Promotion to Second Rank (1)

After the Demon-Sealing Nail was removed, the flesh and blood in the Juju acupoint began to move and returned to normal. Xu Qi'an's aura also subsided, and he no longer released any pressure.

Chai Xing'er was limp all over, drenched in sweat, her mouth slightly open, panting heavily.

The oppressive aura released by a third-grade Great Perfection expert nearly killed her on the spot.

He was in better shape than ever before and wanted to fight Asuro. Xu Qi'an glanced at Number Eight, who was severely exhausted, and took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket and tossed it over.

"Thank you for the medicine to replenish your Qi and Blood."

Asura took the porcelain bottle, popped off the cork with a "pop," swallowed the pill inside whole, and then said:

Even if you recover your cultivation and reach the Great Perfection of the Third Grade, it will still be a drop in the ocean and you will not be able to contend with the Gara Tree.

"The Garuda Tree wields the 'Immovable King's Dharma Form' and the 'Vajra Dharma Form,' and even your Supervisor can't harm him. Besides, there's Xu Pingfeng, Black Lotus, and White Emperor. Hmm, I heard there's a junior named Ji Xuan who has also advanced to the third rank."

He was testing my cards to see if I was worth investing in. Xu Qi'an thought for a moment and decided to reveal part of his hand, saying:

"I was able to advance to the second rank in a short period of time, and Luo Yuheng, the leader of the Human Sect, was also able to transcend tribulation and enter the first rank of the Land Immortal realm in a short period of time."

"Furthermore, the former leader of the Martial Arts Alliance, Kou Yangzhou, is also a second-rank official."

He believed that Asura was an ally who could be won over. As a top-tier expert with two, three, and two strengths combined, if he could be brought into the Great Feng camp, it would undoubtedly make up for the weakness of the shortage of extraordinary experts.

Asuro nodded, his expression relaxing slightly.

"If you and I join forces, along with another second-rank martial artist, we'll be able to contend with either the White Emperor or one of the Gara Tree experts. Luo Yuheng can also neutralize a first-rank expert. However, Yunzhou also has a second-rank Black Lotus, a peak second-rank Xu Pingfeng, and a third-rank martial artist Ji Xuan."

Xu Qi'an considered carefully and said:

"Master Jinlian is now at the third rank, and the Bureau of Astronomy also has Sun Xuanji. The Dean of the Cloud Deer Academy is at the peak of the third rank. I will try to drag him down with me."

Asuro shook his head slightly:

"It's still not enough, unless you can gain another ally at the second-grade level, or acquire a means to exploit a weakness in your combat strength."

Yunzhou: Black Lotus, Rank 2; Xu Pingfeng, Rank 2; Ji Xuan, Rank 3.

The Great Feng: Zhao Shou, a third-rank official; Sun Xuanji, a third-rank official; and Jinlian Daoist, a third-rank official.

It's definitely a level below.

At this point, it all comes down to the skill level of the players. Xu Qi'an said calmly:

"That's a problem for me to worry about; you don't need to concern yourself with it."

Regardless, the deputy bureau has been revitalized. Although the overall situation is weak, there is now room for maneuver. Unlike before tonight, when there was only despair and no power to resist.

Asuro considered it for a moment and said:

"I have a suggestion."

After Xu Qi'an nodded, he said:

"You can try to win over Arhat Du'e. The matter of the Buddha has caused a rift between him and Bodhisattva Guangxian. Du'e is a fervent advocate of Mahayana Buddhism, and you are the founder of Mahayana Buddhism."

"We could try to leverage this relationship."

Xu Qi'an immediately shook his head:

"The time is not right. Du'e Arhat still holds hope for the Buddha and Buddhist School. The chances of turning him against us now are slim."

After a moment's thought, Asuro agreed with his opinion:

"That's true."

Xu Qi'an continued:

"I still have a trump card left by the supervisor; we'll see how it goes after the peace talks end."

The first thing he did upon returning to the Bureau of Astronomy was to ask Song Qing if the Director had left anything behind.

After much thought, Song Qing realized that at this point in time, the only thing he knew was that the Supervisor had given Zhong Li a Law Artifact called the Chaotic Fate Hammer.

Xu Qi'an assumed this was something left to him by the supervisor and couldn't wait to find Zhong Li, asking to see the magical Law Artifact.

The Chaotic Fate Hammer can change a person's destiny. Zhong Li said that this thing was left to her by the Supervisor, specifically for Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an said, "Then come on, remember to be gentle with me!"

Zhong Li smacked him on the head, changing Xu Qi'an's fate to that of a pitiful "woman" fallen into prostitution. Xu Baipiao immediately took off his clothes, grabbed Zhong Li's hand, and said:

Master, I will serve you so you can rest.

Startled, Zhong Li slapped him and changed his fate to that of a pancake seller.

Xu Qi'an knelt on the ground, calling himself "Dalang," and pretended to carry a load of goods, saying:

My wife, you wait at home, I'm going to sell sesame cakes.

Zhong Li struck him again with the hammer, turning him into a scholar. Xu Qi'an quietly recited the Three Character Classic for half an hour before returning to normal.

The only takeaway from the entire experiment was that the Chaotic Fate Hammer could only affect Xu Qi'an for half an hour.

If an ordinary person is struck by this hammer, their fate will be permanently fixed unless they are struck again.

Song Qing, who witnessed the entire process, commented:

"Either the teacher gave Zhong Li the Chaotic Fate Hammer as a backup plan, or we haven't yet figured out the purpose behind the Supervisor's decision to leave the Chaotic Fate Hammer behind."

Although Song Qing said something seemingly pointless, that's roughly the gist of the situation.

"Next is promotion to the second rank, "Xu Qi'an hurriedly said.

"Number Eight, I'll see you out of the tower first. Contact me via telepathy if anything comes up."

Asuro nodded slightly, glanced at him discreetly, and said:

You suddenly feel a bit impatient.

He was in a hurry to arrange the flowers. Xu Qi'an returned a proper and polite smile.

"By the way, could you tell the members of the Heaven and Earth Society about your identity?" Xu Qi'an asked tentatively.

Asuro gave a meaningful "heh," and said calmly:

"Let's announce it when we meet. We can't see how embarrassed they'll be through the fragments of the Earth Book."

Xu Qi'an was stunned for a moment, then remembered how the members of the Heaven and Earth Society had gossiped about Asuluo's family from all corners of the world.

Ah, this is indeed a tempting suggestion. Xu Qi'an was persuaded by Asuluo.

I wonder what their expressions would be if they knew that Number Eight was Asuro.

The two immediately left the pagoda and parted ways in the dark, cold night; Asura rode the wind and disappeared.

He never put his hands together or chanted Buddhist mantras from beginning to end. Watching Asura's figure disappear into the night, Xu Qi'an recalled the whole process and noticed this detail.

"This turmoil has brought out the two biggest fish in the Heaven and Earth Society."

The remaining fish, of course, belongs to Huaiqing.

When Sun Xuanji was traveling the world collecting dragon energy, he once said that there were very few hosts for scattered dragon energy, and the hosts for the nine crucial dragon energy paths had also disappeared without a trace.

At that time, Xu Qi'an speculated that a third-party force was collecting dragon energy.

Only now do we realize that the third party was this eldest princess.

Having inherited Duke Wei's secret network, she certainly has the ability to uncover unusual events in various regions.

"Wait a minute, even if she had fragments of the Earth Book, without the Supervisor's modification, she couldn't possibly extract dragon energy from it. Ah, Supervisor, you old bastard."

"This is getting interesting. The Supervisor is assisting Huaiqing in collecting dragon energy. What is he planning to do? Has he already placed his bets on Huaiqing?"

Xu Qi'an grinned, merged into the shadows, transformed into a swimming fish, and returned to the capital.

Late at night, in Huaiqing Prefecture.

The eldest princess sat at her desk, and by the light of the lamp, unfolded the secret report in her hand.

The inscription reads, "Yang Yan, the General of Jianzhou, has secretly returned to the capital with three hundred elite troops."

"Of all the golden gongs left behind by Duke Wei, only Yang Yan was willing to support me without hesitation."

Huaiqing sighed.

She held the secret report to the candle, lit it, watched it turn to ashes, and then threw it into the porcelain jar used for washing brushes.

"Of the remaining Jinluo, only he would be willing to do this beheading deal with me." Huaiqing glanced at the head guard inside the room.

"How can you guarantee that Xu Yinluo will accompany you in this deal? He is engaged to His Highness Lin'an."

The head guard asked, puzzled.

"Because he is Xu Yinluo."

Huaiqing said calmly.

Princess Huaiqing had actually been playing a talent development game all along. She recommended a Kuaishou (a popular livestreamer) from Changle County to Wei Yuan, and had him join the Nightwatchers. From that moment on, she had the intention of cultivating talent.

After learning from Wei Yuan about Xu Qi'an's performance in the "Questioning the Three Values" exercise, Huai Qing became even more determined to cultivate and observe Xu Qi'an.

After that, in one thing after another, Princess Huaiqing provided assistance. In this way, Xu Qi'an was gradually nurtured by Princess Huaiqing until he advanced to the extraordinary level. She watched with her own eyes as a little quick-witted person grew into the great figure he is today.

She knew, of course, that Xu Qi'an would support her.

However, these are things that will not be said to outsiders.

[Eight: Everyone, I have emerged from my seclusion. Could we arrange a time and place to meet?]

In the middle of the night, the members of the Heaven and Earth Society received a message from Number Eight.

The members were slightly taken aback, but thanks to the groundwork laid by Master Jinlian a few days ago, they weren't too shocked.

[Seven: Oh, our Heaven and Earth Society has an Eight? Haha, just kidding. Are you a gentleman or a lady?]

Considering that the atmosphere in the Earth Book chat group had been rather heavy and tense lately, the Holy Son made a joke about Number Eight to lighten the mood.

[Two: Number Eight, be careful! Number Seven is a lecher who loves to deceive young women. And Number Three is also a lecher; he frequents brothels. Be wary of these two. If you are a gentleman, then disregard what I said.]

The members of the Heavenly Sect, Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick, livelyened the atmosphere with their banter.

[Eight: When I first possessed the fragments of the Earth Book, only fragments number two and seven had owners; the other fragments were vacant.]

Is Number Eight trying to flaunt his seniority? Chu Yuanzhen sent a message:

[You've been in seclusion for many days. May I ask your cultivation level? Among the members of the Heaven and Earth Society, apart from Number Three and Daoist Golden Lotus, the others are all at the fourth rank. When did you emerge from seclusion? Have you been reading the Earth Book recently?]

If it has been some time since they left the country, then they should know the identity of Number Three.

Since the recent conversations have all revolved around Great Feng and Xu Qi'an, if An Xin had been secretly watching, he should already know that number three is Xu Qi'an.

[Eight: My cultivation is shallow and not worth mentioning. I have been out of seclusion for some time now.]

At this moment, Daoist Jinlian sent a message:

[Number Eight has been in seclusion for too long and is not very aware of what's happening outside. You might want to talk to him about it, perhaps some high-level inside information.]

[Two: Ah, can we say that? We need Xu Qi'an's permission.]

Li Miaozhen naturally thought of some ancient secrets that Xu Qi'an had mentioned a while ago, because they were at a very high level.

[Nine: I don't think he'll mind.]

[Seven: Let me tell you, Number Eight, do you want to know the Buddha's secret? That family is quite interesting. Don't ask why they're a family, this holy son will tell you.]

The members of the Heaven and Earth Society eagerly began chatting, and everyone was quite proactive in trying to show off in front of Number Eight.

The Bureau of Astronomy, the bedroom.

The candlelight, as dim as a bean, burned quietly.

The shadow of the round table suddenly expanded, Xu Qi'an emerged from the shadow.

The room was quiet. Mu Nanzhi lay on her side, covered with a thick, soft quilt, and drifted off to sleep.

Bai Ji slept beside her, her tiny body, no bigger than a palm, covered by a thick quilt. If it weren't for a tuft of white fur peeking out from the corner of the quilt, you would never have noticed its presence.

"Time to be promoted to the second rank... Hmm, I need to take a shower first."

Xu Qi'an muttered to himself, went around to the back of the screen, and found that Mu Nanzhi had indeed not poured out the bathwater.

Xu Qi'an quickly took off his clothes and trousers, stepping naked into the bathtub. Flower petals floated on the surface of the water, emitting a faint fragrance.

The Flower Goddess often cultivated Rare Flowers and Exotic Herbs, which she would either dry or grind into powder, and then add some to her bath.

"It smells quite fragrant, but I'll have to keep green tangerines on hand at home from now on."

Xu Qi'an quickly finished his bath, stepped out of the tub, and casually picked up Mu Nanzhi's dress hanging on the screen to wipe the water off his body.

Then, he walked naked to the bedside, bent down, and breathed on Bai Ji.

This is a sleeping potion made from toxins, which will allow the little white fox to sleep soundly until the next morning. Even if he shakes the bed down, the fox cub will not wake up.

Xu Qi'an picked Bai Ji up and threw her to the foot of the bed, then lifted the covers and crawled inside.

In her dazed state, Mu Nanzhi felt a pair of hands lifting the hem of her inner garment and gently pulling down her silk trousers.

"Um"

She frowned, then immediately woke up.