My Twin Sugar Mommies and Two Systems are 100 Years Late! Volume 2 – Chapter 8.
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Yan Lingrong had the beauty of a "kind and innocent Fairy," but she seemed to be looking down her nose at everything. From the way she lifted her chin, if one did not know better, they would think she was a Sect Master or a Clan Leader.
Soon, she and her maid came before Sun Ziyun, who met their curious yet condescending gazes with an indifferent one of her own.
"You—" Zhaozhao, the maid, was the first to speak. She unleashed a portion of her cultivation base to bolster her intimidation. This maid's cultivation base was actually at the Fifth Level of Foundation Establishment. "How insolent! The Eleventh Young Miss is present, yet you continue to posture! How many heads do you have to lose?!"
Sun Ziyun ignored her completely and spoke calmly. "Eleventh Young Miss Yan, your visit here is unexpected. What is it you seek?"
At the same time, her falsified Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation base leaked out.
Zhaozhao retreated several steps, her face pale, while Yan Lingrong responded with a cultivation base of the Second Level of Core Formation. The latter snorted coldly, expecting to easily subdue this simply dressed and disrespectful lady.
She said, "Speak, where is the owner of this Private Courtyard?"
Sun Ziyun's lips curved downward subtly, and the cultivation she displayed suddenly began to climb upward. It only stopped rising at a point just before the two would suffer irreversible injuries. Her lips parted, and she spoke in the same calm manner as earlier, but there was a certain degree of majesty in her tone.
"The ignorant truly know no fear," she said. "Can't you discourse normally? Why posture so much?"
If Yan Anle were present, she would have had to put on an act. But when he wasn't, she would not swallow any insults. Such was her dignity.
That fellow, what is he doing in that Secret Realm with all those people anyway? she wondered. It's already past 2 PM.
The aura was focused so precisely on them that even the nearby Fragrant Blood Flowers weren't affected. In this way, no one else in the clan would sense it. This level of control was only natural for someone at the apex of the Soulshift Realm.
Yan Lingrong and Zhaozhao, forced to their knees, immediately turned pale with fright. They groaned and tried to resist, but it was futile. They couldn't even lift a finger or utter a word. Just as the illusion of the Yellow River appeared before their eyes, the pressure vanished, and peace was restored to the space around them.
"How about we start this conversation from scratch—more civil this time, perhaps?" Sun Ziyun said. "What do you seek in coming here, Eleventh Young Miss Yan?"
Yan Lingrong shuddered like a naked child in the winter, refusing to raise her head even after the pressure was gone. "S-S-Senior, have mercy! This Junior was a bit rude just now because I was overly eager to reunite with my Elder Brother. Please, spare me!"
Gone was her arrogance. Only a concoction of fear, confusion, curiosity, and doubt swirled about in her head.
Sun Ziyun clicked her tongue. "Your Elder Brother? With the bravado you showed when you kicked open the gates, one would think you were coming to beat down a dog that had misbehaved and bitten a rare guest."
"Senior, it's a misunderstanding! Actually, I—I..." Yan Lingrong's brows furrowed as she tried to cook up an excuse.
The Demon Princess closed her eyes and waved casually. "Alright, alright. I don't want to listen to your drivel. That little fellow isn't here right now. You can find a corner to await his return or get out of here. Either way, hurry up and close the gates."
"Thank you for sparing us, Senior!" Yan Lingrong planted her forehead on the ground, and her maid mirrored her actions.
Sun Ziyun added in a meaningful tone, "By the way, what just happened… as far as Yan Anle and anyone else is concerned…"
The two intruders were quick on the uptake.
"Nothing happened!" "We never saw or heard anything!" "Senior, please see clearly! We know nothing!"
Sun Ziyun continued to rock her chair back and forth in a simple rhythm. "Those who aren't overly eager to show that they are smart often keep their small lives."
"We will remember Senior's teachings!"
Sun Ziyun went completely silent after this.
After some time, Zhaozhao struggled to her feet, then moved to help her Young Miss do the same. Yan Lingrong wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of her lips and retrieved some pills from her storage pouch. She handed a few to Zhaozhao before sitting down on the floor to heal.
As she circulated the medicinal effects of the pills through her body, her mind raced. She should know everyone with such a formidable cultivation base in the clan, as they would hold a high position. Was she a newly recruited Guest Elder? What was such a person doing in this courtyard?
She sneaked another look at the Burning Mountain Demon Princess and noticed that if she ignored the ordinary-looking clothes and hairstyle she had on, she was actually very beautiful.
She could not help but wonder, Who is she? What is her connection to that Waste?
The Great Yan Clan was not the only place with drama.
Ji Fan returned to his Ji Clan alone. It was not that he hadn't wanted to take anyone else with him, but rather that the only other name he had written on the invitation was his Protector. That person possessed a cultivation base above Foundation Establishment.
His mood was a bit gloomy, but not excessively so. Sure, he had not gotten his hands on the Resting Bull Grass, but the Auction Master had promised daily auctions in the short term featuring items of similar quality. He had also gotten his hands on two other lots that were rare finds: a Perfect-quality Ninth-grade Blood Coagulation Pill for healing injuries, and a Serene Soul Focusing Talisman that could be used to reduce the chance of cultivation deviation during a breakthrough.
There seemed to be a commotion in the clan. As soon as he stepped out of his courtyard, someone shouted, "Second Young Master is back! He's returned!"
Quickly, many figures rushed over.
Someone flew through the air above them and landed directly before him. "Xiao Fan! You're okay?" she called out, unable to conceal her concern and worry.
"Mother, you are going to hug me to death," Ji Fan wheezed, suffocating slightly in her embrace. "I can't breathe."
During their brief hug, even more Elders of the clan who could traverse the air without riding weapons—Core Formation and above—showed up.
Shi Rumeng pulled away from her son and released a sigh, giving the impression of someone dropping a heavy burden. She probed him lovingly, "You brat, tell mother, what happened? Where did you go? That old fool, Shi Tuo, could not explain it clearly or truthfully."
Ji Fan cleared his throat dramatically, and his gaze swept over the crowd of Ji clansmen. Shi Rumeng naturally understood his look and told everyone to disperse, leaving only those of the Elder level and above.
"Mother, Elders, it's like this..."
As Ji Fan's lips parted, everyone remaining perked up their ears to listen carefully. This lad was one of the best of the younger generation of their clan; he was their hope for the future. Only one person from his generation surpassed him in terms of cultivation, and even he was almost ten years older. Matters concerning him could not be taken lightly.
"...And when I stepped out of my courtyard, I heard someone shout. The rest, you know."
By the time Ji Fan finished narrating his experience, every listener's expression was starkly different from when he had started.
Patriarch Ji was the first to speak. His tone was, as expected, riddled with doubt. "Son, is everything you said… true?"
Ji Fan cupped his hands and replied respectfully, "Yes, Patriarch. If I have added any falsehoods, may the Heavens abolish my cultivation and talent with Tribulation Lightning!"
From his formal tone and demeanor when responding to the Ji Patriarch, one would never believe the two were father and son, even if it were tattooed on their foreheads.
Ji Mubai, an Elder who had the appearance of a thirty-five-year-old, stepped forward, bursting at the seams with excitement. "Good Nephew, quickly show Uncle the items you won from the auction. Surely, you did not return empty-handed, right?"
"Naturally," Ji Fan agreed, readily retrieving his winnings from the storage beads on his left wrist.
The moment these items appeared, Shi Rumeng snatched them to inspect them first. Her lips felt dry. "It's really Perfect Quality with Pill Clouds," she muttered. "Pill Clouds mean no Pill Poison, and the regressive effects from eating too many are nonexistent. If we could get our hands on more of these…"
The others sent their Divine Senses over as well, scanning the items and confirming her evaluation.
Patriarch Ji said, "Ji Fan, if everything is as you have said, the Clan will spare no effort to support you in winning those items. For every item you win and bring back within a reasonable price, the clan will reward you."
There was no obvious affection for his son in his voice; he sounded more like an excited businessman. He threw over a gray pouch, adding, "For starters, here are 50,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones. In tomorrow's auction, bring back all the good things."
Second Young Master Ji caught it and vowed solemnly, "I will not fail the Patriarch's and the Clan's expectations."
Patriarch Ji nodded lightly and turned to a certain young lady in purple robes who stood beside him. "Xiao Lan, let's go."
She was the only one besides Ji Fan with a cultivation lower than Core Formation who was tacitly allowed to stay behind—Ji Yuanlan. She, like Ji Fan, bore a resemblance to Patriarch Ji, but she and Shi Rumeng were nothing alike, as they shared no blood relation.
Her current demeanor was nothing like the arrogance Dou E had described. She spoke humbly, "Yes, Father."
As Patriarch Ji lifted her with his Qi and flew away, the Elders' expressions twitched slightly, but they made no remarks.
Everyone in the clan was used to the fact that, among the Patriarch's four spouses, he doted on Ji Yuanlan's and Ji Shentu's mother the most because she was his first love.
Despite her children's lower cultivation aptitudes and the bad rumors about them outside in their younger years, the Patriarch still doted on them endlessly.
That woman had entered the clan with the status of a concubine, yet no one dared treat her as any less than the Matriarch. In fact, many feared her more.
Ji Fan clenched his fists in his sleeves while his mother, Shi Rumeng rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her son.
In other clans, talented children were favored and untalented ones like Yan Anle were despised. Yet, here it was different.
She had gotten used to that man's strangeness and coldness.
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Similar scenes to what happened in the Ji Clan—excluding the family drama, of course—unfolded in several places.
As those who attended Yan Anle's launching auction returned to wherever they came from, many Elders heaved sighs of relief, and the name "Prosperity Abode" started to spread.
It wasn't that Foundation Establishment resources like the Foundation Establishment Pills were all that scarce. Rather, it was the unfathomable means of the auction house to teleport so many people from different locations simultaneously, ignoring Clan and Sect-protecting Arrays, as well as the extreme quality of the resources put up for auction.
Take the Thousand-Year-Old Resting Bull Grass, for example. This item was even rarer than many Core Formation and Nascent Soul resources, despite being listed as a Foundation Establishment one.
So, besides the conflict between the Sword River Sect and the Great Yan Clan, the mysterious Prosperity Abode was on many people's lips.
In the Mobile Secret Realm, Dou E held a bag of Spirit Stones in her hand with a surprised expression. "Young Master, are you sure I should also give each of them three Low-grade Spirit Stones? They just started working today."
"Mm." Yan Anle stood before her, his youth fully restored. His hair was as dark as night, and his skin was free of wrinkles and blemishes. "It's their Beginner Gift Box."
"Beginner... Gift Box?"
He smacked his lips. "I mean, incentive. It is a first-day incentive."
"Oh, I see." Dou E smiled, her face ripe with realization. "Young Master is letting them see the benefits early so they do not harbor any unscrupulous ideas."
"Precisely that," Yan Anle agreed. Then, after a pause, his eyes glimmered thoughtfully. "Speaking of which, Dou E, how about we go retrieve your Indenture Contract?"