Chapter 451: Hometown and Hometown Folk

Apart from closed-door cultivation and occasional business, Jiang Ding basically went home once a week.

Everyone around him, whether children or elders, had all grown up under his watchful eye — from infants to now, apart from Foundation Establishment cultivators, every single one was someone he knew and was familiar with.

"Stop being naughty, get up."

With a wave of Jiang Ding's hand, the surrounding circle of people who had been bowing in salute — and even a few who had tried to kneel — were all helped back up by him.

"Grandpa Jiang, it's been so long…"

An old man and his old cronies shouted in unison, perfectly in sync.

"Mm?"

Jiang Ding looked at them helplessly — a few repeat offenders.

With a wave of his hand, pill after pill brimming with spiritual energy flew out in all directions, landing in the hand of every person around him.

Spirit-Cleansing Pills, a mortal-grade spiritual pill that replenishes qi and nourishes the blood, can regulate the body and improve certain martial arts aptitudes — he had specially commissioned a large batch to coax the children.

"Hi, Brother Jiang!"

Only then did the old men shout with sheepish grins.

"Li Jinsan, you rascal are still the same scoundrel you were as a kid!"

"And the rest of you are the same."

Jiang Ding laughed and scolded.

The old men sheepishly scratched their heads.

Mainly because their own grandchildren and children were watching from the side, they felt a bit self-conscious — otherwise they wouldn't have been affected at all, having been used to it since childhood.

Pushing through the crowd, he arrived at the center of the banquet, where the whole extended family was gathered.

Lin Lin Wanqiu, Jiang Yuan, and Lin Lin Yuanwang were all Foundation Establishment cultivators, over a hundred years old — among Foundation Establishment cultivators that was fairly common, nothing remarkable, neither old nor young.

The rest were naturally the younger generation.

Jiang Yuan's children — a boy and girl dragon-and-phoenix twins.

Perhaps calling them that wasn't quite appropriate.

The two of them were now nearly eighty years old; the younger sister had successfully established her Foundation over a dozen years ago, looked to be in her forties or fifties, was already married with two children, and her husband was a Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivator.

The elder brother, on the other hand, had the typical appearance of an eighty-something-year-old elder.

Grey-white hair, deep wrinkles across his face, dark brown skin — he had six children, all in their forties or fifties, eleven or twelve grandchildren in their twenties and thirties, half of them already married, with children of three or four years old.

The surrounding swarm of forty-odd people were basically all Jiang Yuan's descendants and their wives and husbands.

In another hundred or two hundred years, with a core in place, expanding to several hundred thousand people would be effortless — no difficulty at all.

"Lord Dingding, come here quick!"

Lin Lin Wanqiu called out: "The chef at this banquet is really quite skilled — these crystal buns are translucent and sparkling, apart from the ingredients being a bit inferior, they're even tastier than yours."

"Uh…"

Being called by his childhood nickname this time, Jiang Ding suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and hurriedly sat down beside her.

"Brother Wang, Sister He, how are Xiaohe's grades at university?"

Jiang Ding hurriedly changed the subject stiffly, looking toward Lin Lin Yuanwang's family.

Forty-four years ago, Lin Lin Yuanwang had married a female Foundation Establishment cultivator; over twenty years ago they had a daughter, Four Spiritual Roots aptitude, named Lin Xiaohe, who was currently studying in the Daoist Studies Department of Qianling University.

At these words, a round-faced girl couldn't help but glare at him.

"Her grades aren't that great — she's in the process of trying to switch to a Law-grade Gong Fa."

Lin Lin Yuanwang said helplessly upon hearing this: "In our family, apart from you, everyone's comprehension seems to be average — Jiang Yuan is like that, Xiao Yun is like that too, it's like seeing a ghost."

"It's fine, study a bit more and maybe it'll suddenly click."

Jiang Ding comforted.

His divine sense swept over briefly — Lin Lin Wanqiu and Jiang Yuan were both mid Foundation Establishment, Lin Lin Yuanwang as well, though he was quite close to late Foundation Establishment; Xiao Yun, who was Jiang Yuan's daughter, was early Foundation Establishment.

Aptitude and comprehension were roughly the same — without a great opportunity, there was basically no hope of Jin Dan.

"Enough of that."

"Today is the great day of your advancement to Jin Dan cultivator."

Lin Lin Yuanwang sighed: "Although I had long anticipated this day would come, when it truly arrived, it still feels somewhat dreamlike."

"If grandpa and grandma were still here, if my dad and mom were still here, I don't know how happy they would have been."

He said with some sorrow.

Human adaptability was very strong.

Many years ago, he had been unable to accept it, had even entertained thoughts of suicide, feeling that life had lost all meaning — but as time gradually passed, he slowly came to accept reality.

"Yes."

Jiang Ding also sighed.

"How have these years been for Xiao Yuan?"

Jiang Ding asked casually.

After Jiang Yuan advanced to Foundation Establishment, she had spent some time altering her appearance, and now she had reverted to the youthful, beautiful look of a thirty-four-year-old; she could also settle her mind for cultivation, endure loneliness, and had become diligent.

After all, they were all people over a hundred years old, having gone through a great deal.

"Of course it's been great, big brother!"

Jiang Yuan looked at her small elder brother before her and said spiritedly: "After Foundation Establishment, I feel like I've gotten so much younger, so many things have become interesting again — it's like living a second life."

"That's good then."

Jiang Ding was genuinely relieved.

The two closest relatives in the world, the people who had grown up together since childhood, were still alive and by his side — that was more precious than anything.

After a moment, the surrounding people all came over to offer congratulations; Jiang Ding responded to each with a smile using very polite and equal courtesy, without the slightest hint of looking down on them for being younger or of a lower generation.

"Uncle!"

Someone stepped forward.

"How do you do."

Jiang Ding smiled as he looked at the woman before him, who bore a striking resemblance to Jiang Yuan.

"Uncle, may your Great Dao bear fruit, and your hope of longevity be fulfilled!"

Zhou Yun, Jiang Yuan's daughter, this early Foundation Establishment cultivator, after offering her congratulations, bit down on her lip: "Could you possibly…"

Her words trailed off, wanting to speak yet holding back.

"Could you possibly…"

Wanting to speak yet holding back.

"Could you…"

Again hesitant, wavering on and on, unable to make up her mind.

For some reason, those few simple words just would not come out, no matter how she steeled herself, no matter how hard she tried.

After a long while, she stood rigid on the spot.

In the end, a flicker of despair crossed Zhou Yun's face; she bowed helplessly and stepped back.

Another nephew, Zhou Xiong, seeing this, sighed inwardly, a bitter taste rising to his cheeks.

He swallowed back the words he had spent more than ten years preparing—hired people to design and polish them time and again, flawless in feeling and logic, every phrase carefully crafted—and offered only a simple congratulation, then, clutching a bottle of wine, took his leave, unwilling to stay here any longer.

Amid a crowd of cultivators, his heart ached sharply.

He himself should have had the chance—his martial talent had been top-notch.

But he had been too young, too fond of play, believing he would stay young forever, squandering his precious years, and there had been no one to back him without limit.

Even when, past fifty or sixty, he began to truly regret it and cultivated the martial path with ever greater toil, trying to make up for it, it was useless—the pace of his progress could not catch up with the pace of his body's decline.

So he simply stopped hoping. He spent every day clutching a wine bottle, living in a drunken daze, too lazy to care even as his lifespan was affected.

As for the several dozen people around who were queuing to offer congratulations, they were politely stopped, with the words that as long as the intention was there, there was no need for such formalities.

Lin Lin Wanqiu and Lin Lin Yuanwang exchanged a glance, sighed softly, and said nothing.

"Mama, I'm begging you—could you do me a favor?"

Elsewhere, Zhou Yun came to her mother Jiang Yuan's side, shook her hand, and pleaded: "The more I cultivate, the more I feel my own limit. If this goes on, late Foundation Establishment is the best I can manage in this life—there is no other possibility."

"Mama, I don't want to die a little over a hundred years from now."

(End of chapter)