“Please, Heavenly Sovereign, show mercy!”

Li Ling Su fell to his knees, crying out urgently.

Compared to Li Miao Zhen’s unyielding nature, the Holy Son’s greatest achievement in his three years traveling the jianghu was learning to be flexible and diplomatic.

“It’s extremely difficult to cultivate a Holy Daughter. How can we make such a hasty decision about life and death? Junior Sister is stubborn and tends to overthink things. Please give me one day—I guarantee I can persuade her.”

After speaking, seeing the Heavenly Sovereign remain silent, Li Ling Su quickly prostrated himself, pressing his forehead to the ground, and said:

“I beg the Heavenly Sovereign to grant this.”

He had truly done everything he could for this junior sister.

Sovereign Bing Yi glanced at Li Ling Su and said flatly:

“The Holy Son speaks the truth.

“The Holy Daughter is my disciple. Her reaching this point is my responsibility. I request one day from the Heavenly Sovereign to guide her. If this wayward disciple refuses to change, I will personally use the Thunder Whip to scatter her soul and uphold sect rules.”

Silence fell in the hall. The elders neither pleaded nor pushed her further down, their expressions remaining indifferent.

After a long while, the Heavenly Sovereign’s voice echoed in the hall:

“Granted!”

Whoosh! Li Ling Su let out a breath, saying excitedly:

“Thank you, Heavenly Sovereign.”

Once he got back, he planned to find an opportunity to steal a fragment of the Earth Book and send a message to Xu Qi An asking for help.

Even if Li Miao Zhen hadn’t stood her ground, the Holy Son would have found excuses to delay things and postpone the memory severing, then secretly send messages to Heaven and Earth Society members asking for help.

…

As night fell, a great bonfire was lit in the Power Insect Tribe’s square.

The aroma of succulent game meat wafted from the bonfire, the skin crispy—this was the celebration feast the Insect Tribes were holding for Constable Xu.

All the prominent figures of the Insect Tribes had come, seated at tables according to their tribes, with fine wine, delicacies, and roasted meat laid out.

The women of the Emotion Insect Tribe danced and sang around the bonfire, swaying their graceful bodies to add to the festivities.

The men from other tribes had their gazes fixed like magnets to iron on the Emotion Insect Tribe women’s waists, buttocks, and bosoms.

Only the men of the Power Insect Tribe unhesitatingly chose food over beauty.

Xu Qi An sat at his table, flanked by Heart Insect Tribe leader Chun Yan and Emotion Insect Tribe leader Luan Yu.

These two were outstanding beauties of the Insect Tribes, each charming in their way, responsible for drinking with Constable Xu.

Chun Yan was rational and composed, relatively reserved. Though she chatted and laughed with Xu Qi An, there was no physical contact.

Luan Yu, on the other hand, acted like a seductive fox spirit, her soft body half-leaning against Constable Xu, her full, soft bosom brushing against his arm.

“Constable Xu, I hear that women in the Central Plains share cups of wine with men they fancy. I’ve admired you for so long—won’t you share a cup with me?”

“Oh my, Constable Xu, I accidentally spilled wine on my chest. Won’t you help me wipe it off?”

“Constable Xu, I can’t hold my liquor well. Would you escort me back to my tribe to rest?”

The alluring beauty employed every trick she knew, trying to seduce this number-one expert of the Central Plains into bed. But Constable Xu was an upright gentleman who remained unmoved by temptation, completely indifferent to the seduction attempts of the Emotion Insect Tribe’s greatest beauty.

This earned the admiration of the Insect Tribe members, who thought: as expected of an unparalleled expert who achieved Tier-1, this kind of mental fortitude and self-control was beyond ordinary people.

Amidst the drinking and revelry, one Insect Tribe member called out loudly:

“Thanks to Constable Xu resolving the Extreme Abyss threat, our Insect Tribes no longer need to worry about supernatural insect beasts being born!”

“What’s so scary about supernatural insect beasts? Even if they were born, our Constable Xu would cut them down one by one!”

Someone immediately chimed in.

Others showed relief on their faces, sighing:

“This proves how correct our choice was to ally with Great Zhou and Constable Xu. If we had allied with Cloud Province, the Insect Tribes would be facing disaster now.”

Looking back now, the Insect Tribe members felt both relieved and excited—their earlier choice had been correct.

The leaders had initially leaned toward allying with Cloud Province, even fighting with Constable Xu over it. How foolish that had been!

Fortunately, they were defeated by Constable Xu. Otherwise, if they had allied with Cloud Province, forget about the Central Plains court’s later retribution—just the Extreme Abyss problem would have given the Insect Tribes endless headaches.

But now, not only had they won the war and been promised money and resources by Great Zhou, but they had also gained a Tier-1 warrior as an ally who easily resolved the Extreme Abyss threat.

The Insect Tribes had benefited enormously.

Among the seven major tribes, the Emotion, Corpse, and Poison Insect tribes had been most hostile to Great Zhou, but now hearing the other four tribes’ members praise and compliment Constable Xu, they felt no resentment or dissatisfaction.

Just today, they had been frantically packing to flee north, their fear and worry very real as they truly felt the crisis.

Although this incident turned out to be a false alarm, the shadow of supernatural insect beasts being born had genuinely loomed over them, and Constable Xu had resolved this problem, equivalent to removing the crisis hanging over their heads.

Everyone had experienced the benefits of having a Tier-1 warrior as an ally.

Moreover, the leaders said tribal children could study in the Central Plains—this was an enormous temptation. What parent wouldn’t be delighted?

Xu Qi An was eating and drinking heartily, just hoping the banquet would end soon when suddenly he heard a familiar, high-pitched “waaah” crying.

Looking toward the sound, he saw it was Xu Ling Yin.

She stood beside a large wooden box covered in dirt, head tilted back, mouth wide open, crying “waaah waaah” with tears falling by the pint.

Beside her were Li Na and other Power Insect Tribe members holding their noses.

Xu Qi An frowned, got up from his seat, and strode over, frowning as he asked:

“What’s wrong?”

As he spoke, he caught the stench coming from the wooden box.

“Big pot~~”

The little dumpling grabbed Xu Qi An’s leg, overcome with grief, crying even more sorrowfully.

Beside them, Li Na pursed her lips and explained:

“She knew the Central Plains was suffering from drought and lacking money and food, so she secretly stored a lot of meat to take home to you. She thought this way the Cloud Province rebels wouldn’t attack you.”

As she spoke, she pointed at the wooden box and sighed:

“I had no idea she’d hidden an entire box of meat and buried it in the ground. No wonder Ling Yin was always hungry lately, and even bit my arm at night when she got too hungry.”

Unfortunately, in the Southern Borders’ hot climate, meat couldn’t be preserved and had completely rotted.

Xu Qi An opened the box for a look. Inside were both cooked and raw meat, all rotted and giving off waves of stench.

No wonder she’s crying so hard, her heart must be bleeding… Xu Qi An looked down at Xu Ling Yin’s chubby face covered in snot and tears, his gaze softening.

…

After the food and wine were finished, the celebration feast ended with everyone satisfied.

The most excited and thrilled was the Corpse Insect Tribe’s leader Yu Shi. As the gathering dispersed, Xu Qi An fulfilled his promise and gave him the ancient corpse remains from the underground palace.

In Yu Shi’s eyes, this made Constable Xu like a brother from different parents, while his fellow Corpse Insect Tribe members became villains trying to steal his treasure.

Yu Shi practically floated away carrying the coffin.

The Corpse Insect Tribe members were both envious.

The most disappointed was Luan Yu from the Emotion Insect Tribe. She had used every trick in her arsenal today, acting coy and seductive, but Constable Xu remained unmoved, showing no intention of fulfilling his promise.

Luan Yu was anxious inside, but how could she dare complain?

As a mere woman who had suffered rejection, she could only endure it. Constable Xu looked down on her—was she supposed to make a scene and cause him to lose face?

Luan Yu was a seductress who knew how to entice men, she wouldn’t do something so tasteless.

“Leader, it seems Constable Xu is unwilling to fulfill his promise,” muttered a young woman on their way back to the tribe. “How can someone of Constable Xu’s stature not keep his word? Leader, you like him so much.”

Another woman couldn’t help laughing when she heard this:

“How could the leader actually like him? She just wants to taste his body.”

Luan Yu glared at her and said:

“Constable Xu is one of the Nine Provinces’ few supreme experts, a young hero. Heroes love beauties, and beauties love heroes—of course, I like him.”

She said somewhat wistfully:

“It’s just that Constable Xu looks down on me.”

What was most frustrating was that she couldn’t even seduce him with her Emotion Insect abilities, because like her, he had supernatural-level insect techniques.

The Emotion Insect Tribe women felt sorry for their leader.

Their leader was the tribe’s most beautiful person, with long elegant legs, round and full buttocks, a beautifully curved waist like a water snake, a bosom heavy with charm, and an alluring face.

Even they as women felt attracted to looking at her—embracing that enticing body to sleep would surely be endlessly pleasurable. If not for tribal rules forbidding it, there would be too many women willing to be the leader’s concubines.

Soon, the Emotion Insect Tribe members returned to their settlement. Buildings made of brick and wood were arranged in neat rows—the Emotion Insect Tribe’s settlement was more like a small town in the Central Plains, with buildings and road infrastructure far superior to the Power Insect Tribe’s.

By now the night was deep. Except for a few windows still showing lamplight, most tribe members had naturally entered their cultivation state, with various sounds floating from the windows combining into sensual music.

Luan Yu’s spirits lifted as the Emotion Insect within her automatically gathered the forces of lust from the surroundings to nourish itself.

The men and women returning to the tribe were long used to this, merely quickening their steps, wanting to hurry home to cultivate with their wives or husbands and ascend the clouds and rain together.

The leader’s mansion was at the center of the settlement, an extremely large estate.

Luan Yu entered her mansion and headed to her quarters. Reaching the outer chamber, she commanded:

“Prepare hot water, I want to bathe.”

After speaking, she passed through the outer chamber and pushed open the bedroom door.

With a creaking sound, the door swung open. Luan Yu suddenly widened her beautiful eyes, standing stunned at the threshold, her face full of disbelief.

In the orange candlelight, by the round table, a handsome, upright man held a cup of wine and said with a smile:

“Tonight’s your lucky night!”

…(This section is premium content, requires additional payment!!)

The next day.

In the Southern Borders’ Hundred Thousand Mountains, endless ranges covered the earth, with lush primeval forests stretching to the horizon.

Occasional terraced fields could be seen, cultivated by Western Region people over the past five hundred years.

As the ancestral land of the demon race, the Hundred Thousand Mountains had almost no plains and lacked suitable farmland, making it unsuitable for human habitation.

Luan Yu was quite delicious… Xu Qi An savored the memory of last night’s passionate encounter. The way Luan Yu swayed her waist like a water snake had a seductiveness that even the courtesans of the pleasure district couldn’t match.

Round, perky, and bouncy with just the right amount of flesh, her buttocks felt great to hold.

Five-star review!

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he saw the not particularly tall but majestic main peak of the Ten Thousand Demons Mountain.

At the mountaintop was a dense cluster of buildings.

Xu Qi An dove down, falling toward the Southern Dharma Temple amid piercing sonic booms, yet landing as lightly as a feather without damaging the stone slabs beneath his feet.

Moments later, in the original Buddha Hall that had been converted into the “Ten Thousand Demons Empress Hall.”

The heavenly beautiful silver-haired demon concubine reclined on the demon sovereign’s throne, her long white legs crossed, fox tail slowly swaying as she said with a smile:

“Congratulations to Constable Xu on reaching Tier 1. Becoming a Semi-Martial God is just around the corner.”

Xu Qi An picked up a teacup, took a sip of Southern Border flower tea, and said directly:

“I want to see Master Shen Shu!”

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox shook her head slightly:

“He’s trying to merge with the remnant souls within him and has been sleeping for many days.”

Such bad timing? Xu Qi An frowned.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox’s eyes curved into crescents as she held one of her fox tails, swaying it gently while saying softly:

“You want to ask about how to advance to Semi-Martial God?”

“How to advance quickly,” Xu Qi An corrected.

With the Imperial Mentor and the Flower God, plus his talent, becoming a Semi-Martial God might not be impossible in the future, but the timeline would be hard to control.

Moreover, with fate’s blessing but limited lifespan, becoming a Semi-Martial God in seventy or eighty years would be meaningless.

Because by then, he’d have both feet in the coffin, just short of lying down.

“I asked on your behalf.”

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox seemed to have expected his visit and smiled: “Shen Shu’s memories haven’t recovered fully, and he isn’t very clear, but after discussing it with my father, we did gain some insights. Listen and see if they’re useful to you.”

A reliable ally… Xu Qi An nodded.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox’s voice was sweet and magnetic as she said with a smile:

“Let’s set aside the relationship between Buddha and the Asura King for now. Remember Du E Arhat’s impression of Shen Shu?”

A gifted martial monk who, after entering the supernatural realm, cultivated both the Chan Master system, then left Buddhism and disappeared, returning later as a Semi-Martial God… Xu Qi An recalled Du E Arhat’s words and nodded:

“I remember.”

“One thing can be confirmed—when Shen Shu first emerged, he had nothing except this Asura King’s physical body. So how did he achieve Semi-Martial God status in just a short one or two hundred years? What do you think was the reason?”

Without waiting for Xu Qi An’s response, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox continued:

“First, Buddha, with his transcendent status, practicing martial arts would naturally progress rapidly. There were almost no bottlenecks.

“Second, the Asura King himself was already Tier-1, perhaps even mid-Tier-1. Only such a being would require Buddha to personally intervene to suppress.”

Xu Qi An’s eyes lit up as he grasped the key point, pondering:

“You mean Shen Shu could achieve Semi-Martial God status because Buddha first rebuilt his martial arts to an extremely high level, then refined and absorbed the Asura King’s power? If I could also refine a martial artist of the same level’s power, I would have a very high chance of advancing to Semi-Martial God?”

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox smiled brilliantly:

“Clever!

“The details might differ somewhat, but the general direction should be correct.”

She paused, rubbing her legs together, and said helplessly:

“Unfortunately, you’re the only Tier-1 martial artist in the current world.”

But Xu Qi An wasn’t discouraged. Stroking his chin, he said:

“There may be no martial artists, but there are god-demon descendants. Could refining a god-demon descendant’s spiritual essence advance me to Semi-Martial God?”

As he spoke, he first thought of the Flower God, who was a legitimate god-demon.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, who already knew of Mu Nan Chi’s existence, shook her head:

“God-demon spiritual essences are different. Each god-demon’s spiritual essence is unique—the Undying Tree’s spiritual essence lies in its vigorous vitality. You need to find a god-demon descendant who matches martial artists, and their level can’t be too different.

“Then find a way to completely consume them, taking their power for yourself.

“But I don’t know how to take it. Shen Shu can’t be used as a reference because Buddha borrowed his vessel, but for your situation, I can’t offer advice.”

Setting aside how to take the power, for now, a god-demon descendant matching martial artists, with similar status… Xu Qi An’s gaze lingered on the silver-haired demon concubine’s alluring figure.

The Nine-Tailed Fox gave him a sultry look and said coquettishly:

“You rogue, you do want to sleep with me.

“Oh right, I hear you’re getting married soon. As an ally, I’ll send you two bedwarmers as concubines. Night Concubine is already yours, so she doesn’t count.

“I’ll send Clear Concubine and Snow Concubine to the capital on your wedding day.”

Xu Qi An’s expression turned serious:

“No need!

“Um, I don’t mean I don’t want two concubines, I mean don’t send them for the wedding. I think they’re fine staying in the Southern Borders, I’ll come play often when I’m free.”

After speaking, he took a sip of tea and changed the topic:

“Where’s Night Concubine?”

After the tribulation battle ended, Floating Fragrance had left the Central Plains, leaving him a note saying the Empress had summoned her back to the Southern Borders on business.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox blinked her eyes and smiled:

“Night Concubine gets very jealous. If she knew I wanted to send other sisters to you, she’d cause trouble, so I sent her off to some remote corner.”

If you don’t want to say, that’s fine… Xu Qi An never let himself be led by the nose of women. He changed the subject:

“Besides the Semi-Martial God matter, this trip to the Southern Borders was also to let you know to prepare—let’s attack Arantha.”

The silver-haired demon concubine’s expression froze for a moment. She changed from her lazy reclining pose to sitting properly cross-legged, staring intently at Xu Qi An:

“Are you confident?

“After leaving the Central Plains, you can’t mobilize the power of the masses. Arantha has three Tier-1 guardians, and that transcendent being is probably sleeping in Arantha’s depths. Even though you’re now a Tier-1 martial artist, your strength isn’t enough.”

Xu Qi An said:

“I’ve raised the Seven Fatal Insects to a supernatural level. Even without the power of the masses, no one at the Tier-1 level is my match.”

The Seven Fatal Insects reached a supernatural level, seven supernatural insect techniques merged into one… The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox let out a soft breath, bit her lip, and sighed:

“I almost couldn’t control my jealousy just now.”

She set aside her coquettish manner and said seriously:

“Shen Shu is merging with the remnant souls. After he succeeds, his battle power will increase, but the strength of transcendent beings is immeasurable. If you want to attack Arantha, you must be prepared for supernatural beings to fall.

“I’m not afraid of death, but are your Great Zhou supernatural beings prepared for this?”

Great Zhou’s supernatural beings might not fear death, but whether they’re willing to die for the Ten Thousand Demons Nation is another matter.

Xu Qi An entered discussion mode and said flatly:

“Have you heard about the coming great calamity?”

The silver-haired demon concubine gripped her fox tail, her fox-like beautiful face unusually serious. At this moment, she showed something of a cold and beautiful empress’s bearing:

“The coming great calamity?”

Xu Qi An then told this Ten Thousand Demons Nation empress about how transcendent beings were competitors.

“The Insect God and Shaman God are about to emerge, and ‘Desolation’ may return to the Nine Provinces at any time—these are all formidable opponents. The one in Arantha’s depths may not be willing to fight to the death with us over Shen Shu’s head.

“Combining all the supernatural forces of Great Zhou and the Ten Thousand Demons Nation, we can certainly kill their Tier-1s. If they don’t want to be a general without an army when the great calamity comes, they will compromise.

“Of course, we also need to prepare ways to save our lives. If the transcendent being won’t compromise, we’ll retreat.”

He was now a chess player, not a chess piece, able to influence the changes in the Nine Provinces’ situation.

Before the transcendent being breaks free from the seal, he wanted to deploy as much as possible to strengthen his side’s foundation.

Shen Shu, as a Semi-Martial God, was the first piece he needed to complete.

After listening, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox’s breathing became slightly rapid. She pressed her lips together and said word by word:

“We can try!”

It was finally coming—her five-hundred-year wait, her five-hundred-year wish was finally approaching.

After discussing the process in detail and making preliminary plans, Xu Qi An bid farewell.

“Ah, right, what does Snow Concubine look like? Bring her back for me to see?”

Reaching the door, Xu Qi An mentally rubbed his hands together as he turned back to ask.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox smiled, her tone teasing:

“You’ve seen her before.”

I’ve seen her… Xu Qi An searched his memory, then nodded with an “Oh” and rose into the wind.

…

Just as he left the territory of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, a familiar heart palpitation came.

He immediately slowed his flight and took out the Earth Book fragment to check the message.

[Seven: Help! Help! The old bastards at the Celestial Sect are going to kill Li Miao Zhen.]