Chapter 2394 — The You Family's Courtship

Now that Kang Jingming had become an alchemist, even the pills he botched could be brought back to the Kang family and sold on commission to ordinary cultivators—the personal guards of wealthy merchants, say—and that alone would be a fortune. Moreover, the hidden You family rather disdained such low-end business, and the Kang family filled that gap in the market perfectly.

"Yes. Does anyone else have a suggestion? Speak up, all of you," Kang the Divine Physician said.

"Grandfather, then what about my marriage to Wang Xinyan...?" Kang Jinglong asked after a moment's hesitation. He was a thoroughly calculating man; though he thought well enough of Wang Xinyan and rather coveted her beauty, if it came to weighing her against the family's interests, he could let the beauty go.

"Indeed, Father—shouldn't Zhaolong break off the engagement and find someone better? A young lady of another hidden family, perhaps?" Kang Guifeng was just as mercenary, and so he asked.

"Break off the engagement? Foolish!" Kang the Divine Physician snorted. "As for Wang Xinyan of the Xiao family—your engagement to her stays exactly as it is! Not only must you not break it off, you must do everything in your power to bring the match about!"

"Oh? And why is that?" Kang Guifeng was startled; he had not expected his father to say such a thing.

"Guifeng, our Kang family suffered badly last time because we went back on our word!" Kang the Divine Physician waved a hand, his expression grave. "Last time, it was precisely because we were too eager for quick gain and broke our promise that we nearly lost this chance to climb high and attach ourselves to the You family. If the Xiao family hadn't acted as go-between, we would never have made contact with the hidden You family at all! So everything the Kang family has today is thanks to the Xiao family! And we are fortunate the Xiao family did not hold it against us. Otherwise, our Kang family would truly have fallen into decline!"

Kang Guifeng and Kang Jinglong were both taken aback, though they nodded all the same, unable to deny that Kang the Divine Physician was right.

"And Zhaoming's rise this time is likewise owed to the hidden You family! As the saying goes, when you drink the water, do not forget those who dug the well. Our Kang family absolutely must not break off with the Xiao family over this. Not only must we not—we must do our utmost to bring the marriage about!" Seeing that Kang Guifeng and Kang Jinglong were taking it in, Kang the Divine Physician went on: "In your eyes, an alliance with a hidden family would serve us better. But do you really think that, given our family's present standing, those hidden families would truly look twice at us? It is true that we have attached ourselves to the Xuandan Sect, but how many hidden families are there without an ancient sect at their back? Look at old-established hidden families like the hidden You and the hidden Pi—behind each of them lurks the shadow of an ancient power. If we sought a match with them, would they even consider us? Besides, if our Kang family were to break a promise of marriage, we would be petty, faithless wretches in their eyes. If we did it once, could we not do it again? Let me venture a bold guess: in the future, once Kang Jingming becomes an elder of the Xuandan Sect, will not our Kang family's standing rise above that of the hidden families? And then, I suppose, we would break faith again and marry into an ancient family or an ancient sect? By then, I fear, the Kang family's name would long since stink to high heaven!"

"So you mean we should go on cooperating with the Xiao family and keeping up our friendship?" Kang Guifeng asked cautiously.

"Exactly. Not only must we keep up our friendship with the Xiao family, we must use this occasion to extend the olive branch—take the Xiao family with us into business, and grow rich together!" Kang the Divine Physician said. "These recent business failures have taught me a thing or two! Our Kang family has been too selfish in the past. But now we must cure ourselves of that fault. We must let the world see that those who helped the Kang family will, once the Kang family is strong, receive a hundredfold in return for a single drop of kindness!"

"Grandfather, I understand what you mean." Kang Jinglong nodded thoughtfully. "You mean to tell us that as our Kang family rises ever higher, we must pay all the more attention to our reputation!"

"It is good that you understand, Zhaolong." Kang the Divine Physician nodded. "Your marriage is, in truth, no longer of any importance. So long as Zhaoming is with us, the Kang family cannot fall. Rather than seek an alliance by marriage, we would do better to follow steadily in Zhaoming's wake—that is worth more than anything. Of course, Zhaolong, you must not let it trouble you. Zhaoming may be doing better than you, but when you become head of the family, the status and position you attain will be far higher than before!"

"Yes, sir!" Kang Jinglong nodded hurriedly in assent. He had long since made his peace with this. Even if he must still bow his head before Kang Jingming, there was no help for it—Kang Jingming was a man of the Xuandan Sect now, no longer merely his younger brother—and he himself had reaped no small benefit from it!

Even as they spoke, the telephone by Old Master Kang's hand rang. He glanced at the caller display, and after a brief start of surprise, answered it with a smile. "Greetings, Patriarch You! How do you do!"

"Old Kang, just call me Old You from now on. What is this 'Patriarch' business? So distant!" Old Master You laughed heartily, speaking with great courtesy.

"Ha ha, then I shall do as you say rather than stand on ceremony." Old Master Kang was an old hand at intrigue and grasped at once the purpose of Old Master You's call: the family had begun to court them! In the past, when the hidden You family telephoned the Kang family, it was always in the tone of a master issuing orders—never so courteous as this. But today Old Master You had shed his usual manner and spoke to him as an equal, and Old Master Kang knew that the You family had received the news as well.

"Old Kang, congratulations! Your grandson has been singled out by the Xuandan Sect and made the prized disciple of the Fifth Elder. When he rises in the world and becomes an elder of the Xuandan Sect's next generation, you must not forget to lend our You family a hand!" Old Master You plainly knew more than Old Master Kang. Since Kang Jingming's side could openly put out word that he had become the Fifth Elder's disciple, and that Heaven, Earth, and Man himself had opened the furnace to refine pills in person, it all showed that Kang Jingming was destined for greatness!

If he truly succeeded in refining the Bone-Washing Marrow-Cleansing Pill, then Kang Jingming's succession to the Fifth Elder and his appointment as an elder of the Xuandan Sect's next generation would be all but certain! So even Old Master You could not remain unmoved, and hastened to cultivate good relations with the Kang family in advance!

An elder of the Xuandan Sect was a lofty figure even in the eyes of the hidden You family—one who could directly determine the You family's standing before the Xuandan Sect. How could Old Master You fail to take him seriously?

"Ha ha, you flatter me. Zhaoming is still young, a mere junior disciple—an elder is a very long way off..." Though Old Master Kang said this, his heart gave a leap!RQ