Chapter 222: The Hua Family Enters the Game

The secret realm Hua Changxi obtained had eight layers; although she had only skimmed through the first five, she was still thrilled beyond measure.

For no other reason than the abundance of spiritual herbs, spiritual plants, and spiritual fruits within the secret realm!

And this was just one secret realm!

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

"This is the foundation of the Sacred Land!"

No wonder the imperial family and powerful noble clans fought until they were covered in blood, all striving to seize control of the Qihuang Hall.

The Qihuang Hall undoubtedly held a high status within the Pill Saint Hall; occupying the position of Hall Master granted certain authority, one aspect of which was control over the Sacred Land's resources.

Just as in this worship of the Divine Tree, only the eighteen Hall Masters were qualified to participate.

"With so many spiritual herbs, how could one ever use them all!"

Hua Changxi's excitement had not yet subsided before she began to worry.

Having too many spiritual herbs was also a trouble.

Especially in the first and second layers; a batch needed to be harvested quickly, otherwise many spiritual herbs would rot and spoil, which would truly be a tremendous waste of resources.

Although she had rarely interacted with other cultivators, she could guess that the ruins and secret realms appearing nowadays were all occupied by powerful noble clans, leaving lower-level cultivators with almost no cultivation resources; letting the medicinal herbs in the first and second layers go to waste would weigh heavily on her conscience.

The first and second layers of the secret realm alone contained fifteen million mu of medicinal fields; she certainly could not manage them alone and must find others to help.

Yet the moment she thought about managing people, she could not help but feel a headache coming on.

Where there were many people, a Jianghu would form, and where there was a Jianghu, there would be 'fighting and killing,' which was nothing but trouble for Hua Changxi.

"Never mind, I'll first see how the other secret realm masters handle things."

Too lazy to rack her brains further, Hua Changxi began to carefully inspect the fourth layer of the secret realm.

Mount Wuzhi had seen various spiritual plants spring up like bamboo shoots after rain only after the comprehensive recovery of spiritual energy, which meant the age of these spiritual plants and herbs was not very high.

The third-grade top-quality spiritual pills she was currently refining required large quantities of third-tier spiritual herbs, plants, and fruits; since most third-tier spiritual herbs needed ten to a hundred years to mature, even though many herbs, plants, and fruits matured rapidly during the early stage of spiritual energy recovery, Mount Wuzhi was already struggling to meet her demand for spiritual herbs.

While refining third-grade spiritual pills might not lead to a shortage of spiritual herbs for her, refining fourth-grade pills would definitely be insufficient, and collecting materials for fifth-grade pills and above would be even more difficult.

For Hua Changxi, the Divine Tree secret realm had arrived at the perfect time.

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

However, wood spiritual energy possessed nourishing and restorative functions, making it suitable for body refinement here; in the future, she could also conduct pill refining within the secret realm.

Hua Changxi carefully inspected the first four layers of the secret realm, and since she needed to return to the Hua family for the New Year, she picked some second-tier spiritual fruits that nourished the body: Nourishing Essence Fruits, Jade Skin Fruits, and Yang Muscle Fruits.

She also prepared ten portions of medicinal ingredients for brewing body-refining medicinal soups for her father, mother, three elder brothers, grandfather, and grandmother respectively.

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

The resources in the secret realm belonged to the Pill Saint Hall; she was merely a manager, and although she had not yet decided how to manage the secret realm, its contents would definitely be used to develop and strengthen the Sacred Land.

Hua Changxi exited the secret realm, and seeing that dusk had already fallen, she prepared to return to the Hua family.

"Hall Master, Happy New Year!"

When Hua Changxi emerged from the pill refining room, she found that Alchemist Xu and the other eight people were still there.

Although none of these eight belonged to her, they had been responsible for guarding Hall Number Thirteen of the Qihuang Hall during this period; after a moment's thought, she took out thirty second-tier spiritual fruits, giving three to each person.

The women received Jade Skin Fruits, while the men received Yang Muscle Fruits.

Since Alchemist Xu was the steward of the hall, he received seven spiritual fruits.

"Happy New Year, go home quickly."

After Hua Changxi left, Hua Shuran and the others looked at Alchemist Xu with envy; they all had powerful backers and did not lack a few spiritual fruits, but Alchemist Xu was clearly more favored by Hua Changxi, and that was what truly mattered to them.

Alchemist Xu carefully stored the spiritual fruits and departed with a beaming smile.

"Let's go as well."

The New Year of the twenty-fourth year of Yongxing was destined to be turbulent.

The appearance of the Xia family, a Dao-protecting clan, at the Pill Saint Hall, along with the emergence of the Pill Saint Hall's Divine Tree secret realm, spread with lightning speed, stirring up storms in the capital.

Hua Shuran and Hua Wanyue immediately relayed the news that Hua Changxi had obtained a high-grade Divine Tree secret realm to their family, once again making Hua Bin's branch the focus of the entire Hua clan.

For cultivators, regardless of their talent, cultivation resources were indispensable; whoever controlled cultivation resources could command others.

Not only the Hua clan, but other powers in the capital also began to pay attention to the seemingly insignificant Hua family.

In the Hua family courtyard.

Hua Dalang and Hua Silang, who was cultivating at the Count's Manor, among others, successively received the news that Hua Changxi had obtained the Divine Tree secret realm.

Once they knew, everyone else in the Hua family knew as well.

At this moment, the members of the Hua family finally truly understood Hua Changxi's talent in medicine and the Dao of pills.

Hua Dalang took a deep breath: "Only two people obtained high-grade Divine Tree secret realms: one is the female cultivator brought by the Dao-protecting clan, and the other is our family's Ninth Lady."

Upon hearing this, the Old Master Hua felt both joy and melancholy; he was joyful that his lineage had produced an extraordinary talent, yet melancholy that this person happened to be the one most resistant to family discipline, and furthermore, a daughter.

If this person were any of his grandsons, the Old Master Hua would surely have laughed aloud to the heavens.

The Old Mistress Hua, however, was extremely happy; even though her granddaughter Ninth Lady was not close to her, for the sake of her eldest son, she would certainly not treat Ninth Lady or her husband poorly.

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

She knew very well that ever since Ninth Lady cut off the supply of medicinal ingredients to others in the family, the second and fourth branches had been having a very hard time; despite her and her husband's advanced age, their current cultivation was not much inferior to that of their sons and grandsons.

The Old Mistress Hua whispered instructions to the Old Master Hua several times: "Ninth Lady has a stubborn temper and dislikes being lectured; when she returns, you must watch your mouth and not make everyone uncomfortable again."

The Old Master Hua felt a surge of resentment in his heart and huffed angrily: "I, as her grandfather, must now watch my granddaughter's expression?"

The Old Mistress Hua rolled her eyes: "If you want to show off your authority before your grandchildren, you must have the capability; if the whole family relied on you for a living, you could naturally do as you pleased, but the current situation is that we all rely on Ninth Lady, so you had better keep your tail tucked tight."

"Just think of the others in the clan; even if they wanted to, they probably wouldn't have the chance."

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

Second Uncle Hua was extremely excited as he looked at Eldest Brother Hua Minghe and Sister-in-law Yao: "Eldest Brother, Eldest Sister-in-law, Ninth Lady obtained a secret realm; she certainly cannot manage it alone. Since she has gained such a great benefit, she must pull the rest of the family up no matter what."

Before Hua Minghe and Lady Yao could express their stance, the Old Mistress Hua scolded Second Uncle Hua and addressed the rest of the family: "When Ninth Lady returns shortly, no one is allowed to mention the secret realm."

Regarding this granddaughter, Ninth Lady, the old lady believed she understood her quite well.

Since childhood, this granddaughter had never obeyed discipline; unlike the eldest couple, who only indulged her, the old lady had engaged in many battles of wits and courage with her.

This girl's nature accepted neither softness nor hardness, making her extremely difficult to handle. However, years of contention taught the old lady one thing: one must absolutely not force that girl, for the more you pressed, the stronger she became.

The several fierce conflicts between the old man and Ninth Lady all stemmed from the old man attempting to pressure her using his status as an elder; the girl refused, and things immediately fell apart.

Hearing Mother speak thus, Second Uncle Hua grew anxious at once and tried to argue further, but Second Aunt Hua pulled him back.

"Listen to Mother."

Second Aunt Hua was the old Lady Hua's niece from her maiden family; among the three daughters-in-law, she knew the old lady best. She understood that the old lady would not neglect the second and fourth branches, so her words must carry some purpose.

Fourth Uncle Hua and Fourth Aunt Hua, as always, spoke little. However, due to Fifth Lady Hua's relationship with her grandson, Marquis Wu Yi's residence had frequently sent them gifts, so the fourth branch's life remained somewhat better than that of the second branch.

As dusk approached, Hua Changxi finally returned to the Hua family courtyard.

"Ninth Lady has returned!"