Ma Lingling’s gaze was filled with the charm of a married woman, leaving Chu Tian stunned.
“What are you looking at me for? Your wife is over there!” she said, rolling her eyes at Chu Tian.
“Ah? Oh!”
Chu Tian dazedly turned his head to the other side, meeting Ma Ruolin’s eyes.
The girl instantly turned her head away shyly, her entire face flushing red all the way to her neck.
“Brother Tian… brother-in-law?”
“Holy cow… this is a lot of information!”
Old Madam Ma shot her grandson a glare, and Ma Deju immediately shut his mouth.
Chu Tian finally understood. This was Old Madam Ma’s statement to protect him.
However, saying this in front of the eight major families… the impact was too significant.
If Luo Luo knew about this, wouldn’t she have a lot of explaining to do?
But he couldn’t deny it on the spot.
Otherwise, not only would this matter not be resolved,
but he would also be offending Old Madam Ma.
Now, he could only accept it with a wry smile.
After Old Madam Ma finished speaking.
The family heads naturally stopped talking, looking at Chu Tian with confused expressions.
Chu Tian felt uncomfortable under their stares.
He thought: What are you guys looking at me for? I’m just the Ma family’s son-in-law, what’s so strange about that?
Among those present, only two people had different expressions.
One was Zhang Cheng, whom he had met during the literary competition.
His gaze towards Chu Tian was filled with disdain and disgust, along with a hint of heartache and unwillingness.
The other was the young girl from the Qin family. Her mouth was wide open.
Her face showed disbelief and shock.
Chu Tian found it even stranger, but he couldn’t ask, so he could only keep it to himself.
“Is that so? Then let’s get down to business!”
Master Luo Ba, Luo Lingshan, naturally didn’t believe Old Madam Ma’s statement.
But what could he do if he didn’t believe it?
He understood that at least today, he couldn’t do anything to Chu Tian.
The Ma family was protecting him in this manner, and to take down Chu Tian, they would have to resort to force.
However, with so many people present, the toughest person was this old lady.
After some thought, this old fellow directly changed the topic.
He actually suggested getting down to business, and Chu Tian cursed inwardly: Isn't my business also important?
Before Chu Tian could retort,
this old fellow glanced at Chu Tian again.
He let out a cold snort and said, “As for you, a man who is about to die, I won’t bother with you.”
Chu Tian’s anger flared up upon hearing this. He spoke again.
“You old fossil, you’re the one about to die, your whole family… uh… no, your entire branch of the family is about to die!”
He almost cursed the entire Luo family, but then remembered Luo Luo was family, so he quickly corrected himself.
Luo Lingshan, sitting opposite him, clearly trembled as he was cursed.
However, this old fellow’s tolerance was indeed extraordinary.
He acted as if he hadn’t heard anything, but in his heart, he had killed Chu Tian hundreds of times over.
The other family heads looked at Luo Lingshan with serious expressions, thinking: Why did you have to add that remark? We all realized by now.
This kid is a troublemaker, and his mouth has already insulted you several times.
Why are you still rushing to get insulted?
With Madam Ma here, and you can’t defeat her, you should just keep quiet.
Now you’ve been insulted again! Your fingers are trembling, do you still have any shame?
Not only did the family heads think this, but Luo Lingshan himself almost slapped himself.
Why was his mouth so cheap today? It must be because this brat angered him. Today, you have Madam Ma backing you.
I admit defeat, but I don’t believe you’ll be by this old lady’s side forever!
Thinking of this, he glared fiercely at Chu Tian.
“Why are you rolling your eyes like that? If you’re sick, go see a doctor. Don’t end up with glaucoma or cataracts… who knows, it might even develop into eye cancer!”
Seeing that he dared not do anything to him and didn’t dare to speak to him anymore, Chu Tian guessed he was afraid of being scolded again.
But since the guy rolled his eyes at him, how could he let him off easily?
He immediately retorted again. Old Madam Ma sat there, her body trembling slightly even though her eyes were closed.
When had Luo Lingshan, someone of the same generation as her, ever suffered such humiliation?
Although Old Madam Ma really wanted to beat him up, she lacked the justification.
Unexpectedly, she now witnessed him being verbally abused by a junior to the point of speechlessness.
“Uh… next, uh… cough cough!”
Luo Lingshan shivered, almost sliding off his chair.
He quickly regained his composure and continued.
“Let’s discuss the issue of resource allocation.”
“As everyone knows, the production of Qi Soul Beads is decreasing.”
“This year, there are only forty-two!”
Luo Lingshan paused here.
Upon hearing this, the family heads all revealed expressions of helplessness.
“So few…”
The Song family head slammed the armrest of his chair and sighed.
The other family heads also shook their heads.
Chu Tian wondered what Qi Soul Beads were.
He said there were forty-two, so there were forty-two?
This old fossil is extremely cunning, aren’t you afraid he’s hoarding them?
Seeing Chu Tian’s hesitation, Ma Lingling asked him what he wanted to say.
Chu Tian told her what he was thinking.
Ma Lingling shook her head and whispered to him, “It’s true that Qi Soul Beads are produced in the Luo family’s small world.”
“However, to retrieve them, we must wait until they are all mature.”
“If they are taken out early, they will instantly dissipate.”
“Furthermore, to retrieve Qi Soul Beads, the patriarchs of the eight major families must simultaneously use a secret technique to open the extraction portal.”
Hearing her explanation, Chu Tian understood and nodded.
No wonder everyone didn’t doubt Luo Lingshan’s words.
Because he couldn’t possibly falsify the numbers.
Chu Tian heard in their conversation that Qi Soul Beads seemed to be an important item supporting the operation of the small world.
They were like batteries.
After their discussion, they decided that besides each family taking one Qi Soul Bead for the operation of the small world,
the remaining thirty-four would be distributed according to the family rankings in the competition.
First place: seven.
Second place: six.
Third place: five.
Fourth and fifth place: four.
Sixth and seventh place: three.
The last place would only receive two.
As for other martial artists, regardless of their ranking in the competition,
they would receive none. Chu Tian secretly thought that these eight major families were truly cunning and scheming individuals.
During this time, he quietly communicated with Ma Deju.
He learned about the importance of Qi Soul Beads to the families.
Besides allowing the small world to operate normally, adding more Qi Soul Beads to the small world’s core
would make the spiritual energy within the small world more abundant, allowing for much faster cultivation within it.
Furthermore, spending a long time there would increase the chances of awakening Qi.
No wonder everyone from the Luo family encountered was a Qi martial artist.
It turned out to be the effect of the Qi Soul Beads.
“Then what happens if the small world is not supplemented with Qi Soul Beads?”
Chu Tian began to display his “good student” nature, continuously asking questions.