The Cheng Family

Inside the ancestral hall, incense smoke curled and drifted ceaselessly.

Yun Jiang's consciousness hovered among the densely packed memorial tablets.

His heart churned with emotions far beyond those of ordinary years.

The peculiar dreams of that brat Yun Hu.

And that Qingcheng Mountain card that could manifest on its own.

These matters were truly steeped in an indescribable strangeness.

Character inheritance cards actually concealed such branching plot developments?

The Qingcheng Swordsman card was like that.

Then, did the Shaolin Monk card in Yun Long's hand, and Yun He's Wudang Daoist Doctor card, also hide similar hidden keys?

Waiting for a specific opportunity to be triggered?

As for how to trigger it...

Yun Jiang couldn't figure it out for the moment.

Forget it.

These complicated matters were best left for Yun Long and the others to ponder slowly themselves.

The most pressing matter now was to deal with the useless thing on the ground in the ancestral hall.

Yun Ji.

He was kneeling and wailing, snot and tears streaming down his face.

His voice was incredibly penetrating, shaking the accumulated incense ash off the memorial tablets.

Why had he never realized before that Yun Ji, this old fellow, was such a stubborn mule at heart?

Yun Jiang's consciousness was filled with deep helplessness.

The insights into cultivation techniques he possessed all originated from the generations of cultivation experiences of the Yun family members.

Unfortunately, not a single person in the Yun family had ever managed to truly cross that insurmountable barrier and reach the coveted Qi Refining realm.

Yun He had merged with the Wudang Daoist Doctor card.

Her comprehension of the Wudang Xiantian Gong was already profound enough.

All she lacked was the accumulation of True Qi day and night.

These precious insights had already been transmitted to Yun Ji once before, through the power of incense.

However, it was ultimately a transmission through a layer of ethereal incense smoke.

Its effect was far from as thorough and clear as directly merging with a card.

Yun Ji needed to comprehend it himself, to understand it himself.

But this old fellow was truly living up to the old saying, stubborn and unwilling to change.

At his age, once he got stubborn, even ten oxen couldn't pull him back.

From dawn till dusk.

His pig-slaughtering cries never ceased in the ancestral hall.

"Ancestor! Please manifest your spirit!"

"Please pity your useless and unfilial descendant!"

"If you don't help me, I will kneel here forever! Please, Ancestor!"

Yun Jiang was so annoyed by him that his consciousness was almost destabilized.

Fine, fine!

He hardened his heart and condensed all his understanding of the Wudang Xiantian Gong, along with the more complete essence of the cultivation technique indirectly "observed" from Yun He and others, into a massive torrent of information.

Then, with a sudden surge, he poured it into Yun Ji's mind!

Yun Ji, who had been wailing incessantly on the ground, suddenly stiffened.

The earth-shattering cries came to an abrupt halt.

He remained in a kneeling posture, his eyes wide open, his expression vacant.

He looked as if he had instantly turned into a clay statue, motionless.

A moment later, the bewilderment in his eyes gradually faded.

It was replaced by a look of deep contemplation.

He knelt there silently on the cold bluestone floor.

His entire being was immersed in profound realization.

It was impossible to tell when he would awaken.

Wanfang Lake, its surface undisturbed, yet an undercurrent was already surging, threatening to breach the banks.

The news of the Yun Family's successful refinement of Qi Nourishing Pills was like a massive boulder dropped into an already crowded pond, its ripples spreading outwards, agitating sensitive nerves in all directions.

This seemingly tranquil expanse of water was already a den of dragons and snakes, with various forces intertwined.

Now, a mere small pill had become the fuse that ignited everything.

The lake was only so big, and the resources were only so plentiful.

Three Qi Refining stage cultivators were already the absolute limit this place could support.

The Ning Family, having established themselves in the western part of Wanfang Lake for over a decade, had managed to coexist peacefully with the other three local powers without any major bloodshed. That fact alone was incredible.

And now, there was the Yun Family, whose background was completely unknown.

Ning Yongrui, that old fox, his mind as deep as the sea, had not revealed a single shred of the Yun Family's true strength.

It was no wonder, then, that the Yun Family had acted so low-key when they first arrived.

So low-key that almost everyone subconsciously overlooked the fact that they might have a Qi Refining stage cultivator backing them.

Even now, the true leaders of the three major powers in Wanfang Lake probably still didn't consider the newly arrived Yun Family as their equal.

So what if they could produce Qi Nourishing Pills?

In their eyes, if the Yun Family truly possessed formidable strength, why would they hide away, not even daring to let a Qi Refining stage cultivator show their face?

If they were strong, why would they abandon their homes and migrate to this remote corner of Wanfang Lake?

This was merely the self-preservation tactic of the weak.

Little did they know, this apparent "weakness" was subtly striking a chord with everyone, causing the stagnant waters of Wanfang Lake to boil over completely.

The killing intent beneath the surface had become thick and palpable.

Inside the Cheng Family's main hall, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive.

"Slap!"

A crisp slapping sound suddenly rang out.

Cheng Ningcui watched in horror as her mother was slapped to the ground by her father, Cheng Mingyue, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

The innocent naivete she had cultivated for over a decade crumbled to dust in that instant.

She had never seen her father look so furious and monstrous.

Cheng Mingyue's chest heaved violently, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at his wife, who lay sprawled on the ground.

"Foolish woman! If not for your usual indulgence, how could she be so ignorant of her own limitations!"

He roared, his voice hoarse with extreme anger.

Cheng Mingyue knew his daughter's intentions all too well, and he had anticipated that she would throw the embroidered ball to Yun Hu.

However, he had only arranged for two people to provide support, intending a mere probe, not to actually take Yun Hu's life.

But who did those three additional Xiantian martial artists who suddenly appeared belong to?

Had the main family grown impatient, thinking he hadn't acted ruthlessly or thoroughly enough?

Thinking of this, Cheng Mingyue felt a chill spread through him.

His Cheng Family, having changed their name and lived in Donghu City for decades, was merely a bloodline planted here by the Mo Family.

Now, it seemed, this pawn had reached its time to be discarded.

Madam Cheng clutched her face, tears streaming down, and choked out, "Mingyue, how could you let Cui'er take such a risk? She's our own flesh and blood!"

"Flesh and blood?" Cheng Mingyue let out a sharp, cold laugh, like a wounded lone wolf.

He suddenly grabbed his wife's collar, pulling her up from the ground, and bellowed, "You think I'm heartless? Hate me for sending Cui'er to her death?"

"Are her life, Cheng Ningcui's life, the only ones that matter? Are the lives of my entire Cheng Family, over two hundred people, not worth anything?!"

"Do you think today's event was just a simple ball-throwing ceremony? That was the Mo Family using us, the Cheng Family, to fill a pit! To test the Yun Family, to stir up the waters of Wanfang Lake!"

Cheng Mingyue's eyes were bloodshot, despair and madness intertwined.

"Our branch family has been separated from the main family for so long, people's hearts have long since scattered! Now, how many people truly care about that so-called 'main family'?"

He asked himself and answered, his voice filled with endless sorrow.

"I don't know, and I don't need to know. Whether we want to go back or not, as discarded pieces, our Cheng Family will have no good end!"

Cheng Mingyue released his grip, and his wife slumped to the ground.

He looked at his tear-streaked daughter, a desolate smile appearing on his face.

"Since that's the case, tomorrow, you will accompany me to the Yun Family to propose marriage."

Upon hearing this, his wife's body trembled violently, and she looked at her father in disbelief.

Propose marriage? At this time, go to the Yun Family to propose marriage?

Cheng Mingyue seemed not to notice his wife's shock, his gaze passing over her and landing on a corner of the screen behind the hall.

There, Cheng Ningcui was huddled, already in tears.

He had already noticed his daughter hiding to the side.

"Cui'er." Cheng Mingyue's voice was hoarse, yet carried a hint of imperceptible weariness and warmth.

"You're quite lucky; that Yun Hu doesn't seem to have any interest in you."

"For the next few days, stay home and rest, don't go anywhere."

He paused, lowering his voice, and said word by word, "If there's real danger, hide in the secret passage under your bed. Only the three of us know about it. Remember, don't let anyone else know, and absolutely do not go with them through the family's tunnels."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Ningcui's entire body turned ice-cold, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.