Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 803 - 662: Better to Have a Big Litter (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Chapter 803: Chapter 662: Better to Have a Big Litter (Requesting Monthly Votes)

"A doggone thing?" Li Xuan felt puzzled, gave Tingtian Ao a careful look, and then his face showed shock, "Tingtian, are you thinking of jumping ship?"

He found that Tingtian Ao no longer bore the divine seal of Duchenghuang of Nanjing.

Tingtian Ao, looking dejected, lamented, "Jumping ship? I was kicked out. The master doesn’t want me anymore."

"Could such a thing have happened?" Li Xuan couldn’t help but knit his brow, thinking that the Duchenghuang was being quite unkind.

Granted, Tingtian Ao did nothing but eat and was as timid as a mouse, but during the chaos of Nanjing, it had still exerted a lot of effort; if there was no merit, there was still hard work.

"It brought this upon itself." Su Zhaojun behind them couldn’t help but chuckle, "This fellow fell for a bitch with the Diting bloodline earlier this year and then fathered a litter of pups, over a dozen, all brought back to the Underground of Nanjing.

It’s said that the Duchenghuang was nearly driven mad, causing the ground of Nanjing City to tremble three times. The Duchenghuang finally took in its paramour and the pups but kicked out this fellow."

Li Xuan pondered for a moment and then sighed, "Duchenghuang must be tired."

You should know that raising such Divine Beast offspring could be quite costly; just his ’Divine Blood Azure Phoenix,’ Niulang, had cost him over half a million silver taels.

The descendants of Divine Beasts are delicate by nature, requiring vast amounts of rare and valuable resources to grow quickly and be of use.

The offspring of Tingtian Ao likely possess quite a pure bloodline, and although the Divine Beasts of the ’Diting’ lineage have long lifespans and strong ’Diting’ Divine Skills, their growth rate is rather touching, so slow that no spell cultivator in this world would wish to rear them.

Their combat capabilities are also quite worrisome, unlike the ’Divine Blood Azure Phoenix’ and ’Huoyun Phoenix,’ which can fend for themselves.

Li Xuan looked strangely at Tingtian Ao, "You sure can produce, such a big litter in one go."

Tingtian Ao couldn’t help but wag its tail, eyes gleaming with pride, "Our Diting lineage hasn’t seen any offspring for a long time. In the last hundred years, only I have fathered such a litter, and it was a hit, thirteen pups in total. Of the over a hundred males in our clan, I am the most useful. Even my old mother sent me a talismanic letter praising me, telling me to keep up the good work."

Li Xuan initially wanted to agree to take in the fellow, but upon hearing the phrase ’keep up the good work,’ he stiffened and awkwardly laughed without any sincerity, "Brother Tingtian, it’s rare for you to come to Beijing. You can stay a while longer here, play around more, see more; the sights of Capital City are quite different from those in Nanjing."

He thought to himself that he was already a pauper and could not afford to get any poorer.

Li Xuan then respectfully welcomed Mrs. Liu into the mansion and ordered Li Sihai to arrange accommodation for Mrs. Liu and Su Zhaojun.

However, as soon as the group settled down in the grand hall of the prince’s mansion, Mrs. Liu grabbed Li Xuan’s hand.

"Xuan, your mother came to Beijing this time actually for your lifelong matters. Xuan, you are not getting any younger; when do you plan to get married and give me some grandchildren?"

After hearing this, Li Xuan was stunned, thinking, wasn’t this the treatment his elder brother used to receive? How had it become his turn?

He nonchalantly said, "Old mother, I’m still young, just over twenty."

The modern legal marriage age is certainly not before twenty-two.

He wasn’t exactly resistant to marriage, but it would definitely be a disaster—a definite disaster!

Mrs. Liu suddenly slammed the table, her expression stern, "At your age, other people’s kids are already running around! Your brother got married the year he turned eighteen.

Is this even a matter of age? You are already at ’The Fourth Gate’ in Martial Law; if you don’t have children now, it’s over. Your father says you’ll definitely reach the heavenly level someday, but how many can father children after reaching the heavenly tier? Look at the former emperor; he tried every way, but couldn’t produce a single child!"

"There’s no need to rush," Li Xuan remained calm and poised, "From the tenth house level to the heavenly tier, it will probably take me several years. It’s not so easy to break through, and besides, my situation is different from the former emperor’s."

In reality, reaching the heavenly tier was as easy for him as retrieving something from his pocket, and the few subsequent levels were just a matter of gradual accumulation, but this truth definitely couldn’t be told to Mrs. Liu.

Li Xuan thought, it’s not like he had practiced the ’Suo Yuan Secret Method’ like Emperor Jingtai, effectively self-castrating.

And there were those at the heavenly level who could have children. Take Emperor Tai of Jin, for instance, who fathered twenty-six sons.

"Besides, isn’t my sister-in-law pregnant? The Li family lineage is not in jeopardy, so why are you so anxious, mother?"

Mrs. Liu’s face turned even more livid, "What are you talking about? More children are always better. Earl Chengyi’s mansion now has successors, but what about your Duke Fenguo, your Earl Jingan title? Your hard-earned merits and two titles, Li Xuan, to whom will you pass them on?"

When Li Xuan cracked the case against Prince Xiang, the Emperor had decreed to bestow upon Li Xuan’s son the title ’Earl Jingan’.

This meant his lineage could inherit two titles.

As for the title of County Prince Fenyang, it was a hereditary title that decreased in rank. If Li Xuan were no longer alive, his descendants would inherit the title ’Duke Fenguo’.

Li Xuan thought for a moment, "Actually, returning the title to The Court isn’t such a bad idea."

Ensuring that his own ship doesn’t capsize is currently the most urgent matter.

As for children, let fate decide—

Li Xuan, coming from the modern era, had no strong obsession with fathering heirs.

Mrs. Liu was so angry that she fell backward, "You scoundrel!"

She saw the horsewhip hanging by Dugu Biluo’s waist, immediately grabbed it, and began to whip Li Xuan, chasing him around in chaos.

However, she soon realized that her own child had grown resistant. Li Xuan even managed to dodge without much sincerity, occasionally getting hit without showing any sign of pain or leaving even a white mark.

Instead, it was her own hand that was hurt by the reactive force of Li Xuan’s Golden Body.

So Mrs. Liu chased him for a while and then gave up; she huffed and puffed, thinking that this matter still had to be resolved by herself.

At this moment, Mrs. Liu also saw at the door Tingtian Ao, who was watching Li Xuan’s mishaps with schadenfreude. She thought to herself if only Xuan, that fellow, could produce offspring like General Tingtian, preferably a whole litter.

※※※※

After settling down, Mrs. Liu took the side door in the courtyard wall first to the neighboring Taoist temple.

She had already heard from Li Sihai that Master Zhang Shenye had been residing at this Taoist temple for the past few days.

On the day the Emperor passed, Master Zhang was in Capital City. As the Heavenly Master officially ordained by The Court, he had to stay behind to oversee the funeral rites of the former Emperor.

Madam Xue, the sister of Master Zhang Shenye, was also residing nearby recently.

Her timing was perfect; Master Zhang had just finished the day’s ritual and had returned to the Taoist temple to rest.

"It’s embarrassing to say, but, Heavenly Master and Madam Xue, I came here to ask for a divination for my family’s Xuan, to calculate his future destiny," Mrs. Liu said with a face full of worry.

"I am worried about whether Xuan will have offspring in the future, and specifically when?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Xue asked, perplexed, "Lady Li, the County Prince of Fenyang is still young, isn’t he? He has not even married yet; is it not putting the cart before the horse to ask about his offspring now?"

Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t marriage be inquired about first?

Mrs. Liu, with a pained expression, responded: "His marriage troubles me, but the matter of offspring troubles me even more. Heavenly Master, I heard that once you cultivators reach the heavenly level, it becomes very difficult to have children. Is this true?"

Master Zhang Shenye nodded slightly: "For cultivators at the heavenly level to have children, it is indeed much more difficult than for regular people."

As cultivators ’refine essence into Qi, Qi into spirit, spirit back into emptiness, and from emptiness to the Tao,’ all essence transforms into Qi and spirit, merging into the Tao; where would there be any surplus essence to produce children?

Moreover, the very nature of a cultivator’s life at the heavenly level is different from that of ordinary people; therefore, cultivating offspring also becomes even more challenging.

The same principle applies to why divine beasts are rare in this world.

In conclusion, the more powerful an individual, the more difficult it is to have descendants—unless they are like Emperor Tai of Jin, who utilized dragon qi alongside secret techniques.

At this point, Madam Xue seemed to have thought of something. Her face stiffened slightly, and her expression gradually became solemn.

Mrs. Liu continued with a worried look: "That’s just it. Someone told me that Li Xuan will reach the heavenly level in a few years. Unfortunately, the girls around him now, each one is a peerless genial, a dragon and phoenix among people. For them, reaching the heavenly level is also within easy reach. A few more years, and I’m afraid Li Xuan might have no descendants."

By then, even Master Zhang Shenye sensed something amiss; he and Madam Xue looked at each other across the room, each seeing the gravitas of the situation in the other’s eyes.

Not only Li Xuan, but their own Yunrou, was also about to enter the heavenly level.

Half an hour later, after Mrs. Liu left with a satisfactory divination, Master Zhang became deeply furrowed in thought.

"Why are you still worried, brother?" inquired Madam Xue, puzzled. "Didn’t you conclude that the County Prince of Fenyang has no worries about his offspring?"

Master Zhang shook his head: "The County Prince now has dragon qi within him, and he’s involved in the rise and fall of the world. His fate is already obscured, beyond clear vision. I can only guess based on the divination that he should have no worries about having no descendants. Moreover—"

Master Zhang paused, hesitating with a difficult expression: "After all, the one without worries of descendants is still from the old Li family."

Upon hearing this, the Xue immediately understood the crux of the matter; having no worries about descendants concerned the old Li family, what did that have to do with Master Zhang Shenye?

Her complexion tautened slightly again, her thoughts turning to Xue Yunrou, realizing she indeed needed to urge her on. The vast estate of the Tianshi’s mansion should not just be handed over to others.

Master Zhang then looked at the divination stick in his hand, feeling increasingly perplexed.

The divination was ’Kun Hexagram Line Six Five’, and the interpretation was: ’Yellow robe, most auspicious, greatness lies in the midst.’

This was undoubtedly a very auspicious divination, but from the interpretation, it seemed that Li Xuan already had a child outside, one of high status, even unspeakably noble!

Master Zhang shook his head, overwhelmed with confusion.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Liu, who had returned to the County Prince’s Mansion of Fenyang, was waiting for Luo Yan and Yue Qianqian to return from the Liudao Division.