The disciples of Tianxiang Order retracted under her orders, leaving behind Shen Lian, Zhao Xiaoyu, Ruoxi and the Chief of Tianxiang Order, who was also the female divine fox which Shen Lian knew many years ago, named Xin Shisiniang.

　　She looked at Zhao Xiaoyu, and Zhao Xiaoyu squinted, “Looks like I should not eavesdrop here as well.”

　　She led little Ruoxi out of the place and vanished far away.

　　Shen Lian said, “If she wanted to hear, we can’t hide it either.”

　　“Is she your Daoist partner?” Xin Shisiniang smiled.

　　“No.”

　　“What a shame. She is quite a match for you,” Xin Shisiniang carried on.

　　Shen Lian said, “Miss Xin, I don’t think you were planning to tell me this right. What really happened to the painting?”

　　“Father actually regretted not passing on the painting to you. Eventually, it got mugged away. Actually, this painting could be the prototype of a world,” Xin Shisiniang whispered, but her words were shocking.

　　“What does a prototype of a world mean?” Shen Lian seemed slightly shocked. He thought of a point, but it seemed hard to believe.

　　“That painting was the work of an almighty who refined an unformed world into a painting scroll. However, this almighty did not proceed with the next step of refinement. So the painted scroll still looked blur and unopened. It still hasn’t formed the mountains, streams, and rivers. That was why we saw that the painting as pure white,” Xin Shisiniang exhaled.

　　“Did your father know about this back then?”

　　“No, he did not know. We only knew that that painting brought catastrophe upon us. If we had passed it to you to bring back to Qing Xuan, that catastrophe would not have fallen upon us,” Xin Shisiniang sounded rather sad.

　　Shen Lian did not know what to say. Old Divine Fox could be mysterious, but he was quite a gentleman and knowledgeable. He handled things like a scholar. Even though he was in the demon clan. Shen Lian was rather fond of this Old Divine Fox.

　　He lost his life for a piece of painting, this totally portrayed the meaning of ‘an innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth’.

　　He did not know how to console Xin Shisiniang.

　　Xin Shisiniang continued, “That person was just trying to grab the painting, but he hurt my father along the way. Due to his brute strength, my father and I had no capability to fight back. Father had not totally lost the possibility to survive, but he decided to transfer all his life force to me, and finally, his spirit dissipated into thin air”.

　　Shen Lian thought that even though Old Divine Fox was not at the level of an earthly immortal, he should be of the same level as himself. Yet he had no chance of fighting back the painting robber. Who exactly was that man? He also understood why Xin Shisiniang’s mana had improved so much in only twenty years. It was the Old Divine Fox who loved his daughter so much, that he had his final works of cultivation transferred to Xin Shisiniang. At the same time, he would never recover and even lost the opportunity to reincarnate.

　　Shen Lian lowered his voice, “Who is this painting robber?”

　　Xin Shisiniang replied, “I remember his face. He had two horns on his head, huge body builds covered in black cow’s fur. He had cow’s hoof and eyes, so he could a demon king in the form of a cow. After I took over this Tianxiang Order, I went around searching the origins of this demon king, but as if he disappeared into thin air.”

　　She could never forget the face of this remarkable demon king. Any launch of attack would shatter the earth and heavens, so scary that she had woken up from this nightmare.

　　Shen Lian noticed her fear, and sighed, “Your father had passed on his entire life’s worth of cultivation to you. So you have to keep on living for him.”

　　Xin Shisiniang knew that Shen Lian was consoling her. After all, the demon king was almost invincible. She could never match up against him.

　　“I know this very well. But if you managed to attain Dao in the future, you can search for this painting. An unformed world is very helpful to immortal Zhenrens in understanding the theories of the formation of the heavens and earth. It could possibly make you the top of the strongest ones in this world,” Xin Shisiniang said.

　　“If that’s the case, I’m afraid that the demon king who snatched the painting had this figured out,” Shen Lian said lightly.

　　“You can understand this painting better than that demon king. No one else can possibly crack the divine restriction of Daoist Master Taiyi on it,” Xin Shisiniang looked Shen Lian deep in the eyes. The destined owner of Daoist Master’s painting would have been decided when it was left behind. As the inheritor of Qing Xuan, Shen Lian could be this destined owner.

　　All this was not baseless guessing. With the speedy development in Shen Lian’s cultivation, and him being the youngest leader of the Daoist sect, one would not believe that he had no Qi fortune on him.

　　Every generation would give birth to a main character, a genius who would ride on top of the world. The previous generation’s protagonist was Lu Jiuyuan, so maybe this generation’s would be Shen Lian.

　　Lu Jiuyuan had been sitting on the throne of top position for a very long time, but he might not stay there for eternity.

　　Shen Lian answered, “No one will know what lies in the future. I will recite the Divine Fox Notes word by word to you, hopefully, you can become the world’s top divine fox.”

　　Xin Shisiniang bowed at him. The importance of this Divine Fox Notes far exceeded ten Tianxiang Orders.

　　It was also rare that Shen Lian did not make any unreasonable demands in return.

　　Father was totally right when he said that Shen Lian is a gentleman.

　　________________________

　　Zhao Xiaoyu’s white robe was waving as she walked side by side with Shen Lian, holding Ruoxi in her hand. They left just like how they came, but Shen Lian was almost silent along the journey.

　　She smiled widely, “Are you still missing that lady, Xin Shisiniang? If you fancy her, you should bring her back to the mountains. She could make a good servant.”

　　Shen Lian said, “You are right. I had a demon servant boy, Tongzi, if added with this demon servant girl, it would make a Yin and a Yang, the perfect balance.”

　　“But if you bring her back, I’m afraid the old man in Qing Xuan will hit you bad,” Zhao Xiaoyu said casually.

　　Ruoxi asked, “Why is that? The sister is so pretty, she should be loved by everyone.”

　　Zhao Xiaoyu lightly knocked on Zhao Xiaoyu’s forehead and chuckled, “That Xin Shisiniang has obtained the Divine Fox Notes from your uncle, and so she will be heading to evolve into a Divine Fox. Divine foxes can bring fortune, but they can also invite catastrophes. Her path will not be smooth sailing for sure. Beauty is a source of trouble, but still not comparable to the troubles a divine fox can bring upon the world. There was a celestial temple in the past that got exterminated because of a divine fox. A king was forced to burn himself to death.”

　　“Fortunes and troubles are always interrelated. It should be blamed on one person only. Since you have taken over Tianxiang Order, why didn’t you stay to manage the administration here?” Shen Lian finally spoke up.

　　“If I need to do everything myself, what use are my underlings for? Do you really think that all my subordinates are useless?” Zhao Xiaoyu teased.

　　“You are actually right. Looks like I should recruit some more talents for myself,” Shen Lian replied.

　　“My dear Chief Shen, how about me? If you let me live in your Taiwei Pavilion for half a year, you can make me do whatever you want.” Zhao Xiaoyu looked up on him with her charming eyes.

　　Shen Lian coughed, “I don’t think Qing Xuan has the capacity for a grand immortal like you. Let us split up here. I need to bring Ruoxi back to the mountain.”