Chapter Thirty-Three: The Monster's Pelt, Jade in a Box

  The Linquan Junfu.

  It was already evening, the time to have dinner. As one of the top families in Lin Yuan City, the Li family naturally had very strict rules for dinner.

  Lingyuan City Master Li Boyan sat in the deputy seat, with the main seat empty. That was left for his father, Lingyuan Jun Li Zhouping's position. Although this powerful Xuan Jun rarely participated in family banquets.

  "Today's appraisal meeting was quite profitable for our family, the three medicinal prescriptions that Yurong bought from Xuyang will come in handy." said Li Boyan.

  When Li Boyan spoke up, the younger generation naturally put down their chopsticks, and only Li Zhongxuan, who was sitting sideways, poured a cup of wine and sipped it lightly.

  Li Yurong sat at the lower seat and upon hearing this, hastily stood up and modestly said: "It's all because of Uncle's exceptional insight, I don't dare take credit for it."

  Li Wang chuckled and said: "Yu Rong sister, don't be modest. Speaking of which, besides you, there are two other meritorious officials who can buy this prescription."

  "Go on, you try?" Li Yuzhi gave him a white eye, the pearls and jade on her temples lightly shaking with this movement.

  Li Wang said with satisfaction: "The first meritorious minister is me. I was the first to discover that Xu Yang was different from others, and I even gave him a medicine tripod, treating him as a friend."

  Li Bo Yan slightly furrowed his brow and said, "Xu Yang is a person with decent alchemy talent, but his physique for cultivating the mystic is too poor. He has an Eight Extremes Physique, and I've never heard of anyone being able to cultivate it to a high level. Moreover, he has a significant connection with the Mo Clan, so unless necessary, it's best not to get too close to him."

  Li Wang's face was a bit unsightly, and he felt somewhat resentful, but under Li Bo Yan's overwhelming power, he didn't dare to retort, so he continued: "As for the second great contributor, it should be Second Uncle."

  Li Zhongxuan put down his wine cup and gave his nephew a sidelong glance.

  "Second Uncle had once protected Xu Yang, and this kindness, Xu Yang would definitely remember in his heart." Li Wang explained.

  Lei Zhongxuan's sword-like eyebrows slightly raised, his handsome face suddenly turned icy cold: "Am I the kind of person who does favors in hopes of being repaid?" He downed a cup of wine in one gulp, then stood up abruptly and said: "Protecting Xu Yang is to repay the kindness of his father Xu Qingyuan! One kindness for another, it's only natural. If Xu Yang were to repay me again, that would mean I, the Lei family, owe him instead!"

  Li Zhongxuan didn't eat anymore and left his seat directly.

  "Uncle, don't be angry..." Li Yurong called out timidly.

  "Remember, I'm protecting Xu Yang out of righteousness. If anyone from the Li family tries to take advantage of this protection for personal gain, don't blame me for turning against them mercilessly!"

  Li Zhongxuan walked away with big strides, without looking back.

  Li Yurong's pretty face turned pale, and she sat down again in a somewhat dispirited manner.

  "Second Uncle is always like this, don't mind him," said Li Wang with a smile and a raised eyebrow. "Besides, Second Uncle's internal energy is strong, skipping one meal won't hurt him. We're still growing, if we don't eat, it won't do."

  The atmosphere was lifted by Li Wang's jokes, but Li Yurong's pale face and tightly furrowed eyebrows remained unchanged.

  Xu Yang's home.

  "Xiao Yu, I'm back." Xun Yang gently knocked on the copper-studded wooden door.

  The door creaked open, and Xǔ Yu poked out half of her little head, smiling sweetly as she said: "Brother, why are you back so late? Little Yu has already cooked dinner."

  Her gaze suddenly dropped, and Xu Yu saw Song Tinglan being led by Xu Yang.

  "Huh, who's this?" Xǔ Yú opened the door a bit wider, poked her head out, and curiously asked Sòng Tínglán.

  "Ah," said Xu Yang, rubbing Xu Yu's head while leading Song Tinglan into the courtyard, "do you still remember the ascetic path that your brother participated in? This is the daughter of the late Master Song, her name is Song Tinglan."

  "Master Song's daughter?" Yu's big eyes flashed with a hint of sympathy, she had heard from Xu Yang about the shocking ambush on the bitter cultivation path.

  "After that, Tinglan will stay at our home. Otherwise, as a single child, she would be bullied by others outside," Xuyang said, "If you are busy cooking and can't manage, you can ask Tinglan to help."

  "Uh-huh." Xǔ Yu was a well-behaved child, whatever her brother said went, and she carried it out without any discount.

  Xu Yang took down the sandalwood box from his backpack, which was a family heirloom hidden by Director Song in the beam of his house. He was very curious about what was inside.

  Open the box, inside is a yellowed animal skin fragment, on which are painted some crooked and slanted patterns.

  "This seems to be a fragment of a map, and judging from the lines above, it should only occupy about one-fourth of the area...". Xuyang's excited mood was instantly dampened. A mere map fragment, divided into four parts, wanting to collect them all in the vast Tianxuan Continent's nine continents is as difficult as ascending to heaven. Who knows if the remaining fragments have already turned to dust.

  Xu Yang felt something was off about the beast skin as his fingertips lightly touched it below.

  "This is a demon beast skin!" Xǔ Yáng tore at the remaining picture with all his might, only to find that even with his usual strength of 50 or 60 jīn, he couldn't tear this beast skin.

  "A map that can be recorded on the skin of a demon beast should not be ordinary, and it's not easy to damage." Xǔ Yáng only then felt some value, folded up the broken map, and put it in his leather pouch.

  "As for this wooden box, let's put it under the bed for now. We can use it to store medicinal herbs when we have time." Xǔ Yáng stood up.

  "Huh, this sandalwood box, the weight seems a bit off." Xǔ Yáng came back to his senses, and gently weighed it, discovering that compared to ordinary sandalwood, this sandalwood box was much heavier.

  "Could it be that there's another world inside the box?"

  "Xu, Xu Yang..." Song Tinglan whispered beside him, "This box is a treasure and will glow at night."

  Glowing? Xu Yang's eyes lit up as he carefully examined the wooden box.

  "How can you call Brother's name directly? You should be like me and call him Brother." Xǔ Yú patted Sōng Tínglán's shoulder, with a "I'm the most sensible" look.

  "Alright Xiaoyu, what Tinglan is called is her freedom." Xuyang said casually while admiring the wooden box.

  In Xu Yang's heart, Song Tinglan and Xu Yu had different statuses. The latter was the only person he could feel a sense of family with in this golden age, and he would treat her as his own sister. As for Song Tinglan, she was just someone who was promised to be taken care of once, he would ensure that she had enough food and clothing, and eventually find a good husband for her, but he wouldn't invest too much emotion into it.

  Xu Yu hummed in agreement, seemingly understanding something, feeling a little pleased with herself, and quickly ran off to serve the rice.

  Song Tinglan was also a precocious little girl and hurried over to help Xu Yu carry the bowl.

  Xu Yang examined it carefully for a while, and finally found a faint silver-white mark at the seam of the wooden box. He was overjoyed, and with a burst of force, he pried off a piece of the frame of the wooden box with a cracking sound.

  At the bottom of the wooden box, a silver-white jade stone was hidden, emitting a faint glow in the evening indoor light.

  "How beautiful!" Xǔ Yú carried a bowl over, suddenly stunned, and quickly put down the bowl to run over, "Brother, what is this?"

  "If I'm not mistaken, this should be called 'Jade'," Xǔ Yáng said with a smile, "containing extreme mysterious energy, it's the treasure that condenses the Mysterious Vortex...it seems my luck today is really good, all eight treasures are complete."

  Xu Yu didn't quite understand, but was also happy for her brother.

  "The spiritual objects of the Zhuxuan base have been gathered, now it's time to intensify cultivation, and soon raise the other seven kinds of Xuan abilities to a level balanced with Huoxuan ability, then rebuild the Zhuxuan base and become a Xuan Master!"

  PS: The third update is here!! Brothers, please recommend and support it! Thanks everyone!