Chapter 117: Chapter 80: Accord of General and Minister, Harvest Arrives, Great Yin’s Foremost in Comprehension
Li Xuan tapped her forehead lightly and said, "Tomorrow night won’t do, I’m still not satisfied with you, my darling."
Tian Yuan blushed, gently hitting him on the chest, and playfully said, "You’re awful."
...
In the following days, Li Xuan patrolled Xiongshan County, handling matters one by one.
He went to Chaotic Crow Ridge but did not encounter Zhou Eli, Wang Fengyang, or the more than two hundred Martial Artists.
He wandered around Xiongshan County, finding that the prior two hundred evil spirits were still there. Besides a few women, the rest were all quite robust in life. Now, Li Xuan directly drafted one hundred fifty of them into the Li family to help dig the underground labyrinth.
And as if knowing he had returned, within a few days, the Qing River association in Hundred Flowers Mansion sent someone with wealth, as a congratulations for his high achievement. Li Xuan took the opportunity to ask some questions, then learned that Zhang Fanyang had been fishing back and forth upstream and downstream of Qing River, yet had never found the dan fish.
...
In the more than a month that followed, the county was relatively peaceful.
The southern passage of the underground labyrinth had been completely excavated, equipped with not only a "grain storage room," but also various rooms for storing goods and even living accommodations.
Li Xuan chose an auspicious day to take Wei Yao as his concubine and then received Qiao’Er’s service.
Though Wei Yao was quite jealous, Tian Yuan was very magnanimous, thus... the harem settled down.
...
On this day, a letter came from Cyan Wood Province.
The messenger was a steward of the Governor’s Mansion, whom Li Xuan recognized.
Upon arrival, the steward smiled and said, "Young Master Li, good news, good news indeed."
As he spoke, he handed the letter to Li Xuan with a mysterious air.
Li Xuan opened it.
The letter was written by Zhou Chihe, and the words were extremely simple, with only eight characters: "A noble is coming, do not ask more."
The handwriting was flamboyant, fully conveying the Governor’s excitement as he penned these eight characters.
Li Xuan gazed at these words.
That day, he gave the one hundred fifty evil spirits digging the tunnels a break, allowing them to leave the county to "visit relatives."
...
The curiosity about these eight characters did not last long.
On a day in early winter as snowflakes danced through the sky.
Li Xuan met the noble person.
At noon that day, a refined man carrying a saber knocked on the door of Li Mansion and found Li Xuan, saying with a touch of authority, "Tomorrow at the hour of Chen, the lord invites you to Bixiang Tea House."
Saying that, the man left.
Li Xuan asked nothing, because from the man’s way of bearing his saber and his walking style, he knew what kind of man this was.
This was someone from the Prime Minister’s residence.
The systematic Secret Martial Arts of the Prime Minister’s residence were something he knew well from Liu Yingyi, Zhou Eli, and Wang Fengyang.
Demon-Breaking Saber.
Vajra Body.
Fire Sun Divine Skill.
This is the secret martial arts system of the Prime Minister’s residence.
Possessing a domineering or aloof gaze, body as firm as if molded from stone or iron.
These are more or less the features of the Prime Minister’s people.
Why are there only two characteristics?
The reason is that "Demon-Breaking Saber" and "Vajra Body" are relatively easy to start, with relatively fast cultivation speeds, while "Fire Sun Divine Skill" is a laborious skill, requiring even with the resources of the Prime Minister’s residence an exceptionally high talent to master quickly.
As for Bixiang Tea House, it is a property of the Li family in Xiongshan County, naturally accessible.
Li Xuan knew that this was the opportunity he had long strived for.
Governor Zhou Chihe of Cyan Wood Province not only recommended him to the Prime Minister but did so with exceptional esteem.
And the significant figure from the Prime Minister’s residence had somehow come to Xiongshan County.
If it were solely for him, Li Xuan wouldn’t believe it.
However, the purpose of this figure’s visit must certainly include "testing him" as a collateral task.
He watched the snow swirling all over, silently thinking, ’The time for reaping has finally arrived.’
...
The next day, at the hour of Chen.
Li Xuan arrived at Bixiang Tea House alone.
In the elegant room, a middle-aged man with grayed hair but youthful face was sipping tea.
Behind him stood six people respectfully.
The middle-aged man looked at Li Xuan and smiled, "Do you know who I am?"
Li Xuan, suddenly enlightened, bowed and said, "Li Xuan greets the Prime Minister."
Being a Martial Artist himself, he felt the same energy from those six people, and that energy was extremely powerful, the weakest being on par with Zhou Eli and others.
With such an imposing setup, who else could it be but the Prime Minister?
He felt a bit delighted.
Though he didn’t know what major event brought the Prime Minister here, since he personally came, the next step was the "assessing talent for rewards" stage.
This was no different from "interviewing at a big company."
The difference was, the interviewer is the boss of that big company, and the rewards... have no ceiling.
The middle-aged man smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying, only saying, "These days, I am to be around Xiongshan County. I should have stayed at Hundred Flowers Mansion, but Chihe mentioned a genius of unparalleled potential in Xiongshan County, so I became quite curious and decided to come see."
As he spoke of "genius of unparalleled potential," at least three of the six people behind him showed smiles.
This wasn’t intentional mockery; perhaps... to them, the term "genius of unparalleled potential" was simply laughable, just irresistible to hold back.
However, Li Xuan politely said, "Uncle Zhou was not wrong."
The Prime Minister suddenly lifted his head, those eyes now keenly focused on him, then smiled and said, "You are the second person daring enough to accept the title of ’genius of unparalleled potential’ in front of me.
Alright then, if you truly live up to this name, then waiting here or elsewhere makes no difference for me, better to wait here in Xiongshan County."
Li Xuan didn’t ask why the Prime Minister had suddenly appeared here, he simply bowed and intentionally asked with a hint of urgency, "How can I prove it?"
