Chapter Eight Mutual Recognition

  The book has been signed, this is my second book, reputation guaranteed, rest assured to collect, thank you!

  A few people entered the house, and Xu Ziyuan saw the expressions of the clan leader and his father. He knew that this matter could not be hidden from them anymore. With a bitter smile, he gently closed the door. Xu Haoran's face was agitated as he gazed at Xu Guang opposite him, calling out in a low voice:

  "Eleventh brother!"

  "Are you really the eleventh brother?" The nearby Xu Haobo also excitedly stepped forward and grabbed Xu Guang's arm.

  Xu Guang's bitter smile accompanied his wife as they bowed deeply to Xu Haoran and Xu Haobo:

  "Big brother!"

  Xu Haoran stepped forward and grabbed Xu Guang's arm, his eyes reddening with excitement as he trembled with voice:

  "Hao Guang, it's really you!"

  "Hao Guang? Could it be that Father's original name was Xu Hao Guang?" Xǔ Zǐ Yān thought to herself.

  "Big brother, second brother, it's me." Xu Haoguang lowered his head, his face filled with emotion, his eyes having both nostalgia and confusion.

  Xu Haoran, Xu Haobo and Xu Haoguang seemed to have endless words to say and endless sighs. Xu Ziyuan and her mother sat quietly beside them, with a look of fear on Xu's face towards the unknown, as if she had come from a small place, while Xu Ziyuan was full of curiosity, listening intently to the conversation between her father and two uncles, getting familiar with this world and the family she would live with in the future.

  But as the conversation between Xu Haoran and the other two went on, the atmosphere in the room gradually became heavy. Xu Ziyuan heard from their words that the current Xu family was not peaceful. Outside, there were the Xiao and Wu families secretly joining hands to suppress them, while inside, Xu Haoran, this generation's patriarch, did not have complete control over the entire clan. In Xu Haoran's generation, there were a total of twenty-three brothers and sisters, fifteen males and eight females. Apart from the five women who had married out, there were also three women who had brought in husbands through uxorilocal marriage.

  However, the eighteen people who stayed in the family were divided into two forces. With the patriarch Xu Haoran as the leader, nine brothers and two sisters had an absolute advantage. But with Lao Jiu Xu Hao also won over five brothers and a sister, possessing a force that cannot be ignored. Moreover, Xu Hao was the one who ridiculed Xu Haoguang, the original leader.

  "Hao Guang, what position do you want to take in the family? Speak up, and big brother will arrange it for you." After a brief silence in the room, Xu Hao Ran asked softly.

  Xu Haoguang gently shook his head and said faintly, "Big brother, don't make things difficult for yourself. I'm only at the seventh level of acquired power now. If you let me take office in the family, I'm afraid I won't even pass the first test with Old Ninth."

  "But the smoke..."

  "Smoke is smoke, I am me!" Xu Haoguang still shook his head slightly, with a hint of bitter smile at the corner of his mouth. He let out a soft sigh and said: "Big brother, I don't want to let the people in the clan know that I'm back."

  "It can't be hidden!" Xu Haoran shook his head slightly: "Just now, when I and my second brother were welcoming you at the door, I thought that Lao Jiu and others must have been watching from a distance. Even if they didn't recognize us earlier, as time passed, by the time we met, it would be impossible not to recognize each other."

  "But Yan'er is still young and has just returned to the family, her cultivation is also weak..." Xu Haoguang's eyes showed concern.

  "What's it to you?" Xu Haoran's chest puffed out, and a domineering aura suddenly emerged. He said in a deep voice, "With me around, who dares to do anything to Yan'er?" As he spoke, his eyes revealed a hint of apology, and his tone was somewhat helpless as he said to Xu Haoguang, "It's just...Haoguang, Lao Jiu and the others will probably target you again...and if Lao Jiu finds out that Yan'er is your daughter and has such potential in refining talismans, he'll probably..."

  Listening to her father's words, Xu Ziyuan was deep in thought. She had been thinking for a long time and couldn't come up with any good solution. The only thing she could think of was the "dragging" tactic. However, she wasn't sure if it would work, so she quietly expressed her idea.

  After listening to Xu Ziyuan's words, the room suddenly fell silent, and finally Xu Haoran patted his thigh and praised:

  "Great! We just need to arrange for the eleventh brother's family to stay in the second brother's garden, and then tell others that Yan'er doesn't like to be disturbed, so we won't let Laojiu and Haoguang meet. But..."

  Xu Haoran suddenly fell silent again, and Xu Haobo beside him also reacted and said slowly:

  "It's just that after Yan'er starts working at the Fu Hall, she'll have to meet people all the time. If Lao Jiu and the others say they must meet Yan'er's parents, it's likely that Yan'er won't be able to refuse in person either. After all, Lao Jiu and the others hold a certain position in the family, while Yan'er is just a guest elder!"

  "That... I won't go to the Fu Hall, I can just make talismans in Second Uncle's courtyard." Xǔ Zǐyān said softly after a moment of contemplation.

  "This won't do!" Xu Haoran shook his head and said, "You hiding in your second uncle's garden is originally not a big deal. Everyone knows that the temperament of a seal master is very eccentric, so you not seeing anyone else doesn't make people think it's strange. However, as the guest elder of the family, you have the right to browse the secret manuals on the third floor and below of the family's library pavilion. If you don't leave your second uncle's garden, how can you go see the secret manuals in the library pavilion? And if you don't go see the secret manuals, how can you improve your cultivation? But if you do go to the library pavilion, you will inevitably meet Old Ninth and them, and they won't let go of the opportunity to pull you over. You can't avoid them."

  "Repository of Books?" Xǔ Zǐyān's gaze flashed, and her heart moved. Since she came to this world, she knew very little about it, and the Repository of Books undoubtedly provided her with an opportunity to understand this world better. Moreover, Xǔ Zǐyān also understood that this was a world of cultivators, and martial power was the best guarantee for survival in this world. The Repository of Books contained the treasured collections of the Xǔ family over thousands of years, so she would not give up the opportunity to go there and read books. However, she did not want to provoke trouble when her cultivation was still weak, so she slightly furrowed her brow and sat silently there.

  The room was very quiet, so quiet that you could hear the sound of air moving. The snowflakes outside the window were flying and fluttering down again, and Xu Ziyuan suddenly had a thought:

  "Uncle, how many people know that I have become the Family's Guest Elder?"

  "Hmm, at least the higher-ups in the clan should all know by now." Xu Haoran looked at Xu Ziyuan with a puzzled expression, unsure what she meant by asking this.

  "Have many people seen me?"

  "It's actually not many people who have seen you up close. Only I and your second uncle, as well as Lin Pinghai and a few disciples."

  Upon hearing Xu Haoran's words, Xu Ziyuan's expression became resolute, and she said softly: "Uncle, I want to know, if I were to enter the Cangshu Lou as a junior member of the clan, would I be able to obtain the secret manual?"

  Xu Haoran's expression changed slightly as he seemed to understand Xu Ziyuan's meaning, but still didn't quite get it. He explained to Xu Ziyuan:

  "The disciples of the family are divided into three levels. Those under 15 years old who have not broken through the five layers of acquired skills all cultivate within the family academy. In the academy, there are naturally teachers to guide their cultivation. If they reach 15 years old and still haven't broken through the five layers, they will be ordered by the family to leave the academy and go out to do things that are within their power for the family."

  At this point, Xu Haoran paused for a moment, looking at Xu Haoguang with some embarrassment. Xu Haoguang's expression was also somewhat unnatural, and his eyes dodged the gaze of his older brother. Xu Haoran withdrew his gaze and looked at Xu Ziyuan again:

  "If one breaks through the five layers of Houtian, they will enter the outer hall of the family and as an outer disciple, they can access the first layer of secret manuals in the library. Once they break through to Xiantian, they can enter the inner hall of the family. Inner disciples are already elites within the family, and those in the Qi Refining stage from layers one to four can access the second layer of secret manuals in the library. Those in the Qi Refining stage from layers five to eight can access the third layer of secret manuals, while those in the Qi Refining stage from layers nine to twelve can access the fourth layer of secret manuals. The highest layer, which is the fifth layer of secret manuals, requires one to have reached the Foundation Establishment stage. In a secular family, those who have reached the Foundation Establishment stage are already considered high-level cultivators, and in our Xu family, there are only five people who have achieved this level."

  "Oh, great aunt, who are these five seniors?" Xu Ziyuan asked curiously.

  "Three of them are my seniors, one is the ancestor of our Xu family, who has been in seclusion in the back mountain for many years, and no one knows what kind of cultivation he has achieved so far. The other two, one is my father, and the other is your Ninth Uncle's father, also have been in seclusion in the back mountain for many years. The remaining two are you and your Ninth Uncle, I am currently at the third layer of the Foundation Establishment stage, while your Ninth Uncle is at the second layer of the Foundation Establishment stage, slightly weaker than me."

  "Great Uncle, was the previous generation of our family your father?" asked Xu Ziyuan softly.

  "Yes!" Xu Haoran's gaze at Xu Ziyuan revealed a hint of admiration.

  Xu Ziyuan couldn't help but sigh, it seems that the two families of Dabo and Jiubao have been fighting for a long time. The reason why Dabo's family has always been able to suppress Jiubao's family is because they have surpassed them in cultivation. It seems that in this world, the level of one's cultivation can decide everything. With this in mind, Xu Ziyuan's thoughts became even more resolute, and after collecting her thoughts, she said seriously to Xu Haoran:

  "Great Uncle, I'd like to go to the library as a junior member of the family. As for my background, I'll have to trouble you with that."

  "What about your identity as a guest elder?" Xu Haoran's expression was somewhat hesitant.

  "I'd rather not meet outsiders, anyway, with Second Uncle around, no one dares to barge into his estate. And I need Big Brother to create a fake identity for me and find me a place to stay, pretending to be an ordinary disciple. As for the monthly paper tokens, I'll secretly hand them over to Second Uncle."

  Xu Haoran looked at Xu Ziyuan with a serious expression, and finally shook his head and said: "Concealing your identity is simple, just say you're the distant niece of one of my subordinates. As for the disciples who know your identity, I can immediately send them to a distant place far away from the family, guaranteeing that no one will recognize you in Zhongdu City. As for those who saw you enter from afar and knew your identity, they didn't get a clear look at you, so as long as you change your attire slightly, no one will recognize you. However, suddenly having a Qi Refining stage first layer cultivator join the family might raise suspicions."