If Lianshan Xin remembered correctly, there had been rumors about Kong Ningyuan and Zeng Ningbing.
But Kong Ningyuan had told him personally that his heart already belonged to someone-who had later been taken as a concubine by his father.
It was a tragic tale of lessons learned within a lineage.
As for the rumors about Zeng Ningbing, Kong Ningyuan had not gone into detail.
Combined with Luo Panlan's remarks, however, it gave Lianshan Xin something to think about. "Madam Huang, are you saying that Fairy Ningbing might hold something against me? We've never even met. What grievance could there be between us?"
Luo Panlan's tone turned a little strange. "You really don't know, Young Master Xin?"
"Please explain, Madam Huang."
"Elder Zeng had already arranged with the Kong Family for their nomination slot to White Deer Grotto Academy this year to go to Fairy Ningbing. But afterward, Kong Liulang went to the Deputy Mountain Lord... to Thousand Faces, and had the slot reassigned to you."
Lianshan Xin: "..."
This was the first he had heard of it.
"Brother Kong never mentioned that to me."
Luo Panlan looked at Lianshan Xin with an increasingly strange expression. "Kong Liulang had the keen eye to recognize a talent and spotted your extraordinary potential early on. Looking back now, it has become quite an admirable story. But his actions put some strain on the relationship between the Kong Family and the alliance. And Fairy Ningbing believes you stole her slot."
Lianshan Xin felt as though disaster had fallen into his lap out of nowhere.
He had been kept in the dark throughout the whole affair.
But he certainly could not blame Kong Ningyuan.
On the contrary, it now seemed that Kong Ningyuan was even more worth befriending.
As for the trouble with Zeng Ningbing...
Lianshan Xin chuckled. "I don't believe I did anything wrong at any point in this affair, did I?"
Luo Panlan nodded repeatedly. "Of course you did nothing wrong, Young Master Xin. It's just that Ningbing is still young, and she's used to being spoiled in the alliance. She may be a little unreasonable, so please be forgiving."
Lianshan Xin gave Luo Panlan a searching look and said meaningfully, "Rest assured. If Fairy Ningbing really comes looking for trouble, I'll make sure to give her a proper reception."
Just when I was thinking a Helmsman's daughter didn't carry enough weight, an Elder's daughter came knocking.
Luo Panlan clearly sensed that Lianshan Xin's words were not friendly, and reminded him again, "Ningbing is already a mid-stage Qi Condensation martial artist."
The implication was that he was no match for her.
Of course, not just any stray cat or dog could discern Lianshan Xin's current cultivation realm.
Viewed in that light, his father's discerning eye really was no idle boast. He truly lived up to his reputation as a divine physician whose signature expertise was "inspection, listening and smelling, inquiry, and pulse-taking."
Lianshan Xin was filled with solemn respect. "Mid-stage Qi Condensation at eighteen. She truly is a young prodigy."
Luo Panlan did not know that the object of Lianshan Xin's solemn respect was Lianshan Jingcheng.
Nor did she know that Lianshan Xin was actually praising himself.
She merely basked in reflected glory. "Indeed. Ningbing deserves to be called a prodigy. Elder Zeng expects her to make the Hidden Dragon Ranking before she turns twenty."
Huang Jingji said with feeling, "In other words, Elder Zeng believes she has a chance of reaching the True Intent Realm before twenty?"
"Naturally."
Lianshan Xin was once again filled with solemn respect. "The True Intent Realm at twenty. How impressive."
Barring anything unexpected, he would be reaching the True Intent Realm very soon.
"Geniuses always have bad tempers. You should be mentally prepared, Young Master Xin," Luo Panlan reminded him.
What could Lianshan Xin say?
He could only thank Luo Panlan for her warning again. "The Golden Scale Alliance certainly lives up to its name. Such deep foundations, producing one genius after another. Though I have the Nine Heavens behind me, I know that its strength and my own strength are two different things."
Luo Panlan's expression shifted slightly. "Young Master Xin, that wasn't what I meant."
"I can hear perfectly well whether that was what you meant. Gang Leader Huang, let's go."
Lianshan Xin wasted no more words on Luo Panlan.
Listen to the words, but hear the undertone-people from Shandong were particularly good at that.
Luo Panlan's purpose just now had not been to warn him, but to flex her muscles.
She had been flexing her muscles at him, a newcomer to the Nine Heavens.
Her attitude stood in stark contrast to Huang Jingji's groveling.
Lianshan Xin did not like that attitude.
After walking out through the Thorn Gang's gates, Lianshan Xin stopped.
"Gang Leader Huang, your wife... really is utterly devoted to the Golden Scale Alliance."
Huang Jingji had clearly also realized that Luo Panlan had just been trying to take Lianshan Xin down a peg.
He gave a bitter smile. "My wife is different from me. She grew up in the alliance, and her father is a Helmsman, so naturally she's more loyal to the Golden Scale Alliance than I am. But rest assured, Young Master Xin. At most, she'll put on a brave front with her words. She would never dare offend you."
"She wouldn't dare offend me, but would she dare offend you?" Lianshan Xin asked.
Huang Jingji immediately puffed out his chest. "Young Master Xin, not to toot my own horn, but I still command respect at home. I'm particularly skilled in the Bedchamber Arts. I wouldn't say my wife obeys my every word, but I often leave her thoroughly subdued."
"Really?"
Lianshan Xin was highly skeptical.
"Gang Leader Huang, you don't understand women. A lot of the time, women only pretend to be excited to play along with men. Even their moans are fake."
Mostly, judging by the secrets he had seen, Luo Panlan hardly seemed like a woman Huang Jingji had thoroughly subdued.
Huang Jingji could tolerate other things, but not Lianshan Xin questioning his virility. He swiftly retorted, "Young Master Xin, you're still young. You don't understand the subtleties of the Bedchamber Arts. I've never amounted to much in martial cultivation, but my virility has never failed me. Everyone who's tried it has praised it."
After a pause, Huang Jingji coughed lightly and added, "I often take the pills your esteemed father invented, too. Every time I take them, I become even stronger than my already formidable self."
"Now that makes sense."
Lianshan Xin nodded slightly.
Clearly, when it came to the Bedchamber Arts, Huang Jingji was a textbook case of an average man with outsized confidence.
A woman moaned a couple of times, and he actually thought he was amazing.
Little did he know that it was her acting that was amazing.
"Let's go."
"Young Master Xin, you're going the wrong way."
"No, I'm not. We're going to my house to see my father."
"What do we need to see your esteemed father for?" Huang Jingji was very surprised.
"Do you know what my father is best at?"
Huang Jingji chuckled. "Who doesn't? Doctor Lianshan is best at restoring spring with his miraculous hands, helping men regain their virility."
In truth, that was not Lianshan Jingcheng's greatest specialty.
It was Lianshan Xin who had suggested that, if he wanted the clinic to do well, he should make Virility Medicine its main attraction.
Lianshan Jingcheng had given it a try.
Business had promptly tripled.
From then on, Lianshan Jingcheng's publicly advertised specialty had become men's health.
"Good, then you know. Let my father examine you."
"Young Master Xin, I don't have any problems in that department."
"That's not for you to decide. We'll listen to my father."
Lianshan Xin had now developed confidence in Lianshan Jingcheng's medical skills.
Even if Lianshan Jingcheng could not identify Huang Jingji's problem, he could tell Lianshan Jingcheng privately.
But Lianshan Jingcheng did not disappoint him.
A quarter of an hour later.
Lianshan Jingcheng lifted his hand from Huang Jingji's pulse and solemnly pronounced a verdict whose weight no man could bear. "Gang Leader Huang, you lost your ability to father children ten years ago. It was probably caused by the cultivation technique you practice."
Huang Jingji's face turned deathly pale.
Lianshan Xin consoled him. "Old Huang, don't worry. Although you're infertile, the good news is that you have a house full of children and grandchildren."
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