Chapter 225: The Ladies' Army

On the first day of the Lunar New Year in the 24th year of Yongxing, the Hua family courtyard became lively early in the morning.

After hearing the commotion, Hua Changxi sealed away several furnaces of top-grade Grade Three pills she had refined, put away her pill furnace, and only then lifted the restrictions inside her room.

After returning to her room last night, she had intended to cultivate, but the moment she began, the spiritual energy in the Hua family courtyard was completely drained by her.

Her current cultivation speed allowed her to absorb over four million points of spiritual energy per hour; the spiritual energy in the Hua family courtyard existed only because a Spirit Gathering Array had been arranged there.

Hua Changxi did not understand array formations and could only copycat the setup of a simple, low-grade Spirit Gathering Array; the spirit stones required to maintain such a low-grade array were few enough to withstand her cultivation.

After replenishing the spirit stones overnight, she had no choice but to take out her pill furnace and refine pills.

[Grade Three Pill Refiner (Top-Grade Pills): Pills Refined 1508 Furnaces / 1508]

Hua Changxi glanced at her pill refining statistics; to upgrade to a Grade Four Pill Refiner, she still needed to refine over eight thousand more furnaces of Grade Three pills.

"I'll need to allocate more time to pill refining from now on."

The appearance of Xia Zhen and his group ultimately created a sense of urgency in Hua Changxi's heart, especially facing Meng Qingyao, who had ignited the second street of pill fire, stirring a competitive spirit within her.

Meng Qingyao possessed a Fire-Wood Spiritual Body, making her a born pill refiner; while Hua Changxi admitted her own talent in pill refining certainly couldn't compare, she had the external cheat of the Shennong Cauldron.

In terms of external hardware conditions, Hua Changxi felt she and Meng Qingyao were evenly matched.

It was precisely because they were so evenly matched that she developed the desire to compete and see who was superior.

Previously, when refining pills, she lacked a comparable benchmark; Meng Qingyao's arrival served as both a motivation and a mirror for her.

As the Hua family courtyard grew increasingly lively, Hua Changxi cast a Cleaning Technique, tidied her appearance, opened her door, and saw many members of the Hua clan standing in the courtyard to pay New Year's respects.

"Ninth Sister, come quickly to greet the uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters of the clan."

Hua Changxi was pulled by Hua Dalang to her side, receiving one family after another of Hua clan members who came to pay New Year's respects.

Every household in the Hua clan that had produced a cultivator came to pay New Year's respects to Hua Bin's family today.

Having transmigrated for fifteen years, this was the first time Hua Changxi had interacted with so many clan members, and her face felt stiff from smiling.

She knew that as long as she continued to interact with people, social greetings and farewells were unavoidable, yet exchanging polite platitudes with a group of people she barely knew truly failed to spark her interest.

By noon, after eating lunch, Hua Changxi slipped away directly.

"Mother, I'm going out to pay New Year's respects to others."

Watching Hua Changxi vanish from the courtyard in the blink of an eye, the Hua family members all felt somewhat helpless.

Old Master Hua frowned tightly: "The Marquis Manor sent word saying that the Heir Apparent will also come over this afternoon to sit for a while."

The Heir Apparent's visit was undoubtedly aimed at Ninth Sister, yet now that she had gone out, the Hua family members, hosting the Marquis Manor's Heir Apparent for the first time, felt somewhat uneasy.

Hua Minghe said: "Since the Heir Apparent is coming to pay New Year's respects, we just need to ensure our etiquette is flawless."

Old Master Hua sighed: "We can only do so." After speaking, he looked at his many grandsons and granddaughters, feeling regret once again in his heart.

Why was the most promising younger generation in the family not someone else, but rather Ninth Sister, who was so rebellious!

After leaving the Hua family, Hua Changxi went directly to Xu's Medicine Shop.

She had always been concerned about Xu Ling's bloodline regression, and now that Physician Xu was working for her, she had to clarify Xu Ling's situation.

"Uncle Xu."

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, there were few customers in Xu's Medicine Shop; Physician Xu was leading the apprentices in taking inventory of the medicinal herbs in the medicine cabinets.

Upon seeing Hua Changxi, Physician Xu's face immediately lit up with joy: "Ninth Sister, why have you come?"

Hua Changxi smiled and said: "I came to pay you New Year's respects."

Physician Xu put down the work in his hands and led Hua Changxi to the backyard.

After chatting about daily life for a while, Hua Changxi asked: "Uncle Xu, why haven't I seen Lingling?"

At the mention of Xu Ling, a look of worry appeared on Physician Xu's face: "Lingling is on duty; it will be a few more days before it's her turn to switch shifts and rest."

Hua Changxi looked surprised: "Lingling has gone out to work? Where is she serving?"

Physician Xu sighed and said: "Ninth Sister, do you know the Demon-Suppressing Army?"

Hua Changxi nodded.

Physician Xu said: "The Right General of the Demon-Suppressing Army is the Emperor's eldest son, His Highness Jun Ling; under His Highness commands an army composed entirely of women, named the Ladies' Army."

"The person managing the Ladies' Army is precisely the Second Young Lady of the Wu'an Marquis Manor, Wu Liyun."

"Some time ago, Lingling encountered an out-of-control carriage on the street; to save a child, she struck the carriage away with her bare hands. This scene happened to be witnessed by Second Lady Wu, who recognized that Lingling was a body cultivator."

Speaking to this point, Physician Xu asked Hua Changxi again: "Ninth Sister, do you still remember Master Konghai, who cured Lingling's hypersomnia?"

Hua Changxi nodded again: "Of course I remember."

Physician Xu continued: "After Master Konghai cured Lingling's hypersomnia, he also left Lingling a body refinement technique manual; it is by relying on this body refinement technique that Lingling embarked on the path of cultivation."

"The women's army in Second Lady Wu's hands consists entirely of female cultivators; seeing that Lingling's skills were quite good, Second Lady Wu recruited her into the army."

"I did not want Lingling to join the Demon-Suppressing Army, but alas, she insisted on going."

"Lingling told me that cultivators require vast resources to cultivate, so she must go out to earn cultivation resources, and the Demon-Suppressing Army is the best place for that."

Hua Changxi had always worried that the monk Konghai, who had previously saved Xu Ling, was a member of the Demon Race and feared Xu Ling was being controlled; now learning she had joined the Demon-Suppressing Army, her worries lessened somewhat.

The Demon-Suppressing Army certainly conducts screenings when recruiting people; if there were anything abnormal about Xu Ling, the Demon-Suppressing Army would likely detect it.

Afterwards, Hua Changxi spoke with Physician Xu for a while longer, then left Xu's Medicine Shop and went to Shennong Medicine Shop in Feng'an Ward to see Pucao and A'Niu; it was not until dark that she returned to the Hua family courtyard.

"What? The Marquis Manor gifted our family a five-courtyard compound?"

At the dinner table, Hua Changxi was informed by Hua Liulang about the matter of the Marquis Manor's Heir Apparent gifting their family a residence.

Seeing Hua Changxi frown, Second Uncle Hua immediately explained: "The Heir Apparent said our courtyard was too small, that with so many people in the family we couldn't fit, so we should change to a larger residence, and then he handed over a deed to the property."

Hua Liulang glanced at Hua Changxi's expression: "The family didn't want to accept it, but the Heir Apparent insisted on giving it; we really couldn't refuse..."

Hua Changxi glared at Hua Liulang: "Sixth Brother, why are you looking at me? Whether the Heir Apparent gifts a residence or the family accepts a residence has nothing whatsoever to do with me." After speaking, she buried her head in her meal and began eating.

Seeing her reaction, the expressions of the Hua family members were not very good.

Old Master Hua wanted to say something, but was firmly held back by Old Lady Hua.

Old Lady Hua smiled and said: "Accepting the deed was simply because we couldn't reject the Heir Apparent's kindness in front of the clan members; as for that residence, we certainly will not move in to live there. After some time, your grandfather will exchange the deed back."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi finally lifted her head and looked at Hua Dalang: "How was the output from the Fire Spirit Mine last year?"

Hua Dalang replied, "It was acceptable."

Hua Changxi said, "Our courtyard is indeed a bit small; then let's allocate some spirit stones to buy a larger residence." She paused. "We can buy a house ourselves; why rely on others?"

Hua Dalang spoke up: "In Jingcheng nowadays, even with money, one cannot find a suitable house to buy."

Hua Changxi looked over in surprise.

Hua Dalang explained, "Prime locations and fine houses are all held by powerful nobles and wealthy families. Previously, the turnover of vacant properties in Jingcheng was fairly high, but as more and more people flood into the capital, there are no longer enough houses in Jingcheng."

"Nowadays, in many areas surrounding Jingcheng, houses are being built everywhere."

After hearing this, Hua Changxi paused; she had truly not paid attention to the situation in this regard.

Old Lady Hua said, "If we cannot buy a house, then we simply won't; our home is spacious enough. Enough of this topic; let's eat, let's eat."