Wait a minute, where is my master?

In the study.

Emperor Xia Huangchun looked at his suddenly appearing father, his entire body tense.

Spiritual Power quietly seeped into his storage magical treasure, calling for his trusted subordinates to come.

"Father, why are you..."

Prince Chun tried to buy time, but for a moment, he couldn't think of any excuses.

After all, the father and son hadn't seen each other for a very long time, and they hadn't spent time face-to-face like this in just as long.

"Don't bother waiting, your subordinates won't be able to come."

Emperor Xia Xuanmin spoke calmly, but his words made Prince Chun's heart sink to the bottom.

"Father, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the sounds of magical explosions and bursts of angry reprimands emanated from the manor, mixed with various intense fluctuations of Spiritual Power.

"Daring scoundrel!"

"The Prince has treated you well!"

"Rubbish!"

Emperor Xia Huangchun turned pale upon hearing these sounds. His Escape Skill activated, and he rushed towards the outside of the study at an extremely fast speed to see what was happening.

Although he was fast, Emperor Xia Xuanmin was even faster. With a flash, he intercepted the other party.

Next, a huge Spiritual Power handprint condensed from the air and struck Prince Chun to the ground.

"Cough... cough."

The flooring of the study shattered, revealing a large palm-shaped crater. Amidst the billowing dust, Xia Huangchun emitted violent coughs.

That one blow had shattered all four of his protective magical treasures.

The Divinity Transformation Realm against the Tribulation Crossing Realm, even a heavily injured Tribulation Crosser, couldn't withstand a single round.

"Get up."

Emperor Min's calm voice sounded, void of any trace of the tenderness and embarrassment from earlier in the day.

Prince Chun, enduring severe pain, crawled out of the crater and staggered forward.

What awaited him was another large handprint of gathered Spiritual Power!

"Boom!"

After the loud crash, Xia Huangchun once again lay in the deep pit.

"Get up."

Emperor Xia Xuanmin's calm voice sounded once again.

This time, Prince Chun struggled to prop himself up, inching out of the deep pit.

And then... he was smacked back down.

"Get up."

This time, no matter how Emperor Min urged him to get up, he remained still. In any case, going up only resulted in being smacked down again, so he might as well just lie at the bottom of the crater.

Seeing that the other party was motionless, Emperor Xia Xuanmin walked to the edge of the pit, squatting down calmly and looking at Xia Huangchun at the bottom of the pit, battered and bleeding from the mouth and nose.

At that moment, a dark shadow escaped into the study from outside, and upon seeing Emperor Xia Xuanmin squatting at the edge of the pit, knelt down respectfully to salute.

"Reporting to Emperor Min, your subordinate is incompetent. I have captured only half of the rebels in the other courtyard, and the other half have escaped amidst the chaos."

The kneeling man was dressed in the attire of a watchman commander, a long sword at his waist, and his body bore the marks of fierce combat.

In the pit, Xia Huangchun, lying flat, opened his eyes suddenly upon hearing this voice, struggled up to the edge of the pit, trembling as he said, "Liao Hushan, you betrayed me?"

All the Spiritual Power in his body had been dispersed by Emperor Xia Xuanmin, thus his movements were so weak.

Liao Hushan, the active watchman commander of the Great Xia Empire, was also the strongest individual Prince Chun had won over in the past decades.

"Prince, I'm only following Emperor Min's order to stay by your side. There's no talk of betrayal," the watchman commander corrected seriously.

"You... ack, Father, you really do play a good game!"

Xia Huangchun clutched the edge of the pit, his mouth bloodied, as he spoke to Emperor Xia Xuanmin.

Looking at his son in such a disheveled state before him, Emperor Min had a lot to say.

He wanted to say that your talent and temperament are only slightly better than your brother's, so what gave you such a great ambition; he wanted to say if you wanted this throne, then you should have fought for it on your own, but what's the point of colluding with outsiders to take what belongs to your own family, isn't that foolish; he wanted to say perhaps he's not a good father; he also wanted to say...

But in the end, Emperor Xia Xuanmin said nothing.

He stood up, walked outside the study, and looked at the other courtyard that had become a ruin, his gaze carrying a trace of unwillingness to bear it.

Inside the study, the Spiritual Power handprint condensed again and slammed down forcefully.

...

Prince Chun was dead, his death far more abrupt than Prince Mu's.

When Xia Huangmu died, at least a great golden thunderbolt descended from the sky. No one even knew when Xia Huangchun had died.

It was this morning that proclamations were posted all over Shangjing City.

"Xia Huangchun, for colluding with the Demon Sect and plotting rebellion, endangering the security of the Great Xia Empire, has been executed by Emperor Min personally at the suburban other courtyard."

When the people heard this news, there was an uproar, some were delighted, but none grieved for Prince Chun.

But all these had nothing to do with Jin Xu in the estate studying chickens.

...

This morning, just as the little Taoist had finished his cultivation and planned to stretch his muscles in the yard, as soon as he opened the door, he was greeted with a strong and unusual fragrance.

Then he heard the voice of Yu Yaoer and desperate cries, the pitiful screams of the Age Chicken, and Little White slurping saliva and shouting, "Slurp~~ Little Hong, just let me nibble on a wing! Then I'll ask Little Yu to refine a Three Elements Rejuvenation Pill to restore it for you!"

Well then, could the pill for reconstructing the body be used like this?

Jin Xu, shocked, plucked Little White by the scruff of his neck like a leek out of dry land and rescued the Age Chicken that was about to lose its wing.

"Young master, you finally came out!"

Following Little White, holding a ball of water trying to block the Husky's nose, Yu Yaoer arrived a bit too late.

"What happened?"

The befuddled Taoist dunked the Husky's head into the water ball.

"Glub... glub glub glub."

Unable to smell the unusual fragrance and having regained her composure, Little White tried to explain but ended up making bubble-blowing noises as soon as she opened her mouth.

But she didn't give up.

"Glub... glub... burp—Temple Master, let me tell you, something was wrong with Little Hong this morning. The strange scent that had disappeared from her suddenly reappeared, and then I lost control," she managed to say after drinking half of the obstructive water ball.

"..."

Jin Xu looked at Little White and then at Little Hong, who was trembling between his legs, and for a moment was quite perplexed.

However, he had to extinguish the source of this strange fragrance first.

The scent had spread, and many maids and servants had already come over, each swallowing saliva and ogling between his legs—it was embarrassing for the Taoist.

With that in mind, the Taoist raised his left hand. He cast the Body Purification Skill on the Age Chicken, which let out a shrill crow before collapsing to the ground.

Then, Jin Xu picked up both the Husky and Little Hong and returned to his room.

He had to seriously investigate why the Body Purification Skill had failed.

...

Outside the residence.

The Seventh Princess had arrived by carriage, holding a jade tablet in her hand.

The tablet contained the Dongxuan Spirit Vision, a hereditary technique of the Xia family that Emperor Xia had instructed her to deliver that morning. His exact words were, "Since Jin Xu has already cultivated the Dongxuan Spirit Skill and is, by seniority, also your uncle, we are one family. As we are family, there's no need to be so distant. Pass on the subsequent cultivation technique as well."

Xia Yunzhao was puzzled about how her Grandpa knew that Jin Xu had learned the Dongxuan Spirit Skill, but she didn't dare to ask.

She obediently brought the magic technique, and it also gave her a chance to see Jin Xu.

...

In Shangjing City, the same ordinary civilian house as always.

The Third Elder of the Demon Sect was thoroughly enjoying mocking the person with pitch-black eyes before him.

"Hahaha! Who was the one who told me yesterday that fishing requires a balance of slack and tension, and today, the fish is dead—the kind that makes headlines throughout Shangjing City?"

"Who would have thought that Prince Chun could be such a loser? They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but how come all three sons of the founding Emperor of Great Xia turned out to be useless!"

Ye Wuyang spoke somberly, seemingly full of deep grievances.

"Hahaha, now that Prince Chun is out of the way, delaying us, what will you do?"

Yan Meishan continued to mock.

Although she had agreed to stay after being persuaded by the person before her,

she was still skeptical about the outcome of this plan in Shangjing City. After all, in the Cultivation World, power is respected; schemes and conspiracies can sometimes be useful, but those too depend on the person involved.

For that reason, she had secretly made preparations to save her own life.

"Heh, with him, it would be icing on the cake, but without him, our plan won't be greatly affected. We will proceed as usual!" insisted the person with the dark eyes resolutely.

Listening to their resolute tone, the Third Elder of the Demon Sect couldn't help but repeat, "Fishing requires a balance of slack and tension~~"

"..."

The black eyes flickered and then... disappeared.

...

...

"Young Master, have you finished checking?"

"Temple Master, do you need my help? I spent a couple of days learning from the beast healers in my clan," the demon servants asked with concern inside the Taoist's room.

The Taoist at the table was sitting with his eyes tightly closed, ignoring the questions from the two of them, and was concentrating on channeling the Dongxuan Spirit Skill, using his Spiritual Power to repeatedly sift through the Age Chicken in front of him.

But aside from seeing the normal Qi, he found nothing.

"Sss, it seems Spiritual Power isn't omnipotent after all. Or could it be that the Dongxuan Spirit Skill is lacking?" Jin Xu was pondering when he heard a knock on the door.

"Mr. Jin, are you up? I'm coming in," said a voice.

Without waiting for the Taoist to respond, Xia Yunzhao pushed the door and entered.

Upon entering, she saw Jin Xu sitting neatly with his eyes closed in front of the table, with a limp chicken in front of him and two women with concerned looks behind him.

The Seventh Princess's eyes flashed with confusion, and then she said, "Taoist, Grandpa asked me to give you this Dongxuan Spirit Vision."

At the sound of this, Jin Xu opened his eyes.

He was aware of this technique, which was mentioned as a subsequent technique in the Dongxuan Spirit Skill. It was said to be more advanced and powerful, rumored to turn one's eyes into Spiritual Eyes if cultivated to perfection.

This was like getting a pillow when drowsy.

Only, why would Emperor Xia suddenly send this to him?

"Miss Yunzhao, why did Uncle Xia send you to give this technique to me?" Jin Xu asked, voicing his confusion.

Hearing Jin Xu's reference to her Grandpa, Xia Yunzhao's face twitched, and she answered expressionlessly, "I don't know. Grandpa just asked me to deliver it. If there's nothing else, I will leave now, Uncle Jin!!!"

The Seventh Princess said the last three words through gritted teeth, then tossed the jade tablet onto the table and turned to leave.

The Taoist was left looking puzzled.

Behind him, Yu Yaoer quietly reminded her Young Master, "Young Master, Yunzhao seems upset."

Jin Xu, puzzled, picked up the jade tablet and muttered softly, "Could it be? Just because Uncle Xia passed this technique to me?"

Behind him, Little White also chimed in, "Right? It can't be. Sister Yunzhao isn't such a petty person."

Yu Yaoer: "..."

Temporarily setting aside this matter,

The Taoist held the jade tablet and began to examine the technique recorded within.