Chapter 23: Grand Uncle Is Chasing Me Down

“Big brother, I’m back,” Su Jin called out as she walked into the main hall.

“Little Jin’s back?” Su Jian immediately turned around with a smile. “Little Jin, I rented a Spirit Gathering Array for Xiao Hua. Do you need one? Should I get one for you too?”

Su Jin quickly waved her hands. “No, no, the academy gave me one.”

“So you’re already in the top ten of your class?” Su Jian asked eagerly.

“No, no—the top ten rankings aren’t finalized until after the final assessment.”

“I’ve just broken through to Qi Refining Level One. I’ve only taken a tiny step ahead of others,” Su Jin said.

“Don’t I remember you broke through to Qi Refining Level One on your very first day of cultivation?” Su Jian suddenly asked. “What rank were you among the young students in your class to break through to Qi Refining Level One?” He thought: The next day he came running to tell me his eleven strands of magic power had shrunk to ten and a half, and asked me why.

Isn’t that breaking through to Qi Refining Level One?

“Third,” Su Jin replied calmly. There was no need to hide it—every student and Master Liu knew.

“Actually, my being able to break through that day was thanks to the medicinal baths my parents gave me since childhood—I doubt it has much to do with my innate potential,” Su Jin speculated. She had bathed in medicinal herbs daily since infancy, eaten all kinds of spirit dishes made by her mother, and occasionally eaten spirit fruits brought by Grand Uncle.

She’d lived a very good life.

Over time, her foundation had become extremely solid.

That’s why she broke through to Qi Refining Level One on her very first day of cultivation.

“Little Jin, you’re thinking too lowly of yourself. Our Su family is a cultivation clan—every child grows up bathed in medicinal herbs and fed spirit rice and spirit dishes. Ask Xiao Hua—since the day she started eating, her meals have never once lacked spirit rice and spirit dishes.

Everyone prepares for their children the same way. Yet when it comes time to begin cultivation, the results are worlds apart.

You broke through to Qi Refining Level One on your very first day.

Xiao Hua struggled for twenty days before she broke through.

That proves your cultivation talent is vastly superior.”

Xiao Hua thought: Father, don’t drag me into this when talking about Auntie.

“So, Little Jin, you clearly have exceptional cultivation talent. You must cultivate diligently in the future and not waste the efforts of your parents and Grand Uncle.”

Su Jin nodded.

She would find a way to earn more spirit stones from the clan academy and bring them home.

“I…” Su Jian was about to say more.

Then a tall, robust figure in a long-sleeved robe suddenly appeared inside the main hall.

“What are you—” A booming voice, full of vigor and a hint of resentment, exploded through the room.

“Cousin… Grand Uncle?” Su Jian instantly jumped to his feet and sprinted toward the courtyard.

But he was immediately grabbed.

Then his buttocks were struck several times.

He screamed in pain.

“Spare me, Grand Uncle, spare me!”

“Spare you? Spare you for what? You’re so mighty you go around tarnishing your Grand Uncle’s reputation without even warning me!

My old friend sent me a thousand-mile transmission talisman to mock me for failing to discipline my descendants—and now everyone’s spreading my name around.

How impressive are you?”

“Run… why are you running?”

“I’m going to beat your buttocks so swollen you can’t sit down this time!”

“Grand Uncle, please spare Big Brother—he’s already swollen! Look, it’s already puffed up so high!” Su Jin cried out.

The middle-aged man, clad in deep purple long-sleeved cultivation robes and a tall crown, his aura both stern and ethereal, dropped his staff, grabbed Su Jian by the collar, and dragged him back into the main hall like a dead chicken.

“Granddaughter-in-law, brew some tea. I need to have a proper talk with this big boy.”

“Grand Uncle, my husband only acted hastily because he feared delaying Xiao Hua’s cultivation—he had no ill intentions,” Liu Yunniang said, tears in her eyes.

“Granddaughter-in-law, go brew the tea. Don’t interfere. If this boy had any ill intentions, do you think I’d just beat him once? I’d have broken his legs with a club long ago,” the man said, his voice laced with restrained anger.

Liu Yunniang could only reluctantly go to brew tea.

She dared not act frivolously before this man—he was a Purple Mansion cultivator.

He wasn’t Foundation Establishment—he was above it, in Purple Mansion.

“Tell me, you fool—what were you thinking? Doesn’t our family have a Spirit Gathering Array? Do you really need to rent one?

Do you think that old man waiving the deposit was doing you a favor?”

“He’ll just send me a thousand-mile transmission talisman to mock me for failing to discipline my descendants.”

Hearing this, Su Jian immediately understood—it was that elder at the shop who had tricked him.

“It’s all Su Jian’s stupidity. I’ve brought shame upon Grand Uncle.”

“You truly lack brains. Your grandfather was once a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Why would you need to go outside to buy or rent a Spirit Gathering Array? You could’ve just sent me a thousand-mile transmission talisman—I’d have had my disciples deliver one to you.

Don’t you think renting one costs money?”

“The Spirit Gathering Array your grandfather stored with me—I’ve already brought it for you.”

“Return the one you rented to that old man tomorrow.”

“And make sure you get your advance rent back.”

“Understood, Grand Uncle,” Su Jian knelt before his Grand Uncle, meek and obedient.

Xiao Hua: So our family has a Spirit Gathering Array.

Su Jin’s Grand Uncle, Su Jian’s cousin-grand-uncle, was named Su Changyin. He had always been extremely close to Su Jian’s biological grandfather, Su Changhao.

Su Changhao died saving Su Changyin from an enemy trap.

Su Changyin adopted his cousin’s only son with a spiritual root—Su Yan—and named him the fourth son according to his own family’s order.

Su Changhao had four children.

The eldest was a commoner without a spiritual root; Su Jian was his firstborn.

The second and third were girls, also commoners, who married early.

The fourth was Su Yan—Su Jin’s current father—who lost his father at age five. Fortunately, Su Changyin was a strong-willed man who deeply cared for him, allowing him to grow up without worry.

Su Changyin treated him exceptionally well; Su Yan revered Su Changyin more than his own biological father.

Su Changyin not only treated Su Yan well, but also cared greatly for the family of his cousin’s commoner eldest son, arranging their livelihoods clearly and consistently. After Su Jian was confirmed to have a spiritual root, he continued to support and subsidize him.

Without this, Su Jian’s cultivation path would never have been so smooth.

Su Jian took the pouch of array plates handed to him by Su Changyin and found both the pouch and the array plates inside were brand new—as if just purchased.

Su Jian was instantly overwhelmed with emotion.

He nearly shouted: Grand Uncle, hit me again!