Chapter 104: Evolution of the Four Spirit Realms

The Brocade Guard discovered the Green Bull Demon, and Hua Changxi's mood was still somewhat grave. Although Pang Shaoyu did not bring up the matter, it did not mean the issue was over.

Keeping demon beasts in captivity—if this matter remained undisclosed, it was fine; once exposed, it would cause panic among the surrounding commoners. Without the Brocade Guard even showing up, the residents of Feng'an Ward would force her to be unable to stay in the ward.

Simply put, in recent years, incidents of ferocious beasts eating people had been occurring frequently everywhere, far too many to count.

She did not know exactly what Pang Shaoyu was planning, but it was clear he was holding her act of keeping the Green Bull Demon as leverage in his hand.

Along the way, Hua Changxi kept thinking: if the Brocade Guard came for her, wanting to seize the Green Bull Demon or force her to work for them, what could she do?

Use force to drive them away?

Among the Brocade Guard who appeared in Feng'an Ward today, there were indeed a few cultivators, but they were only at the Qi Refining stage. She was confident she could easily crush every single Brocade Guard.

However, the Brocade Guard represented the imperial court. If she openly attacked them, the ensuing trouble would be enormous.

She and the Hua family, after all, lived under the rule of the Great Jin Dynasty, bound by the court's order and laws. If she openly resisted Brocade Guard law enforcement, she would be viewed as a rebel.

Becoming a rebel—she had martial strength to protect herself and could just walk away, but what about the rest of the Hua family?

Hua Changxi frowned. Unless absolutely necessary, she did not want to go against the court. She cultivated and worked hard to increase her strength not to take advantage of the spiritual energy revival to do something grand, but simply to live her small life freely.

But apart from using force, what else could she do?

Pang Shaoyu was now a cultivator, so she might be able to trade with him using spirit pills.

Hua Changxi realized that even though she was now a cultivator, when trouble came, she still lacked the ability to fend off risks. She had never built her own social support system.

Although cultivator affairs had only become public in the last year or two, the royal family and some powerful aristocratic families had known about them long ago, and had made countless preparations in secret; they had likely done no small amount of keeping demon beasts in captivity.

If the Brocade Guard found out that the royal family and powerful nobles were keeping demon beasts, would they dare to knock on their doors and arrest people?

They would not dare.

Why?

Because those people had power and influence.

And she—what did she have?

Hua Changxi did not want to live as a solitary person. She had family and a career she wanted to pursue. Since she had to live within a community, there were some matters she needed to think over carefully.

With these thoughts, Hua Changxi arrived at the Medicinal Affairs Bureau.

At the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Hua Changxi began her usual lectures for the attendants.

At No. 1 Qihuang Hall, she taught materia medica for half an hour; at No. 2 Qihuang Hall, she taught herbal processing for half an hour; at No. 3 Qihuang Hall, she taught herbal planting and cultivation methods for half an hour.

After the lectures, Hua Changxi kept twenty people—including Zhou Qiuyu, Wang Yunchu, and Guo Cheng—who were eager to learn and fairly supportive of her, and brought out a spirit-testing stone.

"Do you know what cultivators are?"

Hearing this question, Zhou Qiuyu and the others exchanged silent glances, then all looked at the spirit-testing stone.

Hua Changxi asked again: "Recently, have you all felt that the air smells fresher?"

Zhou Qiuyu and the others all nodded: "Yes, we've felt that our bodies and spirits have improved a lot recently."

Hua Changxi smiled and said: "That's because the spiritual energy concentration in the Medicinal Affairs Bureau has increased. Even ordinary people, if they live here long-term, can strengthen their bodies and extend their lives."

Hearing this, everyone showed delighted expressions.

Hua Changxi: "...Do you think the powerful people in the capital will stand by and do nothing about such a good place?"

The smiles on everyone's faces froze, then turned to worry.

Hua Changxi: "I hear there are many more children of powerful families on First Street. Once the struggle on First Street is over, it will be other places' turn."

Hearing this, their faces grew even more worried.

Zhou Qiuyu looked at Hua Changxi: "Manager Hua, we have no real talents. Thank you for not looking down on us, for teaching us medicine. In our hearts, you are our teacher. Whatever you need us to do, please just tell us—we'll follow your orders."

Guo Cheng immediately chimed in: "Right, we all listen to Manager Hua."

The others also responded in agreement.

Hua Changxi looked at them, pointed to the spirit-testing stone on the table: "This is a spirit-testing stone. It can detect whether you have spiritual meridians. To become a cultivator, one must possess spiritual meridians."

"With spiritual meridians, and with the corresponding cultivation technique, you can absorb the spiritual energy in the air. Drawing spiritual energy into the body is how one steps onto the path of cultivation."

Everyone's eyes lit up as they looked at the spirit-testing stone, their expressions both eager and nervous.

Hua Changxi: "Come up one by one and place your hands on it. If you have spirit veins, the spirit-testing stone will react."

The crowd hesitated, worried that they might not have spirit veins.

In the end, it was Zhou Qiuyu who stepped forward first, walked up to the spirit-testing stone, and placed both hands on it.

Soon, the spirit-testing stone emitted a green glow.

Seeing this, Zhou Qiuyu immediately looked at Hua Changxi with excitement.

Hua Changxi smiled and said, "Congratulations. You have a single Wood spiritual root, which is excellent for cultivation."

Zhou Qiuyu returned to the team with a face full of joy.

Next, Wang Yunchu stepped forward and placed her hands on the spirit-testing stone, which then glowed red and green.

Hua Changxi was somewhat surprised, not expecting two people in a row to have spirit veins: "Yunchu, you have Fire and Wood dual spiritual roots."

Wang Yunchu was nearly moved to tears of joy.

Seeing that both Zhou Qiuyu and Wang Yunchu had spirit veins, the others assumed that most people had them, so they no longer hesitated and came forward one after another to test.

Unfortunately, out of the twenty people, only three had spirit veins. The other one with spirit veins was Guo Cheng, who had Earth and Wood spiritual roots.

Hua Changxi looked at the dejected others and said, "Don't be discouraged if you don't have spirit veins. There are actually many types of cultivators. Besides spell cultivators who have spirit veins, there is another type called body cultivators."

As she spoke, she took out the totem bowl.

She wanted to see what bloodline totems these people had.

As soon as Hua Changxi took out the totem bowl, she noticed it was vibrating. Sensing that the golden bowl seemed to be pulled by some invisible force, she released her control over it.

The next moment, the golden bowl shot out of No. 3 Qi Huang Hall with a whoosh.

Since the golden bowl had been bound to Hua Changxi through a blood contract, she could sense its location. She told Zhou Qiuyu and the others to wait for her in the courtyard, then chased after it, only to find that the golden bowl had flown into No. 7 Qi Huang Hall.

Hua Changxi was a little surprised and quickly walked to No. 7 Qi Huang Hall. As soon as she entered the courtyard, her eighth wooden token shone with a dazzling white light.

On the wooden token, a sword pattern visibly condensed into shape, then transformed from a flat surface into a three-dimensional form.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi was extremely astonished. She entered the room and noticed that the totem golden bowl was firmly embedded in the very center of the highest point of the northern stone wall.

It seemed that the totem golden bowl had originally belonged to No. 7 Qi Huang Hall!

The golden bowl radiated a powerful golden light that filled the room, and soon, images began to emerge on the stone wall.

The largest area, occupying the most central position, depicted the Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger, along with a line of text: "The Four Spirits Guard the Four Directions."

Next was an image composed of the five continental plates. On each continent, demon beasts and demon plants were locked in chaotic and brutal battle.

The third image showed the Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger hovering above the four continents of the north, south, east, and west. On these four continents, most of the demon beasts and demon plants had stopped fighting, with only a few areas still in turmoil. On the Central Continent, however, the slaughter continued as before.

The fourth image showed the fighting demon beasts from the four continents being driven toward the Central Continent.

The fifth image showed humans appearing on all five continents. On the northern, southern, eastern, and western continents, the people worshipped the four spirits—Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger—seeking their protection.

On the Central Continent, however, the people worshipped a wide variety of things—some worshipped demon beasts, and others worshipped demon plants.

Humanity struggled to survive in the cracks, threatened by demon beasts and demon plants.

The sixth image showed the demon race granting divine powers to humans, enhancing their ability to survive and leading to gradual prosperity.

The seventh image showed heavenly fire descending, lightning and thunder raging, and the five continents becoming devastated. The four spirits—Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger—died, transforming into high mountains and rivers, merging with the four continents.

The eighth image showed the demon race weakening and humanity flourishing.

The ninth image showed humans establishing the Demon Prison on the Central Continent, specifically to imprison the most heinous demon beasts. Humanity had completely taken control of the five continents.

Here, the images came to an end.