Countless tiny black vortices surged and converged into his Dantian.

Tang Yan felt as though his Dantian were being devoured by tens of millions of ants, a boring pain stabbing at his nerves without pause. Bean-sized beads of sweat broke out on his forehead at once, his brows knotting tight as he forced himself to endure the agony piercing him to the bone.

"Pu-pu-pu-"

Inside the Dantian, under the assault of the countless small vortices, came bursts of cracking sounds. The pain grew ever sharper, until Tang Yan nearly fainted from it.

Biting down on the tip of his tongue, Tang Yan held his mind steady. He knew this was the Spirit-Expanding Pill remaking the very structure of his Dantian. If he could not endure it, his Dantian would be ruined for good. But if he held on, he could break and then rebuild, achieving the Vortex Dantian!

"Pu-pu-pu-" The Dantian kept rupturing. The countless vortices began merging two by two into a larger vortex, then merged two by two again into one larger still...

And with each merging, the damage cut a little deeper. Tang Yan's body shuddered without cease. Wave after wave of violent pain ravaged his nerves, and more than once he came close to giving up.

Time crept by, breath by breath. He had no idea how long had passed when the last two vortices began to merge, their reach slowly spreading into every corner of the Dantian. The pain crested with it.

"Merge, damn you!" Tang Yan roared in his heart.

"Boom!"

His body convulsed. The two vortices within his Dantian abruptly fused into one and began to spin with a thunderous fury.

In that very instant, Tang Yan felt his Dantian send him a single message-"hunger."

It seemed in desperate need of Spiritual Qi.

At the same moment, at the very heart of the Dantian vortex, an ancient cauldron, vast and weathered with age, suddenly blazed bright. Countless streams of Spiritual Qi welled up along its body, swiftly replenishing the Spiritual Qi within his Dantian.

When Tang Yan opened his eyes again, the True Qi in his Dantian felt boundlessly full. He looked inward at once and found that his Dantian had taken the shape of a vortex, turning endlessly.

His cultivation was still Yellow Rank Sixth Grade, yet the reserve of True Qi in his Dantian could likely stand shoulder to shoulder with Yellow Rank Seventh, even Eighth Grade.

A faint smile on his lips, Tang Yan pushed open the door and stepped out.

The Mid-Autumn Conference would be held that night. Tang Yan ran through the Six Extreme Forms a few times and silently marveled that this Vortex Dantian was no ordinary thing. Where before he could manage only twenty repetitions at a stretch, now, at the same cultivation, he could do five more.

After cultivating for a while, Tang Yan was summoned to the main hall by Old Master Tang.

By now the whole of the Tang Family's senior ranks had gathered in the hall. Tang Yan glanced about and found Zi Yun seated in a place of honor as well. She shot him a smug look, as if flaunting it in his face.

"Greetings, Grandfather." Before everyone, Tang Yan would not breach courtesy, and he hurried forward to pay his respects.

"It's nothing, sit." Old Master Tang waved a hand. Only once Tang Yan had settled did he speak. "Today is the Mid-Autumn Conference. My Tang Family is thin in numbers, and of the younger generation there are only Yan'er and Yanjun. Today there will surely be petty upstarts come to challenge the juniors of our Tang Family. How do you all think we should handle it?"

"The Tang Family's juniors are weaker than the other families for now. Sending them to compete would only bring us grief. As a whole, our Tang Family still ranks fourth in Yun City. This time we simply don't take part-who would truly dare do anything to our Tang Family?" a middle-aged man said in a low voice.

"Li Hua's words make sense, but if we skip the contest three years running, our standing in Yun City will surely plummet. By then the dependent families will lose faith in us, and the Tang Family could well be cut to the bone," said Tang Shengping, who oversaw the cloth shops in the city's western quarter, his brow furrowed.

By now most eyes in the hall turned to Tang Yan brimming with disdain. Were it not for your feeble strength, would the Tang Family have to lose face once every year?

Uncle Mo felt the mood in the hall and could not help speaking up. "The Eldest Young Master is gifted beyond the ordinary. Even after his Dantian was crippled, he already holds Origin Rank Eighth Grade strength. It is not high, true, but his pace of growth is swift. This time we forgo the Martial Contest and let Yanjun take the field. Let him deal mainly with the juniors outside the four great families. If any of the four great families issue a challenge, Yanjun need only pay them no mind."

Hearing Uncle Mo's counsel, the others nodded together. This was the soundest course.

"Pfft-" Zi Yun, who had held her silence all the while, suddenly failed to hold back a laugh, drawing every eye in the hall to her at once.

"Miss Zi, what amuses you?" Old Master Tang asked, rather curious.

"Tang Yan's strength is already Yellow Rank Sixth Grade. He has the standing to contend for the foremost place among the younger generation. Why do you all wear such long faces?" The words left Zi Yun's mouth like a thunderclap.

The hall went utterly still.

"Crack." The teacup in Old Master Tang's hand gave under the sudden force and shattered outright. Scalding tea ran down his fingers, and he felt none of it.

"Miss Zi, is what you say true?" It was a long while before Tang Ling forced the words out.

Every other gaze in the hall converged on Zi Yun. They did not know her identity, but Tang Ling had told them this woman was an honored guest of the Tang Family, on no account to be slighted. For Old Master Tang to show her such respect, her standing was surely no small thing.

They found her words even harder to swallow than Old Master Tang did. That wastrel Tang Yan, idle and good for nothing day in and day out-that he had reached Origin Rank Eighth Grade was already Heaven taking pity. And now he was suddenly Yellow Rank Sixth Grade?

"Whether it's true or not, Old Master Tang need only ask your grandson." Zi Yun laid bare Tang Yan's strength without the least reserve.

"Yan'er, out with the truth-what is your cultivation now?" Old Master Tang's aged face went taut as he asked sternly.

Tang Yan shot Zi Yun a glare. Knowing there was no hiding it, he simply let the breath of his Dantian flow out. A markedly pure aura spread from him in an instant.

Old Master Tang's frame jolted, and he stared at his grandson in disbelief. This aura-it was Yellow Rank Sixth Grade beyond all doubt.

The others had cultivation of their own, more or less, and sensing this powerful aura they all looked at Tang Yan in shock. Since when did this wastrel of an Eldest Young Master command such strength?

Zi Yun did not let slip that Tang Yan could fight above his rank. For one, it left him a hidden card; for another, admitting that she couldn't beat him at the same cultivation level was a little embarrassing.

"It truly is Sixth Grade, Yellow Rank Sixth Grade!" Old Master Tang felt a stirring like never before, his tears all but spilling over. Through all these years his hopes for his grandson had withered into despair, and he had long resigned himself. Never had he dreamed the boy had quietly cultivated his way to Yellow Rank Sixth Grade.

He had never once provided Tang Yan with any spirit medicine. To climb to Yellow Rank Sixth Grade, how much suffering must the boy have swallowed? Remembering the terrifying load of Tang Yan's recent training, Tang Ling could hold back no longer, and the tears of an old man streamed down his face.

"Good! Truly good-Heaven blesses the Tang Family!" Old Master Tang slapped the table and praised him again and again.

Uncle Mo understood the old man's heart deeply at this moment, and said with a smile, "I had worried that Yanjun alone could not bear the weight of the great contest. Now all is well. With the Eldest Young Master joining, our Tang Family keeping its name this time is as good as nailed to iron."

The others let out a breath as one. When they looked at Tang Yan again, every trace of disdain and scorn was gone.