Early Years (Thanks to Chen Meng Liuli for Three Love-Powered Donations! Thanks!)
"This child is so beautiful, those big eyes are exactly like your grandmother's back then..."
Li Guanfu took Su Yu's hand, sighing as they walked into the guest hall, showing no sign of awkwardness and even appearing somewhat friendly.
"Grandpa Li, do you know my grandma and the others too?"
Su Yu hadn't experienced this kind of care and attention from the elderly at East University for many years. He was unusually polite and respectfully called him "Grandpa."
"Speaking of which, it's not an exaggeration for you to call me Grand Uncle. When I was little, I was a page in the Wuxing Shen Family, serving your uncles and aunts every day. That's how I met your grandmother. Your Shen Family is the most skilled in herbal witchcraft and the concoction of secret medicines. It was around that time that I became interested in witchcraft. Later, as your uncles and aunts grew up, and I learned of my obsession with witchcraft, your Shen Family sent me to the Ling Nuo Lü Mansion, not wanting to bury my talent. After all, the Shen Family's secret techniques are not passed on to outsiders. But I am still extremely grateful. If it weren't for your Shen Family, I might have been a wretched old man nearing the end of my life, or perhaps already a handful of Kitsuchi..."
"So that's how it is," Su Yu sighed, marveling at the irony of fate. "Everything we do is preordained." The old man continued.
"I also went to the great battle in 1959. The Ling Nuo Lü Mansion was severely weakened at that time. Only one in ten of the Divine Transformation Elders remained, and even the Divine Guardians were few and far between. Because of my intelligence and the long-term support of the Shen Family, I had already reached the Imperial Mask Realm. That was also the last time I saw your grandparents..."
Li Guanfu, seemingly choked up, as if he were recalling that night, that night of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Dark clouds pressed down across the land, a torrential downpour ensued, silvery lightning ripped through the heavy sky, and thunder followed closely behind.
"Little Guanfu, hide in the back. What are you showing off with, you mere cultivator at the Imperial Mask Realm?"
Su Wentao shielded Li Guanfu from the fatal Demigod's attack, spitting out a mouthful of blood, but instead smiled and turned back to say something to him.
"Brother Su, I can do it! I can forcefully activate the Thunder Duke's Power..."
Li Guanfu looked at Su Wentao and anxiously began to speak, but before he could finish, he was interrupted.
"Little Guanfu, don't think I don't know. Those are masks that only elders and sect leaders at the Divine Descent Realm can wear. I brought you here, so I have to take responsibility for you. Your life shouldn't be lost here. Live well..."
As Su Wentao spoke, he spat out another mouthful of blood. Using his spear as a support, he struggled to his feet and turned to look at the Demigod in the sky.
"Little Guanfu, haven't you long wanted to see your Brother Su's Blood-Burning Secret Art? Today I'll let you witness it! These bastards, it's time you tasted fear! With my body of the Return Realm, I will surely pluck the heads of you invaders today!"
"Watch closely, Little Guanfu! This is what it truly means to be invincible at the Demigod level, and to trade one for one with those above the Demigod!"
A sudden clap of thunder outside the window pulled Li Guanfu back from his reverie. The tea in his hand had long since gone cold. Li Guanfu sighed, wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye, got up, opened the window, and looked at the heavy rain pouring down outside.
"Child, I know what you'll face this time. They've only had a few years of peace, and they've already forgotten what those days were like. They've started fighting for power and profit. How utterly ridiculous! Do they think they can just move the status of the four great families like they want? They've forgotten that the reputation of the four great families was never earned through petty theft like they do. It was earned by the lives of generation after generation. Your grand-uncle is telling you this right now: if you want to touch your Su Family, you'll have to get past my old life first!"
A thunderous boom resounded, reflecting the old man's face, and Li Guanfu's aura suddenly intensified.
"Li Guanfu has finally overcome his inner demons... Congratulations, another Demigod has been born at East University."
Zhang Qinwan drank the water in her glass in one gulp and slowly opened her mouth.
"My old friend's grandson has returned to East University today. If I, an old man, don't do something, how will I face my elder brother when I see him in the future? A mere head of the Cultivation Bureau, he has no right to point fingers at East University. What nonsense!"
As he spoke, Li Guanfu put on the Thunder Duke Mask that he had polished for half his life. With a bird's beak and a human body, two wings on his back and a thunder hammer in his hand, he instantly soared into the air. In an instant, the scattered thunder in the sky suddenly became dense, and streaks of lightning surged back and forth between the dark clouds, densely hitting the ground.
"Holy crap..."
Malfoy was speechless with shock. Was this old man really that powerful? His Lightning-Calling Spell only produced one bolt of lightning. This East University priest was using lightning like a Gatling gun! The Daoist magic of Dongda University was truly utterly unreasonable.
The Hogwarts Academy special team had a very comfortable two weeks at the Ling Nuo Lü Mansion. The senior students there were all very nice to talk to, but they weren't used to the food.
Early in the morning, it's millet porridge or plain porridge, plus wheat cakes or steamed buns. The side dishes are just stir-fried greens and a few pickled vegetables. At noon, there is meat, but the staple food is rice or mixed grain rice. On fasting days, there is not even meat. Evenings are even more difficult, with thin porridge, steamed cakes, mixed grain buns, pickled vegetables and dried tofu, and sometimes a small portion of fish or meat.
This made the Britain London, who were used to fried food, feel like they were living in Hell. Goyle and Crabbe even started hallucinating, staring at the hens in the yard every morning until they stopped laying eggs.
Su Yu ate quite comfortably. He wasn't used to fish and chips anyway, so eating light meals every day was fine. It was just that Kurama kept clamoring for cheesecake. When Su Yu ignored her, she started urging Goyle and Crabbe to go hunting for wild game in the mountains.
The animals on the mountain suffered greatly on this trip. Wild rabbits, pheasants, roe deer, bamboo rats, doves, and wild pigeons all ended up in their stomachs. Later, the group grew larger and larger, with Malfoy, Pansy, Blaise, and Callis joining in. Su Yu smiled and didn't say anything. That night, he took a lot of delicious food from his stepmother and shared it with the girls. Zhang Qinwan was worried that Su Yu would get thin from hunger, so she cooked all sorts of delicious food every day. Daphne and Cho Chang often helped out, and the meals they prepared were quite lavish.
"So, this is your excuse for cheating on me???"
"But isn't the food you eat outside good enough?"
Seeing the Kurama's agitated state, Su Yu glanced away and whispered.
"You know what?! You know what?! I've been eating barbecue for a whole week! I'm practically marinated in it!"
Today, Kurama was really tired of eating roasted wild game, so he came back first. However, as soon as he entered the door, the sky fell down. Su Yu and the others were sitting together eating hot pot, with various ice creams, fruit salads, and seafood laid out next to them.
Waaah, Kurama cried so pitifully while holding Zhang Qinwan, calling her "stepmother" so loudly that even the usually aloof Zhang Qinwan blushed deeply. This child, why is she following Su Yu's nonsense, calling someone "stepmother" like that...?