Chapter 987: The Wang Family Advances
After the apprenticeship ceremony was completed, the Great Elder and the Sixth Elder offered Lin Tian a cup of gratitude tea, and Nanqiu followed suit and added another cup for Lin Tian.
After drinking three cups of gratitude tea in a row, Lin Tian felt very refreshed, truly a moment of triumph in life.
"Now that I have recognized my mentors and drunk the tea, we should also change how we address each other. So far, I still don’t know how to properly call the two of you," Lin Tian said from the lead seat in the room.
The people of Celestial Dragon Continent are from the Land of Etiquette and place great importance on ceremony. For example, regarding the gratitude tea, Lin Tian felt indifferent, but the Great Elder and the Sixth Elder thought it must be formal; even the bowing could be skipped, but the gratitude tea must be drunk in the main hall. This led to Lin Tian sitting alone in the lead seat while the three disciples sat as guests.
The Sixth Elder said, "My name in the secular world is Yang Hong. After joining the Alliance and becoming an Elder, I was given a new name. Each generation of Elders follows the tradition ’Cultivate oneself, manage the family, uphold virtue and martial arts to bring peace to the nation.’ Our generation follows the ’Wu’ character. You can call me Wu Hong in the future. My brother here is Wu Zong."
"Wu Hong, Wu Zong, good names," Lin Tian said.
After that, the three arranged their rankings. Although Nanqiu entered a few days earlier, she willingly relinquished the position of the senior disciple to become the junior sister, seeing the two as senior veterans.
Once the rankings were settled, the Great Elder eagerly asked, "Master, can you now teach us the sect’s heart method?"
Lin Tian shook his head, "Not yet. Don’t rush—haste makes waste. Directly absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi requires a certain resilience of your meridians. Although you’ve cleared the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the amount of Spiritual Qi you can directly absorb shouldn’t be too much. Thus, the meridians need to be strengthened."
Upon hearing Lin Tian’s words, the Great Elder deflated like a punctured balloon and said, "So it seems we still need to wait a while."
"Although you can’t directly absorb Spiritual Qi now, I can still teach you something else," Lin Tian said with a hint of a smile.
Teaching disciples, especially master-level disciples like Wu Zong and Wu Hong, requires a gradual approach. If the master reveals all his skills at once, he would be deemed unnecessary.
Throughout history, hasn’t there been a plethora of cases of the strong defeating the weak in waves?
"What?" the Great Elder eagerly asked, feeling like a country bumpkin compared to Lin Tian. Lin Tian understood more about pill formulas and cultivated more rapidly. Now even the cultivation methods need to be taught by him. As long as he could learn something useful, acknowledging him as a master was worthwhile!
"Concentrate your Qi until it becomes solid, impact your meridians and bones, and it’s best to clear the Eight Extraordinary Meridians again."
"Concentrate Qi until it becomes solid?" Upon hearing this term, the two Elders glanced at each other, both puzzled. As for the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, they had painstakingly cleared them back then, so why clear them again now?
Countless questions arose in their minds, now like sponges ready to absorb anything.
While Lin Tian was enlightening them, a white-robed disciple with a sword strapped on his back ran in, standing at the door and shouting, "Reporting~ The Wang Family has sent seventy-three experts to the True Martial Hall, requesting to see Lin Tian."
"Got it, let the Wang Family wait!"
From inside the room came the emphatic voice of the Great Elder, leaving the white-robed disciple outside with no choice but to return the way he came. This master feared nothing and left them with no option but to wait.
"Brother..." The Sixth Elder’s facial muscles twitched as he asked, "For the Wang Family to come with so many people at once, there must be something significant. Isn’t it inappropriate to keep them waiting like this?"
"Inappropriate my ass! It’s just the Wang Family, I wasn’t afraid of them before, and now they’re like drowned rats—there’s even less to fear. I’m right at the climax here, what disruption are they bringing? Besides, they’re here for the master; do you think it could be anything good?"
The Sixth Elder smiled bitterly, thankful that his brother wasn’t in charge within the Alliance. Otherwise, who knows how many people would be offended.
Upon hearing "Wang Family," Lin Tian could roughly guess their intentions, possibly because Wang Sijing was driven mad by that dark force, not expecting they’d find their way here.
Not long after, someone shouted from outside the door, "Reporting~ Among the seventy-three Wang Family members, there are twelve Golden Core experts."
"Twelve? How did the Wang Family suddenly have so many people?" the Sixth Elder questioned, not believing these experts could belong to other families, as no one currently gets along well with the Wang Family.
"Hmph." The Great Elder snorted heavily and said, "Most likely their reclused monsters were forced out; the dog is jumping over the wall. Now the situation is somewhat unexpected; Master... why not meet them? Rest assured, they won’t harm a single hair on you."
"If it’s meant to be, it cannot be avoided. Let’s go meet them," Lin Tian said, drinking the remaining tea in his cup, taking the lead.
The Wang Family bringing so many people at once was a rare sight at Luoyan Dock, causing quite the stir within the Alliance.
Soon, Lin Tian and the others arrived at the scene. What left people jaw-dropped was Lin Tian walking ahead of the Great and Sixth Elders, who flanked him like stars surrounding the moon.
This scene looked... too bizarre, didn’t it?
"Where is Lin Tian? If you don’t bring him out, the old man will tear down the True Martial Hall! After that, I’ll tear down the Elder Council too!" A scruffy, sallow-faced, eighty-something old man with a hoarse voice shouted.
"Just try tearing one down? Let’s see if I don’t dismantle your old bones first!"
The Great Elder’s resounding voice arose, not yielding in momentum to the opponent. That overpowering voice silenced the Wang Family for two seconds, then they started clamoring again until Lin Tian’s group reached the True Martial Hall.
"So, it’s you, Wang Manzi. Just keep that duck-like croaky voice down; it’s nothing but noise." The Great Elder looked at the scruffy old man, "And your hair, shouldn’t it be trimmed? It’s an embarrassment to your Wang Family!"
Upon hearing this, the hot-tempered Wang Manzi nearly exploded with rage. He rolled up his sleeves, shouting, "Wu Zong, why aren’t you staying in your Qingyuan Hall? Be careful not to have a Heart Demon attack and turn into a mad old man."
The Great Elder and Wang Manzi are from the same generation, both exceptionally talented and hot-tempered. They have faced off privately many times, with wins and losses balanced, leading them into old age without either yielding.
"If my Heart Demon recurs, you’ll be the first to die!" The Great Elder replied scornfully. Since acquiring the Heart Purification Method from Lin Tian, his Heart Demon had indeed weakened considerably. Otherwise, with his fiery temper, he would have had countless episodes.