Chapter 59: Spring Examination

More than half a month later, summer was finally coming to an end.

In the General Ning’s residence, the noisy cicadas had also faded a lot.

When the secret room was opened again, Ning Xuan walked out. He casually crushed a palm-sized Bodhisattva statue into powder and scattered it into the dust on the ground.

A Bodhisattva statue that had lost its incense fire power was just a clay doll.

This Bodhisattva statue was still obtained by him through hunting demons.

New demons would always emerge in Wangyue Prefecture.

Ning Xuan killed the demons, took the Heavenly Demon Record, and this possible incense fire Bodhisattva statue; Chou Nu was allocated dragon qi by his father…

The two brothers both cultivated day and night.

However, Chou Nu was cultivating hard, while Ning Xuan was cultivating happily.

The Heavenly Demon Record of the [Incense-Condensing Mouse] had been successfully refined by him.

Now, the incense fire gap of spirit 12.5 had also been filled by the “incense fire Bodhisattva statues” that he had accumulated in Wangyue Prefecture and newly obtained.

In the past, he was always ambushed by the “coming Heavenly Demon,” but this time, he had also learned about the other party’s power through his own probing, and then took the initiative to refine the “arrived Heavenly Demon.”

Of course, he had made many new discoveries in this refining.

First, the incense fire shell of a spirit-type demon could be weakened in advance.

In other words, when he faced the Incense-Condensing Mouse in the Jixiang Merchant Guild that day, his attack caused the Incense-Condensing Mouse to consume a lot of incense fire. Then, when he refined the Incense-Condensing Mouse, the incense fire shell of the Incense-Condensing Mouse was much weaker than when he first saw it. To put it simply: it was easier to fight.

This meant that from now on, if he encountered a powerful spirit-type demon that was difficult to deal with, he could ensure the success rate of refining by first weakening it in reality and then refining it.

Second, after the demon’s spirit reached 10, its power seemed to have undergone some kind of qualitative change, and it was considered a second-grade demon.

Previously, Ning Xuan’s incense fire shell could only be a golden body Bodhisattva, but now… he could shape it at will, and every image he shaped was no longer a transparent golden body, but more solid and real.

What did this mean?

This meant that the so-called “Hunchbacked Mountain Duke” should be a “shell.”

The Incense-Condensing Mouse used this “shell” to spread its faith, and it was just imitating the appearance of “a certain god in the ancient beliefs of the Western Region” to sculpt the incense fire shell into the appearance of the Hunchbacked Mountain Duke.

And this…

Now Ning Xuan could also do it.

He could also be the “Hunchbacked Mountain Duke.”

Any demon with incense fire and a spirit of 10 could be the “Hunchbacked Mountain Duke.”

Third, besides being able to shape the incense fire body at will, a second-grade demon could also manifest itself from a super long distance. And the premise of manifesting was not troublesome, as long as there was essence and blood with a strong aura.

As Ning Xuan thought, he strolled and casually sat in a landscape pavilion.

The pavilion was luxurious, with常备 (chángbèi – always prepared) fruits, candied fruits, and fine wine for the general to enjoy at any time.

And if it was not touched for a day, it would be tacitly regarded as a reward for the servants in the mansion.

He sat in the pavilion, poured himself a glass of fine wine, and grabbed a piece of “Bright Pearl Cheese” and threw it into his mouth.

The sweetness and milkiness of the “Western Region Bright Pearl” blended together, and it was sweet and sour and delicious.

He grabbed another piece of dried yak meat and chewed it in large mouthfuls.

Finally, he picked up the wine pot and took a big gulp.

His brows were still tightly furrowed.

Because, the most core, and also the kind of power he most hoped to obtain in this refining, he did not get.

He glanced at the panel:

[Incense-Condensing Mouse]

[Heavenly Demon Nature Attribute, Mouse Class, Incense Fire Family, Incense-Condensing Species (Spirit): 10.0]

[Innate Demonic Technique: Incense-Condensing Technique: The green temple condenses the smoke from the jade censer, and the immortal steps and long life are obtained. Condense the incense fire and reflect it on oneself.]

It was gone.

The difference between “Incense-Stealing Technique” and “Incense-Condensing Technique” was probably that one secretly took a little bit of incense fire each time, while the other openly condensed a lot each time.

But there was no magic to “produce incense fire.”

And there was no magic that would make “Liu Shirong” and others “as loyal as if they were hypnotized once they believed.”

Ning Xuan thought again, maybe “as long as you believe,” you can produce incense fire and make people loyal.

He couldn’t wait to get up and find Madam Jie.

Madam Jie was surrounded by a group of noble ladies from Wangyue Prefecture, covering their lips and talking and laughing.

Ning Xuan picked up Madam Jie horizontally, and in the surprised and envious eyes of the noble ladies, he turned and walked into the main room. After a careful and not very enjoyable lovemaking, he made a request, “Burn a stick of incense, worship me, and then believe in me.”

Madam Jie was happy in her heart.

She had long known the strength of her husband’s physique, and she also knew that ordinary women could no longer satisfy her husband. Now, she just thought of it as a new trick.

Since the Flying Eagle Tower was destroyed, and since the past was completely revealed, her heart was completely tied to Ning Xuan. Naturally, she would play with whatever Ning Xuan wanted to play.

So, Madam Jie very seriously worshipped Ning Xuan as a Buddha statue in the Kushe Zen Temple, meticulously, with a pious expression. Even every thought in her heart was silently reciting, “Today, I offer my body, skin, bones, blood, flesh, tendons, veins, marrow, and brain to the gentleman before me.”

She also took out an incense burner, took the best incense, and lit it with the most pious posture…

After it was done, she raised her face again and looked at Ning Xuan who was bearing her incense fire with the purest and most pious face.

She felt that her husband could climb down from the “shrine” and make love to her.

But Ning Xuan did not.

He had already come to a conclusion: “as long as you believe, you can produce incense fire and loyalty” was not possible.

He knew his little concubine.

Madam Jie was a smart woman and would definitely not be perfunctory with him.

Madam Jie’s worship of him was at least much more serious than the merchants of the Jixiang Merchant Guild and the Fugui Merchant Guild when they worshipped the “Hunchbacked Mountain Duke.”

Those merchants, especially Liu Shirong, were all old foxes. Who would really go to that extent for faith?

But not only did they believe, but they were also doing their best to pull people to expand their faith.

Ning Xuan instantly came to a conclusion: there was someone behind the Incense-Condensing Mouse, and the Shanmo Sect was not that simple.

He had a headache.

The water in this world was too deep.

He had only seen the tip of the iceberg, and he had encountered the “Frozen Hell,” the “Three Demons of Shanyang Prefecture,” and the “Shanmo Sect”…

God knows how many more terrible things were out there.

He didn’t want to think about it anymore.

Had he been working too hard recently?

He wanted to laze around and not care about anything.

So, Ning Xuan invited Liu Shirong, who had been bewitched by the Shanmo Sect, and also invited three scholars from the Ning family who had the status of “Juren” and had the surname Ning. Then he picked out many pure and red ladies from the Chenxiang Pavilion, and took Madam Jie with him, and went to travel in the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains.

His father’s health was getting worse day by day. The one who would take over the position of prefect of Wangyue Prefecture would naturally not be him, nor would it be Chou Nu, so it would only be one of the three Juren from the main family.

Even a powerful general could not act arbitrarily and appoint someone to be an official. Ning Xuan naturally could not either…

He became a general and saved the Ning family’s life, leaving enough of a way out.

But if the Ning family’s line of prefects wanted to continue, then the best way was to have a Gongsheng in the spring examination in the imperial capital, and then go through the palace examination. The first, second, and third ranks were all fine.

At least in this way, one would have the capital to be an official.

Of course, if one wanted to have the qualification directly, then only the top three could.

As for the rest… they would need the grace of the Son of Heaven and the emperor’s personal permission.

It was normal for a Juren to enter the imperial capital in previous years, but since the recent outbreak of the demon disaster, it was difficult to travel everywhere… but interestingly, the Son of Heaven did not make any adjustments, and still required them to go to the imperial capital for the examination.

This meant that the number of people who actually participated in the examination would become very small, and without an escort, it would be impossible to arrive at the imperial capital safely.

Chou Nu had told Ning Xuan about this before, and Ning Xuan was still having a headache about how to send these three people. After all, if he left Wangyue Prefecture, then the prefecture would be without a leader…

But now, it was a little better.

He could leave a wisp of essence and blood in Wangyue Prefecture, and he could manifest himself from thousands of li away.

P.S.: Starting from tomorrow, the update time will be fixed. It will be updated at 5 pm. It may be two small chapters in a row, or it may be a large chapter, depending on the situation.