Chapter 151: The Master of the Pill Sect

"I am Cao Jingsong, an instructor at the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan."

Why the Falling Moon Villa moved away had nothing to do with them; Cao Jingsong's only goal was Xiang Fu, so he adopted an inscrutable expression and stated his identity.

But just as he had worried when he arrived, Xiang Fu had lived at the Falling Moon Immortal Villa for many years and had heard many stories about the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion.

Whether it was the marvelous nature of cultivating in the Immortal Mansion or the profound wonders of immortal arts, both had been deeply ingrained in her mind since she was young.

Therefore, Xiang Fu had a clear resistance to joining the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan.

Moreover, although the Xiang family was a scholarly official family in the mortal world, this young lady had been accustomed to a life of luxury since childhood and would not easily listen to persuasion.

"Prefect Xiang, you should know that my Heavenly Tian Shuyuan ranks first in the world; it is the Great Xia Sacred Sect and the head of the seven great immortal sects."

"Over the years, the number of practitioners in the Upper Five Realms at the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan has always far exceeded other immortal sects. Xiang Fu is too young and may not understand some things, but as her father, you must surely be clearer in your heart."

Hearing what Cao Jingsong said, Xiang Xuan, the Prefect of Danshui Commandery, fell into silence.

In fact, Xiang Xuan supported his daughter's idea of wanting to join the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion.

Because the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion was located on the border between Youzhou and Yunzhou, and Yunzhou bordered Fengzhou, Danshui Commandery was actually much closer to the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion and very far from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan.

In the Azure Cloud World, even those with official positions still belonged to the mortal register, so they liked to leverage influence, and the proximity of that "influence" usually determined the magnitude of the deterrence.

This was also the reason why half of the affiliated immortal villas in Fengzhou were disciples of the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion.

The world was divided into nine provinces; the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's deterrence covered the four directions of Zhongzhou, but in the north, the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion's reputation was still greater.

"I still respect my daughter's choice, Immortal Cao. Please forgive me."

"You..."

Cao Jingsong was silent for a long while, then flicked his sleeves and left the main hall.

At this moment, in the back hall of the main hall, Lady Xiang stepped out gracefully: "Why not agree to let Fu'er join the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan? That is the Great Xia Sacred Sect."

"Within our Fengzhou territory, the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion's influence occupies the majority. Even if Fu'er cannot enter the Upper Five Realms, returning from the Immortal Mansion, she can still maintain good relations with the immortal villas under it, forming an ironclad alliance here, allowing our Xiang family to stand firm in Fengzhou. In this regard, joining the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan cannot achieve this."

"So that's how it is..."

Xiang Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, letting his wide sleeves fall behind him.

He had a close friend, Liu An, the Inspector of Fengzhou, who had an only son whose aptitude had reached the level of entering an immortal sect.

The two had discussed this many times before, and they had reached this consensus.

In their view, relying on the prestige of the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion to form an ironclad alliance in Fengzhou was the best choice to continue the family line in this world.

And the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan did not have enough influence in Fengzhou, so it was not a good choice.

Just at this moment, a servant from the Prefect's mansion hurried in from outside and stopped in the hall: "Master, the people from the Bai Xia Immortal Villa have come again. They are now at the gate of the Falling Moon Immortal Villa."

Hearing this, Xiang Xuan could not help but knit his brows.

This Bai Xia Immortal Villa was an affiliated force of the Chen Immortal Clan, and their dojo was in Fengyuan Town, on the far west side of Danshui Commandery.

But ever since the Falling Moon Immortal Villa left, the Bai Xia Immortal Villa had set its sights on their large mansion and had asked him, the Prefect, for it many times, all of which Xiang Xuan had politely declined.

Because he worried that if the people from the Falling Moon Immortal Villa returned one day and found their nest occupied by others, it would create a rift with his Xiang family.

It was true that the Chen Immortal Clan was also a northern immortal sect, but it was located in the northwest of Qingzhou, separated from Fengzhou by Zhongzhou, even further away than the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan.

To Xiang Xuan, currying favor with an immortal villa of the Chen Immortal Clan was actually meaningless to him.

"Let's go, let's go take a look."

"Yes."

Cao Jingsong was currently standing in the corridor with Pei Ruyi, talking about how the Xiang family did not want their daughter to join the academy, and watched the Prefect's party hurry out of the mansion.

Pei Ruyi watched for a long time before turning her head: "Since the Xiang family is unwilling, let's go to the next one."

"That is all we can do."

Cao Jingsong rolled up his long sleeves: "Where is Ji You?"

Pei Ruyi opened her mouth upon hearing this: "Junior Brother Ji went out. He went to the Falling Moon Immortal Villa's residence with Kuang the scholar, and Ruoyao followed them too."

"?"

Cao Jingsong couldn't help but turn his head: "What is he doing there? Could it be that he thinks there is something strange about the Falling Moon Immortal Villa moving away?"

Pei Ruyi looked at him: "Guess again."

Cao Jingsong was stunned for a moment, then his eyes gradually widened: "He wouldn't have heard that the Falling Moon Villa's mansion was empty and decided it was his, would he?"

"He said he wanted to establish a noble family, and he couldn't spend money to build a house himself, so he decided to snatch one back..."

Cao Jingsong held his breath, thinking to himself, "This child is truly extraordinary." He really snatched things wherever he went.

Before, he only snatched silver and swords; now, he even wanted to snatch a mansion.

At the same time, Prefect Xiang was sitting in his carriage, his brows furrowed tightly amidst the bumpy journey.

The master of the Bai Xia Immortal Villa was an expert at the Initial Realm of Merging with the Dao. If such a realm were to unleash its power, it might wipe out his entire Xiang family in the blink of an eye.

He had refused many times before, which had already made that Bai Xia Immortal Villa furious. If he didn't give them the mansion today, he feared it would not end well.

Although he didn't want to offend the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion, having a sword hanging over his head was a different situation.

Prefect Xiang clenched his cuffs, his face turning gloomy.

Before long, the carriage slowed to a stop, and the sound of the horse's heavy stomping reached his ears.

Prefect Xiang rose from the carriage, took a deep breath, lifted the door curtain, and looked out.

Before him was the Falling Moon Villa's mansion, built with grandeur and atmosphere, with flying eaves and upturned corners, carved beams and painted pillars, occupying a vast area, and with high, boundless walls—no wonder it was coveted.

The people from the Bai Xia Immortal Villa were all standing in front of the gate of the Falling Moon Villa. The leader was a man who looked slightly aged, but they didn't have any arrogant expressions; instead, they were staring intently at the courtyard, their eyes flickering.

"?"

"What is going on?"

The servant lowered his voice: "Those young people from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan also came. The two sides have already met, but for some reason, the Bai Xia Immortal Villa has not entered the villa."

Prefect Xiang's brows furrowed slightly, thinking to himself, the people from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan also have their eyes on this mansion? So he pondered for a moment and decided not to get out of the carriage yet, but to observe first.

Before long, Ji You and Xiang Kuangcheng came out of the mansion, and Fang Ruoyao followed behind them.

The two sides stared at each other in front of the gate, the atmosphere freezing instantly.

Prefect Xiang couldn't help but clench his fists, thinking to himself, this is going to lead to a conflict.

However, what he didn't expect was that the Bai Xia Immortal Villa did not show any anger, but all of them stared at the man holding the sword in front of them, even the villa master.

"Why is Brother Ji a bit excited?"

"Occupying something that no one is guarding is called stealing, but now it's different. Now, it can be snatched."

"?"

Ji You looked at the crowd from the Bai Xia Immortal Villa, the sword Qi around his body gradually rising.

But surprisingly, after frowning for a long time, the master of the Bai Xia Immortal Villa suddenly bowed forward, then turned and left with the dozen or so disciples behind him.

In this territory of Fengzhou, regardless of whether they were affiliated with immortal sects or noble families, they were ultimately outsiders.

In a situation where there were no noble families in Fengzhou, anyone could come and take a share.

But when that young man reported his background to him before entering the villa, he knew that he couldn't get this mansion.

Because this place, Fengzhou, was about to welcome a true master of Fengzhou.

Of course, many immortal villas did not want to see this situation.

This person might face assassination, poisoning, or even a head-on conflict, but the master of the Bai Xia Immortal Villa did not want to be the one to step forward.

He was seventy-three years old this year, at the Initial Realm of Merging with the Dao. He shouldn't have been afraid of someone at the Middle Realm of Profound Understanding, but it was rumored that there was a peerlessly talented Middle Realm of Merging with the Dao practitioner on Spirit Sword Mountain named Gong Shu Chou, who was considered a dazzling powerhouse on Spirit Sword Mountain, yet even such a figure had nearly died at his hands.

Mansions were everywhere, but one only had one life.

Xiang Kuangcheng couldn't help but be stunned: "Brother Ji, they left. What should we do now?"

Ji You narrowed his eyes: "Scaring people away is a high-level method of robbery. In our code of conduct, it also counts as a successful robbery, not violating the bandit's heart. I have a mansion now."

"?"

The Prefect of Danshui Commandery was watching this scene from the carriage, then stared at the young man with the sword, a trace of doubt appearing in his expression.

Information did not circulate between practitioners and mortals.

The gap was just as Qiu Zhong had said back in Yuyang County: mortals could not even look up at the immortals.

Plus, Ji You's entry into the inner courtyard had just happened, and the only Falling Moon Villa related to an immortal sect was now empty, so in this Danshui Commandery, news was delayed by more than a year compared to the outside world.

So Prefect Xiang couldn't understand why the Bai Xia Immortal Villa, which used to be so arrogant and had once threatened the lives of the entire commandery to demand the mansion, would be willing to leave at this time.

In his eyes, that young Heavenly Tian Shuyuan student was just a servant disciple of an admissions instructor.

Could it be because of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's reputation?

Prefect Xiang couldn't figure it out, but the good news was that there was no conflict, so he didn't need to risk showing himself.

"Let's go, let's go back to the mansion."

Prefect Xiang glanced at the young swordsman, then said to the coachman on the carriage.

The coachman nodded upon hearing this and drove the carriage back to the mansion in a hurry.

At this time, the sky was getting dark, the setting sun to the west dyed the clouds with brilliant sunlight, reddening the entire long sky. Lady Xiang and Xiang Fu were waiting in front of the Prefect's mansion.

In the half year since the Falling Moon Villa moved away, even they had witnessed the aggressiveness of the Bai Xia Immortal Villa, so they naturally knew that if this matter was stalled for too long, it would eventually lead to disaster.

Now seeing her husband return safely, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Did they... not force you?"

Prefect Xiang shook his head: "I was in the carriage and didn't come out."

Lady Xiang was a bit surprised: "Then they are still in front of the immortal villa?"

"They have already left."

"They didn't get the mansion, how could these immortals leave?"

Prefect Xiang pondered for a long time before speaking: "When I arrived, those two young students who came with Immortal Cao were also there. When the people from the Bai Xia Immortal Villa saw this, they left. Perhaps they were afraid of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's prestige."

Xiang Fu was slightly startled after hearing this: "Although the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan is the Great Xia Sacred Sect, there has never been a so-called subordinate relationship among the seven great immortal sects. They left just by meeting?"

"I can't explain this clearly either, but in any case, it's one less thing to worry about."

Just at this moment, a servant hurried over: "Master, those immortals from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan just said they wanted the Falling Moon Villa's mansion and asked me to let you know."

Prefect Xiang frowned upon hearing this: "That mansion is for the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion. Although the Falling Moon Villa has moved away, there might still be someone in the Immortal Mansion who will take over. You can go and refuse them with this reason."

"I politely declined them like that, but they talked about some immortal rules and what not, and also said something about being local, and having the right to choose land. In short, they said you, the Prefect, have no right to interfere."

Xiang Fu couldn't help but sneer after hearing this: "Danshui Commandery is under Father's governance, how could Father have no right to interfere? You don't need to go and refuse them anymore. They are leaving tomorrow, so there's no need to make more trouble."

(Begging for monthly tickets...)

(End of chapter)