Translator: I edited Chapter 9 and changed ‘black pearl’ to ‘Xuanzhu’ and ‘Black stone’ to ‘Xuanshi’.
—-
A strange phenomenon enveloped the sky above Chongxiao Garden, prompting the Wu family branches to take action. Particularly, the members of the Ninth Branch immediately started searching in the direction of the purple light beam.
Wu Shaoshan, the eldest son of the Ninth Branch, lived in one of the large courtyards within the garden. The estate had several layered courtyards, each containing numerous smaller ones. He was delighted to find that the light beam was shining over a specific area in his backyard, and he naturally rushed towards it without hesitation.
Not only Wu Shaoshan, but also his numerous wives, concubines, and children hurried towards the light.
As they got closer to the beam, they soon arrived at the largest side courtyard—this was the residence of Wu Shaoshan’s main wife, Li Ruer. The only child she had raised here was Wu Dongxiao, who was not yet three years old.
Li Ruer stood in front of the wide-open door, not daring to enter recklessly.
Inside the room, Wu Dongxiao, who should have been napping, was now looking up through a large hole in the roof at a long halberd in the sky. At the moment he activated the soul artifact, the halberd had broken through the roof, following the purple light.
Wu Shaoshan and Li Ruer watched Wu Dongxiao with tense expressions.
Behind them, other family members and descendants stood together in groups, all looking quite uneasy.
Especially noteworthy was the eldest legitimate son, Wu Donghong. He possessed top-tier Xuan-rank talent, making him the most gifted among Wu Shaoshan’s children. His parents had always focused their efforts on cultivating his abilities. However, now that a top-tier Di-rank talent had emerged, it was bound to affect the distribution of resources for Wu Donghong in the future.
Wu Donghong had two legitimate sons, one aged eight and the other three. Normally, he would be leading one and holding the other, but sensing his anger, both boys developed a strong aversion towards Wu Dongxiao.
Though no one dared to voice their thoughts, everyone was calculating their own interests internally.
— Such excellent talent, why couldn’t it have been mine?
— It’s actually Wu Dongxiao! The legitimate wife will be even more pleased now! Yang’er’s two children are about the same age as that boy; I’ll have them cozy up to him and reap some benefits. But the other concubines’ grandchildren are around the same age too, and they’ll definitely try to take advantage as well. I need to teach my children how to flatter properly. And I must keep an eye on Xiang’er’s temper, she needs to be a gentle elder sister.”
— “It’s easy to trick little kids. Jin’er and Fang’er are his niece and nephew; if they flatter him more, who knows…”
Other members from various branches of the family arrived one after another. Some came in person, while many sent their servants to inquire about the situation.
Soon, news spread rapidly, and the area around Wu Shaoshan’s large courtyard became noisy and bustling.
Suddenly, a powerful aura surged through the area, startling everyone, who turned to look in the direction of the pressure.
A pair of richly dressed middle-aged individuals, with anxious expressions, were approaching.
Wu Shaoshan quickly stepped forward to welcome them.
These two were none other than the head of the Wu family and his wife, Wu Mingzhao and Yang Jingfei.
Seeing Wu Dongxiao, glowing with spiritual energy, the couple both sighed in relief.
He really is their grandson! This is wonderful!
Wu Mingzhao’s face beamed with joy.
Yang Jingfei’s expression softened, filled with gentle affection.
—-
Jianghe Garden, Huxin Residence.
Wu Shao’an suddenly overturned the table, his eyes bloodshot with anger.
“Another one! Yet another one! And it’s even Wu Shaoqian’s nephew!”
Over a dozen servants around him all knelt on the ground, cold sweat dripping down their faces, not daring to make a sound.
Wu Shao’an’s face twisted with rage, as if he wished he could reach out and tear down the phenomenon in the sky.
At the age of two, Wu Shao’an unlocked his soul artifact and summoned a mid-tier Di-rank Purple Shadow Bow.
In this generation, the best talent among the Wu family children was mid-tier Di-rank, and there hadn’t been such a talent for over a decade before Wu Shao’an. Naturally, he received the family’s attention, an abundance of resources, and the adoration of his kin. His parents doted on him with utmost care and attention.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Cultivators with Di-rank or higher talents have memories from birth. Wu Shao’an remembered everything clearly and thoroughly, enjoying it immensely.
Lbkfnfg, pera atgff wbcatr ijafg, j afggloslcu qtfcbwfcbc jqqfjgfv lc atf rxs, rb ugjcv atja la vlraegyfv atf fcalgf Becsec Jlas, mjerlcu wjcs riffqifrr clutar.
Ktf Qe ojwlis tjv j cfk qgbvlus klat abq-alfg Kljc-gjcx ajifca!
Ktlr kjr atf ylgat bo Qe Vtjbdljc, ktb fnfc rewwbcfv j ijguf ybk—atf Vec-rtbbalcu Dbk.
This completely overshadowed Wu Shao’an’s Purple Shadow Bow.
Overnight, all attention shifted to Wu Shaoqian, while Wu Shao’an was forgotten, becoming merely a slightly favored member of the family.
Even Wu Shao’an’s parents, though still caring for him, no longer had high expectations. Occasionally, they would sigh in private, lamenting the poor fortune of their branch.
Wu Shaoqian, meanwhile, basked in endless glory, even receiving visits from the revered elders.
Just as the Purple Shadow Bow could never compare to the Sun-shooting Bow, with Wu Shaoqian around, no one paid any attention to Wu Shao’an.
Wu Shao’an had come to terms with his fate, but then Wu Shaoqian, due to his outstanding talent, was plotted against, becoming crippled and forced to marry a lowly talented male spouse. Wu Shao’an was naturally gleeful, thinking he could finally regain some dignity. However, before he could enjoy his newfound status, the Ninth Branch produced another top-tier Di-rank talent!
The more triumphant Wu Shao’an had felt earlier, the angrier he was now. He closed his eyes tightly, and a hint of malice slowly grew in his heart.
After a long while, he opened his eyes and summoned his death guard, giving a malicious order: “Xia Jiang, go find out how Wu Shaoqian and his new spouse are doing.”
A shadowy figure instantly appeared, knelt briefly, and then vanished in the blink of an eye.
—-
In the evening, Zhong Cai had finished making several batches of Buqi Dan and was feeling a bit tired.
Wu Shaoqian, having already ordered dinner, noticed this and pulled him up, smiling, “Come on, let’s go eat.”
Zhong Cai, exhausted, leaned heavily on Wu Shaoqian as they walked.
Wu Shaoqian dragged Zhong Cai into the courtyard, where the phenomenon in the sky had already dissipated without their notice.
At this moment, Xiang Lin suddenly appeared at the second gate.
Seeing him, Zhong Cai asked, “What’s up?”
Xiang Lin reported, “Young Master Shao’an’s death guard was spying around here this afternoon.”
Wu Shaoqian frowned slightly, puzzled as to why Wu Shao’an would spy on him. Although they were close in age, they were not familiar with each other and had never interacted.
Zhong Cai, however, remembered and blurted out, “Is that the cousin who has a grudge against you? What’s he trying to pull by sending someone to spy on us?”
Wu Shaoqian was taken aback and looked at Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai, seeing his reaction, guessed, “Don’t tell me… you had no idea this guy dislikes you?”
Wu Shaoqian felt a bit embarrassed.
Zhong Cai burst into laughter, “Haha! You really didn’t know!”
Wu Shaoqian sighed, “Stop laughing. How do you know he dislikes me?”
Zhong Cai rolled his eyes and described Wu Shao’an’s demeanor from that day.
“If it were someone else marrying into the family, a broad-minded person might not care about the Wu family’s attitude, knowing it’s mutually beneficial. But if it’s a narrow-minded person, unable to confront the Wu family, they’d have to bottle up their resentment, right?”
“The Wu family is marrying someone from the Zhong family to cure you! If you marry a pushover, even if they give you the Guhun Fruit, it might not work, and then you’re doomed!” Zhong Cai put his arm around Wu Shaoqian’s shoulder and punched him in the chest. “He hates you so much he wants to kill you, and you’re still clueless? You’re really heartless!”
Wu Shaoqian was speechless.
Well, this was unexpected. He didn’t recall ever offending Wu Shao’an.
But the fact that Wu Shao’an dared to embarrass Zhong Cai made him disgusted.
Zhong Cai chuckled, “What’s so surprising? Jealousy is the original sin. Back when you were shining brightly, surely many people didn’t like you behind your back, not just Wu Shao’an. But whether envy or jealousy, it’s all human nature. People like Wu Shao’an, who are so eager to cause trouble, are the minority.”
Wu Shaoqian wasn’t concerned about how many people disliked him; he only cared about Zhong Cai’s feelings.
“Well, what about you…” he hesitated, “have I ever made you upset?”
Zhong Cai burst into laughter, “When your clothes were torn in the wilderness, it was I who sewed them up for you. Is it because I can sew and you can’t that you dislike me?”
It was a bit convoluted, but Wu Shaoqian understood and smiled warmly.
Of course, Zhong Cai harbors no dark feelings towards Wu Shaoqian. Firstly, they genuinely get along well. Secondly, Zhong Cai’s poor heart health before his transmigration and his retained memories from his previous life play a significant role.
His memories from his previous life have shaped Zhong Cai, preventing him from being overly influenced by this world.
People in this world are very ambitious, prioritizing talent above all else. But for Zhong Cai, just saving his life and being able to see the scenery of another world is already a huge gain. While Wu Shaoqian undoubtedly has exceptional talent, there were plenty of experts in various fields in Zhong Cai’s previous life. He didn’t envy a neighboring artist just because he couldn’t paint, or a singer just because he couldn’t sing, or a scientist just because he wasn’t as intelligent.
So in Zhong Cai’s eyes, Wu Shaoqian is just a promising newcomer in the field of cultivation. Is there a need to envy him? Even if there is occasional envy, Zhong Cai can quickly digest it. Despite his lively appearance in front of Wu Shaoqian, his emotions are actually quite stable.
Zhong Cai is content with his current lively state. Being able to cultivate is icing on the cake for him, and each additional year of life is a bonus. He doesn’t aspire to hang himself up in the sky like the sun.
Zhong Cai looked at Xiang Lin and gestured, “Continue.”
Xiang Lin proceeded to report succinctly, “I sent him back.”
Zhong Cai immediately smiled.
Wu Shaoqian nodded and said, “Even though I’m currently out of favor, it’s right to send back anyone who comes to spy on us.”
Xiang Lin bowed and left the courtyard. It was clear he had nothing more to add.
Turning to Wu Shaoqian, Zhong Cai said, “Old Wu, in the future, if anything happens, let’s focus on nurturing Xiang Lin. When his strength improves, it will enhance our safety when we go out.”
Wu Shaoqian agreed, “Let’s focus on his development for now. Zhong Da can also allocate some resources to him.”
For families like the Zhong and Wu families, which have been passed down for many years, there are many means to ensure the safety of their descendants. However, each family has its own rules and methods, but generally, they will arrange a relatively strong protector for their descendants, who will be supported by the family themselves.
These protectors are responsible for guarding the younger generations of the family when they are weak, and as the descendants’ strength increases, they become their right-hand men.
In the Wu family, whether they are from the direct line or side branches, once the descendants open their soul artifact, they will be provided with a death guard at an appropriate time. If they have not been able to open the soul artifact, a death guard will be assigned when the descendants reach the age of twenty.
The qualifications and strength of the death guards are allocated based on the talents of the Wu family descendants.
For instance, although Wu Shaoqian was born with a top-tier aptitude, he still required the care of elders. Therefore, when he was three years old and started practicing, Xiang Lin was assigned to him as his death guard. At the same time, Xiang Lin had the best qualifications among the batch of death guards, with top-tier Xuan-rank talent. His cultivation level was now in the fourth level of the Palace Aperture Realm, having advanced from the first level after fifteen years of diligent practice
On the other hand, the guards assigned by the Zhong family are only given to descendants of the direct line, not the side branches.
This is because only the direct line descendants have the Guhun Fruit growing alongside the Guhun Miracle Tree at birth, and the Zhong family does not have the resources to cultivate guards for every descendant. Therefore, they provide this special treatment exclusively to the direct line descendants.
Whether it’s a death guard or a protector, or protectors given to juniors by other families or factions, they are almost universally trusted, and the reason for this is that they all signed a death contract with their juniors early on.
This death contract isn’t the indentured servitude contract for servants that Zhong Cai brought over, it’s one that is sworn in blood and bound by special spells. From that point forward, their lives are completely tied to their master’s, and if the master dies, they will die too — and moreover, the death contract can’t be undone.
So even though Zhong Cai was married and Wu Shaoqian was out of favor, Zhong Da and Xiang Lin still had to follow them.
Currently, Wu Shaoqian didn’t have much power to wield, and there was no room for improvement. Zhong Cai’s realm was low, and he also had to spend time refining pills and cultivating, so his breakthrough speed would definitely slow down. The issue of safety could only be entrusted to the trusted aides of the two.
Zhong Da had mediocre talent, just average at Huang-rank, with a dull personality and average intelligence. Even with ample resources, it would take him a considerable amount of time to reach the Palace Aperture Realm. Zhong Cai’s only requirement for him was obedience.
On the other hand, Xiang Lin’s talent was already quite high, and investing heavily in his cultivation wouldn’t be a loss.
—-
On the other side, Xia Jiang, who had sustained internal injuries, returned to the Huxin Residence and knelt to beg for forgiveness. “I am incompetent and was discovered by Xiang Lin.”
Wu Shao’an furrowed his brows. “Your abilities are comparable. How did he find you?”
Xia Jiang bowed his head, not daring to explain. What other reason could there be? Wu Shaoqian had gained a lot over the years and didn’t skimp on his close aides, providing Xiang Lin with ample resources. Moreover, he often took Xiang Lin into the depths of the forest for training and frequently guided him. Thus, although they are at the same level, Xiang Lin’s combat experience and understanding of martial arts far surpasses Xia Jiang’s.
However, Wu Shao’an would not want to hear these truths.
Xia Jiang simply admitted his fault. “I did not execute my task well.”
Wu Shao’an had never cared about Xia Jiang, nor did he pay attention to his pale, obviously severely injured state. He merely issued a stern command, “Find another opportunity to investigate carefully. Report back immediately once you have information.”
Xia Jiang accepted the order and left again.
Wu Shao’an, meanwhile, was visibly displeased, growing even more resentful towards Wu Shaoqian.
—-
Wu Dongxiao’s talent barely consoled the Wu family after losing their Tian-rank prodigy, but top-tier Di-rank was still far inferior to top-tier Tian-rank. Thus, although the elders felt somewhat relieved, they wouldn’t visit personally.
However, for Wu Mingzhao and Yang Jingfei, this was actually better. A top-tier Tian-rank talent was more dazzling than they anticipated, making their efforts futile. Top-tier Di-rank, while still impressive, wouldn’t provoke enough envy to warrant destruction.
After discussing, the couple decided to bring Wu Dongxiao back to their own courtyard for upbringing.
Wu Shaoshan and his wife, Li Ruer, were more than happy to have his parents look after their youngest son, as it meant they could gain more benefits.
Wu Dongxiao didn’t disappoint the head couple. His companion artifact, the Black Dragon Halberd, granted him an inheritance close to Tian-rank, allowing him to progress rapidly with minimal effort.
Meanwhile, countless people outside the Wu family came to inquire about the situation, almost breaking down the Wu family’s doors.
The Wu family announced this joyous event to the world, once again drawing the envy of various forces. In the past, except for Wu Shaoqian, the best talent in Kunyun City had only been high-tier Di-grade. Wu Dongxiao surpassing this by a small margin was quite rare.
Thus, the Wu family, previously demoralized by the setback with Wu Shaoqian, regained considerable prestige thanks to Wu Dongxiao.
—-
In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.
During this period, Zhong Cai and Wu Shaoqian remained secluded in the cultivation room, focusing solely on alchemy.
Since Wu Shaoqian could not cultivate, he stayed with Zhong Cai, initially only able to help clean the alchemy furnace. Gradually, he began assisting with processing the medicinal ingredients, saving Zhong Cai a lot of unnecessary repetitive work.
As a result, Zhong Cai progressed from taking more than half an hour to refine one batch of pills to eventually being able to produce a batch in half an hour, and then to producing a batch within two to three quarters of an hour, which was essentially his limit.
Roughly calculated, Zhong Cai initiated the alchemy process eight hundred times. His success rate increased from about 30% initially to a stable 70% later on, resulting in a total of four hundred successful batches of Buqi Dan. After overcoming initial difficulties, the number of pills per batch stabilized at the upper limit for a transcendent alchemist—eight pills per batch.
…
On this rare day, Zhong Cai didn’t enter the cultivation room. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground, using jade chopsticks to poke around in a box.
In front of him were three neatly arranged boxes of different sizes, all filled with Buqi Dan he had refined.
Wu Shaoqian sat cross-legged opposite Zhong Cai, also with a large box in front of him, but it was empty.
Zhong Cai picked up a pill from the large box and dropped it into Wu Shaoqian’s box, chanting, “One.” He picked up another, dropped it in, and continued, “Two, three…”
Wu Shaoqian watched Zhong Cai counting the pills with amusement, keeping track of the numbers in his own mind as well.
Gradually, Zhong Cai’s speed increased to the point where his chopsticks seemed to create afterimages. After nearly two full quarters of an hour, he finally sighed in relief and said, “Low-grade Buqi Dan, one thousand six hundred and twenty-two.”
Wu Shaoqian nodded and poured the pills back into Zhong Cai’s large box.
Zhong Cai then began transferring the pills from the medium-sized box to Wu Shaoqian’s box, counting them just as carefully.
In the end, he confidently said, “Nine hundred and sixty-six.”
Wu Shaoqian smiled, “Correct.” He then poured the counted pills back into the medium-sized box.
Zhong Cai carefully picked up the smallest box. There was no need to count these meticulously; it was clear at a glance that there were twelve pills—these were the high-grade Buqi Dan he had painstakingly refined over a long period.
Wu Shaoqian was somewhat astonished by Zhong Cai’s talent. He hadn’t expected that once Zhong Cai mastered the technique, he could improve his pill refinement skills to such a degree in less than two months. Even if he made no further progress from now on, the ability to produce this type of pill alone was enough to secure his place in the world.
Zhong Cai carefully closed the small box and handed it to Wu Shaoqian, instructing him, “Keep this. If you ever need to use your strength, use this to support yourself. But don’t consume it immediately; keep it as a backup. If I manage to refine something better in the future, I’ll exchange it for you.”
Wu Shaoqian took it cautiously and stored it away.
The twelve high-grade pills were all refined in the past two days. It wasn’t until Zhong Cai obtained them that he finally consented to rest. The reasons behind this, Wu Shaoqian naturally understood… In the past, he obtained many high-grade treasures, but none of them are as precious as this time.
…simp.
Thanks for the chapter! I feel sorry for that guard, his life is linked to a fool
Bro can I ask u smth?? Like in January, I read a novel named codename Anastasia on the website and now I want to continue reading it but it’s not here anymore?? Do u know smth abt this?
Ask in the discord
Such family drama
Hard work and talent make miracles
Thank you for your translation and Happy June for everyone 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Happy June~~
if wu shao’an keeps on being angry and envious about others’ inherent talent, he’ll never amount to much in his life. ah, well, he can be a stepping stone for wsq and zc.