Only after Meng Haoran and Meng Bohai had left the forest did the former finally break into a faint smile.
"Ha ha ha, that was pretty funny just now."
Meng Haoran turned his head toward Meng Bohai. "Clan Uncle Bohai, did you see the look on Gray Robe Jiang Lao's face when we scared him?"
Meng Bohai chuckled softly as well. "Heh heh, of course I saw it. His mouth was hanging so wide open, it looked as though he could swallow an entire fist."
Seated atop the Spirit Beast Flying Star Horse, Meng Bohai adjusted its direction and said in a low voice, "Though Gray Robe Jiang Lao is older than either of us, his experience is no greater than mine. From the look in his eyes just now, I could already see what he was thinking!"
Meng Haoran asked, "Clan Uncle Bohai, what thoughts could Gray Robe Jiang Lao possibly have? We supplied him with so much Second-Tier Spirit Plant Six-Pattern Wheat, and he still isn't satisfied?"
"As someone from Chiyang County's Black Market, murder and robbery are everyday business for a Black Market merchant like him. The Six-Pattern Wheat we provided him these past two times earned him enough Spirit Stones, but it also let him see how quickly our Meng Family is growing!"
Meng Bohai shook his head. "Today, in order to keep the Lin Family from suspecting our Meng Family because of Lin Jiangye's death, we had to dispose of those two Cultivation Methods, the Qi Gazing Technique and the Body Sculpting Art. That was precisely what gave Gray Robe Jiang Lao thoughts he should never have had."
Meng Haoran guessed, "Could it be that Gray Robe Jiang Lao wants to secretly investigate our Meng Family?"
"These two Cultivation Methods, the Qi Gazing Technique and the Body Sculpting Art, are hot potatoes in our Meng Family's hands. If the Lin Family were to learn of them by accident someday, our Meng Family would be firmly branded as Lin Jiangye's murderers. To guard against every eventuality, we must dispose of these two Cultivation Methods."
Meng Bohai nodded. "Gray Robe Jiang Lao knows this as well. From this, he can tell that our Meng Family is in a period of rapid growth. Yet he himself is merely a Rogue Cultivator and a Black Market merchant. If our Meng Family truly rises in the future, then for Gray Robe Jiang Lao to do business with us as an equal will already be impossible."
Meng Haoran had understood the meaning behind Meng Bohai's words and continued, "So, if he wants to maintain this equal footing and gain greater benefits for himself, he can only seize some leverage against us and use it to threaten our Meng Family!"
Meng Bohai nodded slightly in agreement. "Otherwise, when we do business and make deals with Gray Robe Jiang Lao in the future, he can only act according to our expressions. That would not serve the personal interests of a Black Market merchant like him."
"Pah! A snake trying to swallow an elephant, never satisfied! Our Meng Family has brought Gray Robe Jiang Lao so much Spirit Stone income, yet that old man is still not content!"
Meng Haoran said with a trace of anger, "Fortunately, before we left, Clan Uncle Bohai, you used your cultivation to intimidate him!"
Not long ago, when Meng Haoran and Meng Bohai had parted ways with Gray Robe Jiang Lao, the latter had personally witnessed Meng Bohai's Dao Foundation!
Though Gray Robe Jiang Lao was only a cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection, Meng Bohai believed that after roaming the world for so many years, he must know a great deal about Dao Foundations.
"Hmph! If that Gray Robe Jiang Lao has any sense, he should understand what I meant by revealing my Dao Foundation!"
Meng Bohai said coldly, "Heh heh, unless he is someone who does not know whether he lives or dies!"
The moment Gray Robe Jiang Lao saw Meng Bohai reveal his Dao Foundation, he had already been scared out of his wits.
As a Rogue Cultivator who had struggled through Chiyang County's Black Market for so many years, he had once encountered cultivators in the Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm.
Although Gray Robe Jiang Lao could tell at a glance when Meng Bohai revealed his Dao Foundation that Meng Bohai was merely a Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, that was still not someone he could resist!
If Meng Bohai had harbored malicious intentions just now and suddenly struck to kill, Gray Robe Jiang Lao might not have been able to escape from his hands!
After all, the Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm was still a kind of Foundation Establishment Realm, an existence no Qi Refining Realm cultivator could contend against!
"Ha ha, once Gray Robe Jiang Lao saw Clan Uncle Bohai's Dao Foundation, all his wild thoughts should have vanished into thin air!"
Meng Haoran knew that Rogue Cultivators like Gray Robe Jiang Lao, who lived every day on the edge of a blade, cherished their lives the most.
Since cooperating with their Meng Family brought him Spirit Stones to earn, why would he needlessly investigate the backgrounds behind Meng Haoran and Meng Bohai in secret?
Did he not want to prosper together?
Meng Bohai lifted his head to gaze at the stars filling the sky. "All right, Haoran. We need to head back quickly. It's getting late."
Meng Haoran nodded. "All right!"
With that, the two of them rode away at speed.
At the first pale light of dawn, while most of Xinghua Village's villagers had yet to rise for work, Meng Haoran and Meng Bohai quietly slipped into the Meng Family compound.
The old routine remained unchanged.
Meng Bohai took the Spirit Stones exchanged for the Six-Pattern Wheat from Meng Haoran and headed deep into the Spirit Spring to report yesterday's events to Clan Leader Jingshan.
Meanwhile, Meng Haoran repeated his old trick and replanted a full five mu of Six-Pattern Wheat seeds in the Meng Family's rear courtyard.
When the Daoist Magic Minor Cloud Rain Art released its final drop of rain, the Cauldron Liquid in Meng Haoran's Heavenly Cauldron had also been completely used up.
Ever since Meng Haoran learned that the Cauldron Liquid produced by his cultivation within the mysterious Heavenly Cauldron played an important role in his own cultivation, the planting of Six-Pattern Wheat in the Spirit Plant Field, and the rearing of the Meng Family's captive Spirit Beasts, he had filled small porcelain bottles whenever the Cauldron Liquid filled the Heavenly Cauldron, saving it for future use.
After accumulating it for this period of time, Meng Haoran had already hidden a total of one hundred and twenty-three bottles of Cauldron Liquid inside his Storage Bag.
Meng Haoran thought, Even if I leave the Meng Family someday, the Cauldron Liquid in these porcelain bottles will still be able to help the Meng Family weather some difficult days.
Seeing that the planting work in the Spirit Plant Field was complete, Meng Haoran turned and headed toward the area where the Spirit Beasts were kept.
Before the Meng Family clansmen had risen, he secretly took out two bottles of Cauldron Liquid and sprinkled them into the Spirit Stones consumed by the Spirit Beasts.
This Heavenly Cauldron has an unknown origin and astonishing functions. I absolutely cannot expose it before others. But now that every branch of the Meng Family's industry has gotten on the right track, there will certainly be more places that need me in the future. If I alone have to care for larger areas of Spirit Plant Fields or more kinds of Spirit Beasts, I'll be stretched too thin.
Sitting on a stone bench, Meng Haoran lowered his head and thought in secret, It seems it is time to find an opportunity to tell the clansmen about the Cauldron Liquid in another way. Only then will the Meng Family's development and my own cultivation cease to hold each other back.
Hearing that the captive Spirit Beasts before him had all awakened, Meng Haoran continued thinking, My cultivation is still too low. Only by raising it to Qi Refining Perfection will I have some say within the Meng Family and be able to use the Heavenly Cauldron to accomplish more!
While Meng Haoran lowered his head in thought over his own future and the Meng Family's development, on the other side of Xinghua Village, the gates of the Lin Family quietly opened, and a man slowly emerged.
If Meng Haoran had been there, he would have recognized him at a single glance.
This man was none other than Lin Jiangye's father, Lin Qingbai!
Before you continue