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Chapter 508 Deep Void Projection
In the courtyard across the street, Song Weiming and his accomplices, who had been hiding, quietly gave the silver after everyone had left and slipped away through the back door.

The family was also puzzled: what exactly did they want to see?
But they still carefully accepted the money, and dared not tell anyone.

Song Weiming saw something that was "seemingly true but actually false".

It seems that some traces of "pregnancy" can be found in Xu Yuan's methods.

However, Xu Yuan only used the sword pellet from beginning to end.

Song Weiming felt that he no longer needed further "observation"—this was not a case handled by the Shanhe Division, so as long as there was suspicion, it meant guilt.

The "pregnancy and childbirth" has fallen into Xu Yuan's hands.

But if Sui Wuhan asked him to figure out the situation, was it really just about figuring it out?

If he doesn't get his "pregnancy" back, he'll be transferred back to headquarters in three months at most, and then waste the rest of his life in a sinecure.

Third-rate?

In a place like the General Administration, a third-rate person can only guarantee that Sui Wuhan won't kill them directly.

After thinking it over and over, Song Weiming suddenly had a flash of inspiration: I've got it!

……

The Sun family members also slunk away.

Sun Li's actions did not change Sun Shou's situation at all, and he even lost half of his family fortune.

Sun Shou was already devastated, and after being led out of his room of confinement by his family retainers, he was completely listless.

Sun Li was injured again. He was originally glad that he had admitted his guilt quickly enough and paid enough "atonement money" so that Xu Yuan would be lenient and let him go.

His skill level quickly returned to fourth-rate—it wasn't until they left Champa that Sun Li slowly realized that Xu Yuan had also damaged his fundamental abilities.

From now on, let alone rising to the third tier, it will be extremely difficult to even maintain the current fourth-tier level!

He estimated that he would need to forge a ball of fire every year to maintain this!

Moreover, the standard cannot be lower than that of "Thunderbolt".

If you lower your standards, your strength will decline.

If you don't practice for a year, your skill level will drop!
This is equivalent to promoting him to fourth-rate status every year. Who can withstand that?
Sun Li used to hurt people deeply.

But he always used overwhelming force to cripple people on the spot.

But Lord Xu's... insidious and persistent nature...

Sun Li felt inferior!

However, this method doesn't truly sever all your hopes.

Look, I've left you a way out. As long as you can collect and refine fire every year, you can still maintain your livelihood.

Aren't you going to give it a try?

This kind of hope, so faint yet still clinging to a glimmer of hope, is truly the most agonizing.

Although Sun Li understood this point, he was also well aware that he could not escape it either. Every year, he would have to exhaust all his resources and connections to try to maintain the standard.

Sun Li grew angrier the more he thought about it, and when he saw Sun Shou, he became even angrier.

Sun Shou looked listless.

Sun Li felt that he had paid such a high price, only to save a "useless" person?
Several servants hired a boat and returned to Zhengzhou along the canal.

Sun Shou often sat on the side of the boat, with his legs dangling over the gunwale, gazing blankly at the land of Jiaozhi on both sides.

They could gaze at it for hours.

Sun Li was lying in the cabin, and he could be seen whenever he looked up.

Finally, one day, Sun Li shouted angrily, "What's wrong with you? Have you been scared out of your wits by that Xu Yuan?"

I traveled a long way to fight Xu Yuan, not to bring back a piece of trash!

Sun Shou turned his head somewhat blankly and looked at his second uncle lying on the sickbed—this look suddenly made Sun Li feel a little guilty.

I always feel that my nephew is about to see through some of my secrets and my dark thoughts.

Sun Shou slowly said, "Second Uncle... is he already crippled?"

Xu Yuan is stronger than us, but what's most terrifying is that he's more cunning than us!

In the end, Sun Shou looked up to the sky and sighed, "Second Uncle should have come to see me first. I would have tried my best to persuade you to stay. Now it's all too late..."

Second Uncle, do you regret it?

Sun Li almost burst into tears, experiencing a spiritual connection with his nephew for the first time.

That's right!
Xu Yuan is such a treacherous fellow!
I regret it, of course I regret it, but it's too late...

Their ship wasn't very big.

They gave all the money they collected this time to Xu Yuan; they had no more money.

We had to keep things simple and hired a small boat.

Small boats are slow, and three days after leaving Champa, they were still not out of the territory of southern Jiaozhi.

That evening, they arrived at a place called "Yangziwan".

Here, a small river flows out from Ghost Mountain, meandering smoothly before emptying into the canal.

There is no dock here, but all the passing ships know that if they go too far and it gets dark, they can sail into a straight bend in the river and spend the night cautiously without much danger.

It's at least safer than by the canal.

Logically, this tributary should originate from Ghost Mountain, and therefore contain even more evil spirits.

But no one dared to investigate further.

Everyone was overjoyed to have such an extra "safe haven" in the river.

Therefore, don't investigate what you shouldn't investigate, and don't ask what you shouldn't ask.

The boat captain, without careful consideration, miscalculated the voyage, and tonight they would have to spend the night in "Yangziwan".

The boatman found a huge rock on the riverbank and moored the boat there.

Then they gathered some firewood and went back to the boat to cook dinner for everyone.

A servant helped him, and the two chatted idly, saying a few words here and there. They started talking about why this place is called Yangziwan.

"Look at this section of the river. The bends are continuous and smooth, much like the way a toad wags its tail when it swims."

The "toad seedlings" that the boatman mentioned are tadpoles, which is what they call them in his hometown.

The river flowed gently, and its surface shimmered with a golden light under the setting sun.

But Sun Shou always felt that something looked strange about it.

The river surface, in the wind, did not ripple like fish scales, but rather swirled and rolled up in clusters of water, just like the bumps on a toad's back.

Soon it got dark, and everyone slept soundly.

Even Sun Li, who had been barely sleeping at night lately due to anxiety about the future, started snoring.

In the calm of the night, "Yangziwan" twisted on the ground and actually transformed into a toad yam!
It seemed to be able to swim in the void, but after only a few movements, it quickly transformed into a giant toad.

His back was covered in bumps, like the surface of a river at dusk.

The toad grew rapidly, becoming old yet steady, gradually acquiring the aura of a "master of the land".

In just two hours, this evil spirit had already repeated its entire life.

"Resentment in the fetus" needs to be nurtured.

If there are no suitable materials, the master toad Jinye can only raise it himself.

At its level, finding suitable materials is truly not easy.

Therefore, every now and then, the great master Chan Jinye has to go through the trouble of performing this once.

The reason why "Yangzi Bend" is safe is that the Grand Master Chan Jinye wanted to gather some "popularity".

With this level of popularity, it becomes easier for it to cultivate "resentful spirit".

Each time, the master Chan Jinye was exhausted.

The same thing happens tonight.

Grandmaster Toad Jinye opened his mouth wide and breathed heavily a few times.

A hurricane then swept through the river.

Grandmaster Chan Jin looked up at the night sky.

Today's taboo: Gazing at the moon.

A half-moon hangs in the sky.

The edges were broken, as if some force had torn the full moon in two.

Around the enormous eyes of the Grand Master Chan Jinye, some "tear"-shaped wounds also appeared.

But it seems to be just some kind of pattern.

It did not cause any harm.

It has experienced such moonlit nights countless times throughout its long life.

Ordinary and commonplace.

So, as one of the nine "Master" titles under Master Ruan Tianye, it was completely unaware that it would be entangled by a line of sounds.

"This place is really nice."

The praise appears to be genuine, but the esteemed master Chan Jinye is already unable to move.

"Yangziwan" was indeed the territory painstakingly created by the master Chan Jinye.

Boats belonging to living people can freely enter, but other evil spirits cannot.

This is where it cultivates its "resentful spirit" and rests.

However, its elaborate arrangements can block the names of people with the surname "father" and "grandfather".

The only thing they couldn't stop was Master Ruan Tian.

Ruan Tianye's voice rang out again, accompanied by a faint, ethereal sound that seemed to linger here and there, yet also seemed to have vanished into the heavens.

“You know perfectly well that every place in this Ghost Mountain is open to me.”

No matter what you do, no matter how you try to cover it up, you can't escape my eyes in the end—why did you still betray me?

Grandmaster Chan Jin remained calm and did not attempt to unleash his strongest technique, "Resentful Fetus Qi," to fight against Grandmaster Ruan Tian.

"The Xu family's scheme is ingenious. I have received such great kindness from them, I cannot fail to repay it."

Ruan Tianye sneered, "Are you some kind of evil spirit? What kind of act of repaying kindness is this?"

But then He suddenly thought: "Have they sown the seeds of karma in your foundation?"

The enormous eyes of the Grand Master Chan Jin were filled with the helpless expression of "you guessed it."

The sound condensed into an enormous figure in the void.

This figure truly "reaches the sky and connects with the earth".

Or... it could also be called "following the laws of heaven and earth".

The phantom figure stood with its hands behind its back, exuding an aura of dominance over the world.

He seemed like the supreme ruler of the world.

But along the edge of the figure, countless strange creatures were constantly wriggling!

Furthermore, it can be vaguely seen that the figure's feet are not human feet.

Instead, it has huge sheep hooves with black feathers growing along the edges, and constantly wriggling sucker tentacles!

"I understand..."

"In just a hundred years, you have grown from a toad at the bottom of a well in the Northern Capital of the Ming Dynasty to a powerful figure in Ghost Mountain. From the very beginning, it was the foundation laid by those six families that helped you."

"They helped you with every key promotion you received thereafter, but each instance of help solidified your karmic foundation."

"so……"

The towering figure lowered its head.

An invisible, terrifying eye was fixed on the Grand Master Toad Jinye.

"Destruction" then befell the great master Chan Jinye.

"...You used the wing of a nine-year-old cicada to imprint my projection in the deep void."

"Not long ago, you gave this cicada wing to a descendant of the Xu family who had returned from the underworld."

The life force of the great master Chan Jinye has already been halved.

Hearing Ruan Tianye's words, it rolled its enormous eyes in shock. Ruan Tianye sneered, "Surprised? I clearly saw through your schemes, so why did you only act now?"

"Hehehe..." Master Ruan laughed: "Your ridiculous schemes are nothing more than a small ripple in the canal during my long life."

"Have you ever considered whether the deep void projection you imprinted with the wing of a nine-year-old cicada is truly mine? Heh heh heh..."

The last glimmer of light appeared in the enormous eyes of the Grand Master Chan Jin.

This expression is one of "astonishment".

Then its life came to an end.

The dignified "Master" of the Ghost Mountain, second only to Master Ruan Tian, ​​died so quietly.

In just another hundred years, another "Master" will take the place of the great master Chan Jinye.

The prestigious title of "Grand Master Chan Jinye" will henceforth be lost to the dust of history.

Even the memories of this era will gradually be forgotten.

It leaves no trace.

Ruan Tianye's enormous figure, stretching to the sky and connecting to the earth, gradually faded away.

Every bit of His power comes from Ghost Mountain.

Every part of His divine body was also integrated into Ghost Mountain.

When the fusion was halfway complete, Ruan Tianye suddenly paused: "Something's not right!"

"All evil spirits in this Ghost Mountain are born because of me."

However, once these evil forces reach a certain level, they will all try to break free from my control.

They're all born traitors!

Like them, this fat toad wanted to cultivate an ability to resist me from the very beginning.

'Resentful fetal energy' is its carefully prepared ability to resist.

But in the end, why didn't they put up a last-ditch effort?
Or should they obediently accept their fate and die?

Master Ruan used some unknown means to suddenly reverse time!

In an instant, we returned to the moment not long ago when Master Ruan Tian and the Grand Master Chan Jin were talking.

Ruan Tianye sneered: "Surprised? I clearly saw through your schemes and plots, so why did you only make your move now?"

Without waiting for an answer from the Grand Master Chan Jin, Master Ruan Tian continued, "Because I know that the Six Surnames rioters have given you other promises."

You're already a powerful figure; the six rioting families want to control you through karma, but you won't willingly submit to their control.

Even if you cannot avert karmic retribution, you can still inform me. I have always been lenient towards obedient and compliant subordinates…

"There must be another reason!"

Another terrifying eye looked toward the Grand Master Toad Gold.

This time, however, it brought not "destruction," but "the truth."

This time, the death of the legendary master Chan Jinye was delayed somewhat.

Ruan Tianye quickly found the "truth" he wanted to know.

But this "truth" struck Him as utterly absurd: "Reincarnation?!"

"Hahaha!"

"How ridiculous! You actually believe such a promise from a riot of six surnames?"

"The Six Paths of Reincarnation have collapsed, and even the Venerable One in the Yin Heaven Palace of King Zhou is helpless."

"You actually believe that the Six Clans rioters can help you reincarnate and escape your evil identity?!"

Just like last time, the eyes of the Grand Master Chan Jinye revealed an expression of "astonishment".

But this shock only lasted for a moment, and the master Chan Jinye quickly realized: "This is all an illusion."

"I am already dead."

"It was something you couldn't understand that pulled me back from the shadows of the past."

"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant, the cycle of reincarnation... has already begun."

And so everything before my eyes vanished like a bubble.

The legendary master Chan Jinye has disappeared.

Ruan Tianye's figure froze for a moment, muttering to himself, "This old toad is quite shrewd."

"It condensed 'Resentful Embryo Qi' not to rebel against me, but for... reincarnation?"

"Just now it realized that its resentful aura was no longer in its body, and that it was just a remnant of the past. Its plan has been successfully carried out."

Suddenly, Ruan Tianye transformed into a huge gust of yin wind, which swept swiftly across the entire Ghost Witch Mountain.

"Hehehe..."

Ruan Tianye's laughter echoed in his heart.

A heart that holds the universe.

His heart is the entire Ghost Mountain.

But it's not the Ghost Mountain in the mortal realm.

"These evil spirits all over the mountain truly have their own schemes."

"Yet no one has ever considered what my scheme is?"

"That old toad idiot—didn't it ever consider that I, knowing the Deep Void Projection had already been imprinted on it, would still let it carry out its plan?"

"Did it never consider that the projection wasn't actually my projection?"

"I really want to see right now how interesting their expressions will be when they discover that the projection branded in the cicada wing is actually...!"

……

In Yangziwan, who "witnessed" all of this, everyone on that boat, including Sun Li and Sun Shou, completely disappeared from this world.

I don't care if you're some "rare fourth-rate alchemist," or any "double seventh-rate" craftsman or alchemist with a promising future; before this one, you're no different from ants on the ground.

They hadn't returned home for a long time, and the Sun family investigated for a long time afterward, even suspecting that Xu Yuan was behind it, which led to another complicated situation—but that's another story.

……

Your Highness has been "very busy" these past few days.

Why are you so busy?
Because those around her, and those not around her, all began to subtly remind His Highness: You should go back.

The people around him were naturally Mr. Cao and Mr. Lan.

Where is Mr. Wenqi?
Mr. Wenqi didn't care about such trivial matters.

Indeed, in Mr. Wenqi's mind, His Highness's safety was a trivial matter.

It wasn't someone close to her... so it was naturally Xu Miaozhi and Zhu Zhanmei.

Zhu Zhanmei had by this time received vague information from her family: they were very satisfied with her relationship with Xu Yuan.

Upon receiving the news, Zhu Zhanmei threw herself onto the embroidered bed, covered her head with a down pillow, and made extremely embarrassed "mmm" and "whimpering" noises, while her two slender legs kicked and thrashed wildly on the bed.

On the one hand, her family found out about her shameful thoughts.

But what's even more embarrassing is... this matter is still far from being settled.

Are you satisfied with your home?

What are you satisfied with?

Can your daughters compete with Princess Ruicheng?
You should also try your best to find a solution for your daughter!

Xu Miaozhi has always believed in taking the initiative.

So she would drag Zhu Zhanmei along and say in a sarcastic tone from a distance, "When Your Highness is out there, it's a waste of resources and manpower. Every day, for her safety, more than half of the officers of the city guards have to stand guard all around."

Or perhaps it means, "There's nothing much to do in Champa. If you're going to be considerate of your servants, you should go back to the Northern Capital as soon as possible."

Each time, they made sure to let His Highness hear it "just at the right time."

Who is Princess Ke Ruicheng? How could you, Xu Miaozhi, so easily manipulate her?

Princess Ruicheng then immediately named Xu Yuan: "Tomorrow, accompany me on a private outing."

I have important business in Champa.

Jiaozhi has been fully incorporated into our territory for some time now. However, Jiaozhi has never offered any tribute over the years.

I've come to help His Majesty look around and find out what valuable items should be presented to the palace as tribute every year.

"Also, let's take a look at what goods are available in Jiaozhi that are worth transporting to Zhengzhou for sale."

If it were an ordinary person—like Xu Yuan—they would have been fooled by her.

They thought that His Highness was using the pretext of collecting tribute for His Majesty to try and make a profit in Jiaozhi.

But Mr. Cao and Mr. Lan knew perfectly well that His Highness was just making excuses.

Unfortunately, this excuse was so plausible that anyone who heard it would praise His Highness for his filial piety.

His Highness then said, "Master Xu and Mr. Wenqi can accompany me. I will be away for a long time this time, so there is no need to trouble anyone further."

The rest of the idlers went to do their own jobs.

"Those who aren't on duty, don't loiter around in front of me; I find it an eyesore!"

Upon hearing this, Lord Ma Tianshou disregarded whether the phrase "irrelevant people" referred to him or not, and immediately ran back to Luocheng.

And these "eyesores" and "irrelevant people" are, of course, referring to two guys who are always in front of him with a stern face and speak in a sarcastic tone.

Xu Miaozhi and Zhu Zhanmei were out of options; they both had their own responsibilities.

Princess Ruicheng went even further, having Xu Yuan accompany her for two days to explore Champa. She then concluded that Champa was "resource-poor," so on the third day, she took Xu Yuan and her men directly to Luocheng!

While in Champa, Xu Miaozhi and Zhu Zhanmei were still able to receive some news, but now that they've gone to Luocheng, it's become extremely difficult for them to find out what happened between Xu Yuan and His Highness.

Zhu Zhanmei was filled with self-pity, but Xu Miaozhi was not one to give up easily.

She used the excuse of going to buy building materials to personally travel back to Luocheng.

Jiaozhi (Koji) indeed has many good things.

But the best things do indeed gather in Luocheng and Hue.

His Highness arrived in Luo City and quickly found something suitable to offer as tribute.

The pearl divers of Jiaozhi...the pearls they collected from the sea.

It was in no way inferior to the pearls that were presented as tribute from the southeastern coast of Zhengzhou.

The best ones are even better.

But the officials in Jiaozhi clearly preferred the "pearl divers".

His Highness has strictly forbidden Yuan from having any contact with those pearl divers.

Upon receiving this order, Xu Yuan finally came to his senses: What does this mean?!
Could it be...

With Xu Yuan by her side in Luocheng, Princess Ruicheng found many lucrative business opportunities by looking at local specialties every day.

They were so happy they forgot about home.

But on this day, someone suddenly sent a letter to pay their respects.

Mr. Cao, holding the visiting card, hurriedly came to see His Highness with a solemn expression: "This person... is not someone I can refuse directly."

His Highness lazily held a piece of fruit, a specialty of Jiaozhi, and asked, "Who is it that is causing you such trouble, sir?"

"The Murong family, Murong Zunlong."

After Mr. Cao uttered the name, His Highness frowned: "He actually chased us all the way to Jiaozhi?"

Xu Yuan sat to the side, pretending not to hear anything.

However, Mr. Cao looked at him and explained, "The Murong family is one of the three families in our dynasty that were the first to practice the Dragon Transformation Method."

Murong Zunlong is the eldest son of this generation.

His "Dragon Transformation Technique" was already at the fifth level three years ago, and recently there have been rumors that he has broken through to the fourth level.

Although the Murong family was the first to cultivate the "Dragon Transformation Technique," they have never produced a crown princess or a prince consort.

They were all paired with princes' heirs or princesses.

After a pause, Mr. Cao continued, "Murong Zunlong's lifelong ambition is to marry the princess."

Xu Yuan turned his head and saw that His Highness was also staring at him in a daze.

Xu Yuan turned and left: Why are you all looking at me? I'm not getting involved in this. If he finds out that I've also cultivated the "Dragon Transformation Method," the old dragon of the canal will probably reach out and grab me on the spot!
(End of this chapter)