Ning Clan Territory.
Today was the day the Ning Clan posted its results.
Ning Ze and his wife Wang Lan had been seated in the Central Hall since early morning, waiting for the Grand Examination results of the two younger members of the family.
From the moment they were born, Ning Clan children began having their innate bones tested, once every year, until they were twelve or thirteen.
Those with Cultivation Aptitude were sent to the clan's private school, supported by the clan as full-time students until they reached sixteen or seventeen, when they took their graduation Grand Examination.
The annual Grand Examination concerned the fate of young cultivators.
The top thirty youths in the Grand Examination were qualified to enter the Ning Clan's core Family Business, where their prospects were undoubtedly far broader.
Wang Lan drank tea on the surface, but her gaze kept drifting toward the main doors, unable to conceal her nervous anticipation.
Ning Ze, meanwhile, had a vacant gaze and was in an extremely gloomy mood.
He had waited until dawn, yet the Yellow Family Three Ghosts had not returned to report.
They failed!
I never expected that Tassel-Haired Wanderer to be so fierce and vicious.
It's fine. It's fine.
When I contacted the Yellow Family Three Ghosts, I never revealed my true face. Tassel-Haired Wanderer cannot trace me.
The Yellow Family Three Ghosts had undeserved reputations. They had a Soul Suppressing Talisman and the Spirit Pet Green Blade Mantis, yet three against one and they still lost! I truly misjudged them.
Alas, Tassel-Haired Wanderer... what should I do next?
Forced into a corner, Ning Ze had taken a dangerous gamble, only to suffer a painful defeat. His head throbbed, and he had no idea how to explain this to the Young Clan Leader.
"Father, Mother, I passed! I made it into the top thirty!" Just then, a youth dashed into the room, shouting excitedly.
"Really? Ji Er, you really passed?!" Wang Lan immediately rose to her feet, her face brimming with delight.
The young cultivator Ning Ji raised his voice. "Of course! Mother, you don't even believe your own son?"
"Oh?" Ning Ze raised his head and saw his son Ning Ji's wild, flamboyant grin.
Ordinarily, Ning Ji ranked around fortieth place. Who would have thought that in this Grand Examination, he would perform beyond his usual limits?
This unexpected good news somewhat diluted Ning Ze's worries.
Ning Ji spoke in high spirits. "Father, Mother, I've brought honor to you this time. I told you long ago that I knew what I was doing. My usual grades may not have been good, but that was only because I had no desire to give it my all."
"Unlike someone else!"
"Usually, his grades are excellent, steadily within the top thirty. But in this Grand Examination, he showed his true colors and only got thirty-first place. Ah, what a pity—he failed!"
As he spoke, Ning Ji turned around and looked at the White-Robed Youth who had entered behind him, his face full of mockery.
The White-Robed Youth wore plain clothes. His eyes were clear, but his expression was heavy with guilt and disappointment.
"Uncle, Aunt." The White-Robed Youth, Ning Zhuo, bowed.
Wang Lan looked at the youth and shrieked, "What? Little Zhuo, you messed up this examination?!"
Ning Ze's face darkened as he held out his hand. "Give me the score sheet."
Ning Zhuo took out the score sheet and handed it to his biological grandfather, Ning Ze.
Ning Ze lowered his head and swept his gaze over it, his face as dark as still water.
The next moment, he shook the paper in his hand and said in bitter disappointment, "Little Zhuo, how could your mistake this time be so severe?"
"I remember that you had achieved quite a few small accomplishments in Mechanism Art."
"The Mechanical Parrot you made before even received praise from the clan elders."
"Mechanism Art was clearly your strength. How did you manage to score a lower grade this time?"
"Alas, if not for that lower grade, you would have been in the top thirty!"
Grandmother's gaze was sharp. "Little Zhuo, tell me, have you been taking private jobs from Mechanical Workshops again lately?"
Without waiting for Ning Zhuo to answer, Aunt clutched at her heart and sighed. "Alas, how many times have I told you not to covet money? At your age, you should be studying properly."
"You put all your energy into earning money. You're picking up sesame seeds only to lose a watermelon."
"Look at you now. Wonderful! Outside the top thirty!"
"You can't get into the clan's Family Business!!"
Upon hearing this, Ning Zhuo finally gathered his courage. "Grandmother, I heard from my classmates that perhaps we could use connections..."
Before he could finish, Aunt cut him off loudly. "Use connections? Do you know how many spirit stones it costs to use connections? Do you know how many people we would have to approach?"
"Oh, so you perform poorly, toss out one casual sentence, and your grandfather and I have to run all over the place, wearing our legs out as we seek favors and back doors for you?"
"You still have the nerve to say that!"
"If you knew it would come to this, why did you do it in the first place?"
"I told you long ago to focus on cultivation and stop taking private jobs for that tiny bit of spirit stones."
"What use was it?!"
"If you made it into the top thirty and entered the clan's Family Business, you would earn far more. The key was that there would be fewer matters to handle and more time for you to continue cultivating."
Ning Zhuo suddenly lifted his head. His face was flushed red from humiliation as he gritted his teeth and said stiffly, "Uncle, Aunt, a man bears the consequences of his own deeds!"
"Since I am thirty-first, then so be it."
"For all these years, I have received the care of you both, and I am grateful from the bottom of my heart. Achieving such a result is the bitter fruit I forged myself, so I shall reap what I sow!"
"A man bears the consequences of his own deeds!"
"I refuse to believe that after leaving here, I cannot find a way to support myself."
Having said that, Ning Zhuo bowed in farewell. "Uncle, Aunt, my classmates are still waiting for me to dine together. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave."
Grandfather stared at Ning Zhuo in silence.
Grandmother waved her hand and said with disgust, "Go, go, go! You really have a big heart. You did so badly, yet you still have the mood to go dine with others!"
Ning Zhuo could not remain for another moment. He turned around and left in anger.
His cousin Ning Ji, meanwhile, sat down comfortably.
Grandmother looked at Ning Ji, changing faces as swiftly as turning a page, her anger turning to delight. "My son is the outstanding one!"
She pushed the tea snacks on the table toward him. "Hurry and try these. They are Golden Silk Jade Dew Cakes from Golden Cuisine Hall. After eating them, they can deepen the foundation of your sea of consciousness and strengthen your divine sense. They are greatly beneficial to your cultivation, and even to your future Foundation Establishment!"
Ning Ji's eyes lit up. He eagerly picked one up and put it into his mouth.
The Golden Silk Jade Dew Cake had a unique texture. The cake itself was soft and glutinous, the golden strands were crisp and firm, and there was flowing filling within.
Ning Ji swallowed it in three bites and felt a stream of clear energy rise from his abdomen, shooting straight to the crown of his head and invigorating his spirit.
Ning Ji praised it from the bottom of his heart. "Delicious, delicious!"
"Then eat more. They are all yours." His mother smiled.
Ning Ji ate the remaining three cakes, licked his lips, and still wanted more. "As expected of Golden Cuisine Hall's products—they're truly delicious! Why were there only four? Are there any more?"
His father snorted coldly. "Every piece here is worth twenty spirit stones. What you just ate was nearly a hundred spirit stones, and you still want more?"
"Then you should work even harder and must not slack off! From now on, perform well within the clan and strive to use your own hands to earn enough Spirit Food for yourself as soon as possible."
Ning Ji shouted, "Father, I brought honor to you this time! Think about it—if I had gotten my old grades, wouldn't you have had to run everywhere, send gifts, and use back doors to get me into the clan's Family Business? My excellent Grand Examination result saved you several hundred spirit stones. What was wrong with eating a few cakes from Golden Cuisine Hall?"
"Besides, wasn't I eating these to strengthen my mind, so I could cultivate better and work harder?"
"If I had been supplied with resources of this level earlier, my grades would have long been among the very best."
Seeing his son talk back, Father Ning widened his eyes and was about to reprimand him.
Mother Ning hurriedly said, "Enough, enough. Both of you, say less."
She glared at her husband. "My son did well on his examination, so he should be praised. After barely saying a few words, you want to criticize him again."
"Don't look at how my son usually likes to play around. When it matters, he is dependable."
"Unlike Ning Zhuo. His usual grades make people let down their guard, yet in the end, he is the one who causes the most worry!"
"Look at him. We only criticized him with one or two sentences, and he turned around and left. So unwilling to accept instruction! Was I wrong?"
"Hmph, and he even ran off to eat. He certainly has the mood for it!"
Ning Ji sneered. "His pride is too high, and he thinks too highly of himself. He simply cannot listen to Father and Mother's earnest teachings."
"By the way, we are not really going to use our connections for him and spend our favors, are we?"
Father Ning snorted. "That is not something you need to concern yourself with."
Seeing his father become angry, Ning Ji instinctively shrank his neck. Then he recalled his Grand Examination result and raised his voice. "Mother, Ning Zhuo can go out to eat, so I want to go to a restaurant too and eat Spirit Food. Give me some money. You have no idea how much I sacrificed for this Grand Examination!"
"Fine, fine, fine." Mother Ning smilingly took out a bag of spirit stones and handed it to Ning Ji.
Ning Ji accepted the money pouch, rose, and left.
After leaving the Ning residence and stepping onto the street, he did not hurry to his favorite restaurant. Instead, he wandered around the streets.
He wanted to see where Ning Zhuo was eating.
There were usually no chances like this. Now that he had finally caught one, Ning Ji wanted to mock the other party as much as possible for his own amusement.
Yet after searching left and right, he could not find him.
He asked several shop attendants and confirmed that Ning Zhuo had never come by at all.
Ning Ji slapped his forehead and understood. "That brat was putting on airs. What meal gathering could there be? At this moment, he is probably crying in that shabby house where his mother died of illness!"
"Forget him. I'll go feast first."
Spirit Food was not only delicious, but also had the wondrous effect of increasing cultivation, which Ning Ji greatly anticipated.
His guess was partly correct.
Ning Zhuo had already returned to his own home.
Compared to grandfather and grandmother's residence, Ning Zhuo's house was simple and dilapidated.
Ning Zhuo gently closed the courtyard gate, crossed the small yard, entered the main house, and went into the inner room.
This was both his bedroom and his study.
Though the furniture was old and plain, it had been kept very clean.
Ning Zhuo touched the lion-shaped warding stone on his desk.
A faint gleam flashed across the surface of the lion-shaped warding stone, showing that no one had come during his absence.
Ning Zhuo turned and went to the bed, gently twisting the railing beside it. Immediately, a series of creaking mechanism sounds rang out.
Then the bed slid sideways, revealing an underground passage.
He stepped onto the wooden ladder and descended, one step at a time, into the underground secret chamber.
After his feet touched solid ground, he turned the switch on the wall and moved the bed above back into place.
The light from above was gone, but runes on the walls around the basement lit up, making the tiny space even brighter.
At that point, the disappointment, grief, indignation, and repression vanished entirely from Ning Zhuo's face, replaced by complete calm.
He came to sit before the workbench he knew best, where all kinds of mechanism components were spread out.
Ning Zhuo pulled open the drawer on his right, revealing a drawer packed full of pastries.
Every pastry was wrapped in paper.
The paper bore Golden Cuisine Hall's emblem.
He casually grabbed a handful, five or six pieces, circulated his mana, and in the next instant burned away the wrapping paper without causing the slightest damage to the Golden Silk Jade Dew Cakes.
Clearly, he had performed this action countless times and had long become supremely proficient at it.
Ning Zhuo chewed the pastries, his gaze slightly unfocused. In his heart, he reviewed his performance today.
He had maintained this good habit for more than ten years.
There should not have been any problems.
I simply did not expect the others to generally make mistakes in this Grand Examination and fail to fully display their usual standards.
When I looked at the rankings earlier, I almost thought I had failed to control my score and entered the top thirty.