Chapter 26: Origin of the Meng Family

Within the Dao Seeking Sect layout lay myriad enterprises, where all manner of dining, wining, and sensory delights could be found. Cultivation was never meant to be an absolute, living death behind closed doors, for a dry and sterile lifestyle would never lead to immortality; thus, any leisure industry that ought to exist flourished here.

There was the Sichuan hotpot mentioned once before, and then there was the Pavilion of a Hundred Fragrances, toward which the three of them were now heading.

Lu Yang had heard that in olden times, the Dao Seeking Sect was not like this at all. Back then, cultivation was strictly cultivation; no one was permitted to engage in these sundry, distracting trivialities, lest they compromise the purity of their quest for the Dao.

Later, when the old Sect Master and the former elders retired, the current Sect Master and the eight elders ascended to power. Overnight, the Dao Seeking Sect took on a completely fresh aspect, encouraging everyone to cultivate when it was time to cultivate and relax when it was time to relax, blending labor with leisure.

In their own words: if something like this could actually disrupt one's pursuit of the Dao, then what kind of immortal path were they even chasing?

Lu Yang felt that the current atmosphere of the Dao Seeking Sect was rather unprincipled. Once he climbed into the higher echelons of the sect, he resolved to carry out a thorough reformation.

Inside the Pavilion of a Hundred Fragrances, the din of human voices bubbled with fervor. Many disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect, having completed arduous missions or finished grueling training sessions, loved to gather here to dine, exchange insights on their cultivation, and share experiences from their missions.

If nothing else, the taste alone far surpassed that of the communal dining hall.

"Waiter, table number nine, the one reserved earlier. Three sets of bowls and chopsticks, and serve the dishes exactly as I ordered before."

"Right away, sir! Just leave it to me."

Ascending to the second floor, the rich aromas of food wafting from other tables drifted over, striking the senses so sharply that they kindled a fierce appetite and caused saliva to secrete unbidden.

Lu Yang stared at the waiter for a long time, only withdrawing his gaze once the young man vanished down the stairwell. He realized that he could not even see through the waiter's level of cultivation.

Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye looked left and right, both filled with curiosity about the establishment.

Lu Yang had his meals provided at Heavenly Gate Peak, while Tao Yaoye knew how to cook her own food, so neither had ever found a reason to come here.

Meng Jingzhou was thoroughly acquainted with such places. "You two haven't been here before, have you? Let me tell you, there are countless delicacies here. There is nothing you can't eat, only things you can't imagine. Take a look at the menu."

Lu Yang took the menu and flipped to the first page, immediately drawn in by the text.

The first page listed no dishes, bearing only a striking notice: This establishment sells only finished dishes, not raw ingredients. We crave your understanding.

The actual contents began on the second page, where the items on the menu bore two types of prices: contribution points and spirit stones.

"Steamed Tribulation Liquid: The essence of lightning tribulation left behind when a cultivator transcends their tribulation; of immense benefit for comprehending the Dao of Lightning."

"Braised Ice-Abyss Colossal Elephant: The Ice-Abyss Colossal Elephant lives in the freezing regions of the extreme north, a sovereign species of those lands. A mature elephant can crush a glacier with a single stride and stand firm against a roaring avalanche."

"Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: Our establishment offers various types of eggs, including ordinary chicken eggs, Eight Treasures Chicken eggs, and Golden-Winged Great Peng eggs."

Upon seeing the prices, Lu Yang could not help but click his tongue. These things were obviously not meant for Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment cultivators like themselves; a Foundation Establishment cultivator could never afford them anyway.

However, there were also things he could afford, such as the stir-fried Fasting Pills and the like.

Seeing Lu Yang's brow gradually furrow, Tao Yaoye assumed he was frightened by the prices and asked with a light laugh, "What is the matter? Have you run into some sort of problem?"

"Look here, the definition of fasting is to consume the spiritual energy of heaven and earth instead of eating food, and taking a Fasting Pill allows one to fast."

"That is correct," Tao Yaoye nodded.

"Then tell me, if someone eats a stir-fried Fasting Pill, counts it as eating a meal or counts it as fasting?"

Tao Yaoye and Meng Jingzhou froze simultaneously. At first, they found the question utterly bizarre, but upon deeper reflection, they felt it was strangely profound.

The three of them called the waiter over to ask if he knew the answer to this question, and the waiter was thoroughly stumped as well.

In all his time working here, it was the first time he had ever encountered a diner asking such a question.

Was it because the kitchen was too slow and they had nothing better to do?

"The prices here are not low. Do you have enough contribution points?" Lu Yang did not dwell further on the riddle of the Fasting Pill, turning his concern instead to whether they would have enough to pay for the meal.

Meng Jingzhou had only performed three missions in total, which could not have earned him many contribution points.

Treating himself and Tao Yaoye to a lavish feast in name, only for the three of them to end up washing dishes together to pay off the bill, seemed exactly like something Meng Jingzhou might pull.

"Why would I use contribution points? Of course I am using spirit stones," Meng Jingzhou replied, his voice laced with the casual arrogance of the wealthy.

Tao Yaoye glanced at Lu Yang with slight astonishment, unable to comprehend why he would worry about a member of the Meng family lacking funds. "Have you never heard of the Meng family?"

Lu Yang was puzzled. "Is Meng Jingzhou's family really that famous?"

The Central Continent was vast beyond measure, a territory that a cultivator could not fully explore in an entire lifetime. Within it, there were countless families surnamed Meng; how was Lu Yang to know which one Meng Jingzhou belonged to?

Having known Meng Jingzhou for so long, he had never heard him speak of his clan's affairs.

When Meng Jingzhou first came to the Dao Seeking Sect to participate in the trials, he did not even have a single elder accompanying him. Lu Yang had assumed his family had fallen into decline and needed to rely on Meng Jingzhou, a single spiritual root cultivator, to revitalize their lineage.

"The most famous one."

Lu Yang's pupils contracted slightly in great shock as he realized exactly which Meng family Meng Jingzhou belonged to.

There were many Meng families, but if one spoke of the most famous, it could only be the Meng family of the Imperial City.

"The very same Imperial City Meng family that once fought alongside the ancestor of the Great Xia Emperor to conquer the world and establish the Great Xia Dynasty?!"

Lu Yang was truly stunned. The Imperial City Meng family possessed an extraordinary lineage. One hundred thousand years ago, the world was thrown into absolute chaos. As the old saying goes, chaotic times breed heroes. The ancestor of the Meng family and the ancestor of the Xia Emperor rose up in rebellion, campaigning across the lands and creating a legendary tale that everyone loved to recite.

Even to this day, the story remained alive and well, spoken by storytellers in teahouses and performed upon theatrical stages, never losing its luster.

One hundred thousand years ago, the previous dynasty collapsed from internal strife and foreign aggression, marking the beginning of a chaotic era. The demons, barbarians, and sea beasts left their respective domains, seeking to claim a share of the spiritually rich Central Continent.

The ancestor of the Meng family rose from the ancestral lands of the east, fighting his way through east and west, waging wars across tens of thousands of miles. He slaughtered the demons and barbarians until they fled to the Demon Realm, forced the sea beasts to retreat into the Eastern Sea, and compelled rebellious subjects and grassroot heroes alike to bow their heads in submission.

Leading his army through a thousand years of warfare, the Meng ancestor conquered half of the Central Continent, becoming one of only two sovereigns under heaven.

The other sovereign was the ancestor of the Xia Emperor, who had conquered the remaining half.

The Xia ancestor had similarly expelled the barbarians and demonic beasts, bringing an end to the chaotic times and ruling over half the realm. The achievements of the two men were impossible to rank one above the other.

At that time, the world believed that the two sovereigns would either rule their respective halves of the Central Continent or engage in a cataclysmic war to claim total dominion over the world.

Consequently, various military strategists began to conduct war simulations, calculating which side held the greater advantage and how the weaker side might overcome the stronger.

What the world did not expect was that both the Meng ancestor and the Xia ancestor believed the continent had already been ravaged by war for a thousand years. The people had suffered immensely, and rivers of blood had flowed—a veritable scene of purgatory. If they continued to fight, there was no telling how many more years the chaos would endure, and how many more innocents would perish.

They had fought across the world to restore peace to the land, not for the sake of an imperial throne.

Thus, the Meng ancestor and the Xia ancestor abandoned their armies and, in their capacities as individual cultivators, engaged in a decisive duel within the vast starry sky. That battle shattered the heavens and tore the earth; the sun and moon lost their radiance, and great stars fell from the sky. In the end, the Xia ancestor proved a shade superior in skill and emerged as the final victor.

Accepting his defeat gracefully, the Meng ancestor willingly conceded the throne.

At that time, the Xia ancestor publicly declared that as long as the Great Xia Dynasty existed for a single day, the Meng family would never be allowed to perish.

And indeed, things transpired exactly as promised. After the founding of the Great Xia, the Meng family settled in the Imperial City, completely free from any suppression.