98: Chapter 98 One School, Two Foundation Establishment Stages

Wang Yaowen took a deep breath before finally squeezing out a sentence.

"Big Brother... made a Breakthrough!"

Before he even finished speaking, a figure beside him had already darted out even faster than him.

Wang Yaowu quickly left the quiet room, stepped onto the stairs, and sensing this wave of Spiritual Qi, he spun around as if struck by lightning, roaring at the top of his lungs as he sprinted wildly toward the back mountain.

"Big Brother has made a Breakthrough! My Big Brother has made a Breakthrough!"

He ran so hastily that he tripped over the threshold and fell flat on his face, scrambling up without even bothering to dust off his knees before charging forward again.

The young Disciples of the Shou generation surged out from everywhere; some draped in outer robes, some barefoot, and some still clutching the bottles of qi gathering pills they had just received, forgetting to put them away.

Wang Shouyi leaned on his crutch as he walked out of the courtyard where he was recovering from his injuries, raising his head to look at that patch of golden auspicious clouds, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as a very faint red tinge welled up in the depths of his eyes.

He said nothing, only giving his crutch a heavy thud against the ground, as if beating a silent celebratory drum for his father.

Wang Qingcheng poked half her head out from the Puppet workshop, still gripping a half-carved copper piece engraved with formation patterns in her hand.

Blinking her eyes, she asked Wang Qingxin, who had also run out to watch the commotion, "What is that? Whose family is setting off fireworks?"

"The Patriarch has made a Breakthrough! The Patriarch has made a Breakthrough!"

The noisy voices quickly gave them the answer.

Wang Qingxin tilted her head and thought for a moment, weighing Patriarch, Master, Young Patriarch, before answering earnestly, "Master's father is making a Breakthrough."

Wang Qingcheng froze for a moment, then stuffed the copper piece into her bosom and turned to run toward the direction of the ancestral hall; she was going to report the news to her mother.

In the bamboo building at the back mountain, Wang Chongyang slowly stood up, pushed open the bamboo window, and gazed at that patch of golden auspicious clouds.

On his aged face, within those eyes that had been turbid for most of his life, something was faintly flickering.

He neither smiled nor spoke, merely standing with his hands behind his back by the window for a long time.

After a long while, he softly spat out a sentence, his voice hoarse yet resolute: "It's done, the Wang family has a promising future."

He called over the Disciples of the Shou generation guarding outside the bamboo building, his aged voice carrying an irrepressible joy.

"Pass down the order, open the altar to sacrifice to the ancestors, ring the bell eighteen times, and let the entire clan celebrate for three days.

Release the news of Yaozu coming out of seclusion; within the Three Counties, let everyone who should know, know."

On this day, the bell at Lotus Pier rang out for a long time.

The eighteen bell tolls broke through the mountain mist one after another, spreading across Wogui Mountain, startling the roosting birds in the forest and causing the Loose Cultivators in the mid-mountain market to stop and look up.

The Wang family Disciples ran about spreading the news by the lotus pond; some wept in each other's arms with excitement, while others knelt before the ancestral hall kowtowing to their ancestors.

Wang Yaowu moved aged yunli wine out from the warehouse, standing in the center of the courtyard and shouting at the top of his lungs: "Tonight, we drink until we drop! Whoever doesn't drink is not a member of the Wang family!"

Wang Yaowen stood beneath the corridor, looking at the noisy clansmen filling the courtyard, shaking his head and smilingly scolding, "What utter absurdity", yet the rims of his eyes quietly turned red.

From this moment on, the Wang family had two Foundation Establishment practitioners in a single household.

Within these Three Counties, they were truly the premier clan.

When Wang Yaozu walked out of the secluded chamber in the back mountain, the morning light was just right.

He was still wearing that green robe, but the white hair at his temples was a few strands fewer than before his seclusion. The Qi around his entire body was as deep as a pool; although the Spiritual Pressure of the Foundation Establishment Stage was deliberately restrained by him, a hint of vague might still permeated outward.

Wang Yaowen and Wang Yaowu had long been waiting outside the door. Seeing him come out, they cupped their fists in unison, their voices trembling slightly with excitement.

"Congratulations to Big Brother on achieving Major Achievement in Foundation Establishment!"

Wang Yaowu rushed forward all the more, grabbing Wang Yaozu's arm and looking him up and down. With reddened eye rims, he grinned and said, "Big Brother, after this trip into seclusion, several strands of your hair have turned black again! Foundation Establishment is truly wonderful, you grow younger the older you get!"

Wang Yaozu smiled and slapped his hand away: "Stop spouting nonsense, you must also be present at the clan meeting later."

By the lotus pond, Wang Chongyang stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the islet in the center of the pond, gazing at the green lotus in full bloom within the pond as his gray robe was gently rippled by the morning breeze.

Wang Yaozu quickly stepped forward, stopped at a distance of three paces from him, and lifted his robes to kneel.

Wang Chongyang reached out and supported his arm. His aged palm was steady, and though the force was not heavy, it prevented Wang Yaozu from kneeling down.

"No need to kneel."

Wang Chongyang carefully examined this junior who had taken over from him to shoulder the Wang family for decades, looking at the few newly added strands of black hair at his temples, and then at the increasingly steady and resolute determination in his eyes after much sedimentation. A slow smile bloomed on his aged face, "Yaozu, you have done very well, even five years earlier than when this old man achieved Foundation Establishment back then."

Wang Yaozu's throat moved slightly, a thousand words clogged in his chest, finally condensing into a single sentence: "Sixth Uncle, you have worked hard all these years."

Wang Chongyang waved his hand and turned around to look at the cluster of courtyards inhabited by the clansmen on the opposite side of the lotus pond.

Wisps of cooking smoke curled upwards, children frolicked, and the Disciples of the Shou generation on the practice field surrounded Wang Shouren, contending to see the newly refined snake-fang spear.

He watched for a long time before slowly speaking, his voice carrying a sense of peace after unloading a burden of a thousand catties: "This old man has lived for one hundred and seventy-one years. My biggest regret in this life was the fear that no one would hold the banner for the Wang family after I left. Now that you have achieved Foundation Establishment and Shouren has also grown up, this old man can leave in peace."

Hearing this, Wang Yaozu shook with a start, wanting to say something, but was stopped by Wang Chongyang raising his hand.

The old man turned around, his face deeply wrinkled like knife cuts showing no sorrow, only the calm and release after seeing all the storms of the world.

"Don't act like a sentimental child. This old man still has a few days left to live; while I can still move, I should arrange what needs to be arranged. Has the news of your Foundation Establishment been spread out?"

At this moment, Wang Shouren and Wang Qingcheng rushed to the pondside.

Wang Shouren cupped his fists and bowed, his voice carrying heartfelt joy: "Congratulations to Father on achieving Major Achievement in Foundation Establishment."

Wang Qingcheng directly lunged forward to hug Wang Yaozu's arm, tilting her little face up smugly and saying, "Dad! You are now a Foundation Establishment Immortal Master, can you walk sideways when you go out from now on?"

Wang Yaozu flicked her forehead: "Your dad is not a crab."

Wang Qingcheng covered her forehead, chuckling foolishly, and then turned to run to Wang Chongyang's side, stuffing a newly made Puppet bird she was clutching in her hand into his arms.

"Sixth Grandpa, this is what I newly made. It can fly very, very high, I'm giving it to you to dispel your boredom!"

Wang Chongyang took the crooked Puppet bird, examined it for a moment, and smiled as he tucked it into his sleeve.

Wang Qingxin did not step forward; she stood behind the crowd, hiding behind a stone pillar, exposing only half of her small face.

She was not used to such bustling occasions, nor was she used to those hugs and smiles.

She only looked at Wang Yaozu from afar, then glanced at Wang Shouren, thinking silently in her heart that the master's father had become formidable, and the master must be very happy.

If the master was happy, she would be happy.

The corners of her mouth moved slightly; that arc was very faint, so faint it was almost imperceptible, but she was indeed smiling.

"Sixth Uncle is right, this matter cannot be hidden away."