Zi Yu immediately withdrew her aura, walked courteously toward Su Chun, and asked tentatively.
“Miss, are you from the Tantai Family?”
Seeing that the other party’s attitude had taken a 360-degree turn after she produced the jade amulet, Su Chun knew that Zi Yu likely recognized what it was.
“I am Tantai Chun,” Su Chun stated her name.
As soon as the name was spoken, Zi Yu’s heart finally settled.
“It… It really is Miss Chun. A misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding. I am Zi Yu, the City Lord of Huanhai City. It is an honor to meet you, Miss Chun.”
Zi Yu immediately bowed respectfully to Su Chun.
Huanhai City was a territory controlled by the Tantai Family, and Zi Yu served as an External Affairs Elder for the clan.
Just as Su Chun was about to speak, Luo Li and Luo Yu walked over.
Strangely, both of them had looked injured just moments ago, but now they seemed perfectly fine.
“City Lord Zi Yu, you should take your daughter back and discipline her well. To think she dared to harass us—do you realize the consequences of such actions?”
Luo Yu questioned, her hands on her hips.
Su Chun looked at the two women, her face filled with confusion.
‘Weren’t you two just injured? How did you recover so quickly, as if nothing happened?’
“You two must be Miss Luo Li and Miss Luo Yu, right?”
Now that Su Chun’s identity was confirmed, Zi Yu could easily guess who the two sisters were.
“Indeed.”
Zi Yu let out a bitter smile.
“Miss Chun, Young Madames, with your status, why didn’t you just reveal yourselves from the start? My spoiled daughter might be bold, but if she had heard who you were, she never would have dared to lift a finger.”
The two sisters glanced at Su Chun, who could only offer an embarrassed smile.
“Well, I just told my mother that I was going out to have fun and wouldn’t cause any trouble. If she finds out I caused a scene the moment I stepped out, it will be hard for me to get permission to leave again.”
Zi Yu then looked back at Luo Li and Luo Yu.
“Even if you two have lower cultivation than my daughter, you surely have ways to easily restrain her. Why make such a big commotion?”
This time, it was the two sisters’ turn to feel sheepish.
This was a question Su Chun had as well.
“Actually, Husband is visiting the outside world for the first time. We wanted him to witness the wickedness of human nature, so we… hehe.”
Su Chun’s face darkened upon hearing this.
She walked behind Luo Yu and Luo Li and gave each of them a heavy slap on their rear ends.
*Smack!*
“Ow! Husband, we were wrong!”
After receiving the slap, the two women immediately clutched their backsides and apologized without hesitation.
“I was so worried about you two, and it turns out you were just trying to make me anxious?”
Su Chun glared at them, huffing with anger.
Like children who had done something wrong, the two girls stood before Su Chun with their heads bowed, stammering for a long time.
Zi Yu looked at her unconscious daughter and felt helpless.
“Misses, I will take this worthless daughter of mine back. Once she wakes up, I will discipline her thoroughly,” Zi Yu said to the three of them.
Su Chun and the others didn’t continue to make things difficult.
There was no need to let such a small matter ruin their fun.
As for what had actually happened, it wasn’t just the two sisters’ idea—it was Tantai Xuan’s intent.
She had told them that since they were going out, they would surely encounter trouble.
She didn’t want the two sisters to protect Su Chun like a fragile vase; she wanted Su Chun to witness the darker side of things so she could learn to make her own judgments.
After hearing their explanation, Su Chun’s annoyance gradually faded.
She understood that it was normal for her mother to act this way, given her status.
However, what Tantai Xuan didn’t know was that the soul inhabiting her daughter’s body was a man who had lived for nearly 30 years.
He already understood many things; he was simply immersing himself in the joy of the moment.
Tantai Xuan, of course, remained unaware.
To her, her daughter was just a young girl who rarely left the house.
The three continued to explore the city until they had their fill, then returned to the family estate.
—
Back home, Su Chun began to contemplate how to use the power of the Divine Pen of Creation in combat.
Her act of drawing a handgun to wound Zi Qiong had been an inspiration.
One morning, Su Chun was using the handgun she had drawn to attack Luo Li.
However, if one was prepared for it, a handgun was actually quite difficult to land a hit with.
So, Su Chun took out another pre-prepared drawing of a demonic beast—a fierce tiger.
She tapped the tiger’s eye with the pen.
The tiger immediately lunged out of the painting with a roar, pouncing toward Luo Li.
However, the tiger’s strength was still too weak.
With a few strikes, Luo Li killed it, and the beast dissipated into nine-colored energy.
This served as practical combat training.
*Boom…*
Just as the three were in the middle of their session, several streaks of light shot into the sky from within the Tantai Family estate, accompanied by terrifying pressure.
Each aura was more powerful than the last, and none were weaker than Tantai Xuan.
“Are the Ancestors of the family coming out of seclusion?”
Luo Yu exclaimed.
“Ancestors?”
“Yes, elders from generations even older than Mother. Your grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s generations,” Luo Li explained.
In all her time with the Tantai Family, Su Chun had never seen these Ancestors.
As an Immortal Aristocratic Family with a long heritage, the clan certainly possessed many hidden experts with unfathomable cultivation.
They usually remained in seclusion and only emerged during matters concerning the family’s survival.
The Myriad Races Secret Realm was a grand event that occurred once every 3,000 years across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
Thus, the Ancestors of the Nine Branches of the Tantai Family were emerging to protect and guide the younger generation.
“All formal clan members of the Nine Branches, including legal wives, please gather at the Ancestral Hall.”
Tantai Xuan’s clear voice echoed through every corner of the Zi Mai branch of the Tantai Family. Hearing this, Su Chun and the two girls quickly began to dress.
The Ancestral Hall was the most solemn place in the Tantai Family, so Su Chun had to once again put on the heavy, formal purple palace attire.
Luo Li and Luo Yu also changed into more formal and mature clothing.
They rushed to the Ancestral Hall to find that a large number of female cultivators had already gathered inside and out.
Everyone was dressed in their finest, standing with their spouses outside the hall.
Not everyone was qualified to enter the interior of the Ancestral Hall.
Only members of the Nine Branches’ direct line were permitted: the Nine Lineage Ancestors, the Nine Lineage Elders, and the direct descendants.
The direct line included the Family Head and her wives, the Family Head’s direct daughters, and the direct Young Madames, and so on.
Su Chun saw several of her aunts, her sisters, and her sisters-in-law.
“Husband, let’s go in,” Luo Yu said.
“Huh? Are we not standing outside?”
Su Chun blinked.
“Hehe, you are of the direct bloodline. You need to enter the main hall,” Luo Li said with a smile.
Su Chun finally realized that her status was completely different from that of her sisters and aunts.
The two women supported Su Chun as they walked into the main hall.
There were many people inside, and Su Chun felt countless gazes land on her as she entered.
Seated in the very first row were over a dozen beautiful women of varying ages, all possessing extraordinary auras.
Time seemed to favor the women of the Tantai Family; even the older ones looked like mature beauties in their thirties.
An invisible pressure radiated from them, making the younger generation in the hall hardly dare to breathe.
‘Are those the Ancestors? Their presence is overwhelming,’ Su Chun whispered to herself, then followed Luo Li and Luo Yu to stand obediently to the side.
Once they were settled, Luo Li lowered her voice to introduce the Ancestors Su Chun needed to know.
“Husband, the one sitting in the first seat to the Family Head’s left is our current Supreme Grand Elder, and your paternal grandmother, Ancestor Dan Tai Qiong Hua.”
Su Chun immediately looked toward the position Luo Li indicated.
It was a woman in deep purple palace robes whose features were 70% or 80% similar to Tantai Xuan’s, but her eyes held a profound sense of world-weariness.
‘Grandmother?’
Su Chun thought silently.
“Next to the Supreme Grand Elder is the one in the blue dress, Ancestor Xiao Lan. She is our mother’s biological mother, making her your maternal grandmother,” Luo Li continued.
The woman in the blue dress looked very young, with a gentle and quiet temperament, resembling a lonely orchid in a valley.