"By the way, where's Grandfather?" Meng Jingzhou had waited around for a long time without seeing his grandfather. His grandfather doted on him the most; if his grandfather were here, his father certainly wouldn't have dared to beat him like that.
"He's in seclusion. There's no set date for him to emerge."
Meng Potian then added, "Alright, in any case, Xiaozhou coming home is a joyous occasion. I've ordered a meal prepared so our family can gather together."
The "family" Meng Potian spoke of naturally included Lu Yang, who had been added at the last minute.
The Meng Family truly lived up to its reputation as the foremost clan in the cultivation world. Their financial power was astonishing; the table was laden with exquisite delicacies made from such precious ingredients that even Lu Yang failed to recognize many of them.
"Come, come, eat whatever you like. It's all beneficial to cultivation." Meng Potian urged Lu Yang not to stand on ceremony and to treat this place like his own home.
"You call this delicious? Let this immortal show the Meng Family a thing or two!" The Immortal Fairy rolled up the sleeves of her imperial robe, ready to show off her prowess, but Lu Yang hurriedly stopped her.
"Your Majesty possesses a body worth a thousand pieces of gold. Since ancient times, there has never been any reason for an emperor to cook."
"There's even a rule like that? How troublesome," the Immortal Fairy muttered, pondering whether she should simply abdicate in favor of someone more capable and let Little Yangzi become the next Bean Emperor.
Yet upon second thought, she felt Little Yangzi was too young and lacked experience; it was not yet time for him to succeed to the throne.
"Count the Meng Family unlucky—they won't get to witness this immortal's culinary arts."
After placating the Immortal Fairy, Lu Yang could finally enjoy the banquet with peace of mind.
He didn't know what level of cultivation the Meng Family's spiritual chefs possessed, but this was the first time Lu Yang had ever tasted such delicious spiritual food. Swallowing a mouthful of venison, warmth spread throughout his entire body; sensing carefully, he could feel his cultivation slowly progressing.
In fact, the efficacy of this table of spiritual food went far beyond that. It was just that Lu Yang's talent was so extraordinarily high that he had never encountered a bottleneck to this day.
If a cultivator stuck at a stubborn bottleneck ate this meal, their bottleneck would vanish without a trace, allowing them to smoothly advance to the next realm.
Lu Yang had no idea what else Meng Jingzhou had told his sister about him, but Meng Jingyu was exceptionally curious about his experiences. Even while eating, she couldn't resist constantly questioning him.
"Brother Lu Yang, tell me about how you joined the Immortal Cult back then!"
"Brother Lu Yang, I heard you formed your Golden Core even faster than my brother! What kind of Golden Core did you form?"
"Can you really shave people's heads?"
Lu Yang felt that when he had helped Meng Jingzhou's father teach him a lesson earlier, he had still been too lenient.
"Little Sister Yu has already undergone Qi Induction?" Lu Yang noticed spiritual energy fluctuating from Meng Jingyu. Although she wasn't sixteen yet, beginning cultivation a few months early caused no harm.
"I'm already in the Qi Refinement stage," Meng Jingyu smiled proudly. Among her peers, she was the first to achieve Qi Induction. Word had it that according to secular descriptions, she was at the second level of Qi Refinement.
After the welcoming banquet concluded, Meng Jingzhou's father ordered a small courtyard arranged for Lu Yang. Meng Jingzhou lived next door, and Meng Jingyu lived right next to him. This clearly wasn't the guest quarters, but an area where only Meng Family members were entitled to stay.
"Your courtyard is pretty clean," Lu Yang remarked with a smile. Old Meng hadn't returned home for six years, yet the courtyard was still spotless, showing how much the Meng Family cared for him.
"Of course. No matter what, I'm the eldest young master. Someone definitely cleans this place every day." Meng Jingzhou smiled as he stepped into the courtyard—and was promptly flung back out by a burst of force.
"What's going on?" Lu Yang was startled. Was the Imperial City so dangerous that one could be attacked even inside the Meng Residence?
"Damn it, who put a Dustless Talisman in my courtyard?" Meng Jingzhou fumed. This was clearly the effect of a Dustless Talisman, capable of expelling any foreign object from the courtyard.
And "foreign objects" included him, the master of the courtyard.
To be able to drive away even an old monster at the Heavy Nascent stage like him, the talisman's quality was clearly not low.
Meng Jingzhou tore down the Dustless Talisman affixed to the entrance and successfully walked inside. As for Lu Yang's lodgings, someone had probably truly cleaned them every day; not only was the place spotless, but no Dustless Talisman had been placed there.
With their accommodations settled, Meng Jingzhou offered to show Lu Yang around the Meng Residence.
"This is the Martial Training Hall. Whether from the direct lineage or collateral branches, anyone in the Meng Family can cultivate here."
Up on the arenas, cultivators clashed with spells and divine abilities. Though they couldn't compare to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou at the same cultivation stage, among ordinary cultivators of their level, their performances were quite commendable.
"These people are the future of the Meng Family. To nurture them, our family poured immense effort into ensuring their cultivation bears fruit.
"Once their cultivation yields results, they can get involved in various family affairs—like lending money and collecting debts.
"I heard that Father, Uncles, and the others used to cultivate in the Martial Training Hall as well. The instructors here are all in the Body Integration stage.
"This is the academy. You know how I possessed a lot of cultivation knowledge even before joining the Dao Seeking Sect? This is where I learned it."
Inside the academy, the sound of reading rang out clearly. Through the window, Lu Yang saw Meng Jingyu swaying her head as she read, studying with great diligence. There were also alchemy chambers, artifact-crafting rooms, accounting rooms, and the like. Every one of the hundred arts of cultivation could find a place to be practiced in the Meng Family; its completeness was by no means inferior to that of the Dao Seeking Sect.
"I can't take you inside this mountain; even I can't go in." Meng Jingzhou led Lu Yang to the foot of a mountain that towered into the clouds, rivaling Tianmen Peak where Lu Yang resided.
"It's said that those residing on this mountain are all mighty figures of our Meng Family. I just don't know how many are in the Tribulation Transcendence stage."
Back before Meng Jingzhou began cultivating, he only knew that Meng Family powerhouses lived on the mountain, without knowing their cultivation stages. Now that his horizons had broadened, he had gained a clear understanding of what it meant for the Meng Family to be the foremost clan, which led him to believe that Tribulation Transcendence experts lived up there—and more than just one.
Otherwise, given the Meng Family's usual conduct, it would have been difficult for them to establish a firm foothold in the Imperial City, or even the cultivation world at large.
"Though I can't take you up right now, don't worry. Once I become clan head in the future, I promise I'll take you for a stroll up there."
Lu Yang looked at Meng Jingzhou hesitantly. "Can someone with a Bachelor Spiritual Root even become clan head?"
A clan head without a wife or offspring—just how selfless would he have to be?
Meng Jingzhou was full of confidence. "Look at what you're saying! Once this young master becomes an immortal, what does a Bachelor Spiritual Root even matter?"
"A Bachelor Immortal Root?"
"Get lost."
"Speaking of which, your dad's name is quite domineering. Did your grandfather give it to him?" Lu Yang recalled the people he knew; none had a name so domineering. They were either named Huang Doudou or Bu Yaolian—names that didn't sound like powerhouse names at all.
"My grandfather did give it to him, but the meaning behind the name might not be what you imagine."
"How so?"
"My grandfather told me that on the day my dad was born, the Imperial City was hit by a torrential downpour unseen in a century, and my grandmother was having a difficult labor. Giving birth to my dad was extraordinarily arduous.
"My grandfather couldn't help, so all he could do was pace circles in the courtyard. With the rain pouring down, he was in a foul mood and cursed out loud, 'What kind of wretched weather—po tianqi—is this?!'
"As luck would have it, the moment my grandfather finished cursing, my dad was born.
"To commemorate that moment, my grandfather took 'Po Tian' from 'wretched weather' and named my dad Meng Potian."
Chapter 906