From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 216 Soul Sealing Technique

Baihe Mountain.

In Xu Zhongyao's courtyard, he was playing with his son, Likun.

Li Kun was only four years old when he was born, and his mother died when he was born. Therefore, Xu Zhongyao usually spends a lot of time with him.

After Miao Yingying passed away, Xu Zhongyao's mother, Xiulian, advised him to remarry so that he could take care of Likun.

Xu Zhongyao had no intention of remarrying.

He is usually busy with his spiritual practice and taking care of his son, so he has no time to find another wife.

If it weren't for the chance encounter that led to his feelings for Miao Yingying and their subsequent marriage, he might still be unmarried today.

"Dad, why does everyone else have a mother, but I don't?"

Li Kun asked his father in a childish voice.

"This……"

Xu Zhongyao looked into his son's bright, sparkling eyes, unsure how to answer.

A four-year-old child cannot understand the meaning of "death".

"Your mother went to a very far place. You'll find out when you grow up."

This is the only explanation Xu Zhongyao could offer.

Today in Baihe Mountain, Li Kun has many playmates of the generation with the character "Li" in their names, several of whom are one or two years younger than him.

Li Kun had no shortage of playmates, food, and clothing, and had maids to serve her... but none of these could replace "mother".

Just then, a servant came to deliver a message.

“Master Zhongyao, Director Wang of the Demon Subduing Division in the county has sent his men to ask you to come to the Demon Subduing Division in the county to discuss important matters.”

"Okay, I see."

Xu Zhongyao responded.

After his father, Xu Xiaoniu, was promoted to the county seat, a new director of the Demon Subduing Division arrived in the county seat, named Wang Nuocheng.

This person is a celestial official with three true spiritual roots, from a Qi cultivation family in another county.

Besides Wang Nuocheng, the magistrate of Tonggu County was replaced by a newly appointed immortal official after Jiang Hao left.

It is customary that all the celestial officials in the county town are cultivators in the Qi Refining stage.

Although Xu Zhongyao's father was no longer the director of the Demon Subduing Division in Tonggu County, Xu Xiaoniu had been promoted to the Demon Subduing Division in the prefectural city. Therefore, Wang Nuocheng dared not neglect Xu Zhongyao in the slightest.

Not long after Wang Nuocheng arrived in Tonggu County, he learned about the Xu family's situation and took the initiative to visit Xu Zhongyao at Baihe Mountain, showing him the utmost respect.

He was a newcomer, a newly appointed celestial official, and his cultivation level was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Occasionally, when he encounters trouble, he will ask Xu Zhongyao for help.

Xu Zhongyao felt that establishing connections with the Demon Subduing Division in the county would be useful to the Xu family, so he did not refuse Wang Nuocheng's requests for help and occasionally lent a hand.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Xu Zhongyao, who was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, set off from Baihe Mountain and soon arrived at the Demon Subduing Division in the county town.

Director Wang Nuocheng warmly welcomed him.

The two talked for a long time in the reception hall.

It turns out that a demonic cultivator had been lurking in Tonggu County, committing crimes and harming several people. According to the Demon Subduing Division's assessment, his cultivation level couldn't be too high, at most the sixth level of Qi Refining, not reaching the seventh level.

However, its whereabouts were hidden, and the Demon Subduing Division had been searching for many days without being able to find it.

Wang Nuocheng asked Xu Zhongyao for help, promising to give Xu Zhongyao all the spirit stones awarded by the county government after killing the demonic cultivator.

Xu Zhongyao agreed to help, but did not guarantee that he could capture the demonic cultivator.

He could only try his best; if he really couldn't find any demonic cultivators, there was nothing he could do.

Afterwards, Wang Nuocheng handed over all the clues they had found about demonic cultivators, as well as the details of several cases, to Xu Zhongyao.

Xu Zhongyao could not take the files from the Demon Subduing Division with him. He examined them for a long time and understood all the details.

It was already night when I said goodbye and left.

Bathed in moonlight, Xu Zhongyao flew back to Baihe Mountain. He planned to follow the clues and search for the demonic cultivator the next day.

An unexpected incident has occurred!

"Whoa!"

Two white streaks, each a foot long, pierced the night sky one after the other, flying straight toward Xu Zhongyao.

"A demonic cultivator?!"

Xu Zhongyao thought he had been ambushed by demonic cultivators.

Just as he was preparing to respond, he discovered a shocking truth: the enemy was far too strong!

The attacker was several levels stronger than him, so strong that he had no power to resist.

The two white beams were fast and accurate; one pierced through Xu Zhongyao's dantian as if it were thin paper, and the other pierced through his shoulder.

With his dantian destroyed, Xu Zhongyao could no longer maintain his flight and plummeted towards the ground. The remaining spiritual energy in his body made him float unsteadily in the air, but he did not last long before he fell to the ground with a "plop".

"who?"

Xu Zhongyao looked at the distant sky in horror.

The enemy's strength was beyond his imagination; they didn't seem to be at the ninth level of Qi Refining, but more like Foundation Establishment!
"Xu Zhongyao of the Xu family is only thirty-two years old this year. At such a young age, he has reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. This is not something that a cultivator with a five-element pseudo-spiritual root could easily achieve."

Xu Zhongyao didn't see the person, but he heard a strange sound coming from afar.

The tone of the voice was strange, neither old nor young, neither male nor female.

"Who are you? Who are you?!"

Xu Zhongyao roared.

"Tell me, what secrets does your Xu family hold?"

"..."

Xu Zhongyao was stunned, but quickly realized: Foundation Establishment, a Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivator!
He couldn't expose the Xu family's secret, so he raised his hand to commit suicide.

A white sword light flashed by in the distance, and Xu Zhongyao's hands were crippled, hanging limply at his sides.

Immediately afterwards, another white light sliced ​​off his chin.

At this moment, Xu Zhongyao lay on the ground, his dantian and qi sea destroyed, all his spiritual energy turned into nothingness, his hands were crippled, and even his chin was gone.

A cultivator shrouded in a black robe flew over from a distance.

Although he concealed his aura, Xu Zhongyao could still sense it when he got close: it was definitely a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and one that was much stronger than Xu Xiaoniu and Xu Xiaohou.

That aura sent shivers down Xu Zhongyao's spine.

Because his chin had been shaved off, Xu Zhongyao was unable to speak at that moment.

"Ha, I hope your memories contain everything I want to know."

Yan Yijin's voice was cold, and his tone was deliberately made to sound strange.

He reached out and grabbed Xu Zhongyao's head, his five fingers piercing down like sharp blades.

A few streaks of blood flowed down the head.

"Soul Searching Technique!"

Yan Yijin used the Soul Searching Technique.

The most suitable targets for the Soul Searching Technique are Qi Refining stage cultivators. The souls of Qi Refining stage cultivators are relatively stable, allowing them to retain most of their memories.

Unlike ordinary people, some ordinary people have such weak souls that they will be completely destroyed and unable to provide much memory after their souls are searched.

Many Foundation Establishment cultivators possess secret techniques to protect their souls from being searched.

"Haha, let me see what secrets your Xu family holds!"

Yan Yijin absorbed Xu Zhongyao's spiritual power and saw Xu Zhongyao gradually turn pale.

Just when he thought everything was going smoothly, Xu Zhongyao's head suddenly exploded.

The soul that possessed all of Xu Zhongyao's memories vanished with a roar.

"what happened?!"

Yan Yijin's face was ashen. He was clearly about to succeed, so why did his soul suddenly explode?
What just happened was very abnormal.

"Self-destruction, it's self-destruction! A Qi Refining cultivator, with his dantian and sea of ​​qi destroyed, almost unable to resist, could he really destroy his own soul in the face of my soul-searching technique?"

He thought of a type of secret technique: Soul Sealing Technique!
These kinds of secret techniques are quite common in powerful cultivation families.

There are many important secrets in the family that need to be protected. Those members who know many of the family's secrets will practice similar soul-sealing techniques to protect the secrets from being searched by souls.

If this soul-sealing technique is forcibly used by a powerful cultivator to search the soul, it will destroy the soul.

"How could the Xu family possibly possess such a secret technique?!" Even ordinary Qi Refining cultivator families couldn't use a Soul Sealing Technique to protect a secret.

There are many types of soul-sealing techniques. The most common one is to cultivate this kind of secret technique yourself and set up a soul-sealing technique in the Niwan Palace or the sea of ​​consciousness.

There are also more sophisticated ones: powerful beings who are proficient in the secret arts of the soul can use soul-sealing techniques on others.

"Since that's the case, then don't blame me..."

Yan Yijin casually waved his hand, using his powerful Foundation Establishment Level 5 spiritual power to annihilate Xu Zhongyao's corpse into fragments, which then flew towards Baihe Mountain.

He didn't go to Baihe Mountain to investigate immediately in order to avoid alerting the enemy and to find out the Xu family's secrets without anyone noticing.

However, the Xu family possessed a secret technique called Soul Sealing Technique, which forced him to travel to Baihe Mountain.

Even if he has to turn Hundred Valleys Mountain upside down, he still has to figure out the Xu family's secret techniques.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The Soul Sealing Technique comes from the "Meditation and Soul Cultivation Manual".

Once one cultivates their soul to the late stage of Qi Refining, they can set up a "Soul Sealing Technique," also known as a "Soul Locking Technique," in their Niwan Palace to prevent Foundation Establishment cultivators from searching their souls.

Xu Zhongyao had cultivated his spiritual power to the late stage of Qi Refining several years ago and set up a soul-sealing technique in his Niwan Palace.

At the same time that Xu Zhongyao was murdered, Baihe Mountain.

Xu Fugui was in his inner space, his spiritual energy circulating throughout his body, when suddenly the family's treasure tree sensed something.

"Thump!"

His heart pounded, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

The flow of spiritual energy was interrupted, and he almost went astray in his meridians.

He calmed the spiritual energy within his body and looked up at the branches of the family's treasure tree.

From the main branch representing Xu Xiaoniu, two branches branch off, one for Xu Zhonglei and the other for Xu Zhongyao.

Xu Fugui had experienced the same sensation once before: the last time it was with Xu Xiaogou.

"Zhongyao, Zhongyao?!"

He looked at the branch and felt a pang of sadness.

Xiao Gou was forty years old when he passed away.

Zhongyao is even younger, only thirty-two years old.

"Who did it? Was it that deputy commander of the prefectural garrison surnamed Yan?"

Xu Fugui thought of Yan Yijin.

Xu Xiaoniu had mentioned Yan Yijin's situation a little over ten days ago.

"It seems he still found out."

He had anticipated that Yan Yijin might be spying on and coveting the Xu family's secrets, but he never expected that Zhongyao would be the first to fall victim to his schemes.

Without hesitation, he immediately withdrew from the space within his body.

"Liuzi, Xiaoxi! Liuzi, Xiaoxi!..."

He called out to the two of them.

At this moment, Xu Xiaohou was practicing controlling two invisible flying swords.

After obtaining the magical artifact, the Shadowless Flying Sword, he couldn't wait to refine it and then practice controlling two flying swords simultaneously.

However, he found that multitasking was too difficult, and he was far from being able to control two flying swords at the same time.

He can control the two flying swords to fly, but he can't guarantee that the two flying swords will unleash their full power because he can't control one at the same time.

His combat power in controlling two flying swords simultaneously is not as good as controlling only one.

Hearing Xu Fugui's call, he met up with Xu Zhongxi.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

“Zhongyao is in trouble! You two be on guard, that Foundation Establishment cultivator is coming! In our Hundred Valleys Mountain, only the two of you can barely hold off that Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

Xu Fugui's expression was serious.

"Something happened to Zhongyao?"

Upon hearing this news, Xu Xiaohou was filled with grief and felt sorry for his elder brother.

How would the older brother feel if he knew his son was dead?
"Father, are you talking about Yan Yijin, the deputy commander of the county garrison at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment?"

"Most likely."

Xu Fugui nodded.

Besides Yan Yijin, who else could it be?

Xu Xiaohou and Xu Zhongxi both realized they were in trouble. A fifth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator! There was no way they could defeat him. If it were a third-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, they could barely hold their own if they joined forces.

“You hold him off for a moment, I’ll send a message to Da Niu and tell him to bring reinforcements.”

As Xu Fugui spoke, he took out a communication talisman.

Although communication talismans are relatively common, they are not cheap.

A pair of communication talismans costs 20 spirit stones. As disposable talismans, expensive communication talismans should only be used in emergencies.

Previously, the Xu family would send messages to Xu Xiaoniu by handwritten letters or mail.

In preparation for this incident, Xu Fugui specially prepared a communication talisman for Xu Xiaoniu to carry.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Yuanli City, a thousand miles away.

Demon Mountain.

Xu Xiaoniu was somewhat restless and unable to calm his mind to practice his cultivation techniques.

Since meeting Yan Yijin some time ago, he has been constantly anxious, worried that he might bring disaster to the Xu family.

Especially tonight, for some reason, he felt restless and anxious, and drinking several pots of calming tea did not help.

Just then, the communication talisman placed close to my body received a signal.

"There is a situation!"

His father would only use this communication talisman in a very urgent situation.

With a heavy heart, he examined the talisman and learned that Zhongyao had been murdered.

"Zhongyao...Zhongyao is dead?"

A sense of desolation rose from the bottom of my heart.

In the talisman, his father instructed him to act according to his orders.

He forced down his grief, flew out of his cave, and headed towards the residence of Prefect Nie Tingjun.

Zhongyao is dead; the dead cannot be brought back to life.

He must act quickly to save more members of the Xu family.

Otherwise, it wouldn't just be Zhongyao who would die, but many members of the Xu family!
Nie Tingjun's residence is located in a first-tier spiritual land.

Nie Tingjun has completed his Foundation Establishment. He has no relatives in Yuanli County, only himself. His family is not here, but in his family's residence in Zhennan Prefecture.

His residence was magnificent and imposing.

Although Nie Tingjun didn't care about these things, he was, after all, the prefect of a prefecture, and his residence couldn't be shabby and stingy.

There were many guards around his residence.

As Xu Xiaoniu flew along, he was stopped by someone: "Who goes there!"

The one who stopped him was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Xu Xiaoniu cupped his hands and said, "My lord, I have something important to report to the prefect. Please pass on the message."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow. The Prefect doesn't handle official business at this time."

As the prefect, Nie Tingjun had many people seeking his help.

Countless people came to plead for leniency, offer gifts, and pull strings.

If everyone could see the prefect, Nie Tingjun would be incredibly busy every day.

The guards near his residence weren't there to protect him, but rather to give him some peace and quiet and to stop people like Xu Xiaoniu from coming to his door. After all, Nie Tingjun's strength meant he didn't need their protection.

Xu Xiaoniu knew the matter was urgent and couldn't wait until daylight. He pleaded, "My lord, I am Xu Xiaoniu, a trainee demon-slaying guard of the Demon-Slaying Division. I really have something very important to discuss with the prefect. Please inform him of this, and I will be extremely grateful."

This matter is extremely urgent and cannot be delayed. I urge the Prefect to make the decision; if anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility and will not implicate you.”

(End of this chapter)