The Strongest Mad Son-in-law

I certainly can't refuse!

Although Xu Hao was not afraid of Li Chenggong, there was no need to offend him.

Moreover, with Niuniu looking at Xu Hao with eyes full of sincerity, urgency, and some trepidation, Xu Hao thought of her hardships over the past decade and felt touched. He smiled and said, "Okay! Then I will take you as my disciple! Lei Qianjue is my named disciple, but Niuniu, you will be my first direct disciple!"

Lei Qianjue smiled wryly, "Doesn't this mean that Niuniu's status is even higher than mine? In the future, when I see her, I will have to address her as 'Senior Sister'!"

Everyone burst into laughter at this, as Lei Qianjue was right. In a sect, not only is seating order determined by the sequence of admittance, but also by the rank of named disciple, outer sect disciple, inner sect disciple, and direct disciple, in ascending order of status from the outer to inner circles.

Disciples of lower sequence must respectfully address those of higher sequence as "Senior Brother" or "Senior Sister," regardless of whether the latter joined the sect earlier or later.

And with Niuniu becoming Xu Hao's first direct disciple, she thereby became the senior direct disciple. Even if Xu Hao took on more disciples later, none would have a higher status than Niuniu, unless she committed an error and was expelled from the master's tutelage or demoted in rank.

Li Chenggong was extremely excited, his wrinkled hands trembling slightly. He speculated that Xu Hao must have come from some extremely powerful, reclusive force. Now, it seemed likely that it was from a sect, because family legacies, to ensure the purity of the lineage, generally do not take on disciples.

Now that his youngest daughter Niuniu had entered Xu Hao's tutelage, she was surely on the cusp of a qualitative transformation!

Niuniu, feeling overwhelmed by excitement, no longer reveled in her recent thrill of calling someone "Master." Instead, anxiety set in. Was she really the senior disciple of this elderly gentleman?

This didn't seem quite right, did it?

Xu Hao said with a smile, "Well, there's nothing I can do. If I were very old right now, and you were very young, maybe I would have made you my inner sect disciple."

Lei Qianjue said, "I wouldn't dare claim that either, since I too have a legacy to uphold from my sect."

Xu Hao asked curiously, "What sect does your legacy come from? I've never heard of it before."

Guan Wenzhi also looked curiously at Lei Qianjue, as the master had never mentioned anything about the sect's legacy before.

Lei Qianjue gave an awkward smile and said, "Let's leave it be. It's all old history now, not worth mentioning."

Seeing that Lei Qianjue was reluctant to speak, Xu Hao did not press further but instead asked, "Do you know of the Meng Family?"

Regarding the Meng Family, the inherited memories contained little information, only mentioning that it was a very mysterious family with at least two millennia of history.

But Xu Hao noticed that the "more than two millennia" mentioned referred to the period over five hundred years ago, which meant the Meng Family had been preserved for at least two thousand five hundred years!

According to records, the Second Sage Mencius was born in 372 BCE, which was more than two thousand three hundred and forty years ago.

This meant that the existence of the Meng Family predates Mencius by two hundred years.

Xu Hao was deeply puzzled by this. Wasn't the Meng Family known to the public because of Mencius gaining fame?

According to the inherited memories, that wasn't the case, so he wanted to ask others about the Meng Family.

He had his suspicions about Lei Qianjue's background, so he wanted to inquire with Lei Qianjue about it.

"The Meng Family?!"

Lei Qianjue was obviously startled, a gleam of sharpness flashed through his eyes as he said, "Master, why do you ask about the Meng Family?"

Xu Hao was somewhat puzzled. It was just the Meng Family; why the tension?

He did not keep it to himself and said, "Yesterday, I met a woman named Meng Jiu, who appeared to be in her thirties..."

"Meng Jiu! Could it be her?!" Lei Qianjue clearly knew something, and his emotions were highly fluctuating at this point.

Xu Hao refrained from speaking further as he wanted to hear what Lei Qianjue knew.

The others felt lost, not understanding what the two of them were talking about, while Li Chenggong's eyes flickered, carefully remembering their conversation but not asking further.

Lei Qianjue muttered a couple of sentences and then said, "The Meng Family, that is a very ancient and old family, and it seems that only the Mengzi Family has managed to preserve their legacy until now."

The Mengzi Family!

Guan Wenzhi immediately asked, "Master, do you mean the family of the 'Second Sage,' Mencius?"

Indeed!

Lei Qianjue's face showed boundless admiration as he said, "It is a miraculous family, with a legacy spanning over two thousand years, which to this day has not been severed. The people of the Meng Family are each of extraordinary strength."

"Extraordinary strength? Do you mean in terms of martial prowess? Aren't they scholars? How could they possess such martial strength?" Guan Wenzhi asked, puzzled.

Lei Qianjue laughed and said, "Who says scholars must be weak? During the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai began to wander with a sword at the age of seventeen, fond of righting wrongs. With his character and his ability to survive, do you think he was weak? In the Southern Song Dynasty, Xin Qiji led more than fifty men into an enemy encampment of tens of thousands to capture a traitor and safely return. Do you believe he was weak?"