casually asked:

"Can't they be raised?"

The orange cat chuckled and said, "The Earth Sect has been passed down for thousands of years, yet it only has one lotus root. Do you know why?"

That's right. If it were possible to raise them, they would have been cultivated on a large scale long ago. The reason why heavenly materials and earthly treasures are called heavenly materials and earthly treasures is largely because of their rarity. Xu Qi'an hummed in agreement and bent down to pick up the lotus roots.

"Hiss."

As he bent down, he heard the orange cat hissing beside him. Without thinking, he instinctively reached out and pressed down.

He pressed the orange cat's head to the ground, its paws scratching at his arm, while Black Lotus cursed, "Lotus root is a treasure of our Earth Sect, you're not allowed to take it away, you're not allowed to take it away!"

The leader of the Earth Sect is actually quite cute! Xu Qi'an slapped it away.

The orange cat rolled gracefully, dissipating its momentum, and changed its target, pouncing on Qiu Chanyi with its tail raised. "Little girl, you're quite pretty. Quickly come back to the mountain with me for dual cultivation."

Qiu Chanyi screamed in fright, then kicked the orange cat away.

Its internal power seemed to be in a relatively balanced state, unable to use Divine Ability or magic, so it was no different from an ordinary cat.

I suddenly understood why they say lust is the root of all evil. Watching the relentless attack on Qiu Chanyi and the orange cat trying to protect her from her frenzied attacks, Xu Qi'an had this realization.

Not only the leader of the Earth Sect, but all other demonic cultivators who have fallen into evil always bring up the topic of the Eighteen Forbidden Things first. From this, we can see that the greatest evil of mankind is the word "lust".

The orange cat, charging forward, suddenly stopped, glanced at the group with a slightly confused look, then pretended nothing had happened and said calmly, "Distribute the lotus seeds."

"Master, the topic change was too abrupt," Xu Qi'an silently covered his face.

As previously agreed, Xu Qi'an received two, while Chu Yuanzhen, Li Miaozhen, Lina, Hengyuan, and Nangong Qianrou each received one.

The white lotus nun peeled open the dark golden lotus pods with her slender, fair fingers, distributing them to everyone and offering advice:

"If you need any items, peel the lotus seeds and place them in the jade box along with the items. Three hours will suffice. If Aperture Opening, simply swallow them."

Thank you!

The holders of the Earth Book fragments clasped their hands in gratitude.

The white-lotus nun turned to Xu Qi'an and said softly, "Young Master Xu, come with me. I have something to say to you privately."

The two walked away side by side, until they reached a secluded spot where no one was around. The White Lotus Daoist nun then pulled a small jade mirror from her sleeve and said:

"This was entrusted to me by Senior Brother Jinlian for safekeeping. He anticipated that he would have trouble after the war, so he gave it to me and told me to return it to you later."

Xu Qi'an quickly took the fragment of the Earth Book, glanced at the mirror, and saw that the pattern was still in place, which meant that no one had touched the yellow and white objects inside. He breathed a sigh of relief.

After the two returned, the White Lotus Daoist gathered the disciples of the Heaven and Earth Society, took the Golden Lotus Daoist's physical body, and prepared to set off from Jianzhou for their next stronghold.

We definitely can't stay in Jianzhou anymore. Fortunately, we have multiple burrows, and the Heaven and Earth Society has other strongholds in other places.

"Brother Chu, Miaozhen, Master Hengyuan, why don't you escort them for a while?" Xu Qi'an, looking at Li Miaozhen and the others.

The outstanding disciples of both the Celestial Person and Human sects nodded.

"Young Master Xu."

The girl's voice was like a wind chime under the eaves. Qiu Chanyi stood prettily in front of him, her face flushed, and stuffed a sachet into Xu Qi'an's hand.

People reacted differently to this scene.

The disciples of the Heaven and Earth Society watched with smiles, some even making a fuss, as the Earth Sect did not prohibit marriage.

Li Miaozhen raised an eyebrow.

Chu Yuanzhen smiled but remained silent.

Hengyuan and Lina had no opinion.

Nangong Qianrou sneered. He was used to using sneers to deal with things he disdained, such as some lecherous scoundrel seducing another innocent girl.

A young girl's heart is always filled with tenderness. Xu Qi'an put away the sachet with satisfaction, delighted that she had gained another fish in her pond.

You seem very happy?

Suddenly, he received a telepathic message from Li Miaozhen.

"I'm happy to have made a new friend. These are all connections I'll have in the future when I'm navigating the world," Xu Qi'an replied telepathically.

"Heh, I had a senior brother who used to think the same way," Li Miaozhen scoffed.

Without explanation, she rode her flying sword, carrying Lina, and soared away with the rest of the Heaven and Earth Society.

"Then your senior brother must be doing very well now, "Xu Qi'an said with relief.

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