With Ning Fengzhi, the main character, present, the others took their seats.
Ning Tianchen and Ning Rongrong were arranged to sit at the same table as Ning Fengzhi.
Seeing that he was somewhat reserved, Ning Fengzhi chuckled softly, “Tianchen, there are no outsiders today, no need to be formal.”
If he married Ning Rongrong, there truly wouldn’t be any outsiders here.
But he hadn’t married her yet; wasn’t it a bit too early to meet the parents?
Ning Fengzhi was the first to pick up his chopsticks, marking the official start of the family banquet.
Intimidated by Ning Fengzhi’s presence, Ning Rongrong didn’t converse with Ning Tianchen at the dinner table.
About half an hour later, Ning Fengzhi’s eldest son, Ning Tian, was the first to pick up a wine glass and walk over to Ning Tianchen.
Ning Tian was in his early twenties, with a soul power at the Soul Ancestor level.
However, given his innate soul power, his future breakthrough speed would inevitably slow down considerably.
“Ning Tianchen, I’ve heard of you.
You are the sect’s number one genius.
Work hard, the sect will not mistreat you.” With that, he downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.
Ning Tianchen swirled the teacup in his hand.
“Eldest Young Master is too polite.
I am still young, so I will substitute tea for wine.”
Besides Ning Tian, Ning Fengzhi’s other sons also came over to greet Ning Tianchen one by one.
After several rounds of drinks and courses of food, Ning Fengzhi waved his hand.
“Today’s family banquet ends here.
Rongrong and Tianchen, stay behind.
Everyone else, return and rest.”
Ning Tianchen sat up straight; he really feared that Ning Fengzhi was going to discuss marriage.
After the others left, Chen Xin stood up and smiled faintly.
“Tianchen, this old man has been childless his entire life.
You are the sect’s number one genius and possess the same Seven Kill Sword martial soul as me.
This old man wishes to adopt you as my god-grandson.
Are you willing?”
Ning Tianchen was caught off guard.
Before today, he hadn’t heard the slightest rumor about this.
But thankfully, it wasn’t to adopt him as a son, otherwise, he would truly believe his cheap father had been cuckolded by Chen Xin.
“Brother Tianchen, why are you spacing out?
Hurry up and agree to Grandpa Jian,” Ning Rongrong poked his arm, whispering a reminder.
Chen Xin didn’t seem to be in a rush for an answer.
Seeing him still thinking, Ning Fengzhi smiled, “Tianchen, actually, regarding your Seven Kill Sword martial soul, I have secretly investigated it.
In your father’s family, a woman from the Seven Kill Sword lineage once married in.”
“For several generations in your father’s family, the Seven Kill Sword martial soul never appeared, but that doesn’t mean the Seven Kill Sword bloodline disappeared.
In your generation, an atavism phenomenon occurred in the martial soul, which is why you awakened the Seven Kill Sword.”
Atavism of a martial soul was quite common on the continent.
But did a woman from the Seven Kill Sword lineage really marry into his father’s family?
After marrying into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Ning Tianchen’s father had long severed ties with his family.
Even if Ning Tianchen wanted to, he couldn’t investigate it now.
However, Ning Fengzhi’s explanation immediately cemented the idea in his mind.
“Grandfather above, please accept a bow from your grandson.” Saying this, he knelt on the ground and gave a grand bow to Chen Xin.
“Good grandson, get up quickly.
No need for these formalities,” Chen Xin leaned over to help him up.
“Hehe, Tianchen boy, from now on, you’ll be just like Rongrong, calling me Grandpa Bone,” Gu Rong laughed heartily, clearly happy for his old friend.
“Grandpa Bone,” Ning Tianchen bowed again.
Ning Fengzhi added, “Tianchen, your father was older than me.
From now on, you can just call me Uncle Ning.”
This acknowledgement of relatives seemed very casual, but Ning Tianchen knew he was now formally considered a member of Chen Xin’s family line.
For him, this wasn’t a bad thing.
With the corresponding status, he could rightfully obtain more resources in the sect in the future.
Just as they were leaving, Ning Fengzhi added, “By the way, Tianchen, once Rongrong breaks through to Soul Expert, the two of you will head to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy to study.”
Ning Tianchen couldn’t tell if he was forcing Ning Rongrong to go to Shrek Academy, or if he genuinely just wanted them to go to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
He had no desire to get involved in the conflict between Ning Fengzhi and his daughter, so he simply used closed-door cultivation as an excuse again to buy time.
After the two youngsters left, Chen Xin couldn’t help but say, “Fengzhi, can the teaching faculty at the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy compare to you and me?
In my opinion, we should just let them stay in the sect to study.”
For some unknown reason, Gu Rong sided with Ning Fengzhi this time.
“Old sword, the sect doesn’t have an academy.
With Tianchen and Rongrong’s talent, they are qualified to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in three years.”
“If they stay in the sect, do you want them to miss out on the Elite Tournament, which is a rare opportunity to temper themselves?”
The Elite Tournament gathered almost all the genius soul masters on the continent.
Fighting against genius soul masters would better enhance Ning Tianchen and Rongrong’s strength.
Gu Rong had another reason he didn’t voice: during the tournament, the two of them could also recruit a batch of genius soul masters for the sect.
“This…” Chen Xin was momentarily lost for words.
After thinking it over, he tacitly agreed to Ning Fengzhi’s approach.
Of course, Ning Fengzhi had ulterior motives.
He wanted to use this opportunity to completely cure Ning Rongrong’s temper.
He hadn’t discussed this with Gu Rong and was planning it all secretly.
…
In the following days.
With Ning Fengzhi’s permission, the news of Ning Tianchen being accepted as Chen Xin’s god-grandson spread throughout the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Most disciples weren’t surprised by this.
After all, Ning Tianchen’s martial soul was also the Seven Kill Sword, and since Chen Xin was childless, adopting him as a god-grandson was very normal.
Of course, a small minority gossiped about it.
Most of these people were old acquaintances of Ning Tianchen’s father.
They all believed Ning Tianchen’s father had been cuckolded by Chen Xin.
Some even condemned Ning Tianchen’s actions.
However, Ning Tianchen didn’t show up to explain himself to them.
Since he awakened his martial soul, these people had never sought him out, and he didn’t even know them.
Half a month later, while he was practicing swordplay in the sect as usual, an inner sect disciple delivered a letter left by Ning Rongrong into his hands.
“Wait, you said this was left by Rongrong?
Where did she go?” Ning Tianchen asked urgently.
The disciple shook his head.
“Young Master Tianchen, Eldest Miss did not inform this subordinate.
She said you would understand once you read the contents of the letter.”
Ning Tianchen didn’t make things difficult for him and waved him away.
Opening the letter.
The content was brief.
Ning Rongrong roughly explained that she was heading to the Barak Kingdom.
Furthermore, she would stay in Barak City until the 1st of next month, asking Ning Tianchen to meet up with her there.
Today was the 3rd of this month.
There were still over twenty days until the 1st of next month, enough time for him to rush to Barak City.
But should he go?
He was now the sect’s key cultivation target.
Rashly leaving the sect was a severely irresponsible act.
Just as Ning Tianchen was hesitating, Chen Xin flew over his head on his sword.
His destination was precisely the sect’s discussion hall.
“It seems Rongrong leaving the sect was indeed secretly permitted by Ning Fengzhi,” Ning Tianchen smiled helplessly.
Chen Xin rushing to the discussion hall was undoubtedly exactly like the original timeline: going to hold Ning Fengzhi accountable.
After thinking for a moment, Ning Tianchen hurried towards the hall as well.