Chapter 665 646: Unconventional Brothers

If merit goes unrewarded, who will be willing to lay down their lives for the family in the future? If someone dies in service, their children are rewarded. If they have no children, their family is rewarded. If they have no family, a monument is erected, a statue is carved, and they are enshrined in the Wang Family's Martyr's Shrine.

Everyone was well aware of this principle. However, considering Wang Rencai's long list of past misdeeds, no one really knew how the Patriarch would reward him.

"How else could he be rewarded? Wiping the slate clean of his past transgressions would already be a heavenly reward."

"But the Wang Family's rules state that merits and demerits don't cancel each other out. Meritorious deeds must be rewarded. There's bound to be some benefit."

"I heard the original reward was a small residence in the center of Haojing, the kind where the deed would belong to Wang Meng personally!"

"Tsk! That's an incredibly generous reward!"

"Don't tell me it's the one near the Master Hall? That elegant location, right next to Miss Han Chuxue's Autumn Leaves Villa!"

"Letting him live there is one thing, but they can't possibly give him the deed! What if he sells it..."

"He can't live there! After the autumn equinox, Miss Han Chuxue will be moving into the Autumn Leaves Villa. Just think about what Wang Ren... I mean, Wang Meng, has done in the past!"

Wang Meng was the one who spied on the Tenth Princess while she was bathing!

A lecherous demon who wouldn't even spare such a young girl, living next door to the Supreme Fairy Han Chuxue, the idol in everyone's hearts...

"Everyone calm down. The kid gave up the reward himself and went back to his rundown courtyard in the South Suburb City."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but then became furious. For that kid to refuse the reward was a slap in the face to the family! Or perhaps, he was leveraging his achievements to demand a better one!

"Who does he think he is!"

"Exactly! He's just a piece of trash!"

"He accomplishes one little thing and already doesn't know his place. The family gave him that opportunity in the first place."

"They could have given it to anyone. If they weren't biased toward him, how could he have had the chance to achieve anything?"

Even these elite disciples of the Wang Family believed that the incident in Wang City was actually the result of some clandestine maneuvering by the family's upper echelons.

"Heh heh, don't be so anxious, everyone. Wang Meng may have some merits, but there'll soon be a chance to teach an arrogant guy like him a good lesson, just like in the old days."

"You're talking about... the family's grand competition?"

"That's right, that's the one. Heh heh, and get this—isn't this weird? Wang Ren... no, Wang Meng, has signed up for the Martial Arts Arena. In the past, he always signed up for things like Spirit Control and Artifact Refining."

The Martial Arts Arena was where disciples would get on the stage to compete in cultivation, and the winner would take all.

Some of the elite disciples were already rubbing their hands in anticipation. The fact that a loser like him could make such a comeback really annoyed a lot of people.

Just then, a cold voice cut in. "What's all this noise! It's time to cultivate. Get to it!"

"Ah, yes!"

"Yes, Brother Ang."

The cold voice belonged to none other than Wang Rencai's older brother, Wang Ang.

Wang Ang held absolute authority over the younger generation of the Wang Family. He was strict and meticulous.

He swept a cold gaze over the crowd. Seeing that everyone had entered a state of meditative cultivation, he turned to leave. He had heard every word they said. 'Wang Rencai... he's never been worthy of my concern. The Wang Family is a noble existence. A cancer like him must be excised. If not for the fact that Wang Shifeng is an elder, even that man would have been dealt with.'

"Big Brother, where are you going?"

Wang Ang turned, a rare smile appearing on his stern face. "Third Brother, is your cultivation session over?"

The "Third Brother" Wang Ang spoke of was the third son of the direct line. His talent was extraordinary; not only had he inherited the Wang Family's Innate Fire Body, but he had also inherited his mother's Proud Earth Body, giving him the Fire and Earth Dual Birth Five Elements Attribute.

He was also a cultivation genius. At only fourteen, he had already reached the Earth Wheel Realm. His only flaw was that he was a bit... simple-minded and stubborn. He believed almost anything anyone told him, and once he made up his mind about something, no one could change it. He had to hit a wall himself before he'd reconsider. But this was also due to his young age, and he would naturally grow out of it over time.

Although there was competition between them, Wang Ang still looked after this genius of a third brother. To put it bluntly, Wang Ang was confident in himself!

'My talent... perhaps my attribute can't compare to Third Brother's, but in certain secret respects, I have the supreme confidence to crush all my peers!'

It was just a constant regret that no one from the Wang Family's younger generation had entered the ranks of the Eight Saints. But the Eight Saints were not set in stone!

"Yeah, the master gave me half a day off and told me not to be so wound up. I heard the good-for-nothing is back, so I was going to find you to go see him together," Wang Hantian said with a grin.

"Oh? See him?" The relationship between Wang Rencai and Wang Hantian was like fire and water. The conflict supposedly started because Wang Rencai had groped a maid that Wang Hantian fancied...

"Heh heh, Second Brother has performed a meritorious deed. Of course I have to go 'congratulate' him properly."

As Wang Hantian spoke, a vicious light gleamed in his eyes. He had no intention of hiding his savage intentions from his big brother.

"Don't go," Wang Ang said flatly.

"Why not?" Wang Hantian was the type who feared the world was too peaceful. He loved to stir up trouble and was fierce and aggressive, but no one reined him in. On the path of cultivation, this was commonplace for the young.

"The Patriarch has given an order. You are not to see Wang Meng before the grand competition."

"Eh? You can't be serious." Although Wang Hantian said this, he actually believed it and seemed a little dejected. "Then you can accompany me to practice, Big Brother."

"I have something else to do. Some things can be resolved during this grand competition." Wang Ang smiled. "This time, he used the name Wang Meng to sign up for the Martial Arts Arena competition."

Wang Hantian was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Haha, that's great!"

While others were plotting against him, Wang Meng was focused on his own affairs. He had grown fond of his five little companions and couldn't just abandon them. However, his own advancement had hit a snag, so his only option was to find a way to help Nine Discount and the others improve.

The Five Elements Flame attribute made it quite durable. Nine Discount, the leader of the pack, was quite domineering and had volunteered for this. Moreover, even when Wang Meng wanted to stop, it refused. The result...

After being tormented by Wang Meng's multiple "experiments," Nine Discount was now on its last breath. Even with Wang Meng's upgraded Rain Dew Technique, it was still languishing. So, Master Wang decided to check out the Haojing Pill Immortal Alliance. It was, after all, the pinnacle of Alchemy Skill in the Middle Thousand Realm, and he could learn a thing or two.

"I'm sorry, this is the main headquarters. If you need to heal a True Essence Beast, please go to a Sub-Hall branch."

Wang Meng was stopped outside the entrance to the Pill Immortal Alliance's main headquarters. Only then did he realize that the main branch of the Pill Immortal Alliance in Haojing was only responsible for managing the various branches and served as an advanced training ground for elite Pill Masters. Purchasing Pills or healing True Essence Beasts was handled by separate Sub-Halls.

Wang Meng slapped his forehead. After asking for the address of the nearest Sub-Hall, he turned and left.

The moment Wang Meng left, the crowd immediately erupted like a pot boiling over. "That guy must be Wang Rencai, right?"

"That's right. He looks a bit rougher, but that's definitely him."

"Your information is so outdated. He goes by Wang Meng now. I heard he made a comeback in Wang City and has regained the Wang Family's approval."

As the guards were chatting, a person emerged from behind them. A cold, arrogant voice rang out, "The person you were just talking about—where is he now!"

Turning their heads, the guards quickly bowed their heads in salute. "Your Highness!"

"Where is he."

Ji Ruyan said coldly. She didn't believe a single one of the various rumors about Wang Meng.

No one knew better than her what kind of trash Wang Rencai was. If he could ever amount to anything, pigs would fly.

Meanwhile, Wang Meng made his way to the Pill Immortal Alliance's Sub-Hall. Along the way, he cast the Rain Dew Technique on Nine Discount one more time, which managed to preserve its life. As for its traumatized little spirit... that was beyond the spell's therapeutic scope.

For Wang Meng, the last resort would be to use his Primordial Spirit for a forced healing, but that would risk being hunted down by the Dao Laws. The laws of the Small Thousand Realm could no longer harm him, but that didn't mean the laws of the Middle Thousand Realm couldn't.

The Pill Master at the Sub-Hall was very friendly, perhaps because he saw that Wang Meng's clothes and bearing were impressive.

"This situation is quite serious. How did this happen!"

Wang Meng gave an awkward smile. He couldn't very well say that he had tried to forcibly raise Nine Discount's realm, could he? After all, anyone with half a brain wouldn't do something like that, especially since this Red Melt Bird's quality wasn't particularly good, making its chances of advancement extremely low.

The Pill Master in charge of treatment was only speaking this way because he felt sorry for the Red Melt Bird; he wasn't truly blaming Wang Meng. After performing some initial treatment, his expression became very serious. He said, "This is even more severe than I imagined. It's beyond my capabilities. Would you like to request the help of a higher-level Pill Master? However, the price will be ten times the normal rate. Please consider it carefully."

"Price is not an issue."

"Very well. Wait here..."

The Pill Master nodded. "Grade-A critical injury on a Third-Transformation variant Red Melt Bird! Everyone, make way!"

The people in the main hall were a little curious. 'Who is this person?'

It was just a Third Transformation. If it's critically injured, just let it die. Is it really necessary to go to all this trouble?

A Grade-A critical injury meant it was on the verge of death. A situation like that would require a Master or even a Grandmaster Level practitioner to intervene. It seemed like a bit of an overreaction.

Although tens of thousands of customers came and went through the Sub-Hall every day, it was still extremely rare to see someone bring in a Third-Transformation Red Melt Bird with a Grade-A critical injury seeking help.

"Where is it!"

In a moment, a bald, middle-aged man walked out from the Inner Hall. He was muttering to himself, wondering which rich spendthrift this was.

"Master, over here."

The middle-aged man's expression turned solemn. A faint Pill Fragrance wafted from his body as he silently activated some kind of Alchemist Technique.

Seeing a Pill Cultivation Master take action, the crowd of onlookers immediately grew. Many people started pointing and whispering. Apparently, this bald, middle-aged man, despite his unremarkable appearance, was quite famous. After all, there were many different kinds of Master Level practitioners.

"It's the Divine Pill Voiding Technique, which specializes in curing complex and difficult ailments in True Essence Beasts!"

"It's Master Sun Lie! His Divine Pill Voiding Technique is considered quite good in Haojing."

"Using it to save a mere Red Melt Bird is overkill."

"Who cares? As long as there's a show to watch."

"'Nothing unexamined, no injury un-dispelled, the Divine Pill voids, True Essence reigns supreme...' I've heard that when the Divine Pill Voiding Technique is cultivated to its peak, it can reverse life and death for any being, whether True Essence Beast or human, as long as they still have a breath left."

"The mutation is quite profound. It seems only its external form is still that of a Red Melt Bird. Internally... Hmm? This structure... it carries a trace of the 'Flame of Life and Death.' A pity it's so faint."