Yun Meng was having a full-blown internal conniption.
Why, you ask?
It all started because of those meddling Elders! These damned things did not know the disaster they were inviting upon the Family!
The moment he mentioned an ‘Immortal Fairy’, these old things’ eyes lit up like stars! He could practically see the gears turning in their heads, each click a promise of impending disaster. And he yearned with all his heart to yell in their faces, ‘No, she doesn’t give a flying fuck about your precious little grandsons and great-grandsons!’
Unfortunately, he could not - they were almost as strong as him and were also startlingly united this time around.
Even the First Elder, who usually supported him, laughed heartily, “Clan Head, it might be a little foolish, but one must believe in miracles. After all, true love is unconditional!
“Moreover, it's not as if we’re being impolite to our guest. It’s merely a Welcoming Banquet!”
Yun Meng truly wanted to drag him by the beard to a mirror and scream, ‘Just take a look at yourself! How the hell would one ‘blessed’ by your genes even get the opportunity to replicate?! And you expect an Immortal Fairy to take a liking to your brat?! How fucking deluded are you?! Unconditional love, your wrinkled ass!’
Unfortunately, he could not. All of them were older than him. And as a man who respected his Elders, he could not do something so disrespectful.
Another oldie spoke, stroking his beard, “Don’t you think it would be more impolite to not welcome such an esteemed guest? It would seem like we’re trying to isolate her from the Clan.”
“Indeed. Especially when she has shown such courtesy, staying with us for so long.” The First Elder nodded, stroking his thin beard.
A middle-aged woman chuckled lightly, covering her mouth behind her sleeve, “She might have overshot it a little, however.”
A wave of chuckles spread through the room. Indeed.
In the culture of Radiant Star Kingdom, the longer a guest stayed in your home, the more they trusted you. The idea behind it was that the longer the guest stayed, the more vulnerable they were to you, depending on you for their stay, food and safety. This was why rival clans never invited each other to their homes, since the other party simply wouldn’t dare take a single step into their rival’s home!
But the longest one stayed was three days, anything more would be considered rude - unless they were very close.
After a few rounds of discussion, the whole thing was set in stone.
Yun Meng sighed.
He may be the Clan Head, but he did not hold absolute control over the Clan. He only held the greatest power within the clan. And usually, no one contested his decisions because, even if everyone banded together, as long as even one other Elder voted for Yun Meng, Yun Meng would win. This little wrinkle in the system, however, had somehow slipped his mind: the terrifying prospect of complete and utter unanimity of the Elderly Association.
So, when the situation where everyone was against him occurred, he was utterly dumbfounded.
The only thing he could do was make it so that their intentions were less obvious. Yun Meng sighed as he left the Meeting Room.
“Don’t fret so much, Little Meng.” The First Elder patted him on the shoulder, “I know what you’re worried about, but remember - as an officially recognised Martial Arts Family, we are protected by the Empire.”
“But, Martial Uncle,” Yun Meng said worriedly, “I fear we’re underestimating the power of an Immortal…”
“Like I said, Little Meng - you worry too much,” the First Elder shook his head. “This Miss Xiao you’re talking about is a Fairy, isn’t she? Then, there is no need to worry. The people of the fairer sex, they're gentle creatures, they do not desire confrontation as much as us. As they say: Yang is tough as stone, Yin is gentle as water.”
Minus the euphemism, he believed women were not as strong as men. And in Martial Arts, it was an undeniable fact: a woman was physically much weaker than a man. There were far fewer female Martial Artists who could break the limits of their bodies and attain a greater Stage on the Martial Path compared to men. Moreover, at the same Stage female Martial Artists had a considerable disadvantage below the Life Transformation Stage. This resulted in males being much more favoured than females in low-level Martial Arts Clans.
So, for a man who had only ever heard of Immortals and had never seen a Martial Artist above the Flesh Tempering Stage, this was the truth of the World.
Yun Meng finally understood why the First Elder who was normally conservative and cautious would suddenly jump around with more excitement than a monkey stumbling into a banana plantation.
So, he immediately cooked up another argument.
“No, no, I’m afraid you’re misunderstanding my point,” Yun Meng shook his head vigorously. “What I mean is, Miss Xiao might have pursuers who are even stronger than her. If they come to know of our intentions, they definitely won’t be pleased. And if they band together to make things difficult for us…”
Yun Meng trailed off, letting the First Elder imagine and come to a conclusion on his own.
“Oh,” The First Elder froze. “I did not think of that.”
‘And that’s why you’re only the First Elder, while I’m the Clan Head,’ Yun Meng ridiculed the Elder inwardly.
‘Although, it could also be that nose,’ he stared at the lump of flesh that looked more like a frog’s butt, ‘that monstrosity simply does not fit the image of a Clan Head.’
“So, I suggest that we tell the other Elders to stop their plans…” Yun Meng trailed off, staring at the First Elder’s constipated expression. Then, a fearsome thought struck his mind and he stared at the First Elder incredulously, “D-Don’t tell me… You guys have already…?”
All he got in reply was a whisper, “Well, I mean, affection has to be fostered over time, not in one shot…”
Yun Meng nearly keeled over!
“Oh, Heavens take pity on my Yun Family!”
Then, he sprinted like his life depended on it! And it might really!
He ran towards the Southern Section of the estate like he was chasing the wind, cursing inwardly, ‘Oh great ancestors of mine, why did you have to make the estate so pointlessly large?!’
Suddenly, he screeched to a halt in front of the training field in the Martial Hall.
There, he saw a strange scene.
On a stage that had obviously not been there before, a pair of teenagers duked it out, displaying their Martial Arts with unprecedented vigour. Their kicks and punches flowed naturally and beautifully - almost as if they had understood the True Meaning of their Martial Arts!
And on the ground, several other Yun Family spawn cheered and jeered, screaming at the ones on the stage. Some sported black eyes or bleeding lips, while others had anticipatory grins plastered across their faces.
Meanwhile, on a platform fit for a visiting dignitary, Fairy Xiao was perched leisurely, watching the fight with great interest. The maidservant assigned to her by Yun Meng stood dutifully at her side. When Miss Xiao opened her mouth, the maidservant immediately reacted, picking up a sweet with chopsticks and gently placing it in her mouth before pulling away, allowing the Immortal Fairy to savour it.
Then, she made a face as though she had swallowed something bitter. The maidservant swiftly removed the bag of offending candy. The rejected treats joined a growing pile of discarded delicacies, a tragic testament to Fairy Xiao's discerning palate.
Yun Meng: “???”
W-What the heck? What was going on? Could someone please explain this to him? Why had the expected scene of harassment turned into… this? Yun Meng felt that even a series of question marks drawn on his forehead would not fully express the confusion in his heart.
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He felt he was far too lacking in brain power to comprehend this scene!
Also, are these brats really from the Yun Family? Yun Meng even had to rub his eyes. The normally lethargic, mischief-prone youngsters were now moving vigorously. with a martial prowess that bordered on the awe-inspiring!
Deciding that he had to get to the bottom of his, Yun Meng walked over to the platform. He looked at Miss Xiao and realised she was too engrossed in watching the fight below so turned to the maid and quietly asked, “What in the blazes is going on here?”
The maid, a like machine of pure efficiency as she catered to the Immortal Fairy's whims while explaining the whole situation to him.
Apparently, the entire gaggle of Yun Family's young masters had come over at the same time and crowded outside Miss Xiao’s courtyard.
The maid, who had returned after realising that the Clan Head was in a meeting, nearly choked on her own breath upon discovering the bevvy of Young Masters on the verge of a brawl. It seemed a dispute had erupted over who would have the esteemed honour of accompanying the Immortal Fairy!
However, this tea-pouring minion was apparently quite the talent.
Showing a tremendous presence of mind, she convinced them that only the strongest among them should be the ones to accompany her. She had them compete with each other and then said that the winner would get a prize. She never mentioned what the prize was, though.
It wouldn’t be her fault if they assumed that the prize was a chance to accompany Miss Xiao.
And then, she called for Yun Hua, who apparently was the reason Miss Xiao came to the Yun Family’s estate at all.
Yun Meng was stunned once again. He looked at the maid who was dutifully serving Miss Xiao in awe. He thought, ‘Why did I not know that we had such a terrific talent among us?!’
Unbeknownst to him, Xiao Hong, who had split some of her attention to listen in, was pouting inwardly. What? What? It wasn’t a random Martial Competition that they’d created to entertain her? Aw, shucks!
As she had learnt that the Flowing Cloud Sect, whose territory she seemed to be stranded in, was in a hostile relationship with her Sect, her mood had been down in the dumps.
At this point, the maid had appeared, telling her about this tournament she had cooked up. She thought, why not? After all, what better way to vent frustration than to watch young underage teenagers beating each other up?
“Ah, Clan Head,” the maid spoke up again, fishing out a bottle made of jade, “Miss Xiao had asked me to give you this.”
Yun Meng took the bottle in his hands. Noticing that Miss Xiao was engrossed in watching the fights below, he turned to the bottle.
With a light ‘pop!’ the bottle opened to reveal six brown spheres no larger than his thumbnail diameter. A pleasant, light medicinal scent wafted up his nostrils, involuntarily drawing him to take a deeper breath. As he released the breath, a strange surge of heat seemed to spread from his chest, warming up his entire body. The tiredness from having to deal with the Elders of his family disappeared, replacing it with a burst of energy he had felt only when he fought head-on against powerful opponents.
Yun Meng froze in place.
He carefully tipped the bottle, causing a singular sphere to roll out.
Bringing it close to his nose, he took a deep breath, a breath like he had not taken one in centuries. An intoxicated expression spread across his face.
Then, he took in another deep breath.
And then another.
After enthusiastically snorting - er, savouring - the pill for a few times, he sighed wistfully. After reluctantly putting the pill back into the bottle, he put it away somewhere inside his robes.
Xiao Hong, who was watching all this, was flabbergasted. ‘I get that drug addiction in the Cultivation World is prevalent, but can you not sniff it like some depraved fiend?! Just take the damn pill, alright?! I can make more!’
She rolled her eyes and concentrated on the matches below.
Yun Meng furtively glanced at the young woman who still seemed engrossed in the competition below and let out a sigh of relief. He was forced to reevaluate his opinion of Xiao Hong yet again. ‘Six extremely high-quality Blood Surge Pills. It pretty much guarantees six more Flesh Tempering experts!’
His mouth twitched, ‘This woman is an Alchemist as well!’
His Soul was already packing up, ready to leave for another vacation, possibly permanent this time! Because it was very unlikely that a Divine Sea Cultivator would be carrying around Blood Surge Pills that were only effective for breaking through to the Flesh Tempering Stage. It was neither of profit nor use to her.
And Alchemists had a truly extraordinary status! Offending one was worse than sitting on a hornet’s nest with your bare behind!
Oh, Buddha, please bless this poor monk’s family! I swear I will build a dozen temples for Buddhism!
Oh, Jade Emperor, please save this pitiful young Taoist’s family! I shall offer incense in your name every day!
Yun Meng silently prayed, hoping those damned elders didn’t get up to more creative antics. A super maid wouldn’t always be there to save them every time they fucked up!
***
On the stage, Yun Qingfeng stared at the illusory blue screen in front of him, scanning it intently.
Name
Yun Han
Gender
Male
Age
14
Lifeform level
Tier 0: Mortal [Body Refining 8th Layer]
Titles
Yun Family’s Thirteenth Young Master, Dumbfuck…
Strengths
1. Above-average physical strength
2. Above-average martial skill
Weakness
1. Arrogance
2. Idiocy
3. Misfortune
Affiliation
Yun Family
Special Abilities
None
Potential
Martial Path: 0 star [Trash]
Danger Rating
Low
Remarks
A spoiled brat who thinks the world revolves around him. Likes Fairy Xiao and wants to get in her good books like everyone else here. A toad lusting after swan meat. Typical low-grade Young Master. Watch out for shady pills - oh, wait, this one’s too backward to afford them.
‘The heck is a ‘low-grade’ Young Master?’ Yun Qingfeng thought. Moreover, he was also a young master. Does that make him a ‘low-grade’ as well? ‘Young Master’ he was, but that low-grade prefix irked him quite a bit!
‘Also, dumbfuck? How the hell is that a title? That’s purely an insult!’ The corner of Yun Qingfeng’s mouth twitched slightly, finding it hard to suppress his amusement.
“You! How dare you get distracted fighting me?!” Yun Han screamed, interrupting Yun Qingfeng’s thoughts. “Courting death!”
Yun Qingfeng was startled. Then, he realised that it was indeed a little rude. Just as he opened his mouth to apologise, Yun Han employed his movement art, rushing towards Yun Qingfeng like a leopard after its prey.
Yun Qingfeng had no choice but to defend, raising his hand to defend against the fist aimed directly at his face.
As Yun Qingfeng concentrated on the fight, all sounds and distractions disappeared leaving only his opponent and himself. Time itself seemed to slow down as he stared at the oncoming punch.
Easily manoeuvring around the rather wide punch, he stepped forward - directly into Yun Han’s space. Generating as much power as he could from his feet, thighs and waist he slammed his fist into his opponent’s solar plexus before he could even react.
“Ugh!” Yun Han groaned under the intense pain in his abdomen while stumbling back, barely keeping his consciousness.
Before his opponent could even regain his footing, Yun Qingfeng stepped forward once again slamming his fist into his opponent’s chin with a spectacular uppercut, knocking him out.
“The winner of the semi-final is Seventeenth Cousin, Yun Qingfeng!” Another young man cosplaying a panda with his two black eyes and chubby figure shouted.
Yun Qingfeng glanced at him, casually reciting in his mind: ‘Appraise!’
Name
Yun Long
Gender
Male
Age
16
Lifeform level
Tier 0: Mortal [Body Refining 7th Layer]
Titles
Fatty, Yun Family’s Seventh Young Master, ...
Strengths
1. Genius business acumen
2. Good fortune
Weaknesses
1. Likes food too much.
Affiliation
Yun Family
Special Abilities
None
Potential
Martial Path: 0 star [Trash]
Business: 3 star [Genius]
Danger Rating
Low
Remarks
A happy-go-lucky young Fatty.
This horizontally challenged young man is your typical protagonist’s best friend.
A natural genius in business, coupled with good fortune, he’s bound to make lots of money.
It’s a good idea to befriend him now.
Yun Qingfeng pursed his lips, trying to suppress his amusement yet again, ‘Who the hell has Fatty as a title?’
Shaking his head, he jumped down from the makeshift stage.
‘Just one more match and I’ll have what I need.’ he thought, clenching his fist with determination as he stared up at the platform where the Clan Head was chatting with this Miss Xiao. ‘I won’t let Lingxiang suffer!’