304: Chapter 304 Reunion

"Understood, Tenth Grand-Uncle." Chen Lingfeng nodded and said.

As someone who had just entered the Foundation Establishment Stage, this was precisely an opportunity for Chen Lingfeng to temper himself.

"Compared to a few decades ago, the territory of our Qinghe County has expanded by a full thousand li. Now, a territory with a radius of three thousand li is under the control of our Family; therefore, we must be even more cautious," Chen Yuanwen said solemnly.

Today, Qinghe County was almost comparable to the territory of some prefectural cities.

"Lingxi, you're here." Chen Yuanwen had long since noticed the figure outside the ancestral hall.

The rest of them saw her as well, but since they were in the middle of a discussion, it was impossible to step forward and greet her directly.

After cupping their hands in salute to Chen Lingxi, the masters of various halls quickly withdrew.

"Tenth Grand-Uncle, has the Family experienced any incidents over the past few years?" As soon as she entered the ancestral hall, she asked.

Before her parents left, they had instructed her to take good care of the Family. Naturally, she had to fulfill this task so that she would have an account to give when her parents returned.

"No major events have occurred over these years." Chen Yuanwen shook his head.

"However, the Family over in Han Country has encountered some minor trouble. Lingyang has already gone over there, and with him around, it shouldn't be a big problem," he continued.

"I understand." Chen Lingxi nodded, bade farewell to Chen Yuanwen, and wanted to leave the ancestral hall.

"That's right, Lingxi, your grandparents have already returned, and that brat Lingqing is back as well. Why don't you go visit them? Their remaining days are numbered," Chen Yuanwen said.

Hearing this, Chen Lingxi suddenly remembered that only a few years were left before her grandparents reached the end of their lifespans. She solemnly nodded at Chen Yuanwen and hurriedly rushed toward their residence.

After a short while, she arrived at the place where her Family used to live back then.

Her aunt Changyue was supporting Grandmother Li Chenghui as they admired the flowers.

"Grandmother, Aunt, you..." Chen Lingxi's eyes grew somewhat red.

Grandmother Li Chenghui's hair was completely gray, her face was lined with wrinkles, and her aura was fading day by day.

"Oh, so little Lingxi has returned," Li Chenghui said happily.

Chen Changyue also smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

Chen Lingxi walked forward to help support Li Chenghui.

Li Chenghui waved her hand and said with gratified satisfaction, "There's no need; Grandmother can still walk. If it weren't for your grandmother not being able to win an argument against your aunt, I could have come out to enjoy the flowers all by myself."

"Mother," Chen Changyue reproached playfully, as she supported Li Chenghui back toward the house.

"That's right, Lingxi, is there any news from your parents?" She turned around and said to Chen Lingxi via voice transmission.

Hearing this, Chen Lingxi shook her head.

Chen Changqing and his wife had headed to Tang Country, which was hundreds of thousands of li away from Yan Country. Let alone their current situation, even contacting them was impossible.

"Aunt, I just went to the treasury and exchanged for two blood flame fruits. Should we let grandparents take them?" Chen Lingxi said.

Chen Changyue was somewhat moved, but the two of them, Chen Yuanzhan, had always refused. If they truly wanted them, they would have taken them when Chen Changqing brought them out several times back then.

Yet they simply felt that giving them to consume would be a waste of Family resources, and firmly refused to take them.

"Take them back! Nowadays, the only thing we children can do to make the old folks a little happier is to accompany them more often," Chen Changyue shook her head.

Her tone was very calm, yet carried a hint of sadness.

Supported by them, Li Chenghui did not know what the two had said via voice transmission, but she seemed to sense something in her heart.

However, she did not say much more.

Chen Lingxi followed behind them, reminding the two to watch their footing.

Inside the house, Chen Yuanzhan and Chen Lingqing were playing a game of go. At present, Chen Yuanzhan also looked completely white-haired; ever since he stepped down as the head of Wuyue Mountain, playing chess had become his sole hobby in his daily life.

"Stop, I placed it wrong just now. Let's start over."

"Can we even do that?"

"There was no foul play; we're just playing over again."

"If that doesn't count as a foul, then playing two pieces in a row shouldn't count either, right?"

"You're being too unreasonable! In that case, I'll play three."

Watching the two terrible chess players play, Chen Lingxi wore a helpless expression on her face.

"Grandmother, Aunt, Sister, you're back," Chen Lingqing said in surprise.

"Mhm, Father (Grandfather)." Chen Changyue and Chen Lingxi called out.

"Come, sit down quickly. It's been quite a while since we last saw little Lingxi," Chen Yuanzhan said, a smile appearing on his face as he watched the few of them arrive.

"It's been a few years, Grandfather." Chen Lingxi's nose inexplicably felt a bit sore.

Recalling a few years ago, Chen Yuanzhan's spirit and vitality were still very good, but now it felt as though his entire being was like a candle flame in a fierce wind, liable to be extinguished at any moment.

Both of them were now over a hundred years old, and were mere years away from their lifespan limit of one hundred and twenty.

"There's nothing to be sad about. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are ordinary occurrences for people, and all of you are my pride," Chen Yuanzhan said calmly.

"Right now, apart from Lingqing not yet being a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the lowest cultivation level in my lineage is at the Foundation Establishment Cultivator level. If I go down to the netherworld, I'll definitely have to brag about this to Big Brother and the others." Saying this, he burst into laughter.

Taking advantage of the gap while he was speaking, Chen Lingqing secretly moved his pieces a few steps further.

"Hmm, did I move like that just now?" Chen Yuanzhan turned his head back, looking at the somewhat strange layout.

...

Inside the City Lord's Mansion of Qinghe County City.

Han Xingchong walked quickly toward the conference hall.

Originally, there were twenty-some chairs in the conference hall, but over the years, a few more had been added, exceeding thirty in total.

He walked inside, where several Foundation Establishment Cultivators had gathered, but from the moment he entered, his gaze was fixed on the main seat.

Sitting squarely in the main seat this time was neither Chen Xuanyi nor Chen Changyue, but Zhou Ziye.

Twenty years had passed, and Zhou Ziye had already reached the Perfection of the third layer of Foundation Establishment, only a step away from the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.

It was just that he encountered a Bottleneck at the final step, so he came out of seclusion.

Right as he came out of seclusion, he happened to encounter the annual Spiritual Root testing assembly.

Since that was the case, he would preside over it first, because everyone else was in seclusion practicing quietly.

Inside the conference hall, not just anyone could sit in the main seat.

To sit in the main seat and preside over meetings, one had to meet several conditions.

The first was having sufficient status; regarding this point, even among the members of the Chen Family, not every single person could sit there.

Because this status had to be recognized by the council.

The second was having sufficient contribution; one needed to make enough contributions to win the heartfelt submission of those below.

The third was naturally cultivation level; one's cultivation level could not be too low.

Although these three conditions did not have exact numerical requirements, fulfilling them was by no means a casual matter.

"Our annual Spiritual Root testing assembly is about to begin. This time, the testing will be the same as before. Among the children in the various regions you are responsible for, if anyone with a talented Spiritual Root appears, you will receive corresponding rewards. However, if anyone deliberately conceals information and harbors other thoughts, don't blame me for personally issuing an order to hunt them down," Zhou Ziye said solemnly.

"Understood." Han Xingchong and the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators nodded.

"Mhm, go down and prepare!" Zhou Ziye waved his hand.

"That's right, Xingchong, stay behind for a moment." He called out to stop Han Xingchong.

Han Xingchong was puzzled, but simply looked at Zhou Ziye, and the two of them quietly waited for everyone else to leave.