Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 419: Ancestral Rules Must Not Be Defied

“Both of you, don’t go onto the stage. Lu Yang, you brat have had such an eventful journey. It’s my turn to have some good luck!” Meng Jingzhou stopped Lu Yang and Zhao Po, though neither had intended to take the stage in the first place.

Meng Jingzhou was about to step onto the stage, but someone else was faster. It was a steady-looking middle-aged man with a long beard and a scholarly bearing.

The long-bearded man was renowned locally, and someone beneath the stage recognized him. “It’s Great Teacher Xiang from the Soaring Dragon Academy! He founded the academy and has mentored numerous scholars, even producing a provincial-level graduate![1] His disciples are spread across Wilderness Province, with some even serving in the imperial capital!”

“That’s not all! He’s also an orthodox Confucian cultivator. I heard one of his former students mention that he had already reached the Basic Golden Core Stage five years ago. I’ve no idea whether he has broken through since. Countless Golden Core ancestral clans have tried to send their descendants to study under him and offered him extravagant gifts without stint, but he refused them all!”

“What? Basic Golden Core Stage five years ago? How are the rest of us supposed to compete? There’s no way Immortal Fairy Qingluo could defeat him!”

The cultivation world liked using the term “Immortal Fairy” to praise female cultivators for their beauty, talent, or strength. After all, in the public’s perception, there were no female immortals, so the term was tossed around freely.

Lu Yang never used “Immortal Fairy” to compliment anyone, not out of caution, but because he didn’t consider it a compliment...

“Don’t panic! Immortal Fairy Qing Luo is remarkably talented. At just eighteen, she’s already at the Advanced Foundation Establishment Stage and the youngest sect leader in Cloud Terrace Sect’s history. Against a Basic Golden Core cultivator, she might still stand a chance!”

“That’s great... wait, doesn’t that mean we don’t have a shot either?”

Great Teacher Xiang stood on the stage, his lips curved into an elegant smile. “Sect Leader Qing, please.”

Qing Luo sighed softly. “Great Teacher Xiang, did you not see the rules? Participants must be twenty or below. You’re already in your forties. Even if I’m seeking a husband, shouldn’t he at least be around my age?”

Reeling from the traumatic blow, Great Teacher Xiang was seized by a burst of inspiration and composed poetry on the spot. “When I was born, you weren’t born yet; when you were born, I was already old.[2]

“Exactly, so could you please step down from the stage? I only paid for the venue for one day; time is limited.”

Great Teacher Xiang staggered off the stage, his spirit thoroughly crushed.

The subsequent cultivators who went up the stage were more reliable. All of them were talented youths around the age of twenty, including a few women disguised as men for their travels in the jianghu.

“This Qing Luo has a pretty good foundation. Although there are flaws, given the environment she cultivated in and the lack of proper guidance, reaching this level of Foundation Establishment is extremely rare and impressive. She must have had a fortuitous encounter or is simply a genius.”

“She’s indeed not bad. Even in our Corpse-Driving Sect, she’d qualify as a true lineage disciple and compete for the top eight—maybe even the top four—in the sect’s grand tournament.”

Lu Yang and Zhao Po assessed Qing Luo’s talent in whispers.

“Why not recruit her into your Corpse-Driving Sect? It’s a waste for a talent like her to remain in such a small place.” Lu Yang chuckled.

“It depends on her choice. I can try, but it’s not guaranteed to work. I have met many who refuse to abandon their own sects, saying it’s the place that took them in and raised them and that they won’t forsake them.

“Besides, due to our sect’s cultivation technique, our faces are so pale that we look like we have been dead for days. Some cultivators refuse to join us because of that and opt for other first-class sects instead.” Zhao Po pointed at his own face, which was paler than any woman’s. Whether orthodox or unorthodox, all Corpse Drivers shared the same ghostly complexion.

Lu Yang nodded in agreement. When he first met Zhao Po, he had mistaken him for a walking corpse.

Just like the two had observed, Qing Luo’s foundation was solid, and she hardly met an equal among her peers. Her cloud manipulation technique was divinely skillful, effortlessly defeating one ambitious young challenger after another.

Finally, it was Meng Jingzhou’s turn.

With a confident smile, he stepped onto the stage with such composure that his mere presence seemed to exert an overwhelming pressure.

“I am Meng Jingzhou, disciple of the Dao-Seeking Sect!”

The moment those words left his mouth, the spectators’ pupils widened, and the crowd erupted in murmurs.

“Dao-Seeking Sect? The head of the Great Five Immortal Sects?!”

“I heard that anyone who walks out of there is a peerless genius. Even a restaurant owner from there could establish their own sect outside and become an ancestor!”

“Why does the name Meng Jingzhou sound so familiar?”

“It sounds like the Meng Jingzhou from the Qing Province Grand Ceremony.”

Hearing Meng Jingzhou’s name, Lu Yang’s expression changed drastically, and he blurted out, “The same Meng Jingzhou who had already formed his golden core but still participated in the competition for the golden core cultivation insights among the rewards?”

“Why did I hear that he simply likes to bully those at lower cultivation realms?”

“Didn’t he go to the Qing Province Grand Ceremony to make a scene?”

“That shouldn’t be the case, right? He has no grudge against Qing Province. He simply wanted to challenge the judges.”

Lu Yang went with the flow and added, “Yet he voluntarily jumped off the stage to concede defeat before even sparring with the judges.”

The crowd buzzed with differing accounts, but without exception, everything they said was true.

Qing Luo had an odd expression as she looked at Meng Jingzhou with distaste. Clearly, she had heard of his reputation.

After the Qing Province Grand Ceremony, Lu Yang’s and Meng Jingzhou’s deeds had torn through the Central Continent like a whirlwind and became widely circulated among low-level cultivators. However, the further the tales traveled, the more the details became warped.

Listening to the chatter, Meng Jingzhou’s face turned black. My reputation has been trampled on just like this. “A cultivator must remain steadfast in their Dao heart. The opinions of the outer world are but fleeting clouds to me. That said, why did one of those voices sound so familiar?

“Forget it! I’ll win this match first!” Meng Jingzhou gestured for Qing Luo to make the first move.

Since Meng Jingzhou fit the rules and criteria, Qing Luo had no grounds to refuse. She struck first, summoning auspicious clouds behind her that morphed into hatchets, yue-axes, sabers, and forks—eighteen types of weapons in total—all extremely sharp as the barrage shot toward Meng Jingzhou!

This move alone was enough to give challengers a bitter lesson, causing them to lose at the first strike.

“Amazing cloud manipulation technique!” Meng Jingzhou’s eyes gleamed. Facing the storm of weapons, he assumed a stance for fist techniques.

“Crushing Fist!”

The moment the eighteen weapons met his fist seals, they dissolved into warm, fluffy clouds.

Qing Luo was undeniably strong. Unfortunately, her opponent was Meng Jingzhou. Even if she had been at the Golden Core Stage, she still wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

In just three punches, Meng Jingzhou forced out all of Qing Luo’s trump cards, leaving her no choice but to admit defeat.

“I lost.” Accepting her loss, Qing Luo gritted her teeth at the sight of Meng Jingzhou. “Ancestral rules must not be defied. According to the ancestral rules, the person who defeats me shall be my husband.”

Meng Jingzhou’s eyes brightened. “Then...”

Qing Luo’s gaze hardened as if she had made a major life decision. “In that case, I have no choice but to abolish this ancestral rule!”

1. There are different stages to the imperial examination, and juren is someone who has passed the exam at the provincial level. ☜

2. There seems to be a typo here, but I’ve adapted it slightly to fit the context. This verse is from an anonymous poet in the Tang Dynasty. As you can probably tell, it’s about how two people who love each other can’t stay by each other’s side for long due to their large age gaps. You may see this phrase in stories with age gaps too. ☜

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