Chapter 32: 32 Becomes a Hot Commodity

Chapter 32: Becoming a Popular Figure

Having enjoyed his moment of pleasure and found the source of the incense, Ning Xuan returned to his daily routine while others were still observing from the sidelines.

However, he soon began to feel depressed.

His Golden-Winged Thunder God had been delivered, but he could no longer find interest in it.

The servant in charge of raising chickens exhausted every trick in the book, even claiming to have discovered a "miracle chicken" in a certain village, but Ning Xuan remained uninterested. After playing with the Golden-Winged Thunder God for a brief moment, he told the servant to take the chicken away.

His once-favorite fast horse was named "Wind Chaser." He used to love galloping through the outskirts on Wind Chaser, with a crowd of sycophants clapping and cheering on the sidelines, giving him the feeling of a "dashing young gentleman in fine silks and a spirited steed." But now, he couldn't find any joy in it either.

Ask yourself: if a weak animal cannot even reach half your speed even when exerting its utmost strength, what interest could you possibly have in it?

He wasn't a child; he didn't like playing house.

He wanted to play for real.

Aside from chickens and horses, he also liked hawks and hounds.

Holding a hawk in the left hand and a falcon in the right—who wouldn't want that?

But training hawks required endurance, and he had endured it once before.

That time, the hawk had been looking at him with high spirits, wanting to test his willpower. As he endured, he realized the whole thing was pointless, so he stopped. Instead, he hired two guards in the Ning Estate specifically to train hawks.

The guards trained the hawks, and he accompanied the guards. That was the style of a true young master.

During hunts, he would call his friends and companions, followed by lines of hounds, with guards holding hawks on the backs of their hands by his side. That feeling was exhilarating.

But now, whether it was hawks or hounds, he could crush them at will.

In the end, it had also turned into playing house.

Ning Xuan suddenly realized that the things he loved had become trivial in an instant.

Seeing their young master like this, the servants, guards, and sycophants all fell into a state of confusion.

On the contrary, Master Ning watched this with great satisfaction, feeling that his son truly possessed the air of a general—he had even lost interest in the things a playboy would typically enjoy.

During these days, while Ning Xuan was idling, Master Ning was using his connections to operate behind the scenes, waiting bitterly for the outcome.

According to the rules, if someone with the aptitude of a general appeared in a certain location, the local official should report it, after which the higher authorities would make a decision.

Of course, there were many ways to report.

Discovery was one way; claiming merit was another.

The former meant the person could be moved at will, perhaps to a place that truly needed a general—places that were usually dangerous. The latter meant the Great General below would need to "part with his treasure." Although the Emperor held supreme power, he was also the person in the world with the least shortage of talent. To maintain local stability, the Emperor would generally allow the reporter to remain in their local post when faced with a "claim of merit," unless the Emperor himself felt a passion for the talent. Only then would the Great General be forced to "part with his treasure."

As for Ning Taiyi, the roots of the Ning family were in Wangyue Prefecture. He had operated in Wangyue Prefecture for over thirty years and did not want to move.

Therefore, he would not lose his head or act impulsively by bypassing Great General Qin to report.

He was waiting.

While Master Ning was waiting, Young Master Ning was not.

After a period of debauchery, he had resumed his physical training.

With the "Heavenly Demon Record" possessing a constitution of "3.5" similar to the "Dark Wind Ox" and the "Ghost Shadow Monkey," his own physique had begun to approach those two.

He deliberately avoided Mount Manfeng.

Because he knew that a "Fragrance-Stealing Rat" was also coming to Mount Manfeng.

That demon was no small matter.

Although he had slain the strongest one in his nightmare, who knew if the "Fragrance-Stealing Rat" was coming in a swarm?

If that happened, the entire mountain would be covered in golden Bodhisattva bodies, which would be terrifying enough to kill a person.

Even if it wasn't a swarm but just a single one, judging from the banquet of the three demons, it didn't look like they had invited an entire clan, but rather a single individual. Even so, it was dangerous.

The Mountain-Crushing Bear had the Brocade Kasaya, the Dark Wind Ox had the Dark Wind Flag; one could only wonder what kind of treasure a demon like the Fragrance-Stealing Rat, which dealt in incense, would bring.

He had to see clearly before making a move.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

In the setting sun, Ning Xuan stretched comfortably and then looked curiously toward Mount Manfeng.

He was very curious as to why the Fragrance-Stealing Rat hadn't arrived yet.

At the very least, he hadn't heard of any disappearances in the surrounding areas up to this day.

But given the nature of demons, once they appeared, how could they not eat people?

He exhaled a long breath of turbid air, performed several hundred high-knee lifts on the spot, and then checked his panel again.

【Ning Xuan】 【Life (Constitution): 3.5】 【Nature (Spirit): 1】

His innate strength was now equal to that of the Dark Wind Ox.

And the attribute provided by the Dark Wind Ox had become "1.75."

His improvement in constitution could be described as smooth sailing.

But his spirit was different.

During this half-month, he had also thought about using the "Spirit of the Fragrance-Stealing Rat" to drive his own spiritual improvement, but he found it to be futile. No matter what he did, he could not increase his spirit by even 0.01.

Similarly, he had tried to comprehend the "Dark Wind Malice" and the "Stealth Technique" in the same way he had comprehended the "Bear Crushing the Mountain," but it was also entirely in vain.

Clearly, he had hit a bottleneck.

He still didn't know where the problem lay.

Ning Xuan was in no hurry.

In any case, he had become stronger.

The incense within the four Bodhisattva statues was quite substantial; he had absorbed it all, but he was also nearing his limit.

The amount of incense one could steal was not unlimited; just as everyone has an appetite, stealing incense also had a capacity.

That capacity was "Spirit."

How much spirit you have determines how much incense you can consume.

After he summoned the Heavenly Demon Record, his spirit was 5.5, so his current Bodhisattva statue was slightly larger than the Fragrance-Stealing Rat he had seen before.

With such a Bodhisattva shell, combined with his current enhanced constitution, he had made further progress compared to his time at Mount Manfeng.

However, he still could not use the "Hum-Ha Technique," unless he forcibly consumed incense, paying the price of damaging the Bodhisattva body to forcibly raise his own level.

This... was another trump card.

After all, the Fragrance-Stealing Rat had actually been killed by him long ago; it was only by using this move that it had escaped death and counter-killed him with a single "Hum-Ha."

With a thicker foundation and more trump cards, Ning Xuan was in high spirits.

He was already thinking about what tune he wanted to hear at the Fragrance Pavilion tonight.

Lately, things had been very quiet; even Liu Shirong, the eldest son of the wealthy Fuguang Chamber of Commerce who specialized in "selling" girls, had stopped coming to find him.

Everyone was so realistic, and Ning Xuan found it quite comfortable.

If Liu Shirong had come to him recklessly, declaring that no matter what happened in the future, he would always be his brother and the Fuguia Chamber of Commerce would always stand by him, Ning Xuan would have been very panicked.

He would wonder if Liu Shirong was sick.

Or if he had received some insider information and wanted to make a first-hand investment? Or perhaps he had offended someone he couldn't afford to offend and wanted to go all in?

Fortunately, none of that happened.

Ning Xuan liked friends like Liu Shirong.

There was no pressure in socializing.

When there were benefits, everyone gathered together, laughing and calling each other brothers.

When disaster struck, everyone would fly their own way, and no one would look after anyone else.

That was for the best.

As for his elder brother, after helping his father earn those two strands of dragon qi from Mount Manfeng, his father had naturally given all the dragon qi to him. He was currently in seclusion to digest it and break through.

The place where he was in seclusion was called Zixia Temple.

Zixia Temple was not just a Taoist temple in Wangyue Prefecture, but a massive power spanning hundreds of prefectures and dozens of provinces.

Ning Xuan had heard this from Chou Nu.

Chou Nu said, "Many years ago, there were many Taoist temples, but since the emergence of Zixia Temple, it has unified all Taoist temples at an extremely rapid pace."

Ning Xuan immediately became solemn.

Such a massive power must be quite terrifying, and the process of unification must have been quite bloody.

Then, Chou Nu added, "Master Taiyi said it was a requirement from above. No matter what your temple was called before, it was all changed to Zixia Temple. That night, all the temples changed their plaques, and thus the world's Taoist temples were unified."

"Oh."

Ning Xuan only replied with one word.

Currently, Chou Nu was cultivating in a temple that bore the name "Zixia Temple," but in reality, it was a temple within his father's territory.

A high-ranking official, even if only at the prefecture level, was essentially a local emperor.

Before sunset...

Ning Xuan returned to the estate.

As soon as he entered, he heard a familiar voice—his father's voice.

Besides his father, there was clearly a guest brought by him.

His father was saying with a smile, "My Xuan'er has an affinity for Buddhist teachings, so he moved out of the house to distance himself from the worldly clamor and burns incense to worship Buddha at the nearby Kushi Zen Temple."

The guest responded with several "mhm" sounds.

His father continued, "Look at what this main gate faces. The Fragrance Pavilion, the largest place of entertainment within ten miles of Wangyue Prefecture. Mr. Tang, you know that for those who practice the Way, women are heart demons. For Xuan'er to locate his residence here..."

His father clapped his hands repeatedly and said, "Wonderful! Even I must say... wonderful!"

Only then did the guest nod slightly and say, "Using heart demons to temper one's own character is indeed quite good."

His father smiled and said, "Mr. Tang is currently in his prime and holds authority over Ping'an Prefecture, with at least twenty years left in his term. It would be quite good if my son could form a marriage alliance with your family."

Mr. Tang smiled and said, "No matter what happens, my Tang family can protect your Ning family for at least twenty years."

Ning Xuan listened from a distance.

His mind raced, and he understood immediately.

It seemed that the matter regarding his qualifications was developing in a good direction; this Mr. Tang had come to make an early investment.

The Tang family would protect the Ning family for twenty years, and after that, he would need to protect the Tang family.

This kind of marriage alliance was quite stable.

But he was not very willing.

He did not want to get involved in other people's messy affairs.

He also did not need the resources of another family.

If it weren't for the fact that the Ning family needed "him to become a general," he wouldn't even want to be a general.

However, he did not shout out something like, "Xiao Jie, your young master is staying overnight at the Fragrance Pavilion again today."

Since his father had brought the guest here, there must be a reason.

Even if he wanted to refuse, he wouldn't do it now using such a self-destructive method.

So, he smoothed his robes, turned the corner to see the main hall, and upon seeing his father and a noble in brocade robes in the reception room, he bowed.

His father said, "This is your Uncle Tang."

Ning Xuan bowed and said, "Uncle Tang."

Then he smiled and said, "I have just returned from martial arts practice and am covered in sweat. Please excuse my rudeness."

The noble in brocade robes looked at him, nodded with a smile, and said, "Not bad, not bad. A good child!"

Having said that, he continued, "Ning Xuan, you perhaps do not know me. I come from Ping'an Prefecture, and my position in Ping'an is the same as your father's in Wangyue Prefecture.

Your father and I are close friends. My Bing'er is of a similar age to you.

Bing'er is no mere sheltered lady. Many of the hidden weapon designs in the martial world of Wangyue Prefecture come from her hand—for example, the 'Torrential Pear Blossom,' the 'Four Generations Under One Roof,' and the 'Five Sons Chasing the Heart.' In the future, she might even be able to custom-make weapons suited specifically for you.

How about it? Would you like to get to know her?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ning Taiyi, who was beside him, was momentarily stunned.

He had brought this noble here merely to show respect and maintain a good relationship.

He knew in his heart that if the Ning family wanted to be impregnable, they still needed to form a marriage alliance with Great General Qin's family. Moreover, as a Great General, Qin naturally possessed the cultivation methods belonging to a general, which would be beneficial for Xuan'er.

On the other hand, Ning Xuan naturally would not make any reckless promises.

The air grew quiet.

The noble's laughter broke the silence.

"Bing'er is obsessed with hidden weapons day and night; she probably doesn't even know that her father is here to arrange her marriage. Ning Xuan, my visit this time was somewhat abrupt. I will have someone send a portrait according to the rules later.

After that, even if the marriage does not come to pass, since you have called me 'Uncle' today, if you encounter trouble in the future, I, as your uncle, will naturally not stand idly by."

Ning Xuan smiled and said, "Uncle Tang, I actually have a problem right now."

The noble was stunned.

Ning Xuan said, "The estate has just received a new batch of fine wine, but there has been no one to drink it with these past few days. Might I trouble Uncle Tang to share a cup with me?"

The noble smiled and pointed at him, saying, "Soon, you won't have to worry about having no one to drink with."