From the fake emperor to the concubine

After Zheng Tianhao's explanation, Zheng Tianming finally realized that he had done something incredibly stupid.

The ancestor needed quiet when he was in seclusion for cultivation, but he just happened to make such a big commotion.

If this affects our ancestors' peaceful cultivation, how will they view us?
For a fleeting moment, Zheng Tianming even imagined his ancestor looking down at him with eyes that seemed to regard him as trash.

A majestic voice echoed endlessly in the void: "You unworthy descendant Zheng Tianming, how dare you disturb this ancestor's seclusion and enlightenment! You are expelled from the family and your cultivation is hereby abolished."

Amidst the heart-wrenching, tragic music, one imagines oneself freezing and starving to death like a beggar.

The thought of possibly experiencing such an ending sent a chill down Zheng Tianming's spine.

No, I absolutely cannot die such a pathetic death.

He instantly transformed into a wrathful Vajra, driving away all the family members who were putting on a show.

It was clearly this elder who summoned them, telling them that there were tremendous benefits to be had and that they should try their best to perform well.

As a result, before they had even really started, the elder rudely drove them away again.

In other words, Zheng Tianming is the clan chief's brother and a high-ranking elder in the family.

Otherwise, such capricious behavior would definitely provoke dissatisfaction from everyone.

But now, all they can do is complain in their hearts and leave dejectedly.

After driving everyone away, Zheng Tianming knelt in front of the stone gate and kept apologizing to his ancestor Zheng Yi.

"Ancestor, your unworthy descendant was momentarily blinded by folly. Please don't hold it against me."

"Don't worry, I promise I will never make this mistake again."

"Ancestor, please don't expel me from the family, considering how much I've devoted to both families for most of my life."

This guy was crying his eyes out, sounding utterly heartbroken.

If you didn't know the whole story, you might think Zheng Yi was a villain who bullied people.

Although he didn't want to pay attention to him, the guy kept crying and complaining, which made it impossible for Zheng Yi to cultivate normally.

Finally, in order to get rid of this guy, Zheng Yi had to set aside ten breaths to create another set of techniques.

This technique was created by Zheng Yi based on his experience of cultivating in this world during this period.

However, compared to the three cultivation techniques he created for his descendants, this one is much more perfunctory.

However, this technique is not without its advantages; it is almost effortless to cultivate.

Even someone with extremely low cultivation talent can master this technique well, as long as they have the talent and aren't an idiot.

Zheng Tianming, who was desperately trying to shift the blame... no... desperately repenting, suddenly discovered that a cultivation technique had appeared in his mind.

He was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"My idiot older brother actually said that I was disturbing the ancestors."

"Now it seems that he was the idiot. The ancestor is now bestowing the cultivation technique upon me, which is obviously telling me that I did the right thing."

"If those family members hadn't been allowed to leave, who knows how many people would be able to receive the benefits bestowed by our ancestors now?"

Zheng Yi was utterly speechless. How could these guys keep redefining his understanding of things?

Before you start bragging, do you even bother to look at the contents of that technique?

The moment Zheng Yi's thought crossed his mind, Zheng Tianming's laughter abruptly stopped, and his smug expression froze on his face.

He had just glanced at the martial arts technique passed down from his ancestors.

At first, Zheng Tianming didn't pay much attention, based on his experience with Zheng Chengbai's incident.

He naturally assumed that since his ancestors had passed down the martial arts techniques to him, they must be the most suitable techniques for him.

So even though this set of techniques seemed exceptionally simple and straightforward, he didn't take it too seriously.

But as he watched, Zheng Tianming gradually realized that something was wrong.

This set of techniques is not only straightforward, but it also contains many things that he is very familiar with.

He had seen these things in many widely circulated basic exercises.

Although he still considered this set of techniques quite remarkable.

However, compared to the cultivation methods created by our ancestors, the difference is not just a little bit.

This sense of loss made Zheng Tianming feel extremely uncomfortable.

He didn't understand why his ancestor had passed this technique on to him.

Does that mean that in the eyes of our ancestors, he was only fit to practice this kind of martial art?

The immense sense of disappointment filled Zheng Tianming with regret.

How could I have been so foolish as to think that as long as the family members showed off some special skills, maybe our ancestors would take a liking to someone?

Just like passing on his skills to Zheng Chengbai, he also passed on his skills to others.

In retrospect, he has shot himself in the foot.

A dejected Zheng Tianming lowered his head, his melancholy and dejected figure making everyone who saw it feel incredibly heartbroken.

Zheng Yi realized that although Zheng Tianming was a complete goofball, he wasn't without his merits.

That is, this guy has an exceptionally strong ability to evoke emotions.

They are very good at using their own emotions to influence the emotions of others.

After all, even his ancestor was influenced by Zheng Tianming, let alone others.

Passing this technique on to Zheng Tianming was indeed the right thing to do.

Just when Zheng Tianming was feeling extremely disappointed, he received another message from his ancestor.

The content is very simple and straightforward, consisting of only two simple words.

"expansion!"

Zheng Tianming was a little confused about what his ancestor meant.

However, he also has one advantage: when he can't figure something out, he never gets stuck on it alone.

He immediately told Zheng Tianhao about it: "Tell me, what exactly does the ancestor mean by this?"

"Wait, why are you looking at me like that?" Zheng Tianming suddenly noticed that his older brother's gaze had become very sharp, and he subconsciously became wary.

Zheng Tianhao was filled with hatred. He was clearly the clan leader, so why did this benefit fall on Zheng Tianming, this idiot?
When you were choosing people, could you not have paid attention to their character?

Unfortunately, it was too late; the martial arts technique had already been passed on to Zheng Tianming.

Although Zheng Tianhao and the elders had already seen the cultivation techniques that Zheng Yi had taught them.

Overall, it's actually quite so-so.

However, from a beginner's perspective, the techniques taught to them by their ancestors... or rather, Zheng Tianming's techniques, are practically divine. Moreover, if we're only talking about how easy it is to learn, Fang Yan Tianxia is absolutely unique.

Zheng Tianming didn't understand the ancestor's meaning, but how could Zheng Tianhao not understand?

The reason why so many forces united to come after the Zheng family was simply because their power was not great enough.

Looking across the entire world, how many cultivation families are as weak as the Zheng family?

All the Zheng family members with Zheng Yi's bloodline are now only a handful.

They even thought that there weren't enough people to fill the gaps between the teeth of other cultivation families.

Therefore, in order to make the family flourish, in addition to improving the strength of family members, the most important thing is to increase the number of family members.

After all, regardless of the faction, personnel are the most basic condition for ensuring firepower.

"Alright, we understand what the Ancestor means. Immediately announce to the world that the Zheng family will be recruiting a batch of disciples!" Zheng Tianhao waved his hand and made the decision directly.

The news spread throughout the world within three days, causing a huge uproar.

If the Zheng family had done this a few days ago, it would have been met with endless ridicule.

Everyone knows that the Zheng family is now like a plucked rooster, getting worse every day.

No fool would choose to join the Zheng family at a time like this.

However, this is different from the past.

After the Zheng family patriarch displayed his immense power, everyone realized how terrifying the Zheng family was.

Joining the Zheng family now would be a timely help, even if it's not exactly a lifeline.

That means we shared the hardships with the Zheng family when they were going through a difficult time, didn't it?

Many independent cultivators were excited upon receiving this news.

After all, this is quite good news for them.

Of course, while some people are excited, others are jealous.

Especially those who had plotted against the Zheng family.

These people, though they dare not openly clash with the Zheng family, can easily engage in underhanded tactics without any problems.

"Spread the word that there is no Zheng family patriarch at all; it's just a false rumor spread by the Zheng family."

"The Zheng family is now recruiting disciples just to use those people as cannon fodder."

"Legend has it that the Zheng family's ancestor is cultivating a wicked technique that requires the lives of cultivators to advance. The Zheng family recruits disciples precisely to use these people for their ancestor's cultivation!"

In no time, all sorts of news spread everywhere.

Although not everyone believes such outrageous rumors.

But this world is never short of people who lack judgment.

Ultimately, quite a few cultivators, for various reasons, came to believe a certain rumor.

They even harbored resentment towards the Zheng family because of this, believing that the Zheng family was simply using them.

"These damned bastards! If I find out who's been talking about us behind our backs, I'll tear them to pieces!" Zheng Tianming shouted, jumping up and down.

When he heard these rumors, he wanted nothing more than to kill all the people who spread them.

If Zheng Tianhao hadn't reacted quickly and stopped Zheng Tianming in time, a bloody incident might have actually occurred.

The Zheng family is already in a very sensitive situation. If their elders were to commit suicide at this time...

Even if Zheng Tianming's actions were intended to punish those who slandered and defamed the Zheng family.

However, this could also affect the image of the Zheng family in the eyes of all cultivators.

It might not matter under other circumstances, but if those cultivators have a negative impact on the Zheng family now, it could affect their ability to recruit disciples.

Expanding the family's power was an order personally given by the ancestor who was in seclusion.

Therefore, no matter what difficulties there are, Zheng Tianhao absolutely cannot allow himself to fail.

Zheng Tianming gritted his teeth and said defiantly, "Brother, others are shitting and pissing on our heads, and instead of fighting back, you actually expect us to put up with it?"

"You're not naive enough to think that as long as we don't cause trouble, others will know when to stop and stop targeting us, are you?"

"The truth is quite the opposite. If we silently endure it, it will only make those people think we are easy to bully, and they will retaliate against us even more severely."

If even a goofball like Zheng Tianming can understand this, how could Zheng Tianhao not know it?
He smiled faintly: "What you said makes sense, but you've overlooked one thing."

"If our ancestors hadn't intervened, those treacherous villains who plotted and schemed behind the scenes would have certainly become even more ruthless."

"But things are different now, we have our ancestors."

"Regardless of whether the ancestor is in seclusion or not, those people dare not go too far before they are certain that the ancestor will take action again."

Zheng Tianhao scoffed disdainfully: "Those people are nothing more than spreading rumors and other despicable tricks. They're not respectable at all and don't need to be taken seriously."

Although Zheng Tianming felt that his elder brother had some truth to it, he still felt extremely anxious when he thought about those rumors.

"But brother, aren't you worried that if these rumors continue to spread, more and more people will believe their nonsense, and then no one will come to the disciple recruitment ceremony?"

A strange light flickered in Zheng Tianhao's eyes: "I believe there aren't that many fools in this world."

"Anyone with eyes can see that our Zheng family is different from before."

The more he spoke, the wider his smile became: "Besides, if they don't come, they'll be the ones who regret it, not our Zheng family."

"I believe no one knows better than you how powerful the techniques our ancestors gave you are."

Mentioning the cultivation techniques passed down from their ancestors, Zheng Tianming was immediately filled with confidence: "Hahaha, how come I didn't think of that before? No wonder those elders all wanted you to be the clan leader back then."

"With the ancestral techniques in hand, what is there to worry about? Once those guys find out why we recruited disciples, I guarantee they'll regret it to the core."

"No wonder the elders chose you as the clan leader back then. I have to admit, you were indeed a little bit smarter than me this time."

……

For a moment, Zheng Tianhao was at a loss for words.

I always feel that even if I win an IQ contest with my silly younger brother, there's nothing glorious about it.

What's more, they only won by a small margin.

Clearing his throat, he decisively changed the subject: "However, although we can't let them hold a grudge, we still need to respond to what needs to be responded to."

"Spread the word that our Zheng family ancestor did not possess any evil cultivation techniques that required the sacrifice of cultivators' lives."

“Our Zheng family selects disciples to strengthen the family, not to use them as cannon fodder.”

"Once they join our Zheng family, we will do our best to train them. If they perform well, we may even consider teaching them our family's secret martial arts techniques." (End of Chapter)