“Uh…”

When Jining saw Yiji arrive and heard that his master wanted to see him, he was a little nervous at first. But when he heard the last sentence, he was speechless.

What a lack of manners!

Am I not polite?

“Of course.”

Jining only complained in his heart, but still agreed with a respectful face.

He exchanged a few words with the middle-aged man and the young girl next to him, then followed Yiji to the private room at the head of the main hall.

On the other side, Shaoyan Xiushui saw this scene, and her expression immediately darkened. The hand holding the folding fan involuntarily exerted more force, and the veins on her hand faintly bulged.

How could Jining, with no outstanding qualities, attract the attention of such a big shot?

At the head of the main hall.

“Master, Jining has arrived!”

“Come in.”

Jining took a deep breath and walked into the private room.

The private room was decorated luxuriously, with rich and artistic ink paintings hanging on the walls. There were many fresh fruits and fine wines on the long table. A young man was sitting on the chair in front of the table, looking about twenty years old, and a fairy-like beauty was sitting on his lap.

Jining paused for a moment, then lowered his gaze.

“I am Jining, I have met the young master.”

“Please, take a seat.”

Xu Zong waved his hand, and another chair appeared opposite the table.

At the same time, he patted the fairy on his lap and nodded towards the door. The fairy understood his gesture, got up, and walked towards the door, with a graceful and elegant demeanor.

Upon hearing this, Jining sat down opposite Xu Zong as instructed.

“I prefer not to use my real name when I’m out and about. You can call me Zuzong Immortal.”

“Zu…!”

Jining’s eyes twitched.

The first words spoken by this young man made him feel uneasy.

For a moment, he hesitated. The previous reckless behavior of Shaoyan Nong had caused him a lot of trouble. He didn’t know what kind of personality this self-proclaimed Zuzong Immortal had. If he was a capricious master, then he would probably be in big trouble.

“Haha, or you can call me Xu Zong.”

Seeing Jining’s troubled expression, Xu Zong laughed and finally let him off the hook.

“Master Xu.”

Jining breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully said, “Thank you for your understanding.”

During these days, even many immortals had tried their best to please Xu Zong. Jining himself was only at the Realm level, and his second primordial spirit was just a primordial spirit cultivator. Despite this, he remained neither humble nor arrogant. Jining may not have arrogance, but he had a strong backbone.

A born sword immortal would not bend easily.

“I know about the situation between you and Shaoyan Clan.”

Xu Zong lay back in his chair, picked up a jug of immortal wine, and swallowed it without caring about his image.

“I can be your backer and help you resist the pressure from Shaoyan Clan, so that they won’t dare to use official means to deal with you.”

“What do I need to do in return?”

Jining was quite pleased to hear this, but his rational mind told him that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, so he asked in a serious tone.

“Of course, there are conditions, but I haven’t figured them out yet. Consider it as you owing me a favor, and I’ll ask you to repay it in the future.”

Xu Zong said with a smile.

Seeing Jining still hesitating, he added, “Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. If you really don’t want to do it, you can refuse.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Master Xu.”

Jining’s eyes lit up, but then he became puzzled.

“However, I wonder why Master Xu wants to help me? Going against Shaoyan Clan seems like a thankless task, doesn’t it?”

A thankless task?

Xu Zong’s mouth twitched, almost laughing out loud.

The World Monument in Shaoyan Clan’s hands was something he was determined to obtain, so he would definitely confront Shaoyan Clan, whether sooner or later, it was all the same to him.

“I’m happy.”

Xu Zong grinned.

Jining was stunned.

“A priceless joy.”

Xu Zong paused, then laughed again.

“Besides, Shaoyan Clan is not enough to make me feel troubled.”

Jining was slightly taken aback, then nodded with a wry smile.

In other words, this young master did have an extraordinary background. Shaoyan Clan was a big trouble for him, but for someone like Xu Zong, it was just a pastime.

“I understand. In that case, I will swear by the laws of heaven—”

Jining nodded solemnly, ready to make a solemn oath.

“No need.”

Xu Zong suddenly threw a jade bottle at him.

Jining instinctively caught the jade bottle, and as it swayed, a refreshing fragrance wafted out of the bottle and into his nose, instantly clearing his mind.

“What is this, Master?”

“I said, there’s no need for a solemn oath.”

Xu Zong waved his hand, smiling lightly.”Your favor to me is actually not a big deal. If you want to repay me, wait until you become a Sovereign or a Supreme.”

Ji Ning was immediately stunned. Sovereign? Supreme?

What level of existence was that? It seemed that there was no such realm in the Three Realms. Could it be referring to the position of a ruler of a great world, like a Heavenly Emperor Supreme?

“That bottle of wine is for you, go ahead.”

Xu Zong pointed towards the private room’s door.

“Then, thank you very much, Young Master Xu.”

Ji Ning had no choice but to put the immortal brew into his storage Dharma Door, then bowed to Xu Zong and turned to leave the private room.

Ji Ning was also a person with the bearing of a sword immortal. Although Young Master Xu did not make him swear an oath by the Heavenly Dao, he still took this favor to heart, thinking that if there was a chance in the future, he must repay Young Master Xu.

If there was no opportunity, then that was another matter.

After Ji Ning left, Fairy Baiyun opened the door and walked in.

“Spread the word that I hit it off with Ji Ning at first sight. If anyone dares to cross Ji Ning, they are crossing me, the ancestor immortal.”

“…Yes, Young Master.”

Fairy Baiyun was also stunned for a while upon hearing this strange title before she respectfully departed.

Xu Zong stayed in the private room, leisurely drinking the wine that had the effect of concentrating the spirit, which was also a good thing for immortals. It was something he wouldn’t spend a lot of money on, but for him, it was just for the taste.

“Heh, I’ve taken advantage of Ji Ning.”

Xu Zong was extremely pleased in his heart.

Ji Ning would probably notice it soon, but there was nothing he could do about it, haha!

Meanwhile, Ji Ning had just returned to the White Water Marsh and the company of the Sky Green Snake when he received a message that Princess Xi Yue of the Yan King’s Mansion wanted to see him.

Ji Ning thought that although he had Young Master Xu’s help, Princess Xi Yue was no ordinary person and should not be neglected. So he went to the Yan King’s Mansion again. This visit was quite a shock; it turned out that Princess Xi Yue was actually his uncle’s biological daughter, his own cousin. She firmly stated that she would take care of Ji Ning and even assigned him a squad of Golden Armor Guards, which only members of the Xia Mang clan were qualified to command, for his protection at all times, each one a Yuan Shen Daoist.

Ji Ning suddenly came to his senses. So, even without Young Master Xu’s promise, relying on his cousin’s status in the royal capital, the Shao Yan clan wouldn’t dare to use any overt methods against him?

Had he given away his favor for nothing?

Ji Ning had a strange expression on his face. This was quite a loss!

On the other side, under the operation of Tianbao Mountain, Xu Zong’s words quickly spread throughout the Great Xia royal capital.

“Ancestor Immortal… isn’t that title a bit too provocative?”

“Who cares when someone has status and background? Five Return to Void demon gods as bodyguards, that’s not something ordinary people have. Even the son of a Heavenly Immortal from the Shao Yan clan doesn’t have such resources, right?”

“By the way, is that young master an immortal? He looks to me like he’s only at the Myriad Phenomena Realm.”

“Who cares? With such powerful bodyguards, his own cultivation level doesn’t make much of a difference!”

“Ji Ning is really lucky. He just arrived in the royal capital and has already ingratiated himself with such a person. I heard he’s also caught the eye of Princess Xi Yue?”

“Now, even the Shao Yan clan has to weigh whether they can withstand the wrath of both parties.”

After arriving in the royal capital, Ji Ning stayed at the Yan King’s Mansion.

Xu Zong still lived in Tianbao Mountain, and his second spirit, along with Teng Qingshan and a few others, continued to cultivate in the Bright Moon Mountain and River Diagram maintained by the Sky Fox.

The second spirit was purely Qi Refining and could not cultivate the Red Bright Nine Heavens Diagram or the Divine Demon Body Refining Dharma Door, so he focused on comprehending the Dao while also cultivating mental strength.

Under the 36-fold time acceleration, half a year passed, which was nearly 20 years inside.

Over the 20 years, Xu Zong made great progress in his comprehension of the Dao. Not only did he fully understand the five minor elemental Dao paths, but he also successfully comprehended the domain realm of the Time Dao and made significant progress on the Space-Time Dao.

Moreover, as time went on, his mental strength also successfully broke through to the second layer, reaching the “Ice Heart” realm, and he comprehended the Dharma Doors of integrating mental strength with spear techniques and with the soul.

“Cultivating without bottlenecks is just so satisfying! As long as I cultivate in seclusion, there are no difficulties!”

Xu Zong was extremely content.

There were still two years until the Immortal Fate Gathering, which translated to 70 years in the Bright Moon Mountain and River Diagram. Within these 70 years, his strength would definitely improve tremendously!

In the chat group.

Battle Through the Heavens Xu Zong: “I need a One Qi Elemental Water Bead @Desolate Era Xu Zong.”

Desolate Era Xu Zong: “Is your soul up to standard?”

Battle Through the Heavens Xu Zong: “Originally it wasn’t, my soul is still at the Spirit Realm, but my mental strength has recently grown and can extend tens of thousands of miles.”

Desolate Era Xu Zong: “OK, sending it over now.”

Battle Through the Heavens Xu Zong: “I need a few more Seven Illusion Green Spirit Salivas @Dragon Ball Xu Zong, and also, I need to borrow some points @Swallowed Star Xu Zong.”

Dragon Ball Xu Zong: “OK.jpg”

Swallowed Star Xu Zong: “My points have already dropped to just over 60,000, just so you know.”