Ancestral Teachings

After three cycles of cultivation, Sanbao stopped and left his room. Once he had washed up, eaten, and taken care of the other basic necessities, he began wandering around the Luo family's back courtyard.

It wasn't that Sanbao didn't want to keep cultivating. His meridians were aching unbearably all over, and if he continued, he might damage his foundations. Too much of a good thing could be harmful; Sanbao understood the importance of balancing work and rest.

For nearly two years, Sanbao had lived in seclusion, almost cut off from the world. But the people of the Luo family had always treated him well and looked after him in every way. Without them, he probably wouldn't have made it this far. Now, he felt it was time to pay them a visit.

"May I ask if eldest brother is home?"

The back courtyard of Luo Mansion had more than a dozen small courtyards, each occupied by different people: direct members of the Luo family, servants and guards, maids and attendants, and so on. Sanbao had headed first to the home of the eldest brother, Luo Kaifeng. As for Old Luo, the two of them were as close as father and son, so there was no need for formalities.

"So it's Third Brother! Come in and sit down. Xiaohong, bring some tea. Your eldest brother just went to the Copper Mine and hasn't come back yet." At the maid's announcement, a graceful woman who looked to be in her twenties came out. She was none other than Luo Kaifeng's wife, Ren.

"It's only been a few days, and you've already filled out, Third Brother. You're looking much better, too. Come, come, let your eldest sister-in-law have a good look. Are you completely recovered?"

Ren didn't bother with formalities. She pulled this younger brother, who was even two years younger than her youngest son, straight into the room. She examined him here and there, acting every bit like an elder brother who was a father to him and an elder sister-in-law who was a mother.

As for Sanbao's true "illness," she knew nothing about it.

"Hello, eldest sister-in-law. I'm all better. Thank you all so much for taking care of me these past two years!" Sanbao replied with a cheerful smile.

"Now, Third Brother, don't be so formal. We're blood relatives. What's a little thing like this..." Ren replied, privately admiring Sanbao's composure and good sense. After all, he was only twelve.

The two chatted about family matters, getting along exceptionally well.

"Second Young Madam, n-no, something's wrong..." A young servant suddenly rushed into the room. Seeing Ren, he didn't even notice Sanbao beside her and hurriedly shouted.

"Xiao Wu, what's got you in such a rush?" Ren shot to her feet, her voice full of annoyance and reproach.

A faint air of authority radiated from Ren. Only then did Sanbao realize that his eldest sister-in-law was also a powerful Spirit Cultivator. But where had the title "Second Young Madam" come from? Was this servant from Ren's maiden family?

"Yes, Second Young Madam. It's just... it's just that Third Young Master... someone cut off his foot!" Though the servant had noticed Sanbao, he must have figured he was no outsider, so he hurriedly answered.

"What? Who would dare do such a thing?"

Ren was truly alarmed this time. The Third Young Master of the Ren family was her favorite nephew, and the most talented of the Ren family's third generation. The family had been counting on him to inherit its future, and now someone had cut off his foot.

Most importantly, didn't the person who did it know what kind of backing Ren had? Even if he didn't care about the Ren family, did he dare disregard the Luo family?

Surely there was no one like that in Lushan Town.

"Second Young Madam, it was Yan Wuhua of the Yan family. The Third Young Master saw an embroidered sword on the street and liked it, but Yan Wuhua said he'd had his eye on it, too. They started arguing, and then... then Third Young Master was cut down by him." The servant stammered out his answer.

"Are you all useless? You just watched the Third Young Master get cut down?" As soon as Ren heard it was the Yan family of Deer Mountain, her anger ebbed. After all, the Yan family was the "strongest" force in Lushan Town.

"The Yan family had several men there, too. We tried to help, but they stopped us, so all we could do was let the Third Young Master..."

"Enough. Go back and tell the master. I'll speak to him when I get home." Ren waved the servant away, her face full of annoyance.

"Third Brother, something's happened to my family, so I need to hurry back. Today..."

"Oh, take care of what's important. I'll come visit you again when I have time..." Sanbao didn't linger and was about to leave before Ren. Just as he reached the doorway, someone rushed in from outside. It was the Luo family's second young master, Luo Caiguang.

"Mother, Third Cousin was cut down by Yan Wuhua of the Yan family. Should we... Huh, Third Uncle, you're here, too?" Fourteen-year-old Luo Caiguang was already a head taller than Ren. With his sturdy build, he looked more like a young man of eighteen or nineteen. He seemed more than three or four years older than his short, skinny "Third Uncle," Sanbao.

"Yes, Caiguang. Long time no see." Sanbao had no choice but to stop.

"Oh, I went to Deer Mountain to train for a while and only got back yesterday. But look at you—you can actually be seen somewhere other than the back mountain. That's strange! You're better now, right?"

Compared to two years ago, Luo Caiguang had matured a great deal, both physically and mentally. Sanbao couldn't help but envy him, thinking:

This "nephew" Caiguang is only two years older than me, yet he's already so big and mighty. I'm still a little runt.

"I'm all better. I just haven't fully recovered yet," Sanbao replied.

"Oh, then you can cultivate spiritual power now, too. That's great! Our Luo family will have another expert. Oh, right, I'm going to teach Yan Wuhua a lesson later. Want to come with me?" Luo Caiguang said loudly, his voice brimming with confidence.

"Caiguang, don't be ridiculous. Yan Wuhua is nearly ten years older than you, and he's already a four-star Spirit Scholar. How could you possibly be a match for him?" Ren hastily stopped him.

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm a three-star Spirit Scholar myself. If we really fought, it's anyone's guess who'd lose." Luo Caiguang wore a reckless grin. In his eyes, there was only one person in the Yan family worth worrying about.

"Don't be foolish. Have you forgotten our Luo family's ancestral precepts? You're not allowed to leave the mansion. I'm going home. If anything happens, I'll have your eldest brother send for you." Ren hurried away as she spoke.

At the mention of the ancestral precepts, half the fire went out of Luo Caiguang. He pulled Sanbao over to sit beside him.

"Those ancestral precepts again. Third Uncle, we're about the same age. Tell me, aren't our Luo family's precepts a load of crap? They tell us to keep getting stronger, but they won't let us fight. What kind of lousy precepts are those?"

"Caiguang, if the family head heard you say that, he'd peel off a layer of your skin. If the precepts say so, there must be a reason. Suppose we had an incredibly powerful enemy, one even the family head couldn't deal with, and he was constantly searching for us. What do you think we should do?" Sanbao could only try to comfort and reason with him at the same time.

"Then we'd hide and cultivate hard, of course. Once we were strong enough, we'd go kill him and leave not a single one of his men standing!" Luo Caiguang's face brimmed with murderous intent. He was every inch the hot-blooded youth.

"Exactly. Isn't that what the ancestral precepts call for?" Sanbao countered.

"Right! How did I not think of that? Wait, no. Our Luo family is absolutely number one in Deer Mountain. What powerful enemy could we possibly have?" Luo Caiguang nodded, then shook his head. Though he still hadn't quite grasped the reasoning, his resistance to the precepts had eased.

With the limited experience he had at this point, there was no way he could know about the top-tier powers in the world.

"Third Uncle, do you know what I saw in Deer Mountain these past few days? I saw a third-tier Spirit Beast! Good thing eldest brother was there, or else..."

"I've seen even a sixth-tier Spirit Beast..." Sanbao chuckled to himself, but didn't say it aloud. He just listened quietly to Luo Caiguang, chiming in now and then.

The two were, after all, close in age, and soon they were chatting about everything under the sun. Most of the time, Caiguang did the talking while Sanbao listened.

They each got what they wanted. Caiguang could show off his "extraordinary" knowledge to his Third Uncle, while Sanbao was happy to hear about things he didn't know.

"Second Young Master, Second Young Master! Oh, Third Master's here, too. Second Young Master, the eldest young master wants you at the main gate!" The arrival of a servant interrupted their lively conversation.

"What? The main gate? All right! Eldest brother's definitely going to pick a fight with the Yan family. Come on, Third Uncle, let's go together!" At his eldest brother's summons, Caiguang sprang up from his stool and pulled Sanbao along.

Sanbao had been about to refuse, but after a brief hesitation, he changed his mind. The two headed over together.

Because of his poor health, Sanbao had always led a very low-key life. Apart from a handful of people, many didn't even know the Luo family had another second-generation member. But now he had successfully completed Blood Fusion, and his cultivation of spiritual power was on the right track. It was time to make contact with the world around him. With that in mind, Sanbao accepted Caiguang's invitation.

The two soon reached the main gate of Luo Mansion. The Luo family's eldest young master, Luo Caiyang, stood there, looking full of himself. Several members of Ren's clan and more than a dozen guards from Luo Mansion were also ready to move.