After leaving Mingyu Mountain, Chen Xiao slapped three God-Speed Talismans onto himself and hurried back to the Chen Clan at top speed.
Mengmeng and Cai Di had already returned earlier, as Chen Xiao had instructed. There was no helping it: the Heaven-Concealing Jade Talisman Chen Xiao had used at the end was far too powerful. He had vanished completely right before their eyes, and they had no idea where he had gone. Rather than anxiously waiting around on Mingyu Mountain, they figured they might as well go back and wait there.
After returning to the Chen Clan, Chen Xiao didn't tell Chen Tiannan what had happened that day. Chen Tiannan was too rigid by nature. If he learned that the Nangong Family had tampered with the Spirit Vein beneath Mingyu Mountain, he would surely make a scene.
Chen Xiao didn't want that to happen. He planned to muddy the clear waters of Moon-Gazing City, then quietly fish out some benefits for himself.
Chen Xiao had also cautioned Mengmeng and Cai Di, and they both understood how serious the matter was. They kept their mouths shut.
However, something happened that nearly made Chen Xiao's eyes pop out of his head.
For some reason, Cai Di suddenly decided to take Mengmeng as his disciple. Mengmeng was naturally a hundred percent willing. Cai Di was an unparalleled master who could even poison an immortal to death. How could she refuse when he wanted to take her as a disciple?
But after hearing Cai Di's explanation, Chen Xiao understood.
Mengmeng had the rarest of constitutions: the Mysterious Baleful Yin Meridian, seen only once in ten thousand years. If awakened, it might be no weaker than Chen Xiao's Immortal Spirit Root. The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect had been founded ten thousand years ago by an unparalleled master with the Mysterious Baleful Yin Meridian.
The bluish-black birthmark on Mengmeng's face had also been caused by poison leaking out of her Mysterious Baleful Yin Meridian. Otherwise, with a cultivator's magic power, how could she have been unable to refine away even a small birthmark?
Once Mengmeng officially began cultivating Ten Thousand Poisons Return to Sect and awakened the Mysterious Baleful Yin Meridian within her, the bluish-black birthmark on her face would naturally disappear.
Though Chen Xiao had been reborn and had mastered the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's Ten Thousand Poisons Return to Sect, his knowledge and experience couldn't begin to compare with those of this old monster who had lived for hundreds of years.
Besides, Cai Di had devoted himself to studying the art of poison and knew a little about some of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's secrets.
After hearing Cai Di's explanation, Chen Xiao gladly presided over the apprenticeship ceremony. But Cai Di's identity couldn't be revealed yet, so only a few members of Chen Xiao's family were present.
Chen Tiannan knew Cai Di's identity. Though he didn't know why this strange old poison master was willing to join the Chen Clan, he figured that an eccentric expert like him would be hard to understand anyway.
So, to win Cai Di over further, Chen Tiannan readily took Mengmeng in as his adopted daughter. Mengmeng was three years older than Chen Xiao, so she naturally became his older sister.
Chen Xiao had no objections. He knew how Chen Tiannan and Su Mulan treated Mengmeng. Though she was nominally a servant, they had long since treated her as their own daughter.
After being reborn, Chen Xiao had also long considered Mengmeng his older sister, so he was more than happy with it.
Mengmeng's apprenticeship wasn't made public, but the family gathered together and celebrated joyfully.
The next day, Chen Tiannan sent out invitations throughout the city and adopted Mengmeng as his daughter in front of everyone. Cai Di joined the Chen Clan as Mengmeng's master, becoming an outside elder of the Chen Clan.
Chen Xiao understood that Chen Tiannan was doing this simply to win Cai Di over, but there was nothing wrong with that. At least this way, Cai Di would follow him wholeheartedly.
To celebrate the City Lord's new adopted daughter, Moon-Gazing City held a three-day feast. The heads of the city's prominent families, including the Nangong Family, the Beiyu Family, and the Li Family, were all invited to dine at the City Lord's Mansion.
Chen Xiao was still as flamboyant as ever. He wore a moon-white robe edged in gold, with a pile of expensive ornaments jingling on him. He waved a gold-edged folding fan and swaggered along with his chin held high.
His cultivation was suppressed to the third level of Qi Refining by a Breath-Concealing Talisman, and his arrogant, overbearing air was even stronger than before. Everyone knew that the Chen Clan had a genius with an Immortal Spirit Root. If this young dandy didn't flaunt his connection and throw his weight around, he wouldn't be the Chen Xiao everyone knew.
When Chen Xiao saw Chen Tiannan, he couldn't help admiring him in secret. Chen Tiannan looked spirited and flushed, as if he had never been injured. But a keen observer would notice that his steps were a little unsteady, and a sickly pallor flickered beneath the flush on his face. It was clear he was using some method to cover up his condition.
That was only natural. If Chen Tiannan had come out looking pale, Nangong Shenhe would have seen through the act at once. Only this sort of overdone attempt to hide the truth could convince the other side that Chen Tiannan was still gravely injured and hadn't recovered.
"Well, if it isn't the Third Young Master? Long time no see. Where have you been enjoying yourself all these days?"
A nasal, quacking voice reached Chen Xiao's ears. He turned to look and saw a young man dressed even more flamboyantly than himself, approaching with a golden folding fan in hand.
This young man was another notorious dandy of Moon-Gazing City, famous alongside Chen Xiao: Nangong Wenyang, a son of the Nangong Family. Though Nangong Wenyang was a dandy, his cultivation was no weakling's. He had already reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, far beyond Chen Xiao's former level.
"The city's been a lot less fun without the Third Young Master around these days. But don't worry, Third Young Master. My fifth brother's in seclusion right now, so he won't have time to bother with you."
Nangong Wenyang jabbed at Chen Xiao.
These past few days, after teasing Nangong Wenxing because of Cai Di, Chen Xiao had rarely gone out in Moon-Gazing City. Aside from the three days he had spent at Mingyu Mountain, he had stayed inside the City Lord's Mansion, consolidating his cultivation and drawing talismans.
Of course, this seemed perfectly normal to the city's residents. Last time, Nangong Wenyue had beaten him for teasing Nangong Wenxing. After recovering, he hadn't learned his lesson and had gone right back to harassing another young lady. Would Nangong Wenyue let him get away with that? The city's residents all figured he had been scared straight by Nangong Wenyue and was keeping a low profile to avoid him.
The Nangong Family, however, preferred to believe that Chen Tiannan had grounded Chen Xiao. If Nangong Wenyue damaged Chen Xiao's meridians again, the Nangong Family might not find anyone else willing to refine a Three-Star Pill for him.
"Oh, I was wondering who had such a loud voice. So it's Brother Wenyang. I caught a bit of a chill these past few days and have been resting at home. I'm touched you've been thinking of me."
Chen Xiao seemed not to notice the jab at all, and flashed a broad smile. Please. He had planted an Innate Kui Water Talisman inside Nangong Wenyue. Unless Nangong Wenyue had a congenital constitution on the same level as an Immortal Spirit Root—an Innate Li Fire Constitution capable of balancing yin and yang and bringing water and fire into harmony—she was probably struggling to suppress her roiling true essence right now.
There was no way she could come out.
Xianxian and the others, along with the stone bridge, had mysteriously vanished from the depths of Mingyu Mountain. The Nangong Family was furious, but hadn't suspected anyone else. This had happened before. Every so often, Xianxian would recover her spiritual power, take the stone bridge, and burrow into the Spirit Vein. The Nangong Family would then have to spend a great deal of effort fishing her and the bridge back out.
But just then, a tremendous spiritual pressure suddenly descended from the sky.
"Chen Fengyang, accept the seal!"
An immeasurably vast voice rang down from above. In an instant, every cultivator in Moon-Gazing City felt a strange, suffocating pressure.
An immortal had descended!