"More than a decade ago, during the Battle of Mei River, Sixth Brother seized three entire cargo ships of weapons and armor from the Rong barbarians."
The third son, Kang Kexi, explained:
"The Great Yu Dynasty has its Northern and Southern Courts. The rebel army, Lord Jing'an, commands the military forces of the three southern provinces under the Southern Court, a total of seven hundred thousand troops, truly a powerful and well-equipped army... While the current emperor of Great Yu nominally commands the Northern Court Army, the Northern Border Army, and the Ningjing Imperial Guard, amounting to eight hundred thousand troops, the actual number of forces he can mobilize is far less. Moreover, Lord Jing'an holds extremely high prestige within the Great Yu military. For the emperor to suppress this rebellion will be even more difficult than it was thirty years ago."
There would be no Li Chengyuan to rush to the capital and rescue the emperor this time.
"So what?"
Kang Zongdan asked.
Kang Kexi continued his explanation:
"Now that the Great Yu emperor is in a weakened position, Sixth Brother believes this is a perfect opportunity to make a fortune. He plans to dump all the weapons and armor he seized over a decade ago on the Great Yu emperor, taking advantage of the situation. So he personally went to Ningjing to lobby..."
"Nonsense!"
"How could there be such an idiotic fool as Sixth Brother! Right now, Lord Jing'an's Southern Court Army is advancing triumphantly, and he goes to Ningjing to sell weapons and armor to the Great Yu emperor?
"If Li Chengyuan achieves a great victory and Great Yu henceforth bears the surname Li, if Li Chengyuan comes to Yunxi Country demanding an explanation, where would that leave the emperor's face?"
"......"
Kang Kexi said nothing more, simply lowering his head very deeply.
"Third Son, you go to Great Yu right now and bring Sixth Brother back to me!"
Kang Zongdan ordered.
"Yes!"
Without any hesitation, Kang Kexi immediately turned and left the hall.
It was almost like he was fleeing.
"That beast of a thing, ever since he was little, all he's done is cause trouble for others."
The current head of the Kang Family had still not completely calmed his anger, cursing there as if talking to himself.
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to reach the ears of Kang Keye sitting nearby.
"Father."
Kang Keye said softly:
"When Sixth Brother returns, I will discipline him myself. You need not trouble yourself."
Hearing this, Kang Zongdan did not speak either, merely nodding his head.
Kang Keye certainly knew what his father meant. Since childhood, among their six brothers, Sixth Brother had always been the one who caused the most trouble and was the biggest source of worry for their father.
Although their father currently appeared quite robust, his age was, after all, already very advanced.
Aging can happen in just an instant.
It wouldn't be long before he himself would officially take up the position as the next head of the Kang Family. And after their father passed away, taking good care of their sixth brother was also their father's long-cherished wish.
"Today, I have called all of you here because there is a very important matter to discuss."
Kang Zongdan shifted his gaze back to the people gathered in the hall:
"It doesn't matter that Third Son and Sixth Brother aren't here. You can relay the message to them later."
Everyone looked at the old man sitting in the main seat, all very curious about what important matter their family patriarch wanted to discuss.
"The Kang Family has been passed down east of the Mei River to this day, maintaining friendly relations with the rulers of Yunxi Country for generations. It has now been over two hundred years. Everyone knows our Kang Family is a martial arts family, and that is indeed the truth. Up to today, counting both the main and branch families, over these two hundred-plus years, we have produced a total of seven martial arts grandmasters."
Kang Zongdan said slowly.
The people in the hall who heard this felt somewhat confused by Kang Zongdan's statement, as if they all had some different understanding.
Kang Keye, sitting beside Kang Zongdan, also quietly reminded his father:
"Father, it's eight."
"What?"
Kang Zongdan said loudly.
"Not seven, it's eight."
"Eight what?"
Kang Zongdan continued to ask loudly.
Hearing this, Kang Keye hesitated for a moment. He began to think that his father was finally becoming muddled, then answered:
"Our Kang Family has produced a total of eight martial arts grandmasters."
"Eight martial arts grandmasters?"
Kang Zongdan raised his head, sweeping his gaze over the people in the hall:
"Do you all think our Kang Family has produced a total of eight martial arts grandmasters?"
The people in the hall remained silent, though some nodded.
"That's because you've included me in the count, but I am no martial arts grandmaster!"
Kang Zongdan raised the iron meditation ball in his hand and said:
"Watch carefully!"
Immediately after, he clenched his fist hard. The originally round iron ball in his palm twisted and deformed like clay.
The air grew still. Everyone's eyes widened, faces filled with utter disbelief.
...What... is this?
How did he do that?
The lean, white-haired old man relaxed his grip, dropping the twisted and deformed iron ball onto the ground. It made a crisp metallic clang as it struck the stone tiles.
"I did not cultivate martial arts, but walked a different path."
Kang Zongdan stated:
"This path is called the Path to Immortality!"
Path to Immortality?
Everyone in the hall wore expressions of confusion.
"When I was young, I once traveled through various countries, experiencing the local customs and cultures of different places... Later, in an unnamed mountain, I happened to meet a Taoist priest and, through a series of coincidences, helped him with something.
"As a reward, the Taoist priest was willing to grant me an opportunity, taking me as his disciple to cultivate with him in the mountains!
"I witnessed that Taoist priest's abilities. Crushing this iron ball like clay was the most trivial, insignificant feat for him... Even from a distance of two or three zhang, he could effortlessly pulverize the iron ball into dust from afar!
"So without any hesitation, I agreed to the Taoist priest's offer and cultivated with him in the mountains..."
As he spoke, Kang Zongdan raised his head, his expression becoming distant and regretful:
"Alas, my innate talent was poor. The Taoist priest said that even if I cultivated for a lifetime, I would probably never be able to achieve 'drawing qi into the body.' With my mediocre talent, there was no way I could return to his sect with him.
"He gave me another choice. Sixty years later, he would send someone to Jiangdu Prefecture in Yunxi Country to find me, willing to take one of my descendants as a disciple and pass on to me the latter half of the cultivation method I originally practiced. If this matter succeeded, our Kang Family would from then on no longer be a martial arts family..."
Saying this, Kang Zongdan swept his gaze over his descendants in the hall:
"...but an immortal cultivation family."
The Kang Family members in the hall looked at each other, and a stir began to ripple through them.
Frankly, they didn't really understand much of what their family patriarch had just said about cultivation methods, the immortal path, or becoming an immortal cultivation family.
Their attention was focused more on the iron ball that Kang Zongdan had crushed like clay.
What kind of terrifying strength could accomplish such a thing?
If one cultivated immortality, could they also become like this?
The eyes of everyone present began to grow fervent.
Including Kang Keye beside Kang Zongdan.
Kang Zongdan was very satisfied with his descendants' reactions. He nodded, then continued speaking.
"Sixty years, sixty years... When I met that Taoist priest back then, I was thirty-one years old. And now I am ninety-one. This also means..."
Kang Zongdan paused for a moment, finally stating in a deep voice:
"It is this year."