Over the next few days, Liucheng—which had remained tranquil for two full years—rarely showed a trace of liveliness.
Major families and factions visited one another to seek alliances.
Most people knew that the five-year period had arrived, and the Dahuang Mountain secret realm was about to open once again.
Commoners were unconcerned, as this was a matter strictly among cultivators.
Qi Condensation factions lacked the capability and lacked the qualification to participate. Only Foundation Establishment factions and Golden Core factions possessed the qualification to enter the Dahuang Mountain secret realm in search of that thread of possible destiny.
After several days, all the major families and factions made their preparations, and led by their respective Great Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they set off in a mighty procession toward the location of the Dahuang Mountain secret realm.
This included not only the twenty-five Foundation Establishment factions within Liucheng, but also the three veteran Golden Core factions of the inner city. Even An Qisheng, who had recently advanced to a Golden Core Real Person, decided to join in the excitement and dispatched a personal guard at Qi Condensation Perfection. As for the City Lord's Estate, as usual, it made no unusual movements, seeming entirely indifferent to the Dahuang Mountain secret realm.
Xia Changsheng paid it only brief attention before ignoring it entirely. For him, so long as no major chaos erupted, all was well.
Ever since his return from the Li Estate, he had resumed his laid-back lifestyle, remaining deeply secluded and refusing outside visitors. He spent his time in the backyard accompanying his beloved wives and concubines, playing chess with the talented Zhang Yuwei, sparring with Liu Qingyue, or engaging in a clash of ice and fire with the twin sisters.
Naturally, when in high spirits, he inevitably indulged in playing with flowers and adjusting jades, even arranging the flowers and jades into rectangles, circles, and various other shapes to admire them.
Knowing their husband's temperament, the four women could only blush and let him indulge in his whims.
Thus, the days passed one by one.
Three days later.
A piece of news arrived, interrupting Xia Changsheng, who was immersed in a tender harbor.
The trip to the Dahuang Mountain secret realm had drawn to a close.
Just like the last time the secret realm opened, someone had once again found a fine treasure inside.
It was said to be a piece of spatial primordial stone.
The size of a palm.
The spatial primordial stone was a top-tier artifact-refinement material. Any spatial magical treasure forged from it would be of such high grade that even Nascent Soul Stage True Monarchs would be tempted.
Even though this piece of primordial stone was not large and perhaps insufficient for forging a complete magical treasure, it was more than enough to make several spatial rings.
Spatial rings were spatial artifacts a tier above storage bags. A storage bag was only a single cubic meter in size and was already extremely scarce, found only in factions that had once produced Golden Core Real Persons, and even then, their numbers were few.
Spatial rings, however, had ten cubic meters of space and were even rarer, usually belonging only to major factions that had produced Nascent Soul True Monarchs or higher.
The value of the spatial primordial stone was thus self-evident.
At first, two people discovered it together while teamed up. Later, seemingly due to an uneven distribution, a dispute broke out, leading to a fierce fight that drew the attention of others.
In the end, nearly thirty Qi Condensation Cultivators joined the fray to snatch it inside the secret realm, not stopping until the secret realm closed and they were expelled.
This was the established rule: inside the secret realm, everyone relied on their own abilities, but once they left, no further fighting was permitted.
However, right under everyone's noses, this spatial primordial stone vanished into thin air. Every single Qi Condensation Cultivator who had entered flatly denied having obtained it.
This sudden turn of events made people suspicious and doubtful. Clearly, someone had secretly taken the spatial primordial stone without wanting anyone else to know.
Yet, upon careful reflection, this was only natural. After all, with the precedent of the longevity pill obtained by the Li Estate last time—where the Golden Core factions took the lion's share for nothing—caution was to be expected.This time it was a spatial primordial stone. As everyone knew, spatial primordial stones were extremely difficult to divide and usually required a Nascent Soul True Monarch to smelt them using the Nascent Soul fire, making it impossible to distribute them as easily as the medicinal pills last time.
If it were easily exposed, no one would dare make a move openly due to the rules, but it was hard to guarantee that someone wouldn't harbor secret intentions behind the scenes.
Human hearts were forever the hardest things to guess.
Carefulness was the best policy.
When Xia Changsheng learned the news, he was somewhat tempted, but it was merely a fleeting temptation. Spatial primordial stones were extremely precious, and he reckoned many people were eyeing them. The person hiding it would likely not dare to expose it easily, and he had no intention of joining in the excitement.
For a time, Liucheng became treacherous and unpredictable.
Beneath the calm surface, undercurrents began to surge.
Half a month later, everything seemed to have returned to the right track.
On this day, Xia Changsheng was leisurely lying in the back courtyard bathing in the sunlight. Zhang Yuwei stood close to him, massaging his shoulders and beating his back, while Liu Qingyue fed him spiritual fruits on the side, and a pair of twin maidens danced gracefully, displaying their enchanting postures.
After this period of cultivation and indoctrination by Xia Changsheng, the two girls, Qingmei and Qingzhu, were becoming increasingly feminine. Every frown and smile of theirs exuded a seductive charm, which was quite captivating. Moreover, both girls were Great Foundation Establishment Cultivators, giving their bodies great flexibility and enabling them to perform even more high-difficulty movements.
The taste of this could only be comprehended and not put into words.
"What an immortal's life!"
Xia Changsheng couldn't help sighing with emotion. By day, he enjoyed the service of his lovely wives and concubines, and by night, he bestowed blessings upon them.
When blessings were given too often, miracles were bound to happen.
Finally, Liu Qingyue fell pregnant.
As a Qi Condensation cultivator, it was naturally harder to conceive. Having been almost constantly attached to Xia Changsheng for the two-plus years since their marriage, today it had finally blossomed and borne fruit.Whenever she looked at the daughter Zhang Yuwei had given birth to, an unspeakable sense of loss would well up in her heart. She had longed to bear a child for the man she loved, and now, at last, that wish had finally come true.
Because of this, her mood these past few days had been exceptionally joyful.
As a result, even Xia Changsheng's usual quirky habits were met with cheerful compliance.
Just as everyone was enjoying this wonderful time, a maidservant hurried in to report that someone from the Han Estate had come looking for him.
"The Han Estate?"
Xia Changsheng frowned slightly. Ever since their parting at the Li Estate last time, he had not seen Han Li again. He wondered what business someone from the Han Estate could have with him now.
After inquiring about the visitor's appearance and learning that it was a young man rather than Han Li himself, he fell into deep thought.
"Go bring that person to the main hall, I will be there shortly."
After a moment of contemplation, Xia Changsheng decided to go and meet them.
With that, Xia Changsheng stood up and walked out. As he left the courtyard, he did not forget to plant a kiss on the cheek of each of the four women, earning a round of playful reproaches from them along the way.
As he walked, he ran through all the possible reasons for a visitor from the Han Estate in his mind, feeling that the matter was out of the ordinary.
After all, people do not visit without a reason.
Having endured for twenty years before finally activating his golden finger, his future was full of promise, and he had no desire to capsize in a gutter.
Caution and prudence above all else in everything.
Still, since the visitor was already here, there was no harm in seeing him.
Pushing aside his distracting thoughts, he stepped into the main hall. There, he saw a young man of about thirty years old pacing back and forth with an anxious expression, rubbing his hands together from time to time as if dealing with an urgent crisis.
"Are you the head of the Xia family?"
Seeing someone enter, the young man turned around immediately. He stared blankly at Xia Changsheng for a moment before seeming to recall something as he asked.
"What is your business with me?"
Xia Changsheng took his seat at the head of the hall and spoke indifferently.