The reason the Dragon Clan held such an exalted status in Thunder Province yet still retained the appearance of an ordinary mortal village
was because they were following the ancestral instructions left behind by the Dragon Clan's progenitor.
It was said that, many years ago,
the Dragon Clan's progenitor had been nothing more than an unremarkable farmer. By chance, he received guidance from immortals and gods, and only then did he embark upon the great path to heaven.
Yet even after his cultivation became unfathomable and his name shook the Nine Provinces, the progenitor never forgot the four words left behind by those immortals and gods.
Do not forget your roots.
Thus, in the heartland of Thunder Province, he set aside a stretch of ordinary farmland.
He also sternly ordered his descendants that, no matter how high their cultivation became, they must build their homes here, sow in spring and reap in autumn, never forgetting their mortal roots.
That was how the Dragon Clan village of today came to be, with the sounds of chickens and dogs carrying from one home to the next.
Of course, these words were merely what the Dragon Clan told outsiders.
As for whether they were true or false, even the Dragon Clan's current descendants did not know.
Following her memories, Long Zhi passed through more than half the village. Clan members occasionally passed by along the way.
She patiently nodded and greeted every one of them.
Only when she was nearing the somewhat spacious courtyard at the very center of the village
did an auntie who had been sitting on the doorstep picking vegetables suddenly rise and block her path.
"Girl, are you going to see your father?"
Long Zhi halted and looked up.
She quickly recognized who it was.
"Third Aunt."
She nodded.