Seventh Young Master guessed half right—the lady did indeed cry.
He sighed in his heart as he looked at Seventh Young Master, whose eyes were dim in the distance, and whispered to the lady, "Why must you do this?"
These two, their awkwardness even made Zheng Fa feel entangled.
One entered the Qingmu Sect, ranting and raving against everything, but what truly delighted him was the phrase, ’I made my mother proud’, and what he anticipated the most was a few words of praise from her.
The other, unbeknownst to her son, had cried for who knows how long, her eyes still red, resulting in the son hesitating to face her when finally in front of her.
Indeed, they were blood-related.
The lady, startled, smiled awkwardly and also whispered softly, "...It’s so embarrassing for a mother to cry in front of her son."
Perhaps because Zheng Fa’s status had changed after entering the Jiushan Sect, or maybe because she knew he had seen through her, the lady was somewhat more candid: "I had held back my tears, but upon seeing that silly boy, I felt like crying again."
No matter how well Zheng Fa performs in the Immortal Item event, it wouldn’t make the lady rush to please him at this time.
It was just this awkward mother-son relationship; the lady found an excuse to hide the inadvertent true emotions she could not restrain.
"But I do want to curry favor with you, that’s true." After having spoken the most embarrassing thing, the lady seemed much more liberated: "Even Master Zhang said you have the greatest natural talent for talismanic magic in ten thousand years, and once you enter the Hundred Immortals Alliance, this silly boy might have to rely on your influence."
"Seventh Young Master is intelligent and sincere to others, he should also do well in Qingmu Sect."
"He’s a bit clever, but too foolish in worldly matters..." Complaining about her own son, the lady spoke more genuinely: "If he were more cunning, I’d be more at ease. But he’s soft-hearted yet foul-mouthed, lacks the courage to be a villain and the brains to be a good man. How will he get by in the Hundred Immortals Alliance?"
Zheng Fa really couldn’t refute these words.
"There are some things... just consider this mother shameless. I don’t ask for anything else, just that when he offends someone or faces a life-threatening crisis, you remember today’s favor, and I would willingly die a thousand deaths in return."
Zheng Fa could feel, with the end of the Immortal Item event, the lady’s manner became very humble in front of him, and her eyes were extremely uneasy as she spoke.
He thought about it and then said, "I have one request."
"I know, as long as my Zhao Family exists, as long as I am here, not a hair on your mother and sister will be touched."
"Oh, that makes two requests."
"Turn around and praise Seventh Young Master a few words," said Zheng Fa.
Leaving the Zhao Mansion, Sun Daoyu’s brow was furrowed, feeling somewhat distressed.
It didn’t really matter whether they lost the bet—they’d lost to Zhang plenty of times before, hadn’t they?
But the emergence of Zheng Fa really worried him.
One Zhang was already tough enough to contend with.
Another Zheng Fa, with once-in-ten-thousand-years natural talent for talismanic magic?
It was hard for Sun Daoyu not to worry about their faction’s days to come.
It wasn’t until he returned to Chen Family and saw Zhou Qianyuan waiting for him that he felt slightly relieved—although Zheng Fa’s talent in talismanic Dao was strong, Zhou Qianyuan wasn’t any worse!
Not to mention, a Single Spirit Root combined with a Geng Metal Dao Body, which was considered top-level talent in Hundred Immortals Alliance.
After entering Jiushan Sect, a bit of nurturing would allow him to establish a school for his Master, supporting the major concerns for his fellow senior disciples!
"Junior brother, do not be disheartened. Today you only lost the talismanic Dao assessment to Zheng Fa. Once you enter Jiushan Sect, your innate Spirit Root Dao Body will prove more substantial than talismanic talent."
He looked at Zhou Qianyuan frowning and thought that he was still upset about losing to Zheng Fa, so he quickly comforted Zhou Qianyuan.
"I’m not discouraged." Zhou Qianyuan glanced at him and said, "I lost, so I lost. I, Zhou Qianyuan, am not one to be sore about losing."
"Good!" Hearing him say this, Sun Daoyu immediately became happy: "Master and I were originally worried that you were too successful and arrogant, unable to grasp that there are people beyond people and heavens beyond heavens. I didn’t expect Junior Brother to be so able to take and let go, truly admirable!"
He was genuinely delighted in his heart, just like Master said, this Junior Zhou has such a temperament, which is far more important than any foundation establishment method.
With such a temperament paired with such talent, Sun Daoyu’s expectations for him grew even more.
"Don’t worry, once you enter Jiushan Sect, Master will undoubtedly impart everything to you, and even us senior brothers will do our utmost to help you! In the future, not to mention Zheng Fa, even Sister Zhang , you will certainly be able to keep pace!"
"Do everything to help me?" Zhou Qianyuan’s eyes brightened: "Junior Brother indeed has a difficult matter!"
"What’s the matter?" Sun Daoyu patted his chest and said, "Senior Brother will definitely help you with whatever you can!"
"When Junior Brother first met Brother Zheng, my attitude was somewhat impolite..." Zhou Qianyuan revealed a smile: "Does Senior Brother know what Brother Zheng likes? I would like to go and apologize."
"...Who is Brother Zheng?"
"Zheng Fa Brother Zheng! I heard people say, not only is his talent in the talismanic Dao astonishing, he is also good at teaching—Senior Brother knows I have always been fond of talismanic Dao, I truly admire Brother Zheng."
Sun Daoyu’s face turned green, knowing that this Junior Brother was a bit obsessed with talismanic Dao, valuing it even more than cultivation itself; otherwise, he wouldn’t have aimed for the initial rank and still participated in the talismanic Dao assessment.
"...You didn’t know that Zheng Fa is Sister Zhang’s man?"
"You didn’t know that Sister Zhang’s master and our Master are not on good terms?"
"Then you still want to go..."
Sun Daoyu felt a bit desperate inside. Master and I have been hoping you would be an unparalleled prodigy, uplifting the spirits of our disciples, but instead, you are going to apologize to a rival?
Zhou Qianyuan frowned: "Didn’t Senior Brother say I could take setbacks? Shouldn’t these sect biases also be set aside?"
"...Junior Brother, not everything taught by your Senior Brother needs to be followed."
Zheng Fa was unaware that Sun Daoyu was distressed over trying to correct his slightly wayward Junior Brother; at this moment, he was receiving teachings from Sister Zhang.
"Sister Zhang said to him: "Bring out your token."
Zheng Fa took out the black token and handed it to Sister Zhang, who took it and nodded: "Do you know how to use this?"
Zheng Fa shook his head, perplexed.
"It’s a beacon. Three days later is your initiation day, a boat will come to pick you up—but first, you need to activate this thing, then the boat will come find you."
"How to activate it?"
"..." This straightforward and unexpected answer left Zheng Fa speechless.
"One hundred taels of silver, or ten taels of gold... it will activate automatically." Sister Zhang looked at him indifferently, a hint of amusement in her eyes.
That’s a significant amount of money.
"Is Jiushan Sect really that short on money?" Zheng Fa couldn’t help but ask.
He found it hard to understand, why would an Immortal Sect need gold and silver?
"That money isn’t for Jiushan Sect, but for those disciples who come to pick you up, kind of like a delivery fee—well, bottom-level disciples also use gold and silver, after all most cultivators have families and clans, and they may need to return to the secular world someday."
...A bit disillusioned.
Sister Zhang continued: "Let me remind you again, bring as much money as you can..."