Yulong Yan finished speaking and saw them looking at him as if he were an idiot.
He blushed slightly, saying with some embarrassment, "I thought the atmosphere was a bit tense, so I made a joke to help everyone relax."
Tie Mo, the Iron Eater Beast Emperor, said sincerely to Yulong Yan,
"Uncle Yan, when did you get this senile dementia? You should see a doctor quickly. Otherwise, what will you do when Mei'er Auntie wakes up and finds you old, ugly, and with a bad memory?"
Di Xin nodded in agreement and said,
"That's right. With Old Ancestor Yan like this now, let alone Old Ancestor Mei, even the cafeteria auntie in Gao Wu might not fancy him."
Tie Mo shook his head and said, "Alright, I don't have time to banter with you here. My fourth and sixth brothers have also awakened with me. Do you need any help?"
Yulong Yan was stunned and said, "We definitely need help. I'll have Da Yu go back and quietly bring Tie Lao Si here. For treasure hunting and breaking formations, your Iron Eater Beast clan is quite professional."
Tie Mo nodded and said,
"Okay, I'll notify my fourth brother. Oh, and bring some King-level crystal cores. Bring them according to these kids' attributes. I only have Emperor-level crystal cores left."
"Bring more. I don't know what these little fellows are up to. In such a short time, each of them has absorbed three King-level crystal cores, which is more than what's needed to advance to King. And King-level soul orbs too."
After severing contact with Yulong Yan and the others, Tie Mo took out a dark green bamboo stalk and let out a roar. An Iron Eater Beast Emperor of similar size to him broke through the void and emerged.
"What's wrong, Fifth Brother? Is the youngest okay? Why did you call me here?" the newly arrived Iron Eater Beast, Tie Lao Si, asked, also glancing at Lin Zhan and the four young ones sleeping in the center.
After observing for a while, Tie Lao Si also took out over twenty King-level crystal cores and threw them beside the four young ones and Lin Zhan, according to their respective attributes:
"What exactly are these kids trying to do? Why are they consuming so much energy? It looks like even forty or so King-level crystal cores might not be enough," Tie Lao Si said curiously.
He then turned to Tie Mo and said, "Fifth Brother, go get Sixth Brother too. We'll go raid the Ten Thousand Races, or these little guys won't have enough energy supply soon."
"No need, I brought him back." Da Yu Ren Huang emerged from the void.
He casually threw nearly a hundred King-level crystal cores and over twenty King-level soul orbs beside the four young ones and Lin Zhan.
"Good heavens, this promotion alone consumed nearly 150 King crystals. What about next time? It will require 150 Emperor-level crystal cores. An ordinary family really can't afford them."
Da Yu chuckled and said,
"Others may not be able to afford it, but it doesn't mean the war-mongering merchant family of Da Shang can't. If we don't have money, we'll just fight a few more wars, and that will solve it. Besides, the fortune this kid has now was accumulated through wars, kidnappings, and robberies."
After speaking, the three were attracted by a fragrance, which was the blood ginseng and mutton soup stewed by the four young ones. It was made with diamond-grade great horned sheep, 500-year-old blood spirit ginseng, and various rare spiritual herbs.
Da Yu, Tie Mo, and Tie Lao Si gathered around the large pot, sensing the waves of aroma.
Da Yu lifted the lid of the pot, scooped out a lamb shank, and began to devour it:
"Damn, these brats have talent too! Hurry, elder brothers, taste this."
Tie Mo and Tie Lao Si, seeing Da Yu eating with his mouth full of oil, also started to scoop out meat:
"This is really good. These kids are too extravagant, stewing such good spiritual herbs into soup. If they were refined into pills, they could cultivate at least twenty Golden-tier warriors."
Tie Mo said while eating the lamb.
Da Yu picked up a jar of fine wine from the side and drank it, saying,
"A thousand-year vintage, brewed with the bone marrow of a quasi-King-tier Black Demon Tiger. Tsk tsk tsk, these little bastards really know how to enjoy themselves."
Tie Lao Si and Tie Mo's eyes lit up at the aroma of the wine, and they quickly each took a jar and started drinking.
Tie Lao Si smacked his lips and said,
"A quasi-King-tier Black Demon Tiger is easy to get, but using a thousand-year vintage as base liquor is indeed a waste. When there's a chance, I'll catch two Emperor-tier Black Demon Tigers to soak in wine. That would be truly flavorful."
The little Taoist priest Zhang Haoming, who heard the commotion, also ran out with the little dumpling Lin Ya'er. They happened to overhear Tie Lao Si's words and immediately stepped forward to say,
"Esteemed senior Iron Eater Beast, if you can get King-tier or Emperor-tier Black Demon Tigers, we'll provide the base liquor. We'll split the brewed wine fifty-fifty. By the way, are you Brother Bao's family?"
Tie Lao Si and Tie Mo looked at the two plump little fellows, especially the little girl, who stared at them with her big, furry eyes, full of curiosity.
It was like... like looking at animals in a free zoo.
Tie Lao Si and Tie Mo felt a little embarrassed and instantly transformed into two burly men, saying to the little dumpling:
"Girl, this is our first meeting. We'll give you two fun things."
Saying that, they took out two finger-length, jade-like, crystal-clear small bamboo stalks and gave them to Lin Ya'er and Zhang Haoming.
"You must wear these two Verdant Spirit Bamboo stalks every day. They will continuously improve your physique."
As the designated successor of Lin Zhan, the little Taoist priest was bound to surpass his predecessor and was definitely someone who would never pass up an advantage.
He then waved his little chubby hand and said to the maids in the villa,
"Quick, serve wine and dishes to the ancestors with the highest specifications!"
Then, he took out 300 jars of spiritual wine, brewed with thousand-year vintage liquor and spiritual herbs, from his storage bag and said,
"Three honored ancestors, you have worked hard to protect my elder brother. This small gift is the least we can do."
Tie Lao Si and Tie Mo happily accepted the fine wine, as both of them had just been released and felt their mouths were dry.
They didn't expect to meet such a sensible little fatty from their younger brother. The two brothers then laughed heartily and said,
"Why call us ancestors? Call us Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, the youngest... that's your Brother Bao. He's the youngest among us brothers. Since you call him Brother Bao, calling us brothers shouldn't be a problem."
"Cough, cough, cough... is this a generational discrepancy?" Da Yu Ren Huang coughed from the side.
Tie Lao Si and his brother glanced at Da Yu speechlessly and said, "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Our youngest brother and I came from the same womb. Is there any problem with this order?"
Tie Mo also nodded and said, "My fourth brother is right. You old geezer, stop being sarcastic. If you say one more word, don't blame us for beating you up."
Then, he turned to the little Taoist priest and said, "Little brother, your brother will go hunting for you the day after tomorrow. You just need to prepare the base liquor."
Zhang Haoming nodded excitedly, thinking: Gifts are never unwelcome... or rather, many gifts are never unwelcome.