"How old are you now?" Chen Donghe asked the child.
"Eight," was the reply.
Chen Donghe scrutinized the boy. He was biting his lip and staring back at Chen Donghe innocently, and he asked his next question.
"What is your name?"
"Chen Mufeng," the boy answered.
Standing up, Chen Donghe noticed his brother approaching respectfully, speaking in a tone of unfamiliar deference.
"We've asked the Immortal Master here in the hope that he might mentor the child... The Chen Family would be eternally grateful!"
After finishing his words, with a thud, he fell to the ground on his knees. The crowd around him followed suit, their pleading voices swelling like a tide.
Chen Donghe, focusing on the boy and ignoring the surrounding people, pondered to himself.
I cannot personally mentor this child, as it would recklessly leave traces... I'll find him a good family instead. This is the least I can do for the Chen Family.
Helping his brother up, he said solemnly, "I cannot mentor this child personally but I can find him a good teacher..."
His brother's expression shifted with uncertainty, and he was momentarily stunned. He hesitated. "Will this teacher be someone from the Tian... or Liu Family?"
Chen Donghe, not often interacting with external cultivators at the foot of the mountain, paused at this question.
A realization struck him.
The Li Family has accepted thirty to forty external cultivators over the decades, most of whom are at the first or second stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm. However... there are also three or four at the fourth stage, and there might be factions involved which also concerns the Chen Family's position.
Seeing Chen Donghe's reaction, his brother became somewhat flustered, squeezing out a smile through his wrinkled face. He responded hurriedly, "We do not doubt the Immortal Master's decision nor wish to choose shamelessly; we just need to know the name of the teacher to understand whom the child will be mentored by..."
Chen Donghe, smiling warmly, reassured his brother.
"Don't worry, brother. It'll be someone from the Li Family."
"The Li Family?!"
His brother was immediately overjoyed, smiling broadly to reveal a few decayed teeth. He exclaimed, "That's excellent! Excellent indeed!"
With a hearty laugh, Chen Donghe took Chen Mufeng's hand and soared into the sky, leaving a group of envious onlookers on the ground.
Flying over the town for a while, Chen Donghe descended into a spacious courtyard with the trembling child in his arms. Chen Mufeng stumbled a few steps upon landing.
Chen Donghe released his hand and saw a person standing in front of the stone door with gray hair and a straight posture. He looked somewhat surprised to see him and greeted, "Greetings, Brother Donghe... This is quite rare. Are you here looking for that Shamoli?"
"Not at all."
Chen Donghe returned the greeting with a warm smile, pulling the child closer and softly adding, "I'm here looking for Brother Qiuyang."
Li Qiuyang stepped forward and took a seat on a stone bench in the courtyard, sweeping his spiritual sense over the area while keeping an eye on the stone door to the room where Shamoli had retreated for seclusion.
He smiled.
"Brother Donghe, just speak your mind."
Chen Donghe nodded, speaking seriously, "I returned to the Chen Family recently, and we have a child with a spiritual orifice. They wanted me to mentor him, but I felt it wasn't right for me to take him under my wing... I was hoping to entrust him to you."
"Oh?"
Li Qiuyang lowered his head but did not immediately agree. He observed Chen Mufeng for a while. Seeing the boy was well-behaved, Chen Donghe transmitted his voice.
"I've heard Brother Qiuyang's sons are without spiritual orifice, which will be troublesome in the future. Why not take this child as your disciple and later marry him to one of your daughters? When you pass away in a hundred years, your descendants will have someone to shelter them..."
This suggestion struck a chord with Li Qiuyang, who immediately brightened up and began nodding vigorously. He then said solemnly, "Since brother has put it this way, I will take the child under my wing."
Chen Donghe laughed heartily, patting the boy's back and beaming.
"Call him Master."
"Master!"
The boy obediently did so and Li Qiuyang warmly took his hand, asking for his birthdate and name.
After they had spoken, Chen Donghe then spoke softly, "I have a question for Brother Qiuyang..."
"Go ahead," Li Qiuyang replied as he looked up.
Chen Donghe took out two small cups and a gourd from his storage pouch, filled the cups with clear wine, and then said softly, "Having practiced on Mount Huaqian for many years, I'm not very familiar with the external cultivators of our home... Could Brother Qiuyang enlighten me?"
"Ah, that matter!"
Li Qiuyang was about to sip from his cup but set down the jade cup, looking toward the closed stone door before letting out a loud, hearty laugh.
"There are twenty-eight external cultivators of the Embryonic Breathing Realm in our family now, and six from the Ye Family have changed their surname to Li. Most are at the first or second stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm, hardly worth mentioning... However, a few early cultivators with decent talent are noteworthy."
Li Qiuyang glanced at Chen Mufeng next to him, who was all ears. He nodded slightly, and continued solemnly, "The first—at the fifth stage of Embryonic Breathing Realm—is surnamed Tian, related to the... Family Head, the Great King's wife's family."
Li Qiuyang's mention of "the Great King'' silenced them both. Both of them had been through thick and thin with Li Xiangping and everyone called him the "Great King" while they were in the territory of Mount Yue.
"The Great King passed away in the lands of Mount Yue, and his mother followed in sorrow within a few years. The Tian Family has declined quite a bit, but this man's talent is decent; now at forty, his likelihood of breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Realm isn't high, but still possible. He's currently in charge of managing the cultivation of the Spirit Paddies in town with quite a few people covertly supporting him, and can be considered a leader of one faction. Following them are the Liu and Ren families, both at the fourth stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm but mostly without a chance to break through to the Qi Cultivation Realm, each leading a faction."
Chen Donghe sipped the clear wine, frowning slightly, and asked in a low voice, "Is this known to the family?"
"I wouldn't know..." Li Qiuyang said as he shook his head, his spiritual sense sweeping inside and outside the courtyard before whispering, "Such matters should be managed by the Clan Affairs Courtyard... I avoid these affairs as much as possible. Who in the Li Family doesn't fear the Clan Affairs Courtyard?"
Realization struck Chen Donghe and he quickly apologized. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Is the struggle intense?"
"It used to be manageable."
Li Qiuyang's voice had grown even lower, the shallow wrinkles at the corners of his eyes becoming even more evident in the dim light.
He softly continued, "After all... each family has its interests, and the output of each spirit field differs; so does the stipend provided. These people used to vie for the better fields to skive off, and no one was willing to take the barren ones... Since the Young Master Xiu took over, the factions have become increasingly antagonistic. Many people have been squeezed into the barren lands due to their disputes, having no choice but to toil thanklessly."
"I see," Chen Donghe responded as he nodded slightly, pondering deeply to himself.
This matter probably needs to be reported to the family for Li Xuanling and others to decide, to prevent long-term issues from brewing...
After bidding farewell to Li Qiuyang, he flew away from the courtyard and headed toward the mountain, leaving Li Qiuyang in the courtyard silently watching his departure direction. He then eventually smiled and chuckled to himself.
"He'er never changes!"