Although the "Regulations on East-West Trade Administration (Provisional)" had been published, they had yet to take effect.
Zhang Chengdao took a bag of roasted sunflower seeds from his pocket, fragrant and crisp, and shared a small handful with his wife. His tone remained conversational.
But there was a measure of seriousness in it:
"Xiao Xiao, walk your mother and me through the whole situation, along with your solution."
Seeing that her husband was about to teach their son a lesson, Li Qingshu chose not to join in. She simply sat beside them with a smile, listening quietly.
Because of the Old Celestial Master's prohibition, they had never revealed their identities to their son. They had treated themselves as ordinary people, doing nothing beyond giving him textbooks from Huaxia and teaching him a little alongside his regular studies.
They had interfered with nothing else, letting Zhang Xiao enjoy ten happy years.
But after his summer trip to Dragon-Tiger Mountain and his talisman investiture, both Dragon-Tiger Mountain and the Daoist Order had all but acknowledged Zhang Xiao's standing as a young Celestial Master.
Thirteen years old, invested at the seventh rank, versed in both Eastern and Western arts, drawing on the strengths of both-he had shown the art of talismans a path it had never known before.
The stronger a Celestial Master was, the better!
Ideally, every generation's Celestial Master would tower over the entire age and sweep away every monster and fiend!
So things were different now. Experience could be accumulated slowly over time, but his way of thinking and the breadth of his perspective also had to grow.
Zhang Xiao thought for a while, organized his words, and laid out his reasoning:
"First, there's the way this news was released. Cornelius Fudge is testing us. He wants to see how