expected to have such high combat abilities. After all, they weren't inferior to special forces; in fact, they were superior. Back when they served in regular units, they had been elite members of the...Chapter 484: Noble Aura

The Du family hid in the mountains for a hundred years before resettling in a small town called Li Jia Town, and since then they changed their surname to Li. Apart from this clan genealogy and memorial tablets here, there's nothing outside that would hint that the Li family originally was named Du.

Moreover, only each generation’s patriarch and head of the household knew about its existence; the position of patriarch started when Zhong Kui protected the Du family. At that time, Zhong Kui found a person with potential to learn magic arts and passed them on, who became the first-generation patriarch.

After Zhong Kui left, each generation’s patriarch would find someone with good potential to pass down these magical arts so they could protect the Du family.

This way, these people were passed down from generation to generation. The elder here is this generation's guardian of the Du family, and that little boy named Mo Li is the next guardian being cultivated by the elder.

After hearing what the elder had said, Xiao Yu let out a long breath; now he finally understood the entire story. Du Family!!!! Xiao Yu sighed; back then Zhong Kui’s sister left a message asking him to look after the Du family.

This is why Zhong Kui guarded the Du family for some time in the mortal world and even cultivated guardians for them.

"Now that I know our family's biggest secret, it's your turn to tell me who you are!" The elder looked at Xiao Yu and asked sternly.

But how could Xiao Yu explain He could only say to the elder: "As for my origins, there’s no need for you guys to know; we just have some connection. I’ll leave behind Huatuo’s Nine Needles to make up for what's lacking in your Du family, and as for magical arts, each generation has inherited them already, so there’s no point in me adding anything redundant!"

"Of course, if the Du family needs help, they can always find me," Xiao Yu added after some thought.

As soon as Xiao Yu finished speaking, a powerful aura burst out from within him and spread throughout this underground space. When he released this mighty aura, it was like he had become an entirely different person.

The elder felt that Xiao Yu gave off a feeling of openness, vastness, and fearlessness. Moreover, when facing this aura, the elder felt insignificant and his mind seemed to be purified as well.

"Is it the aura of righteous spirit energy" The old man muttered to himself as he looked at Xiao Yu, who appeared like a sage.

In his youth, he had also encountered several great scholars from the literary world. Those scholars gave him a similar impression, but their aura was merely superficial, causing people to feel profound respect towards them upon seeing them.

Those great scholars possessed a faint aura of righteous spirit energy, yet compared to Xiao Yu's imposing presence formed by his righteous spirit energy, it could be likened to the comparison between flickering light and bright moonlight.

The old man stared blankly at Xiao Yu. Suddenly, he seemed to recall something and hurriedly walked over to the family genealogy scroll, searching through it.

After a while, the old man raised his head, looking at Xiao Yu in front of him with an expression of shock on his face.

The old man had spoken for quite some time but hadn't managed to utter a complete sentence. He never would have imagined that Xiao Yu practiced righteous spirit energy cultivation. The first-generation family elder recorded something about righteous spirit energy in the family genealogy scroll.

Because this old man had guarded the family genealogy scroll for over a hundred years, he naturally recalled seeing these records before. Seeing Xiao Yu emitting an overwhelming aura of righteous spirit energy reminded him of this particular record.

The old man took several deep breaths to calm his excited heart. When he looked at Xiao Yu again, his eyes glowed with fervor; the old man's cultivation in mindset over a hundred years had no effect now.

"You... you are... are you the successor of that elderly gentleman" The old man asked, and when speaking, his lips even quivered slightly from excitement.

"Do you know the Five Animals Play" Xiao Yu didn't answer the old man's question but instead asked him another one.

"Yes. But it seems to have no effect; I've been cultivating for nearly a hundred years and only recently felt some spirit energy!" The old man quickly answered when hearing Xiao Yu’s question. Though he did not know why Xiao Yu was asking this, he dared not conceal anything now.

The old man understood what was going on after seeing that Xiao Yu neither denied nor confirmed his status, so he didn't ask him about it anymore.

"Well, in fact, to maximize the effectiveness of Hua Tuo's Nine Needles, one needs to practice them with the internal energy cultivated from the Five Animal Frolics!" Xiao Yu explained this to the old man.

In actuality, it’s not just about the Five Animal Frolics; other methods of cultivating internal energy can be combined with Hua Tuo's Nine Needles as well. However, only the Five Animal Frolics are passed down in the Du family, so historically, this was always the combination used. After the great calamity, though, the primordial qi became scarce, making it increasingly difficult to cultivate internal energy through the Five Animal Frolics.

With modern industrial development and serious environmental pollution, the primordial qi has become even more sparse. Cultivating ancient martial arts techniques now often takes several decades, even if someone is gifted with a natural talent for it.

In contemporary times, many of these inherited ancient martial arts have turned into legendary health cultivation practices. Practicing such exercises for decades may yield some benefits, but those with average aptitude might see no improvement at all after years of practice. As people gradually abandoned these health cultivation methods, only a few individuals continued to practice them.

After hearing Xiao Yu's explanation, the old man nodded and showed an understanding expression. Although he had not learned medicine himself, he was aware of his family’s medical traditions. Upon listening to Xiao Yu's words, the old man immediately understood the situation.

In the past two hundred years, very few members of their clan managed to cultivate the internal energy from the Five Animal Frolics, and fewer still could do so as time passed. By Li Bingguang’s generation, no one in the family had been able to successfully complete this practice.

The old man only began cultivating his first thread of internal energy when he was nearly a hundred years old. After twenty years of cultivation, the Five Animal Frolics' internal qi has reached a considerable level on him.

Having now understood everything, Xiao Yu left the underground temple with the old man and returned upstairs to the main hall.

Upon reaching the upper hall’s temple area, they sat in a cross-legged posture. The old man took this opportunity to ask Xiao Yu some questions about his cultivation practices. With Zhong Kui's vast memory at his disposal, Xiao Yu could easily answer all these beginner-level questions on qi manipulation.

As time passed slowly by and seeing the old man had no more questions, it was now around midnight. At this point, Xiao Yu proposed to take his leave.

The elder escorted Xiao Yu out of the temple's door but did not venture outside himself. When Li Jia’s father and son saw Xiao Yu come out, they stood up from their loft and approached him.

Seeing that the head of the family was having a cordial conversation with Xiao Yu upon exiting the temple, both of them showed surprise. For decades now, this elder hadn’t left the ancestral hall, and even when he did, his face would remain stern and expressionless. When had they ever seen him display such an amiable demeanor before

The Li family father and son saw Xiao Yu and the others walk out, so they hurriedly went forward to greet them. Just now, when they saw Mo Li come out, they asked him what happened, but that little boy named Mo Li only showed concern in his eyes without saying a word.

The Li Bingguang father and son realized that they couldn't get any information from Mo Li, so they stopped asking questions and waited on the second floor of the pavilion. For an hour, there was no sound coming out from inside. An hour and a half later, the ancestral hall remained as quiet as ever.

The Li family father and son couldn't bear waiting any longer and wanted to enter the ancestral hall, but they were stopped by Mo Li's words: "Anyone who enters without permission will be killed."

Although the Li family father and son are the previous and current patriarchs, they still dared not challenge the authority of the clan elders. Although the elders usually stay in the ancestral hall without ever stepping out, everyone in the Li family knows that with just one word from an elder, a patriarch could be dismissed.

Therefore, when Mo Li spoke up, the Li family father and son were stunned for a moment before shaking their heads苦笑ingly and retreating to the second floor. As patriarchs of the Li family, they naturally know some of the clan's core secrets and dare not ignore the elders' words.

Seeing that Xiao Yu had been inside almost two hours with no sign of activity, they were worried that the elder might have already killed him off. After all, they knew how powerful the elders are.

In fact, Mo Li was even more anxious than them; while the Li family father and son feared that the elder would kill Xiao Yu with a single slap, Mo Li was worried that Xiao Yu might actually kill the old man—after all, he had witnessed Xiao Yu's ferocity firsthand.

Although Xiao Yu didn't directly aim his killing intent at him just now, even some stray bits of it made him feel as if he were floating in a sea of blood and nearly shattered the mental fortitude that the old man helped strengthen for him.

Furthermore, just then, Xiao Yu seemed to be able to take the old man's life at any moment, which was what Mo Li feared. Yet, all these thoughts couldn't be shown on his face.

At this moment of their respective worries, the main door of the ancestral hall suddenly opened with a loud bang, and Xiao Yu walked out laughing and chatting with the old man. Seeing this scene, both the Li family father and son and Mo Li gaped in surprise at the two of them.

The Li family father and son still remembered the elders' anger just now; they thought that Xiao Yu would certainly have a hard time when he went in, which was why they were so anxious. As for Mo Li He could still recall how both men seemed ready to take each other's lives just then.

But now They were laughing and chatting together Moreover, it seems that the elder is showing some respect to Xiao Yu while talking and joking with him. This drastic change left all three of them speechless. dined with Secretary Liu’s secretary before, he naturally knew who this Secretary Liu was.Just now, he was the driver for Secretary Liu, and now he's his secretary. What's going on today However, he...