From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 231 The Body of a Spiritual Being
"Madam, I misspoke, it was my fault..."

Chu Luo lowered her head and sincerely apologized.

He, a dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator, had no face at home and was often scolded and even insulted by Chu Shuyue. The term "son-in-law who lives with his wife's family" had been associated with him for over a hundred years, and Chu Shuyue still brought it up from time to time.

He had long since become accustomed to it, even numb to it.

"Humph!"

Chu Shuyue rolled her eyes, her expression not softening at all despite her husband's apology.

She was a controlling and jealous woman. Since marrying Chu Luo, all the young maids around her had been replaced by old nannies, and Chu Luo was only allowed to have male servants around him, not maids.

She also sent people to keep an eye on Chu Luo, preventing him from having any opportunity to be alone with any woman.

However, as Chu Luo's strength increased, he became bolder and bolder, even daring to suggest taking a concubine!
This undoubtedly angered Chu Shuyue.

"Madam, let's focus on getting our son's wedding done smoothly first. We can talk about other things later. Let's not make a fool of ourselves in front of the guests."

Chu Luo tried to persuade her.

"I'll let you off for now, we'll settle the score later!"

Chu Shuyue knew that today was not the day to have a conflict with Chu Luo, and she couldn't embarrass herself in front of outsiders.

The two then waited quietly.

It was still early, and according to the wedding ceremony, the groom's parents would only be able to make their appearance after their son returned from fetching the bride.

Thinking of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law and then of her son, Chu Luo couldn't help but lament, "What a waste!"

His foolish son has no idea about the mysteries of women.

Back in the beginning, Chu Luo was born into an ordinary farming family. He worked in the fields every day, rising with the sun and resting with the sunset, just like any other farmer. He never thought about cultivating immortality.

The Chu family offered a free spiritual root test and discovered Chu Luo's three true spiritual roots.

Since then, Chu Luo's life has undergone earth-shattering changes.

For a rogue cultivator to successfully cultivate immortality is extremely difficult, as they lack cultivation techniques, spirit stones, and connections. Fortunately, the Chu family is willing to help Chu Luo, on the condition that Chu Luo is willing to marry into the Chu family.

His wife, whom he married into the family, was Chu Shuyue, an eighty-year-old Qi Refining cultivator at the time.

Chu Luo was eighteen years old at the time.

He agreed without hesitation, marrying into a Foundation Establishment cultivation family—a dream that countless ordinary people could only dream of.

As for Chu Shuyue's age? He didn't care. Qi Refining cultivators have long lifespans and don't look old even at eighty.

Later, he did feel some regret. Chu Shuyue's controlling nature was too strong, and she would often insult him and deliberately belittle him. Once he entered the Chu family, there was no way to leave; he could only endure it.

He endured for over a hundred years, even after Chu Shuyue and he had both become Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Chu Luo has only ever had one woman in his life, Chu Shuyue; he has never had the opportunity to "meet" other women.

Logically speaking, after Chu Shuyue achieved Foundation Establishment, she underwent a transformation of her body through tendon and marrow cleansing, regaining her youth. In terms of appearance and temperament, she should be far superior to ordinary people.

However, Chu Luo felt no sexual desire for his wife, Chu Shuyue. Seeing her face only filled him with disgust. Furthermore, a voice in his head constantly reminded him that his wife was over sixty years older than him.

He endured it back then for the sake of the Chu family's resources, but that doesn't mean he didn't harbor any resentment.

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.

"Master, Master... Something terrible has happened!"

Just as Chu Shuyue and Chu Luo were waiting for the wedding ceremony to begin, someone hurriedly delivered a message.

"how?"

"The bride! The bride is gone!"

"what?"

Chu Shuyue and Chu Luo's expressions changed simultaneously, and they rushed out of the main hall.

At the same time, Chu Shuyue spread her divine sense, covering an area of ​​four or five miles, but did not find her future daughter-in-law.

The two arrived at the wedding scene and found everyone in a state of chaos, searching everywhere.

Their youngest son, Chu Qiutuan, dressed in a festive bright red dragon and phoenix robe, was hiding under the table, grinning sheepishly.

"Son, come out."

Chu Shuyue sensed him and told him to crawl out from under the table.

Chu Qiutuan peeked out from under the table: "Mom, we're playing hide-and-seek, and they can't find me, haha."

"You come out first."

Chu Shuyue felt helpless yet heartbroken; after all, this was her own son, her own flesh and blood.

Looking at his son's simple-minded appearance, Chu Luo couldn't help but feel pity and disgust. Three true spiritual roots—how could they be in one foolish son?

He had three spiritual roots, and he married Chu Shuyue, who had four spiritual roots, but they didn't have a child with spiritual roots, so Chu Shuyue was anxious.

When Chu Shuyue became pregnant with Chu Qiutuan, she was already quite old, almost two hundred years old, and took all sorts of elixirs and tonics to protect the pregnancy.

Three-drug.

Chu Luo felt that the reason Chu Qiutuan was so simple-minded was because Chu Shuyue had taken too much medicine, which affected the fetus's development.

After a long while, the Chu family searched all over Ru'an Mountain, but still couldn't find any trace of the bride.

According to the investigation, it is very likely that the bride was not alive last night.

"Master, what should we do?"

The crowd gathered around Chu Shuyue, at a loss for what to do.

"What else can we do? Search! Everyone go out and search! We can't even keep an entire adult under our watch..."

Chu Shuyue was genuinely angry, to the point that she lost her composure.

She usually only yells and scolds Chu Luo, but she would never yell at her clansmen like that.

The group dispersed and went their separate ways to search for the bride in various directions around Ru'an Mountain.

Actually, it's not their fault that the bride got lost; they just didn't expect her to leave without a word.

Prior to this, the bride had never shown any unusual behavior.

"What are you standing there for? Go find it too!"

Chu Shuyue glanced sideways at Chu Luo.

"Well, I'll go right away."

Chu Luo said, then flew away. He thought to himself: If the bride hadn't married his foolish son Chu Qiutuan, she probably wouldn't have run away from the wedding.

At this moment, only a few maids and servants remained by Chu Shuyue's side.

On the other side, a large number of guests who had come to attend the wedding banquet were unaware of what was happening and were waiting to witness the wedding.

For Chu Shuyue, losing face was nothing; the biggest loss was the bride that the Chu family had managed to find by chance!
The bride's name was Du Wanyun. She was discovered in a mountain village in the neighboring Wutong County after the Chu family occupied Ru'an Mountain.

Every so often, the Chu family would conduct free spiritual root testing for the villagers in the mountain village.

The reason for doing this is that it makes it easier to find potential cultivators with spiritual roots among a large number of ordinary people. Many farmers in poor mountain villages do not have the concept of testing spiritual roots, nor are they willing to spend money to have their spiritual roots tested.

The Chu family's search is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but occasionally they'll find something. For example, Chu Luo was discovered this way. These potential cultivators with spiritual roots will receive funding from the Chu family.

Of course, this comes with conditions. Ordinary people with good spiritual root talents, such as those with four-element spiritual roots or three-element true spiritual roots, will obtain the resources of the Chu family and be nurtured by the Chu family in exchange for marrying into or becoming a son-in-law of the Chu family.

Some people would reach an agreement with the Chu family: to receive a small amount of resources, or to work for the Chu family for a certain number of years after reaching the early stage of Qi Refining.

This is a win-win situation.

Those mortals who have spiritual roots but lack connections can obtain the initial resources, making their journey on the path of cultivation much easier and reducing the risk of being deceived or cheated.

The Chu family, on the other hand, invests a small amount of resources but can reap greater returns later. Of course, they also bear the risk of "investment failure."

Du Wanyun, the child bride that the Chu family found for Chu Qiutuan, was also discovered in this way.

Du Wanyun has a mixed spiritual root of four elements, which seems unremarkable. However, the person who tested her spiritual root was an elderly female cultivator who discovered her special physique: the Spiritual Pregnancy Body.

The Spirit-Born Body is a rare constitution: the first child born will definitely have a spiritual root, and the worst spiritual root aptitude is equal to that of the better of the two parents. There is also a very small probability that the child's spiritual root aptitude will surpass that of the parents.

In this vast world, among all living beings, there are all sorts of amazing physical constitutions.

For example, a physique that can cultivate the "Jade Maiden Mysterious Yin Technique" even without spiritual roots.

This "spirit-bearing body" is a constitution that is extremely useful for the development of the family.

The Chu family was fortunate enough to discover Du Wanyun, who possessed the body of a spirit mother, and naturally they would keep her firmly under control. This was an opportunity that the Chu family had only seen once in thousands of years!
If Du Wanyun and Chu Qiutuan were to marry, Chu Qiutuan would have a three-elemental true spiritual root, and their first child would at least also have a true spiritual root, and there was even a chance that the child would go further and become a genius with an earth spiritual root!
With dual earth elemental roots, this is truly a prodigy; even breathing can increase one's cultivation.

If there are spiritual lands or spiritual stone resources, geniuses with earth spiritual roots are even more powerful, and their cultivation growth rate is ten times that of ordinary cultivators.

When breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, those with Earth Spirit Roots do not need any Three-in-One Pills or Foundation Establishment Pills; they can successfully establish their foundation without any bottlenecks simply by relying on their spiritual root aptitude.

This is the lower limit of the Earth Spirit Root.

The upper limit is Golden Core True Person!
If the Chu family could produce a Golden Core cultivator, it would be a great achievement for the entire clan, allowing them to ascend to another level.

Such an opportunity, and the Chu family squandered it!
How could Chu Shuyue not be anxious?

Very few people in the Chu family knew about Du Wanyun's secret.

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.

Wutong County is about 200 li away from Ruanshan Mountain.

Taking advantage of the quiet of the night, Du Wanyun fled Ru'an Mountain and escaped back to her hometown of Wutong County in one night.

She was unaware of the immense trouble her "elopement" had caused.

Du Wanyun was unaware of her "spirit-inflicted body." The Chu family had never told her about it, only about her cultivation aptitude with four mixed spiritual roots.

She is only eighteen years old this year. She was discovered and brought back to the Chu family six years ago when she was twelve.

She can't be blamed for running away from the marriage; the Chu family didn't tell her beforehand that she was going to marry Chu Qiutuan while she was cultivating in the Chu family.

During her six years in the Chu family, she practiced martial arts while also working and cultivating spiritual plants.

She practices a water-based martial art, which has the effect of nourishing all things and healing wounds, and can also nourish plants. In addition to nourishing the spiritual plants of Ru'an Mountain, she occasionally casts spells to irrigate farmland or water gardens.

Her current cultivation level is Qi Refining Level 3.

Within the Chu family, she relied solely on the second-tier spiritual land of Ru'an Mountain for cultivation, rarely receiving spiritual stone resources from the Chu family.

She had thought that the price for the Chu family's help was for her to work and contribute to the Chu family. Unexpectedly, a few days ago, the Chu family suddenly told her to marry Chu Qiutuan.

This was completely different from what she had imagined.

She recognized Chu Qiutuan; he was the youngest son of the Chu family patriarch, a simple-minded and somewhat foolish man with the mental capacity of a five- or six-year-old child.

Du Wanyun didn't want to marry Chu Qiutuan; she didn't want to sacrifice her entire life for cultivating immortality.

She was only eighteen years old. Her imagined married life was to find a cultivator in a similar situation to her, earn a meager amount of spirit stones together, and live a carefree life. Afterward, she would have a child or two and live out her life in peace.

Upon suddenly learning that she was to marry Chu Qiutuan, Du Wanyun's worldview crumbled.

She tentatively inquired whether repaying the Chu family's kindness would exempt her from marrying Chu Qiutuan. The result was: she had no choice.

She has to get married, whether she wants to or not.

The Chu family had been kind to her, but she was also well aware of their power. With the influence of a Foundation Establishment family, she had to do whatever they asked of her.

After making inquiries from various sources, she finally understood that the Chu family's initial plan was to train her to become their daughter-in-law.

Perhaps her husband is uncertain; even if it's not Chu Qiutuan, there are other members of the Chu family. But as a rogue cultivator with mixed spiritual roots in four elements, she will definitely marry into the Chu family and bear children for them continuously.

This is the purpose for which the Chu family nurtured her.

She felt deceived, resentful, and saddened by the inability to control her own destiny.

On the surface, she agreed to marry Chu Qiutuan.

But in the early hours of her wedding day, while everyone was busy with the wedding and neglecting her, she ran away.

In her view, "running away from the marriage" was a willful act of rebellion.

She felt that she didn't owe the Chu family much, and that she would use the spirit stones she had saved up to repay the debt of gratitude she owed them.

At that time, all grudges between the two parties will be wiped clean.

She was too young and naive, and because she did not know the significance of the "spirit-bearing body" to the Chu family, she wishfully thought that she could repay the Chu family with spirit stones.

"Huh, what's this in my house?"

When Du Wanyun returned to her hometown in the mountain village, she found that her courtyard had become very dilapidated, with cobwebs under the eaves, and a corner of the wall had collapsed from the rain, with bricks and stones scattered everywhere.

From the outside, it looks like no one has lived here for several years.

Her family used to live in poverty, with only a few dilapidated brick houses and a simple courtyard.

She knocked on the door of the neighbor's courtyard: "Hey, is Grandpa Zhang home?"

The frail old man opened the courtyard gate and saw Du Wanyun: "Young lady, who are you?"

"Uncle Zhang, it's me, Wanyun. Where did my family move to?"

She was twelve when she left home, and now she's eighteen; she's changed a lot.

The old man quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Immortal."

Du Wanyun's name had long been known throughout the village; she was a legendary "fairy."

"Your family moved to the county town three or four years ago, and they're living a very comfortable life. Haven't they written to you?"

Where in the county seat?

Du Wanyun occasionally kept in touch with her family by letter, but the letters didn't mention moving.

Besides, where would her family get the money to move to the county town?
The old man recalled, "In the north of the city, there is the largest Qingyun Winery, and next to it is a large mansion, which is your current home. I have been there twice, and it is truly magnificent. Now that you are an immortal, many people are lining up to give money to your family. When one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

"Thank you, Uncle Zhang."

Upon learning her home address, Du Wanyun did not rush there. Instead, she first found a quiet place to rest and recover her spiritual energy.

She was only at the third level of Qi Refining, and after using her Lightness Technique to travel a long distance in one night, her spiritual energy was completely depleted.

Half a day later, she rushed to the county town.

(End of this chapter)