“Have you heard? Long Ziyang, who ran away from home, has come back!”

“What? That guy came back? Did the Family Head spank him?”

“He didn’t receive any punishment at all!”

“No way? He abandoned the family business and disappeared for almost a year, and he’s not being punished for coming back?”

In the inner courtyard, quite a few Long Family direct descendants were discussing this.

From the expressions on their faces and their words, it wasn’t difficult to hear that they all wanted to see Long Ziyang get punished and embarrassed.

Although he was the Family Head’s son, because he couldn’t cultivate the Long Family’s martial techniques, in front of his many cousins, he was truly not well-regarded.

And this was with the status of being the Family Head’s son.

Otherwise, Long Ziyang’s treatment in the Long Family would probably be similar to Xiao Zuiji, a fallen genius.

“I heard that brat Ziyang brought the Tiegu Sect Leader over, and the Family Head and elders acted very enthusiastically, not thinking about punishing him at all.”

“Tiegu Sect? Isn’t that the sect that’s been causing a huge stir in the city recently?”

“I heard that Tiegu Sect’s Sect Leader is about the same age as us, yet can defeat peak Martial Grandmasters and even second-rank Martial Kings!”

“That powerful?”

“You definitely can’t imagine—that brat Ziyang has already joined the Tiegu Sect. He came back this time to participate in the family competition!”

“A waste who can’t even learn the family’s most basic martial techniques dares to participate in the competition. Who gave him that courage?”

“I also heard that the Tiegu Sect brought quite a few disciples. The Family Head has now arranged for them to stay in an independent courtyard in the West Garden.”

“That sect’s disciples supposedly fought over seventy matches with Lingquan Sect disciples and didn’t lose a single one. Their strength is extremely formidable. Let’s go take a look.”

West Garden, in front of the independent courtyard.

Some Long Family disciples climbed high to peer inside, while others simply blocked the entrance.

Unfortunately, after watching for a long time, they didn’t see anyone come out of the rooms, which puzzled them—was anyone even living inside?

Someone was living there.

Living there were Jun Changxiao and all the disciples.

They had been cultivating in their respective rooms the whole time. Unlike these Long Family direct descendants, with the family competition about to start, they still had the leisure to gather together and watch the excitement.

…

Jun Changxiao brought his disciples to follow Long Ziyang for two reasons: first, to help him avoid punishment, and second, to hope they could win first place and bring glory to the Tiegu Sect.

This was his home turf.

So he had Li Qingyang and the others all cultivate in their rooms, rather than wandering around the Long Family showing off and performing, lest they steal the spotlight.

Although Su Xiaomo and Li Fei really wanted to go out and tour around Longyang City, they could only settle down and cultivate in their rooms.

As for Liu Wanshi, because she had no cultivation restrictions, she frequently took Yao Mengying out to play, and when they returned, they bought quite a few strange little trinkets.

Three days later, on the eve of the family competition.

Long Ziyang found Jun Changxiao with a bitter face and said, “Sect Leader, because I came back to participate in the sect competition, many cousins who were in closed-door cultivation have come out and applied to participate in the family competition.”

“Scared?”

“Not scared, just a bit nervous.”

Long Ziyang’s talent wasn’t bad, but those cousins not only had superior-grade spirit roots, they were also extremely talented at comprehending the family’s martial techniques, and their strength was much greater than his.

For example, Third Cousin had already broken through to sixth-rank Martial Master before he ran away from home, and had mastered quite a few Long Family martial techniques.

There were also First Cousin and Second Cousin, who had long since stepped into seventh-rank Martial Master. The former even possessed an extreme-grade spirit root and could be called the strongest direct descendant of the Long Family’s new generation.

Speaking of which.

The age difference between Long Ziyang and his several cousins was only two or three years. Why was the gap in their realms so large?

Very simple—they cultivated the Long Family’s exclusive mental cultivation method, the Dragon’s Breath Formula, whose quality had already reached extreme-grade high-tier, and was said to be comparable to Saint-grade.

The Long Family could establish themselves in Longyang City and have strength comparable to fourth and fifth-rate sects entirely thanks to this high-level mental cultivation method called Dragon’s Breath.

On the Xingyun Continent, forces that established sects and schools based on mental cultivation methods were too numerous to count.

The most famous was none other than the Taixuan Saint Sect, which used an incomplete scroll of the Taixuan Ice Heart Formula to forcibly create a first-rate sect!

The Long Family’s mental cultivation method was powerful, so the direct descendants’ cultivation improvement speed was extremely fast.

Long Ziyang’s talent was good, but he couldn’t cultivate any of the family’s martial techniques, so he could only choose universal-type mental cultivation methods. Being left far behind by his cousins was normal.

It was precisely because he knew the family’s martial techniques were very powerful that he only became nervous when the competition was about to start, afraid he couldn’t defeat his cousins and would be unable to bring glory to the Tiegu Sect.

“This seat has a vial of Calming Heart Liquid here. After drinking it, you definitely won’t be nervous.” Jun Changxiao tossed over a small bottle.

Long Ziyang was a bit bewildered.

Out of absolute trust in the Sect Leader, he opened the stopper and tilted his head back to drink it clean.

The taste was a bit bitter, with a malty fragrance.

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, surges of powerful aura erupted from within Long Ziyang’s body.

In just a moment, his perception of heaven and earth attributes was instantly enhanced!

His realm even advanced from fourth-rank to fifth-rank Martial Master level!

That’s right.

What he drank was Extreme-grade Aptitude Transformation Liquid.

“Sect… Sect Leader…” Feeling the changes in himself and his realm advancement, Long Ziyang’s eyes immediately widened as he said, “This… what is this situation?”

Jun Changxiao said, “Still nervous?”

“Crack!”

Long Ziyang clenched both fists, and even stronger power gathered within his meridians.

His gaze burned as he said, “Not nervous at all, even want to dance!”

…

“Let’s all meow like cats, meow meow meow together…” Early the next morning, dynamic and rhythmic music echoed throughout the Long Family’s inner courtyard.

In the courtyard, Liu Wanshi led Yao Mengying standing in front, sometimes learning cat calls, sometimes meowing, while Li Qingyang, Xiao Zuiji, and the others stood in back as backup dancers.

Although they weren’t at the sect, they couldn’t skip their daily morning exercises.

“What is that sound?”

Long Family direct descendants who had risen early came following the sound.

Looking through the open courtyard gate, seeing the Tiegu Sect disciples making strange movements, they were all dumbfounded.

“How embarrassing!”

“A grown man pouting his lips!”

“If outsiders see this, our Long Family’s face will definitely be completely lost by that guy!”

The Long Family direct descendants all expressed disdain.

In the past, being watched by so many people, especially clansmen, Long Ziyang would definitely feel ashamed, but now he was completely immersed in the dancing.

This type of dancing morning exercise could make one’s mood cheerful. Once you experience it personally, you’ll be just as unable to extricate yourself as I am!

After one song finished.

Jun Changxiao turned off the modified sound system and said, “Let’s go.”

“Swish!”

With a sweep of his large sleeves, he strode forward.

The disciples followed behind him, and under the gaze of the Long Family direct descendants, they arrived at the outer courtyard.

Today was the day of the Long Family competition. Although it had just become light, quite a few direct descendants had already gathered at the martial arts arena.

When Sect Leader Jun brought his disciples over, he immediately attracted their gazes.

“Those following behind should all be Tiegu Sect disciples.”

“Why is there even a six or seven-year-old child?”

“Looking at them, they don’t seem like much. Winning over seventy consecutive matches against Lingquan Sect is really quite unbelievable.”

The arrival of Jun Changxiao and the disciples caused heated discussion among the Long Family direct descendants.

“Little Brother Ziyang.”

Just then, a distinguished-looking young man smiled in greeting and walked over.

Long Ziyang frowned slightly but still called out, “Second Cousin.”

Second Cousin Long Zishan walked up to him and said in a low voice, “Joining the Tiegu Sect and then coming to participate in the family competition—you’ve really made something of yourself now.”

“However.”

He grinned and said, “Later when the competition starts, if you encounter me, don’t be like last time, running around the martial arts arena while holding your head.”

“…”

Long Ziyang’s expression immediately turned ugly.

Su Xiaomo nearby could tell from Long Zishan’s smile that he was mocking her junior brother, and she almost couldn’t resist flying over with a kick.

Calm down, calm down.

The Sect Leader said that today was junior brother’s performance stage, and she couldn’t steal the spotlight.