Chapter 65: Excitement

Xu Huniu’s face started to turn red. Hope surged up in her heart once again, and she felt very nervous. She stuttered as she said:

“You mean… you won’t blame me for leading the attack against you?”

Xu Ziyan smiled and said: “That’s already in the past. Besides, you all were just believing rumors!”

“Then… would you join the Plum Blossom Gang and become our Gang Leader?”

Xu Huniu’s heart was beating like a galloping horse right now. She felt great pressure—her cultivation level wasn’t high enough, yet she had to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the gang members. Rival gangs were watching them closely. The only person who could carry the Plum Blossom Gang’s banner was Xu Ziyan, who was only at the Eleventh Layer of Houtian but whose fighting ability wasn’t weaker than the Twelfth Level of Houtian.

If Xu Ziyan refused, the foundation that Xu Dongxue had worked so hard to build would become very unstable; it could collapse at any moment. If Xu Ziyan agreed, the Plum Blossom Gang would stand strong again. Xu Huniu’s heart was so nervous she didn’t want to face it, but her eyes as she looked at Xu Ziyan were full of hope, and she felt extremely tense inside.

Xu Ziyan’s mind wasn’t on this small Outer Hall at all—not even on the Xu Clan, but on the entire continent. She planned to leave those twenty-plus New Disciples for Xu Qingxue to handle, so how could she have the energy to take on more tasks? Although the Plum Blossom Gang had some influence, it was limited to the Outer Hall of the Xu Clan. Xu Ziyan was sure that in her future, it wouldn’t give her even a little help.

However, Xu Ziyan also clearly understood the Plum Blossom Gang’s current situation. She didn’t want these girls in the gang to be bullied in the future. So, Xu Ziyan thought very seriously and carefully for a while before she solemnly said:

“Huniu, I’m afraid I will break through to the Innate Realm and enter the Inner Hall very soon. So, I’m not suitable to be your Gang Leader.”

Seeing the disappointment in Xu Huniu’s eyes, Xu Ziyan reached out and gently patted her shoulder. She said softly:

“But, if the Plum Blossom Gang ever has trouble in the future, you can come to me! Even if I leave the Outer Hall, you can go to Xu Qingxue. I believe that by the time I leave the Outer Hall, with her talent, she will be fully capable of handling things on her own. By then, with you two working together, I think whether it’s the Plum Blossom Gang or my New Disciples, no one in the Outer Hall will take advantage of you!”

Xu Huniu’s tense heart relaxed, and her clenched fists loosened immediately. A flash of joy that she couldn’t hide appeared in her eyes. Getting this result already made Xu Huniu very satisfied. She understood what Xu Ziyan meant—that in the future, the Plum Blossom Gang and Xu Ziyan’s New Disciples would form an alliance. Moreover, the fact that Xu Ziyan refused to become the Gang Leader of the Plum Blossom Gang further proved that the things she had heard before were just rumors.

Thinking about this, Xu Huniu’s eyes as she looked at Xu Ziyan were filled with gratitude and apology. Xu Ziyan just gently patted Xu Huniu’s shoulder once more, then turned and walked away.

Thinking about how she hadn’t visited her parents since she started her Closed-Door Cultivation, she told Xu Qingxue and the others to go back first, while she herself headed towards the courtyard where her parents lived.

Walking along the bluestone path, Xu Ziyan arrived at the gate of her parents’ home. She pushed open the courtyard gate and saw her father practicing his martial arts in the yard. Her mother was sitting on a chair, smiling with her eyes slightly closed as she watched Xu Haoguang in the courtyard while working on her handcraft.

Xu Ziyan closed the courtyard gate softly. She put a finger to her lips towards her mother, telling her not to make a sound, then stood quietly by the gate, watching her father practice his moves one by one.

Xu Ziyan watched the fluctuations of energy around her father and sensed that his internal strength had already reached the peak of the Seventh Layer of Houtian, ready to break through to the Eighth Layer of Houtian at any moment. He just needed the right opportunity.

After Xu Haoguang finished his practice and retracted his stance, Xu Ziyan walked over with a smile. She took the towel from her mother who was approaching and handed it to her father. She said lightly with a laugh:

“Father, are you about to break through?”

Xu Haoguang took the towel and wiped his sweat, then waved his hand and said: “It’s not that easy. Back then, I was stuck at the peak of the Sixth Layer for a long time—about five full years—before I broke through to the Seventh Layer. I have just reached the peak of the Seventh Layer of Houtian for less than a year now. Who knows when I’ll be able to break through!”

Hearing this, Xu Ziyan was stunned. She thought to herself, Does it really take that long? Then she asked quietly:

“Father, when you were young, was it this difficult to break through in the Clan too?”

Xu Haoguang’s face reddened a bit, and he said somewhat embarrassed: “Of course! Is your father’s talent that bad?”

“Then… doesn’t the Clan give out Elixirs every month?”

“Silly child, that only happens when you’re in the Outer Hall. They give one Spirit Nurturing Pill each month. Before entering the Outer Hall, the Clan doesn’t hand out Elixirs. When you were in the Clan school, did you ever receive a Spirit Nurturing Pill?” Xu Haoguang looked at Xu Ziyan in front of him with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Xu Ziyan suddenly realized that when she was in the Clan school, she really didn’t receive any Elixirs. It was only after she entered the Outer Hall that she received one Elixir per month.

Without another word, Xu Ziyan immediately pulled out two bottles of Spirit Nurturing Pills from her Storage Pouch. She handed one bottle to her father and one to her mother, saying softly to the two elders:

“Each of these bottles contains fifty Spirit Nurturing Pills. Starting today, each of you should take one pill daily. Your cultivation levels will improve very quickly.”

Xu Haoguang and his wife held the bottles in their hands, staring blankly at Xu Ziyan. Especially Xu Haoguang, who had been in the Clan for fifteen years, knew very well the effects of the Spirit Nurturing Pill. His lips trembled as he mumbled like he was dreaming:

“Spirit Nurturing Pills… fifty pills… full… two bottles!”

After a long moment, Xu Haoguang squeezed his eyes shut tightly, then slowly opened them. When he saw Xu Ziyan standing before him with a lovely smile, and then looked down at the medicine bottle in his hand, he suddenly grabbed Xu Ziyan’s shoulders and cried out, losing his composure:

“Ziyan, are you telling the truth?”

“Pfft!”

Xu Ziyan laughed at her father’s loss of composure. She pointed at the pill bottle in her father’s hand and said with a light laugh:

“Father, if you open the bottle and look, won’t you know?”

Xu Haoguang stared at Xu Ziyan for a long time before blinking and snapping out of his shock. He hurriedly and carefully opened the lid of the pill bottle in his hand, then gently poured out one Spirit Nurturing Pill. When he saw the Spirit Nurturing Pill in his hand and his nose filled with the Yao Xiang of the pill, Xu Haoguang’s hand trembled. His eyes showed a look of disbelief as he said shakily:

“Yan’er, I remember you once said that the Female Immortal you met also taught you Alchemy. Could it be that you made these Spirit Nurturing Pills yourself?”