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Chapter 42: My Stomach is Very Good
Two months later, with less than ten days until the auction.
The flow of people in Bamboo Leaf Mountain had surged, reaching an unprecedented level of fervor.
The business at Mu Family's Spirit Talisman Shop was booming, and the two apprentices, Mu Shan, and Mu Ershun, were overwhelmed with work.
As a result, the Mu Family sent two more family members to assist.
On this day, Li Ergou also came to Bamboo Leaf Mountain.
“Dad, Second Mother.”
Mu Ershun saw father with a big belly, he excitedly waved his hand, rushing out of the shop.
Having been in the market town for many years, Mu Ershun had only gone back once halfway through and hadn't seen his father for a long time.
“Such a big man, can't you be a bit more steady!”
Li Ergou scolded with a stern face. Beside him was a tall, beautiful woman in a palace dress, his second wife Mu Caiwei, who had inferior spiritual roots and was at the second layer of Qi Refinement.
“Brother Changqing, Ershun hasn't seen his father for a long time.” Mu Caiwei smiled sweetly, holding her husband's arm.
Mu Ershun scratched his head, chuckling foolishly, not daring to look directly at his beautiful second mother, who wasn't much older than himself.
He respectfully welcomed his father and stepmother into the reception room at the back of the first floor.
“Big Brother.”
“Changqing, Sister-in-law.”
Soon, Lan Chang'an came downstairs to entertain Li Ergou.
“Ah, Big Brother, you’re still the same, cultivating the wood-based Eternal Youth Technique, you have hardly aged over the years.” Li Ergou now looked middle-aged, with a fat face and a body twice the size of Mu Caiwei.
“The Eternal Youth Technique is slow to cultivate ah, and one must have a good mindset, maintain health, and abstain from desires to delay aging.” Lan Chang'an said without blushing or skipping a beat.
Li Ergou hadn’t planned to come to the market town, but he heard that Zhao Siyao and Lin Yi were arriving soon, so he came over. He also wanted to see his son and broaden his horizons.
The two talked about things within the family and then about cultivation.
“Alas, I’ve been stuck at the sixth layer of Qi-Refining stage for five or six years now and still haven't broken through.”
Li Ergou sighed.
Lan Chang'an could see that Li Ergou had been stuck at the peak of the sixth layer of the Qi-Refining stage for a long time.
This was a bottleneck. Most Qi-Refining practitioners couldn't overcome it in their lifetime.
To break through, one had to either grind for years or use breakthrough pills to increase the probability.
Neither method guaranteed success.
A life-or-death breakthrough was also unrealistic for Li Ergou.
“You had a smooth journey in the past few years; taking some time to settle and slowly polish a bit isn't a bad thing. Wait for a Bottleneck-Breaking Pill in the future.” Lan Chang'an smiled.
“Bottleneck-Breaking Pill? Too difficult! The breakthrough pill, I don't know how many cultivators in the family are lining up for it. Some have even earned merits on the front lines; how can I compare…” Li Ergou was self-aware.
Breakthrough pills were scarce and expensive, rarely sold on the market.
Li Ergou had no special skills, at best working part-time as a spiritual planter to support his family, lacking the financial means to vie for a breakthrough pill.
Two days later.
Zhao Siyao and Lin Yi arrived at Bamboo Leaf Mountain and found Mu’s Spirit Talisman Shop.
In the reception room at the back of the shop.
The four immortal seedlings from Hengshui Prefecture gathered again after twenty years.
Compared to their last reunion at Jin Yun Valley, the four had not changed much.
Li Ergou looked wealthier, his small eyes now more shrewd.
Lin Yi, dressed in a loose robe, appeared calm and steady, his mustache longer.
Zhao Siyao, in a flowing fairy dress, was as beautiful as a painting, cold as a fairy, without a hint of mortal smoke.
“Fellow Daoists! If my calculations are correct, it has been exactly twenty years since we first met.” Lin Yi stroked his beard and smiled, his eyes shining with satisfaction.
“Twenty years…”
The four smiled at each other, sighing at how quickly time passed.
At this moment, they didn’t know. Spanning twenty years, this would be their last reunion, frozen in this scene.
“Your children are now as old as we were back then.” Zhao Siyao smiled, looking at Mu Ershun and Lin Yi's sixth son, Lin Lu.
Lin Lu, fifteen years old, wore a luxurious brocade robe, a gold crown, and a jade belt. He had handsome features, red lips, and white teeth.
Mu Ershun, already eighteen, had thick eyebrows and big eyes, a burly build, and a simple, honest face.
Regardless of talent, or qualifications, Mu Ershun was dwarfed by Lin Lu.
“Little Lu, get to know Ershun well. You should be like brothers and support each other.” Lin Yi looked at his outstanding son and instructed.
“Yes, Father.” Lin Lu barely managed a smile, reluctantly communicating with Mu Ershun.
Clearly, Lin Lu looked down on Mu Ershun.
Lin Lu had a spiritual root sensitivity of eighteen, close to middle-grade spiritual roots, and with the significant resources invested from the Hidden Immortal Pavilion and Guang’an Marquis Mansion, he passed the assessment of Jin Yun Valley last year.
He was now an outer disciple of Jin Yun Valley.
In contrast, Mu Ershun, a cultivation family disciple with a spiritual root sensitivity of twelve, was just an apprentice.
They were from entirely different levels.
In the room, Lin Lu only showed respect to Zhao Siyao. He didn’t care about Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou, seeing them as failed members of their sects, living as dependents and becoming sons-in-laws. 𝔣𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖜𝔢𝔟𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖊𝔩.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Unlike his father, who had risen from adversity, creating the Hidden Immortal Pavilion and gaining some fame among wandering cultivators.
“Your son Little Lu has a solid foundation.” Lan Chang'an commented. It was normal for teenagers, as sect disciples, to be a little arrogant.
“Haha! I’ve invested a lot in Little Lu over the years, not wanting him to repeat my mistakes.” Lin Yi couldn't help but feel proud of his son, who was far better than him.
He was now struggling with his cultivation, and his future achievements would be no match for Lan Chang'an and Li Ergu. However, his son was strong.
During their chat, Lin Yi subtly revealed that the new Guang’an Marquis was his younger brother, whom he had secretly supported to the throne.
It was the same as saying that Lin Yi controlled both the Hidden Immortal Pavilion and the Guang’an Marquis Mansion.
The four chatted intensely, finishing a pot of tea.
“I'll brew another pot.” Lan Chang'an prepared to stand up.
“Let me do it.”
A voice as clear as spring water came.
Mu Xiuyun appeared, elegant and graceful, rolling up her sleeves to brew tea for the group.
When Zhao Siyao and Lin Yi arrived, Mu Xiuyun was busy managing the shop and had only greeted them briefly.
They knew this gentle and quiet woman was the eldest daughter of the Mu Family.
Before long.
Mu Xiuyun brought the teapot, her bright, warm eyes meeting Zhao Siyao’s.
Zhao Siyao’s eyes were clear and bright, nodding with a smile.
“Eldest Miss, this isn’t appropriate!”
Having Mu Xiuyun serve tea, Li Ergou and Lin Yi were flattered.
“Chang'an, you guys continue chatting. I have some matters to attend to.” Mu Xiuyun’s gentle eyes glanced at Lan Chang'an before leaving gracefully.
“Brother Lan, you and Miss…”
Li Ergou sensed something was off, widening his eyes.
From the way Lan Chang'an and Mu Xiuyun interacted, they didn’t seem like ordinary friends.
“Brother Lan, you’re quite something! You didn’t make a move for years, but when you did, you won the eldest daughter of the Mu Family.” Lin Yi stroked his beard and smiled, inwardly shocked, doubtful, and envious.
This was the eldest daughter of the Mu Family from Feiyue Lake.
Zhao Siyao was surprised, looking at Lan Chang'an with a strange gaze.
Could it be that he was the type to live off a woman?
“Brother Lan, is this true?” Li Ergou was stunned, the eldest daughter of the Mu Family being the dream of many young men in the family.
“I don’t spread rumors or gossip.” Lan Chang'an directly denied it.
Mu Xiuyun might have mistaken Zhao Siyao for a ‘love rival’ and deliberately came to show their closeness.
Usually, when outsiders are around, Mu Xiuyun is actually quite reserved and subtle.
Seeing the disbelief on their faces, he smiled helplessly, “Actually, my stomach is very good.”
…
That night, Lan Chang'an treated them to a spiritual food banquet in the market town.
Lin Yi and Zhao Siyao, preparing for the auction, stayed in the market town’s inn.
With three days until the auction, all the inns in Bamboo Leaf Mountain were full and had collectively raised their prices.
“Are you participating in this auction?” Back at the shop’s second floor, Mu Xiuyun entered Lan Chang'an’s room, full of gentle charm.
“Yes.” Lan Chang'an answered without hesitation.
Among the leaked auction items, there was something he had to buy.
“Our Mu Family received an invitation and can enjoy VIP treatment. Would you like to join us then?” Mu Xiuyun’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“Okay.” Lan Chang'an thought it would be safer to attend with the Mu Family, as offending someone at the auction could mean having the Mu Family’s protection.
Mu Xiuyun was delighted, her brows containing love.
Her delicate, beautiful face blushed slightly as she softly said, “Lan Lang, I’m not going upstairs tonight…”
Whoosh!
A fragrance filled the room, extinguishing the lights.
…
Three days later, on the day of the auction.
Bamboo Leaf Mountain was bustling, with lights occasionally flashing in the sky, accompanied by the rise and fall of magical weapons and flying beasts.
Sometimes, a powerful figure in the Foundation Establishment Realm would appear, their immense spiritual pressure causing nearby cultivators to retreat.
At Mu Family's Spirit Talisman Shop.
Several high-ranking members of the Mu Family came to inspect, nodding frequently.
Mu Renlong of the Foundation Establishment Realm and family head Mu Maode came to Bamboo Leaf Mountain for the auction and took the opportunity to visit the talisman shop.
“Father, Lan Chang'an is attending the auction with us.” Mu Xiuyun, in a plain dress, stood gracefully like jade beside Lan Chang'an.
“No problem.”
Mu Maode, dressed in a blue robe with an elegant demeanor and graying temples, stroked his beard and smiled, his gaze sweeping over the two.
Suddenly, Mu Maode’s expression changed, his sharp gaze falling on Lan Chang'an.
“Maode, what’s wrong?”
Mu Renlong, in a black robe, looked over and noticed Mu Maode’s unpleasant expression.
Mu Renlong glanced at Mu Xiuyun, whose snowy skin was flushed and whose figure was captivating.
It suddenly dawned on him.
The current Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Mu Family smiled, his hawk-like eyes showing a hint of approval towards Lan Chang'an.