Chapter 102: Bloodline Totem

The sound of the wooden fish that A Niu heard was clearly abnormal; upon learning that this sound occurred every night, Hua Changxi decided to spend the night at the pharmacy to see what was really happening.

"Sister Pucao, let me see the account books for this period."

Seeing that it was still early, Hua Changxi flipped through the account books and quickly discovered that sales of elixirs in the pharmacy had surged dramatically over the past two months.

First, Merchant Zhuo had purchased a large quantity of elixirs;

second, Yu Gui had introduced a eunuch named Xiao Guizi to buy elixirs, and each time Xiao Guizi visited, he purchased elixirs worth more than fifty thousand taels of silver.

Noting that the timing of Yu Gui introducing Xiao Guizi coincided exactly with when she had saved Eunuch Xuan, Hua Changxi guessed that Xiao Guizi must be a subordinate of Eunuch Xuan from the Eastern Depot.

The elixirs purchased by Merchant Zhuo and Xiao Guizi accounted for eighty percent of total sales, while the remaining twenty percent were mostly sold by the other ten pharmacies.

Hua Changxi looked at Pucao and asked, "Sister Pucao, have you checked those other ten shops?"

Pucao nodded. "I have. Yu Gui is reliable; he has changed all the shop names to Shennong Hall and marked each signboard with a sequence number, so anyone can tell at a glance that those ten shops are branches of our Shennong Hall."

Glancing at the upper volume of "Ordinary Plant Medicinals" displayed on the medicine cabinet, Hua Changxi asked, "Has anyone come to buy the book?"

Pucao replied, "Some have inquired, but few bought it; however, the other ten shops sold quite a few copies."

Hua Changxi nodded. "The Zhuo family has operated their pharmacy for so many years; their reputation is still quite good."

Looking at her, Pucao said, "Changxi, the staff in all ten branch pharmacies are still the original Zhuo family members; under such circumstances, is the pharmacy truly yours?"

Rubbing her temples in distress, Hua Changxi said, "I understand your concern, but I have no time to handle these matters. I have already asked Yu Gui to seek suitable managers; you should also keep an eye out for qualified candidates in your daily rounds."

Pucao nodded in agreement; since moving into Feng'an Ward, she had not been idle, frequently walking through the streets and alleys until she knew most of the ward's residents, and indeed, there were quite a few capable people within the ward.

Hua Changxi added, "Whether selecting managers or clerks, do not restrict by gender."

Hearing this, Pucao's eyes flickered, and she quickly agreed.

Continuing to review the account books and the volume of elixir sales, Hua Changxi rubbed her forehead.

With customers increasing day by day, relying solely on herself to refine and sell elixirs was clearly insufficient.

She had identified several promising candidates from the Labor Hall, but they were mortals capable only of refining ordinary elixirs; only cultivators could refine spiritual elixirs.

Glancing at Pucao, Hua Changxi asked, "Sister Pucao, have you been studying any medical books lately?"

While organizing the counter, Pucao replied, "I have been reading; I have finished both this 'Ordinary Plant Medicinals' and the several medical texts you recommended, and I was just about to ask you to recommend a few more books."

Hua Changxi asked, "Do you enjoy studying medicine?"

Pucao nodded with a smile. "I do; if I become a physician, I can not only treat my own illnesses but also help others—how wonderful that would be."

Hua Changxi said, "Sister Pucao, let me teach you elixir refinement."

Pucao's hands paused mid-motion. "Really?"

Hua Changxi nodded. "After dinner, wait for me in the elixir refinement room."

Beaming with joy, Pucao replied, "Mm."

After dinner, Hua Changxi refined several batches of ordinary elixirs in the refinement room, allowing Pucao to familiarize herself with the elixir refinement process.

Late at night, at the hour of Zi, a disturbance came from A Niu's room; Hua Changxi and Pucao quickly exited the refinement room just in time to see A Niu walking out of the house as if possessed, heading straight for the back gate.

Qing Niu attempted to restrain A Niu, but Hua Changxi raised her hand to stop him.

Hua Changxi carefully sensed her surroundings but heard no sound of a wooden fish; yet A Niu clearly appeared to be lured away by something.

"You two stay here; I will follow and investigate."

Watching Hua Changxi follow A Niu out of the courtyard, Pucao felt somewhat worried and looked at Qing Niu. "Will Changxi and A Niu be all right?"

Qing Niu shook his ox head. "Rest assured; there are few who can harm Hua Changxi."

Looking at Qing Niu, Pucao remarked, "You seem quite afraid of Changxi?" Every time Changxi appeared, Qing Niu dared not wander in front of her.

Qing Niu's ox face wrinkled in distress. "She carries an indescribable aura that suppresses me; whenever I see her, my legs turn weak."

Pucao knew little about cultivators and assumed it was simply because Hua Changxi's strength surpassed Qing Niu's.

Meanwhile, Hua Changxi followed A Niu from a distance, trailing him through several streets until they reached an abandoned mansion in the southwest corner of Feng'an Ward.

Watching A Niu enter the dilapidated residence, Hua Changxi feared that hidden observers might possess other detection methods, so she did not approach; instead, she rode her Somersault Cloud into the sky, and from that high vantage point, she quickly spotted a white-robed monk sitting cross-legged in the courtyard, eyes closed, striking a wooden fish.

Though the wooden fish he struck made no sound, ripples of spiritual energy continuously expanded outward from it.

The moment A Niu entered the courtyard, the white-robed monk opened his eyes, a clear smile spreading across his face as he ceased striking the wooden fish.

As soon as the sound of the wooden fish vanished, A Niu regained his clarity; seeing himself in an unfamiliar place, his complexion changed drastically. "Where is this?"

The white-robed monk smiled. "Guardian of the Ox God, you have finally arrived."

A Niu paid no heed to the monk's words; instead, he warily scanned his surroundings and turned to flee.

Seeing this, the white-robed monk's expression darkened; he spun the golden alms bowl in his hand, aiming its mouth at A Niu, who was immediately bathed in a beam of golden light, freezing his body in place.

Simultaneously, a massive shadow of an ox manifested upon A Niu's body, accompanied by an ear-splitting "Moo!"

The ox shadow and the mooing sound flashed and vanished instantly, yet it was enough for A Niu to see clearly.

"Did you see? You possess the divine abilities of the Ox God; you are the Guardian of the Ox God, bearing the mission to awaken the Ox God."

A Niu shook his head violently. "I do not understand what you are saying."

Seeing such resistance, the white-robed monk changed tactics, producing a cultivation manual titled "Ox Demon Art" and tempting him: "Do you wish to become an invincible powerhouse? Cultivate this 'Ox Demon Art,' and you will become an unparalleled top-tier expert."

Hearing this, A Niu remained unmoved. "I am living quite well now; I do not wish to become any so-called powerhouse." With that, he ran toward the exit of the abandoned mansion.

Shaking his head, the white-robed monk said, "Guardian of the Ox God, you cannot escape the mission to awaken the Ox God." As soon as he finished speaking, he flashed forward, blocking A Niu's path and reaching out to grab him.

Just then, the white-robed monk suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart; he looked around in all directions before finally raising his gaze to the sky.

Upon seeing Hua Changxi descending on her cloud, the white-robed monk's complexion changed drastically; he grabbed A Niu and fled outward.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's expression shifted; with so many people in the ward, engaging in a chase and battle with the white-robed monk would surely cause collateral damage to others.

Thinking thus, Hua Changxi rapidly condensed spiritual energy in her right hand; the next moment, a gigantic Buddha hand shot forth, striking lightning-fast toward the white-robed monk.

"Bang!"

The white-robed monk was directly blasted away, while A Niu broke free from his restraint and fell to the ground.

Bleeding from the blow and witnessing Hua Changxi's formidable combat power, the white-robed monk cast an unwilling glance at A Niu before gritting his teeth and choosing to flee.

Hua Changxi naturally would not let him escape and quickly chased after him.

Seeing Hua Changxi pursuing relentlessly at great speed, the monk in white robes grew extremely anxious; amidst the chase, noticing that Hua Changxi was deliberately avoiding the surrounding houses, he suddenly formed a plan.

"Boom, boom~"

In an instant, several houses were destroyed.

Seeing the monk in white robes attacking the surrounding houses indiscriminately, Hua Changxi's expression darkened; she condensed a Fire Lotus in her palm, and with a 'whoosh', the Fire Lotus shot into the sky, growing from small to large, instantly enveloping the monk in white robes.

"Ah~"

A piercing scream rang out in the night sky; before the sound had even faded, the monk in white robes was incinerated to ash by the Fire Lotus, and with a blow of wind, no trace remained.

"Clatter~"

A string of Buddhist beads fell to the ground; Hua Changxi stepped forward to pick them up, then returned to help Ah Niu to his feet and quickly left the area.

The destroyed houses and the piercing screams woke everyone in Feng'an Ward; trembling with fear, they emerged from their homes, wanting to know what had happened.

After bringing Ah Niu back to the medicine shop, Hua Changxi gave him a healing pill to take, then asked Qing Niu to look after him while he rested.

"Sister Pucao, during the fight just now, several households were damaged; come with me to check on them, and if there are any injured, tell them to come to the medicine shop for free treatment, saying it is the shop helping our neighbors."

Upon hearing this, Pucao nodded, went out onto the street with Hua Changxi, and followed the crowd running toward the street where the houses had been destroyed.

Six households had their houses destroyed; fortunately, no lives were lost, and for anyone who was injured, Pucao arranged for them to be sent to the medicine shop to be treated by Hua Changxi.

Just as Hua Changxi finished bandaging the wounds of the injured, personnel from the Wucheng Military Command arrived to inquire about the situation.

"We don't know what happened either; in the middle of the night, we were sleeping soundly when suddenly we heard a booming sound, and then the houses collapsed."

"Fortunately, the neighbors appeared in time and rescued us."

"That scream was terrifying; by the time we went over, we saw nothing, as if we had imagined the scream."

The people in the ward eagerly reported what they knew to the government officials.

The personnel from the Wucheng Military Command listened but could not discern any key points, so they could only return to report upward.

After the Wucheng Military Command personnel left, Hua Changxi looked at the injured weeping in the medicine shop and said to Pucao, "We can advance them a portion of their wages to repair their homes first."

Pucao nodded: "Changxi, do not blame yourself too much..."

Hua Changxi shook her head: "I should not have fought within the city." She paused, then added, "The government officials will definitely come again."

Pucao hurriedly said, "Rest assured, I know how to deal with them."

Hua Changxi hummed an acknowledgment: "I will return to my room to rest for a while."

Back in her room, Hua Changxi took out the Buddhist beads she had picked up.

The string had eighteen beads; seventeen were scorched black, while only one bead had not been burned by the Fire Lotus and remained perfectly intact.

Recalling how the monk in white robes had casually produced a cultivation technique, Hua Changxi guessed that this bead was a storage treasure.

Since the monk in white robes was already dead, she confidently dripped a drop of blood onto it; soon, she perceived the space within the bead.

There were many items in the space: cultivation technique books, spirit stones, spiritual plants and fruits, pills, spirit talismans, magical tools, and even some formation plates and flags.

"What is this?"

In the space lay a transparent sphere the size of a pomelo; as soon as Hua Changxi took it out and touched it, flames appeared within the sphere, then rapidly engulfed it at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In an instant, the entire sphere blazed with brilliant firelight.

Hua Changxi quickly withdrew her hand; the flames receded like a reversing river, swiftly returning into the sphere and vanishing.

"Is this... a Spirit Testing Stone?"

Hua Changxi's eyes flashed with light; taking the Spirit Testing Stone, she went to Ah Niu's room and asked him to place his hand on it.

Unfortunately, the sphere showed no reaction.

Qing Niu, watching from the side, raised his hoof, indicating that he wanted to be tested as well.

Hua Changxi let Qing Niu touch the sphere; as soon as the hoof made contact, a brilliant green light erupted.

Seeing this, Qing Niu immediately grinned broadly.

Hua Changxi looked at Qing Niu, then at Ah Niu: "The ox has spiritual meridians, yet the human does not... truly a strange occurrence."

Next, Hua Changxi called Pucao in and asked her to touch the sphere.

As soon as Pucao placed her hands on the sphere, a beam of green light and a beam of red light ignited within it; the two lights were evenly matched and rapidly filled the entire sphere.

"This... Changxi, what is this?"

Hua Changxi replied, "This is a stone for testing spiritual meridians; Sister Pucao, you possess spiritual meridians and can cultivate."

Pucao's face lit up with joy: "If I cultivate, will I become like you?"

Hua Changxi nodded, and noticing Ah Niu lowering his head in disappointment out of the corner of her eye, she comforted him: "Ah Niu, you can cultivate too."

For those with ancestral bloodline awakening, the most suitable method of cultivation is body refinement; the "Nine Turns Mysterious Art" obtained at Mount Wuzhi was a profound body refinement technique.

Ah Niu suddenly lifted his head: "But I couldn't make the sphere light up."

Hua Changxi said, "Let me study this; you can definitely cultivate."

Ah Niu had always trusted Hua Changxi implicitly; hearing her say this, his expression immediately improved.

Hua Changxi took the Spirit Testing Stone back to her room, rummaged through the other sections of the bead's space, and soon retrieved the golden bowl that had revealed Ah Niu's ancestral bloodline awakening.

She burned the golden bowl with the Fire Lotus; seeing no abnormality, she dripped a drop of blood onto it.

Once the blood merged with the golden bowl, information regarding the bowl floated into Hua Changxi's mind.

"Totem Bowl: capable of illuminating the human bloodline totem."

Placing the golden bowl on the table with its opening facing the door, Hua Changxi quickly stepped into the range illuminated by the bowl's opening.

The next moment, the golden bowl emitted a golden light; as the light descended upon her, Hua Changxi felt the blood within her body begin to burn and boil.

Then, a swaying, dazzling red lotus emerged from Hua Changxi's body and bloomed.

"Such a wonderful fragrance; what scent is this?"

"It seems to be the scent of lotus flowers."

"Where is that lotus fragrance coming from?"

The pharmacy and the surrounding neighbors all smelled the lotus fragrance, but unfortunately, the scent vanished quickly.

Hua Changxi put away the golden alms bowl: "With an ox, a snake, and a flower, if the bloodline totem isn't an animal, it's a plant. Could it be that humans in the past relied on protection from the demon races?"

"A lotus totem; no wonder the Hua family bears the surname Hua!"