Foundation Establishment Ceremony, a Verbal "Clash"

Zhang Family, Dongming Mountain.

A middle-aged man with slightly narrow eyes stared at the invitation delivered not long ago by someone from the Ji Family, his expression grave.

After a moment.

He turned to the elder brother beside him—the middle-aged man with a long beard beneath his chin—and said in a deep voice:

"Brother, how do you think we should handle this matter?"

It was clear that the narrow-eyed man was not asking about the invitation sent by the Ji Family.

The long-bearded man clearly understood this as well.

After pondering briefly, he said to the narrow-eyed man:

"Get rid of everything connected to it.

Remember, make sure you leave no loose ends."

The narrow-eyed man still seemed somewhat unwilling.

But in the end, he followed his elder brother's advice and nodded. "All right. Today, I'll make every remaining member of the Sun Family disappear."

Ganyang Mountain.

The location of the Back Mountain.

After Ji Haoyuan told Ji Bochang everything about his experiences and deductions this time, threads of golden light immediately flickered in Ji Bochang's eyes.

"It seems someone has indeed coveted our Ji Family for a long time.

Sun Renzheng's appearance this time is the best proof."

The Sun Renzheng Ji Bochang mentioned was precisely that Masked old man.

Others might not know Sun Renzheng's circumstances, but Ji Bochang was an exception.

If he remembered correctly, when the Demon Calamity erupted in the Sun Family years ago, Sun Renzheng had happened to be away from the family and thus escaped disaster.

Over the years, their Ji Family had openly and covertly suffered many attacks from others.

If they were merely ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, they would never have had the courage to do anything to the Ji Family.

Only if someone stood behind them—and that person's strength was not inferior to the Ji Family's—would those lurking in the shadows, gradually stepping onto the stage, possess the confidence to truly contend with the Ji Family.

And all this was merely what they could see and infer.

As for matters on a deeper level...

At this moment, Ji Bochang and Ji Haoyuan already had a rough guess in their hearts.

But before both sides truly tore off the mask of civility, they still needed to maintain harmony on the surface.

"By the way, Old Ancestor, I found a Pill on Sun Renzheng that can extend one's lifespan."

After reaching a consensus with Ji Bochang on this matter, Ji Haoyuan changed the subject.

He took out the Jade Bottle containing the Ten-Year Pill and handed it to Ji Bochang with a smile.

A look of surprise appeared on Ji Bochang's face.

He truly had not expected Ji Haoyuan to obtain such a thing this time.

For him now, it was undoubtedly something he desperately needed.

And when Ji Haoyuan placed before Ji Bochang that large pile of Jade Slips from the Sun Family, inscribed with all manner of cultivation art inheritances, Ji Bochang truly could no longer remain calm.

As the Ji Family's Old Ancestor, no one understood better than he did what was most important for a family to endure and continue developing.

Apart from necessary external resources such as Spiritual Veins, Treasure Materials, spiritual materials, and the like, the true core of what allowed a family to remain prosperous without decline and continuously grow stronger was undoubtedly its core inheritance.

And what Ji Haoyuan had brought out now was precisely the most important thing to a family—or rather, to a faction.

This delighted him even more than obtaining the Ten-Year Pill.

With this batch of inherited cultivation art Jade Slips, the Ji Family's future descendants would undoubtedly have far more choices on the path of cultivation.

Moreover, one of the other family's core cultivation arts, the Woody Longevity Art, clearly had many similarities with and complementary aspects to the Ji Family's core cultivation art, the Long-Life Azure Wood Art.

This gave him many points of reference and inspiration.

Combined with that Ten-Year Pill, perhaps in the coming years, he, a man on the verge of being buried and dissolving into death, might even be able to advance another step through this.

At the very least, using it to heal some of his old injuries should not be much of a problem.

That way, he might live several more years and perhaps gain several more chances to take action.

Several months later.

Ji Haoyuan's Foundation Establishment Ceremony was held as scheduled on the Ji Family's Ganyang Mountain.

Apart from the cultivators who depended on the Ji Family for survival, those attending the ceremony naturally included cultivators from Nanning Prefecture's other two great Foundation Establishment Families.

At this time.

Within the Ji Family's grand hall for receiving guests.

Ji Haoyuan and Ji Bochang were receiving the Foundation Establishment Ancestors from the Zhang Family and the Liu Family.

They were Zhang Mingyuan of the Zhang Family, the narrow-eyed man; Zhang Mingze of the Zhang Family, the long-bearded man; and Liu Hongyu of the Liu Family, the beautiful middle-aged woman in her forties.

The group conversed with one another, and on the surface, it appeared to be a scene of cheerful conversation.

But just then, Liu Hongyu of the Liu Family suddenly turned to Ji Haoyuan and said in a rather meaningful tone:

"Daoist Friend Haoyuan, before coming to your family, I heard that behind Sun Renzheng, there seemed to be the shadow of another family quietly supporting him.

At the very least, he must have reached some sort of cooperative relationship with a certain family, perhaps even become their affiliate. I wonder if you have heard anything about this, or have any guesses?"

The moment Liu Hongyu said this, the previously harmonious atmosphere suddenly stiffened.

Clearly, no one had expected Liu Hongyu to bring up such a matter at this time.

Zhang Mingyuan and Zhang Mingze immediately narrowed their eyes slightly.

Ji Haoyuan and Ji Bochang's expressions also turned somewhat solemn.

But very quickly, their expressions returned to normal.

Ji Haoyuan smiled and shook his head. "Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Liu. Old Ancestor and I truly do not know much about this matter.

However, Sun Renzheng is already dead. If this is where everything ends, Old Ancestor and I do not intend to pursue it any further."

"Is that so?"

Liu Hongyu smiled meaningfully.

"Then I have spoken somewhat out of turn.

Still, I would like to hear what the two Daoist Friends of the Zhang Family would do if you encountered something similar?"

As she spoke, Liu Hongyu's gaze had already turned toward Zhang Mingyuan and Zhang Mingze.

A faint chill surfaced in the depths of Zhang Mingyuan's pupils.

Zhang Mingze, on the other hand, wore a humble smile across his face.

He looked at Liu Hongyu and answered with a smile:

"Fellow Daoist Liu, you jest. We came here this time to congratulate Daoist Friend Haoyuan. Matters based on nothing but wind and shadows should be set aside for now.

No matter what, our three families have jointly managed Nanning Prefecture for hundreds of years. If anything truly happens, we should naturally cross the river in the same boat and stand united against outsiders."

As he spoke, Zhang Mingze took out a Jade Box from his person and smilingly handed it to Ji Haoyuan.

"Daoist Friend Haoyuan, before coming here, I had already heard that you cultivate a fire-attributed cultivation art. This piece of Blazing Gold Red Iron in my possession should be of some benefit to you.

Consider this a token of goodwill from my younger brother and me on your advancement to Foundation Establishment. I hope Daoist Friend Haoyuan will not refuse."