Chapter 226: 226. Chapter 223: Huang Shang Arrives

226. Chapter 223: Huang Shang Arrives

Early the next morning, Li Xuan rubbed his eyes, put down the manuscript in his hand, and then emerged from the space of the Zhang Tian Bottle.

Now Li Xuan's spiritual power is abundant, his soul power is full, and even staying up all night has no effect on him at all.

After a quick wash, Li Xuan walked out of his room and, just as he stepped out, saw Bai Chuan coming toward him.

"Young master, good morning." Bai Chuan smiled at Li Xuan and said.

"Good morning, Bai Shu. Perfect timing—later we'll go to the Min Clan's garrison; the Min Clan has already pledged to us, so I need to find a way to send the Min Clan back to Ladi Canyon. Besides, we've been out for a long time; it's time to go home." Li Xuan rubbed his eyes and asked Bai Chuan.

"Young master, congratulations, you've finally gotten what you wanted—the Min Clan is now in our hands." Bai Chuan smiled and nodded.

Li Xuan was happy, and Bai Chuan was happy along with him; Li Xuan still considers Bai Chuan very important.

"Let's hurry and settle this. Even though I've changed my appearance and taken a false identity, just thinking of the two Title Douluo of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect scares me…" Li Xuan shook his head helplessly.

"Don't worry, young master. One day I'll have those two Title Douluo of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect die by my hand." Bai Chuan's gaze turned cold, and Killing Qi radiated from his body.

"Haha, Bai Shu, stay calm." Li Xuan quickly stopped Bai Chuan, laughing as he spoke.

"Young master, do we need to prepare anything for the trip to the Min Clan?" The Killing Qi vanished instantly, and a brilliant smile returned to Bai Chuan's face as if he had never emitted it.

"Prepare what? Let's go, set off!" Li Xuan waved his hand and led Bai Chuan away from the City Lord's Mansion, heading straight for the Min Clan's garrison.

Bai Chuan laughed at Li Xuan's demeanor, shook his head, then hurried to keep up, following Li Xuan to the Min Clan's garrison.

……

Soon, Li Xuan and Bai Chuan arrived at the Min Clan's garrison.

Bai Chuan stepped forward and lightly knocked twice on the door; before anyone inside could open it, the door swung open on its own, apparently never having been locked yesterday.

"Old Master Bai He, you've left the door open for us." Li Xuan raised an eyebrow at the automatically opening door and smiled at Bai Chuan.

Bai Chuan nodded, and the two entered the Courtyard together.

At this moment most of the Min Clan's people were still asleep.

The wine from the Wine‑God Flower was rich and mellow, smooth on the palate, truly a rare fine brew, but its after‑effects are strong; Li Xuan estimates these people won't awaken until noon.

After entering the Courtyard, Li Xuan saw Bai He sitting there sipping tea and admiring the flowers, apparently having known Li Xuan would come and waiting for him early.

"Grandpa Bai He, good morning." Li Xuan approached, smiled, greeted Bai He, and performed a fist‑holding salute.

"Young Master Ande, you're up early too. Come, sit and taste the tea." Upon hearing the voice, Bai He stood, gave Li Xuan a slight nod, and invited him to sit and chat.

Li Xuan nodded and sat opposite Bai He, while Bai Chuan stood silently behind Li Xuan.

"Grandpa Bai He, I'm here mainly to discuss the relocation plan for the Min Clan. The Min Clan now wishes to join my domain, and I need to bring them back quickly. Do you have any good ideas?" Li Xuan smiled and asked Bai He.

The Min Clan excels in speed and has strong message‑tracking abilities, so Li Xuan also wanted to ask Bai He for a better plan.

"Young Master Ande, you should know that the Min Clan, as a subordinate Soul Master Family of the Clear Sky Sect, is monitored by people from the Spirit Hall nearby, so leaving is very difficult. You'll need to think of a solution." Bai He smiled at Li Xuan and said.

Li Xuan instantly understood that old Bai He was testing him.

But Bai He was right; the Min Clan's situation is indeed poor. As a former subordinate sect of the Clear Sky Sect, the Spirit Hall's control over the Min Clan is strict, yet they must also guard against the Clear Sky Sect's resurgence.

"If you have no good solution, how about this: I'll arrange it. I have a caravan in my domain; I'll send it to the Tian Dou Empire. That way we can bring the Min Clan back to Ladi Canyon. I need to discuss with my caravan and will have results in a couple of days. If there's a result, I'll inform you immediately." Li Xuan pondered, then nodded at Bai He.

Huang Shang's caravan doesn't know how long it will take to open the trade route to the Tian Dou Empire, so it's unclear whether Huang Shang can reach the Tian Dou Empire smoothly or how long it will take.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Young Master Ande. The Min Clan also has some means; when your caravan arrives, I'll give you a surprise." Bai He nodded at Li Xuan, stood, and made a welcoming gesture, as if seeing the guest off.

"Haha, alright, Grandpa Bai He, stay at home. I'll contact the caravan now; once I have news I'll have Bai Chuan inform you." Li Xuan saluted Bai He, then turned and left the Min Clan's garrison.

Li Xuan still needs to be wary of Bai He; after all, he is the protagonist Tang San's great‑uncle.

It's better not to let him know about the Kongming Eye.

So Li Xuan returned directly to the City Lord's Mansion, sat in the study, took out paper and pen, considered for a moment, and wrote down the situation here, composing a letter.

Then Li Xuan closed his eyes, thought, and the envelope in his hand was instantly transmitted through the Kongming Eye to Zhou Chen's hand.

All Kongming Eyes are keys to opening the Small Cave Heaven, but Li Xuan holds ultimate control, so no one will sneak items out of the Small Cave Heaven with a Kongming Eye.

After the letter was sent, Li Xuan's thoughts moved him back into the space of the Zhang Tian Bottle.

Now that the Min Clan matter has been settled, Li Xuan must hurry to create a cultivation method, since he can't stay here long; if he starts traveling, he won't have time to study the method.

Li Xuan entered the Zhang Tian Bottle's space, quickly fell into a research state, and continued to analyze the Shura Killing Codex.

Half an hour later, just as Li Xuan had dissected a meridian, he sensed something being stored into the Small Cave Heaven by Zhou Chen.

Li Xuan stretched his neck and retrieved Zhou Chen's letter from the Small Cave Heaven.

He opened the letter and began to read.

Zhou Chen gave a brief report on Huang Shang's whereabouts: Huang Shang set out ten days ago to run a caravan for the Star Luo Empire and is currently not in Ladi Canyon; however, the caravan is expected to return to Ladi Canyon in three days, so Huang Shang is temporarily unreachable.

Zhou Chen also reported on the current situation in Ladi Canyon: everything proceeds orderly, no major incidents; Dragon Tooth Rice is growing well and will be harvested in two months; Tao Family's beverage production has no issues; overall, everything is going smoothly.

After reading the letter, Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief; it seems his domain can operate normally even when he's away, so he won't have to waste too much effort on Ladi Canyon. He then told Zhou Chen to contact him again when Huang Shang returns in three days.

After delivering the news, Li Xuan threw himself back into method research.

Time is tight, so Li Xuan devoted his whole body and mind to the study, hoping to finish the method soon.

……

Three days later.

In the Zhang Tian Bottle space, Li Xuan sat at a table, bit into some dry food, sipped Enlightenment Tea, and the tabletop was cluttered with various meridian charts he had drawn.

These items were all drawn by Li Xuan over the past few days based on the Shura Killing Codex; as he studied carefully, the value of the Shura Killing Codex grew higher in his eyes.

Therefore, fully parsing all meridian flows in the Shura Killing Codex will still take some time.

Just as Li Xuan was about to start dissecting the next meridian, a slight fluctuation appeared in the Small Cave Heaven.

"Finally, news arrives—been waiting anxiously!" Li Xuan's eyes brightened, and he stood up, leaving the Zhang Tian Bottle space.

Sitting in his study, he took Zhou Chen's letter out of the Small Cave Heaven.

He opened the envelope and read it carefully.

Huang Shang indeed returned, this time earning over eight hundred thousand Soul Coins from the trade, selling a large amount of beverages, and purchasing many supplies.

As for the Tian Dou Empire trade route, Huang Shang said there was no problem at all; after all, when he was deputy leader of other caravans back then, he roamed between the two great empires, so he is also very familiar with the Tian Dou Empire.

"Huang Shang can," Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

Then Li Xuan hummed, organized all matters concerning the Min Clan, wrote them into a letter and gave it to Huang Shang, and at the same time handed over dozens of Soul Guide Devices to Huang Shang, hoping he could carry as many supplies as possible and open the Tian Dou Empire trade route in one go.

By the same token, he could bring the Min Clan back to Ladi Canyon.

Through certain means, this can be done without anyone noticing.

Living beings cannot be transported through the Small Cave Heaven; otherwise Li Xuan would simply send the Min Clan back to Ladi Canyon via the Small Cave Heaven, which would be time‑saving, labor‑saving, and convenient.

Soon, Li Xuan finished the letter and transmitted it into Zhou Chen's hands.

After waiting a while, Zhou Chen sent word again: Huang Shang should make preparations and set out immediately; as for the exact route, Huang Shang has basically set it, and the detailed specifics can be worked out later by Huang Shang and Li Xuan.

Li Xuan naturally did not refuse Huang Shang, and also had Zhou Chen give the Kongming Eye to Huang Shang; if there are issues in the territory, suppress them temporarily and discuss them when Li Xuan returns to Ladi Canyon.

After Huang Shang and Zhou Chen received Li Xuan's orders, they followed his instructions and immediately began packing for the journey.

This time, not only must they bring the Min Clan back from the Tian Dou Empire, but also promote the wine from Ladi Canyon into the Tian Dou Empire.

More importantly, this time they also need to procure massive supplies, open the caravan connections, and simultaneously purchase a great amount of various goods from the Tian Dou Empire.

Since Ladi Canyon lies within the Star Luo Empire, many goods of the Tian Dou Empire cannot be procured, so Li Xuan also plans to purchase large quantities of supplies to prevent border unrest and shortages.

"Since the caravan is already prepared, the next step is to figure out how to leave Wusi City without anyone noticing; the Min Clan should have some means," Li Xuan frowned and muttered.

However, Huang Shang's caravan has not yet worked out a concrete route, so Li Xuan intends to wait until Huang Shang clarifies the caravan's path before communicating the next plan with Bai He.

Huang Shang is acting as a traveling merchant this time, so Li Xuan estimates that the caravan departing from Ladi Canyon cannot reach the Tian Dou Empire in less than a month.

Thinking of this, Li Xuan relaxed, taking the opportunity to dissect the Shura Killing Codex from every angle; as for creating a cultivation method, time will likely be insufficient, but he will try his best.

……

Twenty days later, Li Xuan finally completely parsed the meridian flow diagram in the Shura Killing Codex.

All the secrets of this cultivation method now lie plainly before Li Xuan.

"Astonishing brilliance! Truly astonishing brilliance! Though the Killing Qi is heavy, this cultivation method is indeed very complete," Li Xuan said, nodding approvingly as he looked at his compiled notes.

Creating such a relatively complete cultivation method without any meridian knowledge is so easy that one could simply crush a small car with one's hand.

The Shura Killing Codex indeed accelerates cultivation by absorbing blood, yet it also possesses its own method of refining soul power; additionally, it can absorb the energy within blood to strengthen meridians, fortify the flesh, and increase the amount of energy the blood can carry.

The method of refining soul power recorded in the Shura Killing Codex gave Li Xuan great inspiration, so he decided that the next cultivation method he creates will add a soul‑power refining function, thereby further boosting Li Xuan's combat ability.

The Shura Killing Codex has many merits, providing Li Xuan with numerous ideas for creating a new cultivation method.

Now that the Shura Killing Codex has been fully understood, the next step is to create the cultivation method.

Li Xuan already has many ideas for the new cultivation method; the next task is to try them one by one, seeking a relatively safer and more effective way of cultivation.

However, this requires a great deal of time; Li Xuan feels that Huang Shang has already reached the Tian Dou Empire, and Li Xuan likely has no time left to study the cultivation method.

Just as the saying goes, news suddenly arrived from the Small Cave Heaven.

Huang Shang's news has arrived!

(End of chapter)