Seeing Little Pouch rushing anxiously to collect Zhu Hui's body, Luo Xiu felt rather helpless for a moment.

This River Demon Pagoda is good for nothing but eating; it sure tops the list in that. It always hides until the end of a fight, but when it's time to collect the spoils of war, no one is more eager than it.

"Little Pouch."

"Ah, Big Brother, what's up?"

Luo Xiu said, "There are still many demon beast corpses on the battlefield. Collect them all."

No sooner had his words fallen than Little Pouch turned into a streak of golden light and shot onto the battlefield.

Luo Xiu suddenly felt his words had been unnecessary.

However, it didn't take long for Little Pouch to be punished. Dou Dou leaped up and grabbed it.

"You stinky tower! Dou Dou won't let you sneak ahead to find treasures!"

"Hmph! What are you so arrogant about? Big Brother personally told me to come!"

"Even Chen Shuisheng has to listen to my orders! I'm the Adventure Team Leader. Are you trying to rebel, you stinky tower?"

"Sister Dou, I was wrong! Please stop hitting me!"

...

Watching Dou Dou and Little Pouch bickering, Luo Xiu smiled and asked Luo Ying, who was beside him, "How did you all get here?"

Actually, Luo Xiu already knew without asking. Kuang Pi must have been the one who told Luo Ying.

Luo Ying pouted, giving Luo Xiu a reproachful look. "Young Master, you mustn't do this again!"

"When you participated in that... that World Martial Festival, Ying'er wasn't by your side, and it was already so... Anyway, no matter where you go from now on, Ying'er is going with you!

"Even if it means dying, Ying'er will die before you do!"

Luo Xiu gazed at her gently, at a loss for words for a moment.

And faced with a woman willing to risk her life to protect him, he really had nothing to say.

At that moment, Yue Yong approached with a group of Fox Clan warriors, who all knelt in unison.

Luo Xiu was perplexed. "What is all this about?"

Yue Yong looked up at him and announced in a booming voice, "Yue Yong, a seventh-generation warrior of the Green Hills Fox Clan, pays his respects to Your Majesty, the Azure Emperor!"

Luo Xiu waved his hand. "Get up, all of you. I'm not some Azure Emperor right now, and even if I were, you wouldn't need to bow to me."

Yue Yong stood up, scratching his head sheepishly. "Uh... Your Majesty, could you take us with you from now on?"

Before Luo Xiu could respond, he continued, "Now that Mount Green Hills is gone, only our Fox Clan warriors remain—over four hundred men and women in total. As long as Your Majesty is willing to shelter our clan, we will go through fire and water for you and never shrink from death!"

"Please, Your Majesty the Azure Emperor, take us in!"

The group of Fox Clan warriors knelt again, pleading in unison, "Please take us in, Your Majesty!"

Luo Xiu was in a difficult position.

Seeing his hesitation, Yue Yong grew anxious. "Your Majesty, for the sake of the past romance between our Pink Emperor and you, please take us in! We are all the Pink Emperor's subjects, which makes us your subjects too!"

Luo Xiu was stunned. "I had a romance with the Pink Emperor?" he asked, incredulous.

At this, Luo Ying coughed softly. She glanced at Luo Xiu with an odd expression and said, "Regarding that matter, Ying'er can testify that it's true."

"Back then, that little fox girl followed you around all day. You even took her to the Green Lotus Palace. She was mischievous and broke your favorite Green Lotus Colored Glaze Lamp, but you didn't even blame her."

Luo Xiu scratched his head, murmuring softly, "Did that really happen? I don't remember it at all."

Yue Yong shot Luo Ying a grateful look and hurriedly added, "Yes, yes! I've also heard the clan elders speak of it. It was with the help of Your Majesty, the Azure Emperor, that the Pink Emperor achieved what she did!"

Luo Ying said, "Young Master, just take them in. You can have them live in the Land of Lawlessness for now."

"Alright." Luo Xiu nodded, his thoughts turning to Su Shenyun.

Now that Su Shenyun was gone and Mount Green Hills was no more, Yue Yong's group of Fox Clan warriors truly had nowhere to go. In the Shanhai Territory, without protection, they would soon be oppressed and devoured by other clans. Leaving aside his past connection to the Pink Emperor, he would have helped them for Su Shenyun's sake alone.

Thinking of this, Luo Xiu opened a spatial portal. "Ying'er, take them to the Land of Lawlessness and assign them a territory."

"Yes, Young Master."

...

「A good while later.」

Once Dou Dou and Yaya had finished scavenging the spoils of war and Little Pouch had devoured all the demon beast corpses on the battlefield, Luo Xiu and his party returned to Thunder Swamp.

Kuang Pi was overjoyed to see Luo Xiu return safely. He excitedly pulled Luo Xiu into a bear hug—a literal one.

Luo Xiu felt as if all the bones in his body were about to be crushed.

"Worthy Brother Luo, don't blame your big brother. I was just too worried about you being alone, so I told your sister-in-law. If I could have gotten out, I would have charged over there myself instead of telling her."

Luo Xiu waved his hand weakly. "It's fine, it's fine. I'm not blaming you, really. Also, she's not your sister-in-law."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Kuang Pi, Luo Xiu went to the Land of Lawlessness.

Luo Ying had already selected a piece of land not far from the Palace of the King of Law and designated it for the Fox Clan.

The Land of Lawlessness was dilapidated and desolate, filled with a nauseating Aura of the Dead. Despite this, the Fox Clan were happy to have a place to call home and were not the least bit picky.

With some construction, this place would become their brand new home!

Luo Xiu toured the Fox Clan's territory, gave some daily necessities to Yue Yong, and then returned to the Palace of the King of Law with Luo Ying.

In the ruined Palace of the King of Law, the spacious hall was already piled high with all sorts of magical treasures. They had all been collected by Dou Dou and Yaya during this time. The two girls didn't use any of the treasures; they just loved to collect them. They would even scold Luo Xiu if he tried to touch anything.

Luo Xiu stood before the gate of the Palace of the King of Law, looking at the River Demon Pagoda floating in front of him. "Oh, right, Little Pouch," he said. "Remember to leave the Fire Dragon's skeleton for me. I want to use it to build a palace."

"This... These are the bones of a Fire Dragon! To use them as building materials... Big Brother, do you have to be so wasteful? What a squander!"

Little Pouch was extremely reluctant.

Luo Xiu spoke in an uncompromising tone, "The flesh and blood are all yours. I only want the skeleton. Also, hand over the inner core and the Ling Bone."

Little Pouch sighed. "Speaking of which, that's a real damn mess. Let me tell you, Big Brother, that human-faced loach erased the Dao patterns from the Ling Bone before it died. It's completely useless now. The inner core is still intact, though."

"Hand it over."

"Oh."

Reluctantly, Little Pouch surrendered the Fire Dragon's inner core.

Luo Xiu smacked it with the back of his hand. "Is that any way for a subordinate to act?"

"Big Brother, don't hit me! I was wrong!"

A moment later, Luo Xiu looked at the Fire Dragon skeleton sprawling across the distant ruins and nodded in satisfaction.

He decided he would have San Fei come in later to do the grunt work and help him build the house.

Luo Ying suddenly spoke up. "Although this Secret Realm is quite nice, the Aura of the Dead here is a problem we have to solve. Otherwise, it's not suitable for long-term habitation."

Luo Xiu sounded somewhat helpless. "But I can't seem to absorb all this Aura of the Dead, and I don't have much time to try."

Luo Ying sighed. "Then we'll have to find another way."

Suddenly recalling something, Luo Xiu said quickly, "Right, Ying'er, my Blood Ban Seal has been lifted. Can you help me remove the Blood Ban Technique now?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Ying pressed her lips together, her voice filled with concern. "But your Life-bound Green Lotus isn't with you right now. If we remove the Blood Ban Technique... the side effects of your Nine Yang Constitution will..."

Luo Xiu smiled. "It doesn't matter. I refuse to be helpless again when the people around me are in danger."

Luo Ying sighed. "Alright then. Follow me."

...

---

A quick note from the author: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all my readers! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. I'll be spending time with family, so updates might be a bit slow for the next couple of days. Thanks for your understanding

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