A life of idleness in the world of demons

Chapter 32. Became a Hot Commodity

Having enjoyed himself and found a source of incense offerings, Ning Xuan took advantage of the leisure while others were still observing to resume his daily routine.
But soon, he began to feel depressed.

His Golden-Winged Thunder God was brought over, but he lost interest in it.

The servant who raised the chickens tried his best to tell him that a strange chicken had been found in a certain village, but he wasn't interested. He teased the Golden-Winged Thunder God a little, and then told the servant to take the chicken back.

His favorite horse used to be called "Chasing the Wind." He loved riding it and galloping wildly in the countryside, with many lackeys clapping and cheering him on. It gave him a feeling of being a "handsome young man in fine clothes and on a spirited horse." But now he has lost interest in it.

If a small, weak animal can't even run half as fast as you, what interest would you have?
He's not a little kid; he doesn't like playing house.

He wants to play for real.

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

With a yellow dog on the left and a falcon on the right, who wouldn't want that?
But eagles need to endure, and he endured it once.

That time, the eagle was looking at him with great spirit, wanting to test his willpower. But as he endured it, he realized it was pointless, so he gave up and instead hired two guards in the Ning Mansion to train the eagle.

He trains the guards to keep the hawks at home; that's the style of a young master.

When hunting, he would call his friends and companions, followed by a pack of hunting dogs, with guards holding eagles on their backs. It was a very enjoyable experience.

But now, he can crush any animal, whether it's an eagle or a dog, with a flick of his wrist.

In the end, it turned into playing house.

Ning Xuan suddenly realized that the things he liked had suddenly become low-class.

The servants, guards, and lackeys were all bewildered by their young master's behavior.

On the contrary, Master Ning saw this and was quite pleased, feeling that his son had really developed some of the bearing of a general, and no longer liked the things that the playboy liked.

These days, Ning Xuan is playing games, while he is using his connections to maneuver and patiently waiting for the outcome.

According to the rules, if a person with the potential to become a general appears in a certain place, the local official should report it, and then the decision will be made by the higher authorities.

Of course, there are many ways to report.

Discovery is one thing, and so is seeking recognition.
The former means that the general can be transferred at will to a place that truly needs him, which is usually a dangerous place; the latter means that the general below him has to "give up" his talents. Although the emperor has great power, he is also the person in the world who has no shortage of talents. For the sake of local stability, the emperor will usually keep the person who submits the request for merit in his local area, unless the emperor has a change of heart and wants to give up his talents. In that case, the general will naturally have to "give up" his talents.

As for Ning Taiyi, the Ning family's roots are in Wangyue Prefecture, where he has been operating for over thirty years, and he doesn't want to move.

Therefore, he wouldn't lose his head, become complacent, or bypass General Qin to report.

He is waiting.

While Master Ning was waiting, Young Master Ning was not.

After a period of unrestrained behavior, he has resumed his exercise routine.

The Heavenly Demon Talisman, which possesses a physique of "3.5" such as "Yin Wind Ox" and "Ghost Shadow Monkey," is also beginning to resemble these two physiques.

He deliberately avoided Manfeng Mountain.

Because he knew that another "fragrance-stealing rat" was coming from Manfeng Mountain.

This demon is no ordinary creature.

Although he killed the strongest one in his nightmare, who knows if a whole nest of "fragrance thieves" came?
When that time comes, the mountains and fields will be covered with golden statues of Bodhisattvas, which will scare people to death.

Even if it's not a whole family, but just one, judging from the three demons' banquet, it doesn't seem like they invited an entire clan, but rather just one person, which is still dangerous.

The Mountain-Collision Bear has a brocade cassock, the Yin Wind Ox has a Yin Wind Banner, and who knows what kind of treasure the Incense-Stealing Rat, a demon that plays with incense, might bring.

He needs to see things clearly before he makes a move.

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

In the setting sun, Ning Xuan stretched comfortably, then looked curiously in the direction of Manfeng Mountain.

He was very curious why the scent-stealing rat hadn't arrived yet.

At least, he hasn't heard of any missing persons cases in the surrounding area to this day.

Given their demonic nature, how could they not eat people now that they've appeared?

He exhaled a long breath, then raised his leg high hundreds of times in place, and then swept the panel.

Ning Xuan

[Life (Constitution): 3.5]

[Sex (Mental): 1]

His physical strength is now on par with that of the Yin Wind Ox.

The attribute that the Yin Wind Ox can provide has become "1.75".

His physical improvement was remarkably smooth.

But the spirit is different.

In the past two weeks, he had tried to use the "spirit of the thieving rat" to improve his spirit, but he found it was in vain. No matter what he did, he could not improve his spirit by even 0.01%.

Similarly, he tried to comprehend the "Yin Wind Demon" and the "Escape Technique" in the same way he comprehended the "Bear Collapses the Mountain," but it was all in vain.

Clearly, he has hit a bottleneck.

He still doesn't know what the problem is.

Ning Xuan wasn't in a hurry.

Anyway, he's become stronger again.

There was a lot of incense in the four Bodhisattva statues. He sucked it all up, but he was almost at the top of his lungs.

There is no limit to how much incense one can steal; just as everyone has a limited capacity for food, there is also a limit to how much incense one can steal.

This quantity is "spirit".

The amount of incense you consume depends on the amount of your spiritual energy.

After he summoned the Heavenly Demon Talisman, his spirit level was 5.5, so his current Bodhisattva statue is slightly larger than the Scent-Stealing Rat he first encountered.

With this new form of the Bodhisattva statue, coupled with his current enhanced physique, he has made another step forward compared to when he was at Manfeng Mountain.

However, he still cannot use the "Hum Ha Technique" unless he forcibly consumes incense offerings and sacrifices his bodhisattva body in order to elevate himself.

This is yet another trump card.

After all, he had already killed the Scent Stealer long ago. It was only by using this trick that he escaped death and killed him with a humph.

With a stronger foundation and more trump cards, Ning Xuan was in a good mood.

He was already thinking about what music he wanted to hear at the Agarwood Pavilion tonight.

He's been really free lately; even the wealthy guild master Liu Shirong, who's been "selling" girls, hasn't come looking for him.

Ning Xuan felt comfortable with everyone's pragmatism. If Liu Shirong had come to him regardless of everything, saying that no matter what the future held, Liu Shirong would always be his brother and the Wealthy Merchant Guild would always stand by his side, Ning Xuan would have been very flustered.

He might think that Yoo Se-young is sick.
Or did they get some inside information and want to make a first-hand investment? Or did they offend someone they couldn't afford to offend and want to take a desperate gamble?
Fortunately not.

Ning Xuan really liked friends like Liu Shirong.

There's no pressure when it comes to submitting.

When there's something going on among us, we get together, laugh and joke, and become like brothers.

When disaster strikes, everyone should flee for their own lives and not care about anyone else.

That would be best.

As for the eldest brother, after helping his father earn those two dragon energies from Manfeng Mountain, his father naturally gave them all to him. He is currently in seclusion to digest them and break through.

The place where he went into seclusion was called Zixia Temple.

Zixia Temple is not just a Taoist temple in Wangyue Prefecture, but a powerful force that spans hundreds of prefectures, dozens of states, and several provinces.

Ning Xuan heard it from Chou Nu.

Ugly Slave said, "Many years ago, there were many Taoist temples, but after the emergence of Zixia Temple, it unified all the Taoist temples at an extremely fast speed."

Ning Xuan immediately became serious.

Such a powerful force must be quite terrifying, and the process of unification must be extremely bloody.

Then, Chou Nu said, "Master Taiyi said that this is a requirement from above. No matter what your Taoist temple was called before, it must all be changed to Zixia Temple. That night, all the Taoist temples changed their plaques, and that was how all the Taoist temples in the world were unified."

"Oh."

Ning Xuan only replied with one word.

Now, Chou Nu is cultivating in that Taoist temple that bears the name "Zixia Temple" but is actually his father's territory.

Even a high-ranking official, if only at the prefectural level, is still a local tyrant.

Before sunset.
Ning Xuan returned to his residence.

As soon as he entered the mansion, he heard a familiar voice—his father's voice.

Besides my father, there were obviously guests he brought with him.

The old man said with a smile, "My son Xuan'er is fond of Buddhism, so he moved out of the house to stay away from the hustle and bustle and burn incense and worship Buddha at the nearby Kushi Zen Temple."

The guest made a few "uh-huh" sounds.

The old man said, "Look at what this main gate faces. It's Chenxiang Pavilion, the largest brothel in the surrounding area of ​​Wangyue Prefecture. Mr. Tang, you know that for cultivators, women are their inner demons. Xuan'er chose to locate his residence here."

The old man clapped his hands repeatedly and said, "Excellent! Even I have to say, excellent!"

The guest then nodded slightly and said, "Using inner demons to temper one's character is indeed a good idea."

The old man laughed and said, "Mr. Tang is in his prime now, and he will be in charge of Ping'an Prefecture for at least another twenty years. If my son could form a marriage alliance with your family, that would be quite good."

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

Ning Xuan listened from afar.

He understood immediately.

It seems that his qualifications are developing in a positive direction; this Mr. Tang has invested in advance.

The Tang family protected the Ning family for twenty years, after which it would be his turn to protect the Tang family.

This kind of marriage alliance is quite stable.

But he was reluctant.

He didn't want to get involved in other people's messy affairs.

He doesn't need resources from other companies.

If it weren't for the Ning family needing him to become a general, he wouldn't even want to be a general.

However, he did not say anything like, "Xiao Jie, I'm spending the night at Chenxiang Pavilion."

Since Dad brought people here, he must have his reasons.

Even if he wanted to refuse, he shouldn't do it in such a self-destructive way at this time.

So he straightened his robes, turned the corner to the main hall, and placed his gaze on his father and a nobleman in brocade robes in the reception room, and bowed.

The old man said, "This is your Uncle Tang."

Ning Xuan bowed and said, "Uncle Tang."

Then he laughed and said, "I just came back from martial arts practice and I'm covered in sweat. My apologies."

The nobleman in brocade robes nodded at him, smiled, and said, "Not bad, not bad, a good boy!"

After saying that, he added, "Ning Xuan, you may not know me yet. I come from Ping'an Prefecture, just like your father did in Wangyue Prefecture."

Your father and I are close friends, and my daughter Bing'er is about the same age as you.

Bing'er is no delicate young lady. Many of the hidden weapon designs in your Wangyue Prefecture's martial arts world originated from her, such as the Rain of Pear Blossoms, Four Generations Under One Roof, and Five Sons Chasing Hearts. In the future, she might very well be able to tailor-make a weapon suitable for you.

"How about we look around a bit more?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ning Taiyi, who was standing next to him, was stunned.

He brought this nobleman in brocade robes along, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to save face for him and maintain good relations.

He knew in his heart that if the Ning family wanted to be as solid as a rock, they still had to form a marriage alliance with General Qin's family. Moreover, as a general, General Qin naturally had his own cultivation methods, which would benefit Xuan'er.

On the other hand, Ning Xuan naturally wouldn't make promises lightly.

The air became quiet.

The laughter of the nobleman in his brocade robe broke the silence.

"Bing'er is obsessed with hidden weapons day and night. She probably doesn't know that I, her father, am coming to arrange her marriage. Ning Xuan, I've come in a hurry this time. I'll have someone send a portrait first, as is customary, later."

"After that, the marriage didn't work out, but at least you called me 'uncle' today. If you ever encounter any trouble in the future, I, as your uncle, will naturally not stand idly by."

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

The nobleman in brocade robes was taken aback.

Ning Xuan said, "We just received a new batch of fine wine, but we've had no one to drink with these days. Would you be so kind as to invite Uncle Tang to join us for a drink?"

The nobleman in brocade robes smiled and pointed at him, saying, "Soon, you won't have to worry about having no one to drink with."

(End of this chapter)