Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Half a month ago, on the thirteenth of November in the year 1321 of the New Yu Era,

of the eight second-rate powers in Wanyang County, the Mountain Sword Sect was the latest to rise, formally ascending from a nondescript minor faction to a second-rate sect a little over twenty years ago.

Ordinarily, the latest to rise would have the weakest foundation, yet the Mountain Sword Sect defied this logic. Within just twenty years of being among the second-rate, Sect Master Tian Linong and his sect members dedicated themselves to their cause, and leveraging the terrain of Tianling County, which was half mountain, half water, they flourished and surpassed the other second-rate forces.

There were two things about the Mountain Sword Sect that people particularly enjoyed discussing.

The first, undoubtedly, was how five years ago, Tian Linong, wielding his Three-feet Edge, challenged God Fist Master Tong Hu and was only defeated after three moves.

Tong Hu—who was that? He was the Young Sect Master of the Tianding Sect in Wanyang County, the number two figure among second-rate forces, and a Dan Embracing Phase powerhouse who had secured the 421st spot on the Tiger List decades ago.

Having only lost to him by three moves, Tian Linong not only swiftly made it onto the Tiger List, but the name of his Guixin Sword spread instantly throughout the great Jiang Nan region.

As for the second thing, it too involved Tian Linong, being none other than his eldest son, Tian Fazheng.

Tian Fazheng was born in the year 1296 of the New Yu Era. From a young age, he was clever, well-versed in Confucian classics. At the age of twenty-two, during the Great Scholar Ji Yanzhi's travels around the world, he passed through Tianling County and posed several questions on the spot, to which Tian Fazheng responded fluently.

Ji Yanzhi was delighted and made an exception to admit him into Bailu Academy, causing a stir in Xuzhou.

This was one of the six holy lands of The Righteous Path, the only one that spanned two states, the recognized leader of the Righteous Path in the current era, the Confucian Holy Land that all scholars yearned to enter, the Bailu Academy that people would break their heads trying to get into!

Instantly, the name Tian Fazheng echoed throughout Xuzhou, and the entire Mountain Sword Sect also gained tremendous fame. His father, Tian Linong, already well-known in the martial world, was overjoyed that his son had brought him such great honor. He threw a banquet for three days, and many second-rate forces came to congratulate them. Tianling County was ablaze with prosperity—it was truly a time of boundless glory.

Tian Honglu had known since she was young that her father, Tian Linong, who led the sect into the second-rate forces, and her brother, Tian Fazheng, who entered Bailu Academy, were both far more talented than she was. Hence, to prove herself, she had to work hard, to put forth an effort far beyond that of ordinary people.

Although her father, Tian Linong, doted on her, it was like the affection one shows a canary. No one in Tianling County would bully her, and outside, with her brother Tian Fazheng's reputation, there were very few people brave enough to provoke her.

But all of this was not what Tian Honglu wanted!

Therefore, she practiced martial arts day and night, achieving the breakthrough to the Body Opening Ninth Level and the Blood Exchange Realm by the age of nineteen. This feat, in any other second-rate force, would certainly be considered remarkable, but when compared with her father and brother, it was far from enough.

In the bamboo forest behind the Mountain Sword Sect, Tian Honglu, in her red dress and wielding a sword, had a graceful figure. The longsword she swung, though studded with seven or eight jewels and appearing quite decorative, displayed a fierce blade that revealed streaks of cold light in her movements.

Tian Honglu's pupils narrowed as she suddenly drew seven strokes in the air with her sword. The blade's motion was suspended for a full three breaths, forming the shape of a mountain range. Her eyes lit up with joy, and with a leap forward, her sword traced a streak of cold light in the air, aiming straight for a bamboo stalk.

However, the mountain range that had only formed for a brief three breaths suddenly ebbed away in the next moment, and the cold light in the air gradually dissipated. In the end, the longsword did pass through the bamboo, but only by breaking it with force rather than piercing it.

"Mountain Range Guixin Sword Technique... Father took just over three years to go from beginner to moderate proficiency, yet I've been practicing for over half a year and haven't even reached the threshold. Could it really be that I have no talent for swordsmanship at all?"

Tian Honglu retracted her longsword, defeat evident in her eyes.

She, the daughter of Guixin Sword Tian Linong, couldn't even master her own family's signature technique. Not to mention being the butt of jokes if word got out—she couldn't accept it herself.

"Senior Brother Lu, I've got news about Hou Yuxiao, whom you asked me to investigate!"

After much contemplation, Tian Honglu was preparing to resume her sword practice when a familiar voice suddenly came from the entrance to the back mountain. She stopped her movements and a sly smile crossed her face as she stealthily hid behind a small hill slope.

At the entrance to the back mountain, two young men dressed in the white robes of the Mountain Sword Sect's true disciples walked slowly toward her. The leading man had fine features and wore an orange hat adorned with mountain patterns, which, along with his handsome stature, made him extraordinarily dashing.

The person who had just called out to him as Senior Brother Lu was following behind. It was none other than Duan Zhengqi.

Tian Honglu, hiding in the shadows, didn't react much to seeing Duan Zhengqi, but the moment she saw the man wearing the crown, known as Senior Brother Lu, her face flushed with shyness, and her eyes betrayed the love she couldn't hide.

Lu Yuanhao, the chief true disciple of the Mountain Sword Sect and a direct disciple of her father Tian Linong. There had long been rumors in the sect about her father intending to betroth her to Senior Brother Lu. Tian Honglu, being young with thin skin, hid even more the more she took a liking to Senior Brother Lu. Now that the two men were at the entrance, she dared not go out and could only listen to their conversation from behind the hill slope.

"Since you have news, go ahead and tell me!"

"Hou Yuxiao, the eldest of the Five Sons of the Zhaoyang Hou Family, is merely a warrior at the Tenth Level of Body Opening. His father, the Black Ape Demon Hou Tong, had some fame, but was killed two years ago."

"What about the reputation of the Five Sons of the Hou Family?"

"Absolutely appalling. In Zhaoyang County, these five have been burning, killing, and looting, defiling other men's wives and daughters, ruining families' reputations—utterly lawless. If it were in Tianling County, such scoundrels would doubtless be torn to pieces a thousand times over!"