The Xiao family's breakfast today was a grand affair. The core members of the Xiao family sat together, their emotions running high.
No wonder. The Xiao family now had a cultivator at the Xiantian realm. Previously, they would envy and even be jealous of families like the Yang family. Now, that envy and jealousy were gone. Even when they visited the Yang family before, it was with forced smiles. After all, they were once on equal footing, and then suddenly, someone achieved Xiantian. It would be strange not to have subtle emotional changes.
At the dining table, Xiao Xuhong pulled Yang Feilong and Xiao Jingwen to sit beside him.
At this moment, Xiao Xuhong was brimming with pride and youthful vigor, as if he had returned to his younger days. However, he had not forgotten who was responsible for his current situation. Moreover, with his breakthrough to the Xiantian realm, his lifespan had increased to two hundred years. At his current age of nearly ninety, his lifespan had not even reached its halfway point. He could still protect the Xiao family for over a hundred years. Even more so, with the breakthrough to the Xiantian realm, what if he could advance further in the future? Reaching the peak of Xiantian would grant him a lifespan of nearly three hundred years!
"Feilong, you are truly a great benefactor to our Xiao family!" Xiao Xuhong said with deep emotion, looking at Yang Feilong.
"Old Master, you are being too formal. Aren't we family?" Yang Feilong said with a smile.
"Uh, haha, you are right. You are even my great-granddaughter's husband, so we are family, indeed! But you should also change how you address me. Call me Great-Grandpa now!" Xiao Xuhong said with a smile.
"Alright, Great-Grandpa." Yang Feilong smiled.
"Good, good." Xiao Xuhong laughed happily. "But what makes me happiest is not breaking through to Xiantian, but that my little princess has found such an excellent and handsome young man like you!"
"It is my honor to be able to have such a wonderful girl as Jingwen," Yang Feilong said with a smile.
This was a pleasant exchange of compliments, something he was quite adept at.
The meal was a joyous occasion for all. Afterward, after selecting some individuals, they left the Yang family and set off for the neighboring city to attend the Yang family's Xiantian realm celebration.
Previously, they had gone with a sense of awe. Now, it was different. Their mindset was relaxed and at ease.
...
The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Only five or six days were left until the Spring Festival.
On this day, the Yang family in Baiyang City was adorned with lanterns and colorful decorations, exuding an atmosphere of immense festivity.
All the major families, whether they had been close to the Yang family before or had had conflicts with them, were present. Of course, the number of invited families was not large, but every cultivation family that was invited was extraordinary. Families without a Ba Wu realm expert to anchor them did not qualify for an invitation!
Moreover, not every Ba Wu realm family was invited.
For instance, the Ouyang family was not invited because, in the Yang family's view, the Ouyang family did not meet the qualifications. Primarily, Ouyang Huihuang had not reached the Ba Wu realm for long, and he had no significant interactions with the Yang family.
However, families like the Tang family were invited. Whether the Tang family possessed a Ba Wu realm expert or not was known only to insiders; outsiders were unaware. But the Tang family was the most threatening family in the secular world, primarily because of the Tang family's unparalleled hidden weapons.
Even an ordinary person wielding a Tang family hidden weapon could deal with cultivators, and a Tian Wu realm expert using hidden weapons could contend with Ba Wu realm experts, and even Zun Wu realm experts!
The reason the Tang siblings almost died last time was due to their low cultivation. They were both at the Yuan Wu realm peak, and the gap between them and a Tian Wu realm expert was simply too vast. The main issue was the huge disparity between the Di Wu realm and the Tian Wu realm; one was considered mid-stage ancient martial arts, while the other was late-stage ancient martial arts!
The Tang family delegation was led by the Tang family patriarch.
The Yang family's Xiantian realm celebration was held in the martial arts arena because of its vast space and seating capacity for spectators.
Another reason for choosing this venue was that celebrating Xiantian naturally entailed Xiantian martial performances. Of course, the Xiantian performances were the highlight, but there were also sparring matches among the younger generation beforehand. In short, it was meant to be lively.
"Brother, why does he refuse my repeated invitations to visit our home?" In the audience, Tang Ya was dejectedly twirling her fingers, complaining to Tang Feng, who sat beside her.
Upon hearing his sister's words, Tang Feng wore a helpless expression. Ever since that incident where Yang Feilong saved them, his sister seemed to have become obsessed. Whenever she had free time, she would contact Yang Feilong, inviting him to the Tang family. But Yang Feilong had refused him time and time again.
"Yang Feilong, based on what we know, he has quite a few female admirers. Perhaps he's just too busy to spare the time!" Tang Feng sighed.
He naturally wished for his sister to find a good match. At that time, he had particularly hoped that his sister and Yang Feilong would get together. However, when it came to matters of the heart, although he hadn't experienced it himself, he knew that if only one party was interested and the other was not, it would be difficult to end up together.
"Is he really too busy? Or perhaps he doesn't like me?" Tang Ya said dejectedly.
Tang Feng didn't know how to respond to his sister's question. If he told her that he might not like her, his sister would undoubtedly be sad and heartbroken for a long time, as this was the first time she had fallen in love. But if he didn't say anything, his sister acting like a resentful woman every day was also unpleasant for him to hear.
"With how beautiful and outstanding you are, how could he not like you? Perhaps he's genuinely busy," Tang Feng said, trying to comfort her against his better judgment. He didn't want his sister to be sad, and besides, Yang Feilong might indeed be busy. Such things were unpredictable.
"Mmm." Tang Ya nodded, her mood somewhat improved, but still troubled.
Lately, her cultivation felt off.
Of course, given her talent, she was already a cultivator at the early stage of the Di Wu realm. Her brother was also at the early stage of the Di Wu realm, but he had broken through half a month after her. It could be said that she had now surpassed her brother Tang Feng in terms of cultivation.
As it approached ten in the morning, more and more forces arrived at the Yang family.
It was truly a gathering of heroes. Normally, it was difficult to even see one Tian Wu realm expert, but here, there were at least one hundred and eighty, if not two hundred, Tian Wu realm experts. Ba Wu realm experts, who were usually the pillars of their families, had also come. Zun Wu realm experts? There were more than a dozen of them.
The reason these Zun Wu realm experts had come was naturally to seek advice and see if the Yang family would share their techniques for breaking through.
In short, below the Tian Wu realm, no one dared to speak loudly. Talented individuals were even less so. It would not be an exaggeration to describe the scene as a gathering of abundant talent.
"Brother Xu is here? Long time no see!"
"Brother Mo, you're here too? Yes, it has indeed been a long time. After the celebration, shall we find a place for a drink?"
"Certainly. After drinking, we can spar. I remember our last spar was three years ago."
"Indeed. Perhaps through our sparring, we'll gain some insight and be able to break through to the Ba Wu realm."
"Alas, we are still lingering at the peak of the Tian Wu realm. Yang Pingtian, who is several years younger than us, has already broken through to the Xiantian realm. This gap is only widening!"
"Don't compare yourself to him. He was a peerless prodigy in our generation when we were young. Now that he has broken through to the Xiantian realm, while astonishing, it is within reason."
"That's true. But what happened twenty years ago? Why did he suddenly withdraw from the martial world? If not for the news of his breakthrough to the Xiantian realm, I would have thought..."
He stopped there, clearly indicating that the subsequent meaning was unpleasant, but the other person understood.
"Yes, perhaps he changed his style of conduct! Who knows, perhaps it was precisely because he changed his style that he was able to be the first among us to break through to the Xiantian realm, even surpassing many veteran powerhouses!"
"This is the demeanor of a peerless genius!"