Something Is Wrong

In a remote courtyard of the Zhou family, Zhou Ping sat in the seat of honor. Below him, two young children, Zhou Chengyuan and Zhou Qianling, knelt with constrained obedience. They were only three years old, after all, and lacked the patience to stay entirely still. From the corners of their eyes, they constantly stole glances up at Zhou Ping.

"Chengyuan, Qianling, do you know why I called you here?"

Zhou Qianling answered timidly, "I don't know, Granduncle."

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum; if the courtyard had not been so utterly silent, it would have been impossible to hear.

Zhou Chengyuan, on the other hand, was quite bold. Having always been deeply favored by Zhou Ping, and possessing a naturally mischievous temperament, he grinned cheekily. "Grandpa, my knees are sore from kneeling. Let me and my sister get up and sit down."

Zhou Ping could not help but smile wryly. Toward his eldest grandson, he simply could not muster much imposing authority. Pointing at a small stool nearby, he said, "Qianling, go sit over there. You, keep kneeling for a while longer."

"Ah, no way!"

Zhou Chengyuan's face fell. Though he waved his arms in protest, he did not throw a childish tantrum and remained kneeling on the ground.

Ever since the tragedy involving Zhou Changxi, the Zhou family had placed tremendous emphasis on the upbringing of their descendants, terrified of repeating past mistakes.

Zhou Chengyuan was the third child of the fourth generation, ranking only below Zhou Chengqian and Zhou Changhe's second son, Zhou Chengyang. Although he was still young and somewhat unruly, he had already been guided to act like an elder brother who looked out for his younger siblings.

"Behave."

Zhou Ping put on a stern face, and Zhou Chengyuan immediately settled down.

"Today, Grandpa is going to teach you cultivation."

In the cultivation world, three years of age was the minimum threshold to begin treading the Dao.

Zhou Chengyuan's eyes instantly lit up. He nearly leaped to his feet in excitement. "Cultivation? Does that mean we can become like you and Father?"

To the side, Zhou Qianling's eyes rippled slightly. She was somewhat puzzled but did not dare to voice her questions.

Outside the small courtyard, Zhou Changhe paced back and forth, rubbing his hands together. From time to time, he gazed toward the courtyard, a mixture of nervousness and sheer excitement on his face.

He could not help but be thrilled. Although he had long known that Zhou Qianling possessed immortal affinity, her formal initiation into cultivation meant that their eldest branch would finally produce its very own immortal master.

After all, he acutely understood the distinction between close and distant kin.

Though the family was currently united and intimate, if the eldest branch never produced an immortal master to anchor their position, their descendants would inevitably be reduced to a side branch within a few generations. While they would certainly never lack for mortal wealth and comfort, it was a bitter pill he was unwilling to swallow.

Harboring these worries, he had taken several concubines in recent years to bear him children. He now had five sons and three daughters, yet not a single one possessed immortal affinity.

When he first learned that Zhou Qianling had the aptitude for cultivation, he had been so euphoric he lost sleep for several nights.

"No, this won't do. I need to build a school up on the mountain as soon as possible. Having Qianling study down the mountain puts me ill at ease," he muttered as he paced.

His original intention in establishing the academy at the foot of the mountain had been to let his own children mingle with the younger generation of the surrounding villages, making it easier to govern the territory in the future.

But as time marched on, he realized that as long as his uncle remained alive, and as long as their family stood as an immortal clan, the mortals below would never dare to step out of line.

He was, after all, only a mortal himself. His mindset at the time had not yet fully transitioned; he was still thinking in terms of balancing regional powers. Now that the family possessed immortal masters and clan soldiers, unless those outsiders were tired of living, they would never dare to stir up trouble.

Furthermore, the family's descendants were growing in number, as were the children of the household servants. For the sake of Zhou Chengyuan and the others' safety, it made far more sense to move the school up the mountain.

However, he could not be the one to propose this. He had been the one to advocate for the academy's establishment in the first place. If it were to be abolished now, it was best if someone else brought it up, allowing him to smoothly follow the tide.

Turning around, he called out to the two guards stationed a short distance away. "Zhou Le, Zhou Hai, where are your youngsters?"

The two guards were immediately flattered by the attention. Zhou Le replied respectfully, "Eldest Young Master, the children have grown a bit, so we sent them to the academy down the mountain to study."

"And do you find it convenient, sending them all the way down there?"

"This..."

The two men exchanged troubled looks, unsure of what to say. Although Zhou Family Town was not far from Baixi Mountain, the children were still young. Traveling up and down the mountain required passing through the immortal family's formation. Without the Fifth Young Master to guide them, they simply could not return, making it an incredibly cumbersome affair.

Though they harbored their own difficulties, Zhou Hai naturally would not pour out his grievances to the main family. When the words reached his lips, they took on a different shape.

"Eldest Young Master, this lowly one believes the academy down the mountain should be closed."

"I heard from my boy that the children of those mud-legs are unruly by nature and care little for studying. I fear that if they spend too much time together, they might negatively influence the young masters."

"That's right, Eldest Young Master," Zhou Le chimed in, realizing this was the perfect moment to add fuel to the fire. "Those mud-legs are always fighting and causing trouble in the academy. If our children hadn't banded together, they might have ended up taking a beating."

"Just a few days ago, my daughter told me that most of those peasant children are lazy to the bone. They deceive their parents into sending them to the academy, but in truth, they just want to escape the farm work."

Zhou Changhe smiled faintly but offered no comment before turning and walking away.

Zhou Le sidled up to Zhou Hai. "Hai, what do you think the Eldest Young Master meant by that?"

Zhou Hai shot him a sideways glance. "Are you truly that thick?"

He cast a subtle glance over his shoulder. "Can't you see? The master's younger generation has produced an immortal master. The Eldest Young Master is worried about their safety down the mountain, so he wants to move the school up here."

Zhou Le's expression shifted. "No wonder he asked us that. What should we do now?"

"What else? We rally the others and petition the Eldest Young Master to bring the school up the mountain. The bigger the commotion we make, the greater our reward will be when the dust settles," Zhou Hai explained. "Think about Master Hu, and Master Shi before him. As long as we serve well, we might be appointed as village stewards just like Master Hu one day."

Zhou Le was ecstatic. "You always know best, Brother Hai. I'll go find the brothers right away and make sure this gets blown completely out of proportion."

Zhou Hai firmly cautioned him, "Remember, under no circumstances are you to mention that this was the Eldest Young Master's idea."

"Understood!"

With that, Zhou Le scurried off in a flash. He was already dreaming of future promotions; even if he couldn't be a village steward, becoming a minor headman would be quite the leap.

Zhou Hai, however, stared back at the small courtyard, his mind calculating rapidly.

He wondered which young master or young miss possessed the immortal affinity. He would have to pry for information later. Once he knew, he would make sure his own son served as their loyal attendant.

As the Zhou family continued to rise in power, these servants naturally pinned their lifelong hopes of wealth and glory on them. Astute servants like Zhou Hai were already looking decades ahead, positioning their own children to build bonds with the Zhou family's fourth generation.

After all, those children were the ones who would eventually hold authority over the Zhou family. For now, they were merely childhood playmates and servants, but in the future, they would rise with the tide and become figures of real power.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed. Rumors of children brawling in the academy spread like wildfire across the four villages and the central town.

The farming families were furious. They had painstakingly scraped together thirty jin of rice to pay for tuition, hoping their children would study diligently and carve out a better future.

Now, they were hearing that their children were merely fighting and causing mischief at the academy instead of learning. Naturally, they were seething with indignation.

Many commoners marched straight to the academy and dragged their children home. Rather than wasting thirty jin of precious rice, they figured it was better to put the kids to work in the fields.

Virtually overnight, the academy, which had boasted over a hundred students, dwindled to a mere fifty or sixty, more than half of whom bore the surname Zhou.

Sustaining such an academy was a heavy expense. Seizing the opportunity, Zhou Changhe formally disbanded the institution, leaving behind only a single room and an old scholar to serve as a modest schoolhouse for the town.

Meanwhile, halfway up Ming Peak, a large expanse of land was freshly leveled, and several unadorned wooden buildings were swiftly erected. Though the establishment was entirely rudimentary, it thrummed with vitality. This place would serve as the Zhou family's clan school from now on.

Back in the courtyard, after several days of careful instruction, Zhou Ping observed Zhou Chengyuan and Zhou Qianling with deep confusion.

They had begun cultivating at the exact same time, and Zhou Chengyuan's aptitude was supposedly superior. So why was Zhou Qianling sensing Spiritual Qi so much faster?

Through his spiritual perception, he could detect an extremely faint current of Spiritual Qi swirling around Zhou Qianling. Traces of it were already beginning to slowly seep into her body. She had successfully initiated the drawing of Spiritual Qi.

Zhou Ping murmured softly to himself, "Could she possess an innate anomalous physique?"

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