Chapter 26 - 13: Blazing Heart Fire, Family Disciples

Chapter 26: Chapter 13: Blazing Heart Fire, Family Disciples

"It’s good to have principles," Dong Hao thought to himself. "People with a strong bottom line and a sense of gratitude are the ones who truly understand how to repay a small kindness with immense generosity. When the time comes, without me even asking, you’ll repay me several times over—perhaps even tenfold."

Relying on his treasure-discerning eyes, he had long sensed Jiang Xuan’s Talent. Now, he also recognized Jiang Xuan’s grateful and promise-keeping character.

With this in mind, faced with Jiang Xuan’s refusal, Dong Hao didn’t let go; instead, he supported him even more firmly.

He half-forced Jiang Xuan toward his own seat, feigning displeasure. "Brother Jiang, don’t try to be brave at a time like this. I know you have a backbone and don’t want to accept charity for nothing. But no matter how much you value your pride, you can’t ignore your own body. Like this, it’s truly easy to damage your foundation, which will in turn affect your future Cultivation. You wouldn’t want to fall short at the last moment when forging your Dao Foundation because of bodily injuries, would you?"

To ensure Jiang Xuan accepted his goodwill, he added, "If you really can’t accept it, just treat it as another loan. You’ve already borrowed from me once anyway; borrowing again won’t hurt."

Since he had put it this way, Jiang Xuan really couldn’t refuse any longer. Besides, his body was indeed in desperate need of nourishment at this moment. Finally, Jiang Xuan stopped struggling and accepted, firmly engraving this favor in his heart.

"I owe him another favor," he thought. "Fortunately, it’s just the grace of a single meal. I can afford to pay it back."

Just like that, supported by Dong Hao, Jiang Xuan set foot in the front row of the Daoist School’s training ground for the first time. It was only then that he truly felt the luxury and profound heritage of a Cultivation Family’s Descendant.

Here in the Chen Daoist School, Dong Hao actually had a Maid accompanying him. The young girl named Nan Zhi was not just an ordinary servant, but an officially registered student of the Daoist School. Furthermore, whether it was the aura surrounding her or her Spirit Root Talent, she was slightly superior to Jiang Xuan.

Situations like Dong Hao’s, where students brought Maids and Daoist Acolytes to enroll with them, were seen everywhere in the front row area.

Many descendants of these families had more than just one or two people around them. Take Qin Feng, who had the best Talent, for example—he was surrounded by a full seven people serving him. And around that group of Daoist Acolytes and Maids, there was still a crowd of people watching eagerly, hoping to fill a vacancy.

These people were not all domestic servants born into the Qin Family; many were actually from the Lower Classes. The reason they took the initiative to fawn over him wasn’t because they were willingly degrading themselves. In reality, following a Noble Family genius like Qin Feng came with tangible benefits.

"If you follow a genius like Qin Feng, no one will dare bully you on a daily basis. More importantly, after entering the Shenxiao Mountain Gate a hundred days from now, every Outer Disciple will have to do manual labor in exchange for Sect contributions. But even when it comes to manual labor, there are plenty of hidden tricks. With someone looking out for you, you can land a lucrative and easy job. Even with mediocre Talent, by piling up resources, you’d still have a slight hope of reaching Foundation Establishment. On the other hand, ordinary students without background or connections can only take on heavy, restrictive drudgery. Not only do those jobs pay very little in resources, but they also eat up the majority of your time for Cultivation."

This difference in treatment created a gap as vast as that between heaven and earth.

"No wonder they act like this," Jiang Xuan thought. "For ordinary students with poor Talent and an unremarkable family background, this is indeed the best way out."

After sighing internally, Jiang Xuan shook his head and glanced around. Then, not too far away, he spotted his predecessor’s childhood friend, Zhou Lin.

At this moment, she was carefully opening a food box and laying out a brocade tablecloth, serving an elegant young girl with submissive humility.

"That must be Su Linyin," he thought.

Unwilling to have too much involvement with Zhou Lin, Jiang Xuan only cast a single glance before quietly averting his gaze.

***

While Jiang Xuan used the guise of looking around to silently figure out the social hierarchy of the Noble Families’ Descendants, Nan Zhi had already opened the food box. She took out the Spiritual Cuisine dish by dish, arranging them neatly on the tablecloth.

The Dong Family’s heritage was truly extraordinary. The food box Nan Zhi brought to the Daoist School was not only exquisitely crafted but also engraved with a Constant Temperature Array, possessing the Lock Spirit and heat preservation abilities. As the dishes of Spiritual Cuisine were taken out, they were all steaming hot, as if they had just come out of the pot.

The moment the lid was opened, a rich, mellow, and mouth-watering aroma wafted out, carrying with it an abundance of Spiritual Qi. Not only did this Spiritual Cuisine taste absolutely exquisite, but it also contained an extremely abundant amount of pure Vitality, making it perfect for replenishing the deficits of the Flesh Body.

At this moment, the origin of Jiang Xuan’s Flesh Body was depleted to the extreme. It was at its absolute "hungriest." Smelling this aroma, his Adam’s apple bobbed uncontrollably as he forcefully swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

This reaction made Dong Hao chuckle softly.

"After a whole morning of Cultivation, Brother Jiang must be famished. To be honest, my stomach is already rumbling too. Let’s eat. My mother prepared way too much for me, and I can’t finish it all by myself. It’d be a waste to just leave it here."

With that, he personally handed a pair of clean bamboo chopsticks to Jiang Xuan, enthusiastically inviting him to dig in.

Seeing it had come to this, Jiang Xuan stopped being overly modest.

"Thank you, Brother Dong."

***

"It actually worked?!"

"Why him?"

While Jiang Xuan was eating and drinking at the front, the students in the back row of the training ground—who had originally thought Jiang Xuan was just putting on an act—were left standing there dumbfounded. They stared as he was once again pulled away by Dong Hao and treated like an honored guest.

They simply couldn’t figure out what was so special about Jiang Xuan, whose Spirit Root was merely at the Profound・Middle Grade, to warrant such high regard from Dong Hao.

Dong Hao’s series of actions even caused quite a few people to harbor an absurd thought: "Is this Dong Hao stupid? Does he just like entertaining these pretentious posers?"