Reverend Ecstasy

Zi Feng, Tusha, Chun Xu, Dong Ling, the Zhi-Zhu twins, Yan Le, and the Li initiates—regardless of how their brains usually operated, as Xinzi's words pealed through their ears, the girls all felt their heart drum, race and beat as if trying to leap out of their chests. 

A silence settled in, soon broken by Dong Ling who threw herself into Xinzi's arms, nestling on his chest.

"A'Xin, I love you." 

"Are you sure? Is it love or lust?" 

"Both, always both."

"I know." The quick back and forth ended with Xinzi kissing Dong Ling's forehead. Here, an odd glint flashed through her eyes—not noticed by Xinzi who, due to the Night Flowers' repeated warnings, didn't use his Bloodshifter Heart to read the girls' emotions.

"With that out of the way, let's split the haul. Dong Ling and Chun Xu, I will give you pointers to perfect your techniques, but at the moment, you're mainly lacking strong Life Treasures. Use the Star-Glazed Glass and Nine Revolution Obsidian to craft said Life Treasures," Xinzi said, starting the distribution. 

Dong Ling and Chun Xu's eyes shifted to the radiant glass minerals and lustrous black shards, studying them with their Spiritual Senses. 

"Li girls, though vastly improved, your comprehension skills are still not up to the standards I wish for you. We can't allow you to fall behind, so you get the Stele of Profound Wisdom. It will increase your Qi Sense, enable you to get insight into the Grand Dao, enhance your soul and improve your comprehension skills tremendously. Also, you get this." After directing the Li initiates to the tall gray stele standing amidst the treasure piles, Xinzi tapped his storage ring, summoning fifteen sangria pills that flew towards the Li initiates.

"These are Blood Condensation Pills. I refined them based on your Li bloodline. They will help you improve your Blood Energy at a record pace." The Li initiates wanted to ask how Xinzi got the ingredients for these pills but felt that they probably didn't want to hear the answer.  [1]

"Thank you, abbot!" 

"Feng'er, A'Zhi and A'Zhu, you get to use as many Heavenly Crystals and Divine Jades as you want to in order to craft war puppets for your Millenium Revolution Code. These are materials that'd make even the August Divinity salivate. I expect you to put them to splendid use," Xinzi said, and snapped his fingers, sending the piles of Divine Jade and Heavenly Crystal to fly towards the trio. 

"Thank you, master." 

"Thank you, abbot!" 

Now of the girls, only Tusha and Yan Le—the master and disciple pair—remained. Both tried to avoid Xinzi's gaze, the former because she didn't want to show hints of expectation, the latter because she dared not get her hopes up. 

Yan Le had already received the Heavenly Slayer, a gift that took her by surprise. With that in hand, she dared not allow herself to get greedy and didn't think that Xinzi would consider her for additional gifts. 

She was wrong. 

"A'Le, for you, I have the Restoration of the Battle King, a cultivation method that perfectly complements your Heavenly Slayer. Also, you get a powerful rank-five Poisonfeather Bird's Revolving Yang Core. It will help you speed up the cultivation of that technique," Xinzi said and snapped his fingers, conjuring a set of mnemonics that flew into Yan Le's brain. At the same time, the fallen Zhenniao's Monster Core shot out of Xinzi's ring, landing in Yan Le's hands. 

Not prepared for these boons, Yan Le gasped, then after regaining her composure, bowed at Xinzi. 

"Thank you, abbot!" 

"Mhm...I know that with Tusha training you, it won't be long before you regain the fire in your eyes. Talking about Tusha, lovely nun, I didn't forget you," Xinzi said, and even before he turned towards her, Tusha could picture the impish smile curving his lips. 

Again, Xinzi snapped his fingers, but this time around, a set of red flower lingerie and transparent lace robe appeared, all flying towards Tusha. 

From Zi Feng to Dong Ling, all stared slack-jawed at Tusha's gift, wondering if their eyes weren't deceiving them. They weren't.

Tusha's cheeks flushed crimson, her temperature rising at an alarming speed as her hands trembled, holding Xinzi's gift. 

...

Meanwhile, in less fun places, 29 hordes set out, marching or flying towards the Eastern Continent's various provinces. Though of varying cultivation bases and overall strength, each horde could count on billions of Mysterious Beasts, all able to unite in offensive or defensive formations.

News of Zhenwu Shenquan's suppression of a Heavenly Immortal tier Corpse Demon made no change to Daji's plans. On the contrary, the news emboldened her.

"Zhenwu Shenquan, as mighty as he is, can't possibly suppress a Heavenly Immortal, and if he had that ability, then logically his next move should have been to track down the Mysterious Beasts' gathering and come straight for our necks—ending the war before it could truly kick off.

Instead, he went home. Not to the Imperial Wind Palace that he recently took over, but back to his personal Longxi Palace—thereby wasting a golden opportunity to achieve another legendary feat. This can only mean two things:

One, Longxi suffered a disaster that Zhenwu Shenquan cannot afford to ignore. Or two, the Human King isn't as powerful as his recent feat indicates. He might even be injured.

Considering the potency of the seal he allegedly used to suppress that newly formed undead kingdom, I'd wager that Zhenwu Shenquan got injured during the confrontation, but received the assistance of a superior expert who either sealed the demons for him or helped him seal them somehow.

Regardless, Zhenwu Shenquan isn't in a position to stand in the way of our 29 Hordes, and if truly injured, will likely have to rely on his sons and trusted vassals for some time.

I'm not afraid of them," Daji gave her sisters, Xiao Hu and Zhiji Jing, her assessment. Zhenwu Shenquan would soon prove her correct by proclaiming a decree that turned the East upside down:

"To give the imperial armies time to track down the Beast Emperor and exterminate the scourge, we will reward every expert or faction capable to deal with the beasts infesting their area with a Warlord Seal. The Warlord Seals grant you absolute sovereignty over the lands you save, making you the new ruler of that territory."

[1] You will probably miss the insinuation since it's been a while, but in the Soaring Crane Mountain extermination, Xinzi also captured 18 male Li talents. They became a part of these pills.