“Well, well, someone’s in heat again,” Mu Nanzhi remarked sarcastically.

By her calculations, it had been nearly a month and a half since their last dual cultivation session. She had thought Luo Yuheng wouldn’t seek out Xu Qi’an for dual cultivation anymore and had been secretly pleased about it.

But she hadn’t expected this cradle robber to come looking for the Xu fellow again for dual cultivation. The woman was nearly forty—couldn’t she show some shame? As for herself, being only a few years younger than Luo Yuheng, she naturally couldn’t be considered an old cow. The Princess Consort had always thought of herself as a young fairy, after all.

Luo Yuheng’s expression turned cold as she looked at Xu Qi’an with concern. “Young Master Xu, I sense her hostility. Mu Nanzhi is Great Zhou’s premier beauty—I truly lack confidence in competing with her for a man.”

At this point, a flash of fear crossed her eyes. “To prevent you from leaving me, I think it’s best to sell her to a brothel and let her become a ruined flower. No, first we’ll sell her to the Force Poison Tribe.”

As she spoke, she grabbed Mu Nanzhi’s wrist and started dragging her toward the door.

*You’re being too cautious—no, wait, the Force Poison Tribe has different aesthetic standards, they wouldn’t be interested in a pale beauty…* Xu Qi’an hurriedly rescued his Flower Goddess, saying sternly, “Imperial Tutor, we have urgent matters to attend to.”

Mu Nanzhi nestled in Xu Qi’an’s embrace, her eyelashes fluttering as her eyes filled with lingering fear. She trembled as she said, “She… she wanted to sell me to a brothel…”

Having known each other for years, she could tell when Luo Yuheng wasn’t joking.

“Her current state is problematic—she’s not the usual Imperial Tutor,” Xu Qi’an explained via voice transmission.

The Luo Yuheng before them was “Minor Fear”—she feared everything, and because of her fear, she was extremely cautious. Even though they had dual cultivated the night before, she insisted on another session upon waking. After lunch, she would drag Xu Qi’an into the room to dual cultivate again.

She reasoned that although the Karma Fire was suppressed and refined through dual cultivation, as long as there was still a possibility of it erupting, they couldn’t let their guard down. A 98% chance of no eruption rounded up meant it would erupt—perfectly logical!

Luo Yuheng furrowed her delicate brows and shook her head. “Young Master Xu has seen her true appearance, as have I. Such a femme fatale is a disaster if left in this world. I cannot sit idly by while she seduces my man. Ruining her is the best strategy.”

*All seven personalities are insane…* Xu Qi’an couldn’t be bothered explaining principles to a personality that would only exist for a day, so he simply agreed, “Rest assured, I will never betray the Imperial Tutor.”

Luo Yuheng shook her head gently. “I don’t believe you unless you swear never to touch her or love her in this lifetime.”

Ah, this… Xu Qi’an couldn’t help but glance at Mu Nanzhi.

Unexpectedly, the reincarnated Flower Goddess wasn’t one to be trifled with. She forcefully broke free from Xu’s embrace and sneered, “Fine, you call the shots today. Sell me to whichever brothel you wish.”

With that, she raised her wrist and removed her bracelet.

Beauty was the Flower Goddess’s greatest weapon. She firmly believed no man could resist her charm, and no man who had seen her true appearance could bear to see her sold to a brothel.

The moment she removed the bracelet, though they were in the Force Poison Tribe’s simple room, it filled with radiant light.

Bai Ji raised her head in a daze, staring at the beauty before her—a beauty that no words or language could adequately describe.

Or rather, if the word “beauty” was tailored for anyone, it would be for the woman before them.

She was alluring yet refined, enchanting but not seductive. Having flawless features was merely the baseline—her face exuded an intoxicating charm, her bearing utterly captivating.

Even Luo Yuheng, a stunning beauty with her inherent buffs, fell short in comparison.

“Can’t sell to a brothel, she’s mine!” Bai Ji raised her paw and struck forcefully, declaring fiercely with adorable ferocity.

The kitten-like roar awakened Xu Qi’an. He quickly grabbed Mu Nanzhi’s wrist and put the bracelet back on, transmitting to Bai Ji: “Didn’t you say you had important matters? Is it the Nine-Tailed Fox who needs to see me?”

“That’s right!” the little white fox said, half-entranced and half-clear-headed.

He glanced at Luo Yuheng, whose expression had grown increasingly dark with deepening fear in her eyes, and whispered urgently, “Summon her.”

Only a shark could deal with another shark.

Bai Ji responded with an “Oh,” jumped out of Mu Nanzhi’s arms, landed steadily on the ground, looked at Xu Qi’an, and raised her paw to point at the simple square table, saying sweetly, “Put me up there.”

Xu Qi’an complied, placing Bai Ji on the table. She curled up, her soft fox tail covering her body.

Seconds later, a powerful will descended. Bai Ji slowly opened her eyes, with misty light seeping from her left eye.

She swept her gaze across the three people in the room, examining Xu Qi’an, and said with a coquettish laugh, “You look somewhat anxious.”

Her voice was soft and magnetic, pleasant to the ear—it was the Nine-Tailed Fox’s voice.

*How could I not be anxious when the fish in the pond is about to fight…* Xu Qi’an looked at Mu Nanzhi and Luo Yuheng, saw them both staring at the Nine-Tailed Fox with hostility and knew his strategy of redirecting the conflict had worked.

He said coolly, “What matter brings Your Majesty to seek me?”

“I will be able to return to the Nine Provinces Continent soon. You can wait at the Ten Thousand Mountains,” the Nine-Tailed Fox said with a smile.

Xu Qi’an pondered for a moment before analyzing, “Given the Buddhist sect’s positioning in the Southern Borderlands, one Asura alone might struggle to contend with us. Is it possible that Du’e and Guangxian might join the battle?”

Bai Ji sat crouched on the table, appearing cute and obedient, but spoke in a mature feminine voice: “Thanks to Licensed Xu’s prowess, the Buddhist sect has lost one Arhat and two Vajra warriors. The Garuda’s body is in Qing Province keeping the Imperial Censor in check. If the Buddhist sect wishes to protect the Ten Thousand Mountains, Du’e must go. As for Guangxian, he will likely send an avatar.”

Xu Qi’an raised an eyebrow. “Just one avatar?”

The Nine-Tailed Fox laughed coquettishly: “Guangxian has stayed in Alanda for five hundred years without leaving. What do you think he’s guarding?”

*Guarding the sleeping Buddha. If that’s the case, reclaiming the Ten Thousand Mountains will be easier. Then we can support the Southern Demons to confront the Buddhist sect…* Xu Qi’an had an inexplicable feeling of participating in and changing history.

The “Jiazi Demon Purge” was a campaign recorded in history books, and what he was about to do now was add a twist to this historical account.

Many years later, future generations might write in their history books:

Five hundred years after the Jiazi Demon Purge, with the help of Great Zhou’s Licensed Xu Qi’an, the Southern Demons drove the Buddhist sect out of the Southern Borderlands and reclaimed their ancestral lands!

The Nine-Tailed Fox’s gaze then fell on Luo Yuheng, and she smiled with narrowed eyes: “Is the Human Sect’s Dao Leader also going to lend my demon race a helping hand? Tsk tsk, as expected of you, adding one of the Nine Provinces Continent’s strongest female cultivators to your harem.”

*No, you’re courting death here—is Luo Yuheng someone you can tease like this?* Xu Qi’an grumbled internally while observing Luo Yuheng’s expression. Seeing her cold face and lack of response, he said helplessly, “No, the Imperial Tutor will enter closed cultivation in a few days and won’t participate in the Southern Borderlands conflict.”

For him, having Luo Yuheng quickly suppress the Karma Fire and transcend to become a Terrestrial Immortal was of paramount importance.

Only with a Tier 1 sword cultivator holding down the fort would Great Zhou be truly stable.

Before that, any battle that might disrupt Luo Yuheng’s “balance” was an unnecessary risk.

The Nine-Tailed Fox nodded with some disappointment.

“Your Majesty, please don’t leave yet. I have important information here—would you be interested in a trade?” Xu Qi’an, following the principle that knowledge is wealth, intended to sell the conversation between the Poison God and the White Emperor to the Nine-Tailed Fox.

As experts in the supernatural realm, they wouldn’t be uninterested in such classified information.

The Nine-Tailed Fox gave a “heh” and said, “That depends on whether your information is worthy of my attention.”

Xu Qi’an said gravely, “Not long ago, the White Emperor, who had appeared in Cloud Province, came to the Poison Tribe to see the Poison God. He asked three questions.”

The misty light seeping from the Nine-Tailed Fox’s left eye trembled slightly as she dropped her coquettish manner: “You’ve successfully caught my interest.”

Xu Qi’an then related the conversation between the White Emperor and the Poison God to the Nine-Tailed Fox.

After finishing, he smiled and said, “What compensation does Your Majesty plan to offer for this secret?”

“What a coincidence!” The Nine-Tailed Fox said with a charming smile, “When I went overseas, I also encountered the White Emperor and learned from it the reason why the divine and demonic bloodlines fled the Nine Provinces Continent back then, and it’s related to these three questions.”

Xu Qi’an’s expression turned serious as he blurted out, “What was the reason?”

Although later generations of humans often propagated that the Divine-Demonic Era was ended by human ancestors and that after the fall of the divine and demonic beings, their bloodlines were also exterminated by humans, Xu Qi’an knew that after the ancient divine and demonic beings perished, their descendants had ruled the Nine Provinces for many, many years.

At that time, although humans and demons were gradually rising, there were no Supreme tier experts, and even Tier 1 experts were probably as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

It was difficult to contend with the numerous divine and demonic descendants.

It just wasn’t as hopeless as during the Divine-Demonic Era.

But in today’s Nine Provinces Continent, humans truly dominated. The Nine-Tailed Fox had mentioned last time that the divine and demonic descendants suddenly left the Nine Provinces Continent en masse during the ancient era, fleeing overseas.

Luo Yuheng and Mu Nanzhi also became interested—the former, as one of the continent’s peak experts, naturally paid attention.

The latter was purely there for the drama.

The Nine-Tailed Fox said word by word: “They were driven out of the Nine Provinces by the Dao Sovereign.”

*Driven out by the Dao Sovereign… so that’s why the White Emperor asked about the Dao Sovereign’s whereabouts… Why did the Dao Sovereign drive the divine and demonic descendants out of the Nine Provinces back then? Was his mother also eaten by the divine and demonic descendants?*

Moreover, what did being the Guardian mean? Could it be related to the Dao Sovereign?

At this moment, it was as if lightning flashed through Xu Qi’an’s mind, insights bubbling up like air bubbles, then bursting in an instant.

He vaguely grasped something.

This state was like investigating a case with insufficient clues—having a guess but unable to verify it.

At the same time, another question occurred to him: after learning of the Dao Sovereign’s possible demise, would the White Emperor return to the Nine Provinces?

…

Qing Province Administrative Office.

In the hall, Yang Gong sat behind his desk, listening to his advisors argue endlessly.

Two military intelligence reports had arrived from the front lines. Wan County was surrounded by twenty thousand troops; the Cloud Province army surrounded but didn’t attack, destroying the three reinforcement armies sent to provide support.

The Qing Province army suffered heavy losses.

The situation in Dongling City was even worse and more complex. Sun Xuanji and Ji Xuan had fought a battle that reduced half the city wall to ruins.

Dongling was no longer a matter of whether it could be defended—the city was already lost.

Now the Qing Province troops that had originally garrisoned Dongling had withdrawn from the city walls and engaged in field battles with the Cloud Province rebel army, reaching a stalemate.

Although they hadn’t lost, the defensive line at Dongling was gone.

“Ziqian!” Li Mubai slowly exhaled: “The reason why the reinforcements sent to Wan County were ambushed was because the rebel army has a flying beast unit. Before the flying beast scouts, our army’s movements hold no secrets. This is a dead end.”

The advisors fell silent.

Great Zhou had no flying beast unit, which meant surrendering the skies to the enemy. With every move under enemy surveillance, how could they not lose?

Only a flying beast unit could counter another Flying Beast unit.

Yang Gong massaged his brow and exhaled deeply: “I’ve already sent an urgent report to the court, requesting the mobilization of Red-Tailed Fierce Eagles from Lei Province.”

An advisor said dejectedly: “But it’s not enough—how many can Lei Province mobilize? The court sold the Red-Tailed Fierce Eagles to local merchant associations and noble families long ago. Besides, if the Red-Tailed Fierce Eagles don’t engage in battle, how much combat power can they provide? Lord Yang, if we cannot suppress the enemy’s flying beast unit, subsequent operations will be very unfavorable for us.”