Chapter 222: Hua Family Enters the Game

The secret realm that Hua Changxi obtained had eight layers. Although she had only glanced through the first five layers, it still made her extremely excited.

No other reason—the spiritual herbs, plants, and fruits in the secret realm were simply too abundant!

And this was just one secret realm!

Hua Changxi thought of that towering tree she had seen—with so many branches and leaves, how many secret realms could there be?

"This is the foundation of the Holy Land!"

No wonder the imperial family and noble clans fought tooth and nail to seize the Qihuang Pavilion.

The Qihuang Pavilion's status in the Dan Sacred Hall must be high. Occupying the position of Pavilion Master grants a certain degree of power, and one manifestation of that power is control over the Holy Land's resources.

For example, in this worship of the Divine Tree, only the eighteen Pavilion Masters were qualified to participate.

"How can I ever use up so many spiritual herbs!"

Before Hua Changxi's excitement could subside, she already started to worry.

Having too many spiritual herbs was also a headache.

Especially the first and second layers—she needed to harvest a batch quickly. Otherwise, many spiritual herbs would rot and spoil, which would really be a waste of resources.

Although she had not interacted much with other cultivators, she could guess that the current ruins and secret realms were all occupied by powerful noble families. The lower-level cultivators definitely had few cultivation resources. If she let the herbs on the first and second layers go to waste, her conscience would trouble her.

The first and second layers of the secret realm alone had 150 million mu of medicinal fields. She definitely could not manage them by herself and would have to find other people.

But at the thought of having to manage people, she couldn't help but get a headache.

With more people, a 'jianghu' would form, and wherever there was a jianghu, there would be 'fighting and killing.' To Hua Changxi, that was trouble.

"Forget it, let me first see how other secret realm masters do it."

Hua Changxi was too lazy to rack her brains and began to carefully inspect the fourth layer of the secret realm.

In the Five Finger Mountain, only after the full recovery of spiritual energy did various kinds of spiritual plants spring up like bamboo shoots after rain. This caused the age of the spiritual plants and herbs to be not very high.

The third-grade supreme spiritual pills she mainly refined required a large amount of third-tier spiritual herbs, plants, and fruits. Most third-tier spiritual herbs took ten to a hundred years to mature. Even though many spiritual herbs, plants, and fruits matured quickly in the early stages of spiritual energy recovery, the Five Finger Mountain was somewhat unable to keep up with her demand for spiritual herbs.

When refining third-grade spiritual pills, she might not yet face a shortage of herbs, but for fourth-grade spiritual pills, it was definitely insufficient, and collecting herbs for fifth-grade and above was even harder.

For Hua Changxi, the Divine Tree Secret Realm had really come at the most opportune time.

After making a round of the fourth layer, she discovered a problem: the wood spiritual energy in the secret realm was extremely dense, but it was not suitable for her cultivation.

However, wood spiritual energy had nourishing and restorative functions, so it was suitable for body cultivation here. In the future, she could also refine pills inside the secret realm.

Hua Changxi carefully inspected all four layers of the secret realm. Because she was going back to the Hua family for the New Year, she picked some second-grade Lingyun Fruits, Yuji Fruits, and Yangji Fruits that nourished the body.

She also prepared ten portions of medicinal ingredients for brewing body-tempering medicinal soup for each of her parents, three elder brothers, and grandparents.

Although she currently managed an eighth-grade secret realm with countless spiritual herbs, she had no intention of giving excessive resources to the Hua family.

The resources in the secret realm all belonged to the Dan Sacred Hall; she was merely a manager. Although she hadn't yet figured out how to administer the secret realm, the things inside were certainly meant to develop and expand the Holy Land.

Hua Changxi exited the secret realm. Seeing that the sky was already dark, she prepared to return to the Hua residence.

"Pavilion Master, Happy New Year's Eve!"

Hua Changxi came out of the alchemy room and found that Pharmacist Xu and the other seven were still there.

Although these eight were not her people, they had been responsible for guarding the No. 13 Qihuang Pavilion during this time. After thinking it over, she took out thirty second-grade spiritual fruits and gave three to each.

She gave Yuji Fruits to the women and Yangji Fruits to the men.

Because Pharmacist Xu was the pavilion's steward, he received seven spiritual fruits.

"Happy New Year's Eve, go home quickly."

After Hua Changxi left, Hua Shuran and the others looked at Pharmacist Xu with envy. They all had backers behind them and weren't lacking a few spiritual fruits, but Pharmacist Xu was clearly more favored by Hua Changxi—that was what they cared about.

Pharmacist Xu carefully put away the spiritual fruits and left with a smile.

"Let's go too."

The New Year of Yongxing Year 24 was destined to be turbulent.

The appearance of the Guardian Family Xia in the Dan Sacred Hall, as well as the emergence of the Divine Tree Secret Realm of the Dan Sacred Hall, spread like lightning, stirring up turmoil in the capital.

Hua Shuran and Hua Wanyue also immediately sent word back home that Hua Changxi had obtained the high-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm. The family of Hua Bin once again became the focus of the Hua clan.

Cultivators, regardless of talent, absolutely cannot lack cultivation resources. Whoever controls the cultivation resources can command others.

Not only the Hua clan, but also other powers in the capital began to take notice of the previously inconspicuous Hua family.

The Hua family courtyard.

Hua Dalang and Hua Silang, who was cultivating at the Earl's mansion, all received the news that Hua Changxi had obtained the Divine Wood Secret Realm.

They knew, and the rest of the Hua family also knew.

Only at this moment did the Hua family truly understand Hua Changxi's talent in medicine and alchemy.

Hua Dalang took a deep breath: "Only two people have obtained the high-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm. One is a female cultivator brought by a Dao-protecting family, and the other is our family's Ninth Girl."

Old Master Hua was both pleased and melancholy upon hearing this. He was pleased that his lineage had produced an extraordinary talent, but melancholy that this person was the most disobedient one in the family and also female.

If it had been any grandson in the family, Old Master Hua would have definitely laughed uproariously to the heavens.

Old Madam Hua, on the other hand, was very happy. Even though Ninth Girl was not close to her, considering her eldest son's sake, she would definitely not treat her and Old Master poorly.

The medicinal herbs for body-refining medicinal baths were the best proof.

She knew that ever since Ninth Girl cut off the medicinal supplies to others in the family, the second and fourth branches had been struggling. Despite her and Old Master's advanced age, their current cultivation was not much inferior to that of their sons and grandsons.

Old Madam Hua repeatedly whispered to Old Master Hua: "Ninth Girl is stubborn and doesn't like being lectured. When she returns, you must watch your tongue and not make everyone uncomfortable again."

Old Master Hua felt a lump in his chest and snorted angrily: "So now I, as her grandfather, have to defer to my granddaughter's mood?"

Old Madam Hua rolled her eyes: "If you want to show off in front of your grandchildren, you need to have the ability. If the whole family depended on you for a living, you could do whatever you want. But the situation now is that we all depend on Ninth Girl. So, you should keep your tail between your legs."

"Think about the others in the clan. Even if they wanted to, they probably wouldn't have the chance."

Old Master Hua let out a long sigh and said nothing more.

Second Uncle Hua was very excited. He looked at Hua Minghe and Yao Shi: "Big Brother, Sister-in-law, Ninth Girl has obtained a secret realm. She definitely can't manage it alone. Since she has gained such a great benefit, she must help the family in some way."

Before Hua Minghe and Yao Shi could respond, Old Madam Hua scolded Second Uncle Hua and then said to the others in the family: "When Ninth Girl returns shortly, no one is allowed to mention the matter of the secret realm."

The old madam considered herself quite knowledgeable about her granddaughter Ninth Girl.

This granddaughter had been disobedient since childhood. Unlike the eldest son and his wife, who indulged her blindly, she had often engaged in battles of wits and courage with her.

This girl's temperament was such that she responded to neither soft nor hard tactics, making her very difficult to handle. However, years of confrontation had taught the old madam one thing: she must never force that girl; if you were strong, she would be even stronger.

The several intense conflicts between Old Master and Ninth Girl had all been because the old master tried to pressure her using his elder status; the girl refused and then things fell apart directly.

Upon hearing Old Madam Hua's words, Second Uncle Hua became anxious and wanted to argue further, but Second Aunt Hua pulled him back.

"Listen to Mother."

Second Aunt Hua was Old Madam Hua's niece from her maiden family and was the most understanding of the old madam among the three daughters-in-law. She knew that the old madam would not abandon the second and fourth branches, so she must have her reasons for saying this.

Fourth Uncle Hua and Fourth Aunt Hua were as taciturn as always. However, because of the relationship with Hua Wuniang and her grandson, the Marquis of Wuyi's mansion had sent them many gifts, so the fourth branch's life was still a bit better than the second branch's.

Just as it was getting dark, Hua Changxi finally returned to the Hua family courtyard.

"Ninth Girl is back!"