From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 226 Reconsidering Clan Rules
Just as Sun Fang was about to go out to distribute the Qi and Blood Pills, her husband Xu Zhongsi returned.

"Wife, the new training clothes are ready. Please arrange for someone to deliver them to each household."

Xu Zhongsi said.

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

Sun Fang readily agreed.

The number of Xu family members living in Baihe Mountain increased, and so did the number of maids and servants who served them. There were many miscellaneous tasks to be done for their daily needs, such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

There are also a large number of farmhands and tenant farmers living on the outskirts of Baihe Mountain who need to be managed.

Xu Xiaoan was responsible for managing all these agricultural and miscellaneous tasks.

He had many sons, none of whom were cultivators, so he assigned these tasks to them. In the large Xu family, Xu Xiaoan and his sons quietly contributed in seemingly insignificant details.

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.

a few days later.

In the early morning, near the spiritual land of Baihe Mountain, there is a large, beautiful open space with clear water and lush mountains.

A group of more than a dozen people are practicing the Five Elements Stance Exercise here.

Some had reached the second level of stance training, some had reached the third level... The youngest, Li Kun, was nine years old, while the others were all teenagers.

In front of them, someone was leading them in practicing stances.

This person practiced from the first level of stance training to the third level, and each stance training movement contained a subtle and profound artistic conception, with smooth and effortless transitions between stances.

The dozen or so people practicing stances were all extremely serious.

An hour and a half later, the morning standing meditation session ended.

Xu Xiaohou finished his stance and offered guidance: "Li Kai, your fifth stance is not standard. Pay attention to your breathing... and Li Shan..."

Those who received his guidance listened attentively.

The opportunity to be guided by Xu Xiaohou was hard-won.

Xu Xiaohou was a Foundation Establishment cultivator and a Grandmaster of Martial Arts, and he only led them in martial arts training once a month. Usually, they practiced stance training at home on their own, or Li Yuan would lead them in stance training every few days.

"Next, I'll teach you martial arts. Today, I'll teach you a powerful and forceful style..."

With Xu Xiaohou's martial arts skills, he was more than capable of teaching these young people fist and foot techniques. In fact, most of the younger generation with the character "Li" in their names would abandon martial arts and only cultivate their internal energy after reaching the Innate Realm, at which point fist and foot techniques would become useless.

Xu Xiaohou thought that if they practiced some martial arts before they reached the Innate Realm, they could at least ensure that they had some combat ability.

He practiced his boxing techniques for another hour.

"Alright, that's enough for today's practice."

As soon as Xu Xiaohou finished speaking, he heard the ritual attendant shout, "Sixth Grandfather, we haven't had a duel in a long time. Why don't we have one today?"

A duel?

"Alright, let's have a match today and see how much progress you've made in your martial arts training lately."

Xu Xiaohou remembered that the last time they fought was three months ago.

Combat is very suitable for young people who are practicing martial arts, as it can motivate them to practice hard.

Seeing the excited and expectant expressions on the boys' faces, he thought of his own childhood. In his youth, he loved to fight and had defeated his peers in the surrounding villages.

However, one person in the crowd had his head down and shoulders hunched, looking timid and hesitant. It was Li Kun, the youngest among them.

Xu Xiaohou stretched out his finger, releasing his spiritual power, and drew a neat circle with a diameter of two zhang on the ground.

"Same rules as always, going out of bounds results in a loss. Let's begin."

He paired everyone up according to age and strength, and the competition began.

The group stepped forward one by one, bowing politely before the fight, but none of them held back, each displaying their full strength.

For a moment, fists and feet clashed on the field, the sounds of thuds and clangs echoing continuously, and dust flew everywhere.

In some matches, the winner is decided in a dozen or so moves; in others, the match goes to a stalemate for a long time, until both sides are exhausted.

"good."

"Wonderful!"

After each match, Xu Xiaohou would offer his comments and guidance.

Three months have passed since the last competition, and everyone's strength has improved to some extent.

"Li Kun, why don't you have a contest with Li Gong?"

Xu Xiaohou called out the names of the two men. In fact, their strengths were not quite equal, but Li Kun was the youngest and there was no suitable opponent for him.

Li Kun has a good talent for martial arts. At only nine years old, he has already reached the second level of stance training.

"Yes."

Li Kun bowed his head and responded, then stepped into the fighting circle.

Li Gong seemed reluctant: "Sixth Grandfather, Li Kun's strength is too weak. It's no fun for us to fight. Give me a stronger opponent."

"Ok?"

Xu Xiaohou glared at him and said sternly, "If I tell you to go, then go. Win first. Don't underestimate anyone."

Then he looked at Li Kun: "Stand up straight, show your competitive spirit, and don't let others look down on you."

In real-world combat, no one will match you with an opponent of equal strength. It's common to encounter opponents who are stronger and outnumber you. Are you just going to surrender without a fight?

Urged on by Xu Xiaohou, the two began to fight.

However, Li Kun's performance was far worse than Xu Xiaohou had imagined. He seemed to be weak in the knees and feet, showing no signs of the strength of the second level of stance training, and was kicked out of bounds by Li Gong in just a few moves.

Li Kun silently got up from the ground, gently patted the dust off his body, and said softly with his head down, "I lost."

"..."

Seeing his expression, Xu Xiaohou was at a loss for words.

In his youth, he was arrogant and reckless. No matter if the opponent was older or more skilled than him, he was not afraid and dared to fight them. He tried every means to win and often performed beyond his usual level.

Li Kun's personality is completely opposite to his, and he can only exert 60% or 70% of his strength.

"That's enough for today's training. Let's call it a day. Li Kun, stay behind."

Xu Xiaohou dismissed the crowd.

"Goodbye, Sixth Grandfather."

"Sixth Grandpa, I'm leaving now."

"..."

Everyone said goodbye to Xu Xiaohou and left, leaving only Li Kun with his head down and silent.

Li Kun expected to be criticized, and he was mentally prepared to accept some criticism.

What progress have you made in your stance training?

Xu Xiaohou inquired.

"At the second level of stance training, the first main meridian is halfway through, and eight major acupoints have been opened."

Li Kun answered truthfully.

"That's a bit slow. How many Qi and Blood Pills have you taken in these three months?"

Xu Xiaohou was puzzled. According to the training speed of the first level of Li Kun's stance training, it should be faster than the current progress.

"Two. My mother and aunt gave me a Qi and Blood Pill a couple of days ago, but I haven't been able to bear to eat it yet."

Three months, two Qi and Blood Pills?
Xu Xiaohou knew that Zhongche could easily refine the Qi and Blood Pill, and his family could not possibly lack medicinal materials.

Why does Li Kun only take two Qi and Blood Pills every three months?
It's not advisable to take too many Qi and Blood Pills, otherwise the medicinal power and Qi and blood won't be fully digested, and taking too many will be a waste. But this waste refers to taking one Qi and Blood Pill every three to five days.

It is advisable to take one pill every ten days or half a month.

With the Xu family's resources, it would be easy for them to provide a Qi and Blood Pill every ten days for any of their martial arts practitioners.

Xu Xiaohou decided to ask Zhongche later.

"Also, why aren't you wearing your new training clothes?"

He noticed that everyone was wearing brand-new brocade training clothes, except for Li Kun, who was wearing an old one.

These young men wear out their clothes a lot when practicing martial arts, and since they are in the growth spurt stage, they grow taller every six months.

"I don't know either. This is what the maid prepared for me this morning."

Nine-year-old Li Kun didn't understand these things; he wore whatever the maid prepared for him.

"You go back first."

Xu Xiaohou felt a surge of anger.

Li Kun's situation is special. His mother, Miao Yingying, died when he was born, and his father, Zhong Yao, was murdered a few years ago.

Later, when his grandmother passed away, his grandfather, Xu Xiaoniu, held a grand banquet in Yuanli City.

Although he had maids to take care of his daily life, he was ultimately an orphan, and no one cared about him as much.

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.

A few more days passed.

After Xu Xiaohou investigated the situation, he initially thought it was a maid bullying Li Kun because he was young and didn't know any better. However, he didn't expect it to be Xu Zhongsi and Sun Fang, a married couple!
Xu Zhongsi was in charge of making practice clothes for everyone.

According to Zhongche, he had given Sun Fang a considerable amount of the Qi and Blood Pills he had recently refined, enough for each person to take one pill every ten days.

Furthermore, according to Xu Xiaohou's investigation, Sun Fang withheld the most Qi and Blood Pills from Li Kun, and others also had some withheld to varying degrees.

Are family members bullying each other?

If it were a maid or servant, Xu Xiaohou would certainly not be polite.

But since it concerned his nephew and his wife, he didn't know how to handle it properly. To be precise, it was inappropriate for him to handle this matter himself; it was best to let his father, Xu Fugui, handle it. So, Xu Xiaohou told Xu Fugui the whole story of his investigation.

When Xu Fugui first heard what had happened, he was somewhat skeptical.

Is someone taking advantage of Li Kun's youth and lack of understanding? Or is it his own family?

The Xu family has only been around for a few decades and doesn't have many members yet, and this kind of thing has already happened.
Seeing that Xu Xiaohou spoke with such certainty, Xu Fugui conducted an investigation himself and found it to be true.

"The Xu family needs to set some rules."

he thought.

He originally thought that it would take at least several decades, and several more generations of the Xu family, before strict rules would need to be established.

When there are fewer people in the family, everyone is very close and acts based on feelings.

However, as the family grew, the Xu family was no longer that small family, and each member had their own ulterior motives.

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.

Ten days have passed in the blink of an eye.

A group of people gathered in the sacred land of Baihe Mountain.

Xu Fugui summoned everyone to discuss the matter of revising the clan rules.

For this matter, he wrote a letter to Xu Xiaoniu, asking him to come back from Yuanli City.

Xu Xiaoniu, Xu Xiaoan, and Xu Xiaohou.

All members of the "Zhong" generation, as well as Li Yuan and Li Jin, who became cultivators, from the "Li" generation.

Even those members of the "Zhong" generation, such as Zhongchao, Zhongyi, and Zhonger, who had not yet embarked on the path of cultivation, were summoned.

This was the first time Xu Fugui had gathered so many members of the Xu family together.

Xu Fugui stood on a large rock, and the people in front of him stood in several rows according to seniority and age.

Zhongchao, Zhongyi, and the others were understandably excited, as this was their first time attending a family meeting to discuss important matters. Previously, the Xu family would never inform those of them who weren't cultivators about any major events.

"The reason for gathering everyone here today is to discuss the matter of re-establishing the clan rules."

Xu Fugui spoke.

Long ago, he established three clan rules.

Times have changed, and the clan rules are no longer applicable. Back then, in order to conceal the secret of the "Five Elements Stance Technique," he set the rule that clan members should not test their spiritual roots without authorization, nor should they worship immortal masters outside the clan.

“In the past, there were fewer people in the Xu family, and not so many rules. Everyone loved each other.” But recently, something happened…

Xu Fugui sighed deeply, looked at Xiao'an and Zhongsi with a complicated expression, and told them about Li Kun.

Upon hearing this, everyone present turned their gaze to Xiao'an and Zhongsi, their expressions filled with surprise and confusion.

Xu Xiaoniu was shocked. Was his grandson Likun being treated differently?

He looked at Xiao'an. Was it made by his fifth brother's family?
Xu Xiaoan stood there, stunned, his face instantly turning red with embarrassment. His son and daughter-in-law had done such a thing?
In fact, Xu Zhongsi felt very wronged because he didn't know that he hadn't done it.

But as Sun Fang's husband, he has to bear some responsibility.

"Let me first state a few clan rules. All members of the Xu family must abide by these clan rules and use them to educate their children and grandchildren."

Xu Fugui spoke, once again drawing everyone's attention.

"First rule: All members of the Xu family must be filial to their elders, respect the elderly and care for the young, and must not disobey their elders or bully the weak!"

This cannot be called a "rule" because it lacks specific penalties and is not detailed enough.

However, Xu Fugui still listed this as the first family rule, which shows that he attaches great importance to the family traditions of the Xu family.

Under any circumstances, this is the most important thing for the Xu family.

"There is a second rule. No one may enter brothels, gambling dens, opium dens or similar places. Violators will be severely punished! First-time offenders will be imprisoned for at least three years, and repeat offenders will be imprisoned for five to ten years."

This content remains unchanged.

Being "confined to solitary confinement" is no different from being imprisoned.

"The third rule is that all members of the Xu family, regardless of whether they are legitimate or illegitimate, noble or lowly, shall be treated equally!"
He cannot take concubines, but he can marry a second wife, or remarry.

Xu Fugui modified this clan rule. Although it still prohibited taking concubines, it allowed marrying "equal wives," which meant two wives of equal status.

He forbade his clansmen from taking concubines in order to prevent jealousy, rivalry, and conflicts between legitimate and illegitimate children.

"Article 4: No male member of the Xu family may marry into the Xu family, and no female member may marry into the Xu family."

Xu Fugui had not explicitly stated before that this was for the growth of the family's precious tree.

Currently, the Xu family only has one woman, Zhongxi. She is a Foundation Establishment cultivator and is still very young, with no intention of getting married or having children.

But as the Xu family grows, there will definitely be female members.

For the sake of the family's precious lineage, female members of the clan are considered descendants of the Xu family, but after they marry other men, their offspring are no longer considered to be of the Xu family bloodline.

To ensure the purity of the Xu family bloodline, Xu Fugui had no choice but to establish such a clan rule.

The people present did not understand why there was such a clan rule, but they did not question it and followed Xu Fugui's idea.

"Also, let's choose a family head for our Xu family. This isn't a family rule, it's something we'll discuss with you."

Choose a head of the family who is of good character and capable of managing all family affairs.

The selection of the head of the family is not based on seniority, nor does he/she need to be the strongest or highest-ranking member of the clan. The most important thing is that he/she can fairly manage the distribution of various resources within the clan and arrange the clan's daily life, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

Everyone knew perfectly well that the purpose of electing a family head was to prevent a recurrence of what happened to Sun Fang.

The Xu family is still small, so choosing a family head won't be difficult.

But in a few decades, the Xu family will have a lot to manage and worry about. If they don't have the ability, they certainly won't be able to handle it.

Bearing such a heavy responsibility and wielding considerable power within the clan, the selection of this head of the family cannot be made lightly.

Xu Fugui felt that the more important thing was to take advantage of the small number of clansmen now to set a framework for the development of the Xu family, so as to avoid chaos in the future.

"What do you think?"

His gaze swept over the crowd.

The group looked at each other, and no one spoke for a moment.

The "head of the household" knew it was a troublesome matter, and they didn't want to bother with it, nor did they have any good suggestions.

Seeing that no one spoke up, Xu Xiaoniu said, "Father, you are the most suitable person to be the head of the family now."

Xu Xiaohou chimed in, "Yes, Father, you're in charge personally."

"..."

Xu Fugui did not want to be the head of the family, otherwise he would not have been a hands-off manager and left the family affairs to Xiao'an and others.

He was getting old and his aptitude was too poor. He wanted to seize the opportunity to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and didn't have time to be the head of the family.

“Being the head of the family isn’t a free job. There are also people who keep accounts, manage resources such as spiritual plants and pills, manage medicinal herb fields, and so on. As long as you work for the family, you can receive spirit stones, just like working for the imperial court and receiving a salary.”

Xu Fugui's suggestion was reasonable, and he hoped it would encourage everyone to volunteer.

Sure enough, everyone became interested upon hearing "receive spirit stones".

Nowadays, there are more and more cultivators in the Xu family who practice immortality, making spirit stones very precious.

Zhonglei suggested, "Grandpa, I have an idea. Just like the imperial examination for selecting civil officials, we can have all those who want to be the head of the family take the exam. We can comprehensively assess their mathematical abilities, cultural knowledge, strength, and level of understanding, and then select two or three of the most outstanding ones. Then you can decide which one to choose, Grandpa."

"That's a good idea."

Xu Fugui nodded.

There aren't many members of the Xu family right now. He knows his grandsons of the "Zhong" generation fairly well, but he doesn't know them as well as those of the "Li" generation. As the family grows, it will be even less likely he'll know everyone.

Therefore, this assessment and selection method is very suitable.

"After that, we will discuss and decide on the criteria for selecting the family head, as well as the final selection of the candidate, and incorporate the rules for selecting the family head into the clan rules!"

Xu Fugui said.

Anything ambiguous may involve personal feelings and relationships. Only well-defined, clear rules leave no loopholes.

This was Xu Fugui's initial idea: to establish clear rules for everything, and for everyone to follow those rules.

"Is there anything else you can discuss together?"

he asked.

Xu Zhongchuan thought of something and said, "Lijin has reached the age of marriage, and recently we have been looking for a wife for him. Many in-laws have asked me if the wives who marry into our family can practice our Five Elements Stance Kung Fu."

They also want to practice martial arts and cultivate immortality so they can live for several more decades.

Grandpa, can they practice?

"Ok?"

Xu Fugui hadn't anticipated this at all.

He thought about it for a moment; it seemed possible, but not quite right.

"What do you guys think?"

He wanted to hear everyone's opinions.

Standing in the crowd, Zhong Huai spoke up, saying loudly, "That's not right! So, when they marry into my Xu family, are they here to live a peaceful life, or are they aiming to cultivate spiritual roots and become immortals?"

“I think it’s fine. Who doesn’t want to cultivate immortality? Even if they come here to cultivate immortality, they’ll be married into the Xu family and become one of us. As long as it’s not spread outside, the Five Elements Stance Technique will remain with the Xu family.”

"If it were possible, the number of people who wanted to marry into the Xu family would probably be so large that even Hundred Valleys Mountain couldn't accommodate them all, haha."

"..."

Zhonghuai's concerns were similar to Xu Fugui's.

After careful consideration, Xu Fugui said, "Let's forget it. Any woman who marries into my Xu family is not allowed to practice the Five Elements Stance Technique. This should be included in the clan rules."

(End of this chapter)