Chapter 44: Please Decide

[Four of Nine]

[Five of Nine]

[Eight of Nine]

Bang!

This time, Ning Xuan did not repeat his old trick. He simply pressed the snow-white bear demon against the old tree and, with a blank expression, threw out one punch after another in quick succession.

His eyes were focused and indifferent, and the muscles on his fists had become dense due to the force, thus turning into fine scales.

Each impact was the scales on his fist hitting the scales on the bear demon’s cheek.

The bear demon was not to be outdone. It kept waving its two claws and attacking Ning Xuan’s ribs, but every time it touched, it would be blocked by the scales on Ning Xuan’s abdomen, and it could not break through the solid defense at all.

The stalemate between the two sides did not last long.

Because the balance had been broken.

More and more black qi from the bear demon surged towards Ning Xuan, and the scales on its face could no longer be gathered.

Bang!

With another fall, the scales on the bear demon’s face did not appear in time, but the scales on Ning Xuan’s fist were already fully covered.

The snow-white bear demon’s head was immediately split open, and then the fat brain matter, along with blood, fur, and bone fragments, began to flow out. Its two claws drooped powerlessly, and it gave up the attack, but it was still muttering, “If my weapon was here, if my weapon was still here…”

Ning Xuan did not listen to its nonsense.

He raised another punch.

With this punch, his entire arm was covered with scales.

The fist was like a strong bow pulling a full moon, and it shot out from the string.

Boom!

The old tree’s trunk trembled violently, and leaves fell one after another. With a dull “crack,” it broke in the middle.

The snow-white bear demon’s head had also completely become a hole, and it was motionless.

The world was quiet in this instant.

Ning Xuan casually threw away the tattered corpse.

The last wisp of thick black qi from the corpse drilled into his body, and the entire world of the black moon and white sun began to collapse.

Ning Xuan stood in this collapsing world with his head held high and glanced at the panel.

[Ning Xuan]

[Life (Constitution): 3.5]

[Nature (Spirit): 1]

[Heavenly Demon Record]

[White Mountain Zen Master]

[Heavenly Demon Life Family, Bear Class, Ordinary Family, White Mountain Species (Constitution): 10] (Can provide an additional 8.25 Life attribute after being summoned)

[Innate Demonic Art: None]

“General Ning is right. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Life is not yet old, and the path of the clouds is long. There is no need to belittle oneself at this time and hurt one’s spirit in vain.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen’s voice came to Ning Xuan’s ear.

He listened to this voice as if he was in another world.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen suddenly noticed the quietness of the general by her side and immediately asked in confusion, “Has the General discovered something?”

Ning Xuan said, “Push the border here back by fifty li. Also, tell the reinforcements who have come to investigate to be careful. This place… is very wrong.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen raised her eyebrows and said, “General… are you afraid?”

Ning Xuan did not answer. He was looking at the iceberg that was emitting a cold and eerie aura in the moonlight.

The noisy chirping of insects had already begun to sound in his ears, and the wind in the forest had become hot, but the iceberg was not affected in the slightest.

In the nightmare, he had not even been able to set foot on that iceberg.

The White Mountain Zen Master was clearly a bear.

A white mountain bear.

This kind of bear did not even have an innate demonic art, but it could cultivate such powerful strength, and it was also given the name “Zen Master.” When he thought of the “Incense-Stealing Mouse” with a ten-zhang Bodhisattva golden body before, Ning Xuan quickly connected everything.

Wangyue Prefecture had been stable for a long time, so stable that his father and big brother could suppress everything and let the common people not perceive the existence of demons. This showed that for a long time, the power of demons was below “3.” A place like Manfeng Mountain with a “3.5” had already been listed as a forbidden area and had become a place to compete for dragon qi.

But in the spring of this year, everything seemed to have pressed the “fast-forward button.”

Not to mention anything else, just what he had encountered.

The Mountain-Crashing Bear demon, with a constitution of 3.2, was still considered normal.

But then, the Incense-Stealing Mouse, with a spirit of 5.0, and it appeared alone. As soon as it appeared, the “Frozen Hell” appeared in the north of Ping’an Prefecture not long after.

And with the appearance of the “Frozen Hell,” the “human-headed black smoke” and the “frozen corpses with dragon qi” all appeared, and then there was this “White Mountain Zen Master” with a constitution of a full 10.

If a cockroach was found in the house, it meant that there were already many, many cockroaches.

Ning Xuan knew this principle deeply.

What he had seen was just the tip of the iceberg.

More similar things were happening all over this land.

To say something else…

In the nightmare, the White Mountain Zen Master had been muttering about his weapon.

That weapon must be very important to it.

Ning Xuan actually had a guess.

The reason why the White Mountain Zen Master could not find its weapon was because what was pulled into the nightmare world of the black moon and white sun was only the “root of its life and nature,” not the White Mountain Zen Master’s main body. It could not bring anything over.

In other words, the weapon that the White Mountain Zen Master was talking about had always been in the hands of its main body.

With that weapon, the White Mountain Zen Master’s power would be even higher.

Ning Xuan didn’t really want to fight this demon.

Since the foundation of the dynasty was so deep, and the history of fighting demons that he knew of was no less than a hundred years, then let the dynasty go up…

He was just a nobody.

Whoever wanted to wade in such deep water could wade in it.

The twelve divine generals, whoever wanted to be one could be one.

His home was Wangyue Prefecture. He was born in Wangyue Prefecture, grew up in Wangyue Prefecture, and the Ning family was also in Wangyue Prefecture. Then he only needed to protect Wangyue Prefecture.

Afterwards, he hurriedly pulled the border back a lot, and proposed to set up a double border at the key points, so that if the front border was attacked, the people at the back border could immediately perceive it, so as to avoid being infiltrated by the demons silently.

After doing all this, he rushed to Wangyue Prefecture without stopping.

As soon as he returned to the mansion, which had already been replaced with the plaque of “General Ning’s Residence,” he didn’t even change his clothes and immediately sat down at his desk to draft a memorial to the throne.

As for the memorial to the throne, the moment he was enfeoffed as General An Yuan, his father had already taught him how to write the format. As for the content… he was a dandy, not a fool.

The teachers of a dandy, whether in literature or martial arts, were all there, and they were all good.

So, Ning Xuan’s handwriting and content were all up to standard.

And because of Immortal Aunt Yaozhen, as soon as he finished writing, Immortal Aunt Yaozhen could transmit the image of this memorial to the imperial capital, which was extremely convenient.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen came over with great curiosity. She really didn’t know why this decisive general had to write a letter as soon as he came back, and what letter he was going to write.

The brush and ink on the memorial to the throne outlined the words.

I, General An Yuan, Ning Xuan, respectfully present this memorial:

For my lack of talent and heavy responsibility, it is difficult to take on the great task. I implore the holy grace to reduce the fiefdom, so as to bring peace to the military and civilian affairs.

I am a mediocre talent, but I have received the grace of Your Majesty, and have been granted the position of An Yuan and the land of two prefectures. I should have worked hard on the border, to repay the kindness of the monarch above, and to comfort the common people below.

However, my talent and strength are not enough, and it is difficult to govern a vast land. After thinking it over and over, if I reduce the fiefdom to Ping’an and specialize in governing Wangyue, I may be able to do my best to rectify the border defense and bring peace to the people. In this way, I can avoid the ridicule of holding a position without doing anything, and it also conforms to the system of the imperial court of granting power based on ability.

I do not dare to be pretentious and make excuses, but I really know that my strength is not enough. If Your Majesty grants my request and reduces the fiefdom to one prefecture, I will surely work day and night, diligently practice martial arts, to repay the great grace of the holy lord.

I prostrate myself and beg Your Majesty to examine my foolish sincerity and grant my request. I am extremely terrified and await your orders!

Respectfully presented.

General An Yuan, Ning Xuan, kowtows.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen was stunned for a long time. Her cold cheeks turned from white to red, and then she said, “The General has already done very well.”

Ning Xuan said in shame, “No! That Frozen Hell is right in front of me, but I don’t even dare to set foot on it. I’m afraid, I’m not worthy to govern Ping’an Prefecture.”

After speaking, he threw down the memorial to the throne, let out a long sigh, found Xiao Jie to bathe and change clothes, and then ran to the Chenxiang Pavilion opposite.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen grabbed the memorial to the throne and stood there for a long time.

She suddenly recalled that she seemed to have asked in a slightly provocative tone in front of the Frozen Hell, “Is the General afraid?”…

She fell silent.

General An Yuan had long been tortured by his self-esteem, and hated himself for not being able to solve the Frozen Hell and needing outside help. But she had stabbed him at this time.

It was she who had hurt General An Yuan, which had led to General An Yuan writing this strange “memorial to reduce the fiefdom.”

Others all hoped that their fiefdoms would become larger and larger. Who would hope that their fiefdoms would become smaller?

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen thought for a long time and took a deep breath.

She had to apologize.

Chenxiang Pavilion.

Wenxiang Thatched Cottage…

This was an independent small courtyard, designed entirely according to the mountain residence of a hermit. It was the top experience launched by the Chenxiang Pavilion.

Its overall design concept was based on the dual cultivation methods of Taoists recorded in some ancient books.

The walls of the thatched cottage were still hung with cursive calligraphy that was as graceful as a dragon and as elegant as a phoenix. On it was written: Men and women complement each other, just as heaven and earth give birth to each other. Heaven and earth have the way of intercourse, so there is no end; people lose the way of intercourse, so there is a gradual decline. If one can avoid the things that cause gradual injury and obtain the art of yin and yang, then it is the way of immortality.

To put it simply: it was to have sex with several women and close the primordial yang…

The design of the thatched cottage was very elegant, and its location was not in the main building of the Chenxiang Pavilion, but in a separate area near the Chenxiang Pavilion…

From the outside, it looked like the garden of a large family.

Ning Xuan was lying comfortably.

Every inch of his muscles could still feel the pain of being gnawed by the bear demon, and his internal organs could still feel the pain of the self-inflicted flying knife.

He had to use fine wine and beautiful women to forget all these pains.

He had a delicate and beautiful woman on his left leg, and a dignified lady on his right leg.

On the side, a woman was wearing a red veil, holding a pipa and half-covering her face.

In front, a woman was holding a long sword and dancing gracefully, like Yi shooting down the nine suns, and as graceful as the emperors riding a dragon…

Ning Xuan closed his eyes and enjoyed it.

This money would have originally become a pension. However… he had saved it with his own ability. It was not too much to use a drop in the bucket now, right?

As he was enjoying it, a golden light suddenly surged from the ground in front of him.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen appeared in front of him and said seriously, “General, I was wrong.”

Ning Xuan said, “Go.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said “oh,” and then used earth-遁 (dì dùn – earth escape) and left.