Chapter 143: Chapter 139: The Old Ancestor Is Still Alive... Heaven Blesses Our Fang Family
After Sanxiao welcomed Du Youqian into the Daoist Temple and invited him to take the seat of honor, they arranged for six children to come and pay their respects.
As their ancestor, he naturally couldn’t be stingy with greeting gifts.
Du Youqian was quite wealthy now. Anything he casually gave away was a treasure that would make an ordinary Qi Cultivation Cultivator green with envy.
To bestow them upon a few juniors was, in fact, a bit of a waste.
Du Youqian examined them one by one and found that not a single one of the six children possessed a Spirit Root.
’A small pity, I suppose.’
However, people with Spirit Roots were one in ten thousand, so this was to be expected.
"Ancestor, we have two new guests on the mountain. You’ll never guess who they are," Liao Minmin said mysteriously.
Du Youqian smiled faintly, took out three copper coins, and performed a divination on the spot.
"Oh? It’s actually related to me."
Du Youqian thought for a moment, his eyes lighting up. "The Cultivator with the surname Fang that I told you to find—you found him?"
"Ancestor, you’re incredible! Yes, I found him. And not just him, but his grandson, too, who also has a Spirit Root. I invited them both to come stay and cultivate on the mountain. It’s just that with more people cultivating here, the Spirit Vein is getting a little strained," Liao Minmin muttered.
After a moment of contemplation, Du Youqian said, "Bring them here to see me."
"Yes!"
A moment later, Liao Minmin led two Qi Cultivation Middle Stage Cultivators into the Daoist Temple.
"Greetings, Elder!" The two were sensible. Upon meeting Du Youqian and sensing his aura, as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, they immediately prostrated themselves.
The older one, with a head of white hair, still vaguely resembled the young man he once was.
Du Youqian recalled his name was likely Fang Yuantang.
The younger one’s eyes darted about with youthful curiosity, and he bore a slight resemblance to the other.
"Fang Yuantang?" Du Youqian said calmly. "I am Qiu Yuanqing. I have some acquaintance with your ancestor, Fang Zhongying."
Fang Yuantang had already heard of this from Liao Minmin, so he wasn’t surprised. "Elder Qiu, may I ask how my ancestor is doing now?"
Du Youqian had originally intended to say that he died long ago.
But on second thought, he told a white lie. "Fellow Daoist Fang has also reached Foundation Establishment. I saw him not long ago, and he was in good spirits."
’Based on his age, Fang Zhongying should be 187 now. If he had successfully reached Foundation Establishment, living to this age wouldn’t be a problem.’
Only then was Fang Yuantang greatly shocked. "My ancestor actually..."
The look on his face quickly changed from shock to a pleasant surprise. "My ancestor is still alive! Heaven has truly blessed the Fang Family! Elder, do you have a way to contact my ancestor?"
At the same time, he definitely noticed Du Youqian’s choice of words.
’That one word, "also"... doesn’t it imply that this Elder Qiu has also reached Foundation Establishment?’
Du Youqian said lightly, "It won’t be difficult for you to meet your ancestor. I’ll have someone deliver a letter to Fellow Daoist Fang. Just wait here."
Fang Yuantang didn’t dare to ask more questions and proceeded to introduce his grandson to Du Youqian.
"This is my direct grandson, Fang Simin. He is also the only child in the Fang Family for the past two generations with a Spirit Root. Like me, he cultivates..."
As he was about to name his Cultivation Technique, Fang Yuantang hesitated.
"The Three Transition Celestial Dance Scripture, correct? Fellow Daoist Fang mentioned it to me," Du Youqian said lightly.
"Exactly!" Fang Yuantang no longer had any doubts. Such a detail would be impossible to know without truly knowing the person in question. "Then I will have to trouble you, Elder. I have been looking forward to seeing my ancestor again for decades!"
As he spoke, he even wiped away a tear.
’Oh, you child, who taught you such bad habits? Crying at the drop of a hat... you weren’t like this when you were young... I, your ancestor, taught you Cultivation, not acting.’
Du Youqian did a quick calculation. Fang Yuantang should be in his eighties now, approaching ninety.
Inevitably, his qi and blood were beginning to decline, and his Cultivation was starting to fall.
His grandson, the young man named Fang Simin, was quite interesting, though.
At such a young age, without the guidance of a renowned master, with an incomplete Cultivation Technique, and scarce resources, he had still managed to cultivate to the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage. His Spirit Root must be exceptional.
However, Du Youqian didn’t have the tools to test it at the moment, so he temporarily suppressed his curiosity.
Speaking of which, the grandfather and grandson didn’t seem to be bad people.
If they joined forces, they could have easily killed Liao Minmin, yet they showed no intention of seizing the place for themselves.
’Liao Minmin is also far too trusting, letting two strangers into the array like that... I really should teach her about the dangers of the Cultivation Realm in the future.’
After chatting with Du Youqian for a bit, Fang Yuantang and Fang Simin felt overwhelmed by the attention. They then received a casual gift from him—a Tier One Top Grade Elixir each.
’Anything of a lower grade... Du Youqian really didn’t have any on him.’
Du Youqian’s extravagant gesture left them so stunned and disoriented that they could barely think straight. After thanking him profusely, they quickly took their leave.
After all, they were "outsiders" and felt it was inappropriate to disturb Du Youqian as he caught up with Liao Minmin and the Du siblings.
Du Youqian didn’t ask them to stay.
’Later, I’ll just disguise myself, change my aura to look like Fang Zhongying, and then go talk to them. I’ll ask about their insights from cultivating the Three Transition Celestial Dance Scripture.’
Once the grandfather and grandson had left, Du Youqian turned to Du Yuhuan, who had been quiet the whole time. "Xiaohan, how have you been all these years?"
"Thanks to you, Ancestor, my life has been very smooth these past years. I became a Martial Arts Innate Grandmaster at a young age. At this point, I have nothing more to ask for in life."
Although she appeared meek and submissive, and her words seemed heartfelt, Du Youqian’s Cultivation was so profound that he naturally detected the slight disturbance in her aura.
Her words were completely insincere.
Du Youqian didn’t expose her. He just continued to catch up with Liao Minmin and Du Yuxi, listening to the couple gush about their children.
Du Youqian himself had no desire to have more children, but as a kind-hearted old... mature young man, he was quite fond of children and was tolerant and patient with them.
Although Du Yuxi’s blood relationship with him was now quite distant, separated by more than ten generations, he was, after all, his descendant.
He had originally thought the Duke You De’s line was about to be extinguished, but he never expected it to start flourishing again in this generation.
This brought Du Youqian a great sense of comfort.
At the couple’s request, Du Youqian lingered on Soul-shaking Mountain for several days.
He swept Elder Tao’s grave and spent some time talking with Long Ruzhen.
He also went to check on the peach tree. It was the middle of winter, yet its leaves were still a lush green. However, the Insect-Extinguishing Array had been dismantled.
Liao Minmin explained that a moderate number and variety of insects were actually beneficial for the peach tree’s growth.
Du Youqian discovered that her Spirit Plant Art skill level had actually surpassed his own. So, although skeptical, he acquiesced to her methods.
Finally, under the reluctant gazes of Sanxiao, he boarded his Flying Boat and floated away.
After flying some distance, he turned back, concealed his form, and lurked at the foot of Soul-shaking Mountain.
Over the past few days, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Du Yuhuan was being secretive, planning something in the shadows.
He was worried that the naive Liao Minmin and Du Yuxi—who was already a fool to begin with and had clearly gotten much worse after marriage—would be sold out by the sister.
After all, in the eyes of mortals, the estate on Soul-shaking Mountain was no less than an Immortal Land. If offered to the Imperial Family, it would be more than enough to trade for a governorship.
Du Youqian had long been able to sustain himself through Fasting. Since the Spiritual Qi on Soul-shaking Mountain was too thin for Cultivation, he sat on his Golden Willow Leaf Cool Mat to comprehend Sword Intent and contemplate ways to improve the Reverse Blood Qi Transformation Technique.
Time passed quickly.
「Half a month passed in a flash.」
One day, Du Yuhuan said to the young couple, "I’m going down the mountain to visit a friend. I’ll be staying for a few days."
Neither Liao Minmin nor Du Yuxi suspected anything. In fact, they hoped their sister would go out and socialize with talented young men to avoid dying alone.
Of course, they also knew this was rather unrealistic.
As a 42-year-old Martial Arts Innate Grandmaster, how could it be easy to find a man of suitable age who could match her in status and position?
To be honest, Du Yuhuan was even qualified to become the Empress.
She was an Innate Grandmaster, after all!
But the men who could match her were either too old and already married or found it difficult to gain her favor.
Liao Minmin and Du Yuxi had been worrying about their sister’s marriage for over a decade.
The young couple themselves were living a good life, so they always felt that a woman needed marriage and children for her life to be considered complete.
But they didn’t understand: to each their own.
Like a phantom, Du Yuhuan’s figure swiftly left Soul-shaking Mountain. She crossed nearly half the Wu Kingdom to arrive at a scenic but secluded place.
Along the way, she repeatedly used anti-tracking techniques to confirm she wasn’t being followed.
’In truth, she felt it was a wasted effort.’
’As an Innate Grandmaster who had comprehended the Unity of Heaven and Man and was in perfect harmony with her surroundings, who could possibly follow her without being detected!’
Du Youqian sat on his Flying Boat with its Concealing Function activated, munching on a juicy Spirit Fruit as he observed Du Yuhuan’s movements below.
He saw that Du Yuhuan was wearing a man’s long robe. Her black hair was casually tied up and secured with a hairpin.
With her hands behind her back, she looked suave and confident.
Compared to the meek and timid person she was in his presence, she was like a completely different person.
One after another, other Innate Grandmasters and Martial Artists close to the Grandmaster Realm arrived.
Du Yuhuan seemed to be the organizer of this gathering. With the air of a superior, she received each person with a calm, slightly arrogant demeanor, her eyes holding a hint of disdain.
Du Youqian finished his Spirit Fruit and used a bit of magic to wash his hands. Seeing Du Yuhuan’s calm and unhurried demeanor, and watching those proud and arrogant experts act so respectfully and obediently toward this "mere woman," calling her "Hall Master," he couldn’t help but sigh with mixed feelings.
He had thought back then that there was more to this woman, Du Yuhuan, than met the eye.
Back when he was investigating the details of how the two of them had killed the other exiles, Du Youqian had discovered that although Du Yuxi had been the one to do the killing, and Du Yuxi had been the one to initially suggest it, it was Du Yuhuan who had first poisoned their food to incapacitate them. It was also Du Yuhuan who had used words to lure the exiles into letting down their guard.
Du Yuhuan was no innocent little flower.
Du Youqian had known this for a long time.
But he never expected that one day, Du Yuhuan would start and establish a secret organization of her own.
And become its leader.
