"Good lad, you finally came back!"
Seeing Li Yun again, Zhang Cong seemed delighted. He immediately pulled Li Yun over to sit down and personally poured him a cup of tea.
"Here, have a taste."
"I just got some Biliu Needle!"
Li Yun was somewhat flattered. He lifted the teacup and gave it a slight sniff. Sure enough, a faint fragrance wafted into his nose, making him unable to resist swallowing.
After taking a small sip, he found the tea even sweeter. Once swallowed, its fragrance lingered between his lips and teeth.
"Truly fragrant!"
"Thank you for Elder Zhang's hospitality..."
"Tch, cut it out. I heard from Ruohan that you were quite the oddball in that valley. Why are you acting so restrained in front of me instead?"
"Hehe... You're an elder, after all!"
"What elder? There's no outsider here. From now on, just call me Uncle Zhang..."
Zhang Cong said heartily.
At those words, a strange expression immediately appeared on Li Yun's face.
Good heavens, this old man was trying to take advantage of him!
Besides.
By the Zhang Family's seniority, Zhang Cong had to call Zhang Ruohan Aunt, while Li Yun called Zhang Ruohan Senior Sister. If he then called Zhang Cong Uncle... wouldn't that turn everything into a complete mess?
"What, you look down on me? Am I not worthy of being called Uncle?"
Seeing Li Yun hesitate, Zhang Cong's face darkened.
Li Yun helplessly hurried to explain, "No, Elder Zhang has misunderstood. I was only wondering whether this would violate sect rules..."
"How does this violate sect rules?"
"I may be an Outer Sect Elder, but can't I acknowledge a nephew in my personal capacity?"
"It's settled, then. Whenever no one else is around, you'll call me Uncle Zhang."
The words had already reached this point.
If Li Yun kept looking for excuses, he would truly be slapping Zhang Cong in the face. There was no need for that.
Besides, Zhang Cong was already quite advanced in years, at least over sixty. For a sixteen-year-old youth like himself to call him Uncle Zhang was hardly a loss.
He would just consider it a matter of being civilized and fostering new trends.
Thus, Li Yun put down his teacup, rose to his feet, and respectfully called Zhang Cong Uncle Zhang.
Zhang Cong immediately beamed.
In his eyes, he had gotten an enormous bargain.
Over the past few days.
Through analyzing the information Zhang Ruohan had brought back, he had become increasingly certain that Li Yun's future would be exceptionally bright. So long as he was properly protected, becoming an Inner Sect Disciple would be nothing; even advancing to become a Core Disciple would be well within reach.
As of now, the Zhang Family faction had no Core Disciples in the Celestial Martial Sect, nor even any closely connected to them.
This undoubtedly affected the Zhang Family faction's development within the Celestial Martial Sect.
Li Yun did not bear the Zhang surname and could not be considered part of the Zhang Family, but factions had never relied solely on blood ties. What mattered more were shared interests.
As long as both sides' interests aligned and they could piss into the same pot, that was enough.
Of course, an even closer relationship would be better still.
Regarding this matter.
The Zhang Family had already begun considering it internally.
They were already selecting candidates from both the main and branch lines, intending to choose a woman whose looks and figure, personality and temperament, and even talent... all matched Li Yun's, then introduce her to him.
It was simply that they had yet to find a suitable candidate. They were also afraid of frightening Li Yun, so they did not dare let even a hint slip.
But before that.
Acknowledging Li Yun as a nephew first was never a bad idea.
"I know all about what happened to you in that valley. To comprehend the Sorrowful Wind Swordplay in only two days is indeed remarkably impressive!"
"Originally, I supported your continuing your secluded cultivation there."
"For a martial artist, being able to endure loneliness and devote oneself to the Martial Dao is the first step toward becoming strong. However, we have already formally petitioned the Outer Sect Elder Hall to make you the Renzi Head Disciple. You cannot be absent, so we could only call you back first."
At the mention of this matter.
Li Yun's heart stirred slightly as well.
"Uncle Zhang, I heard that someone in the Elder Hall opposes my becoming the Renzi Head Disciple?"
"Ruohan told you, didn't she? What do you think? Are you angry?"
Zhang Cong deliberately answered Li Yun with another question, wanting to see how he would react.
Generally speaking, blocking someone's path to advancement was like killing their parents. Upon hearing such a thing, most people would likely be furious.
"Angry?"
"To be honest, not at all!"
Contrary to Zhang Cong's expectations, Li Yun merely smiled faintly, without a trace of anger showing on his face.
This made Zhang Cong somewhat unable to believe it.
He suspected Li Yun was pretending.
Though Li Yun was young, only sixteen this year, there was no shortage in this world of people born with deep cunning. At a young age, they were already adept at controlling their emotions, keeping joy and anger from showing on their faces.
Once such people grew up, they were basically born tyrants!
But Li Yun quickly gave his explanation.
"First, anger is useless. Since someone can oppose my becoming the Renzi Head Disciple in the Elder Hall, they must have put forward legitimate reasons. That is not something anger can change."
"Rather than indulge in meaningless anger and throw my mind into disorder, I might as well use my strength to directly shatter every excuse for opposition."
"Second, I do not actually know who is opposing my becoming the Renzi Head Disciple. Whom should I direct my anger toward? Myself? Uncle Zhang, do you think that would be appropriate?"
Zhang Cong was instantly left speechless: "..."
But he was even more pleasantly surprised.
Li Yun had only offered two reasons, yet they fully demonstrated his calmness.
A disciple with excellent talent, who knew when to be humble, could keep a cool head, and was handsome to boot—Zhang Cong no longer knew how to gauge Li Yun's future.
"Perhaps this is the fortune of our Zhang Clan line."
"When fortune arrived, it just so happened that Zhang Ruohan encountered Li Yun, and by coincidence, they became acquainted because Li Yun and Zhang Chu were both disciples of Rank 95 Academy..."
"What a pity. If Zhang Ruohan did not already have a marriage contract, then the two of them could have just... sigh!"
Zhang Cong suddenly felt somewhat regretful.
However, he did not dare reveal it. Many people were dissatisfied with Zhang Ruohan's marriage contract, but they had no choice but to accept it.
He stopped dwelling on it.
After chatting with Li Yun for a while, he instructed Li Yun to come again the next day. Early tomorrow morning, he would take Li Yun directly to the Elder Hall and strike while the iron was hot, settling the title of Renzi Head Disciple in one go.
Li Yun also asked about going to the Martial Armory to collect Martial Arts manuals.
Zhang Cong said they should settle the matter of the Renzi Head Disciple first before going to the Martial Armory. Once he obtained that title, he would enjoy privileges within the Martial Armory that ordinary disciples did not have.
Not only could he select two additional Martial Arts manuals, but the maximum grade of the Martial Arts manuals he could choose would also be higher.
Since they were making a move, they naturally had to maximize the benefits.
Naturally, Li Yun would not object.
After drinking tea for a while longer at Azure Cloud Residence, he left and returned directly to Rank 95 Academy. He had been working hard outside for several days, focusing only on cultivation and accumulating Cognition Points, without getting much rest.
Tonight, he decided to wash up and go to bed early, giving himself a proper rest.
Martial Dao cultivation could not be like a string stretched taut all the time; that made it easy to snap. One had to know both tension and relaxation.
Before you continue