Parents and the Family Banquet

Night fell in the blink of an eye.

The Zhang Family's family banquet began.

At a modest round table sat Zhang Ming, his father Zhang Yongfeng, and his mother Li Su.

Though the Zhang Family bore the name of "Half-City" and had several dozen blood relatives of every sort, its core consisted of only their family of five.

Now, Zhang Ming's younger brother and sister were both away apprenticing to learn martial arts, leaving only three people at the family banquet table.

His father, Zhang Yongfeng, was a clever, studious businessman. Before Zhang Ming had begun to exert himself, Zhang Yongfeng had relied on his own abilities to make the shops inherited from Zhang Ming's grandfather prosper spectacularly.

Zhang Ming had merely added a great deal of firewood to that blazing prosperity, making the flames burn even fiercer.

Moreover, Zhang Yongfeng was a relatively open-minded father who valued family, respected his children, and was willing to listen to their voices.

Otherwise, if he had encountered some bullheaded man filled with male chauvinism and the notion that fathers were always right, someone who thought Zhang Ming was just a child who knew jack shit—

And dismissed everything Zhang Ming said with a sneer—

Then no matter how capable Zhang Ming was, it would have been of no use.

It could be said that while the Zhang Family's current title of "Half-City" naturally owed much to Zhang Ming's intelligence and wisdom from his previous life—

It also absolutely could not have happened without his father's trust, willingness to listen, and willingness to try.

His mother, Li Su, had once been the eldest daughter of a down-and-out scholarly family. She and his father had been well matched in social standing. She was kind, thrifty, diligent in managing the household, and exceptionally good to Zhang Ming.

His parents both loved Zhang Ming dearly. They were flesh and blood, bound by kinship.

Thus, Zhang Ming also respected them greatly.

He did not look down on or neglect his parents in any way just because he was a transmigrator.

On the contrary.

He was grateful that the family he had entered after transmigrating could be so harmonious, with a loving father and filial son.

At the family banquet.

Zhang Ming abandoned his usual elegance and calmness. Like a starving ghost reborn, he wolfed down food, desperately shoveling rice into his mouth.

This frenzied sight greatly startled Zhang Ming's parents.

"Son, son, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Slow down, slow down. No one's fighting you for it."

After shoveling another mouthful of rice mixed with meat into his mouth, chewing, and swallowing, Zhang Ming chuckled.

"Father, Mother, I succeeded! I successfully sensed Vital Energy—I did it!"

"Got it, got it. Eat slowly and speak slowly, don't rush..."

"Wait, son, what did you say? You successfully sensed Vital Energy?"

Zhang Ming lifted his head, brimming with joy and confidence.

"That's right, I succeeded!"

There was no need whatsoever to hide the fact that he had successfully sensed Vital Energy.

He had begun practicing martial arts at six, and his family had helped him find a master.

Yet it had taken him a full twelve years to succeed.

Anyone who heard that would only say one thing: what incredible perseverance.

Or, to put it another way: what abysmally poor talent!

Ordinary martial arts apprentices who failed to sense Vital Energy within a few years would be thrown out by their masters.

Only because the Zhang Family was wealthy and maintained "contact" with his master every year had he not been swept out long ago.

In short.

Zhang Ming had spent a full twelve years—several times longer than ordinary people.

The worst of the worst.

Saying it aloud would not arouse the slightest suspicion from anyone.

"Wonderful, wonderful! My son has finally succeeded."

"Haha, yes, yes! He finally succeeded."

His parents laughed heartily, overjoyed by their eldest son's success.

"Good, good, good. It's enough that you've entered the Beginner stage. With our family's resources, we can smash you into the Postnatal Realm even if we have to throw resources at you."

Yang City was only a small city, and his parents did not boast that they could certainly push him to an excessively high realm.

"No need, no need. Don't worry. Even without throwing too many resources at me, I can become a Postnatal Martial Artist."

"I can feel it. With the accumulated effort of these twelve years finally bursting forth, the barrier to becoming a Postnatal Martial Artist may not exist at all."

Zhang Ming casually explained, laying down some groundwork for his future rapid rise in strength.

"Good. As long as you have confidence and a plan in your heart, that's enough."

"Yes, Father, Mother. Don't worry."

After the family of three shared a few laughs and exchanged congratulations and hopes for the future—

The matter came to an end.

At that moment.

His father, Zhang Yongfeng, brought up another matter.

"Zhang Ming, entering the Martial Dao is a good thing. It's good that you have some ability to protect yourself."

"But the city hasn't been peaceful lately. Don't become overconfident..."

Zhang Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew what his father was referring to.

"They can no longer hold themselves back and want to make a move against us?"

Zhang Yongfeng nodded.

"Yes, I understand. I'll be careful."

Over the past dozen years, the Zhang Family had grown rapidly.

But the period of fastest growth had been these recent years.

As some of the "friends" they had funded and befriended began to show their talents in officialdom—

They had cooperated with the Government Office to monopolize certain industries.

Naturally, they had offended quite a few people in the shadows.

Their enemies in official circles could be deterred to some extent through connections made above and below, as well as the backing behind them.

But the martial arts halls, gangs, and Minor Families below were not problems that could be solved with simple payoffs.

As long as you dared reveal even the slightest weakness—

They would dare press forward inch by inch.

Like ravenous beasts that had never known what it meant to be full.

"Practice martial arts properly. Having more ability to protect yourself is always good."

"Those people won't dare confront us openly. They'll only resort to underhanded tricks."

"Thanks to you, we recruited a large number of guards and servants a few years ago. I didn't understand it then, but now I finally do."

"You always see things before they happen and take precautions before disaster strikes."

How could Zhang Ming have failed to prepare for the martial arts halls, gangs, and Minor Families making small moves?

In struggles for profit, it was life or death; one could not go without a guarded heart.

Several years ago, on the eve of the Zhang Family's rapid rise alongside the Government Office, Zhang Ming had recruited a large number of decent young men in advance to serve as household servants and guards.

In the vast Zhang Mansion, there were more than a hundred full-time guards alone, along with several hundred other servants.

It was only a pity that the time had been too short and Yang City too small. The several captains of the Zhang Family's guard units were merely Warriors.

They could not compare with the strongest figures from the gangs, Minor Families, and martial arts halls—their bosses, who had reached the level of Postnatal Martial Artists.

Even so.

But Postnatal Martial Artists were only Postnatal Martial Artists.

A Postnatal Martial Artist surrounded and hunted by over a hundred guards would still die.

With Strong Crossbows and traps as support, they would die even faster.

Therefore.

At the very least, within Zhang Mansion, so-called martial arts halls, gangs, and Minor Families were nothing to fear.

But they were like a swarm of flies, circling the Zhang Family and waiting for a chance to take a bite. It was deeply irritating.

"Wait. In a few more years, more experts should emerge among the family guards. Then we'll deal with them."

If it had been the Zhang Ming of the past, he could only have arranged things this way.

He would have waited for a certain number of experts to emerge from the guard units, then sent them out to deal with those hidden hands.

But...

But now, there was no need for that.

A few years?

No. Zhang Ming was confident that he could become the strongest person in Yang City within a few months.

Then, he could turn Yang City into an impregnable iron plate!

Perhaps he could even turn it into Zhang City.

"Yes, hopefully. But we really should be more careful lately."

"I heard Bashu Province suffered a great famine this year. The White Lotus Sect seized the chance to rise in revolt and turned several commanderies in Bashu Province into a complete mess."

"Jiangnan lies right beside Bashu. Although Xinhe Commandery is deep in Jiangnan's interior, it's possible that in a few months, a great number of refugees will arrive in Jiangnan."

"Our family must prepare early to deal with it."

"The White Lotus Sect, refugees?"

Zhang Ming narrowed his eyes, countless thoughts racing through his mind.

The Great Zhou Empire had stood for a thousand years. Relying on the formidable strength of Martial Saints, it had broken through the so-called dynastic cycle of his previous life.

But in recent decades, unrest had continued to erupt everywhere, while natural disasters and man-made calamities took turns descending.

If not for the fact that changes in this world were ultimately a game for the strong—

The Great Zhou Empire would have been overthrown who knew how many times already.

This great famine in Bashu was the same. Natural and man-made disasters had arrived together, the White Lotus Sect was stirring up trouble, and even demons and evil ghosts had joined the stage. It was an even more tangled mess.

"Yes, I understand."

"Let's hope nothing gets too bad."

As for the state of the Empire, the Zhang Family, living in a small county town, could only pray...

"Alright, alright. Don't talk about such discouraging things while we're eating."

"Today is the joyous day your son became a Warrior. Come, come, we must celebrate properly another day."

"Haha, yes, yes. All three children have now stepped onto the Martial Dao. If your grandfather were still alive, his beard would probably laugh itself crooked."

"Haha."

The family of three laughed as their simple family banquet continued pleasantly.