We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

"Alright, mission accomplished, we can head home now." Li Gongfu's face lit up with a beaming smile as he recalled the information the waiter had provided.

"Looks like this little white guy will have to treat me to a good meal today..."

As the saying goes, it's hard for a woman to get married once she's grown up, especially for a female martial artist like Xiaoqing who loves swords and spears; she's not a good match in this era.

It is extremely difficult to be chosen and married.

Not to mention being noticed by a martial arts prodigy like Shen Bailian, who comes from a wealthy and prestigious family; that would be like the ancestral graves of Xiaoqing's family emitting auspicious smoke.

"Wait, something's not right. They keep calling me Xiaoqing, but I don't know her real name. I'll have to ask Xiaobai when I get back." Thinking of this, Li Gongfu quickened his pace.

I want to get home as soon as possible.

This young lady from a prominent family, it would be absolutely unacceptable if she didn't have a proper name.

……

At this moment, on West Lake, although it was a sunny day, for some unknown reason, thick smoke rose from the lake surface, making it difficult to see anything within ten meters, and people were completely obscured.

This unusual phenomenon immediately attracted many tourists who were enjoying the scenery of West Lake by boat. Guided by the lights on the shore, they asked their boatmen to steer the boats back to shore.

After all, good times last forever, but good fortune only comes once.

It is absolutely unacceptable to lose your life in order to enjoy beautiful scenery.

At this moment, in the middle of West Lake, there is a silver iron boat, its surface gleaming with metallic luster. If ordinary people were to see it, they would surely be amazed.

The iron ship could actually float on the water.

At this moment, Fahai looked at all this. Although his face remained as calm as ever, his eyes, being the windows to his soul, sparkled as he looked at the iron ship with curiosity.

I was filled with curiosity about all of this.

"Alright, the tourists have been mostly driven away." Xiaoqing took a deep breath and gasped for air. Casting the Cloud and Rain spell over such a large area was quite an effort, even for someone with nearly a thousand years of cultivation. Naturally, she had already consumed seventy or eighty percent of her magical power.

Under normal circumstances, she would never have wasted such a great deal of magical power in front of a monk, especially an old bald monk.

This is tantamount to courting death.

But today is different. This is at someone's request, and the person who asked her to do this is also a tested and reliable talisman.

"Let this humble monk take a look first." Fahai saw Xiaoqing return. Although that's what she said, he still habitually didn't believe the demon's words. Golden light flickered between his brows.

Open the Heavenly Eye!

"Tch." Xiaoqing curled her lips in disdain upon seeing this. It was obvious that the other party did not trust her, but this was normal. If one could easily believe a snake demon, then that person would not be called Fahai.

However, Xiaoqing was still quite unhappy.

If it weren't for Shen Bailian being here, she definitely wouldn't have come here.

'This style does look quite familiar.' Xiaoqing looked around, shifting her attention to the iron ship she was on.

This reminded her of those less-than-pleasant memories from before.

Shen Bailian caught a glimpse of Xiaoqing's actions out of the corner of his eye. His expression remained unchanged, but he was actually starting to feel embarrassed.

He guessed that Xiaoqing had already figured out that the person who attacked her earlier was him, who was now sitting next to her, but even if she had figured it out, she would never admit it.

"Things have been going too smoothly lately, and I've become a bit careless. I need to be more careful about that in the future." Shen Bailian thought about his own behavior today and Xiao Qing's actions, and immediately began to reflect on his actions.

that's the truth.

Over the course of nearly a year, Shen Bailian proceeded cautiously, getting closer and closer to his envisioned goal.

Furthermore, after he advanced to the Moon Embracing Realm, his combat power was also proven. When he exerted his full strength, he could directly destroy the golden-haired beast.

And who is the Golden-haired Hou?

Even if Guanyin Bodhisattva's mount has a low status, it is still a living deity with combat power that is difficult for ordinary people to reach.

Therefore, with the exponential expansion of combat power, Shen Bailian's mentality naturally also expanded, which led to his carelessness today.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, Shen Bailian would never have made such a basic mistake.

However, it's too late to talk about it now. All he can do now is to firmly imprint this lesson in his heart to prevent it from happening again.

"How about it? You old bald monk, haven't you made up your mind yet?" Although Xiaoqing had some doubts about Shen Bailian, this was the host's territory, and moreover, the host was her savior. So even if she was angry, she couldn't vent it on Shen Bailian, but she also couldn't keep it to herself, otherwise the more she suppressed her anger, the greater it would become.

Therefore, Xiaoqing had no choice but to vent her anger on Fahai.

"Watch closely." Fahai wasn't annoyed. His strength wasn't just in his profound magical power, but also in his extensive knowledge of Buddhist scriptures. Through decades of meditation and chanting, he had long since cultivated a heart that remained unmoved by praise or blame.

This level of mockery is far too childish.

Even young children wouldn't get angry about this, let alone Fahai, the abbot of Jinshan Temple.

"Amitabha." Fahai looked at the rising steam from the teacup, which mingled with the surrounding white mist, and remained silent for a long time. He then turned to Shen Bailian beside him and asked softly, "I wonder why Benefactor Shen summoned me and this beast here today?"

"You bald monk! Who are you calling a beast? Believe me or not, I'll take out my sword and cut your head off!" Upon hearing this, Xiaoqing, with her fiery temper, immediately flew into a rage.

Here, besides a bald monk, there is a human, and the only other one is this snake demon.

This "beast" certainly doesn't refer to the first two.

Xiaoqing wasn't trying to scare anyone. As she spoke, she subtly moved her mind, and with a wisp of green smoke, a cold, gleaming sword appeared in her palm.

"Hmm?" Fahai felt a chill run down his spine as he sensed the cold light emanating from the blade. He immediately frowned upon seeing this.

In this world, a person's strength depends not only on themselves, but also on external forces, such as the power of magical treasures, the strength of pets, and... the last time they met, Fahai had never seen Xiaoqing use this sword, and even when they were in a life-or-death crisis, this sword did not appear.

But now, it has appeared.

'Could there be someone else backing this demon?' Fahai felt increasingly regretful. If he had apprehended Xiaoqing sooner, perhaps this wouldn't have happened.

With the help of this magical artifact, dealing with this snake demon as easily and comfortably as before is just a pipe dream.

Furthermore, the sword in Xiaoqing's hand also confirmed a conjecture in Fahai's mind: at the beginning, he came to Lin'an City not because of the two snake demons, Xiaoqing and Bai Suzhen.

It was because when he passed through Lin'an City, he suddenly sensed an extremely powerful demonic aura. Although it only flashed by, it was still captured by the Golden-haired Hou.

Originally, Fahai planned to make proper preparations before coming to Lin'an City for a detailed investigation, but he couldn't resist the persistent pleading of the Golden-haired Hou, and he arrived in Lin'an City without any preparation.

As a result, she met Xiaoqing, then Shen Bailian, and then a series of events followed.

At first, Fahai thought that the powerful demon was Shen Bailian, but after the other party confirmed it, Shen Bailian was just a normal young master, except that there were still doubts about his identity.

They are also pure-blooded humans, without a trace of demon blood.

Afterwards, Fahai was too busy to think about the matter anymore, and assumed it was just his imagination. But today, he once again felt that fleeting demonic aura on the sword in Xiaoqing's hand.

This shows that the demons in Lin'an City are not just these two snake demons; there is a mastermind behind them.

Furthermore, this snake demon also has a sister whose cultivation has reached over a thousand years, making it even more difficult to capture her.

'However, if we can persuade Benefactor Shen to turn back today and see the right path, then everything will be worthwhile.' Fahai's thoughts raced, and everything happened in the blink of an eye.

After all, he had personally witnessed Shen Bailian's strength; even the golden-haired beast had to use its full strength to barely suppress him.

Therefore, in Fahai's view, as long as Shen Bailian is willing to repent and turn over a new leaf, he can lay down his butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot!
Even if the monstrous creature hidden behind Lin'an City is incredibly powerful, it absolutely cannot withstand the combined attack of him, the Golden-haired Hou, and Shen Bailian.

A righteous gang fight!
"Quiet!" Seeing the tense standoff between the two, Shen Bailian's face immediately turned cold. He slammed his hand on the table, his voice filled with anger.

Fahai remained unmoved, completely disregarding Xiaoqing's provocation; as for Xiaoqing, she glanced at Shen Bailian beside her, gave a disgruntled snort, but ultimately sheathed her sword and returned to her seat.

"The reason I called you two here today is very simple. Of course, you two don't need to be nervous. I'm not here to persuade you to turn hostility into friendship. You can rest assured." Shen Bailian smiled slightly, taking in the changes in their expressions.

Fahai and Xiaoqing exchanged a glance. Although they were still in a standoff, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that Shen Bailian didn't come to mediate today.

Now, Fahai and Xiaoqing have essentially reached a point of no return.

The former was determined to capture demons. In Fahai's mind, whether they were good or bad demons, they would eventually become bad demons. To prevent this from happening, he captured all these demons and brought them back to Jinshan Temple to be reformed with Buddhist scriptures.

As for the latter.

When Fahai and Xiaoqing first met, Xiaoqing was seriously injured. Later, Fahai remained unrepentant and used the realgar wine of the Dragon Boat Festival as a pretext to secretly plant a Buddhist seed in the realgar wine, causing Bai Suzhen to reveal her true form in front of Xu Xian.

Xu Xian was so frightened that he lost his soul.

To save Xu Xian, Bai Suzhen squandered over a hundred years of her cultivation and even offered one of her natal treasure scales to the owner of Baoqing Workshop.

Furthermore, because of Xiaoqing's playfulness, Bai Suzhen scolded her.

This feud has become an intractable problem.

If Shen Bailian were to force the two to reconcile, Fahai might not agree, but Xiaoqing might outwardly agree, but behind the scenes... well...

After all, no matter what, Shen Bailian had saved her life, so she had to give him face.

“However,” Shen Bailian’s tone shifted, and although Xiaoqing and Fahai appeared completely unconcerned, their hearts clenched at that moment: “I called you two here today to do me a small favor.”

"Okay, go ahead and say it. As long as it's within my acceptable range, it's fine." Xiaoqing's expression was indifferent.

"Amitabha." Fahai put his hands together and said softly, "I wonder what troubles Benefactor Shen? This humble monk can recite Buddhist scriptures for you."

"Thank you for your kindness, Master Fahai. What I want to say is nothing important." Shen Bailian took a sip of tea and began to ramble on with a smile: "Ever since I came of age, I've had a dream: to adopt a godson."

"Adopted son? Then why are you looking for me?" Xiao Qing glanced suspiciously at Shen Bailian, who was sitting upright. Could it be that Shen Bailian had his eye on someone's son but didn't want to ask, so he wanted her to do something?

That's not impossible, but I'm afraid that old bald monk Fahai wouldn't agree.

“Adopted son? Sure, there are many orphans in Jinshan Temple. If Benefactor Shen is willing, you can come and visit Jinshan Temple,” Fahai said.

Although these past few years have been the most prosperous era of the Song Dynasty, due to the nature of the times, the inescapable curse of having enough to eat and wear has always been a curse for the lower classes.

The monks at Jinshan Temple own hundreds of acres of fertile land, and they are exempt from taxes and grain levies. Because of Fahai's presence, their incense offerings have never ceased.

Therefore, many children who could not be raised by their families would be sent to temples.

Over time, the temple became like an orphanage, since it was doing good deeds, and these helpless orphans would grow up to be the main force of the temple.

It's like having a constant supply of fresh blood.

“Master Fahai and Xiaoqing, I appreciate your kind intentions.” Shen Bailian shook his head, rejecting their suggestion, and continued, “I have already made up my mind about who will be the child.”

"Who is it?" Fahai's curiosity was immediately piqued. He was very curious about whose child it was that Shen Bailian had taken a liking to.

Given Shen Bailian's family background and martial arts prowess, once someone is adopted by Shen Bailian as his godson, their path to becoming an official in the imperial court will undoubtedly be smooth sailing in a decade or so.

If he were to fight on the battlefield, he would surely become a general who commands respect and influence.

"The adopted son I want to take on is Xu Xian's unborn son."

"What?!" Fahai's pupils constricted sharply, his brows furrowing into a deep frown. He stood up and said coldly, "Impossible! How could Bai Suzhen be pregnant!" (End of Chapter)