From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 168 Father and Son
Tonggu County, the county seat.

Inside a restaurant that caters to banquets, Xu Xiaoniu is entertaining his guests.

The guests who came to the banquet were all wealthy and powerful, including rich merchants from the city, large landowners from various villages, and officials of all ranks.

Some low-ranking yamen runners, having heard that Xu Xiaoniu was holding a banquet there, came to offer a gift even though they hadn't received an invitation.

They didn't linger; they presented the gift, registered their names, and left.

"Director Xu has always been low-key and has never held a banquet before. Is there something big happening this time?"

Many people don't know why Xu Xiaoniu hosted this banquet for his guests.

During his ten-plus years as the Director of the Demon Extermination Bureau, and before that as a military officer and county magistrate, he never held banquets for weddings or funerals in his family; they were always family gatherings attended only by his own family members.

It was because he didn't want to accept gifts or extort money from ordinary officials.

But this time he broke with his usual practice, sending out invitations everywhere and hosting lavish banquets for guests.

"Don't you know? Director Xu's second son, Xu Zhongyao, also has the spiritual root for cultivating immortality and has already become a cultivator!"

"A spiritual root for cultivating immortality?! Tsk tsk, how enviable!"

"..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At this moment, Xu Xiaoniu was leading Xu Zhongyao to welcome several important figures.

County Magistrate Jiang Hao arrived with his son Jiang Chen and daughter Jiang Ting.

His daughter's original name was Lü Xuanting, but she has now changed her name to Jiang Ting.

Jiang Chen and Jiang Ting are twins, both possessing four types of spiritual roots.

Pei Wanchang, the head of the forestry bureau, also brought a younger member of the Pei family to the banquet.

There was also the newly arrived celestial official, County Governor Lu Heng, who had been there for less than half a year.

Lu Heng was a celestial official sent to the county a few months after Jiang Hao was promoted to county magistrate, leaving the position of county supervisor vacant.

He possesses three true spiritual roots and comes from a similar background to Jiang Hao, with no elders in his family being cultivators.

He has no family background in the cultivation world and has only reached the third level of Qi Refining.

"Welcome, welcome everyone!"

Xu Xiaoniu greeted the celestial officials with a smile and said to Zhongyao beside him, "Quickly pay your respects to the celestial officials."

Xu Zhongyao stood aside and bowed respectfully.

The arriving celestial officials also exchanged pleasantries: "Director Xu, it's been several years since we last saw your son Zhongyao. He's grown into an even more handsome young man."

"I've heard your son also has the spiritual root for cultivating immortality. Like father, like son..."

After exchanging a few polite words, Xu Xiaoniu welcomed them into the banquet hall.

These cultivators held a higher status than ordinary government officials, making them seem out of place.

The four celestial officials sat together at one table.

The one with the highest status is undoubtedly Jiang Hao, followed by Pei Wanchang, then Xu Xiaoniu, and then Lu Heng, who has the weakest cultivation.

The other younger cultivators sat at the same table.

After exchanging pleasantries and a few polite words, Pei Wanchang tentatively inquired, "May I ask, Director Xu, what kind of spiritual root does your son Zhongyao possess?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone present pricked up their ears and eavesdropped.

They only knew that Xu Zhongyao had spiritual roots, but they didn't know what level of spiritual roots they had.

Xu Xiaoniu readily admitted, "I personally tested him; he has a five-element pseudo-spiritual root, just like me, hahaha~~"

Upon hearing "five pseudo-spiritual roots," Jiang Hao and Pei Wanchang inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

Currently, among the Qi Refining families in Tonggu County, Jiang Hao occupies Cangwu Mountain, and both his son and daughter possess four types of spiritual roots.

The Jiang family may seem to be just starting out, with only three Qi Refining cultivators, but Jiang Hao is still very young. As the county magistrate, he can protect the family for many years and will have many descendants.

Moreover, with the spiritual veins of Cangwu Mountain upgraded to the first rank, the spirit-gathering array is no longer needed.

The Pei family is the most powerful, having developed over many years, with Pei Wanchang in the public eye, and having also absorbed a significant amount of resources from the Lü family. As for the Xu family?

Jiang Hao and Pei Wanchang did not originally regard the Xu family as a Qi Refining family, after all, Xu Xiaoniu was a five-element pseudo-spiritual root cultivator who became a celestial official by chance.

A Qi Refining cultivator cannot be considered a family.

However, the Xu family now has another Qi Refining cultivator, and Xu Xiaoniu has actually advanced to the seventh level of Qi Refining in a short period of time, which has attracted the attention of the Jiang and Pei families.

With five pseudo-spiritual roots, he was able to advance to the seventh level of Qi Refining, which means he must have secretly gained a large amount of resources.

Upon learning that Xu Zhongyao also possessed five elemental spiritual roots, both men relaxed, realizing that he posed virtually no threat to their families.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The banquet continued, each person harboring their own thoughts.

Jiang Hao and Pei Wanchang are scheming against each other, openly and secretly opposing each other.

The two were "friends" when they joined forces to destroy the Lü family, but in the blink of an eye they became rivals.

The newly arrived county governor, Lu Heng, inquired about Jiang Hao's daughter, Jiang Ting, and from his tone, it seemed that he was interested in her.

Jiang Hao understood his intention, sneered inwardly, but did not respond.

Does she want to get close to his daughter and become his son-in-law?

This is remarkably similar to his path to power.

His daughter, Jiang Ting, was spoiled and arrogant from a young age because she was raised by the Lü family. She was not a likable person.

Whoever takes a liking to his daughter must be after the Cangwu Mountain he now occupies.

He rose through the ranks from the position of county governor to his current position, and therefore he was very wary of Lu Heng.

He thought to himself that he would remind his daughter, Jiang Ting, to spend more time with Lu Hengyuan.

He even considered that when his daughter got married, he wouldn't hire a son-in-law who would move in with her family.

Generally speaking, in a family like his, where there are few Qi Refining cultivators and his daughter has four spiritual roots, it would be most suitable for him to find a rogue cultivator to become his son-in-law and marry into his family.

However, Jiang Hao has a psychological aversion to the idea of ​​a "son-in-law who moves into the wife's family home," fearing that his son-in-law will usurp his place.

If you want your daughter to get married, Xu Zhongyao is a good choice.

Given the current situation of the Jiang and Pei families, marrying his daughter to Xu Xiaoniu's son would allow him to unite with Xu Xiaoniu, the head of the Demon Subduing Division, making it much easier to fight against the Pei family.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The four celestial officials each had their own thoughts.

On the other hand, the younger generation of Qi Refining cultivators were in the same situation.

Jiang Ting is twenty years old this year. She is very beautiful, but she is spoiled and has a bad temper.

At this moment, she had a cold face, occasionally taking a sip of wine, and showing no interest in the Qi Refining cultivators from the Pei family who kept chatting with her.

That younger member of the Pei family was an outstanding member of the family that Pei Wanchang specially brought. He had four spiritual roots and had already reached the fifth level of Qi Refining at a young age.

Jiang Ting ignored him, but glanced at Xu Zhongyao, who was behaving himself beside her.

Since Xu Zhongyao only possessed five elemental spiritual roots, and Baihe Mountain was an ordinary wild mountain without any spiritual lands, she couldn't help but feel a sense of superiority.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

It is worth mentioning that Xu Xiaoniu held this banquet to inform everyone that Xu Zhongyao had spiritual roots.

This was a decision he made after discussing it with his father, Xu Fugui, for a long time.

Currently, the Xu family only has one cultivator, Xu Xiaoniu, which seems insufficient.

After some discussion, it was decided to let Xu Zhongyao, who was only 19 years old and had just embarked on the path of cultivation, reveal his spiritual roots to outsiders.

He is Xu Xiaoniu's second son. His father had five spiritual roots, and so did he.

Although it's a low-probability event, it won't attract much attention.

(End of this chapter)