While Fatty Wang and Xiao Yun were busy counting their newly earned small fortune, Wang family’s servants and guards alike were scouring the city, looking for their round young master.

  After learning of this new Mystic Cleansing Jade and realizing that’s what Wang Jun wanted to show to him a while ago, Patriarch Wang was incensed. Especially after remembering how he had refused even listen to what Wang Jun was trying to say multiple times.

  Now his information network provided him with new updates by the hour. The ‘Mystic Cleansing Jade’ was in extreme demand. All the upper echelons of the city, the noble ladies, the lovers of prominent cultivators, disciples of powerful sects and even the rough and gruff rouge cultivators were after it. The black market, a realm Wang Shu monitored with the keen eye of a hawk was even more telling. A single palm-sized bar of this "Jade" was trading hands for fifty silver taels and the price was climbing. It was rumored to be the secret creation of a reclusive master alchemist, a treasure that could purify not just the body but perhaps even the very meridians.

  The more time passed, more anxious Wang Shu got. He’d already sent out everyone he could to find his third son…

  Wang Shu’s men who were seasoned in the art of retrieving their wayward third Young Master were moving with trained efficiency. Their first and most logical stop was the city’s entertainment district. They scoured the Red Lotus Pavilion, questioning giggling courtesans who knew Fatty Wang by name and appetite. They combed through the House of Gentle Whispers, where the matron swore she hadn't seen him in over a week, a highly unusual occurrence. They even checked the rowdiest and lowliest taverns and gambling dens.

  They found nothing. Wang Jun had vanished, which was not an easy thing for someone his size to achieve.

  An hour later a worried steward braver than the rest approached the fuming Patriarch. "Family head." he began, bowing low. "We... we cannot locate the Young Master in any of the usual establishments."

  Wang Shu's spiritual energy, the potent Qi of a Foundation Building Realm expert began to leak from his portly frame, pressing down on the servants and making the air thick and heavy. "What do you mean you can't find him?! Did the earth swallow him whole?!"

  The steward flinched. "No Patriarch, but… one of the men remembered. The Young Master's closest friend is Young Master Xiao Yun. If he is not carousing… he is most likely causing some other kind of trouble at the Xiao Estate."

  The Xiao Estate. Of course. That other wastrel. A fresh wave of fury, mingled with a nauseating dose of impatience washed over Wang Shu. He could not wait for his slow-footed servants. Every second that passed was another silver tael, another spirit stone flowing into someone else’s pocket!

  “Never mind!” he snarled, heaving himself to his feet. “I will go myself!”

  He stormed out of his main shop like a cannonball, his ample robes billowing behind him. He didn’t bother with a carriage. In his agitation Wang Shu moved with a speed that belied his size, his Foundation Building cultivation propelling him through the streets like a fleshy missile. He was so consumed by thoughts of lost profits and his son’s infuriating and accidental genius that he paid no mind to the pressure his uncontrolled Qi was exerting on the surroundings. Shopkeepers felt a sudden chill, street vendors fumbled their wares and commoners felt an inexplicable urge to bow their heads as he passed. The spiritual aura of a mighty cultivator was sweeping through Fallen Star City, an aura fueled not by killing intent but by the sheer, unadulterated frustration of a businessman who had missed the deal of a lifetime.

  …Within the serene and rather dilapidated grounds of the Xiao Family Estate three old men sat in a meditative triangle in the central courtyard. They were the Third, Fifth and Seventh Elders of the Xiao Clan, all respected figures who had reached the Foundation Building Realm many decades ago. Although their cultivation was nothing impressive when compared to the inner disciples of the five great sects, the fact that they were able to achieve such a level in a declining clan without the resources and precious cultivation techniques, was a testament to their talent and perseverance.

  Suddenly all three pairs of eyes snapped open.

  “This presence…” the Third Elder murmured, his long white eyebrows knitting together. “It’s powerful. Foundation Building Realm middle stage.”

  “It’s moving with great haste.” the Seventh Elder, a wiry man with a sour face added. “And it’s headed directly for us. The Qi is wild and uncontrolled. Is it an enemy?”

  The Fifth Elder, a man whose wrinkled face resembled that of a shar-pei, closed his eyes again for a moment extending his spiritual sense. “Wait… that aura. It’s familiar. Unmistakable in fact. It’s Wang Shu.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  A confused silence fell over the trio. Wang Shu? The head of the Wang merchant family? He was a cultivator yes, but he was first and foremost a man of commerce. His visits were always pre-arranged, accompanied by gifts and polite smiles. He never approached with the subtlety of a charging bull.

  “Why would Patriarch Wang approach our home with such… fervor?” the Third Elder wondered aloud. “His spiritual energy is in turmoil. It feels like he’s on the verge of challenging someone to a duel to the death.”

  “Has our clan offended him?” the Seventh Elder growled, already flexing his fingers. “Did that brat Xiao Yun swindle his son again?”

  “It feels more serious than that.” the Fifth Elder corrected, his expression grave. “This level of agitation is rather concerning. Has war been declared between our families? Did we unknowingly break some major contract?”

  The possibilities were dire. An all-out conflict between the Xiao Clan and the commercially powerful Wang Family would be disastrous for both sides. Although in decline, the Xiao clan still had some strength remaining from their glory days. All six elders of the family were at various stages of the Foundation Building realm and the First Elder himself was a Golden Core Realm cultivator. If someone wanted to attack them, they would need to bring a sizable force to bear, a lone Wang Shu was far from enough, however rich and well connected he may be. Decorum and duty demanded they meet this challenge head-on. With a shared understanding the three Elders rose to their feet. Their simple robes fluttered as they ascended into the air on their flying swords, their own Foundation Building auras rising to meet the incoming disturbance, creating a palpable tension over the estate.

  They landed just before the grand, faded gates of the Xiao Estate, a unified front of ancient power and authority. The two Qi gathering middle stage guards at the front gate who were eyeing the empty streets lazily were startled by the sudden appearance of the elders. They quickly scrambled to give a proper greeting.

  “W-we greet the elders!”

  However, the elders didn’t pay them any heed, instead they kept looking at a certain direction. The guards looked at each other in confusion, hesitant to question the Elders. Their confusion was short lived nonetheless, as they saw the ball of dust tearing through the streets, approaching their humble estate.

  Moments later Wang Shu arrived, his round face flushed red and beaded with sweat. He skidded to a halt kicking up a cloud of dust and looking less like a dignified patriarch and more like a man who had just chased a pig through three market streets. In his haste and anxiousness he had even forgotten to use his flying sword.

  Seeing Wang Shu coming in like rolling thunder, with such an agitated expression and disheveled state, the guards quickly understood the reason for the elder’s appearance. After all, if someone at the Foundation Establishment stage wanted to attack the estate, there was nothing they could do as Qi gathering stage cultivators, as the defensive arrays that protected the estate had failed long ago due to disrepair. Wang Shu was more than enough to handle simultaneous attacks from twenty such guards with ease let alone two.

  The three elders stood in a dignified line, their hands clasped behind their back respectfully. The Third Elder, as the most senior of the three present stepped forward slightly. His voice was calm and measured, a stark contrast to the turbulent energy pouring off the merchant.

  The Third Elder put on his most formal and imposing air. "Patriarch Wang." he began, his voice booming with practiced resonance. "You honor our humble Estate with your presence. Yet you approach with your Qi roiling like a stormy sea. Have we given you some grave offense? Speak plainly so that any misunderstandings may be resolved."

  The other two elders stood beside him, their expressions equally solemn, ready to discuss matters of clan honor, of territory, of war.

  Wang Shu stared up at the three senior figures, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. The sight of the three powerful elders poised for a serious confrontation momentarily pierced through his profit-driven rage. He registered their grim faces, their powerful stances and the immense gravity of the situation they perceived. Any normal man would have been intimidated into a respectful and formal dialogue.

  But Wang Shu was not a normal man at this moment. He was a father and a merchant pushed past his limit. He bypassed all concerns of diplomacy and clan politics, his desperation overriding all else.

  He pointed a trembling finger past the elders, towards the inner courtyards of the estate and bellowed the true, earth-shattering reason for his agitation.

  “Elders! Forget the pleasantries! Have you seen my son?! I’m going to break that little bastard’s legs!”

  The two guards who heard Wang Shu call his own son a ‘bastard’ wanted to laugh but they held it in, forcefully maintaining a serious expression. Laughing now would irritate the Elders due to the guards’ lack of discipline and it would also offend a higher ranked cultivator like Wang Shu over something pointless.

  Unfortunately for them, the more someone tried to not laugh in a serious situation the funnier it seemed to get. One guard’s face turned a violent shade of red as he stared straight ahead as if contemplating the profound mysteries of the Dao carved into the opposite wall. The other one bit the inside of his cheek so hard he nearly began cultivating the forbidden Blood Refinement technique on the spot. Spiritual energy roared through their meridians in wild currents, stirred by the desperate effort to smother their laughter, almost causing them to go into Qi deviation.

  The three Elders of the Xiao Clan, who had prepared themselves for declarations of war, accusations of treason or news of a demonic invasion, simply stood there with their mouths slightly agape. A gentle breeze rustled their long robes. The immense and confrontational spiritual pressure they had braced for dissipated into a cloud of utter, profound confusion. All this commotion was over a minor domestic dispute?