February sky, the breeze caresses the willows.

Li Yuan leaned against an old tree, stretching his legs in the most comfortable posture.

The Snow Brew was burning fiercely, making him somewhat tipsy.

His thoughts drifted...

During these past weeks, he often pondered questions like "Was this choice correct?" or "Would it have been better if he had directly entered the Zhong Mansion?" After all, entering the Zhong Mansion might provide more information about the Ghost Realm.

But the Zhong Mansion was a completely unfamiliar place, a mysterious mansion filled with danger, where corpses and ghosts inexplicably cohabited. This alone was unbelievable enough.

The Zhong Mansion also had the Mansion Master and the Elder Council, indicating the existence of a hierarchy.

It was a whole new environment, potentially more dangerous than the Carpenter's Shop...

He wouldn't rashly dive into an unfamiliar environment, entangle himself in its complex relationships, and become someone's pawn, cannon fodder, or something else...

Unity and mutual help, those are just lies for children.

Those with more information will always have the upper hand over those with less.

He knew nothing, so it was better not to go.

At this moment...

Sunlight warmly shone on his body, accompanied by the wind, and the rustling of the forest cast playful, varied patterns like coin holes on his wine-stained white robe.

Li Yuan casually planted the fishing rod into the dirt, letting the line naturally fall into the water.

The spring waters were thawing, and fish occasionally leaped out of the lake, their tails splashing water as they hovered around his fishing line, but none would take the bait.

A few small birds chirped and hopped at the treetop, then landed harmoniously on the young man's shoulder.

He attempted to establish connections with more birds. In theory, having reached Sixth Grade Perfection, the number of birds he could control should have increased.

The Dragon Blade Spear remained hidden in his sleeve, and a fine steel long blade was stabbed into the ground nearby, used for scaling fish and cutting meat...

During this time, horses arrived from afar, with Blood Saber Sect disciples dismounting early, half-kneeling behind the white-robed youth, reporting all the happenings from various regions, including Hua Mo County and the Central Plains.

Upon finishing the report, the disciple respectfully saluted and departed on horseback...

Originally, the power center of Shanbao County was in the Inner City.

But now, above this power center, an extraordinary Ancestor named Li Yuan had emerged.

Da-da-da...

Horses came and went.

The sun rose and set.

On this day, at dawn, Li Yuan opened his eyes, reached out his hands with a sense of intuition, and two sparrows landed in his palms, their divine soul connections extending outward.

But that wasn't all, soon enough... two more divine soul connections linked with two sparrows in the tree.

"It's done."

"It's done!"

With a thought, Li Yuan had the four sparrows fly around him, then spiral outward.

Li Yuan closed his eyes, and all the surrounding scenery was transmitted to his mind through the four sparrows' vision.

Yet he could sense that despite the increase in mental power allowing more birds to be controlled—from three to seven, a considerable enhancement—perhaps due to skill limitations, he could still only command ordinary birds, not demon beasts...

This meant his observational range was limited to the vicinity, as ordinary birds couldn't fly far, especially sparrows.

After a moment, he called the sparrows back, and when the next Blood Saber Sect disciple came to report, he handed him a letter.

"After returning to the city, kindly deliver this to Baihua Manor."

"Yes, Ancestor! It's no trouble!"

...

The letter was written by Li Yuan.

He had pondered over it for a long time.

He wanted to visit his family but needed an excuse to do so.

Now that he had a reason, he wrote the letter.

The letter mentioned only one thing: to bring four black birds, and not to take a carriage.

The comprehensive strength of these black birds was "1~3", not as high as White Sparrow's "2~3" or Hai Dongqing's "3~4", but certainly better than ordinary birds' "0~1".

He intended to replace the four sparrows with black birds, allowing him to pinpoint and observe more places.

These special birds were naturally ones Li Yuan had collected earlier at Baihua Manor.

...

Baihua Manor.

Lady Yan received the letter and immediately burst into laughter.

The mistress asked her why she was laughing.

Lady Yan leaned into her ear and whispered, "Our husband finally couldn't hold out anymore."

The mistress also laughed, knowing well their man's vitality, as before having children, both she and Lady Yan together were needed to satisfy him. This time, due to that "Carpenter's Shop curse", he hadn't returned home, and even after tests confirmed safety, he still didn't let them visit. Now... he finally found an excuse.

"Are you going to feed him, or should I go?" The mistress, three years older than Lady Yan, now aged twenty-seven, was in a phase where her heart longed for springtime. But only one of them could go, as the other had to stay with the children. However, she wouldn't mention the "curse", treating the visit as a great pleasure.

Lady Yan replied, "I'll go tomorrow, and you the day after."

"This..."

"It's settled then." Lady Yan giggled.

"Then..." The mistress lowered her gaze slightly, suppressing a sigh, and with a smile added, "Our husband surely confirmed it's safe for us to visit, so Sister Yan, you go first."

...

The next day...

Lady Yan rode, followed by two Black Marquises, each bearing two birdcages on their backs, and further back were five escorting Blood Saber Sect disciples.

The disciples couldn't help but click their tongues in amazement at the two small mountainous creatures guarding the beautiful woman on each side, yet they also felt very secure.

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