Early the next morning.
"Ming'er, you awakened a Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone?!"
A woman dressed in pale yellow gazed at the boy sitting at the table, gulping down meat congee. Her face was full of delight and astonishment.
Lu Ming looked up, and a beautiful woman's face was reflected in his eyes. A hint of heroic spirit showed between her gentle brows. She was his mother, Zhong Ying.
Lu Ming smiled and nodded. Although he needed to keep his Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone hidden, that obviously did not include hiding it from his own mother. So when Lu Qingyan returned last night, he must have told Zhong Ying straight away.
"Ming'er, you're amazing!"
Zhong Ying beamed and reached out to stroke the boy's head affectionately. Her voice was full of pride. "Good boy, cultivate hard. When you become a Divine Ability Grandmaster, bring your mother some glory in front of her family. Let's see if they still dare to wag their tongues then."
Lu Ming was speechless. His mother, Zhong Ying, came from the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall in Fengyang Prefecture City. It was a long-established fourth-grade divine ability hall with a formidable reputation in Fengyang Prefecture, and its current hall master was Zhong Ying's father-Lu Ming's maternal grandfather.
But in all the years since Zhong Ying married Lu Qingyan, the two families had rarely visited each other.
The reason was a trite, melodramatic one. Back then, the Lu Clan had fallen into utter ruin, and Thunderfire Hall had only just been established. It had barely reached the second grade and was struggling to gain a foothold in Qingyuan Market. Zhong Ying, meanwhile, was the young lady of a fourth-grade divine ability hall. In terms of family standing and influence, how could the Lu Clan hope to reach so high?
Yet Zhong Ying had set her heart on Lu Qingyan.
Her father had naturally flown into a rage, believing the Lu Clan to be social climbers seeking to attach themselves to the powerful. He immediately forbade the two from seeing each other. During that time, his subordinates guessed at his wishes and took it upon themselves to pressure Thunderfire Hall, even wrecking the hall and injuring people.
When Zhong Ying learned of it, she was furious. Though usually gentle by nature, she possessed a core of unyielding resolve. She left home for Thunderfire Hall, and not long afterward, she married Lu Qingyan.
No one from her family at the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall attended the wedding. Afterward, Zhong Ying stopped returning to her family home, and she rarely even visited Fengyang Prefecture City.
The relationship remained strained for years. Only when Lu Ming was born did the old hall master of the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall finally arrange for a gift to be sent.
With Lu Ming as a link between them, relations between the two families had eased somewhat over the years, though they were still far from close.
As for these old affairs between his elders, Lu Ming could hardly say who was right or wrong. But when it came to whom he was closer to, he would surely stand with his own mother. He nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, Mother. I'll do my best."
Beside them, Lu Qingyan set down his bowl and reminded her, "Ming's Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone must be kept secret, or it will bring a great calamity down on Thunderfire Hall."
Zhong Ying agreed. After all her years married to Lu Qingyan, she naturally knew some of the Lu Clan's secrets.
At that moment, Lu Mengmeng walked out, bleary-eyed with sleep. She stumbled over to sit beside Lu Ming and rubbed her eyes. "Brother, have you awakened a Divine Ability Bone?"
"Yes." Lu Ming ruffled her messy hair, then took a steaming sauce-braised meat bun from the table and handed it to her.
Lu Mengmeng's eyes were still hazy, but the bun's aroma awakened her cravings. She hurriedly accepted it and said enviously, "I want to awaken a Divine Ability Bone too, then learn a divine ability that's simple and easy to master and keeps my stomach from ever getting hungry."
Lu Ming was speechless. She truly was a lazy foodie with no ambition at all.
Lu Qingyan looked at Lu Mengmeng and sighed softly, a little apologetic. "Mengmeng, your brother has awakened a Divine Ability Bone. He'll need plenty of resources to refine his bones from now on, so... that might delay your own awakening a little."
Thunderfire Hall had practically exhausted the resources it had accumulated over many years to nurture Zhang Yue. Now that Lu Ming was also in urgent need of resources, Lu Mengmeng's cultivation resources would inevitably be reduced.
Lu Mengmeng's dark eyes went wide.
Seeing this, Lu Ming was just about to speak up for her when she cried out excitedly, "Father, does that mean I can spend less time cultivating every day?"
For Lu Mengmeng, the time she spent practicing the Qi Refining Art each day was simply the most agonizing torture.
Looking at the wild delight on the little girl's face, Lu Qingyan fell silent. The guilt he had just felt vanished in an instant, and for a moment, he even wanted to serve her a helping of stir-fried pork with cane.
Had he raised this daughter all wrong? She had been greedy and lazy since childhood, and she had no wish to work hard.
Zhong Ying, meanwhile, affectionately pinched Lu Mengmeng's cheek, then turned and went into the inner room. Before long, she came out carrying a wooden box. She opened it to reveal two pills giving off an unusual fragrance, their surfaces covered in fine golden markings.
"High-Grade Bone Refining Pills?" Lu Ming exclaimed in delight.
Lu Qingyan was also taken aback. "Two High-Grade Bone Refining Pills? Where did you get them?"
One High-Grade Bone Refining Pill was worth five hundred grains of Heavenly Gold Sand. Together, the two were equivalent to a month's income for Thunderfire Hall, which was no small sum.
Zhong Ying rolled her eyes at him. "Of course I saved up for them myself over the years."
Lu Qingyan said, "You were hiding these? The hall has been struggling these past two years, and it never occurred to you to bring them out earlier?"
"What for? So you could use them to support that ungrateful wretch Zhang Yue? Why should I? I saved these for Ming'er and Mengmeng!" Zhong Ying said with a cold snort.
She had long disliked Zhang Yue, but had held her tongue before for the sake of the family's circumstances. Now that Zhang Yue had betrayed Thunderfire Hall, she naturally had no need to hold back.
Lu Qingyan faltered, unable to argue. After all, Zhong Ying was right. If she had brought out the Bone-Tempering Pills earlier, they would surely have become cultivation resources for Zhang Yue.
Zhong Ying held out the wooden box to Lu Ming and Lu Mengmeng. "These are for you two," she said gently.
Lu Mengmeng reached out her little hand and pushed it toward Lu Ming. "Brother, you can have them all," she said generously. "Don't let my kindness go to waste. If you can put in the effort for my share of cultivation while you're at it, that would be even better."
Lu Ming did not know whether to laugh or cry. Bone-Tempering Pills were the resource he needed most right now. With these two from Zhong Ying, he would have three High-Grade Bone Refining Pills.
So Lu Ming did not stand on ceremony. He reached out and put all the High-Grade Bone Refining Pills away. "Don't worry, Mengmeng. When it's time for you to open your bones, I'll get you the best cultivation resources, and plenty of them."
It would be at least another two or three years before Lu Mengmeng opened her bones and awakened. Lu Ming believed that by then, he would surely be strong enough to support her.
"Huh?"
Lu Mengmeng's little face fell. Brother, you're repaying kindness with enmity! If you prepare so many cultivation resources for me, will I have any chance to slack off? Wouldn't it be better to get me Firecloud Pastries from Lady Su's shop instead?
Lu Qingyan shook his head helplessly. He was just about to lecture her when a hall disciple came to report, "Second Hall Master, the First Hall Master asks you to come to the front hall. He says the Li Clan's matriarch has come to visit."
"The Li Clan's matriarch?"
Lu Qingyan was taken aback. Then he looked at Lu Ming.
Various powers held sway in Qingyuan Market. Apart from the market yamen established by the authorities, there were two local powers with the deepest foundations: the Li and Yan divine ability families.
In terms of foundations and resources, these divine ability families were much stronger than divine ability halls like theirs.
As for why Thunderfire Hall had relatively close ties with the Li Clan, that had begun not with Lu Jin, but with Lu Ming.
Meeting Lu Qingyan's gaze, Lu Ming said somewhat helplessly, "It's probably because of Jingyi."
Jingyi was the Li Clan matriarch's daughter. As for why her surname was Jing, that was naturally because her father was not a member of the Li Clan. More importantly, her father's family was more powerful.
A delicate face, lovely whether pouting or smiling and brimming with liveliness, flashed through Lu Ming's mind, along with a graceful figure like a tender shoot in early spring.
When Lu Ming was ten, he had gone out with Lu Qingyan just as the Black Rain Season suddenly erupted. Rain Spawn broke through their confinement, unleashing the Black Tide.
In the chaos, Lu Ming and Lu Qingyan were separated. That was when he met Jingyi, who was a year younger than him and had likewise been left alone amid the turmoil.
Lu Ming glanced down at his right arm. Three vicious claw marks, each about an inch long, marred it. He had received them saving the little girl during that upheaval, and death Qi had corroded his flesh and bones, leaving scars that were difficult to heal.
Fortunately, that outbreak of the Black Rain Season had been extremely brief. When the black rain eased a little the next day, the Li Clan threw all its strength into frantically following their trail, finally finding the two children curled up in a rock crevice in the wilderness.
No one knew how much terror the two children had endured that night, but it was that accident that brought Lu Ming and Jingyi together. From then on, she often visited Thunderfire Hall, and the two gradually grew close.
That continued until a year ago, when Jingyi reached the age to open her bones and cultivate. Her father's family had taken her away, and she had left Qingyuan Market.
After leaving, Jingyi often sent Flying Crane Letters all the way to Qingyuan Market.
"I miss Sister Jingyi so much. When can she come back?" Lu Mengmeng said pitifully.
Lu Ming rolled his eyes at her. The little foodie did not miss Jingyi at all; it was plainly because whenever Jingyi was around, she would take her to eat all the best and most expensive delicacies in Qingyuan Market.
"Jingyi really is a good girl. She was born into a divine ability family, but she doesn't have the least bit of a noble young lady's spoiled temper." Zhong Ying smiled at Lu Ming as she spoke, hinting at something.
Lu Ming sighed helplessly. "I've said it many times. She and I are only friends. She's just a little grateful to me because of what happened back then."
"Perhaps," Zhong Ying said noncommittally.
"It's most clearheaded of Ming to think that way. Jingyi's father's family seems quite extraordinary. Now that she's far from Qingyuan Market, you two may not walk the same path in the future, so it's best to keep the friendship casual." Lu Qingyan strongly approved of Lu Ming's clearheadedness.
"That's a little too realistic and cruel, isn't it? What's wrong with my son? With his talent now, who wouldn't he be worthy of?" Zhong Ying said, somewhat displeased.
Seeing the two bicker, Lu Ming quickly said, "Mother, I have great ambitions. I have no interest in romance!"
"What great ambitions?" Zhong Ying asked irritably.
Lu Ming slapped the table and declared passionately, "Revitalize the Lu Clan! Revitalize Thunderfire Hall!"
"That's my boy!" Lu Qingyan exclaimed in admiration.
Zhong Ying was speechless. She waved her hands repeatedly in disgust.
"Like fools."
"Both of you, get out!"