Chapter 648- Tianlong Reprimanding Parents
Tianlong set down his teacup. He looked at the young man with the expression one might give an insect that had landed on one’s food.
"Leave," he said.
One word. Two syllables. Carried on a thread of divine qi that pressed against Xu Renjie’s chest like a physical hand.
The young man fled. His silk robes flapped as he stumbled down the stairs, his face white, his hands shaking. The two guards followed, their heads bowed, their bodies trembling.
Tianlong resumed drinking his tea.
Xu Renjie ran home.
The Xu mansion was the largest residence in Qinghe — a sprawling compound of painted wood and tiled roofs, surrounded by a wall of grey stone. He burst through the front gate, his silk robes torn, his hair disheveled, his face a mask of humiliated fury.
"Mother! MOTHER!"
She came. Madam Xu — Xu Yulan — a woman in her mid-forties, still beautiful in the mature, maintained way of wealthy merchant wives. Her body was thick, well-preserved, her enormous tits straining against her silk robes, the nipples visible through the fine fabric. Her hips were wide, her waist thick, her face composed and sharp-featured, her eyes carrying the calculating intelligence of a woman who had managed a trading house for twenty years.
"Renjie — what — what happened?"
"Someone HUMILIATED me! At the restaurant! Some — some man in silk robes, sitting in MY room, and my guards — my guards KNELT for him — they wouldn’t protect me — they said he was beyond — beyond —"
Madam Xu’s sharp eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"I don’t know! Some — some cultivator! He just sat there and my guards — they were terrified — they said they couldn’t sense his power boundary —"
Madam Xu’s face went still. A cultivator whose power boundary couldn’t be sensed by Foundation Establishment guards was, at minimum, Golden Core. Possibly higher. In Qinghe — a backwater market town — a Golden Core cultivator was a force of nature.
"Who is the elder of our house?" she asked.
"Great-Grandfather," Xu Renjie said. "He is at peak Core Formation. The strongest in the region. If anyone can —"
"Get him."
The elder of the Xu family — Xu Tianhao — was an old man. Genuinely old, not merely aged in appearance. He had cultivated for over two hundred years, his body preserved at the apparent age of sixty, his hair white, his face lined, his eyes sharp and cold. His cultivation base — peak Core Formation — was the highest in the region. The Xu trading house existed because of him. Every merchant deal, every political alliance, every territorial claim — all of it backed by the presence of a peak Core Formation cultivator.
He arrived at the restaurant in a sedan chair carried by four servants. He stepped out, his white hair blowing in the breeze, his grey robes immaculate, his cultivation aura radiating outward in visible waves of silver qi.
Madam Xu walked beside him. Her thick body moved with purpose, her enormous tits swaying beneath her silk robes, her sharp face set in an expression of righteous indignation. Behind them, Xu Renjie — still flushed, still trembling — followed with the two Foundation Establishment guards.
They entered the restaurant. The owner — the fat, sweating man — nearly collapsed when he saw the elder of the Xu family walking through his establishment.
"Upstairs," Madam Xu said. "The private room."
They climbed the stairs. The elder went first, his silver qi probing ahead, searching for the cultivator who had humiliated his great-grandson.
He found the room. The door was open. Inside, Tianlong sat at the table, a meal spread before him — roasted spirit beast, steamed rice, jade-green vegetables, a pot of spirit wine. The restaurant owner had clearly emptied his kitchen for the immortal.
The elder stopped in the doorway.
His silver qi — the peak Core Formation aura that had dominated this region for decades — touched Tianlong’s divine qi.
And recoiled.
The elder’s eyes widened. His composed, aged face went pale. His silver qi retreated into his body like a turtle pulling its head into its shell. His meridians contracted. His golden core — the condensed spiritual energy he had spent two centuries building — trembled.
’This man — his qi — it’s not Golden Core — it’s not Core Formation — it’s not even Nascent Soul — I cannot — I cannot categorize it — it’s like trying to measure the ocean with a cup —’
"Great-Grandfather?" Xu Renjie’s voice came from behind. "What —"
The elder turned. His face was ashen. His hands were shaking — visibly, violently shaking, the hands of a man who had not trembled in a century.
"Kneel," he said.
"What —"
"ALL OF YOU. KNEEL. NOW."
The elder — the peak Core Formation patriarch of the Xu family — dropped to his knees. His forehead hit the wooden floor. His body shook.
Madam Xu stared. Her sharp face cracked. Her composed expression shattered. She had never seen the elder kneel. Not for the regional lord. Not for the sect leaders. Not for anyone.
"Elder — what —"
"KNEEL, YOU FOOLISH WOMAN."
She knelt. Her thick body folded, her enormous tits pressing against her thighs, her silk robes bunching. Xu Renjie knelt beside her, his face white, his pampered body trembling. The two guards were already on the floor, their foreheads pressed to the wood.
The elder’s voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper. "Lord — forgive this one’s family. The young master is foolish. He did not know. Please — whatever punishment you deem fit, this old man will accept. But spare the boy. He is young. Stupid. He did not know."
Tianlong looked at the old man kneeling on the floor. At the woman beside him — Madam Xu, her thick body folded, her enormous tits heaving, her sharp face pale. At the young man — Xu Renjie — the pampered, petulant son who had demanded his room.
He picked up a piece of roasted spirit beast with his chopsticks. He ate. He chewed. He swallowed.
"Your great-grandson’s guards apologized," he said. "They were wise. Your great-grandson did not. He demanded I leave. He threatened me."
"Lord — he is young — foolish — he did not —"
"He did," Tianlong said. He looked at Xu Renjie. The young man’s face was pressed to the floor, his body shaking. "And his mother —" His gold-crimson eyes moved to Madam Xu. "— came with you. To demand justice. To confront the man who humiliated her son."
Madam Xu’s sharp face trembled. Her enormous tits heaved. "Lord — I — I did not know —"
Tianlong stood. The elder flinched. Madam Xu flinched. Xu Renjie pressed harder into the floor.
The restaurant owner appeared at the door, carrying more food — a whole roast duck, a plate of dumplings, a jar of aged spirit wine. His hands were shaking so badly that the dishes rattled.
"Lord — please — more food — this one apologizes for the poor service —"
"Bring food for the lady as well," Tianlong said, nodding toward Madam Xu.
The owner fled. More food was brought. The table was filled. Tianlong sat. He gestured.
"Eat," he said.
Madam Xu stared. Her sharp face was a mask of confusion and terror. "Lord — I —"
"Eat. Both of you. Sit at my table and eat."
The elder rose — slowly, his joints creaking. He guided Madam Xu to the table, his hand gripping her arm. They sat. Across from Tianlong. The food was between them.
Madam Xu’s thick body shifted in the chair. Her enormous tits rested on the table edge, the heavy mounds pressing against the wood, the nipples visible through the silk. Her wide hips filled the chair. Her sharp face was pale, her eyes darting between the food and the golden-eyed man across from her.
"Eat," Tianlong said.
She ate. Her hands trembled as she picked up the chopsticks. She placed a dumpling in her mouth. She chewed. The flavor was extraordinary — the spirit beast meat carried qi that tingled on her tongue, the dumplings were filled with herbs that warmed her meridians.
"Elder," Tianlong said, not looking at the old man, his attention on the roasted duck. "Your great-grandson needs discipline. His mother should have raised him better."
Madam Xu’s chopsticks froze. Her sharp face flushed. Her enormous tits heaved.
"Lord —" she started, her voice rising. The indignation — the mother’s instinct to defend her child — overriding her fear. "My son is —"
"Your son," Tianlong interrupted, "is a spoiled, pampered, insolent child who believes his family’s wealth grants him authority over cultivators. He threatened me. In my face. With two Foundation Establishment guards." He looked at her. His gold-crimson eyes locked onto hers. "You raised him to be this way."