Chapter 325 - 324: Revisiting the Liu family, Mother-in-law’s Little Mood Swings

Shortly after using Sky Control to depart from the city center, Li Jing arrived at the entrance of the Liu family home.

Before he could land, he found the courtyard of the Liu family’s mansion bustling like a marketplace.

On both sides of the road, all sorts of luxury cars and supercars were parked, among which were even concept cars rarely seen in the market.

At the gate of the Liu family’s large mansion, well-dressed guests were continually entering and exiting.

There were about a dozen members of the Liu family at the entrance greeting guests, all apparently overjoyed.

Do you know what it means to be overwhelmed with receiving gifts?

Each guest who stepped forward would present an invitation and then casually take out piles of gifts.

Spiritual objects, spiritual materials, strange objects, creations of the Talisman Method, just looking at them one could tell they were not cheap and the quantity was enormous.

Even the members of Liu family responsible for receiving guests only handled the greeting, while the collection of gifts was done by a specialized person with spatial devices, they seemed afraid the storage devices would be overfilled.

Compared to this grand event, the celebration for Liu Teng’s birthday back then doesn’t even qualify as a small gathering.

Among the guests present, there wasn’t a single familiar face to Li Jing.

This illustrated one point.

These people were not the same guests who had come to celebrate Liu Teng’s birthday.

If nothing unexpected happened.

These guests would all be high-ranking figures from each family....

During Liu Teng’s birthday, even though the celebration was moderately grand, it was just a token gesture with only a few representatives from each of the Seven Great Families.

Apart from Jiang Yini, who attended from the Jiang family as a core member, not a single important person from the Seven Great Families was present.

Not only the Seven Great Families.

Most small and medium-sized families and corporations did not send their core members either.

Overall it was more of a superficial show of respect, but not deserving of too much.

Observing the spectacle at the Liu family’s entrance, Li Jing wore an odd expression.

The Liu family was truly rising to prominence.

The arrivals were all important individuals, and the gifts they brought could make the Liu family fabulously wealthy overnight.

So, the question is.

Li Jing remembered Liu Sisi mentioning.

Her mother-in-law’s birthday banquet was to be held in the evening.

The time was not even ten in the morning, so why would these guests come early?

Did the Liu family plan to serve lunch?

However, this turned out to be more convenient for him.

Li Jing originally thought that, as Liu Shi’s son-in-law, he would inevitably need to make an appearance while welcoming guests, and he was mentally prepared for it.

But it had already started, so naturally he wouldn’t need to appear.

He didn’t even know who the guests were. How could he be expected to greet them? Wasn’t that a joke?

With the sentiment that he was off the hook, Li Jing was in high spirits. His eyes landed on a young man and woman among the Liu family’s children who were busily jotting down information in their notebooks while receiving gifts.

These two were the only familiar faces he recognized among the Liu family children and the guests.

In name, these two are considered his brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Yes.

These two people were Liu Xiangdi and Liu Xiaoya.

Looking at their busy demeanor, it seemed that they were carefully noting down what each guest had given to facilitate the return of favors in the future.

The new head of the Liu family was thorough.

Back during Liu Teng’s time, there was no such attention to detail.

However, the absence of such a practice back then was understandable.

After all, there were no heavyweight figures at that time. When Liu Teng became head of the family, he had to keep up appearances and wouldn’t specifically make a big deal about the birthday wishes of insignificant members of the various families.

When it came to their turn, there was no reason to go out of their way to host a birthday banquet without reason.

Without enough influence or status, even if a birthday feast was prepared, few people would pay it any mind.

Watching Liu Xiangdi and Liu Xiaoya busy themselves, Li Jing hesitated a moment before silently landing in an unassuming corner of the street.

In theory, he could activate Silent Shadow and sneak in to avoid attracting undue attention.

But the birthday person today was different.

It was his mother-in-law.

In this situation, he was actually late.

He couldn’t help Liu Shi with the greeting guests, at least he had to properly show his face and enhance his mother-in-law’s prestige.

This wasn’t Li Jing overthinking things.

Last night, when he communicated with Jiu Li, he was aware that the reason why the families were so enthusiastic about the Liu family was not because of Liu Shi, today’s birthday girl, but rather because of him, her son-in-law.

Since everyone was coming for him, it was necessary for him to show up, wasn’t it?

As for whether his appearance would steal the spotlight, Li Jing didn’t care to consider.

Anyway, Liu Shi herself certainly wouldn’t care about such things.

As for the new patriarch of the Liu family and his family’s children, Li Jing wasn’t concerned in the least.

After landing in the corner of the street, Li Jing casually took out a mirror to tidy up his appearance, then walked towards the main gate of the Liu family.

On the way, no one recognized him.

With his increasing cultivation level and the continuous effects of the Body Refining practice, Li Jing’s originally unremarkable face had become quite handsome, with a significant transformation in appearance.

Among acquaintances, there wouldn’t be as much of an impact.

Those who should recognize him still could.

After all, the change in appearance was ongoing, rather than a sudden complete change.

Familiar people who saw him occasionally would naturally adapt to the gradual change.

For Li Jing, it was rare for a stranger who seldom met him to recognize him at a glance.

Moreover, there was one blind spot to mention.

Ordinary Qi Refining, likewise would cause facial features to change along with the continuous nourishment of Spiritual Qi in the body.

But it was nowhere near as drastic as Body Refining.

Therefore, unless someone genuinely knew Li Jing and was familiar with him, no one could recognize him as he was now.

Nevermind the fact that there was no one familiar to Li Jing in the venue, even if there were, he was only at the Fifth Boundary when he first came to the city.

Now he’s at the Seventh Realm, the change in his appearance could be described as earth-shattering.

That being the case.

Li Jing unobstructed made his way to the end of the long line of guests blocked at the front gate of the Liu family. Seeing the queue was very long, he directly bypassed it and went to Liu Xiangdi and Liu Xiaoya’s side.

Before he had the chance to speak, the busy Liu Xiaoya raised her head, looked at him, and flashed a soft and charming smile.

"Hello, please go to the back of the line to show your invitation."

As she spoke, she lowered her head and started writing rapidly again.

Seeing this, the corner of Li Jing’s mouth twitched.

Ihua Xiaoya’s smile just now was very sweet, yet her attitude was incredibly perfunctory.

Of course.

That’s not the main point.

The main point is, she didn’t recognize someone.

This made Li Jing feel very "heartbroken".

His change was indeed not small, and he couldn’t say that he was very familiar with Liu Xiaoya.

But he is her brother-in-law, right?

She should have taken the time to remember the face of her brother-in-law, just for recognition by silhouette when needed.

Recalling her own arrival in the capital, Liu Xiaoya talked sweetly about her brother-in-law all the time, and Li Jing only felt that he was handled lightly back then.

Liu Xiaoya did not recognize Li Jing, nor did Liu Xiang Di.

But because Li Jing was standing right in front of him, he couldn’t help but take another look at the man.

After those two glances, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

This man...

Looks like his brother-in-law?

Watching Li Jing standing there with a twitching smirk at the corner of his mouth, Liu Xiang Di quickly nudged Liu Xiaoya and greeted him warmly.

"Brother-in-law."

Liu Xiang Di nudged Liu Xiaoya with some force, causing her to stumble twice on the spot.

Who’s Liu Xiaoya?

She was quick-tempered and blew up immediately.

Her pretty face turned black and she was about to say something.

But when she suddenly heard someone say "Brother-in-law", she hurriedly shut up, swallowed her own words and looked ahead.

In front of her eyes was Li Jing.

She had been busy just now and hadn’t been paying attention.

But now that she looked at him, she was aware.

Fuck, isn’t this her brother-in-law?

Liu Xiaoya’s face changed dramatically in an instant, like spinning a 720-degree loop.

Her previously gloomy little face instantly cleared up and blossomed into a smile, and she sighed, "Oh."

"Brother-in-law, it’s only been a few months, how did you become so handsome? I’m sorry, I was pretty busy just now and did not recognize you because you’ve changed so much."

While talking, Liu Xiaoya casually handed the small notebook in her hand to Liu Xiang Di.

???

Liu Xiang Di.

Before he could react, Liu Xiaoya had already rushed up to cling onto Li Jing’s arm without saying a word.

"Brother-in-law, you must be tired after coming all the way from Jiang Hai, I’ll take you to sister."

Have to say.

Liu Xiaoya’s praise and physical attack was in place.

If it were others, they might have been fooled.

But Li Jing...

Everything was fine, except for his little petty nature.

"It’s okay, you go ahead with your work, I can go in by myself."

With a kindly smile, Li Jing shrugged off Liu Xiaoya, casually getting a hint for her to continue her punishment.

At this point, Liu Xiang Di also reacted.

His sister was being unfair, using Li Jing’s arrival as an excuse to run away and leaving him alone to keep accounts.

He grabbed the collar of Liu Xiaoya’s neckline, who had been rejected and was unwilling to give up but was again sticking to Li Jing and pulled her back mercilessly.

"The brother-in-law has said he can do it by himself, you heard that right? Besides, don’t forget our task today. We have to sort out the accounts here."

After saying this, he looked at Li Jing.

"Brother-in-law, we’ll come and find you after we finish our chores."

"Okay."

Li Jing nodded and walked straight into the door.

Watching him turning around and walking away without giving her a chance to speak, Liu Xiaoya was anxious.

She has an impatient character.

She just couldn’t bear the idea of standing at the gate, recording accounts like she was on duty.

Now that Li Jing has come, it is a reasonable excuse for her to sneak away.

Her brother-in-law, who had quite a reputation from the beginning, now radiates throughout the Liu family.

Today, so many influential figures came, weren’t they coming for her brother-in-law?

Now that the person has arrived, shouldn’t someone attend to him properly?

Unfortunately, Li Jing left so quickly that Liu Xiang Di was holding her back, so there was nothing she could do about it.

Given so many distinguished guests, she cann’t behave improperly, right?

In broad daylight, a girl must have some dignity and refrain.

As Li Jing walked into the door and disappeared from view, Liu Xiaoya sighed with regret, glared at Liu Xiang Di, and continued to take notes reluctantly.

This little episode attracted the attention of many guests present.

Those who came today, came for Li Jing.

About Li Jing everyone had detailed data in hand.

However, photos of his appearance, etc., were obtained through special channels of identity information.

What was Lee Jing’s identity record?

Not long enough after crossing...

The records of Longyu identity information include a comprehensive consideration of various factors, including changes in facial features, hence the requirement for citizens to update it once every three years at the city government.

It’s been less than three years since Li Jing’s crossing...

This caused the photos in the visitors’ hands to be seriously outdated and completely incompatible with him.

But they have done their homework properly.

Liu Xiaoya and Liu Xiang Di were the focus.

The reason was simple.

They are both adopted by Liu Shi.

They both have one sister, Liu Shi’s only daughter, Liu Sisi.

By this deduction.

Li Jing’s identity is self-evident.

However, Li Jing walked really fast and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

This is quite embarrassing.

About the group of visitors who haven’t had a chance to show their invitations and give gifts yet, they can’t really take the opportunity to break into the Liu’s house, can they?

The guests were full of regret.

Being able to run into Li Jing before the banquet and start a conversation is a great opportunity.

When the banquet starts, that man might be busy.

There certainly won’t be fewer people who want to start a conversation.

This good opportunity has now been missed...

The other kids from the Liu family who were greeting guests at the gate confirmed that Li Jing had come and quietly entered the Liu family mansion. They were a bit stunned.

Their Uncle really came quietly and left quietly. They didn’t even know when he had arrived.

And since they were all busy with various tasks at hand, they didn’t even have time to see what he looked like now.

In the crowd, Liu An, the only son of the new head of the Liu family, Liu Deming, quickly took out his cell phone and reported the news to his father, who was still receiving guests inside the house.

...

Inside the mansion of the Liu family.

As soon as Li Jing entered, he activated his Silent Shadow Mode.

His identity has already been revealed.

It was time to go unnoticed.

The news of his arrival would soon spread, and the Liu family members would immediately look for him, potentially introducing him to their guests.

This was too much hassle.

Indeed.

The reason for his visit was inevitably to deal with various affairs.

But such matters would be best handled at the birthday banquet.

The banquet would not officially begin until evening. If he was caught up early in the morning, he wouldn’t have any free time for the whole day.

Upon entering the inner courtyard, Li Jing comfortably headed towards Liu Shi’s dwelling.

A banquet, was definitely not something Liu Shi wished to host.

Even if she had any intentions, she wouldn’t make it such a grand event.

Liu Shi wasn’t a high-profile person, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been holed up in her private dwelling all day long, appearing only when the Liu family faced a crisis.

This banquet could only be something the Liu family themselves wanted to host.

There was no argument about it.

The Liu family had indeed fallen and wanted to rise again which obviously required many efforts.

Creating momentum by taking advantage of the situation was unavoidable.

As for Liu Shi herself, she would have no objections to this.

Although her attitude towards protecting the Liu family seemed rather resigned, since she had chosen to guard the Liu family, she naturally hoped that the family could do better.

Putting that aside.

Li Jing was sure that Liu Shi’s private dwelling was a "pure land".

The Liu family used it to build momentum, and Liu Shi wouldn’t object to it.

But if someone disturbed her peace, the newly-appointed head of the family might have to be replaced again.

As expected.

When Li Jing entered the corner where Liu Shi’s private dwelling was located, he found that members of the Liu family were guarding it, preventing any chance of someone "accidentally" intruding.

On the path leading to the private residence, not even a single figure could be seen.

Quietly passing by the Liu family member in charge of "guarding", Li Jing went straight inside.

When he was about to approach the courtyard, he saw a graceful figure emerging from the courtyard, looking at him with some surprise.

Seeing this, Li Jing paused, also slightly surprised.

The figure from the courtyard was none other than Liu Shi.

Although Liu Sisi looked nearly identical to her mother, Liu Shi, their demeanors were widely different, apparent at a mere glance.

So the question was.

Liu Shi had clearly sensed his arrival and then stepped out of the courtyard.

And at this moment, he was using the Silent Shadow Mode.

Liu Shi was still in the Sixth Realm. How could she sense his presence just from his approaching?

This certainly wasn’t because Silent Shadow Mode was created by Liu Shi, so she knows its characteristics.

Theoretically speaking.

Unless the observer had created a Spiritual World like Serlina did, even those who are unaffected by Silent Shadow Mode wouldn’t perceive any presence before physically seeing him.

Looking at Liu Shi, who was attentively examining him from a distance, Li Jing sincerely sighed in admiration.

His mother-in-law was indeed unfathomably deep.

Li Jing even started to doubt that she had already reached Seventh Realm.

Was she like him, concealing the truth, and had continued to guard the Liu family?

But this didn’t make sense.

Even if Liu Shi had reached the Seventh Realm, she would have no reason to sense his presence before he got close.

Considering Liu Sisi’s special constitution, Liu Shi was perhaps also a holder of some kind of special constitution.

Special constitutions usually appeared randomly, falling on a person and influencing their life.

According to data statistics.

If parents or even older relatives of a family lineage have special constitutions, the probability of their descendants developing a special constitution is higher.

Quietly collecting his thoughts, Li Jing deactivated his Silent Shadow Mode, approached her with a smile.

"Mom, I am sorry I was a bit late."

Liu Shi nodded with a light smile when she heard this.

"You were busy, the fact that you made it here shows your affection, that’s enough for me."

As she spoke, she added in a lower voice.

"Actually this whole banquet is superfluous, it has been years since I celebrated my birthday, suddenly making such a big deal of it, I don’t know if it’s for my birthday or something else. If we have to blame someone for this, it has to be you."

"Yes, yes, it’s my fault."

Li Jing laughed awkwardly.

He was a smart man, and so was Liu Shi.

Everyone knew who was to blame for this.

Seeing that Li Jing readily took the blame, Liu Shi glanced at him up and down with a bright smile and said.

"It’s been a few months and you have changed a lot. If you hadn’t learned my Silent Shadow Mode, I wouldn’t have recognized you."

Then, she expressed her interest.

"Your talent is indeed real, stepping into the Sixth Realm in such a short time and even learning my Silent Shadow Mode. Unlike Sisi, who did so much homework with me and still couldn’t learn it."

Seeing Liu Shi praising him while criticizing Liu Sisi, Li Jing felt embarrassed and gave a strained smile.

An innate strong desire for survival told him that he must be cautious in responding to this.

Silently choosing to avoid this potentially "dangerous" topic, Li Jing took out the two Resentment Pills he had exchanged.

"Mom, this is the birthday gift I prepared for you, inside it is a..."

Before he could finish, Liu Shi tilted her head.

"Birthday gift, that’s for old people, do I look old?"

"..."

Li Jing.

Liu Shi’s provoking comment left him flabbergasted.

He wondered.

Liu Shi was not that young either!

Wasn’t the birthday banquet held?

A gift for the birthday banquet, shouldn’t it be called a birthday gift?

But Liu Shi did question it.

This wasn’t something she would normally do.

The way his mother-in-law was acting was slightly...difficult to gauge.

With slight suspicion in his heart, Li Jing coughed and changed his words.

"This is the birthday present I prepared for you, Mom. Inside it are two Resentment Pills I got from a fellow at the Research Institute."

Someone knowingly changed their manner of speaking, causing Liu Shi to reveal a satisfied look. She accepted the embroidered box and opened it for a look.

"You’re quite resourceful these days. You even managed to get things from the Research Institute. What are these two elixirs for?"

"To temporarily increase physical strength during tribulation."

Li Jing responded.

"In essence, it allows orthodox immortality path cultivators to have the physical level of a great demon corresponding to their realm for a short period of time. This elixir would ensure your mother’s safety during your future tribulation."

Upon hearing his explanation, Liu Shi slightly raised her eyebrows in admiration.

"Impressive stuff."

As she spoke, she returned the item.

?

Li Jing.

"You should keep it for Sisi and Yuran for later use. I don’t need such items."

Liu Shi smiled sincerely.

Upon hearing her response, Li Jing frowned.

Was Liu Shi implying that she has already reached the seventh realm or...?

As he wondered this, Li Jing realized something was off.

Why was Liu Shi so comfortable telling him to save the items for later use by Liu Sisi and Chen Yuran?

This...

Isn’t this his wife being too talkative?!

At this, Li Jing was unsure of how to react.

It was understandable if Liu Sisi had been too talkative.

After all, there’s nothing mothers and daughters can’t discuss.

Moreover, should Chen Yuran have developments in the future, it would influence not only Liu Sisi, but also Liu Shi. Thus, it’s fine for her to bring it up.

The thing is...

According to Liu Shi’s tone of talking, she seems to have implicitly agreed with it!

Li Jing was somewhat flustered.

There’s not even a hint of a match between him and Chen Yuran yet. Elder Chen hopes for the two of them to have a child right away, and now even her direct mother-in-law is approving the match.

What is this all about?

By definition, even if one is accustomed to such matters living in a wealthy family, a reticent and parental figure like Liu Shi should find it difficult to accept such circumstances.

Who wouldn’t want the best for their daughter?

It’s understandable for Chen Jing and Jiang Jingxian to accept a relationship. They are desperate for grandchildren and have little hope for their own daughter, so they have no room to be choosy. But for Liu Shi...

While speechless, Liu Shi turned.

"Come on in and we can talk. I heard from Sisi that you’ve been busy with cases at White Hawk. It’s tough on you. That girl probably won’t wake up until noon. Let’s sit and chat, and get ready for lunch later."

"Okay."

Li Jing nodded and put away the elixirs.

If Liu Shi didn’t want the elixirs, he wouldn’t insist on giving them to her.

Strictly speaking, Li Jing and Liu Shi’s temperaments are quite similar.

Both are relatively low-key and dislike trouble.

When two similar people get along, they won’t be too fussy with each other.

...

Following Liu Shi into the house and sitting down under her hospitality, Li Jing looked around.

"Mom, where are my two friends who came to the capital with Sisi? Why can’t my primordial spirit sense them, as if they aren’t in this house?"

"What, missing your two little foxes?"

Liu Shi replied enigmatically.

...

Li Jing.

He had felt earlier that Liu Shi was particularly aggressive today.

Reflecting on the parts that seemed outrageous before, Li Jing discovered that the root of it all was due to Liu Sisi’s chatter.

It wasn’t exactly that Liu Shi had accepted it, or merely verbally accepted it.

Her various intricate and difficult questions for him resulted from her expressing her dissatisfaction in her own way.

This...

Looking at Liu Shi, whose face was full of smiles, Li Jing silently opened and closed his mouth, unsure of how to respond.

More importantly, he shouldn’t respond.

Explain?

Pointless.

Tell Liu Shi not to be so immature?

He didn’t dare.

Tell Liu Shi to be straightforward and stop beating around the bush? Isn’t that just asking for trouble?

At this point, Liu Shi was indeed expressing her dissatisfaction.

However, she was just slightly displeased.

As for Chen Yuran, she was aware of it from the start.

Not to mention Liu Sisi had told her about it, but also after Li Jing came to the capital, Jiang Jingxian had reestablished contact with her.

It’s just that when there was no progress between Chen Yuran and Li Jing, she turned a blind eye. After all, she wasn’t in a position to say anything.

What Li Jing does is his freedom.

Liu Sisi following her wouldn’t mean that Liu Shi could control everything.

Now that there’s sudden progress between Li Jing and Chen Yuran, Liu Shi feels somewhat sorry for her daughter.

But in this regard, she could be open-minded.

She knew.

It would be almost impossible for a talented young man like Li Jing to have just one partner for life.

In a way, Li Jing had done very well.

Take today’s birthday feast, for example.

Li Jing’s arrival ensures that all sorts of social butterflies would be present.

A promising young man who made great achievements in an entirely unknown Big Secret Realm and had set foot into the Six Realm at a young age, wouldn’t the market for him in the capital be extremely huge?

As long as Li Jing was willing, how many people would be willing to curry favor with him at their own expense?

Having their pretty daughters involved is just basic practice.

Seeing the pained expression on Li Jing’s face across from her, sensing that he wanted to say something but dared not to, Liu Shi reigned in her displeasure and didn’t act sarcastically anymore, but calmly said.

"Yulian and Jiu Li are monsters, they explained this to me when we met. There are going to be many people from the Liu family here today. It wouldn’t be suitable for them to show up in this kind of occasion as it would be troublesome if someone recognized them. I’ve informed them in advance to come back after midnight."

...