Returning after 10000 Years Cultivation

And so, for the remaining month or so, Jiang Tian stayed put at the King’s No. 1 Villa, diligently cultivating.

Qing’er went to work during the day and cultivated with Jiang Tian at night. Her comprehension of cultivation was astonishing; she could grasp concepts from related fields and even discuss cultivation techniques with Jiang Tian. Some of her insights even provided him with new inspiration.

Moreover, her progress was phenomenally fast. In just one month, she broke through to the Qi Refining stage. The only catch was, without the Empress Flower, she still couldn’t utilize her power.

Progressing from the first three layers of Qi Refining to the mid-stage was a significant hurdle. The key was “Condensing Qi into Spirit.”

This resulted from having both powerful divine sense and profound true essence. Mighty true essence fused with a strand of divine sense, gaining its own spiritual nature, almost like an external avatar for the cultivator, capable of assisting Jiang Tian in attacks.

For this stage, Jiang Tian chose to cultivate his primary technique from his previous life, the “Sea of Clouds and Azure Dragon Art,” as a supplement, aiming to condense two Azure Dragons.

One Azure Dragon would serve as the array spirit for the Spirit Gathering Array, guarding the King’s No. 1 Villa and protecting his beloved wife.

In truth, the Spirit Gathering Array was a rather basic formation without offensive or defensive capabilities. Jiang Tian planned to use one of the True Essence Azure Dragons to reinforce it into an Azure Dragon Grand Formation capable of both defense and attack.

The other Azure Dragon would accompany him personally, assisting with defense and offense.

Meanwhile, the development of Zhao Pharmaceuticals could only be described as explosive.

Nourishing Muscle Ointment swept through the national market unstoppably, with sales climbing steadily. Coupled with military orders, the company was thriving and at the peak of its success.

In just three months, sales of Nourishing Muscle Ointment had broken five billion, with a net profit of one billion.

Even if not in terms of total assets, at least in terms of profit back in 2007, Zhao Pharmaceuticals could rank within the top thirty pharmaceutical companies in all of China.

…

One day, Jiang Tian was meditating and cultivating at the King’s No. 1 Villa.

Zhao Qianru came skipping over, beaming. “Brother-in-law, it’s the National Day holiday! Let’s go on a trip!”

“Do I have time to play with you? Look at the state of this villa…” Jiang Tian patted her head and chuckled wryly.

“Brother-in-law, you promised you’d spend time with me until I got a boyfriend! But now, you only spend time with Sister. You don’t even think about me!” The young woman, dressed in a cool spaghetti-strap top, her long legs pale and smooth, wearing high-heeled sandals, hugged Jiang Tian’s arm warmly,撒娇.

“…” Jiang Tian broke out in a cold sweat. A promise made was indeed a debt unpaid.

“By the way, Brother-in-law, we’re planning to go to the Thousand Island Lake resort in Leizhou. Come with me?” The young girl clung to Jiang Tian’s arm, her face full of hopeful expectation.

“I probably shouldn’t,” Jiang Tian shook his head. “What would I do hanging out with you guys? There’s a generation gap, no common language!”

“Brother-in-law, how can you go back on your word? Be careful, I’ll tattle to Sister!” The young girl pouted and stamped her foot, consumed by inexplicable jealousy.

Unable to withstand her sharp tongue, Jiang Tian surrendered. “Alright, alright! As long as your sister approves, I’m fine with it!”

Zhao Qianru immediately called her sister, explained the situation, and then handed the phone to Jiang Tian. “My sister has instructions!”

“What does my lady wife say?” Jiang Tian asked with a smile.

“Go on vacation with Xueqing,” Zhao Xueqing said gently. “You’ve been too busy and working too hard lately, either pondering the array or cultivating diligently, plus worrying about my constitution. You need a change of pace. Besides, she’s young and a bit careless. I’d feel better if you were with her!”

“Don’t worry! With me around, absolutely no one will dare harm a single hair on Qianru’s head!” Jiang Tian assured her quickly, then asked, “Will you come with us?”

“No, the company has so many orders right now, I simply can’t get away. I won’t go,” Zhao Xueqing declined softly.

Just then, Shen Le and Zheng Li approached, smiling. “Jiang Tian, where are you planning to go?”

Setting up the array was a massive project. It required people who understood formations, like Shen Mange and Master Qi, but also those proficient in construction and civil engineering. Especially since the process damaged the villa’s pathways and landscaping, the subsequent repairs and restoration were no small task.

Shen Le’s family was originally in construction, and he had studied the subject in university. Now he was back in his old trade, so Jiang Tian had asked him and Zheng Li to bring a construction team over to help.

However, Jiang Tian noticed that these two had been making eyes at each other lately, seeming rather cozy. There appeared to be something going on between them.

Jiang Tian was actually quite pleased about this. It seemed his return had already altered some people’s destinies. Zheng Li was much better than his original girlfriend. He hoped Shen Le would have a happy marriage.

“Thousand Island Lake resort!” Jiang Tian replied with a smile.

“We want to go too!”

“Master Jiang, you can’t be this stingy! You have to take us along!” Zheng Li and Shen Le chimed in together.

Having spent more time with Jiang Tian, they realized he was actually quite approachable, especially with people his own age.

“Alright, alright, you’ve worked hard these days too! We’ll all go tomorrow!” Jiang Tian agreed cheerfully.

The next day, everyone gathered early at the entrance of the Zhao family’s Lakeview Villa.

On Jiang Tian’s side, there were just his two friends, Zheng Li and Shen Le. Zhao Qianru had five or six university classmates with her.

It was clear that these classmates, like Chu Yuwei, came from well-off families. They all arrived in private cars and wore expensive clothes.

Jiang Tian couldn’t be bothered to drive, so Shen Le brought a Volkswagen Golf, which even had stickers on it advertising “Earthwork, Sand, Construction.”

One of Zhao Qianru’s classmates, Liu Wenhong, sneered dismissively, “Qianru, your brother-in-law’s car is quite… unique!”

“Liu Wenhong, show some respect. You have no idea what my brother-in-law is capable of,” Zhao Qianru shot him a glance.

“Doesn’t look like much to me, just an average older guy. I heard he was kicked out of his family and became a live-in son-in-law?” Liu Wenhong said with contempt.

Liu Wenhong had pursued Zhao Qianru a while back, but she had firmly rejected him with a rather peculiar reason: “You’re not like my brother-in-law.”

Hearing this, Liu Wenhong had nearly fainted from anger. What did her brother-in-law have to do with them dating? However, he had always been curious about this legendary brother-in-law of hers. Now, finally seeing Jiang Tian in person, he couldn’t resist making snide remarks.

“Liu Wenhong, why are you being such a gossip? If you keep talking nonsense, I’m not going!” Zhao Qianru glared at him and moved to get out of the car.

“Alright, alright, Qianru, Liu Wenhong is treating everyone to this trip to Thousand Island Lake. Give him some face,” Chu Yuwei quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Hmph, can’t be bothered talking to you!” Zhao Qianru opened the car door, got out, and directly got into the Volkswagen Golf where Jiang Tian was.

“Dammit, what’s so great about being in the earthworks business?” Liu Wenhong gritted his teeth secretly. Once everyone was ready, he started the car with a dark expression, and the three vehicles set off together.

The Thousand Island Lake resort was located in Leizhou, the southernmost city of Lingnan, just separated from Hainan by the Qiongzhou Strait. It was lush with greenery and had beautiful scenery.

In less than four hours, the three cars reached the Leizhou area. After exiting the highway, they found several sports cars waiting at the exit.

“Lamborghini, Maserati, BMW X5… wow, they’re all luxury cars!” Chu Yuwei pressed against the window, her eyes wide as she looked at the lineup of sports cars.

For someone from a comfortably-off family like her, owning a private car was impressive enough. These kinds of luxury cars were beyond her wildest dreams.

Shen Le, in the car behind, was also shocked. It seemed these were all young masters from prominent Leizhou families.

Liu Wenhong felt immensely proud. He got out of the car and shook hands with the leading young man. “Brother Fan, you’re really honoring me by coming!”

“Haha, with your cousin being Young Master Tang Shaoze, of course I have to show you respect!” The young man, addressed as Brother Fan, laughed heartily. His eyes scanned the cars, noting several beauties. He hadn’t expected Liu Wenhong to have such good taste.

“Thank you, Brother Fan!” Liu Wenhong felt flattered and obsequious.

The young man winked. “So which one is the one you’re interested in? There are quite a few beauties here!”

Liu Wenhong said nonchalantly, “The one in the Volkswagen Golf, the girl in the spaghetti-strap top…”

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure you have plenty of face this time. If needed, I’ll call my cousin Bai Choufei or your cousin over tonight to back you up! Your cousin is the real deal—Tang Shaoze, a top-tier young master from Yangcheng! And you went looking for help from me instead!” The young man winked and laughed.

“Hey! My cousin is incredibly busy. No time to bother with my trivial matters,” Liu Wenhong said understandingly with a smile.

Their conversation was overheard by Chu Yuwei. Her face instantly paled with fear. “Bai Choufei? The number one troublemaker of Yangcheng? And Tang Shaoze…” she stammered.

Bai Choufei’s notorious reputation was known even to Chu Yuwei up in Jiangbei. Rumor had it he controlled the Feiyun Hui, a major gang, and had a peculiar fetish for breast milk, often coercing lactating women in Yangcheng. Those who refused would be brutally beaten.

The young man’s face darkened, his gaze turning cold and severe. “Little girl, watch your mouth! If those words reach Young Master Bai or the others, your whole family will be finished.”

“I never knew you were Tang Shaoze’s cousin. You were so low-key at school, never mentioned it!” Chu Yuwei, frightened, stuck out her tongue and looked at Liu Wenhong with newfound respect. “I’m sorry about before,” she apologized, “I didn’t mean it!”

“Don’t worry about it! My cousin isn’t here anyway,” Liu Wenhong said politely, but the pride and arrogance in his eyes were unmistakable.

Another classmate looked at Chu Yuwei in surprise. “Isn’t your dad the deputy director of the Commerce Bureau in Linzhou? You’re afraid of people like this?”

“That still doesn’t matter!” Chu Yuwei explained bitterly. “These local powerful figures can get access to the mayor or the municipal party secretary. Besides, this is Leizhou! It’s completely Tang Shaoze and Bai Choufei’s turf.” She glanced disdainfully at her less-informed classmates and whispered, “Moreover, Tang Shaoze and Bai Choufei are extremely powerful individuals. Just Tang Shaoze alone could rival Ye Gufeng from Donghai, let alone the Tang and Zheng families from Linzhou—they’re far inferior.”

At that moment, Liu Wenhong subtly glanced towards the Volkswagen Golf where Jiang Tian was and said lightly, “That guy is Zhao Qianru’s brother-in-law. She talks him up as if he’s some kind of god. Today, I want you to help me humiliate him properly. Make him understand who the truly powerful one is.”

“Hah, with his loser look, in the earthworks business?” The young man scoffed disdainfully, thumping his chest confidently. “Leizhou is my territory. I can twist him however I want!” he snarled in a low voice, a vicious smile playing on his lips.