Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Full-Month Banquet
The dragon soars, the elephant treads, dividing yin and yang.
Water and fire harmonize to temper true astral force.
Three gates and nine apertures connect heaven and earth.
With every breath, one beholds the profound yellow.
Wentian recited the general outline of the Little Dragon-Elephant Art, only to feel that it was obscure and difficult to understand.
Fortunately, it came with a matching breathing formula and twelve movements.
The breathing formula was:
Inhale through the nose, the dragon rises to the Baihui point.
Exhale through the mouth, the elephant sinks into the Yongquan point.
The Triple Burner becomes a furnace to refine true fire.
One breath circulates through the lesser heavenly cycle.
Wentian began practicing according to the movements written in the manual.
The first movement: Young Dragon Awakens the Spine.
Both feet stood shoulder-width apart. When inhaling, both arms rose upward like dragon horns, with the middle fingers aligned toward the Baihui point. When exhaling, the elbows sank and the palms pressed downward, with the Laogong points facing the Yongquan points.
As the saying went:
When the dragon raises its head, it gathers purple qi.
When the tailbone hangs toward the earth, it suppresses the eight directions.
The second movement: Elephant Trunk Rolls Water.
In a horse stance, when inhaling, the right arm spiraled upward like an elephant's trunk, palm facing the face. When exhaling, the palm chopped downward toward the lower left.
The third movement: Fire Dragon Swings Its Tail.
After several days, his progress was average.
The only difference was that his appetite had grown even larger.
Wentian possessed the talent [Dragon's Vitality]. In terms of physical constitution, qi, blood, and energy, he was absolutely not inferior to a martial artist.
Even so, he faintly felt that this Little Dragon-Elephant Art was not simple. Perhaps it would take years of continuous practice before results could be seen.
In the blink of an eye, the day of Jianyi Mingxuan's full-month banquet arrived.
Wentian began working early in the morning, setting up a large round table in the courtyard.
If there were not enough seats, he would borrow some from the neighbors.
In addition, there were small square tables and stools reserved especially for the children, all made by Wentian himself.
By evening, husband and wife were both busy in the kitchen when a familiar voice suddenly sounded outside.
"It should be Father-in-law and Mother-in-law."
"Husband, go greet them. The dishes are already prepared. Only the cooking is left. I can handle the rest."
Wentian nodded and went outside to receive the guests.
"Father-in-law, Mother-in-law."
Wentian began entertaining them.
The two little fellows had originally been in the main hall watching over their youngest brother. Hearing the voices outside, they also ran out.
"Grandfather! Grandmother!"
The little fellows called out cheerfully.
"Shitou, come here. Let Grandfather hold you."
"Oh my, you've gotten much heavier. You're practically a grown man now."
"Grandfather, A'Yuan wants to be held too!"
Bai Fu laughed and lifted Jianyi Mingyuan as well.
"Where is Jing'er?" his mother-in-law asked, looking around.
"She's in the kitchen."
"Then I'll go help Jing'er. You father and son-in-law can talk."
His mother-in-law smiled softly and walked toward the kitchen.
Bai Fu and Wentian went to the main hall and looked at Jianyi Mingxuan, who was sleeping soundly. Bai Fu gently rocked the cradle.
"This thing is quite convenient. Wentian, your craftsmanship really is good."
Wentian merely smiled faintly.
"Now that Tantou has been born too, do you have any plans for the future?" Bai Fu asked.
"After the full-month banquet, I plan to expand the house first. After that, I'll consider reading, writing, and martial arts training."
"Clothing, food, housing, and travel are all matters of utmost importance to us common folk. Only after those are settled should reading and martial arts be considered. Since you have made such arrangements, I can feel at ease."
"I'll still need Father-in-law to remind and guide me from time to time."
"You…"
Wentian's small bit of flattery left Bai Fu feeling quite pleased.
Before long, his brother-in-law Bai Hua, his sister-in-law Bai Fang's family, Uncle Chen and his wife, as well as Chen Ergou's family, all arrived with congratulatory gifts.
The courtyard immediately became lively and filled with festive joy.
Four or five children made a ruckus, shouting and running about wildly, while the adults sat and chatted.
Everyone in the courtyard was among Wentian's closest relatives and friends.
Once the banquet began, Wentian raised his wine cup and stood.
"Many thanks to everyone for honoring us by coming to my son Tantou's full-month banquet. I'll drink first as a gesture of respect."
After saying that, he tilted his head back and drank the cup in one breath.
"I won't say too many unnecessary words. Tonight, everyone should eat and drink to your heart's content."
"Brother-in-law, as long as you don't feel reluctant to part with your family's wine tonight, that's enough!"
"Bai Hua, just because of those words, don't even think about leaving tonight unless you drink until you're drunk!"
Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.
Chen Ergou and Wentian's brother-in-law hurriedly began toasting him, clearly intending to get him drunk. Uncle Chen and his father-in-law Bai Fu only drank symbolically.
Xu Yan and Bai Fang asked Bai Jing how her body was recovering. The women ate while chatting about household matters.
This banquet lasted until the bright moon hung high in the sky before it finally came to an end.
When Bai Hua and Chen Ergou left, their legs had gone soft. If not for their wives supporting them, they would probably have collapsed directly to the ground and fallen asleep on the spot.
Bai Jing was tidying up in the kitchen.
Jianyi Mingwei and Jianyi Mingyuan had tired themselves out from playing and had already returned to their room to sleep.
Wentian arrived at the main hall and walked to the side of the cradle.
After a moment of silence, he turned his hand over.
A black-covered register appeared in his hand.
This was the Bloodline Family System's Register.
At present, it still had only two thin pages.
He turned to the second page, then found a needle and pricked Jianyi Mingxuan's fingertip.
A drop of blood fell onto the register.
Immediately, a line of words appeared out of thin air upon the second page.
Ding!
New family member detected.
Jianyi Mingxuan: Second Generation of the Jianyi Family.
Spiritual Root: Incomplete.
Talent: None.
Bloodline: None.
Above it were the family records of Jianyi Mingwei and Jianyi Mingyuan.
However, their entries were the same as well.
Among ordinary commoners, the chance of producing someone with a spiritual root, a special talent, or a bloodline was almost one in ten thousand.
Wentian did not feel disappointed.
Having been pricked, Jianyi Mingxuan immediately burst into loud crying, drawing Bai Jing over.
With a thought, the System Register disappeared into Wentian's body.
"What happened?" Bai Jing asked.
"He's probably hungry. You feed him. I'll clean up the kitchen."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Husband."
After each of them finished their tasks, Wentian and Bai Jing finally climbed into bed.
Bai Jing rested her head on Wentian's arm and lay on her side, embracing him.
"Husband, today, each family gave gifts. Most of them gave one or two taels, but Ergou's family gave fifteen taels in congratulatory money. This wife feels that something about it is unusual. Do you know what happened?"
"Fifteen taels?"
Wentian was also slightly surprised. Then he smiled.
"I understand. You can accept it without worry."
"Previously, I made a trade with Chen Daming. I exchanged the Green Jade Pear cultivation notes for a superior internal strength manual and ten Qi and Blood Pills."
"Ergou's family probably copied the notes as well. Perhaps they felt somewhat indebted, which is why they gave so much."
"You sold the Green Jade Pear cultivation notes?!"
Bai Jing was so shocked that she pressed her hands against Wentian's chest and pushed herself up, staring at him.
"Husband, you were foolish! That is something valuable enough to be passed down through the family. How could you sell it?"
"An internal strength manual isn't worth that much. Whether it can even be practiced successfully is still uncertain!"
Wentian raised his hand and gently tapped the bridge of her nose, smiling calmly.
"Don't worry. Have you ever seen your husband suffer a loss?"
"The cultivation notes are indeed useful, but it also depends on who is doing the planting. Besides, the more this kind of thing is hidden, the more others will think about it. Perhaps one day, our family might suffer disaster because of it."
"Do you still remember what I told you about the Xu household not long ago?"
"Now, with Uncle Chen's family acting as a cover, no one will have such thoughts for the time being."
"They will likely wait to see the results of the Chen family's planting. If the Chen family fails to grow them, they will give up. If the Chen family succeeds and others want the method, I'll simply sell it to them as well."
"So that's how it is. Husband really is clever."
Perhaps it was because he had drunk too much wine that night, or perhaps it was because he held warm jade in his arms, but Wentian only felt a restless heat rising within him.
"Wife, your husband has worked hard all day today. Shouldn't you reward me?"
Wentian held her soft hand and guided it across his chest.
Author's Note:
The deleted portion was:
"Wife, your husband has worked hard all day today. Shouldn't you reward me?"
Wentian held her soft hand and guided it across his chest, slowly moving downward.
Bai Jing understood and slowly lowered herself.
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