The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

"This is Lei Renjie, the current head of the Lei family." Nie Ying first introduced the middle-aged cultivator in his forties, saying, "Speaking of which, the head of the Lei family is the nephew of True Person Lei Wanhe."

Yang Qingyuan was slightly surprised upon hearing this. He clasped his hands in greeting and said, "I am Yang Qingyuan. I greet Patriarch Lei. I apologize for waiting for you."

Lei Renjie glanced at Yang Qingyuan, a smile playing on his lips, and replied, "No need to be so polite."

"Three years ago, Lei heard that Uncle Wanhe had suddenly taken a Qi Refining stage disciple as his apprentice."

"Lei was shocked at the time."

"It's a pity we've never had the chance to meet. Today, I've finally met Fellow Daoist Yang, and he truly is a man of exceptional talent."

Clearly, the Lei family patriarch only knew about Lei Wanhe's acceptance of a disciple through hearsay and was unaware of Yang Qingyuan's Lei spiritual root aptitude.

After all, only cultivators at the Core Formation stage or above can use their powerful divine sense to discern a person's aptitude.

The head of the Lei family pointed to the young Lei family member beside him and introduced him, "This is my son, Lei Hong."

Upon seeing this, Yang Qingyuan also clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Lei Hong."

Lei Hong, however, lightly waved his folding fan, his expression arrogant, and replied, "Fellow Daoist Yang is at least a disciple of Grandpa Wanhe, so why are you still using a low-grade Green Leaf magic weapon from Yellow Maple Valley?"

No wonder you were late.

"Judging from your appearance, it seems you've only recently reached the Foundation Establishment stage. I wonder what Grandpa Wanhe is thinking."

"With Grandpa Wanhe's status, he could easily summon seven or eight Pseudo-Core Stage cultivators from Huangfeng Valley to help him with just a few words."

Seeing Lei Hong's spoiled and dissolute demeanor, Yang Qingyuan finally understood why Lei Wanhe had said he was indulging the Lei family.

Seeing Yang Qingyuan being mocked, Nie Ying immediately straightened her face and retorted, "Lei Hong, I've only just reached the Foundation Establishment stage. According to you, shouldn't I have also avoided coming?"

Seeing that Nie Ying was actually defending Yang Qingyuan, Lei Hong became suspicious and quickly explained, "Ying-mei, how can these be the same?"

"Your Nie family also has a stake in the auction house, not to mention we're childhood sweethearts."

"My father was even planning to propose marriage to Grandpa Wanhe on my behalf, so you could marry into my family."

The Lei family patriarch chimed in, "That's right. The Lei and Nie families have always been on good terms. Now that you and Hong'er have both reached the Foundation Establishment stage, it's the perfect time for you to become Daoist partners."

Upon hearing this, Nie Ying's pretty face turned frosty. She parted her lips slightly and politely declined, saying, "Uncle Lei, you are joking. I have always regarded Lei Hong as an elder brother and have never thought about becoming his Daoist partner."

"Moreover, Master Lei has already arranged a marriage for Nie Ying."

"What?!" The Lei family father and son were both very surprised when they heard this.

"Who is it?" Lei Hong, the young master of the Lei family, trembled and stared intently at Nie Ying.

Nie Yingmei's eyes sparkled with affection as she glanced at Yang Qingyuan beside her and explained, "Since Master Lei hasn't informed Uncle Lei yet, it's not appropriate for Ying'er to say more."

Yang Qingyuan noticed that Nie Ying glanced at him, but he didn't understand what she meant.

Seeing this, Lei Hong also looked at Yang Qingyuan with a fierce expression.

"Alright." Seeing this, the Lei family patriarch thought for a moment and, worried that his son might lose his composure, quickly said, "We've already wasted too much time."

"Let's set off as soon as possible and make a trip to Wulong Mountain in Jiang Kingdom."

"Wulong Mountain?" Yang Qingyuan frowned slightly and said, "I have just arrived and am not very familiar with the situation. I would appreciate it if Patriarch Lei could give me some information."

Upon hearing this, Lei Hong, the young master of the Lei family, sneered and said with a disdainful expression, "Are you afraid just because you heard the name Wulong Mountain?"

"I really don't know why Grandpa Wanhe took you as his apprentice?"

Nie Ying, who was standing nearby, couldn't listen any longer and interrupted, "Junior Brother Yang has outstanding talent. He has the same Thunder Spirit Root as Master Lei, which is why he was accepted into the sect."

"What?" Both father and son Lei were shocked when they heard the words "Lei Spiritual Root".

Lei Hong, the young master of the Lei family, twitched his lips slightly, his previous arrogance completely gone.

The Lei family patriarch forced a smile and said, "I see. No wonder my uncle took Fellow Daoist Yang as his disciple."

"With such outstanding talent, Fellow Daoist Yang will have no problem forming his core in the future. We should keep in touch."

Nie Ying then explained to Yang Qingyuan, "Junior brother, this Wulong Mountain is the location of the Wulong Sect, a Core Formation sect in the Jiang Kingdom, and it grows many kinds of spiritual herbs that are not found in the Yue Kingdom."

"Master Lei once visited the Wulong Sect and signed a contract for the Lei family, allowing them to order more than a hundred rare spiritual herbs from the Wulong Sect every year."

"That's how we came to have common ground."

"That's right," the Lei family patriarch added. "As is customary, the auction caravans purchase spiritual herbs from the Wulong Sect's market every year and transport them back to Yue Kingdom to refine them into Spirit Gathering Pills."

Yang Qingyuan's heart stirred when he heard the words "Gathering Spirit Pill".

This elixir can enhance cultivation level and is suitable for cultivators in the early to mid-stages of Foundation Establishment.

"Three months ago, the auction house's caravan suddenly lost contact within the territory of Jiang Kingdom," the Lei family patriarch sighed and said. "After that, we sent many clansmen into Jiang Kingdom to investigate, and only then did we find out that the caravan had never appeared again after entering the Wulong Sect's market."

"The problem must be near Wulong Mountain."

"Unfortunately, the disciples who were sent to investigate also lost contact after entering Wulong Mountain."

"We also asked my uncle to send a message to the Core Formation Elder of the Wulong Sect, hoping that he could help investigate the matter."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan asked, "Oh? What happened next?"

The head of the Lei family gave a wry smile and replied, "The Core Formation Ancestor of the Wulong Sect, out of consideration for my uncle, gladly accepted the request and replied that he could help our Lei family investigate."

"But now so much time has passed, and there's been no follow-up."

Yang Qingyuan frowned slightly and replied, "Could the caravan have been wiped out by the Core Formation Elder of the Wulong Sect?"

"That's not the case." The Lei family patriarch waved his hand and explained, "The caravan only carries treasures for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators; even Core Formation stage cultivators wouldn't be interested."

"Moreover, the patriarch of the Wulong Sect and my uncle are old friends. Even for my uncle's sake, they wouldn't do such a thing."

"Let's go and investigate this ourselves."

"After all, the annual auction at Yangtian Ridge is about to begin, and there will be no fewer than a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators who come to attend."

"If we can't retrieve the caravan's treasures, our Lei family will lose all face."

"On this trip, we would like to trouble Fellow Daoist Yang and Nie Nie to accompany my father and me to Wulong Mountain to investigate in person."

Yang Qingyuan could not disobey his master's orders, and considering the two Foundation Establishment Pill formulas, he could only say, "Alright, in that case, I, Yang, will accompany Patriarch Lei on this trip."

Upon hearing this, Lei Hong, the young master of the Lei family, flicked his sleeves, revealing a golden flying boat.

The flying boat landed on the open ground and swelled to seven or eight zhang in length in the wind. Its hull was ornately decorated and extremely luxurious, radiating a bright golden light.

The young master of the Lei family looked at Yang Qingyuan with a provocative gaze and introduced, "This is our Lei family's Golden Light Boat, a top-grade flying boat, which is not comparable to your broken leaf magic weapon."

"We will travel from Yue to Jiang in just ten days on this flying boat."

"You only need to recharge your spirit stones once in the middle."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan revealed a meaningful smile.

At the speed of the black dragon, it would only take five days to cross several prefectures and counties of Yue and enter Jiang.

He didn't want to argue about it, so he immediately went into the cabin at the stern with Nie Ying.

The Lei family father and son then piloted the flying boat straight towards the Jiang Kingdom...