If only he had had such good fortune, he could have become clan head three hundred years earlier!
"Who would have thought the Old Ancestor would be so courteous to disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect? It seems you carry an enormous amount of weight, Nephew Meng!" Clan Head Xiao laughed heartily.
"How so?" Meng Jingzhou asked, puzzled. "Is there some story behind this?"
"It seems you are unaware, Nephew Meng. The Old Ancestor actually has a bit of bad blood with Senior Tang Shengyi."
Originally, this was an unspeakable secret. However, Clan Head Xiao was in high spirits, and the more he looked at Meng Jingzhou, the more fond of him he grew, so he figured there was no harm in sharing it.
"That happened four thousand years ago. Back then, the Old Ancestor's cultivation was about the same as yours. Two cultivators arrived from Great Xia to gain experience in the East Sea—none other than Senior Tang Shengyi and Senior Shangguan Yu.
"Senior Tang Shengyi was fishing in the East Sea, using extraordinarily precious pills as bait. Seeing how valuable the pills were, the Old Ancestor transformed into a kun fish, gobbling down the pills and darting off each time without ever taking the hook. After several rounds of this, Senior Tang Shengyi suffered heavy losses. So he used a transformation technique to turn himself into a pill and asked Senior Shangguan Yu to cast him in as the bait.
"Caught off guard by his own carelessness, the Old Ancestor took the bait, swallowing the pill Senior Tang Shengyi had transformed into right into his belly.
"Seeing his chance, Senior Tang Shengyi reverted to his true form inside and beat the Old Ancestor until he was vomiting and purging from both ends, begging for mercy over and over.
"Seeing that a fish had taken the hook, Senior Shangguan Yu gave a mighty pull on her fishing rod, reeling up both the Old Ancestor and Senior Tang Shengyi together.
"The two of them fought from the water up into the sky, and from the sky back down into the water, with Senior Tang thrashing the Old Ancestor the entire time.
"Back then, as an unmatched prodigy who was undefeated in a hundred battles, when had the Old Ancestor ever suffered such a beating? He was beaten until he burst into tears, which was the only thing that finally brought the matter to an end.
"Senior Shangguan was kindhearted. Seeing the Old Ancestor injured, she consoled him and treated his wounds, even scolding Senior Tang for being too heavy-handed.
"I reckon that was the moment the Old Ancestor fell for Senior Shangguan. He thought it was a secret, but everyone has actually known about it for ages."
Clan Head Xiao grew increasingly animated as he spoke. To uncover what had happened back then, he had paid visits to numerous elderly seniors before finally piecing the whole story together.
"When Senior Tang saw the Old Ancestor crying, he even recorded it with a shadow-recording sphere! I once visited your sect and asked Senior Tang to make a copy for me. Every single time I watch it, I burst out laughing!" Clan Head Xiao slapped his thigh as he laughed, tears welling in his eyes.
*Thank goodness I claimed to be close to Sister Shangguan earlier,* Lu Yang thought to himself. *Otherwise, considering what Grandmaster did, hanging us from the bird's nest would have been Venerable Black Feather letting us off light.*
"And that's not all! Later, while roaming the East Sea, delving into secret realms and hunting for immortal herbs, whenever danger cropped up, it was either Senior Tang tossing the Old Ancestor out to take the hit, or the Old Ancestor tossing Senior Tang out as a shield.
"When the time came to part ways, the Old Ancestor was agonizing over whether or not to confess his feelings to Senior Shangguan. Senior Tang suggested leaving it to fate: 'Pluck a feather and say confess, pluck another and say don't confess. By the time you pluck the very last one, you'll have your answer.'
"The Old Ancestor even asked if that would hurt, to which Senior Tang replied, 'If you're scared of a little pain like this, how dare you say you love her?'
"The Old Ancestor gritted his teeth and spent the whole night plucking his feathers until he was completely bare! The final result was to confess, so off he went, stark naked... Hahahaha! Senior Tang recorded that too, and I even asked him for a backup copy!"
"Before he could even confess, Senior Shangguan was scared away.
"After Senior Shangguan returned to Great Xia, the Old Ancestor even sent her love letters. He was so nervous that he forgot to sign his name! The letters detailed everything they'd experienced together in the East Sea, so Senior Shangguan assumed they were written by Senior Tang!"
Watching Clan Head Xiao roaring with laughter, Meng Jingzhou offered a well-meaning reminder: "Clan Head Xiao, would you care to turn around and look behind you?"
Unable to wipe the grin from his face, Clan Head Xiao turned around.
And instantly, the laughter vanished. There stood Venerable Black Feather, his face as dark as ink.
Venerable Black Feather said coldly, "Mingli, I notice your cultivation hasn't progressed in the slightest lately. You must have grown lax. Come, step outside with me and let's spar."
Chapter 829