Early next morning.
“Ming'er, you awakened a ‘Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone’?!”
The woman dressed in goose-yellow robes looked at the youth gulping down meat porridge at the table, her face filled with joy and shock.
Lu Ming looked up, his eyes reflecting a beautiful woman's face. A hint of heroism was mixed within her gentle brows; she was his mother, Zhong Ying.
Lu Ming smiled and nodded. Although his Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone needed to be kept a secret, that secret obviously did not apply to his own mother. Lu Qingyan must have told her immediately after returning last night.
“My Ming'er is truly amazing!”
Zhong Ying beamed with joy, reaching out to dotingly pat the youth's head, her voice full of pride. “My good son, cultivate hard. Once you become a Divine Ability Grandmaster in the future, you'll bring some pride to your mother's side of the family. Let's see if they still dare to make snide remarks.”
Lu Ming smiled wryly. His mother, Zhong Ying, came from the Golden Bell Profound Gang Hall in Fengyang Prefecture City. It was an established Tier 4 Divine Ability Hall that was highly renowned in Fengyang Prefecture. The current master of the Golden Bell Profound Gang Hall was Zhong Ying's father—Lu Ming's maternal grandfather.
However, in the many years since Zhong Ying married Lu Qingyan, the two families had rarely interacted.
The reason was a cliché. Back then, the Lu family had fallen to its lowest point, and the Thunderfire Hall was only newly established. It had barely reached Tier 2, struggling to secure a foothold in Qingyuan Ward. At that time, Zhong Ying was the young mistress of a Tier 4 Divine Ability Hall. In terms of family background and power, how could the Lu family possibly hope to climb so high?
Yet, Zhong Ying had taken a fancy to Lu Qingyan.
Naturally, Zhong Ying's father was furious. He believed the Lu family was trying to latch onto their influence to climb the social ladder, so he immediately ordered the two to stop seeing each other. During this time, his subordinates, trying to curry favor by guessing their master's intentions, even took it upon themselves to pressure the Thunderfire Hall, going as far as to trash the hall and injure people.
When Zhong Ying found out about this, despite her usually gentle temperament, she possessed an incredibly stubborn streak. In her anger, she left home, came to the Thunderfire Hall, and married Lu Qingyan shortly after.
No one from her maternal family, the Golden Bell Profound Gang Hall, attended that wedding. From then on, Zhong Ying never returned to her maternal home, and she rarely even visited Fengyang Prefecture City.
This strained relationship persisted for many years. It was only when Lu Ming was born that the old hall master of the Golden Bell Profound Gang Hall finally relented and sent a gift.
With Lu Ming acting as a bridge, the relationship between the two families had thawed slightly over the years, but they were still far from close.
Regarding these past grievances of the older generation, Lu Ming could not easily say who was right or wrong. However, when it came to closeness, he would definitely stand by his mother. He immediately nodded and smiled. “Don't worry, Mother. Your son will definitely work hard.”
To the side, Lu Qingyan put down his bowl and reminded her, “The matter of Ah Ming's Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone must be kept strictly secret. Otherwise, it will bring disaster upon the Thunderfire Hall.”
Zhong Ying agreed. Having been married to Lu Qingyan for so many years, she naturally knew some of the Lu family's secrets.
At this moment, Lu Mengmeng walked out with sleepy eyes. She stumbled over and sat down beside Lu Ming, rubbing her eyes as she asked, “Brother, did you awaken your Divine Ability Bone?”
“Yes.” Lu Ming ruffled her messy hair, picked up a steaming hot meat bun from the table, and handed it to her.
Lu Mengmeng's eyes were still blurry, but the aroma of the bun aroused her inner foodie. She hurriedly took it and said enviously, “I want to awaken a Divine Ability Bone too, and then learn a simple, easy-to-learn divine ability that keeps my stomach from ever getting hungry.”
Lu Ming was speechless. She was truly a lazy, unambitious foodie.
Lu Qingyan looked at Lu Mengmeng and sighed softly with a hint of apology, saying gently, “Mengmeng, your brother has awakened his Divine Ability Bone. From now on, his bone refining will require a lot of resources, so... this might delay your own Bone-Opening for a while.”
To nurture Zhang Yue, the Thunderfire Hall had exhausted the foundation it had accumulated over many years. Now that Lu Ming was in urgent need of resources, it would inevitably squeeze Lu Mengmeng's cultivation resources.
Lu Mengmeng's dark eyes instantly widened.
Seeing this, Lu Ming was about to speak up for her, but then he heard Lu Mengmeng squeal with excitement, “Father, does that mean I can spend less time cultivating every day?”
To Lu Mengmeng, the time spent practicing the Qi Refining Technique every day was simply the most painful torture.
Looking at the ecstatic expression on the little girl's face, Lu Qingyan fell into silence. The slight guilt he had just felt vanished instantly. For a moment, he even wanted to treat her to a thorough thrashing.
Had this daughter been raised completely wrong? She had been greedy and lazy since childhood, and she didn't want to put in any effort at all.
Beside them, Zhong Ying dotingly pinched Lu Mengmeng's cheek, then turned and walked into the inner room. A moment later, she walked out carrying a wooden box. She opened the box, revealing two pills that emitted an exotic fragrance. There were even some fine golden patterns on the surface of the pills.
“High-grade Bone Refining Pills?” Lu Ming blurted out in pleasant surprise.
Lu Qingyan was also dumbfounded. “Two High-grade Bone Refining Pills? Where did you get these?”
A single High-grade Bone Refining Pill was worth five hundred grains of heavenly gold sand. These two pills were equivalent to a month's income for their Thunderfire Hall. This was no small amount.
Zhong Ying rolled her eyes at him. “Naturally, I saved them up myself over the years.”
Lu Qingyan said, “You actually hid these? The hall has been struggling these past two years, yet you didn't think to bring them out earlier.”
“Bring them out for what? So you could use them to feed that ungrateful wolf, Zhang Yue? Why should I? I saved these for Ming'er and Mengmeng!” Zhong Ying snorted coldly.
She had long disliked Zhang Yue, but in the past, she had held her tongue for the sake of the family's overall situation. Now that Zhang Yue had abandoned the Thunderfire Hall, she naturally had no need to endure any longer.
Lu Qingyan choked, unable to argue. After all, what Zhong Ying said was true. If she had brought these Bone Refining Pills out earlier, they would have undoubtedly become Zhang Yue's cultivation resources.
Zhong Ying handed the wooden box to Lu Ming and Lu Mengmeng, saying softly, “This is for you siblings.”
Lu Mengmeng stretched out her small hand, pushing the box toward Lu Ming, and said generously, “Brother, you take them all. Don't let my good intentions go to waste. It would be best if you could also put in the effort to do my share of the cultivation as well.”
Lu Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Bone Refining Pills were the resources he needed most right now. With these two from Zhong Ying's savings, he now had three High-grade Bone Refining Pills in his hands.
Thus, Lu Ming did not stand on ceremony. He reached out and took all the High-grade Bone Refining Pills. “Mengmeng, don't worry. When it's time for your Bone-Opening, Brother will get you the best and most cultivation resources.”
It would take at least two to three years before Lu Mengmeng underwent Bone-Opening and awakened. Lu Ming believed that by then, he would definitely have enough strength to support her.
“Eh?”
Lu Mengmeng's little face fell. Brother, you're returning kindness with enmity! Preparing so many cultivation resources for her—did that mean she wouldn't even have a chance to slack off? Wouldn't it be better to replace them with the Sunset Crisps from Aunt Su's Pastry Shop?
Lu Qingyan shook his head helplessly. Just as he was about to lecture her, a hall disciple came to report: “Second Master, the Grand Master requests your presence in the front hall. He says the matriarch of the Li family has come to visit.”
“The matriarch of the Li family?”
Hearing this, Lu Qingyan was startled, and then his gaze turned toward Lu Ming.
In this Qingyuan Ward, various forces were entrenched. Aside from the ward government established by the officials, there were also two local giants with the deepest foundations: the Li and Yan Divine Ability Clans.
In terms of foundation and heritage, these Divine Ability Clans were far stronger than Divine Ability Halls like theirs.
As for why their Thunderfire Hall had a relatively close relationship with the Li family... the source of this connection was not Lu Jin, but Lu Ming.
Meeting Lu Qingyan's gaze, Lu Ming said with a slight helplessness, “It's probably because of Jing Yi.”
Jing Yi was the daughter of the Li family's matriarch. As for why her surname was Jing, it was naturally because her father was not a member of the Li family. Of course, more importantly, her father's clan was even more powerful.
An exquisite and spirited young girl's face, along with her slender, graceful figure like a fresh sprout in early spring, flashed through Lu Ming's mind.
When Lu Ming was ten years old, he had gone out with Lu Qingyan. They happened to encounter a sudden outbreak of the Black Rain Season. Rain Abominations broke through the seal, triggering a devastating black tide.
In the chaos, Lu Ming and Lu Qingyan were separated. It was during that time that he met Jing Yi, who was a year younger than him and had also been left alone in the confusion.
Lu Ming looked down at his right arm. There were three ferocious claw marks about an inch long. This was the scar left behind from saving that little girl during that incident. The death energy had corroded his blood and bone, leaving behind scars that were difficult to heal.
Fortunately, that outbreak of the Black Rain Season was extremely brief. By the next day, when the black rain had slightly receded, the Li family poured all their strength into a frantic search along the tracks, finally finding the two children huddled inside a rock crevice in the wilderness.
No one knew how much terror those two children had experienced during that night. But it was precisely this accident that brought Lu Ming and Jing Yi together. Since then, she had frequently visited the Thunderfire Hall, and their relationship had gradually deepened.
It was not until a year ago, when Jing Yi reached the age for Bone-Opening cultivation, that her father's clan took her away, leaving Qingyuan Ward.
After leaving, Jing Yi would often send ‘Flying Crane Letters’ from thousands of miles away to Qingyuan Ward.
“I really miss Sister Jing Yi. When can she come back?” Lu Mengmeng said pitifully.
Lu Ming rolled his eyes at her. This little foodie didn't miss the person; she only missed the fact that whenever Jing Yi was around, she would take her to eat all the best and most expensive delicacies in Qingyuan Ward.
“Jing Yi is indeed a good girl. Even though she was born into a Divine Ability Clan, she doesn't have any of the arrogance of a young mistress,” Zhong Ying said with a smile, looking at Lu Ming with a meaningful gaze.
Lu Ming sighed helplessly and said, “I've said it many times. She and I are just friends. She only feels some gratitude toward me because of what happened back then.”
“Perhaps,” Zhong Ying said noncommittally.
“It's best for Ah Ming to think this way. It keeps him level-headed. Jing Yi's father's clan seems quite extraordinary. Now that she is far away from Qingyuan Ward, you two might not walk the same path in the future. So, keeping a casual friendship is for the best.” Lu Qingyan highly agreed with Lu Ming's clear-headedness.
“You're being too realistic and harsh. What's wrong with my son? With his current talent, who is he not worthy of?” Zhong Ying was somewhat dissatisfied.
Seeing the two of them bickering, Lu Ming quickly said, “Mother, your son has great ambitions and has no interest in romance!”
“What great ambition do you have?” Zhong Ying asked, amused.
Lu Ming slapped the table and said passionately, “To revitalize the Lu family and the Thunderfire Hall!”
“Good son!” Lu Qingyan praised.
Zhong Ying was speechless and waved her hands repeatedly in distaste.
“Like father, like son.”
“Both of you, get out!”
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