Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

"Congratulations, Godfather! Congratulations, Godfather!" Cheng Ping'an, Yu Tian, ​​and Feng Bao knelt down again, kowtowing to offer their congratulations, their faces beaming with heartfelt joy and admiration. With their godfather holding such a high position, their status as godchildren naturally rose accordingly.

"Get up, all of you." Su Mu raised his hand to help them up, a rare gentle smile appearing on his lips.

Not long after, the newly appointed Grand Eunuch Li Lianying returned, personally delivering the official robes, seal, gold medal, and additional gifts from the Emperor.

"Furthermore," Li Lianying said with a beaming smile, "I also owe a debt of gratitude to Eunuch Su and His Majesty's grace to be promoted to Chief Eunuch. I hope you will continue to take good care of me in the future."

Although the chief eunuch was still a second-rank official, the difference between "chief eunuch" and "grand chief eunuch" was only one character, but his power was much greater, second only to Wei Zhongxian. Li Lianying's choice of sides this time was correct, and he was finally rewarded handsomely.

A genuine smile spread across Li Lianqing's face, her eyes filled with no trace of jealousy, but rather with relief—Su Mu was now her superior, and she felt that her past kindness had not been in vain.

"I have always remembered the kindness you showed me back then, Eunuch Li, and I will never forget it!" Su Mu bowed and nodded, his tone sincere. Li Lianqing smiled and replied, "That's good." "There are still many matters to attend to at the manor today, so I will take my leave now. I will certainly prepare some wine another day and have a good drink with Lord Su!" With that, Li Lianqing turned and left quickly, his steps light and brisk, clearly in a good mood.

After she left, Su Mu moved to the first floor of the library and slowly opened the wooden box in his hand. The items inside were neatly arranged, each one a treasure: a top-grade healing pill, two high-grade Xuan-rank magic weapons, a sword manual, and a rare and precious natural treasure containing strange spiritual light.

The pill was called the "Milk Marrow Pill," a truly superior-grade pill, far surpassing the Sweet Dew Pill in quality. Such a high-quality Milk Marrow Pill was extremely rare, with only a handful found throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty. The two magical artifacts each had their own unique uses: one was the "Gengjin Shield," and the other was the "Spirit-Binding Rope." The Gengjin Shield was forged from extraterrestrial Gengjin, a rare and invaluable protective treasure. It could expand and shrink at will simply by infusing it with spiritual power, making it indestructible and capable of withstanding the full force of a Grandmaster-level expert's attack. The Spirit-Binding Rope, on the other hand, was woven from thousand-year-old spiritual vines mixed with deep-sea black iron wire. Incredibly flexible, it was specifically designed to counter all kinds of evil spirits and cultivators' spiritual power. Once it entangled an enemy, it would automatically tighten, becoming increasingly difficult to break free from, no matter how high the opponent's cultivation level.

That sword manual was none other than Xiao Anran's main cultivation technique, the "Drifting Swordplay," a superior sword art of the lower-grade Earth level. Its sword moves were elegant, agile, and unpredictable, containing the profound principle of "overcoming hardness with softness and breaking through solidity with speed." Su Mu casually flipped through the sword manual and immediately understood—Xiao Anran's comprehension of this swordplay was merely superficial. He had the form of the moves but had not grasped its essence; to say that he was all show and no substance was no exaggeration.

It's important to understand that while the "Drifting Sword Technique" appears graceful, it is actually incredibly powerful. Even for a grandmaster-level swordsman, mastering its sword intent and techniques to unleash its full potential is no easy feat. However, with the "Complete Explanation of Swordsmanship Fundamentals" as a foundation, Su Mu's careful study of the "Drifting Sword Technique" will undoubtedly allow him to draw inferences and elevate his swordsmanship to a higher level.

"This is indeed an excellent set of sword techniques for practice, perfect for honing my sword skills!" Su Mu set the sword manual aside and reached into the wooden box to take out an exquisite jade box. The jade box felt slightly cool to the touch, and the carving was exquisite. He gently lifted the lid and saw a fruit lying inside, its entire body reddish and emitting a faint golden light. The patterns on the fruit's body were interwoven like dragon scales, and a faint spiritual light flowed around it.

The instant the jade box was opened, a surge of violent spiritual energy, mixed with a faint hint of dragon might, suddenly erupted, carrying with it a subtle yet powerful aura belonging to an ancient divine beast. It wasn't a pungent odor, but rather it sent a shiver down one's spine. Su Mu raised an eyebrow, took out a yellowed slip of paper from the bottom of the jade box, and upon closer inspection, his eyes flickered—the slip clearly stated that this item was the core essence of the Dragon Blood Fruit!

Dragon Blood Fruit is a rare treasure formed over thousands of years by the essence of an ancient dragon seeping into the earth and merging with the spiritual veins of heaven and earth. It is an unparalleled treasure for cultivation. A complete Dragon Blood Fruit is enough to allow a cultivator in the Innate Realm to directly break through to the Grandmaster Realm. Even a Grandmaster Realm expert can stabilize their realm after consuming it and even touch the threshold of the Great Grandmaster!

"It's a pity this is only the core essence of the Dragon Blood Fruit, not the complete fruit." Su Mu sighed softly, but didn't seem too regretful. A slight smile then appeared on his lips. "But it's enough!"

With his current Grandmaster level cultivation, even a complete Dragon Blood Fruit wouldn't be able to absorb it directly—its power is too violent, and consuming it rashly would only sever his meridians, resulting in more harm than good. However, the core of this Dragon Blood Fruit, having been naturally refined, while not as potent as a complete fruit, is much gentler, and its dragon blood essence remains pure. Even a Grandmaster would find it hard to resist its allure, and it would be greatly beneficial for breaking through to the Great Grandmaster level.

Su Mu knew perfectly well that the Xiao royal family would never easily give away such a priceless treasure as a gift, much less keep it until now. This time, Xiao Anxun sent this generous gift, ostensibly as a reward for his merits, but in reality, it was a way of repaying him for protecting the royal family on several occasions! By offering such a treasure as the core of the Dragon Blood Fruit, the Xiao royal family had already shown their utmost sincerity and could be described as extremely generous.

"The Emperor and the Xiao royal family are all sensible people," Su Mu thought to himself. His hard work and efforts over the past few days had finally paid off. The gift Xiao Anxun sent was several times more valuable than the gift he had presented when he entered the palace that morning.

"However, the method of using the core of the Dragon Blood Fruit was not mentioned on the note. I suppose even the experts of the Xiao royal family may not know its true usage." Su Mu examined the core of the Dragon Blood Fruit in his hand while releasing his divine sense to carefully explore it, trying to find the method of refining it. His divine sense enveloped it layer by layer, not letting go of the slightest detail.

Just as Su Mu was engrossed in studying the core of the Dragon Blood Fruit, hurried footsteps sounded outside the library. Feng Bao's voice was urgent as he loudly reported, "Father, Consort De has arrived outside the library and requests an audience!"

Su Mu was slightly taken aback. He raised his hand and closed the jade box, asking in a deep voice, "Oh? Why did she suddenly come here?" As soon as he finished speaking, he walked towards the outside of the library. Just as he reached the door, he saw Consort De, Lin Wen, and the Sixth Prince, Xiao Jingye, standing below the steps, followed by Xu Qian'er and a personal maid from Shude Palace. The group of people had different expressions and stood there quite conspicuously.

Lin Wen, dressed in a magnificent palace gown, adorned with a red-gold phoenix hairpin and a flowing cloud-patterned robe, spoke first upon seeing Su Mu emerge. Her tone carried an ambiguous meaning, seemingly both congratulations and a probing question: "I heard that Lord Su has recently been promoted by the Emperor to the position of Grand Eunuch of Loyalty and Filial Piety, in charge of the Imperial Library. This is truly a cause for celebration."