Cao Yan, Xiao Chen, and the others lowered their heads at the sight, cold sweat drenching their foreheads.
Gu Li and Tang Ru wore expressions of utter disbelief.
Gu Li sent a sound transmission to Ye Feng: "Second Brother... has Eldest Sister-in-law's mother always been this... fierce and bold?"
Ye Feng gave a wry smile. "She's just true to herself, I suppose."
"Big Brother told me a bit about it. When they were young, he and Eldest Sister-in-law lived in the same village."
"Back then, Auntie Li would often cook delicious food and have Eldest Sister-in-law bring it over."
"Senior Meng was also in the village at the time, so they've known each other for a long while."
Only then did a look of sudden realization dawn upon everyone.
With Su Xuan there, whatever Li Guilan wanted would never be an issue.
Inside a courtyard residence, Li Guanqi and Ye Feng and their brothers were lending a hand.
In the courtyard, Su Xuan, Meng Jiangchu, Ye Xuan, Qin Xiao, and the others were all gathered.
Qin Wushang and Xu Junlin had simply come along to freeload a meal as well.
However, whatever was being discussed in the front courtyard was beyond their qualifications to overhear.
Li Guilan rolled up her sleeves, tied on an apron, and slaughtered the chicken, boiled the water, and scalded the feathers in one smooth, fluid motion.
Sitting beside the stove and feeding firewood into it, Xu Junlin muttered, "Never in my life did I, Xu Junlin, imagine that one day I'd be sitting here tending a stove fire..."
Yet before the words had finished leaving his mouth, a hand clinging with chicken feathers smacked down upon his head.
Li Guilan scolded with an exasperated chuckle, "Has this wretched boy never stoked a wood stove before?"
"The bottom is already stuffed full, and you're still shoving more in!"
Sitting on a small stool while picking vegetables, Qin Wushang laughed out loud, "Hahahaha! Never thought you'd see the day!"
Xu Junlin rolled his eyes at him. But unexpectedly, when Li Guilan saw how Qin Wushang was picking the vegetables, she immediately berated him, "Who picks vegetables like that? Aren't you just a spendthrift?"
With that, she picked the discarded vegetables back out of the basket and waved him away. "Go, go, go—go draw some water."
Xu Junlin burst out laughing. "Auntie Li, you probably don't know, but this kid is an infamous spendthrift throughout the Misty Immortal Domain."
Li Guilan picked the vegetables with a smile and spoke up, "That won't do. Even if a family is wealthy, living life requires careful budgeting. How can anyone keep squandering like that?"
"Besides, looking at the two of you, you're not young anymore, right? Haven't settled down and started families yet, have you?"
"Once you have children down the road, you'll understand. Running a household—it's a whole different story."
Listening to Li Guilan's rambling words of warm concern, Qin Wushang and Xu Junlin felt a strange warmth bloom in their hearts.
This kind of down-to-earth affection was something they, born into great clans, had never once experienced.
Drawing water, Qin Wushang glanced over at Li Guanqi chasing a duck and muttered with an envious gaze, "Such an incredible Dao partner, and such a wonderful mother-in-law... How did a bastard like you end up with it all?"
In the front courtyard.
Su Xuan sat upon a chair, his calm gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"Little Meng, are you certain you wish to continue down the path of artifact forging?"
Meng Jiangchu's expression grew stern upon hearing this. He knew that the elderly man being able to speak such words meant he had already made the choice for him!
Su Xuan packed shredded tobacco into his long pipe at his own pace, took a couple of light puffs, and said softly, "There is no denying your talent in the Dao of artifact forging. I even believe that once you ascend to the Immortal Realm, you would become an exceptionally outstanding immortal artifact smith."
"Yet now... you are utterly letting the Five Yang Ghost Flame go to waste."
Meng Jiangchu's mind trembled, his pupils contracting slightly.
Rising to his feet, he bowed deeply and said in earnest, "I ask Elder Su to guide my path!"
Su Xuan smiled and nodded. Since he had come today, it was certainly not merely to share a meal made by Li Guilan.
Su Xuan raised a hand and flicked a finger. Instantly, the flames within Meng Jiangchu's body surged out uncontrollably!
The terrifying Five Yang Ghost Flame became as docile as a sheep in the old man's palm.
Suddenly!
The eerie green flame flared explosively, and five malevolent ghosts of varying shapes let out shrill roars!
Boom!
Primal energy surged within the old man's body. In an instant, everyone felt a scorching, heaven-incinerating might that could nearly destroy heaven and earth!
This power was contained by the old man within the mere inches of his palm, yet that force made Ye Xuan's heart shudder.
Even Qin Xiao held his breath, cold sweat soaking his back.
From the flames in the old man's hand, he sensed an unprecedented feeling of mortal danger!
Su Xuan returned the flame to Meng Jiangchu and said softly, "The power of the Five Yang Ghost Flame is not weak. What you all sensed just now was merely the result of me driving it with peak Mahayana realm cultivation."
As the words fell, the several people beside him instantly revealed expressions of utter shock!
"What?! That degree of power was driven using only Mahayana realm cultivation?"
Meng Jiangchu remained silent. He could sense that the old man truly had not utilized much strength just then.
Which meant...
The true power of the Five Yang Ghost Flame was actually far greater than he had imagined!
Yet he had rarely devoted his energy to comprehending the flame itself.
Su Xuan sighed, glanced at them, and said quietly, "None of your talents are lacking, yet you have constantly been pursuing increases in raw strength and cultivation realms."
"As for spirit comprehension, perhaps your insight has reached its current limit for yourselves."
"However, you have not gone deeper to comprehend certain things."
With a flick of Su Xuan's hand, a streak of firelight appeared beside him. Immediately afterward, the flames churned and transformed.
The orange flame gradually turned into a fiery crimson.
And the temperature of the fire rose to an unimaginable degree.
Yet this was clearly nothing more than the most ordinary of flames, while its intensity was now comparable to the lower-ranked heavenly flames!
Meng Jiangchu's pupils shrank to pinpricks, and he murmured in disbelief, "The power of laws!"
Su Xuan smiled and nodded, saying softly, "Indeed. It is laws."
"When you are able to each comprehend the law that belongs to you, you will be able to step into the Tribulation Transcendence realm."
"You only need to touch that level."
"However, this process is long and tedious, and it even carries an element of luck."
Hearing this, all of them shook their heads with wry smiles.
Their strength and cultivation had already reached their present heights; the Tribulation Transcendence realm was truly difficult.
Su Xuan looked back at Li Guanqi and the others bustling about in the backyard.
The corners of his mouth curved up, and with a face full of smiles, he smacked his lips and laughed, "Don't you go getting surpassed by those young rascals."
The group was left speechless. Not a single one of those youngsters helping out in the backyard was over forty years old...
Qin Xiao remarked with emotion, "Within a hundred years, who knows what heights those little fellows will reach..."
Su Xuan set down his pipe, tapped it against the bench, and murmured softly, "Perhaps the time left for them is less than a hundred years."
As those words landed, the breaths of Ye Xuan and the other two caught in their chests!
They did not know what the old man meant by this, but he was definitely not speaking without purpose!
The three exchanged glances, all seeing a trace of shock in one another's eyes.
Perhaps... a great upheaval would come very soon!
"Time to eat!"
Li Guilan's call rang out, and Su Xuan slowly rose to his feet.
Taking a deep look at the three of them, he said softly, "Do your utmost to step into the Tribulation Transcendence realm."
The three stood up in silence, their hearts weighed down as though pressed beneath a heavy stone.
Chapter 1221