BXBX NOVEL Chapter 23: "Young Clan Leader" of the Gongsun Clan
The Enlightenment Pill can improve one’s talent, said to be specially developed by an Alchemy Great Grandmaster to enhance human cultivation talent.
That Alchemy Grandmaster had devoted his entire life to developing the “Enlightenment Pill,” but the result was still quite disappointing, as the Enlightenment Pill only offered a slight improvement for those with Profound Martial Talent of lower class.
Moreover, it could only slightly improve the Profound Martial Talent, not significantly.
Even so, for a nine rank lowest-tier Prominent Family like the Ping’an Wang Family, the Enlightenment Pill was already a very high-level “God-level Pill.” Especially for someone like Wang Shouzhe, who was at the lower class A level of Profound Martial Talent, it was extremely practical. He was touted as a young genius, only half a step behind the Old Ancestor Longyan in his younger days, bearing the hopes of the family’s future.
However, Wang Shouzhe himself was well aware that his talent, while considered good within Changning’s sphere, had only a hopeful chance of impacting the Spirit Platform Stage. By comparison within the entirety of Longzuo County, it was hardly worth mentioning. His overall conditions just barely met the enrollment requirements of the Purple Abode Academic Palace, and whether he would be accepted still depended on subsequent tests.
Fortunately, even among those in the lower class A, Wang Shouzhe was considered a standout, only a step away from the middle-grade talent. If he had the chance to take the “Enlightenment Pill,” he might very well make further progress by leaps and bounds, joining the ranks of those with middle-grade talent, which would be a completely different story.
The Old Ancestor Longyan, Wang Longyan, had genuine middle-grade talent.
In the population of tens of thousands in Changning, the probability of middle-grade talent emerging was very low. Once it appeared, even the Purple Abode Academic Palace would actively vie for it, providing focused training upon admission.
However, the Enlightenment Pill belonged to the category of Level Three Spirit Pills and was very scarce in production. Even when Zhou Xuan, the Old Ancestor, was alive, he couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to obtain an Enlightenment Pill.
Seeing the uncertainty in Wang Shouzhe’s eyes, Wang Luo Jing, sitting beside him, said docilely, “Fourth Brother, I will definitely work hard to get you the Enlightenment Pill.”
“Luo Jing, you must not spoil your Fourth Brother too much,” Gongsun Hui said with a smile as she stroked her head. “You can try to revive the Spirit Bees, but don’t worry too much if you can’t; cultivating a swarm from some Purple Crystal Spirit Bee pupae is no easy task. If you fail, consider it an experience gain and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
“Madam Gongsun is right,” Wang Shouzhe hastily added, “Luo Jing, the bee nest was bought for you to play with anyway. It doesn’t matter if it’s spoiled. Accumulating experience as an Insect Master isn’t an overnight feat.”
Wang Luo Jing was only twelve years old, which, on Earth, would have made her a sixth-grade elementary school student. Wang Shouzhe certainly didn’t want to put too much pressure on her.
“Auntie Li, Fourth Brother, I understand,” Wang Luo Jing obediently responded, then carefully pondered over the Purple Crystal Spirit Bee hive she was holding. Her gaze was incredibly focused and captivated, as if she had received her most beloved toy.
Only then did Wang Shouzhe remember that his little sister seemed different from ordinary people, having an innate obsession with insects. Even her own brother, Wang Shounuo, had said that Luo Jing could squat in the yard watching ants for days and nights when she was two or three years old.
Well, let her be. It’s okay to let her tinker with it.
Both Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Hui knew how to be discreet, keeping their mouths shut and trying not to disturb her as much as possible.
The carriage proceeded smoothly along the official road without any jolts, especially after entering Shanyang Town, where the road was completely even.
The Gongsun Clan of Shanyang had been managing this stretch of land for over two hundred years and had become firmly entrenched. They owned some special industries that required high-quality roads, so they spent a lot of money on road maintenance every year.
Traveling on the smooth and solid road surface, one could lift the carriage curtain and see a mountain range with a high, arched back visible in the distance.
That was a remnant of the Six Flat Mountain chain, winding past the outskirts of Ping’an Town and piercing through the Peace River before rising into the last high stretch of the remnant mountains.
This segment, rising like the spine of a giant dragon, was steeper and more rugged than the rest of the Six Flat Mountain range, hence it was named Longji Mountain.
The northwest side of Longji Mountain was known as Shanyin, while its southeast side was called Shanyang.
Shanyang was dominated by the Gongsun Clan, while Shanyin was the undisputed territory of the Liu Family.
Wang Shouzhe and his companions purposely took the route through the Changning ferry crossing from the northern side of the river to enter Shanyang in order to deliberately avoid the waters near Shaoying Gorge, which was the territorial water domain of another great Prominent Family of Ping’an Town, the Zhao Clan.
Less than half an hour after entering the Shanyang territory, the sound of galloping horses approached rapidly as several knights rode swiftly up the main road.
One of the knights was Wang An, one of the Soldiers of the Wang Family, who had been dispatched in advance as an envoy to the Gongsun Clan in Shanyang to announce their itinerary.
Before Wang Shouzhe’s carriage, Wang Wu and Wang Yong, two of the family guards, spurred their horses forward, keeping a certain distance between the approaching knights and the carriage.
This was the duty of the household guardians, even if among the group of knights were their own people.
“Wang Yong, report to the Family Head at once.” As Wang An and the other knights came to a halt, each of them dismounted, he called out loudly, “The Young Clan Leader of the Gongsun Clan has personally come to welcome the Family Head and Madam Gongsun.”
The voice was so loud that it was heard inside Wang Shouzhe’s carriage.
“It’s my brother.” Gongsun Hui, who had always carried herself with dignity and grace, suddenly revealed the joyous expression of a young girl. However, realizing that Wang Shouzhe and Wang Luo Jing, the two younger members, were also in the carriage, she quickly composed herself to display the demeanor of an elder, and spoke solemnly, “Zhe Er, Luo Jing. According to the customs, let us get off the carriage to meet our uncle.”
Wang Shouzhe was extremely rare to see such a youthful demeanor from the matron, and he couldn’t help but smile inwardly, realizing that although she was usually serious and dignified, she was actually only nineteen when she remarried to Wang Dingyue and had given birth to her sister Luomei at the age of twenty-two, just eight years ago, making her actual age only thirty.
If she were in a major city on Earth like Beijing or Shanghai, there would be plenty of thirty-year-old unmarried women who typically referred to themselves as girls.
But let’s not digress.
Following Gongsun Hui, the two of them got out of the carriage, and at this moment the Young Clan Leader of the Gongsun family, also accompanied by two household guardians, came forward to meet them.
Gongsun Qiang, the rightful eldest son of the current Gongsun Clan. With a fair complexion and clean-shaven, he had quite the heroic appearance, and his lean figure appeared even more handsome and imposing in his attire. However, Wang Shouzhe knew that this “uncle,” the clan’s young leader, was already thirty-eight years old and his cultivation had reached the peak of Level Eight in the Vital Energy Refining Realm.
“Little sister,” Gongsun Qiang strode forward quickly, smiling warmly, “You’ve finally come home after such a long time, and you didn’t even notify your big brother in advance so that I could go out to Shanyang to welcome you.”
Gongsun Hui, being the youngest among her siblings, was the most doted upon in the family, and Gongsun Qiang was particularly fond of his little sister.
“Brother,” Gongsun Hui returned the greeting with a modest bow, her demeanor graceful and proper, “It’s my duty to come back and visit father and brother. How could I trouble you to personally come and welcome me? Zhe Er, don’t you want to greet your uncle?”
She subtly signaled Wang Shouzhe with her eyes.
Understanding her cue, Wang Shouzhe immediately bowed with his hands clasped and said, “Shouzhe greets uncle.”
Gongsun Qiang stared at him, scrutinizing Wang Shouzhe for a good while before squeezing out, “Shouzhe has grown up quite a bit, truly a young man of valor, surpassing your father by a lot.”
Although he was Gongsun Hui’s elder brother, his impression of Wang Shouzhe’s father was not favorable, and he even held some hostility towards him.
The reason, of course, was that his cherished little sister ended up remarrying an older man than himself, which irked him greatly.
Afterward, he had several altercations with Wang Dingyue due to personality clashes and simply stopped visiting the Wang family altogether.
This time, when Wang Dingyue died, although he was the brother-in-law, he didn’t visit and instead sent family elders and several direct relatives to help. Upon hearing these words, Wang Shouzhe’s expression darkened. Even though he was a transmigrator, the memories of his predecessor had merged with his own, and he was also Wang Shouzhe.
How could he remain unresponsive to Gongsun Qiang’s inappropriate remarks?
“Brother, don’t talk nonsense,” Gongsun Hui’s face turned stern with annoyance, and she said sharply, “Apologize! Otherwise, I’ll return to the Wang family at once.”
“Er! Alright, it was my mistake,” Gongsun Qiang hastily chuckled and apologized, then turned to Wang Shouzhe and said with a bow, “Your uncle also offers his apologies, and I hope you won’t take offense. It’s just that your father and I weren’t compatible in nature, but on reflection, both his talent and achievements far surpass mine.”
He was not wrong, as by the age of forty, Wang Dingyue had already reached the peak of Level Nine in the Vital Energy Refining Realm and was on the verge of glimpsing the Spiritual Platform Realm.
For Gongsun Qiang to reach that level, he still had a long way to go.
Even though Gongsun Qiang was already thirty-eight, as a Young Clan Leader, his mood was entirely transparent.
Yet, his forthright nature meant he was not a difficult person to deal with. This was Wang Shouzhe’s silent assessment of Gongsun Qiang….