Panlong City, Wenren Manor.
The sedan bearers carried a festive red sedan chair and landed at the entrance. Neighbors cast glances, observing the scene of no one from the Wenren family coming to greet them, which was quite comical with the arrival of the red sedan chair.
As the leader, Wang Mama, announced: "Welcome Sixth Miss back to the manor!"
There was no response from the mansion.
Meanwhile, the young woman inside the sedan chair was engrossed in the latest storybook she had acquired, completely oblivious to the commotion outside.
After an unknown amount of time, until the sedan curtain was pulled open, Wang Mama forced a smile: "Sixth Miss, we're home, please get out of the sedan."
"Where is my mother? Didn't she say she'd pick me up?"
"Something sudden happened, and this old servant only found out just now. A person from Wanjian Sect reported that Fifth Miss had an accident while breaking through to Golden Core today, and her Dao Heart might be unstable. Madam has already rushed to Wanjian Sect..." Wang Mama didn't say more. She understood who was more important, as Manager Xu had already made it clear to her.
A Fifth Miss with exceptional talent, on the verge of Golden Core, versus her own flesh-and-blood daughter who had strayed into the mortal realm and was raised by vulgar country folk.
Wasn't Madam's attitude towards the two clear enough?
"I understand." Tian Ning closed the storybook and, carrying her bulky box, alighted from the sedan.
Manager Xu, who had come with Wang Mama to receive her, expected the girl to cause a scene. After all, when the Head of the Family had sent people to the mortal realm to find his biological child, he hadn't intended to bring back this Sixth Miss he'd never met. He only planned to use some money to silence them and keep her in the mortal realm forever.
This way, he wouldn't have to bother with raising a wild girl, nor would he worry about hurting Fifth Miss's feelings.
However, they hadn't expected the old man who raised this Sixth Miss to be a rascal who stubbornly insisted the Wenren family take her back. With no other choice, they brought her home.
Manager Xu looked at the young woman getting out of the carriage. She wore a pink long dress with several conspicuous patches on the hem, clearly old clothes mended in the countryside. This girl, likely for the sake of appearances, had put on her best attire, unaware that it was worse than what the maids in the mansion wore.
The only adornment in her hair was a crookedly carved wooden hairpin, and a dusty sparrow. Its eyes, as big as beans, met Manager Xu's. In her hand, she held a huge box, with a languid white cat lounging on top.
Truly small-minded and beneath notice!
However, her appearance was passable. Her yet-to-fully-develop face had a hint of childishness, but possessed the vibrant energy of her age, lively and cute, with beautiful eyes curiously surveying her surroundings.
After confirming that no one was there to welcome her home, Tian Ning withdrew her gaze.
She had thought the cultivation world would be drastically different from the mortal realm, but judging by appearances, there was no difference.
"I'm tired. Take me to my courtyard to rest."
Having traveled for days, Tian Ning now just wanted to lie in bed, finish the exciting plot of her storybook, and then sleep. She didn't care that her biological mother, who was supposed to wait for her at home, had rushed off to care for the "dove that had occupied the nest for ten years" and left her here.
Her life story was rather dramatic. She was supposed to be a noble daughter of the Wenren family, cherished and doted upon, but at birth, she was swapped by someone with ill intentions and, by chance, ended up in the mortal realm.
The Wenren family was not only one of the Eight Great Families, on par with the Six Great Sects in the cultivation world, but their bloodline was also protected by ancient divine dragons. When a child of the Wenren family reached fifteen, they could go to the ancestral hall, touch the Dragon-Summoning Stone, and a dragon would appear, with whom they could form an equal contract.
Although it was an equal contract, and the probability was a slim one in ten thousand, they were still powerful dragons!
It was this honor that allowed the Wenren family to maintain their position among the Eight Great Families for a thousand years. Even as other families declined or rose, the Wenren family stood firm for millennia.
If even one member of the family became a dragon contractor, their future value would be immeasurable.
As for the adopted daughter who raised her—Wenren Xue—who had not noticed for fifteen years and suddenly sensed something was amiss, her sending people to find Tian Ning's whereabouts was precisely because of the Dragon-Summoning Stone.
Wenren Xue had been intelligent and exceptionally talented since childhood, so no one suspected she wasn't of the Wenren bloodline. Furthermore, when Wenren Xue was young, she coincidentally met the Young Dragon Prince of the East Sea who was visiting their home. He fell in love with her at first sight and vowed to only form a contract with her in this life, making it even less likely for anyone to consider a plot like the fox-cat swap.
Even if Wenren Xue and the dragon race were destined to be apart, the Young Prince Long Ye intended to forcibly use the Dragon-Summoning Stone to establish a master-servant contract between them.
The dragons, who were high and mighty, were willing to bow their heads. How many people in the family envied Wenren Xue!
But no one had expected... the Dragon-Summoning Stone would expose Wenren Xue as not being of the Wenren bloodline in front of everyone!
This led to all the subsequent events.
"Sixth Miss, do you really intend to enter the manor like this?" Manager Xu looked disapprovingly at the sparrow and the white cat, his tone laced with slight displeasure.
This is the cultivation world, not a rural village. Are beasts with no spiritual awareness allowed to be brought into the manor and kept?
"That's right."
Facing Manager Xu, Tian Ning showed no fear, displaying none of the timidity one would expect from someone from the countryside.
"Bringing these two pets into the manor was agreed to by Madam." Wang Mama tugged at Manager Xu, lowering her voice and whispering, "You don't know how unreasonable that old man from the countryside was. He almost made her bring the pigs and cows from their home..."
It was precisely because of those absurd pigs and cows that Madam reluctantly agreed to let her bring these two little things.
Manager Xu's mouth twitched. Thinking of the filthy pigs, by comparison, the sparrow and the cat didn't seem so bad.
After all, she was a country bumpkin, unaware of how embarrassing she was.
"Sixth Miss, this old servant will help you with your luggage." Manager Xu, though disdainful in his heart, showed no outward emotion. "As for the sparrow and the cat, you must go to the ancestral hall first for the Dragon-Summoning Stone test. It would be inconvenient to bring these things with you."
"No need, you can't lift it."
Tian Ning merely glanced at his build and made her judgment.
"Sixth Miss may not know that the mortal realm is not comparable to the cultivation world. This old servant is a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"The Grand Elder and the Dragon Clan elders have been waiting in the ancestral hall for a long time. The Head of the Family instructed you to go and test the Dragon-Summoning Stone. Sixth Miss has just returned, we cannot keep these two esteemed individuals waiting due to your tardiness..."
Manager Xu moved to lift the box as he spoke.
Children of cultivation families valued bloodline and talent. This Sixth Miss had been away, and even if brought back, she had long lost the favor of the Head of the Family and Madam. Therefore, talent was the most important thing.
Only talent could determine her status in this family.
Thus, the Head of the Family had instructed that the Sixth Miss's first task upon returning was to go to the ancestral hall, followed by sect tests...
On her first day back at the Wenren family, Tian Ning would not allow a servant to bully her.
She let go, allowing Manager Xu to try with all his might, but he couldn't move the box. The white cat on top even kindly jumped down, reducing its weight, yet the box remained unmoved.
Tian Ning: "So this is the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. I've learned something new."
"This, this..."
Meeting the girl's gaze, Manager Xu's old face turned red. He felt that the mockery in her expression was self-evident.
Yet, a box that even a frail girl could lift, he, a dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator, could not?!
"Sixth Miss... then please leave everything here, and you go to the ancestral hall first..."
"First to the courtyard. Once I'm settled, I will naturally go to the ancestral hall."
"This was instructed by the Head of the Family, and besides, going to test the Dragon-Summoning Stone is for your own good, Sixth Miss..."
Tian Ning looked at him coldly, refusing to back down: "Since you know it cannot be delayed, what were you doing before? You keep mentioning the cultivation world, but I never expected there to be treacherous servants here who slack off just like in the mortal realm."
"I don't know your rules here, but I will not go to the ancestral hall today until I am settled. Let's see, between you, an incompetent servant, and me, who will suffer more?"
The girl's words were like slaps to Manager Xu's face, leaving him with a bruised and pale complexion.
He then dejectedly led the way to the courtyard.
Tian Ning, easily carrying the box, arrived at her new residence. After settling the two little ones, she followed Manager Xu to the ancestral hall.
Along the way, she encountered many inquisitive glances and whispers from the servants.
Tian Ning ignored them. She returned to the Wenren family not out of a longing for parental love, nor to compete with Wenren Xue. If not for the old man's insistence that she enter the immortal realm to help bring peace to heaven and earth, Tian Ning would have been content to stay in the small village and live a happy life as she had for years.
"Inconsiderate junior, how much longer must we wait? If you delay my important business returning to the Dragon Palace, how great do you think your Wenren family is!"
Inside the ancestral hall, a handsome man with red hair wore an angry expression, clearly impatient: "If it were Miss Xue, then fine, after all, she is the contractor favored by the Young Prince. What is this wild girl brought from the mortal realm?"
Beside him, an elder with graying temples was smiling and trying to placate the man.
"Elder, Sixth Miss has arrived."
Manager Xu, trembling, knelt at the entrance. The terrifying oppressive pressure within was too much for him, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, to enter.
"Alright, let her in, and you may withdraw," the Grand Elder said, finally having waited for her.
"Yes."
Before leaving, Manager Xu looked meaningfully at Tian Ning. This Elder Yan of the Dragon Clan had a fiery temper. Given the atmosphere inside, the little girl would surely be frightened out of her wits!
Thinking this, he saw Tian Ning calmly enter the ancestral hall, her steps steady and firm, her eyes even carrying a hint of anticipation!
Where was the look of fear?
Manager Xu: ???
"You are a Fire Dragon."
Tian Ning's beautiful eyes stared intently at Elder Yan of the Dragon Clan.
Dragons are of water, and phoenixes are of fire.
Fire Dragons, like Ice Phoenixes, are very rare. This is not to say their talent is superior; rather, due to attribute opposition, Fire Dragons and Ice Phoenixes are more difficult to cultivate. They are like rare white lions on the grassland, struggling to survive, and their cultivation is destined to not be very high.
However, Fire Dragons are exceptionally rare. Tian Ning felt a flutter of excitement. She loved raising unique, one-in-a-million anomalies!
Elder Yan was caught off guard by the girl's inexplicably intense gaze. After recovering, he coughed lightly, no longer wishing to bicker with this simple-minded junior:
"Cough, cough... You do have some discernment."
He had heard from the person the Wenren family sent to the mortal realm that the wild girl they brought back was full of schemes. Now, seeing her in person, well... he felt a kind of pure foolishness.
And what was with that look of admiration?
It was practically written all over her face that she liked him!
"You little child, do not dare to set your sights on this elder," Elder Yan couldn't help but say. "My uncle's third aunt's cousin-in-law was married to a former Dragon Palace Princess. His bloodline carries a trace of royal lineage!"
Tian Ning: "..."
Such distant relatives, are they truly something to be proud of?
"