Chapter 358: Returning a Favor with Demands

Hua Changxi's first entry into the Xuanyuan Manor was through a spatial rift that teleported her directly to a plaza; the second time she entered through the Xuanyuan Manor's barrier.

The two entries were only about three years apart, yet the scenes she saw were completely different.

Gazing at the magnificent gate with five portals before her, Hua Changxi looked somewhat dazed; if not for the plaque hanging high on the gate tower that read "Xuanyuan Manor," she would have thought it was some kind of city gate.

Without exaggeration, the front gate of the Xuanyuan Manor before her was even more towering and imposing than the four great city gates of the capital—east, west, south, and north.

Above the five portals, the five large characters Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth were respectively carved.

The character "Earth" was in the center; from left to right the order was Metal, Water, Earth, Fire, Wood.

The five gates were originally closed; after Hua Changxi entered the barrier, the Fire gate passage slowly opened.

Uh...

This front gate of the Xuanyuan Manor is impressive, with its own access control scanning and detection.

But she didn't know how deep the detection capability of this access control was.

Could it only detect spiritual root attributes, or could it probe deeper and detect things like bloodline totems?

Looking at the wide-open Fire gate, Hua Changxi was a bit wary; after hesitating for a moment, she still stepped into the Fire gate.

Behind the five gates, there was the Qilin Canal.

Crossing the jade bridge over the Qilin Canal, she arrived at a plaza that was several thousand meters deep—the same plaza Hua Changxi had been teleported to when she first entered the Xuanyuan Manor.

At the end of the plaza stood a majestic complex of three-tiered watchtower palaces.

All the palaces sat on terraces ranging from tens of meters to hundreds of meters high; the main hall hung a magnificent plaque reading "Chengqian Hall," with bell and drum towers on both sides; standing on the towers were Xuanyuan soldiers clad in golden-yellow armor.

Walking on the jade-white plaza, Hua Changxi was truly amazed by the efficient construction speed of the Xuanyuan Army.

She still remembered that from the front gate of the Xuanyuan Manor to the Xuanyuan Hall, one had to pass through five plazas; she had only crossed the first plaza now, and she wondered if the later plazas had been completed.

Curious about this, Hua Changxi couldn't help but extend her divine sense outward.

"Young friend Hua, this is not the way to be a guest!"

As soon as her divine sense was released, a displeased voice rang out above the plaza.

Embarrassed, Hua Changxi withdrew her divine sense.

Although she had released and retracted her divine sense immediately, she had still "scanned" the entire Xuanyuan Manor.

The Xuanyuan Manor had a total of nine plazas, with palace complexes built at the end of each; Chengqian Hall was the first palace complex, and the Xuanyuan Hall at the manor's center was the fifth.

The first five plazas and their palace complexes were completed, while the last four plazas and palace complexes were still under construction.

And the builders were all Xuanyuan soldiers.

Having scanned and found that the Five Generals of Xuanyuan were all gathered in Chengqian Hall, Hua Changxi quickened her pace.

Inside Chengqian Hall, the Five Generals of Xuanyuan all looked somewhat displeased.

Qin Feng, the Guard of the Xuanyuan Army's Vanguard, sighed: "Hua Changxi is indeed as the outside world says—she doesn't follow rules very well."

The Xuanyuan Five Directions Army each guarded one direction: east, south, west, north, and center; Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth each guarded one gate.

The Xuanyuan Army's Vanguard happened to guard the southern Fire gate.

Hua Changxi happened to have a Fire spiritual root and happened to use the Fire gate.

Compared to the Dongfang brothers who came earlier, Hua Changxi was really quite troublesome.

Huo Jinglei, the Guard of the Right Army, added: "And she's bold."

Not to mention entering the Xuanyuan Manor; even when going to other places, it was not good to casually release divine sense to probe, or one might suffer severe backlash from the owner.

Perhaps Hua Changxi, relying on the fact that the lord of the Xuanyuan Manor had not yet appeared, dared to probe the manor with her divine sense.

Lu Zhenting, the Guard of the Center Army, chuckled: "If she were well-behaved and didn't dare to take risks, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to move into the Xuanyuan Manor so early."

Hearing this, the Five Generals all laughed.

Qin Feng: "Hua Changxi hasn't been seen for three years, and as soon as she appears, she rushes to the Xuanyuan Manor. What does she want to do?"

Lu Zhenting smiled: "Let's first hear what she has to say."

[]

Amid the idle chatter of the five generals, Hua Changxi arrived.

The Chengqian Hall was large; none of the five generals took the main seat, instead sitting separately on the left and right sides.

Watching Hua Changxi enter the Chengqian Hall, the five Xuanyuan generals narrowed their eyes simultaneously.

In three years, Hua Changxi's strength had grown again, and by no small margin—now, none of them could gauge her depth.

Hua Changxi smiled and stepped forward to greet them: "Hua Changxi pays respects to the five generals."

The five generals exchanged glances, then rose to return the greeting.

Hua Changxi hadn't expected the five generals to be so courteous and was somewhat surprised.

Lu Zhenting smiled and extended a hand in a gesture inviting her to sit: "Fellow Hua, please take a seat."

Hua Changxi sat down as instructed.

After everyone was seated, Qin Feng spoke: "May I ask what business brings Fellow Hua to the Xuanyuan Estate?"

Hua Changxi repeated what she had told Dongfang Xu: "The Duke of Liang's Mansion bullies others by relying on their power. I beg the five generals to seek justice for me and my family."

The five generals: "..." So this was about collecting a debt of gratitude!

Lu Zhenting looked at Hua Changxi, lost in thought.

With her current strength, she could subdue the Duke of Liang's Mansion single-handedly; there was no need to seek out the Xuanyuan Army.

Lu Zhenting probed with a smile: "May I ask how Fellow Hua wishes us to seek justice for you?"

Hua Changxi immediately produced a sheet of paper listing the names of the Hua family members, twenty-two in total.

"I know the Xuanyuan Army has many affairs, so I dare not trouble the five generals too much. I only beg that, in recognition of my help in finding the Xuanyuan Estate, you take all my family into the estate."

Among the five Xuanyuan generals, all except Lu Zhenting rolled their eyes.

Every member of the Xuanyuan Army was carefully selected; even the Chu royal family's attempts to place people had all been rejected.

Hua Changxi wanted to stuff more than twenty people of varying aptitude in—did she really think the Xuanyuan Army was a scrap heap?

The five generals communicated via sound transmission for a while. Finally, Lu Zhenting spoke: "Fellow Hua, to express our gratitude, we can give you three slots in the Xuanyuan Army."

Seeing Hua Changxi about to say something, Lu Zhenting cut her off: "Please understand—the Xuanyuan Army bears important responsibilities. We truly cannot accept people whose talent is insufficient."

Hua Changxi: "I know the aptitude of my family, and I also know the heavy responsibility of the Xuanyuan Army. That's why I never intended to have all my family join the army proper."

"What I meant was to have them enter the Xuanyuan Estate. There's no need to assign them important posts—tasks like guarding the library or the storehouse, they could certainly handle."

The five generals were speechless. The Xuanyuan Estate was large, but the Xuanyuan Army also had families of their own to arrange.

Lu Zhenting suddenly had an idea and smiled: "If Fellow Hua is willing to join the Xuanyuan Army, your family can all enter the Xuanyuan Estate. How about that?"

Hua Changxi: "..."

She could see that using the favor of helping find the Xuanyuan Estate wouldn't allow her to place all the Hua family members there.

After a moment of silence, Hua Changxi said: "When I came just now, I saw Dongfang Hao and Dongfang Xu. Whatever they can do, I can do too."

The main hall of the third palace complex in the Xuanyuan Estate was called the Wuying Hall. The Wuying Hall had five large towers, named the Earth Qilin Pavilion, Water Qilin Pavilion, Fire Qilin Pavilion, Metal Qilin Pavilion, and Wood Qilin Pavilion.

Before each tower stood two stone-carved qilin.

When she swept the Wuying Hall with her divine sense earlier, she noticed that the qilin in front of the Earth Qilin and Wood Qilin pavilions had vanished, leaving only the qilin guarding the other three towers.

So she guessed that the Dongfang brothers' battle in the Xuanyuan Estate had most likely been against the two stone qilin in front of the Wood Qilin Pavilion.

Hua Changxi's words leaped sharply, but they made the five generals' expressions change simultaneously—and turn very serious.

Qin Feng frowned at her: "Are you... certain?"

Hua Changxi thought that since she could even block the Xuanyuan Sword's attack, other attacks within the estate couldn't be stronger than the Xuanyuan Sword, so she nodded firmly: "Of course."