Chapter 410: The aging Li Tiancheng, a powerful foundation, and the ulterior motive

"Hurry and put them down, let me bandage you!"

Li Ying Xuan Ling walked over in a flurry from the inner chamber of the side hall, accompanied by Bai Shuang and other maids. She first had Xia Hong put the children down, then personally helped him take off his upper garment and used bandages made of cloth to dress the wounds on his back.

Seeing the worry on her face, a warm current flowed through Xia Hong's heart. He smiled and said, "It's nothing. Yang Zun couldn't break my bones; these are just flesh wounds. I've already taken a Blood-Returning Pill, and I'll be recovered in half a month at most!"

Li Ying Xuan Ling immediately rolled her eyes at him. Only after confirming the bandages were tight did she turn her head to signal Bai Shuang and the others to help him change into the clothes they had prepared in advance.

"The Lord's strength is truly heaven-defying; this old man is in awe!"

An old man with white hair and beard also walked out from the inner chamber. His face was still full of shock, clearly still immersed in the standoff between Xia Hong and the lords of the six towns. Only when he reached Xia Hong's side did he remember, and he hurriedly bowed to pay his respects.

"Li Lao, you flatter me. There is no need for such formalities!"

The old man's body was slightly hunched. Xia Hong naturally would not let him bow, so he stepped forward to support him. Seeing the wrinkles on the old man's face growing denser, he could not help but sigh slightly in his heart.

This old man was none other than Li Ying Xuan Ling's second uncle, Li Tiancheng.

In the third year of Great Xia's Cold Origin Festival, after Xia Hong personally appointed him as the Prison Department's Chief Justice, it took Li Tiancheng only a little over two months to build the framework of the Prison Department and simultaneously launch the first version of the Xia Code, perfectly filling the void of Great Xia having no criminal law.

The appearance of the first version of the Xia Code not only significantly lowered the crime rate in Xia City, which had been soaring due to the influx of the Longyou population, but as the subsequent second and third versions were perfected, it also provided the most solid and powerful guarantee for the continued surge in Xia City's population.

Xia City's population now exceeded 2 million. Xia Hong had long ago stopped having the time to focus on specific matters within Xia City; he could only judge the current operation of Xia City through macro data such as crime rates, frequency of homicides, number of cold cases, and number of riots.

Judging from the performance of this data and his occasional personal visits to the outer city for undercover inspections, the Prison Department had done quite well over these five years. Xia Hong believed that even if he had done it himself, he probably wouldn't have done as well as Li Tiancheng.

What does it mean to have an old person in the family as if you have a treasure?

Li Tiancheng perfectly interpreted these eight words.

The only fly in the ointment was his age.

Li Tiancheng was already ninety-five years old this year!

In the first two years he served as Chief Justice of the Prison Department, he did everything himself, whether in Xia City or at external outposts. Whenever there was a homicide or cold case, he would personally lead people to investigate.

By the third year, which was the fifth year of Great Xia, he was clearly feeling a bit overwhelmed. Not only did he hand over the Longyuan squad he had created to Lu Yushan, but he also delegated most of the Prison Department's affairs to Hou Ming, a senior prison official he had personally cultivated. He himself remained in the inner city, focusing entirely on studying and perfecting the Xia Code. Aside from occasionally carrying some things to visit his two grandsons at the Star-Plucking Palace, he was basically in a state of living in seclusion.

Being advanced in age and lacking energy was the most normal thing in the world. Moreover, Li Tiancheng had arranged the Prison Department's affairs very properly, and almost no problems had occurred, so Xia Hong naturally would not blame him for anything.

In fact, when summoning everyone in Great Xia to Hong Sect City this time, Xia Hong had specifically instructed that Li Tiancheng did not have to come.

Li Tiancheng had learned that his two grandsons were also coming and, worried about their safety, had volunteered to come. Just now, he hadn't gone out either, but had stayed with Li Ying Xuan Ling, accompanying the two children.

"The base strength is still 23 bristles... no, it has already slightly declined!"

While thinking, Xia Hong finished observing Li Tiancheng, and his expression darkened slightly.

Li Tiancheng was a superior-grade battle body, and his aptitude was actually not bad. By the second year of Great Xia, he was already at the peak of the Cold-Resisting Realm, with a strength of 17 bristles.

It was just a pity that Great Xia had not developed pills to improve the strength of those at the peak of the Cold-Resisting Realm in the early years, so Li Tiancheng's strength had basically remained unchanged for the first few years.

Ever since the Logistics Department added the two types of pills, Dragon Carp and Blue Cod, last year, Li Tiancheng and others at the peak of the Cold-Resisting Realm in Great Xia finally had the opportunity to continue improving their strength.

In May of this year, Xia Hong had seen Li Tiancheng. He remembered very clearly that Li Tiancheng's strength was close to 24 bristles at the time, but now there were signs of a decline.

This meant that Li Tiancheng's age was too great, and his flesh and blood state had begun to enter a period of decay. In layman's terms, his lifespan was reaching its limit.

The lifespan of the Cold-Resisting Realm is said to be 100, but few people can actually live past 100. Li Tiancheng living to his current age was actually considered quite good.

Thinking of how Li Ying Xuan Ling had frequently taken the two children, Yu Yao and Yu Sheng, to visit Li Tiancheng since last year, Xia Hong sighed slightly and said softly, "Li Lao should have focused on staying in Xia City to go into seclusion. If you could break through to the Radiant Sun Realm, your lifespan would double. Would you still be afraid of not having time to accompany your two grandsons in the future?"

Hearing Xia Hong's words, Li Ying Xuan Ling, who was beside him, immediately looked at Li Tiancheng with a reproachful expression and said, "That's right! Second Uncle, I told you not to come, but you insisted. Your only task now is to stay in the camp and cultivate properly, break through to the Radiant Sun Realm quickly, and solve the lifespan problem."

Hearing their words, Li Tiancheng immediately showed a bitter smile, shook his head, and said, "The Lord and Lady don't need to comfort me. My flesh and blood have already begun to enter a period of decay. There is definitely no hope for a breakthrough. Instead of wasting time on cultivation, it's better to spend more time with my two grandsons."

After speaking, he leaned down and touched the foreheads of Xia Yu Yao and Xia Yu Sheng, his face full of love.

"Yes, yes, yes, Yao'er likes Grandpa the most, most, most! Grandpa should spend more time with me."

"Sheng'er also likes Grandpa the most. I also want to spend more time with Grandpa."

The two little ones were only five years old, after all, and didn't even know what lifespan was, so they naturally couldn't understand the deep meaning behind Li Tiancheng's words. They only knew that Grandpa often brought them delicious and fun things. Hearing that Grandpa wanted to spend more time with them, they were immediately overjoyed.

"Hahahaha, that's right, Grandpa likes you the most too!"

The children's innocent words made Li Tiancheng laugh uncontrollably. He squatted down, picked them up one by one, and deliberately ran around, spinning them in circles, making the two children laugh non-stop.

Seeing the warm scene of the grandfather and grandchildren playing, Xia Hong smiled slightly, then quietly reached out and patted Li Ying Xuan Ling on the back, whose eyes were red. He leaned in and whispered comfortingly, "The Heavenly Sun Fruit from the Dragon Nest should be able to be refined into a spirit pill soon. Your second uncle still has hope of breaking through. Moreover, I will go to the Cai Qiu Fanzhen in a while. When the time comes, I'll see if there are any spirit pills that can increase lifespan."

Hearing this, Li Ying Xuan Ling's eyes immediately filled with deep hope. She turned to look at Xia Hong, nodded heavily, and said, "Okay!"

They had been married for over five years, and the couple's feelings were already very deep. Words like "thank you" naturally couldn't be spoken.

Seeing Li Ying Xuan Ling's hopeful face and realizing how much she was looking forward to it, Xia Hong felt a bit overwhelmed and hurriedly looked away:

"Alright, come out with me! Don't let the people in the main hall wait too long."

"I almost forgot the important business. Lord, this old man will go first!"

Hearing Xia Hong's words, Li Tiancheng immediately put down the two children, bowed to bid them farewell, and left the side hall first.

"You go, I'll take the two children here."

"No need, take the two children and come with me. Since everyone is here today, it's time to let them see people."

Hearing Xia Hong's words, Li Ying Xuan Ling was stunned and asked, "Aren't there people from other town cities? Should we take them out too?"

Xia Hong waved his hand, a look of disdain appearing in his eyes: "Do you think that after what happened today, there is anyone in the entire eight towns of the southern foothills of Mo'ao who would dare to lay a hand on them?"

Not just the eight towns, even the Cai Qiu Fanzhen would probably have to weigh the consequences.

Although Xia Hong didn't say the latter part of this sentence, the tacit understanding between the couple allowed Li Ying Xuan Ling to see it in his eyes very quickly. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him first, and after thinking for a moment, she quickly nodded in agreement.

There were only two people from other towns in the main hall, and given their identities and their current relationship with Great Xia, they wouldn't go around talking nonsense, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

"Yao'er, Sheng'er, when we go in later, sit by Mother's side. You are not allowed to talk nonsense or move around, understand?"

"Understood, Mother!"

Hearing Xia Hong say he was taking them to the main hall and that they would be able to see many people they hadn't seen before, Xia Yu Yao and Xia Yu Sheng were already extremely excited. They had been worried that their mother, Li Ying Xuan Ling, wouldn't agree, so upon hearing Li Ying Xuan Ling's request, they immediately agreed in unison.

"Hahaha, then let's go!"

Xia Hong picked up the two of them and led Li Ying Xuan Ling toward the side hall partition.

The side hall they were in was located behind the main hall, and the inner partition was connected to the back of the main seat in the main hall, so the four of them could hear the voices in the main hall before they had even taken a few steps.

"Twelve beast kings! The Lord actually has such means."

"The lords of those six towns had their faces turned green with fright at the time, hahahaha!"

"If you ask me, the twelve beast kings only win in numbers. Our Lord's strength is what's truly unfathomable. If Yang Zun hadn't sacrificed that strange movement technique at the end, today would have been more than just a defeat."

"What strange movement technique? If Shangguan Yang and Qin Feng hadn't stepped in to stir up trouble just now, Yang Zun would have died today!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I forgot about that. The Lord's strength clearly crushed Yang Zun!"

"These two town lords must have truly lost their minds to dare to lay a hand on the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice Director Yu Wen. The Lord's angry shout just now really saved face for our Great Xia!"

"Hahahaha, I'm afraid I'll never forget the way those six town lords slunk away at the end for the rest of my life."

"They want to splash dirty water on our Great Xia? Keep dreaming."

………………

After all, it hadn't been long since nightfall, and what happened during the day was indeed very uplifting, so the people of Great Xia in the main hall were still discussing it heatedly.

Step... step... step...

Xia Hong didn't deliberately make his footsteps heavier, but the moment he walked into the main hall holding the two children, the heated discussion stopped abruptly.

As the entire hall fell into complete silence, the footsteps of Xia Hong and Li Ying Xuan Ling naturally became clear and heavy.

When Xia Hong walked out slowly from behind the main seat holding the two children and leading Li Ying Xuan Ling, the more than six hundred Cold-Resisting Realm warriors of Great Xia in the hall, who were wearing thousand-forged Lei Kui golden armor, holding various weapons, and looking extremely solemn and orderly, were all stunned for a moment.

But they quickly understood, and their gazes instantly focused on the two children in Xia Hong's arms, their faces full of curiosity.

Soon, the curiosity on everyone's faces froze, followed by disbelief. After a careful look, as if confirming something, their faces were full of shock and horror, finally turning into deep joy.

At this moment in the hall, besides these more than six hundred armored Cold-Resisting Realm warriors, there were also three people sitting in chairs in the front row wearing casual clothes: Xiang Fuhai, Murong Chui, and Xia Houzhang.

When Xia Hong's family of four came out, the expressions of the three were also clearly stunned.

Not to mention Murong Chui and Xia Houzhang, even Xiang Fuhai, who had been in Xia City for over four months, was seeing Xia Hong's wife and children for the first time.

Like the more than six hundred other people in the hall, they immediately saw Li Ying Xuan Ling's cultivation level and then cast their gazes on the two children Xia Hong was holding.

Clang...

Because Murong Chui and Xia Houzhang were sitting in chairs, their bodies shook violently at the same time, immediately making a clanging sound.

While everyone was observing, Xia Hong had already taken his seat with Li Ying Xuan Ling. He sat on the main seat holding the two children, while Li Ying Xuan Ling sat on the secondary seat next to him.

As soon as the four of them sat down, Xia Chuan, the Chief Justice in the front row, immediately led the eight department heads to bow respectfully toward the main seat:

"Subordinates pay respects to the Lord, pay respects to the Lady, pay respects to the two Highnesses!"

The more than two hundred people in the main hall also bowed immediately, their tone extremely respectful: "We pay respects to the Lord, pay respects to the Lady, pay respects to the two Highnesses!"

Clang...

The people of Great Xia were all wearing battle armor today. With so many people bowing at the same time, even the friction sound of the armor seemed very loud. Moreover, when Xia Chuan and the others bowed, they clearly deliberately mobilized some Qi and blood, and the more than six hundred people behind followed suit, also mobilizing their Qi and blood.

You must know that in order to deter the six towns this time, Xia Hong had mobilized almost all of Great Xia's elites to Hong Sect City, and among these people, those qualified to come to the top floor main hall of the office building to see him were of even higher status.

At this moment, the more than six hundred people in the hall were standing according to their official rank in Great Xia.

At the very front was Chief Justice Xia Chuan. Behind him were Yuwentao, Qiu Peng, Yuan Cheng, Xu Ning, Luo Yuan, Hou Jing, Li Tiancheng, Mu Dong, Cheng Feng, Bai Dongying, and Zhu Yuan—11 heads or deputy heads of the eight departments. They were the only 12 officials of the third rank or above in Great Xia at present;

In the middle were Watching Yue Feng, Lin Kai, Lu Yang, Liu Yuan, Li Yuankun, Xu An, Zhao Long, Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao, Shi Ping, Ying Yi, Tong Xinglong, Xu Shicheng, Hong Tian, Hong Gang, Hong Guang, Hou Quan, Hou Tong, Director Yu Wen Yong, Meng Yi, Bai Wuting, Lin Fan, Zhu Shun, Wang Tao, Xiao Kangcheng... and more than 200 others. They were either heads of the eight departments in various districts of Xia City or large outposts, or military commanders or deputy commanders. They were all officials of the fourth and fifth ranks in Great Xia;

The last part had the largest number, totaling more than 400 people: Zhu Xing, Wang Yuan, Hou Ming, Zhang Jiuling, Yuan Shan, Yuan Ning, Lu Yushan, Liu Chang, Tong Xingsheng, Hou Ying, Hou Bing, Hou Ming, Lin Ye, Zhou Yuan, Cheng Guang, Zhang Qingyuan, Lu Yin... These people were either deputy heads of the eight departments, garrison commanders of the jurisdiction, or military captains. At the very least, they held important positions in the eight departments of Xia City. A small number were of the fifth rank, and the vast majority were officials of the sixth rank;

These more than six hundred people were the core elites who currently supported every aspect of Great Xia's entire territory.

The underlying tone of the Frozen Abyss, where strength is respected, would never change. Therefore, in the choice of personnel appointments, Great Xia must have half strength and half ability. This is also why Xia Hong often reminded Mu Dong and Cheng Feng to pay attention to improving their own strength.

This also determined that anyone who could hold an official position in Great Xia would definitely not be weak. Xia Hong could clearly perceive the strength of the more than six hundred people present with just a slight perception of their aura.

The further back, the weaker the strength, but even the weakest had a base strength of over 15 bristles, and a small number exceeded 20 bristles;

The strength span of the more than two hundred people in the middle area was relatively large. There were people like Watching Yue Feng, Lin Kai, and the three Zhao brothers whose strength exceeded or approached 30 bristles, and there were also people like Xiao Kangcheng and Lin Fan who were just over 20 bristles, but it was certain that no one's strength was lower than 20 bristles;

On the contrary, the twelve people in the front row had uneven strength. The strongest, Xia Chuan, was already at 41 bristles, Yuwentao was close to 40 bristles, and Yuan Cheng, Lu Yang, and Xu Ning had obtained the organs of the masters and were now slowly catching up, with two at 39 bristles and one at 36 bristles. The weakest, Mu Dong, actually only had 18 bristles of strength.

More than six hundred people with a strength of over 15 bristles deliberately mobilized their Qi and blood to speak. Not to mention this main hall, the entire office building was shaken violently.

The movement was secondary; the key was that with so many people, even if they were just moving their mouths, the impact formed by the gathering of Qi and blood was quite terrifying.

It was night, and many coal stoves were lit on both sides of the hall. As the airflow moved, the flames of the coal stoves suddenly became much more vigorous, and the temperature in the entire hall rose suddenly by several degrees.

Xia Yu Yao and Xia Yu Sheng were experiencing this kind of scene for the first time, but their performance actually surprised Xia Hong a little. ===== CHAPTER 411 =====