Chapter 296 - 148: The Young Lady Heir’s Gift of an Earth Treasure, a Mouthful of Nirvana Flower, the Cloud Luo Scroll Completed, and Ji Xiu’s Outer Gang Perfection

Chapter 296: Chapter 148: The Young Lady Heir’s Gift of an Earth Treasure, a Mouthful of Nirvana Flower, the Cloud Luo Scroll Completed, and Ji Xiu’s Outer Gang Perfection

"From now on, Young Master Ji, you can stay here until you’ve found your footing in Jiangyin Prefecture."

Upon entering Jiangyin Prefecture,

Xiao Mingli instructed the female attendant at her side, Li Xuanyi—a woman with bright eyes and pearly teeth—to lead Ji Xiu to the eastern side of the Marquis’s Mansion.

Before him stood a three-story tower. Its outer walls were cast from Profound Iron, and ancient bronze bells hung from the eaves, chiming crisply as they were stirred by the night wind.

As Li Xuanyi spoke, she couldn’t help but click her tongue and add,

"In the entire Beicang Marquis’s Mansion, Marquis Xiao himself might not even visit once in half a year."

"Aside from the Shuyu Pavilion, where the Young Lady Heir resides, this is the best location, the closest to the core of the ’Blessed Land.’"

"Even after all my years of loyal service and sticking by her through thick and thin, Senior Sister has never treated me this well."

She pouted, her tone tinged with a hint of envy.

’Blessed Land?’

A thought struck Ji Xiu.

"A so-called ’Blessed Land,’ aside from those formed naturally, is a place that has been cultivated with Earth Treasures and Spiritual Objects for years. Over time, these things subtly influence the area, transforming it into ’Spirit Soil.’"

"Take the Celestial Blade School’s Golden Turtle Island, for example. It has a Sword Casting Platform. If you practice your Cultivation there, whether it’s Martial Arts or the Skill Dao, your progress will be much faster than anywhere else."

"By the same token, the Cold Jade Spirit Pool here in our Marquis’s Mansion, which Marquis Xiao created to help treat the Young Lady Heir’s injuries, is the same kind of place."

"These are the cores of a Blessed Land. The closer you are, the greater the boon to your Cultivation."

"A single sword platform or pool is enough to support a major family in a prefecture. But some True Sects with profound foundations..."

"...can transform their entire sect grounds into Spirit Soil, linking the Qi Mechanisms of several wonders within it to amplify this effect and extend its blessings to every single disciple."

"Now that is the foundation of a truly great sect! Not to mention distant examples, the Dragon Elephant True Sect, which dominates the Three Mansions’ Land, has its sect grounds on just such a top-tier Blessed Land!"

Seeing Ji Xiu listening intently, Li Xuanyi didn’t hold back, effortlessly recounting these secrets as if they were common knowledge to her.

"I see..."

After listening, Ji Xiu nodded thoughtfully.

’No wonder,’ he thought. ’Ever since stepping into the Marquis’s Mansion, I’ve felt every pore on my body open up, spontaneously circulating and absorbing the surrounding Qi Mechanism. It even enhances the Skin Refining Scroll, causing my progress with the Feathered Immortal Robe’s Cloud Luo Scroll to increase dramatically.’

’So this is the source.’

’However...’

’...this attendant named Li Xuanyi doesn’t look much older than me, but her Cultivation is already so profound that I can’t gauge its depth. I can even faintly sense fluctuations of ’Qi’ from her.’

’She looks to be only in her twenties. Has she already reached the level of a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster?’

’The Beicang Marquis’s Mansion is truly full of hidden depths...’

Ji Xiu was still marveling at this inwardly.

Li Xuanyi met his gaze, seeming to guess his thoughts. She smiled faintly and lifted her slender neck with a touch of pride.

"Young Master Ji, don’t see me serving as Senior Sister Xiao’s attendant in the Beicang Marquis’s Mansion and think I’m just some mere serving girl."

"Back in her prime, Senior Sister was strong enough to compete for a True Inheritance Seat at a Celestial Pillar, and I was her right-hand woman!"

"After her Treasure Body was damaged and she went into seclusion in Jiangyin, I gave up my position in the Sect and followed her here."

"Otherwise..."

"...I wouldn’t have bothered coming to a small place like this!"

’A disciple of a Celestial Pillar!’

Ji Xiu raised an eyebrow. He had thought that any random attendant in the Marquis’s Mansion could have such skill.

So the Li Xuanyi before him and Xiao Mingli were actually sect sisters.

"Celestial Pillar..."

He murmured the term.

He thought of how the Celestial Blade School had once been a branch of the Sword Dao Ancestral Court. Legend had it that a hundred years ago, it too was ranked among the Celestial Pillars.

’What a pity. If such a grand sect hadn’t been destroyed, then with the Titled Blade Plaque for the Five Declines Tribulation Saber on my shoulder, wouldn’t I be considered a descendant of the Martial Saint Chen Danding’s lineage and be counted among the True Inheritance?’

Ji Xiu clicked his tongue, and at the same time, couldn’t help but grow deeply curious about the crippled Young Lady Heir, Xiao Mingli.

’If this attendant, Li Xuanyi, is truly a disciple of a Celestial Pillar...’

’...then just how magnificent must Xiao Mingli have been in her prime to make such a prodigy willingly give up fame and fortune to follow her to this corner of a Prefecture City?’

"So you’re a disciple from a major sect. No wonder your bearing is so extraordinary, Miss. You’re unlike ordinary people."

"But what exactly happened to Miss Xiao back then to make her end up in her current state?"

"Marquis Beicang is so powerful and influential. Is there truly no way for him to cure her?"

’One shouldn’t touch on sore subjects.’

The gap in status between him and Xiao Mingli was as wide as an ocean. There were some questions he couldn’t ask her directly, but he could try to find out indirectly from Li Xuanyi, who knew her past.

"Senior Sister Xiao..."

Hearing Ji Xiu’s question, the pride on Li Xuanyi’s face was instantly replaced by a somber look.

"You haven’t reached that level yet. You wouldn’t understand."

"Senior Sister’s father is Marquis Beicang. Her mother... her mother’s surname was Xie."

"The Xie Clan, one of the Nine Great Families."

"She inherited the glory of both her father and her mother, and her starting point in life was incredibly high. Forget a single province—in just a few more years, her name would have been sung throughout the entire Great Xuan..."

"Have you heard of the Juvenile Dragon Stele?"

"If she had just overcome that hurdle back then, she would have earned a place among the top one hundred names on the Juvenile Dragon Stele!"

"That’s the absolute cream of the crop of the younger generation, chosen from the hundreds of millions of living beings in the Great Xuan!"

"And she was still so young. It wasn’t impossible for her to have climbed even higher."

"But then, the Outer Dao Realm Gate suppressed by the Celestial Pillar was thrown wide open. An ancient Daoist Lineage that practiced an Immortal Cultivation Technique launched a probing attack against the Great Xuan Celestial Universe—the very place our Sect was stationed to guard."