Longevity: Starting From Getting Down The Mountain And Marrying A Wife

Zhong Mansion.

The family members of the Zhong family gathered anxiously in the outer courtyard, relieved to see Zhong Yan return safely.

On the ground nearby, Zhang Hongmei, a concubine from the Xue Mansion, lay on her side with blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. Her beautiful face was swollen, showing clear finger marks on both sides.

It turned out that when they left the city, she was captured by Shi Lingzhen, who was guarding the only gap in the West Gate.

Zhong Yan glanced at her and bowed to Shi Lingzhen, saying, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Shi."

Shi Lingzhen nodded indifferently, not caring whether it was because she was jealous of Zhang Hongmei's beauty and intentionally disfigured her face.

"I pointed you in the right direction, but you didn't seize the opportunity," Zhong Yan said, waving his hand. Yan Sandao, who had already returned, lifted the person and headed towards the backyard.

Zhang Hongmei was a local resident of Qingyang City, in her early thirties, with a cultivation level of Innate Second Mirror in martial arts. She was both talented in literature and martial arts. She had married Xue Shanhua out of necessity, so she was not particularly loyal to him.

If she were to leave the Xue Mansion and join Li Shangwen, it would be possible to spare her life and become a good helper in the Li Mansion.

Since she had chosen to leave, it would be better for her to disappear completely.

Dongcao stepped forward and handed over a stack of silver bills.

"Husband, these thirty thousand taels of silver bills and two land deeds were sent by disciples of the Xue Mansion. They said it was an apology from Guo Qingxue... but she has already been killed by Madam Yang," Zhong Yan nodded, waved his hand, and invited Huo Donglai and Shi Lingzhen to the main hall for a feast.

At three quarters past noon, the city gates were unsealed, and the false alarm of "Qi Kingdom attacking" was dispelled.

At one quarter past noon, news of the Xue Mansion being wiped out spread throughout the city, causing a commotion.

The reputation of "Xiaoshanhu" was gone, replaced by the "Fierce Ape" of the Zhong Mansion.

The news reached the Feixian Pavilion in the market, and Ruo Yun's heart finally settled. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with joy as she was teased by Shuixian, "Look at you, are you satisfied now? I guess your lover will come to celebrate with you on the bed in a few days."

In the evening, Ma Zhida, who had taken leave, hurried back to the market.

Huo Donglai and Shi Lingzhen accompanied him, having taken on nearby tasks.

Before leaving, Zhong Yan invited Huo Donglai to the cultivation room and asked if he knew the purpose of Song Yunfei, an elder of the Law Enforcement Hall, coming to Qingyang.

"Why are you asking about this, Big Brother?" Huo Donglai's face changed immediately.

Zhong Yan's heart moved, and he roughly explained the incident of Song Yunfei escorting them back to the city.

"Just curious, I didn't expect Dongfang Tuo to also come out of seclusion. Could there be something big happening?" Huo Donglai nodded and reminded, "Indeed, it is a big deal. The news has spread throughout the sect. Over a year ago, a disciple named Xu Ding'an found a spiritual root somewhere, but he didn't bring it back to the sect. That Xu Ding'an also died with his soul card shattered..."

Hearing the details, Zhong Yan felt powerless to comment. It was truly a case of man proposes, but God disposes.

Xu Ding'an was afraid of others snatching the credit halfway, so he didn't send a message back to the sect. Therefore, the investigation was dropped at that time due to lack of clues.

But this guy sent a letter to his hometown, mentioning that he found a rare spiritual root and wanted to bring his younger sister with the five spiritual roots into the Fire Cloud Sect to share the joy.

As a result, last month, Xu Ding'an's fellow disciple had some free time and sent his belongings to his hometown, learning about the existence of the spiritual root and reporting it to the sect.

"The sect attaches great importance to this matter and will definitely investigate it thoroughly. Not only did Elder Song come, but another elder also brought disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall to investigate from the side of Wangyi City. They are determined to find this spiritual root..."

Saying this, Huo Donglai stared at Zhong Yan and couldn't help but nervously ask, "Brother, this matter wouldn't have anything to do with you, right?"

Zhong Yan calmly met his gaze and said, "What use do I have for a spiritual root? Even if I snatch it, I can't exchange it for any benefits."

After a pause, he added, "I thought Song Yunfei came for the incident where the attendant mage was intercepted and killed, in which I was involved."

Huo Donglai understood, "That's not a problem. If they investigate the attendant mage, they will do it in the imperial capital. Disciples with strong connections won't come to a small place like Qingyang, and it won't involve the Law Enforcement Hall..."

After seeing the three off, on the way back, Zhong Yan carefully pondered it several times and confirmed that the probability of it being related to him was extremely low, so he didn't worry about it.

When he arrived home and entered his study, his wife Jiang Ping came with Xiaohuan and handed him a cloth bag.

"Husband, Master Huo asked me to give this to you."

Zhong Yan scanned it with his divine sense, opened it, and smiled and shook his head.

He had given three hundred spirit stones as a reward for their help in Qingyang this time, but Huo Donglai handed it back to Jiang Ping, keeping fifty pieces for himself, as well as two bottles of Qi Condensation Pills and Gathering Qi Pills.

In the evening.

After several days of not seeing each other, Zhong Yan and Yan Sandao, who missed each other deeply, had a series of intense battles in the cultivation room, feeling extremely satisfied.

[Insight into cultivation techniques +10, experience in talisman dao +30, progress in cultivation +10]

...

Five days later.

Li Shangwen, Zhong Xiaozhong, and others had finished searching the large Xue Mansion, cleaning and organizing everything.

Gold, silver, and silver tickets, totaling over six million taels. For the vast Xue Mansion, this amount of cash was considered small. The Xue family's wealth was mainly in various business industries inside and outside the city, which had been divided up by the Cao Yun Gang and the Wan Ren Tang.

There were also a large number of jewelry, calligraphy and painting collections, divine weapons, precious medicinal materials, land deeds, and so on, whose value was difficult to estimate.

Among them were the deeds of the Xue Mansion, covering an area of over a thousand mu. Moreover, this mansion, without any formations, was built by the Xue Mansion itself, and one only needed to register it with the City Lord's Mansion to obtain ownership.

However, all of these were mundane items.

For Zhong Yan, they could be considered as icing on the cake for eradicating the Xue Mansion.

There were also the things found in various secret rooms.

Several blueprints for mortal weapons.

Three large boxes of confidential information from various families in the city!

There were important figures in the City Lord's Mansion and the military, such as the background of Qin Ben and analysis of martial arts strength.

There were also things like evidence of which servant was the offspring of a concubine from a certain prestigious family.

There are also some things about the Yang, Li, and Bai families in the cultivation world.

Zhong Yan even found his own, but it was relatively simple, only recording basic information such as cultivation level and talisman masters. It was obvious that he hadn't been here for long and hadn't conducted a thorough investigation.

In Zhong Yan's eyes, these materials were worth countless times more than money.

In addition,

221 pieces of low-grade spirit stones.

131 specially made talismans for mortals.

Hundreds of low-level pills such as Qi Condensation Pills and Detoxification Pills.

Xue Shanhua killed cultivators but didn't have a single Law Weapon, probably because he sold them.

The resources used by these cultivators were not worth as much as the fortune of a late Qi Refining stage Independent Cultivator, so it was better to have them than not.

There were a total of 46 martial arts secret manuals, but many of them were incomplete. There were only nine complete manuals, including the "Tiger God Technique" that Xue Shanhua learned.

There was also a mortal dual cultivation technique called "Techniques for the Bedroom." Comparing it secretly, Zhong Yan felt that it was much better than the so-called "Imperial Court Secret Manual" he bought from the market, "Startling the Hearts of Women."

...

As the lanterns were lit, the main hall of the tenth courtyard of the Zhong family.

The Zhong and Li families were all smiling and whispering.

Zhong Yan sat high up and raised his hand to signal for silence before speaking.

"One careless move, and the game is lost."

"If we lose, not only will the Zhong family be destroyed, but others will be implicated as well."

"This matter started because of Yan Sandao. You have made the greatest contribution by going out to sea, but your contribution is not enough. Starting tomorrow, you will open a martial arts school in the western district and achieve results."

Yan Sandao stepped forward and bowed, "Thank you, Lord, for your favor. I risked my life to save myself. I will remember the lesson and complete the task you assigned me."

Zhong Yan waved his hand and looked at the woman in the blue dress below, unable to help but secretly praise her beauty and perfect figure.

In order to ensure that the "Heavenly Spirit Root" would not have any problems in the future, Li Henian spared no expense and spent a lot of money to bring Lin Xuelan from Wangyi City.

"Sister Yunning, you will assist in going out to sea together and share the credit. You can choose any of the Xue family's martial arts techniques, and you will be rewarded with one million taels of silver. If you have any other requests, you can mention them now."

This is too much. We just took a boat trip around the sea... Zhou Yunning blinked her eyes, curtsied gracefully, and lightly opened her red lips, "The Zhong and Li families have formed an alliance, and I should do my best. I dare not take credit."

Zhong Yan smiled, "Find Dongcao later. The brothers who went with you shouldn't be empty-handed."

Zhou Yunning glanced at the Li and Yang families and curtsied, "I thank Uncle on behalf of all the brothers!"

Zhong Yan looked at Li Shangwen, "And you, you did well this time. What do you want?"

Li Shangwen's face lit up, and he clasped his fists, "Nephew only hopes to learn more from Uncle!"

Zhong Yan said, "Then copy a martial arts manual, and you will receive five thousand taels of silver to pay off your gambling debts."

Li Shangwen was stunned.

I was just being polite. How can I treat them differently? The difference is too big!

Zhong Yan chuckled, "Why do you need so much money? Improve your martial arts cultivation."

Li Shangwen's face turned bitter, "Yes, thank you, Uncle!"

Li Qiushi, who was on the side, couldn't help but smile when she saw her son's expression.

Zhong Yan looked at Li Yangshi and hadn't spoken yet.

Li Yangshi smiled and said, "Uncle, please don't mention any rewards. The Li family is just running errands. Yunning has already received such generous gifts. If we take more, my husband will scold us women for being ignorant! I came here today to congratulate Uncle and have a drink!"

"But you also took risks."

Zhong Yan said a sentence and directly ordered Dongcao, "Dongcao, give the two courtyards in the northern district and the fertile land in Baigang Village to the Li family."

"Yes, Lord."

Li Yangshi sighed and smiled, "Thank you, Uncle."

"Xiaozhong, tomorrow you will take the weapon manufacturing blueprints to the City Lord's Mansion."

"Yes, Lord."

"Xiaohuan, everyone was frightened this time. Everyone in the mansion will receive a reward of three hundred taels of silver, and their monthly allowance will be doubled in the future."

"Yes, thank you, Lord, for the reward!"

...

After a banquet, everyone enjoyed themselves until the early hours of the morning before the Li family left.

They had established a certain foundation in Qingyang City by resolving a troublesome matter.

Zhong Yan was in a good mood and gathered a group of concubines for a meeting.

Jiang Ping, who was pregnant, wanted to talk to Dongcao about something, but she learned from the gatekeeper Xiaoqing that many sisters were inside. She secretly wondered: Can my husband handle it?

"Xiaohuan, make a hundred treasures blood pigeon soup for Lord tomorrow morning!"

"Yes, Madam."

Xiaohuan carefully supported her mistress and blinked her eyes, asking, "Madam, are you jealous?"

Jiang Ping glared at her and laughed, "Why would I be jealous? If it weren't for my pregnancy, I would be the first in line."

Xiaohuan covered her mouth and laughed, "That's right! Lord loves Madam the most!"

...