Chapter 572: 658 Owner
The spring breeze once again turns the Jiangnan shore green.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
By the end of April.
Outside Jianghe County’s Government Office, the place was crowded with people. Their belongings were already loaded onto carriages, all of it Xiyue’s dowry. According to the time set with the second elder of the Wu Family, it was now time to send the bride.
Once Cao Xiyue arrived in the Capital with her dowry and accompanying elders, Prince Zhen Nan’s Mansion could send someone to welcome the bride.
In order to avoid the impression that the Cao Family was marrying off a daughter solely to climb the social ladder, Cao Benyuan had exhausted his family’s wealth to buy a rich dowry for Cao Xiyue, ensuring she would not be wronged after marrying into Prince Zhen Nan’s Mansion.
Of course, many guards were also brought along, personally led by Liu Xuan.
However, the world was in chaos, and Chen Mo had many enemies. If bandits discovered the situation with Cao Xiyue, it would surely add danger; this handful of people was undoubtedly not enough.
The Wu Family seemed to have anticipated this. When Liu Xuan led the bridal party to the port, three elders had long been waiting.
All three were elders worshipped by the Wu Family, possessing Third Grade Innate strength. They claimed to come on someone’s order, giving the Cao Family plenty of face.
At the dock, Cai Shi grasped her daughter’s hand, crying uncontrollably, "Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Xiyue, you’re getting married. The thought of us two being separated by thousands of miles pains me."
Tears were on Cao Xiyue’s face: "Mother... once I settle down in Bianliang, I will bring you and Father over."
Cai Shi patted the back of Cao Xiyue’s hand, "What daughter brings parents with her to marriage? Besides, your father is an official in Jianghe County, he cannot just leave. I also cannot go over to trouble you."
"You would never trouble Xiyue," Cao Xiyue murmured, hugging Cai Shi’s arm.
"Alright, stop dawdling; the ship’s about to leave." As a man, Cao Benyuan surely wouldn’t act like a woman. He stepped forward with a simple reminder for Cao Xiyue.
Take good care of yourself. If you’re mistreated over there, just come back. No matter how hard or tiring it gets, there’s always a meal for you here.
Tears in her eyes, Cao Xiyue nodded.
After the ship sailed, Cao Benyuan stood at the dock, lost in thought.
"Sir, you... why are you crying?" Cai Shi asked beside him.
"Wh... what are you talking about? Some sand got into my eyes," Cao Benyuan replied with a straight face.
Cai Shi did not expose him, holding back her laughter. After a long time, she sighed, "Xiyue has never been away from me all these years. Now she’ll be thousands of miles away, I wonder if my decision was right.
It’s all the fault of that scoundrel. I was too easy on him by cutting him down with just one stroke before."
Cao Benyuan sighed as well, lamenting. After nurturing the cabbage for over a decade, now it’d be rooted by a pig every day.
What neither anticipated was that less than two days after the ship left, a new order arrived, transferring Cao Benyuan to an official post in the Capital.
...
Wei Ying was returned by Loulan, along with a contract. The new queen of Loulan hoped to sign a mutual non-aggression pact with the Great Song.
Actually, it was the Jin Family’s idea. The newly ascended Loulan queen was merely a puppet controlled by the Jin Family and several other noble families.
With a new queen on the throne, Loulan’s situation was inevitably unstable, and with Yuxi’s fate unknown, they needed time to stabilize their internal affairs and wanted to avoid external wars.
As long as Great Song was willing to sign the pact, Loulan would agree to the compensation Chen Mo had previously demanded.
Releasing Wei Ying early was a gesture of goodwill.
However, since Chen Mo was still in seclusion, the matter was temporarily set aside.
In fact, Chen Mo had not been in closed-door cultivation for a full month. He exited twice for short periods, both times to bathe and replenish food.
The second time he temporarily exited, he had already progressed to Bone Refining, but this step was more difficult and painful compared to the previous three.
It required burning the bones inside the body to achieve a strengthening effect.
Having reached this stage, Chen Mo was determined not to stop halfway.
If he stopped now, thinking about the pain of fiery bone-burning later on would deter him. It was better to endure and complete the Bone Refining.
Notably, the flame used for refining his bones was the Taiyi Divine Fire, which magnified the pain exponentially.
Three days later, after the final refinement, Chen Mo exhaled deeply and collapsed in the chamber, as if recovering from a serious illness.
The Bone Refining was finally completed.
Next, only the Refining the Organs was left to achieve success in the first section of the True Explanation of the Minor Profound Technique for Body Cultivation.
But before continuing cultivation, Chen Mo needed time to recuperate, as he was exhausted. Having completed the Skin, Tendon, and Bone Refining consecutively, his body was at its limit, and further cultivation would be harmful.
"Koo koo..." Seeing Chen Mo lying down, Xiao Jiu, curled up in a corner, trotted over, licking Chen Mo’s cheek, then with a slightly human-like shyness, lay down next to him, resting its head on Chen Mo’s shoulder.
Chen Mo didn’t mind, stroking Xiao Jiu’s fur.
Xiao Jiu’s fur was not specially groomed, left to grow naturally, yet it was surprisingly smooth and clean.
Rolling on the ground, there wasn’t a speck of dirt on its fur, quite remarkable.
Suddenly, Chen Mo sharply remembered something. Having reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could form a contract with Xiao Jiu.
He sat up, gently stroking Xiao Jiu’s head, and in a coaxing tone asked, "Xiao Jiu, do you want to form a contract with me?"
His master had previously explained that forming a contract had two tiers.
One was to forcefully establish it, but doing so might lead to the creature showing outward obedience while remaining inwardly defiant.
The other was a mutual contract, resulting in harmonious unity in both body and mind.
Chen Mo believed he had treated Xiao Jiu well over time, and it was also very attached to him. A mutual contract should be feasible.
Indeed, after hearing his words, Xiao Jiu gazed at Chen Mo for a while, nodded, and nuzzled his arm.
Great.
A trace of joy appeared in Chen Mo’s eyes.
First, he needed a drop of essence blood from both of them.
Then merge the two drops together, and using True Qi, condense two seals as taught by his master, and engrave them deep within the sea of consciousness in the eyebrows.
A human’s sea of consciousness only opens upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, which wasn’t the case for demons.
"Xiao Jiu, relax. I’m now going to embed this mark within you," Chen Mo said after engraving one of the marks within his own sea of consciousness.
Xiao Jiu obediently nodded.
With the mark successfully engraved in Xiao Jiu, a delicate and charming voice sounded in Chen Mo’s mind.
"Master!"
