Chapter 180: 174. Sect Master and Saintess (1/2)

174. Sect Master and Saintess (1/2)

【Vitality +2, Spirit +2, Water Spirit Root aptitude +2】

Chen An cherished Jiuji thoroughly in the grass once more, experiencing the taste of a 2-star marital affection level.

Afterwards, the two of them tidied up their loose clothing and slowly walked out from the grass.

The moment Wen Zhiyun saw them emerge, she gave Chen An a slightly dissatisfied glare and scolded him with a huffy expression: "What a jerk, all you know how to do every day is find ways to torment your wives and concubines."

Clearly, she knew what Chen An had just taken Jiuji into the grass to do.

Her conservative nature, cultivated since childhood, made it difficult for her to accept such morally corrupt behavior.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingyi, who was beside her, was much more open-minded; she felt that cultivators of their generation should be free-spirited—regardless of time or place, acting solely on their desires, with "doing as one pleases" being the main priority.

Regarding this scolding from his tsundere concubine, the perpetually thick-skinned Chen An simply acted as if he hadn't heard it.

He led Jiuji to the center of the Cave Abode and, raising his voice slightly, called out to the wives and daughters around him:

"Everyone come over for a moment, I have some good news to announce to you all."

"Husband, what good news is it?"

Song Huaying was extremely curious; upon hearing this, she immediately used the Wood Escape Technique to dash over and ask.

Her little fairy daughter was the same, following closely behind and urging him with a face full of anticipation:

"Daddy, tell us the good news quickly!"

Both mother and daughter were very impatient, but Chen An did not rush to answer.

Only after the other wives and daughters had gathered did he pull Jiuji in front of him and announce with a face full of smiles: "The good news is that Jiuji is pregnant."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was visibly stunned for a moment.

Afterwards, Song Huaying, who was standing at the very front, said with a face full of joy: "Jiuji, is this true?!"

She was extremely excited at this moment; those who didn't know better would have thought she was the one who was pregnant.

Jiuji nodded with some bashfulness and said: "Mm, it is true."

Upon hearing this answer, the other four wives and concubines all offered their congratulations one after another:

Gu Xinyue: "Congratulations, Sister Jiuji."

Song Huaying: "Jiuji is going to be a mother soon."

Wen Zhiyun: "Jiuji, you must take good care of yourself during your pregnancy; in ten months, Sister Wen will help you with the delivery."

Shen Qingyi: "Jiuji's Bloodline is so powerful, the child born will surely be gifted."

The congratulations came one after another, making Jiuji feel very embarrassed.

Compared to being the center of everyone's attention, she preferred to quietly be a wallflower; that felt more comfortable.

"Jiuji, your Sister Wen and I have both given birth to daughters; you must give your husband a big, chubby son to change the situation of the household having an excess of yin and a deficiency of yang."

Song Huaying teased with her beautiful eyes curved.

When Chen An heard this, he was immediately displeased and raised his eyebrows:

"Where is the household deficient in yang?"

"Since you all married in, is there any night you haven't been begging for mercy with your mouths full?"

"Don't talk about five, even if five more came, I could still handle them; I can suppress all your yin energy with my own yang energy alone!"

Upon hearing this, Song Huaying thought, *It's over*; she had accidentally provoked her husband's male pride, and she feared she would be tormented to the point of death tonight.

Seeing her worried and pitiful appearance, Shen Qingyi, who was beside her, didn't think the chaos was big enough and teased her with schadenfreude:

"Ying, look out for yourself tonight."

"Sister Shen—!"

Song Huaying stomped her feet pettishly and said in a coquettish tone: "How can you make fun of me! No! You must suffer with me tonight! Otherwise, I'll break off our sisterhood for a day!"

"Then let's break it; we can be sisters again at this time tomorrow," Shen Qingyi said with a smile.

On the other side, Wen Zhiyun gave Chen An a huffy glare and said: "You really are something; Ying didn't mean it like that at all, she just simply felt there are more women than men in the house and wanted a son, so why did you have to get your tail stepped on?"

"Are you snapping at me?"

Chen An didn't indulge his tsundere concubine and, imitating her tone, hummed: "Little Wen, just you wait; see if I don't make you cry tonight, making you beg for mercy."

"I can't be bothered to talk to you!"

Wen Zhiyun stopped arguing when she couldn't win; after speaking, she turned her curvaceous body away from Chen An, not wanting to talk to this husband who was a chauvinist with wave-particle duality and didn't know how to yield to his wives and concubines.

At this moment, the eldest daughter Chen Yuejian leaned over and said to Jiuji: "Ninth Mother, I want a younger brother; can you give me a younger brother?"

"I want a younger brother too, a younger brother!"

The silly second daughter Chen Yike chimed in.

Jiuji said with some helplessness: "That... I'm afraid I'll disappoint you all; the Fox Demon Clan only has females and no males, so I cannot give birth to a boy."

"Oh, my younger brother is gone."

Chen Yuejian was a tiny bit disappointed.

Chen Yike didn't feel much of anything and immediately changed her tune: "Then I want a younger sister, a younger sister!"

After speaking, she seemed to think of something, suddenly swallowed her saliva, and said with a greedy look: "Daddy, Ninth Mother has a little baby, does that mean we're going to make lots and lots and lots of delicious food to celebrate tonight?"

Chen An pinched his silly daughter's round face and said to her with a smile: "Fine, tonight I'll have your Mother Gu make a pile of delicious food to celebrate."

"Yay!"

Chen Yike was so happy she danced with joy.

The mothers around were all amused by her, thinking to themselves that she really was a little foodie.

But Gu Xinyue, who was among them, was an exception; she had been forcing a smile the whole time.

At this moment, she was indeed smiling, but her expression was completely dim, and not a trace of joy could be seen in her eyes.

Even Jiuji, who had only arrived a month ago, was pregnant, while she, who had been married to her husband for over four years, had no movement in her belly at all.

Comparing this, it made her feel very uncomfortable.

However, the moment she thought about Shen Qingyi accompanying her, she felt much better.

Otherwise, being the only one among the sisters who hadn't given birth, she would likely be depressed.

Shen Qingyi noticed Gu Xinyue's unusual behavior and kept warning herself in her heart that even if she wanted to bear children for her husband, she had to wait until after Yue.

Unknowingly, the time reached the Hour of the Rooster (5 PM – 7 PM).

At the Hour of the Dog (7 PM – 9 PM) tonight, Chen An had to go to the Alchemy Hall to attend the welcome party.

At that time, the Sect Master and the Saintess of the Heaven and Earth Sect would both be attending.

Regarding such an important gathering, Chen An dared not have any mishaps.

While it was still the first half of the Hour of the Rooster, he left his Cave Abode via Sword Flight and flew toward the reception hall of the Alchemy Hall.

Before departing, he instructed his wives and daughters to stay safely in the Cave Abode and not to run around.

The wives and concubines told him not to worry, saying they would stay at home and wait for him to return, while also tidying up the Cave Abode.

Alchemy Hall.

Reception hall.

Chen An walked in unhurriedly and discovered that he was the last of the five new Deacons to arrive.

"Everyone has arrived so early."

He smiled and greeted the four of them.

Seeing him walk over, Deacon Lin, who had a slightly plump and wealthy appearance, smiled slightly and said:

"Deacon Chen, come sit in front of me; this is a front-row seat we specifically saved for you."

This "front" referred to being close to the main seat.

The four new Deacons were all very disciplined, strictly taking their seats according to their test rankings.

Chen An didn't have any particular feelings about this practice of ranking by seniority, but he wouldn't deliberately oppose it either.

Soon, under the gaze of the four, he walked to that seat and sat down.

At this moment in the reception hall, only the five new Deacons were present.

All five had arrived too early.

There was still more than an hour left until the agreed-upon time.

"Everyone arrived so early; it seems everyone wants to leave a good impression on the Sect Master, the Saintess, and Elder Chen."

Deacon Zhang, whose hair and beard were already white, smiled and said.

Deacon Huang, with white hair at his temples, also smiled: "After all, we are newcomers, so naturally, we want to leave a good impression."

"Deacon Huang's words are reasonable," Deacon He, who was as thin as a rail, nodded and said.

The conversation among the few Deacons was quite devoid of substance, basically just one person picking up where the other left off.

However, it was actually understandable.

After all, everyone wasn't very familiar with each other yet, so it was impossible to start chatting enthusiastically right away.

Everyone was a Third-Rank Alchemist; before joining the Heaven and Earth Sect, they were either ancestors of alchemy families or Alchemy Hall Elders in various Golden Core sects.

Therefore, their words and actions were relatively steady, and they wouldn't easily hit it off like young people.

At this moment, Chen An was even quieter than them, not having spoken a word since he sat down.

He joined the Heaven and Earth Sect only to provide a relatively safe environment for his wives and daughters, and he had no intention of developing interpersonal relationships.

In fact, he even wanted to avoid developing relationships with others, wishing only to quietly be someone who keeps a low profile.

Seeing that he didn't speak, the four new Deacons had no intention of striking up a conversation with him either.

Everyone was a Third-Rank Alchemist and a big shot full of prestige; no one would engage in the low-class behavior of fawning over someone who didn't care.

"I wonder what that Saintess looks like."

Chen An's mind was filled with this thought, thinking that as the Saintess of the Heaven and Earth Sect, her appearance must be of a peerless level, and he was full of anticipation for it.

As time continued to pass.

Unknowingly, the time reached the Hour of the Dog.

At this time, the reception hall still only had the original five new Deacons, and no one else had arrived.

But all five were very patient and felt no impatience regarding this.

Because they all knew that only eight people would attend tonight's welcome party, which meant the only ones currently absent were the Sect Master, the Saintess, and Elder Li.

These three were big shots, so it was reasonable for them to arrive at any time.

As newcomers, they had no reason to have any opinions about this.

Unless they didn't want to continue working in the Heaven and Earth Sect in the future.

As for the twenty newly added disciples and apprentices, they were not qualified to attend this welcome party.

It was true that the Sect Master of the Heaven and Earth Sect valued the Alchemy Hall, but he only valued the Alchemists at the Deacon level and above.

"Elder Chen and the others have arrived."

Chen An, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up to remind them.

His Divine Sense, which he had spread out, perceived that Elder Li was controlling a Flying Boat and flying toward the Alchemy Hall.

Hearing him say this, the other four immediately sat up straight, fearing they would leave a bad impression on the three big shots about to arrive.

"That's strange, why is there only Elder Li on the Flying Boat?"

Chen An felt puzzled in his heart.

At this moment, his Divine Sense only perceived Elder Li on the Flying Boat, and no one else besides him.

This was unreasonable.

If there were no one else on the Flying Boat, Elder Li would not have piloted the Flying Boat, but would have chosen Sword Flight instead.

Since Elder Li chose to pilot the Flying Boat, he must be the one acting as the driver to go pick up the Sect Master and the Saintess.

The reason why my Divine Sense cannot perceive anyone is most likely because the Sect Master and the Saintess possess Dharma Artifacts capable of isolating Divine Sense.

Moreover, they are Dharma Artifacts of an extremely high grade.

At least a fifth-grade Dharma Artifact.

Otherwise, with my current Divine Sense strength, it would be impossible not to perceive them...

Chen An analyzed this in his heart.

Just as he was analyzing these things, Elder Li happened to land the Flying Boat outside the reception hall.

Following that, the steady footsteps of Elder Li came from outside, along with two sets of light footsteps.

All five of them heard these three sets of footsteps.

Except for Chen An, the other four could not help but feel somewhat nervous.

"The Sect Master and the Saintess have arrived!"

Elder Li walked to the entrance of the reception hall, like the head eunuch of an emperor in the secular world, walking in front to announce the arrival of his masters.

Upon hearing this, the five new Deacons immediately and sensibly rose from their seats, assuming what they considered to be the most respectful posture, preparing to welcome the Sect Master and the Saintess who were about to enter.

Chen An's gaze rested quietly on the entrance, looking forward to the appearance of the Heaven and Earth Sect Saintess.

Soon, a graceful figure walked in from outside the door; it was a woman wearing a white, form-fitting palace dress.

The woman's hair was like ink, naturally hanging over her shoulders like a waterfall flowing straight down. She had a pair of beautiful eyes like stars; looking at them for a long time felt as if one would be sucked into them, while the lips below were bright red and dripping with tenderness, crystal clear, making one unable to resist wanting to take them into one's mouth to taste.

However, the most alluring part was the woman's graceful and curvaceous figure, with everything in the right places. A pair of long, snow-white jade legs swayed continuously within the nearly transparent gauze skirt as she walked, and her smooth skin looked even whiter than the gauze skirt, making it impossible for one to look away.

Yet, such a beauty who tempted one to commit a crime exuded a powerful aura that forced people to prostrate and kowtow, filled with the air of a superior.

The pressure emanating from her was so great that Chen An and the others did not dare to look too much, instinctively lowering their heads to look at their own feet.

Fortunately, this pressure disappeared quickly, replaced by the woman parting her red lips, her voice dignified and noble as she said:

"Everyone, raise your heads. You are all Deacons of the Heaven and Earth Sect; when you stand, you should hold your heads high and your chests out."

As this voice fell, Chen An and the others felt a lifting force suddenly appear at their chins, instantly raising their heads that had been lowered, and their gazes fell back onto the woman in the palace dress.

Is this the Saintess of the Heaven and Earth Sect?

So beautiful!

Such a powerful aura!

Such a stunner—if one could pin her to the bed and conquer her, it would be worth it even if one were to die on the spot.

In this brief moment, this thought flashed through Chen An's mind involuntarily.

This thought did not fit his persona; it emerged uncontrollably, as if he had been struck by a Charm Technique.

But Chen An knew that he had not been charmed at all, nor had he been hit by any Dharma Spell; it was simply that the palace-dressed woman's appearance was too beautiful and her aura too strong, stirring up his desire to conquer women.

Just as he was stunned by the charm of the woman in the palace dress.

The next moment, a beautiful figure walked in gracefully from outside the door; it was a young girl wearing a long white dress.

Although the girl walked slowly, there was wind flowing before her, gently blowing her soft hair and the snow-white skirt hem beneath her, revealing a pair of slender, jade-white calves, bringing infinite reverie to Chen An and the others.

Walking quickly to keep up with the woman in the palace dress, the girl's eyes, as quiet as clear water, swept over Chen An and the others. Her gaze lingered briefly on Chen An's face but moved away instantly, leaving only a faint smile appearing at the corners of her mouth, like a hundred flowers blooming in an instant, making Chen An's heart flutter.

The girl was too beautiful.

So beautiful that Chen An, who thought he had seen all the beauties in the world and would not be easily infatuated by a woman again, was now completely mesmerized.

Is this the Saintess of the Heaven and Earth Sect?

Then who is that woman in the palace dress?

Could she be the Sect Master of the Heaven and Earth Sect?

Once this thought arose, Chen An felt extremely shocked and surprised; the Sect Master of the Heaven and Earth Sect was actually a woman!

At this very moment, he, who had originally planned to quietly hide in his Cave Abode to cultivate, suddenly had the idea of wanting to show himself within the Heaven and Earth Sect, hoping to attract the attention of the Sect Master and the Saintess.

PS: Setting out the bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!