Chapter 225: The Women’s Army
On the first day of the Lunar New Year in the 24th year of Yongxing, the Hua Family Courtyard was lively from early morning.
Upon hearing the commotion, Hua Changxi sealed the several furnaces of Third Rank Supreme-grade Pills she had refined, put away the Alchemy Furnace, and then dispelled the prohibition in her room.
Last night, after returning to her room, she had intended to cultivate, but as soon as she began, the Spiritual Energy in the Hua Family Courtyard was completely depleted by her.
Her current cultivation speed allowed her to absorb over four million Spiritual Energy Points in an hour. The Spiritual Energy in the Hua Family Courtyard was due to a Spirit Gathering Array being set up.
Hua Changxi did not understand formations and could only set up simple low-grade Spirit Gathering Arrays by imitation. The Spirit Stones required to maintain a low-grade Spirit Gathering Array were not many, and they could not withstand her cultivation.
After replenishing the Spirit Stones overnight, she could only take out the Alchemy Furnace to refine pills.
『Third-grade Alchemist（Supreme-grade Pill）: Refining 1508 furnaces 1508/10000』
Hua Changxi glanced at the refining data. To upgrade to a Fourth-grade Alchemist, she still needed to refine over eight thousand more furnaces of Third Rank pills.
“I’ll have to dedicate more time to refining pills from now on.”
The appearance of Xia Zhen and his group had indeed created a sense of urgency in Hua Changxi’s heart, especially facing Meng Qingyao, who had ignited the Second Street Pill Fire, which further sparked her competitive spirit.
Meng Qingyao possessed a Fire-Wood Spirit Body, making her a natural alchemist. Her talent in alchemy was certainly not as good as others, but she had the Shen Nong Cauldron as a cheat.
In terms of external hardware, Hua Changxi felt that she and Meng Qingyao were evenly matched.
It was precisely because they were evenly matched that she had the desire to compete.
In the past, when refining pills, she had no comparable benchmark. With Meng Qingyao’s arrival, she served as both a spur and a mirror for herself.
The Hua Family Courtyard became increasingly lively. Hua Changxi cast a Cleaning Spell, tidied her appearance, and then opened her room door. She then saw many Hua Clan Members gathered in the courtyard to pay New Year’s greetings.
“Jiu Niang, quickly come and pay your respects to the elders and brothers and sisters of the clan.”
Hua Changxi was pulled to the side by Hua Da Lang, and they received one family after another of Hua Clan Members paying New Year’s greetings.
All families within the Hua Clan who had produced cultivators came to Hua Bin’s family to pay New Year’s greetings today.
Fifteen years after transmigrating, this was the first time Hua Changxi had interacted with so many clan members, and her face was stiff from smiling.
She knew that as long as she had to interact with people, welcoming and seeing off would be unavoidable, but she truly had no interest in exchanging pleasantries with a group of people she didn’t know at all.
By noon, after eating lunch, Hua Changxi simply slipped away.
“Mother, I’m going out to pay New Year’s greetings.”
Watching Hua Changxi leave the courtyard in the blink of an eye, the Hua family members were somewhat helpless.
Old Master Hua frowned, “The Earl’s Mansion sent word that the Heir will also come over this afternoon.”
The Heir’s visit was undoubtedly directed at Jiu Niang, but Jiu Niang was now out. This made the Hua family members, who were receiving the Earl’s Heir for the first time, somewhat uneasy.
Hua Minghe said, “Since the Heir is coming to pay his respects, we just need to ensure our etiquette is correct.”
Old Master Hua sighed, “We can only do that.” After speaking, he looked at his many grandsons and granddaughters, feeling regret once again.
Why was the most promising descendant in the family not someone else, but the rebellious Jiu Niang!
After leaving the Hua family, Hua Changxi went directly to Xu’s Apothecary Shop.
She had been concerned about Xu Ling’s Bloodline Ancestral Return and now that Pharmacist Xu was working for her, she had to clarify Xu Ling’s situation.
“Uncle Xu.”
It was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there were not many people at Xu’s Apothecary Shop. Pharmacist Xu was leading the shop assistants in inventorying the Medicinal Herbs in the cabinets.
Pharmacist Xu’s face lit up when he saw Hua Changxi, “Jiu Niang, why have you come?”
Hua Changxi smiled, “I’ve come to pay my New Year’s respects.”
Pharmacist Xu put down his work and led Hua Changxi to the backyard.
After chatting about family matters for a while, Hua Changxi asked, “Uncle Xu, why don’t I see Ling Ling?”
Upon mentioning Xu Ling, Pharmacist Xu’s face showed a worried expression, “Ling Ling is on duty. It will be some days before it’s her turn to switch shifts and rest.”
Hua Changxi looked surprised, “Ling Ling is out working? Where is she on duty?”
Pharmacist Xu sighed, “Jiu Niang, you know the Demon Suppressing Army, right?”
Hua Changxi nodded.
Pharmacist Xu continued, “The Right General of the Demon Suppressing Army is the Emperor’s eldest son, His Highness Jun Ling. His Highness commands an army composed entirely of women, called the Women’s Army.”
“The person managing the Women’s Army is the second daughter of the Wu’an Marquis’s Mansion, Wu Liyun.”
“A while ago, Ling Ling encountered an out-of-control carriage on the street. To save a child, she struck the carriage, sending it flying. This scene was witnessed by the second daughter Wu, who discovered that Ling Ling was a Body Cultivator.”
At this point, Pharmacist Xu asked Hua Changxi again, “Jiu Niang, do you still remember Master Kong Hai, who cured Ling Ling’s somnolence?”
Hua Changxi nodded again, “Of course, I remember.”
Pharmacist Xu continued, “After Master Kong Hai cured Ling Ling’s somnolence, he also left her a Body Refining Technique. Ling Ling embarked on the path of cultivation using this Body Refining Technique.”
“The women’s army managed by the second daughter Wu consists entirely of cultivators. Seeing that Ling Ling had good skills, the second daughter Wu recruited her into the army.”
“I didn’t want Ling Ling to join the Demon Suppressing Army, but she insisted on going.”
“Ling Ling told me that cultivators need a large amount of Resources for cultivation, and she needs to earn Cultivation Resources. The Demon Suppressing Army is the best place for that.”
Hua Changxi had always worried that the monk Kong Hai, who had saved Xu Ling before, was from the Demon Race and that Xu Ling might be controlled. Now that she knew Xu Ling had joined the Demon Suppressing Army, she felt less worried.
The Demon Suppressing Army would surely conduct screenings when recruiting people. If Xu Ling had any abnormalities, the Demon Suppressing Army would likely discover them.
Hua Changxi did not inquire further. After chatting with Pharmacist Xu for a while longer, she left Xu’s Apothecary Shop, then went to Feng’an Ward’s Shennong Apothecary Shop to meet Pu Cao and A Niu. It wasn’t until dark that she returned to the Hua Family Courtyard.
“What, the Earl’s Mansion gifted our family a five-courtyard mansion?”
At the dinner table, Hua Changxi was informed by Hua Liulang about the Earl’s Heir gifting their family a residence.
Seeing Hua Changxi frown, Second Uncle Hua immediately explained, “The Heir said our courtyard is too small and that with so many people in the family, it’s not enough space, so we should get a bigger house. Then he gave us a property deed.”
Hua Liulang glanced at Hua Changxi’s expression, “The family didn’t want to accept it, but the Heir insisted on giving it, and we really couldn’t refuse.”
Hua Changxi glared at Hua Liulang, “Sixth Brother, why are you looking at me? The Heir gifting a residence and the family accepting it have nothing to do with me.” After saying that, she buried her head in her meal.
Seeing her reaction, the Hua family members had unpleasant expressions.
Old Master Hua was about to say something but was held back tightly by Old Madam Hua.
Old Madam Hua smiled, “Accepting the property deed was simply to avoid offending the Heir’s good intentions in front of the clan members. We definitely won’t move into that residence. After some time, your Grandfather will return the property deed.”
Hearing this, Hua Changxi finally looked up and asked Hua Liulang, “How was the output from the Fire Spirit Mine last year?”
Hua Liulang replied, “It was alright.”
Hua Changxi said, “Our family’s courtyard is indeed a bit small. Let’s allocate some Spirit Stones to buy a bigger residence.” She paused, “We can buy a residence ourselves, why take someone else’s.”
Hua Da Lang spoke up, “In the Capital City now, even with money, you can’t buy a suitable residence.”
Hua Changxi quickly looked over.
Hua Da Lang explained, “Most residences in the Capital City are controlled by Nobles and influential families. In the past, the circulation of vacant houses in the Capital City was relatively high, but with more and more people flooding into the Capital City, there are no longer enough houses to live in.”
“Nowadays, many places around the Capital City are constantly being built up.”
Hua Changxi fell silent after hearing this. She hadn’t really paid attention to this aspect.
Old Madam Hua said, “If we can’t buy a house, then we won’t. Our family has enough space. Alright, let’s not talk about this matter anymore, let’s eat.”
