Toward the Tiger's Mountain

Hearing Meng Haoran of the Xinghua Village Meng Family speak with such confidence, Gray Robe Jiang Lao, Jiang Haifei, could not help feeling uneasy.

"Haoran, I understand what you mean. Any cultivation family would gladly raise its rank as high as possible in the shortest time, perhaps even stand shoulder to shoulder with those founding aristocratic clans. But you must understand one thing: our Xinghua Village Meng Family is an ordinary cultivation family. For hundreds of years, we were nothing more than a lesser cultivation family. It was only in the past decade or so that we began to show signs of rising!"

Gray Robe Jiang Lao, Jiang Haifei, said earnestly, "It took our Xinghua Village Meng Family roughly two or three years to rise from a lesser cultivation family to a Ninth-Rank Cultivation Family, then about ten more to become an Eighth-Rank Cultivation Family. Any other cultivation family would be delighted with that. I think we need to develop steadily, not be so impatient."

At that point, Granny Yu of the Black Market picked up where Gray Robe Jiang Lao, Jiang Haifei, had left off.

"Old Jiang is right. For a cultivation family to keep climbing, it needs the right time, the right place, and the right people. Our Xinghua Village Meng Family has all three now. That is our chance to rise. As long as we hold firmly to it, becoming a Seventh-Rank Cultivation Family is only a matter of time!"

Granny Yu of the Black Market said worriedly, "But what you're doing now is walking straight into the empress's trap. Haoran, one misstep could destroy that chance. Then our Xinghua Village Meng Family would not only lose its chance to become a Seventh-Rank Cultivation Family—we might not even be able to keep our current standing as an