For instance, this guard of the netherworld had the supernatural power to turn his body into a pool of shadow which allowed him to sneak into anywhere without being found easily.

　　It was also hard to injure a shadow, and hence this guard from the netherworld was hardly harmed.

　　“Following the order of the emperor, I’m inviting you to the palace,” the guard of the netherworld spoke each of the words slowly with no emotions in his eyes, as cold as a stone.

　　Lei Nuo asked, “What’s the matter?”

　　“You will know by then.” The guard of the netherworld replied with a poker face.

　　Lei Nuo’s eyes looked cold. He stared at the guard of the netherworld and asked, “What if I don’t go?”

　　“It’s hard to say because the emperor wants to see you alive, and without any damage.” The guard of the netherworld was extremely patient as he spoke slowly.

　　Lei Nuo sneered, “Perhaps it’s not possible if it’s just you.”

　　The guard of the netherworld replied in an emotionless tone, “Of course it’s not possible if it’s just me.”

　　Lei Nuo soon realized something was wrong as there was a sweet smell in the room. He looked up and saw a small snake which was about seven feet long at the beam. It was hissing, and the smell that came out of its mouth was not of rotten stink but fragrance.

　　Lei Nuo was stunned. The small snake was red all over, with tightly packed scales which were made up of black-red spots. Its eyes were green, like the ember which would never be extinguished.

　　This was a drunken dragon, a type of mysterious snake that had the bloodline of a dragon. It had a special power whereby it could secrete something akin to that of dragon’s saliva and released it through its tongue. The saliva’s fragrance was considered a strong anesthetic. There was once a drunken dragon which caused a celestial of Taiyi state to be drunk for a thousand years.

　　Soon Lei Nuo began to feel numb in his limbs. They were not under his control anymore. The guard of the netherworld came prepared, whether it was intentional or not. Lei Nuo despite being the Prefect Grand Usher who possessed great skills, he too could not resist the attack this time.

　　The fact that Emperor Xia made use of the drunken dragon, this suggested that he had something important to speak to Lei Nuo about. As Lei Nuo had followed Emperor Xia for many years and along with his intelligence network, he could already guess that Emperor Xia’s motive was to ask him to stay put in the palace for the baby.

　　Even if he could keep the matter away from his wife’s and daughter’s acknowledgments, it was a tough challenge to keep it from Emperor Xia.

　　Furthermore, Emperor Xia had previously expressed his love towards the hierophant. It seemed that he was interested in men giving birth. As Lei Nuo was in such an awkward situation, it was possible that Emperor Xia was extremely interested in men giving birth.

　　He was a king who was not restrained by traditions and he would do whatever that he could think of. As such, Lei Nuo had no doubt that Emperor Xia had interest in this topic.

　　As his limbs went numb and his eyelids got heavier, he lost the ability to resist.

　　Lei Nuo could hear the hissing sound of the snake and the red drunken dragon was currently winding itself on a finger that was as clear as jade. It belonged to a young Daoist who was bathing under the glitter of the stars It was the national advisor of Xia Kingdom, Shen Lian.

　　The guard of the netherworld had become an ice sculpture in the reading room.

　　The red snake which looked like the drunken dragon kept hissing and secreting the saliva of fragrance, but it just could not escape within three inches from Shen Lian’s finger. The secretion was too frozen into ice, floating in mid-air.

　　“National advisor.” Lei Nuo was shocked and terrified.

　　Shen Lian smiled, “Why, am I not welcomed?”

　　“I don’t dare to.” Lei Nuo slowly felt that he had regained control of his body but he was even weaker compared to before in terms of resisting against the force.

　　Shen Lian spoke leisurely, “I’m here to fulfill my promise. I will extract the item from your body.”

　　Lei Nuo spoke hatefully, “You calculated this. The water you gave me could make someone pregnant. That was why my Qi energy all gathered in my abdomen.”

　　Shen Lian smiled, “Isn’t it an interesting experience? A commoner can improve the body state after giving birth through confinement. This is your chance.”

　　After he finished, he stepped forward and his hand went through Lei Nuo’s abdomen. Lei Nuo felt a streak of cold air gusted through and that he was missing something. It was the blood and flesh essence in his body. It was taken away by Shen Lian.

　　He then heard Shen Lian saying, “Don’t forget to avoid wind and water for the next month. Eat well.”

　　His tone was sarcastic. It embarrassed and angered Lei Nuo but he dared not to follow him out from the door.

　　The blood and flesh essence in Shen Lian’s hand was frozen in Ice Light. He could feel the strong vitality of the blood and flesh essence deeply and it was actually formed by an extremely condensed blood of Xia Clan. It contained the secret of the Xia Clan’s bloodline.

　　Only through the oddity of the water from Zimu River, the blood in Lei Nuo’s body could be condensed forming the blood and flesh essence.

　　Shen Lian felt an odd vitality from it, which was that if the blood and flesh essence was divided into countless portions, countless lives could be born out of it.

　　It was another form of immortality, where one could replicate indefinitely, as it absorbed the Qi of vitality from the universe and grew infinitely.

　　It was said that when a body had reached its highest state, there was a characteristic where it could be reborn from a drip of blood. It meant that even if one was killed, as long as there was a drip of blood remained, it could absorb Qi of vitality from the heaven and earth and regain life from the message imprinted in the body and soul.

　　It seemed that this blood and flesh essence carried that characteristic.

　　Given Lei Nuo who was a relative of Xia Clan and the Youhu’s, the blood and flesh essence extracted from him could help Shen Lian in understanding the secret of the bloodline of Xia Clan and hence understanding the cultivation route for the Xia Clan.

　　What Shen Lian said to Lei Nuo was not a lie. It was an opportunity for Lei Nuo as he had been stagnant for a long time. If he could make use of this opportunity, it was possible for him to achieve greater height.

　　If Lei Nuo did not make use of this opportunity, he had only himself to blame.

　　…

　　Lei Jing naturally did not know the entanglement between her father and her teacher. She slowly mastered the supernatural power of summoning the wind and rain. When she broke out of the state, she realized her teacher had disappeared.

　　As she lost her state of mind, she was no longer on the roof.

　　She sat on her bed and listened to the chirping of the Kalavinka from Xirong. She was confused as she was not sure whether the teacher that she saw belonged in the dream.

　　Subsequently, she thought of something. The powerful mana in her body which was formed after cultivating the summoning of wind and rain went through various orifices points and gathered in her palm as though they have heard some summons. Two spirals in opposite directions were formed.

　　The Qi of vitality from the outside world flowed into her room. Before the guards outside could react to it, Lei Jing’s eyes were full of joy, and she cast the spiral streams outwards.

　　Eventually, there were dark clouds on top of the courtyard and the wind began to blow strongly. All of a sudden the wind and rain blew off like swords and countless flowers flew in the wind.

　　Shen Lian’s body had already reached the residence of the Prefect Grand Usher, next to the beaten plane tree.