Chapter 664 645: Standing in a Row

Wang Meng nodded. "Alright."

Whether he saw them or not, it made no difference to Master Wang.

"Heh heh, all these servants were gifted to you by the family. The family will cover all their expenses..."

"I'm used to being alone. You can have them."

Wang Meng said lightly.

Wang Shifeng laughed loudly. "You know, my estate is actually short on staff. Great, I'll be on my way then."

The group of servants bowed their heads and followed him out.

Wang Meng smiled. 'A family competition, huh?'

In Wang Rencai's memories, this was also something that had left a very deep impression.

Within the Wang Family, an extremely fierce competitive system was in place for everyone, regardless of whether they were from the main or a branch family.

The family competition was the most important stage for the younger generation.

If a child from a branch family wanted to prove they had what it took to earn their place, they had to achieve a dazzling rank in the competition.

And children from the main family, if they wanted to protect their status and receive a greater share of the family's resources, also had to defeat one challenger after another in the competition.

This competition wasn't a simple martial arts tournament. It encompassed a wide variety of skills. For example, in Spirit Control, you could bring out the strongest True Essence Beast you had sealed. For Artifact Refining, you could present the most powerful Spiritual Artifact you had forged in the past year, and so on.

A lazy child from the main family could be demoted, while an outstanding child from a branch family would have the opportunity to rise. This was one of the Wang Family's methods for ensuring its own vitality.

As the saying goes, "Wealth never lasts three generations..." Without such a ruthless competition, the Wang Family could not have prospered for over a dozen generations, nor could it have become one of the top three preeminent families in the Great Zhou Dynasty!

As for Wang Rencai, he was forced to participate in the family competition every year. There was no avoiding it; it was mandatory. Anyone whose name was on the Wang Family's genealogical registry had to take part!

Wang Meng saw in the memories that this fellow, Wang Rencai, was the source of everyone's amusement at the competition each year... like a jester at an imperial banquet, just a bit of fun to make everyone laugh!

For Wang Rencai, the annual family competition was an annual nightmare of mockery and scoldings from his elders. And after each one, his debauchery would only grow worse.

For Wang Meng, however...

It was quite a good opportunity.

Every year in the competition, the top ten would receive rather handsome rewards. Most importantly, it directly determined one's status.

The Merak Fire Cloud Technique, in truth, had already been modified beyond recognition by Wang Meng. It had to be adapted for his Five Elements Cultivation, but Wang Meng's bottleneck was his reliance on True Essence Beasts.

To be honest, Wang Meng's initial plan was to use these five Third Transformation beasts as a temporary measure. But he suddenly realized he had already established a spiritual link with them. In the Middle Thousand Realm, True Essence Beasts couldn't be swapped out casually. Someone like Ji Jin'Er, for example, was prepared with a Nine-Transformation Divine Beast from birth, and as she grew, her strength would naturally be extraordinary.

With Wang Meng's current power, he could have actually abandoned them. But every time they fought together, borrowing the Five Elements Power, they had unknowingly become partners. Wang Meng could feel their weakness, their growth, their joy, and their pain. By the time he realized it, they had already become his companions.

Abandoning his companions was something Wang Meng had never done, and never would.

Master Wang summoned the Red Melt Bird from the Five Elements Spirit Holding Bracelet. The little creature snuggled affectionately against Wang Meng, nuzzling him again and again, seeming very happy. Under the influence of Wang Meng's immense power, these five True Essence Beasts had come to rely on him completely.

They were progressing quickly, but it was true they couldn't keep up with the pace of Wang Meng's improvement.

Wang Meng stroked the Red Melt Bird's head. "You're the most active one, little fella."

It was time for them to stretch their legs. The Golden-Horned Ape, Water Spirit Beast, Snake-tailed Flower, and Armored Turtle all came out. They all seemed quite lively, and it was obvious their intelligence was much higher than that of ordinary Third Transformation beasts.

Wang Meng looked at the five little creatures. "Line up properly!"

The Golden-Horned Ape took the lead, followed by the Snake-tailed Flower, and the Water Spirit Beast. The Armored Turtle was getting anxious, and the Red Melt Bird at its side quickly gave it a nudge.

"Little Jia, wrong order. Go back."

The Armored Turtle awkwardly shuffled to the side, and the Red Melt Bird took its place.

Wang Meng nodded with considerable satisfaction. Even when they were outside, Wang Meng was training their Five Elements coordination. In this world, probably only Wang Meng would do something so seemingly pointless.

"Nine Discount, take them out to play. Don't break anything, understand?"

Having grown fond of them, Wang Meng had given them names. The Golden-Horned Ape was called Big Guy. The Red Melt Bird, considered a little sister to an "Eight Discount," was named Nine Discount. The Armored Turtle was called Little Jia, the Snake-tailed Flower was Little Flower, and the Water Spirit Beast was Big Mouth, for its big mouth and long tail.

Wang Meng was already used to letting them run wild. As soon as he left, Nine Discount became the leader and made the four little ones stand in a line.

And she had quite the "big sister" air about her. The Red Melt Bird shot a glare at Big Mouth, who only then realized his tail wasn't raised. He quickly lifted it, and the formation was finally perfect.

Next was the Red Melt Bird's lecture time, but it only lasted a moment before the group of little ones went wild, and the manor was instantly filled with chaos.

Old Horse was leisurely basking in the sun. 'Dammit,' he thought, 'it's time for the five little lunatics to play again. Ah, it's good to be young.'

Although the five little ones were rambunctious, they knew not to provoke Old Horse and did their best to avoid him while they played.

In the center of Haojing stood a three-story, green-tiled building surrounded by a bamboo forest. Around the forest's perimeter, a Wang Family guard stood every ten meters, fully armored and holding a Fine Steel Long Staff, looking incredibly imposing. This was the holy land in the eyes of the Wang Family's younger generation: the Wang Family Master Hall, also known to outsiders as the "Wang School."

Everyone who could enter the Wang Family Master Hall to study was an elite. To put it another way, even if you were a worm, after being trained by the Wang Family Master Hall, you would become a... no, you would become an outstanding elite.

At this moment, a heated discussion was taking place inside the Wang School. The primary topic was, naturally, the "great victory at Wang City."

To the outside world, the shifting situation in Wang City was just business as usual. Either the Wang Family would come out on top, or the Mo Family would gain an advantage, and the Yuan Family behind the Mo Family would then naturally and slowly encroach upon Wang City. But within the Wang School, it was an indisputable, great victory for the Wang Family! A triumph!

"Wang Rencai... ah, I mean Wang Meng. The Patriarch gave the order. We're all to call him by that name from now on. Wang Meng, heh! He really performed a great service this time."

Apparently, the Wang Family no longer wanted the name Wang Rencai to exist. It was simply too disgraceful.

"Sigh, a good-for-nothing the family has raised for so many years has finally contributed something. If I'd known the family had a plan like this, I would have pretended to be a profligate son two years ago, and then..."

"Heh heh, two years ago? And not be allowed into the Master Hall for these two years?"

"Er... that's a bit of a big sacrifice."

"What do you guys think the Patriarch will reward him with?"

The Wang Family always rewards merit. Regardless of main or branch family status, regardless of whether one's surname was Wang, even for minor figures on the periphery who were merely affiliated with them—when it came to rewards for contributions, everyone was treated equally. Without such magnanimity, how could the Wang Family have become the preeminent great family in Haojing?

No matter how despised Wang Rencai had been in the past or how many wretched things he had done, as long as he performed a meritorious deed, there would definitely be a reward.

(More than half of April has passed. To all my senior brothers and sisters, please put in some effort and reward Skeleton with a monthly ticket. Thank you!!!)

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)