"Huh? Your successor?"

The old lunatic looked at Li Xiaoli, utterly bewildered.

"You’re all my successors, got a problem with that?"

Li Xiaoli glared, staring resentfully at the old lunatic.

"Ah, no problem, no problem at all, not a bit."

The old lunatic shook his head decisively, but inside he was so frustrated he could almost spit blood. Tang Ming had become the ancestor’s successor, and wasn’t the hierarchy all messed up now?

"Since it’s fine, forget it. I used a lot of energy just now, it wore me out."

Li Xiaoli waved her hand and fainted right after saying that.

"Ancestral Master, what’s wrong with you?"

The old lunatic hurriedly stepped up to catch Li Xiaoli.

"Master, don’t worry, this is a normal reaction."

Tang Ming quickly explained.

"You... you’re something else, kid." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The old lunatic glanced warily at Tang Ming, immediately carrying Li Xiaoli into the Mu Family’s palace: "Get me the best room, quickly."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes."

Mu Shanhe and the others came around and rushed after him into the palace.

"Junior Brother, what’s going on here?"

Sun Zhuangjia swallowed his saliva and curiously asked Tang Ming.

"Ah, I can’t quite say, but at least the crisis is over."

Tang Ming sighed and then carried Mu Zixin into the palace.

Once everyone dispersed, Ma Xiaotian got up, hoisting the unconscious Ma Longjun onto his shoulder and running far away, too scared out of his wits.

Just dealing with the old lunatic alone was ferociously powerful, and now there’s someone even crazier than the old lunatic, it defied all reason.

Mu Shanhe personally helped arrange quarters for Tang Ming and others and then had people deal with the bodies and traces of the battle, while also preparing for tomorrow’s wedding.

No one could mention the battle before or the previous incidents.

The friction between the Mu Family and the Ma Family had finally seen a third party interfere dominantly, and both families were powerless to resist.

While the Mu Family was busy, the old lunatic led Tang Ming and Sun Zhuangjia, who didn’t remain idle.

In the most luxurious garden on the east side of the Mu Residence, in the Wealth Palace’s bedroom, Li Xiaoli lay peacefully in bed unconscious.

In front of Li Xiaoli’s window, there was an offering table filled with various tributes along with incense burners and candles.

Tang Ming and Sun Zhuangjia knelt side by side under the offering table, while the old lunatic took off his mask, burning incense solemnly, and finally knelt in front of Sun Zhuangjia and Tang Ming, performing a grand bow to Li Xiaoli.

"What’s really going on? Master won’t have been knocked silly by your girl, right?"

Sun Zhuangjia rubbed his leg, looking at Tang Ming in disbelief: "Why are we paying tribute to that chick?"

"I didn’t expect Master to do something like this, it’s unbelievable."

Tang Ming was equally speechless, having no idea what the old lunatic was up to.

"Although it’s frustrating, seeing that chick beat up Master was honestly quite exhilarating before."

Sun Zhuangjia smirked, "Since knowing Master, we’ve always been on the receiving end, but who’d have thought someone out there dared to beat up Master, such a surprise."

"Hehe, I too find it surprising."

Tang Ming nodded, thoughtfully looking at the old lunatic, reflecting on how he too had been on the receiving end since knowing the old lunatic, and now someone emerged who could do the same to the old lunatic, and willingly at that, it was truly unimaginable.

"What are you two mumbling about?"

After finishing the grand bow, the old lunatic whipped around, sternly scolding: "This here is the founding ancestor of the Huaxia Secret Technique, our ancestral master; when paying tribute to her venerable one, we must maintain an attitude of utmost reverence, got it?"

"Master, since you used the word ’tribute,’ does that mean she is deceased?"

Sun Zhuangjia rubbed his leg, meekly asking.

"Nonsense! The ancestral master is an eternal, undying existence."

The old lunatic fiercely glared at him: "Each generation of Huaxia Secret Technique inheritors will inherit the sect’s sacred artifact, the Sacrificial Spirit Jade Ring, to honor the ancestor’s heroic soul. I... I was careless back then and lost the Jade Ring, leaving the ancestral master unaccounted for; it remains a lifelong regret of mine. But to have encountered the ancestral master again, I must take good care of her no matter what."

"How do you plan to take care of her?"

Sun Zhuangjia blinked, mischievously eyeing the old lunatic: "You wouldn’t be thinking of marrying the ancestral master, would you?"

"You scoundrel, how dare you show disrespect to the ancestral master."

The old lunatic sprang up, furiously kicking Sun Zhuangjia: "Damn it, I can tolerate your disrespect towards me, but if you dare disrespect the ancestral master, you’d better believe I’ll kill you."

"Stop it, stop it, I dare not, I won’t dare again."

Sun Zhuangjia cried out miserably, holding his head in agony.

"Serves you right."

Tang Ming smirked as he watched Sun Zhuangjia suffer, feeling quite pleased.

"Hmph, don’t grin, explain what exactly is going on?"

The old lunatic ceased his actions, looking at Tang Ming sharply: "How did the ancestral master end up in this girl’s body, and where is our sect’s artifact, the Sacrificial Spirit Jade Ring?"

"Ahem, here’s how it is..."

Tang Ming coughed lightly, quickly recounting the events on the island, excluding the early realization of Li Xiaoli’s abnormality, lest he be chastised by the old lunatic.

"I see, the Jade Ring is fragile, so the ancestral master had to find a mortal body to harbor the divine soul."

After hearing Tang Ming’s account, the old lunatic realized it all at once.

"This is too surreal, I feel like I’m hearing a tale."

Sun Zhuangjia rubbed his face, skeptically saying: "Who has no body after death and can maintain a soul for such duration?"

"You know nothing."

The old lunatic glared at Sun Zhuangjia: "The Martial Arts is limitless; reaching a certain cultivation level, one can attain a height unimaginable by ordinary people, akin to the deities spoken of by the masses. Our ancestral master was an exceptional existence; word has it that the ancestral master was just one step away from shattering the void back then. Had the tribulation not failed, the ancestral master might have accomplished the Dao."

"Master, are you sure there’s really such a thing as becoming an Immortal through cultivating the Martial Arts?"

Tang Ming looked at the old lunatic with a peculiar expression.

"Surely there is, though I haven’t seen it myself. But from what I’ve learned, the ancestors of today’s top-tier Martial Arts powers within the Martial Arts have otherworldly existences. Yet, due to the times leading to the decline of Martial Arts, each generation falls short of the previous."

The old lunatic nodded with certainty, gazing with admiration at the unconscious Li Xiaoli: "Now that the ancestral master has remerged with a mortal, there surely lies a chance to reclaim the peak, and as disciples, we must be the most devoted followers and supporters."

Tang Ming and Sun Zhuangjia exchanged a glance, feeling the old lunatic was truly mad, not expecting that this formidable master would be so devout to the so-called ancestral master.

"Master, not to dampen your spirits, but with Li Xiaoli like this, how could she possibly reclaim the peak?"

Sun Zhuangjia braved himself to ask, full of doubt.