Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix

Half of his head was missing, with sparse, pale brain matter hanging from his face.

The shriveled, bluish-black body was badly damaged, and one could vaguely see the black internal organs through the broken bones and mangled flesh.

Its dark green eyes were wide open, utterly lifeless.

Xu Qi'an did not sense any fluctuations of energy within it, which meant that the body before him was a pure corpse, devoid of any supernatural properties.

The ancient corpse is dead; although it sounds strange to describe it that way, it is indeed dead.

Xu Qi'an's pupils contracted to pinpoints as if struck by a bright light, and his breathing became rapid.

My first thought:

The owner of the tomb has returned!

The moment this thought arose in my mind, an uncontrollable wave of fear surged up.

Luo Yuheng's eyes gleamed with a mysterious light, which, combined with her cool and beautiful face, gave her a bewitching beauty.

She slowly swept her gaze across the main burial chamber, and after a moment, whispered:

"No remnants of the soul remain."

In other words, the ancient corpse has completely vanished.

Although it is an ancient corpse that is thousands of years old, it has a real soul and, strictly speaking, belongs to another kind of life.

Xu Qi'an closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Luo Yuheng turned her head, glanced at him, raised her jade-like hand from her sleeve, gently grasped Xu Qi'an's hand, and said softly:

What did you discover?

Xu Qi'an exhaled a breath of stale air and steadied himself:

"There were no signs of a struggle at the scene; the ancient corpse died very quickly and cleanly."

"There are three possibilities: either it was an inside job; or its cultivation level is much, much higher, enough to easily kill the sealed creature."

"Either... someone you know, and also a super strong individual."

After listening, Luo Yuheng nodded slightly. "So you suspect that the owner of this tomb has returned."

The Imperial Advisor was indeed exceptionally intelligent. Xu Qi'an's expression turned solemn:

"Although it was sealed by the gods and could not unleash its power, its physical body was a genuine second-grade Daoist School body. Even if it was not as strong as a martial artist, it was still possible to destroy it like this."

"At least at the Transcendent Realm, no, even ordinary Rank 3 experts might not be able to do it. There have indeed been quite a few Transcendent Realm experts gathering in Yongzhou recently, but they have no need to kill the ancient corpse, and they are not even confident in killing it."

"At most, they'll come in to scout things out and ask for information."

Luo Yuheng hummed in agreement, acknowledging his guess.

Xu Qi'an continued, "The ancient corpse once said that it would remain in the underground tomb to await its master's return and retrieve its destiny. By a twist of fate, that destiny ended up in my hands."

At this point, his mood became extremely heavy.

If the ancient corpse died at the hands of the tomb's owner, then the mysterious Daoist's attitude can be easily imagined: anger, brutality, and hostility.

"Don't worry."

Luo Yuheng smiled, speaking in the tone of an ex-wife and loving mother:

"The more debts you have, the less you worry. It's troublesome to offend a big shot, and it's fatal to offend two big shots. But if you offend three, four, or even more, you'll be very safe."

"Well, at least you'll have some bargaining chips."

Isn't this the standard practice of many large companies with serious fiscal deficits in his previous life? Xu Qi'an relieved his mental pressure by complaining.

The Imperial Advisor's words make sense. No matter who the master of the underground palace is, if he wants to deal with me, he has to get past Luo Yuheng and the Supervisor.

During this period, the Buddhist School might also get involved.

Then, Xu Pingfeng will also express his opinion:

What? You want to harm my son? No way, only I can kill my son.

There is also the one who appears to be Jinlian, but is actually the leader of the Earth Sect, and whose true identity is the orange cat—the true owner of the Earth Book fragments.

There's also Dean Zhao Shou, who's determined to revive Cloud Deer Academy, and others.

There was also the Gu clan that gifted him the Seven Deadly Gu, making him bear the karma of sealing the Gu God.

These are all forces and figures deeply connected to him by karma.

"To put it another way, the existence of the underground palace's owner might also be a point that can be exploited."

Thinking about it this way, Xu Qi'an felt much more at ease.

Sigh, I don't know whether to be happy or sad.

Luo Yuheng said, "If the master of the underground palace intends to harm you upon our return to the capital today, the supervisor will surely give hints or make arrangements that you cannot comprehend at this stage."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qi'an couldn't wait to return to the capital and curry favor with the Superintendent.

"Please wait a moment."

He said something, then moved stones from all around and built a simple stone tomb for the ancient corpse.

After guarding this place for thousands of years, it can be considered a liberation.

Outside the ancient tomb.

With a scabbard under his buttocks and a blade of grass in his mouth, Miao Youfang whispered to Li Lingsu beside him:

"Brother Li, do you think that after I lose my dragon aura, no courtesan will like me anymore?"

"The courtesan?"

Li Lingsu stood to one side, looking down at him with disdain, and sneered:

Is that all you've got?

This is a playboy's mockery of a loser.

Miao Youfang carefully examined Li Lingsu and suddenly said:

"Brother Li, you have kidney deficiency."

Li Lingsu's expression changed slightly, and she angrily said, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

"I can see it. I've been traveling the martial world for many years and I'm a martial artist myself. I can tell at a glance whether a Qi and Blood are strong or not. You clearly have signs of kidney deficiency."

Fortunately, it's not serious; it will get better after some rest.

"If you're not Qi Ingestion, let's take our pants off and have a contest to see who can pee the farthest."

Li Lingsu sneered, "Vulgar!"

He certainly couldn't agree to such a pointless gesture; the Holy Son had an image to maintain.

Moreover, winning is fine, but what about losing and losing face?

Li Miaozhen, Chu Yuanzhen, and Master Hengyuan watched silently as the two performed their crosstalk.

Miao Youfang has the unique vulgarity of Jianghu people, as well as the detachment of young people, and has a strong Jianghu spirit.

But those present were all seasoned veterans, used to seeing similar people, and took it all for granted.

After exchanging a few sarcastic remarks, Li Lingsu decided not to stoop to the level of this lowly cultivator, as he realized that the other party always managed to bring them to a similar level and then defeat him through his extensive experience.

"Junior sister."

The Holy Son walked up to Li Miaozhen, rubbed his hands together, and gave her a fawning smile:

"Now that I no longer need to worry about the Eastern Sisters' pursuit, shouldn't you return the fragments of the Earth Book to me?"

Li Miaozhen's eyes darted around for a moment, and she replied perfunctorily:

"Oh, let's talk about it later."

Li Lingsu cast a questioning look at her junior sister. "Why wait a while?"

"Whether it's annoying or not, it'll be over soon."

"No, give me back the fragment of the Earth Book right now."

"Fine, I'll give it back to you."

Li Miaozhen took out the fragment of the Earth Book, gently tilted it, and a small jade mirror of the same style fell out of the mirror.

Li Lingsu reached out and took it, forcing a drop of blood from between her fingers, allowing the Earth Book to re-acknowledge its owner.

He still remembered his promise: when he asked Xu Qian for help to escape from the Eastern Sisters, he promised to use the belongings in the fragments of the Earth Book as payment.

As a proud man, he disdained breaking a contract.

Although I don't have much, the Law Artifact and gold and silver talismans I own are worth several thousand taels of silver. Li Lingsu re-established a connection with the fragments of the Earth Book and probed into it with her mind.

The fragmented space was completely empty.

Li Lingsu was taken aback.

Perhaps he opened it incorrectly. He withdrew from his mental focus and re-entered the Earth Book space.

It remains empty.

Li Lingsu twisted her stiff neck and slowly looked at Li Miaozhen, "Where is my silver? Where are my Law Artifact? Where are my talismans?"

"Sold!"

Li Miaozhen looked left and right, but avoided looking at Li Lingsu.

"Sold?"

Li Lingsu's voice rose several decibels, her eyes widening:

"Who gave you permission to sell? What right do you have to sell my things? What are you going to do with them?"

"When I was organizing a guerrilla army to suppress bandits in Yunzhou, I needed money, so I sold your things," Li Miaozhen said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Why don't you sell your own?" Li Lingsu felt like she'd been struck by lightning several times.

Li Miaozhen pouted. "When did you get the idea that I'm good at saving money?"

He muttered to himself, "I've given all my money to the poor."

Li Lingsu went berserk, his handsome face twitching uncontrollably. "You disgrace to the Heavenly Sect!"

Li Miaozhen was furious and said, "You are the disgrace to the Heavenly Sect!"

"As the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect, instead of cultivating the Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotions, you want to become a chivalrous hero? If you're not a scoundrel, who is?"

"As the Holy Son of the Heavenly Sect, you still sleep with women everywhere and leave a trail of broken hearts. You are not only a disgrace to the Heavenly Sect, but also a heartless and ungrateful man."

"I am sincere to every woman. Besides, being in love and transcending love is a path I've come to understand. You don't know anything about it."

"Ha, why don't you tell the Celestial Venerable this? If it weren't for you, would Master and Uncle-Master have gone down the mountain to arrest people?"

"They came down the mountain to arrest people, wasn't it because you tarnished the reputation of the Heavenly Sect, Flying Swallow Heroine!"

Chu Yuanzhen and Master Hengyuan looked at each other in bewilderment.

They knew about Li Miaozhen's situation, but they really didn't expect that the Holy Son would be just as capable.

No wonder, no wonder the Ice Lord of the Heavenly Sect and Daoist Xuancheng personally went down the mountain to capture them.

It's not unfair.

Chu Yuanzhen transmitted his voice, saying, "I never expected that the Heavenly Sect would produce two such extraordinary holy sons and daughters."

Hengyuan nodded helplessly, thought for a moment, and added:

"But it's still better than being a supervisor."

Thinking of the situation at the Bureau of Astronomy, the two fell silent.

PS: There was a bug in the previous chapter. Miao Youfang knew Xu Qi'an's identity; he overheard it. I was half asleep while writing last night and didn't notice this detail.