The mansion of the Lu family on Fulu Street, though small and exquisite, was a world unto itself. Even the Xu matron of Qingfeng City felt that it was like performing a grand ritual within a snail’s shell, achieving the pinnacle, leaving nothing more to demand. In a waterside pavilion overlooking the lake, the matron, having just successfully acquired the Liu family’s Wart Armor, was radiant with joy and leaned languidly against the railing. Perhaps her mood was simply too good, as even Lu Zhengchun, that gnat buzzing on the pavilion steps, didn’t seem so irritating.

Her son, clad in a scarlet robe, stood on a long bench, tossing fish food into the small lake. Nearly a hundred red-backed carp jostled together, creating a swirling crimson tide, a truly spectacular sight.

The matron instructed Lu Zhengchun, “You needn’t linger here, awaiting my command. Once this matter is concluded, you shall accompany us to Qingfeng City. My husband will not only accept you as an inner disciple but will also grant your grandfather’s somewhat unreasonable request, ensuring that one day you will ascend to the middle five realms. Know that such a promise is the most valuable of all, which is why your grandfather is an old fox.”

At this, the matron smiled to herself, her laughter like blossoming flowers. “If your grandfather had been the helm of the Lu clan, the Lu Dynasty might not have collapsed so swiftly. Even Song Changjing, the aloof Prince of Dali, openly admitted that half the credit for his conquest within a year belonged to your Lu royal family. Of course, your branch of the Lu clan in this small town is ill-fated; fortune doesn’t necessarily unite, but misfortune certainly does. Therefore, Qingfeng City is granting you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Do not squander it; grasp it firmly.”

Lu Zhengchun bent low, his hands clasped above his head in utmost gratitude. “Lu Zhengchun will never forget Madam Xu’s immense kindness. Once I reach the renowned Qingfeng City, I will be your ox and horse. And I swear, I shall be loyal to you alone!”

The Xu matron of Qingfeng City smiled charmingly, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Such heartfelt words, best not let my husband, your future master, hear them. Or perhaps, you could repeat them before him at some point?”

Perhaps it was after kneeling before Liu Xianyang in Niping Lane, Lu Zhengchun no longer held such matters as a deep grudge. Upon hearing the matron’s pointed remark, he immediately prostrated himself, crawling on the pavilion steps, his voice trembling. “Lu Zhengchun would never dare to forget his roots!”

The matron chuckled, waving her hand dismissively, and began to dismiss him. “Very well, rise. Once you arrive in Qingfeng City, cultivation consumes time most thoroughly. Time will reveal whether you forget your origins; it shall all come to light.”

Lu Zhengchun retreated from the pavilion, only turning around after descending the steps. This former tyrant of the small town, before the matron, seemed unable to straighten his spine.

The Lu clan, beyond this small town, as the ruling surname of a great dynasty, had suffered greatly after being severely damaged by the Dali border army, and it could be said that it had declined in vitality, and it was difficult to make a comeback in the short term. From top to bottom, the Lu clan’s direct descendants, side branches, and distant relatives had to behave with their tails between their legs.

Otherwise, with Qingfeng City’s wealth and reputation, they would never dare to behave so brazenly within the Lu family’s mansion in the small town, nor dare to look down and boss the Lu family disciples around. Otherwise, even if it were the master and servant pair from Zhengyang Mountain, it would be difficult to do so.

Now that the Lu Dragon was trapped in shallow waters, and the situation was difficult, they had no choice but to humble themselves.

The red-robed boy sneered, “Truly a born slave! Mother, why do you take in such waste? You don’t really want my father to accept him as a disciple, do you? And even promise him a middle five realm? When did the middle five realms become so cheap and worthless?”

The matron smiled slightly. “Although Lu Zhengchun is repulsive, he is not without merit. His talent is mediocre, and becoming an outer disciple would have been fortunate enough. However, in the end, this young man is just a small add-on to that big deal and cannot make waves. As for the surface, Mother has promised so much to the Lu clan in the small town, agreeing that the fleeing royal relatives and daughters of the Lu imperial family can take refuge and take root in Qingfeng City, and Qingfeng City will treat them with courtesy and regard them as distinguished guests. There will even be a large area in the city specifically designated as the Lu family’s private territory, with a term of one hundred years.”

After the child finished throwing fish food, he suddenly ran out of the waterside pavilion, picked up a handful of pebbles, and then lay on the railing and threw the pebbles hard at the carp, playing happily. He turned his head and said, “Mother, is our trip to the small town to find Wart Armor just a cover, a blindfold for our Qingfeng City Xu family to take control of the Lu family? After all, a centipede dies but does not fall down. The Lu clan’s vast number of stray dogs, I heard that there are more than 3,000 members of the royal family alone, plus eunuchs, servants, vassals, and former ministers who are unwilling to depend on Dali Song, which is a great help to the increase in popularity of our Qingfeng City.” In this way, is this the real news operation hub for the now-fallen Lu clan?

The matron smiled with satisfaction. “Being able to think of this level shows that my son is very smart, but he is still wrong.”

The boy frowned, waiting for the answer.

The matron blinked, “That Wart Armor contains mysteries. Simply put, it’s no worse than that sword scripture.”

The boy threw a stone hard, hitting a carp’s back. Blood splattered, and the poor carp frantically flapped the water.

The child’s eyes were hot. “My father is best at the way of attack, and his lethality is not much worse than that of Dali Song Changjing. It’s a pity that he has been plagued by congenital physical weakness and is most afraid of opponents using a rogue method of exchanging injuries for injuries with him, which has prevented him from becoming famous and even made him a joke. Even the Qingfeng City family members dare to laugh at us behind our backs. Mother, is it that after my father obtains this treasure armor, he will be able to have both attack and defense, and he can compete with Song Changjing?”

The matron still shook her head.

The red-robed boy slammed the railing hard, angrily. “Don’t sell me out!”

Baring his teeth, choosing someone to devour, like a tiger or leopard cub.

The matron never felt that there was anything wrong with her son yelling at her, after all, her son received a very high evaluation from an expert as soon as he was born, “The appearance of a tiger and wolf, the qualifications of a master.”

The matron patiently explained, “After your father gets the treasure armor, once he succeeds in comprehending it, he will be able to go further. What defense do you need? One force will defeat ten skills, and you can crush the enemy in one go.”

The boy laughed heartily, extremely happy. “Kill, kill, kill! When the time comes, let my father start killing from inside our Qingfeng City! The disgusting things done by our own people are the most disgusting!”

After laughing, the boy quickly calmed down and suddenly thought of something and asked, “Mother, you are playing Zhengyang Mountain like this, you are really playing with monkeys. Aren’t you afraid that the stupid ape will wake up one day and fight us after leaving the small town? Also, there is one thing that I have never understood. Since that surname Liu already had a porcelain seller early on, and his bones are excellent, plus he has treasure armor and sword scriptures, such a rare treasure is rare, and even I have to admit that I need to take a look at him with admiration, so why is the porcelain buyer unwilling to show up until now, so that Mother, you can fish in troubled waters, and let the old ape from Zhengyang Mountain help us solve the mess? After he punches Liu Xianyang to death, everything will be clean, and Zhengyang Mountain will take the great trouble, As for our Qingfeng City, there will be a great room for maneuver.”

The matron said with confidence, “The thousand-year-old moving mountain old ape from Zhengyang Mountain doesn’t have a good brain, but it’s not stupid enough to be played by Mother at will. In fact, he has already guessed that Mother is using a knife to kill someone. Why is the old ape willing to pinch his nose and jump into the trap himself? The reason is more complicated. There is both the arrogance of Zhengyang Mountain not being afraid of causing trouble and an unknown secret story. You don’t need to worry about these for now.”

The matron fell into deep thought, combing through her thoughts again, trying to check for leaks and fill in gaps to avoid endless troubles.

The porcelain seller of the young Liu Xianyang was once a force that strongly supported the Lu Dynasty. After the dynasty was overthrown, he lost everything and lost all his money. Before that, it was indeed a first-class family in the secular dynasty at the foot of the mountain. Otherwise, after confirming Liu Xianyang’s sword embryo qualifications, he would still be able to spend a lot of money to keep Liu Xianyang in the small town and buy it for the next nine years.

After Zhengyang Mountain learned about this through some channel, they went to find the ruined household and tried to buy Liu Xianyang’s natal porcelain. An old ancestor of Zhengyang Mountain gave a sky-high price in person. However, that family seemed to have taken the wrong medicine and refused to let go, only saying that it had been transferred to someone else, and who it was and what its origin was, they kept their mouths shut.

Afterwards, Zhengyang Mountain, which was puzzled, heard the news that Zhengyang Mountain’s mortal enemy, Fenglei Garden, took the lead and took advantage of the fire to rob them and get the upper hand. That household naturally didn’t dare to tell the sword fairy of Zhengyang Mountain that they had sold the things to Fenglei Garden, your enemy Zhengyang Mountain.

As for who leaked the news about the Liu family’s ancestral Wart Armor and Sword Scripture and the Fenglei Academy taking over Liu Xianyang’s natal porcelain to Zhengyang Mountain?

Far away in the sky, right in front of you.

It was the Xu family of Qingfeng City, but of course it was the kind that hid behind the scenes.

She was also the main planner. This trip to the small town in person, at great cost, she naturally wanted to ensure that this deal would at least break even, otherwise her branch’s status in Qingfeng City would plummet and be in danger, not to mention hoping to independently take charge of Qingfeng City.

In fact, this small town is a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers and cannot be underestimated. Not to mention the declining Lu family, which of the other three major surnames in the East Baoping Continent are not powerful and flourishing?

In fact, the real foundation of the four surnames and ten clans is not how many local snakes with magical powers are entrenched. These family heads and old ancestors are actually destined to be unable to leave. As the saying goes, trees die when they move, and people die when they move. Unfortunately, they are already similar to the peach trees in Tao Ye Lane and the old locust tree in the center of the small town. They will die if they are moved, and there will be no afterlife, so they have great magical powers but cannot use them.

The foundation of these families lies in how many dragon kilns they can control and how many portals they can manage, because this will directly determine how many natal porcelains they provide to the outside world every year. Once a good embryo for cultivation appears, the porcelain buyers who bet on the treasure, as long as they are not too short of money, will most likely include an extra “red envelope”. In addition, it is equivalent to the two parties forming a relationship of incense. Of course, it is heavier than a nodding acquaintance.

The matron suddenly said to her son with emotion, “Never underestimate anyone, even small characters like Lu Zhengchun who bend over to be dogs. Do you think that coming to the small town will allow you to easily get those opportunities and treasures? It’s not like this. Fu Nanhua of Lao Long City almost collapsed, and Cai Jinjian of Yunxia Mountain disappeared from the world, his life or death unknown. There is also a talented junior who seemed to have a stroke of luck at the covered bridge, so he made a water view, which ruined people’s mood, which is equivalent to being forced to create a big hole at the bottom of the heart lake, causing the lake water to drop. This kind of thing will not stop here, but instead there will be more and more in the future, so to speak, there is no happy person on the path of cultivation.”

The child thought for a while. “Better safe than sorry, Mother, I will pay attention.”

The matron nodded, “That would be best.”

The child threw out the last stone and asked, “What exactly happened to Qi Jingchun?”

The matron rarely became angry and scolded sharply, “Presumptuous! Call him Mr. Qi!”

The child was stunned, but still obediently changed his words, “Is Mr. Qi in trouble?”

The matron hesitated for a moment and said slowly, “Mr. Qi’s mentor not only accompanied the sacrifice in that Temple of Literature, but also was the second on the left hand of the leader of Confucianism.”

The child was stunned.

Does this mean that Qi Jingchun’s mentor is the fourth person in Confucianism, or more precisely, in the long history of Confucianism?

For such an unimaginable existence, if anyone boasted that these saints could crush the largest mountain in East Baoping Continent with one foot in anger, the child dared not say that he believed it all, but he would definitely be skeptical.

The matron felt pity and said in a low voice, “It’s just that the status of that saint among saints is now worse than those dilapidated statues in this small town… and even worse.”

The child swallowed hard and asked casually, “What about Liu Xianyang’s friend?”

The matron thought for a while. “Are you talking about the orphan surnamed Chen in Niping Lane?”

The child nodded.

The matron smiled. “Didn’t you call them ants as soon as you met them? Let them live and die on their own.”