Chapter Thirty-Eight: Self-Domination

  On the fifteenth day of the first month, during the Lantern Festival, at noon, I was in our ancestral hall.

  Today is the day when our family holds a memorial ceremony for our ancestors. In the late afternoon, all nine direct descendants and seventeen collateral branches of our family gathered here to worship our ancestors together.

  Early in the morning, my mother got up early to help the children wash and dress, wearing new clothes, and then took them and the ancestral tablet of my father to the Yu family's large mansion in Linhai City.

  The Yu family's large mansion occupies nine streets in Linhai City, all gathered together to live. The houses are neatly arranged, and the long house where the Yu family resides is located in the center, covering an area of over ten acres, with a solid outer wall guarding it, which can be said to be a small city within the city. This is a characteristic of the Tang National Big Family, and the five big families in Linhai City are all like this. In times of crisis, they can provide a refuge for the family's collateral disciples. It is said that there is also an underground escape route leading directly out of the city.

  Yu Tianming came out to greet them and took them to the ancestral hall. Although it was only 4 o'clock, the sacrifice had not yet begun, but the ancestral hall was not a place where anyone could enter. As women, Yu's mother and sister stayed outside, and only Yu Ze Cheng brought Yu Ze Gong into the hall.

  Yu Tianming's attitude was neither enthusiastic nor cold, under his lead, Yu Zecheng placed his father's memorial tablet among the ancestral tablets worshipped by the Yu family. His grandfather, Yu Dejun, had not yet passed away, but four of his brothers were already being worshipped there, all of whom had died in battle for the benefit of the Yu family.

  The ancestral tablet was put in place, and then re-registered in the genealogy book. There were special clan elders responsible for this task. When they turned to the page of the Long House, they rewrote their father's name on it.

  Yu Tian Gao was born in the year of Jia Zi. He is intelligent and wise. He served during the Chen Guo Tian Qing disaster in the year of Ding Chen.

  These few words are the summary of Father's life. The four characters "wise and kind" were added after Mother paid 400 taels of silver. Yu Zecheng saw this and didn't know what to say, feeling a sense of inexpressible emotions.

  Under the name of Yu Tian Gao, were added the names of his eldest son Yu Ze Cheng and second son Yu Ze Gong. As for the characters after their names, they would only be filled in when they passed away. Father's return to the ancestral records was considered the fulfillment of his last wish.

  Recording the genealogy is just a matter of course, Yu Zhen thought he could leave, but who knew that Yu Tianming said:

  "My father asked me to bring you over; then Cheng, then Gong, you haven't seen your grandfather yet, have you?"

  After finishing, he brought Yu Ze Cheng and Yu Ze Gong to the outer hall of the ancestral temple. There were already countless Yu family disciples waiting here. Some were long-time executives, while others were branch managers. The one sitting upright in the middle was none other than Yu Ze Cheng's grandfather, Yu De Jun.

  Yu Dejun, as the current head of the Yu family, had actually seen him several times in other places, but with countless children and grandchildren surrounding him, who would notice Yu Zecheng, this unfilial grandson. It's worth noting that Yu Dejun has three wives, ten concubines, twenty-one sons, and over a hundred grandsons, so how could anyone recognize Yu Zecheng, this disobedient descendant?

  Entering the side hall, according to etiquette, Yu Ze Cheng and Yu Ze Gong brothers knelt down to pay their respects. Yu Ze Cheng thought to himself in his heart:

  "No matter what, you are my grandfather, I'll bow to you three times and from now on we have nothing to do with each other."

  Yu Dejun said:

  "Are you the children of the seventeen families? Grandfather has never seen you before, it's grandfather's neglect. This is a meeting gift for you."

  He then gave one of his golden mice, weighing about two taels. Yu Cheng threw his own golden mouse to his younger brother and took out the jade pendant, saying:

  "Grandpa, it's our first meeting, I've also prepared a gift for you, please accept it."

  After finishing speaking, he handed it over. Everyone saw this crystal-clear jade pendant and suddenly knew that the price was not low. The gaze towards Yu Ze Cheng changed. Yu De Jun took the jade pendant and said in surprise:

  "Mid-tier Spirit Stone?"

  And then said:

  "Then come with me for a trip, I have something to say to you."

  Yu Dejun walked into the temple, followed by Yu Cheng. They arrived inside the temple, a place that was off-limits to others. With no one else around, Yu Dejun said:

  "I know you're dissatisfied with me in your heart, and I don't care about your feelings either. Your father, for the sake of so-called love, abandoned me for the marriage he chose, causing our family's great plan to unite with the Li family to come to nothing, so I drove him out."

  As soon as he said this, Yu's face suddenly turned red with anger and he replied:

  "Yes, Grandfather, you are the head of the Yu family. Who in your eyes is not a useless person? Now that you have absolute power, your wife is virtuous and your son is filial. In fact, they all secretly wish for your early departure, and when that day comes, I'm afraid there won't be many who will truly shed tears."

  "My father may be a waste in your eyes, but he is a real man and a real father. Although we are not rich, we live happily. I thank you for expelling my father from this family, otherwise I don't know what I would have become now. Look at those cousins of mine, how pitiful they are."

  Yu Dejun smiled and said:

  "You're sharp-tongued, but unfortunately you won't live to see the day I kick my legs, I've already reached the peak of the Innate Realm, and I can still live for hundreds of years. You're only at the middle level of the Qi Refining Realm, with a fake spiritual root of the Five Elements, and even if you enter the Fetal Breathing stage this lifetime, it's hard to say who will die first."

  As soon as he said this, Yu Ze suddenly became stunned. It turned out that Yu Dejun was also a cultivator. Yu Dejun continued to say:

  "I allowed your brothers to return to the family tree, not for their sake, but for the sake of their descendants. If it weren't for that descendant who possesses a spiritual root, we wouldn't be able to maintain our current status as the Yu family."

  We, the Yu family, have today because of how many ancestors shed their heads and spilled hot blood. I could have continued to cultivate within the mountain gates, perhaps now I would have already established a foundation. But for the sake of the Yu family, I abandoned the path of immortality, returned to the Yu family, and like a pig, married many wives and had children. You little brat are my descendants created by me, without me, there wouldn't be you.

  Without my care, do you think at your young age you could have entered the Black Tiger Hall as an apprentice, become someone's book boy, and Master Zhu Li would have taken you on as a disciple? Who else would have cultivated you like that? Without my protection, do you think your mother could have safely raised you all, without anyone coveting her beauty? Without my cover-up, do you think you could have killed the adulterous couple from the Chen family and no one would have avenged them, and everything would be fine?

  Actually, your father was the child I liked the most. He and I were very similar. I gave him the name Tian Gao, which means "the sky is high" and implies that birds can fly freely in the sky. My intention was for him to inherit our family business in the future.

  He didn't disappoint me, after all. He abandoned his family and the temptation of becoming the head of the household for a woman. In a way, he flew freely, unbound by family ties, while I was stuck here. That's why I expelled him from the family. For him, it was actually a blessing in disguise. Unfortunately, this child had too little good fortune and died in Chen Guo.

  Yu Dejun's expression turned into an inexpressible sorrow, and I suddenly had a deeper understanding of the old man, feeling the care he had for me. It turned out that Master Zhu's dedication to teaching me was all because of Grandfather, it turned out that Grandfather had been secretly protecting his family, allowing me to grow up safely.

  But he himself killed Li Da Guanren and framed others, it seems that he didn't know about it. So how did he know about killing the adulterous couple? I understand now, he must have followed that immortal to discover his own.

  But no matter what, having a family member secretly protecting and caring for oneself is still touching. Yu Ze Cheng stood up, kneeled down, and sincerely bowed, saying:

  "Thank you Grandpa for your care and love over these years, I bow to you."

  Then he bowed again and said:

  "This is me paying respects on behalf of my father, he has always been thinking of you."

  After bowing, Yu Dejun also nodded in response and said:

  "What a pity! He had a good spiritual foundation, but he just didn't want to cultivate immortality and wouldn't listen to me. In the end, he died as a guest in a foreign land, my son."

  "It's settled then. Next year during the Qingming Festival, the six major sects of the Xiling Alliance in Guanzhou will hold a grand ceremony to recruit new disciples. Our Yu family belongs to the outer gate of the Yunshui Sect and has one disciple quota. I plan to give it to you, so you can participate in the Six Sects' Disciple Recruitment Conference and join a cultivation sect."

  Yu Ze then hesitantly asked:

  "What's all this about the six major sects of Xian cultivation in Western Qingzhou?"

  Yu Dejun replied:

  The six major schools of Xiling Immortal Cultivation include the Water Cloud Sect, Brocade Smoke Gate, Yuanzhu School, Yunxiao School, Qianmo Lingzun Teachings, and the Purple Jade Gate. These sects are either branches of the top 108 sects or have been ranked among the 800 minor sects in the past.

  "This six-party alliance controls the western part of Guanzhou. They were originally allied at the Xiling Peak in the Qilian Mountains, so they are called the Xiling Alliance. Our Tang State, as well as the Mu State, Chi State, distant Jiang State, and Zhen State, are all territories of the Shuiyun Sect. The ruler of the Tang State is the Chen family, while our Yu family, Tie family, and Shi family can all be considered branches of the Shuiyun Sect. Now you know the influence of the Shuiyun Sect, right?"

  Yu Ze Cheng was stunned for half a day after hearing this, and Yu De Jun continued:

  Every five years, the Western Ridge Alliance holds an Ascension Conference, where the six factions distribute the excellent seed disciples they have found, and also recruit loose cultivators and children of various cultivation families for testing. Those who are lucky will be selected by the six factions as inner door disciples to cultivate in the six factions. Ordinary disciples will cultivate in the outer door of the six factions. The outer door of our Water Cloud Sect is Chi Shui Men. You and Bai He Xi are on good terms, so you'll definitely get his care when you get there.

  Your spiritual root is one of the five elements, and the possibility of building a foundation is extremely slim. Once you reach the middle level of the fetal breath realm, you can return to the Yu family, I will give you the position of the head of the household, and let you enjoy a lifetime of wealth and nobility.

  Tomorrow, you will resign from your job at Hei Hu Tang and I will send you to Xiao Hanshan to be a book boy for Zhiyun Furen. Although you may suffer a bit, Zhiyun Furen is the concubine of the leader of Yunxia Sect, and having this relationship will help you in the future. Endure some hardship, men should be tough, just bear with it and it will pass.

  Whose family's daughter should be arranged to be your wife? Shi Tianfei of the Shi family has a chance to take over as the head of the household, so it might as well be his niece. This way, we can improve our relationship with the Shi family. Chen Qi of the Chen family has an opportunity to become the ruler of Tang Guo, he only has one daughter, although she is 20 years older than you, but it's also worth considering. Women are just like that.

  "You come back tomorrow, first teach you to learn etiquette and family rules, then learn..."

  Yu Dejun started making arrangements, he arranged Yu Zecheng's future perfectly, but this arrangement did not take into account Yu Zecheng's wishes at all. In his eyes, Yu Zecheng was just a puppet, and everything was decided by him. Yu Zecheng suddenly understood his father's choice.

  Yu Ze Cheng suddenly said in a loud voice:

  "Grandfather, thank you for your kindness, but I won't take this quota. Nor will I be the master of the Yu family. I'll cultivate on my own and don't need to participate in any Ascension Conference."

  Yu Dejun stopped his daydreaming and said:

  "Cultivating yourself? Haha, then you're just a loose cultivator. Poor kid, you don't even recognize spirit stones and don't know what they're used for. You gave it to me as a jade pendant, what are you cultivating?"

  Look at the protective jade pendant on your chest, what a waste of this half piece of spiritual stone. The carved spell array is extremely rough, and the spiritual stone is being utterly wasted. It's simply buying a case but getting a pearl instead, only able to exert one-tenth of its power. What a tragic waste of a precious treasure.

  As long as you join one of the six major sects, you can learn...

  Yu then interrupted his speech and said:

  "Grandpa, what you need is just a obedient puppet, not me this living person. I am free and will not be trapped, controlled by you. Without you, I lived very well, now with you, I will live even better. My fate is in my own hands."

  Yu Dejun was speechless for a moment, and after a long time, he said:

  "Your father said the same thing back then, did I make another mistake? Like father, like son. Alright, I won't force you, just remember that your body carries the blood of our Yu family. The gates of our Yu family will always be open to you."