From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 232 Wanted Demonic Cultivator
Wutong County Town.

The magnificent five-courtyard mansion is the Du family mansion.

The patriarch of the Du family was Du Wanyun's father. However, he was too old to manage the household affairs, so Du Wanyun's eldest brother, Du Tiansheng, was in charge.

At midday, Du Tiansheng was taking a nap in his bedroom, embracing his newly acquired concubine.

In just a few years, he has shed his image as a poor peasant in the village and become a rich man who has everything handed to him.

Just then, several auras descended from the sky and landed in the Du family's residence.

"Du Tiansheng".

The sudden sound seemed to explode in Du Tiansheng's ears, startling him awake.

"Who?"

He was filled with doubt and confusion. Who had disturbed his peaceful dream for no reason?
The maidservant rushed into the bedroom without knocking: "Master, a celestial being has flown down from the sky and is calling your name from outside."

Fairy?

Du Tiansheng was startled and hurriedly dressed before rushing out the door.

Of the three immortals who came, Du Tiansheng recognized the one in the lead as Chu Lingfeng of the Chu family.

"This humble citizen, Du Tiansheng, pays respects to Immortal Lingfeng and to both of you immortals."

He saluted respectfully.

Speaking of Chu Lingfeng, he has done the Du family a great favor.

Six years ago, Du Wanyun was found to have four mixed spiritual roots by the Chu family. After being taken to the Chu family, the Du family's status in the village rose sharply, and they stood tall.

Everyone knew that a celestial being would appear in the Du family in the future, and they treated the Du family with great respect.

But Du Wanyun knew that she was just a rogue cultivator being used by the Chu family. She relied on the Chu family's spiritual land to cultivate and then did odd jobs for the Chu family. Her status was equivalent to that of a Qi Refining stage servant in the Chu family.

In her letters home, she urged her family not to bully others because of her status.

The Du family were honest and law-abiding farmers who would never bully others.

The wealthy landowners in their village didn't care about Du Wanyun's status as a cultivator. Her family had some influence in Wutong County, with members who were martial arts grandmasters and martial arts innate masters.

The villagers see Du Wanyun as a high and mighty immortal, but in their eyes she is just an ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivator who is exploited by the Chu family.

On one occasion, the landlord's family and the Du family had a dispute over renting land.

In the past, the Du family would have tolerated it; being oppressed by landlords was not a one-off occurrence, but a common phenomenon.

But Du Tiansheng was indignant that time. He had immortals in his family, so why should he be bullied by the landlord? So he went to Ru'an Mountain and asked his sister Du Wanyun to stand up for justice.

He didn't see Du Wanyun, but instead saw Chu Lingfeng.

Chu Lingfeng, with his Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivation, was related to Chu Shuyue as her nephew. He knew that his aunt, Chu Shuyue, was grooming Du Wanyun to be her daughter-in-law.

Were Du Wanyun's family members bullied by the village landlord?
Chu Lingfeng felt this was a disgrace to the Chu family, so he immediately rushed to Wutong County and, without distinguishing right from wrong or asking any questions, slaughtered the entire landlord's family.

To cultivators in Foundation Establishment families, mortal families are no different from ants; they can be killed at will. As long as it's not a large-scale massacre that offends the Demon Subduing Division, it's fine.

All the landlord's land and property went to the Du family.

Even the landlord's large mansion in the city was taken over by the Du family.

This outcome was completely unexpected for the Du family, who had only intended for Du Wanyun to seek an explanation; they never imagined it would lead to the annihilation of the entire landlord family. From then on, everyone was genuinely afraid of the Du family, and the villagers were abuzz with gossip.

The Du family then moved to the county town.

Du Wanyun's parents felt that the matter was shameful, so they never told her about it in their letters.

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.

"Du Tiansheng, has your sister returned today?"

Chu Lingfeng brought two late-stage Qi Refining members from the Chu family to search for Du Wanyun, who had run away from her arranged marriage.

As Du Wanyun's home, this place was naturally a key target for the search.

"My sister?"

Du Tiansheng was puzzled, not knowing what had happened, and shook his head blankly: "Reporting to the Immortal, my sister has not returned since she went to your family's Ru'an Mountain. What happened to her?"

With Chu Lingfeng's spiritual power at the ninth level of Qi Refining, he could tell that Du Tiansheng was not lying.

He thought for a moment, and since Du Wanyun hadn't shown up, he couldn't disturb her, so he made up an excuse, saying, "Oh, it's nothing serious. She said she was going home to visit her family in the next couple of days, and I happen to have a task that I need her to complete, so I came to find her."

That's strange, why didn't she go home?

Going home to visit relatives?

Du Tiansheng had no doubts and said happily, "Perhaps he's still on his way. The immortal can wait at my house; I'll send people to prepare..."

Chu Lingfeng waved his hand, he didn't have time to waste here: "If she comes back, send someone to deliver the message immediately, this task is quite important."

"I got it."

Du Tiansheng nodded repeatedly.

"let's go."

Chu Lingfeng waved his hand, and flew away with two clansmen who were at the late stage of Qi Refining.

The three of them did not fly far.

"That's strange. Where did Du Wanyun go after running away from her marriage? What an ingrate! She became a Qi Refining cultivator in Ru'an Mountain, but she wouldn't even marry my cousin."
So what if she's a little silly? It's a blessing to marry him!
"Keep an eye on things near the Du family mansion. If Du Wanyun shows up, take her down immediately."

Chu Lingfeng was unaware of Du Wanyun's spirit-inflicted body and assumed she was there to capture a runaway bride. He sent one of his two subordinates to keep watch near the Du family mansion while he flew elsewhere to search.

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.

"Those three people, are they from the Chu family?"

When Du Wanyun arrived near the Du family mansion, she saw the three people fly away from the sky.

She was only at the third level of Qi Refining, and couldn't fly using Qi. She couldn't even maintain her lightness technique for long. When she arrived in the county town, in order to avoid attracting attention, she pretended to be an ordinary person and took a carriage to the Du family mansion.

Before she could even go inside, she saw Chu Lingfeng and the other two leave.

"They're moving so fast, are they really determined to force me to marry Chu Qiutuan?"

Du Wanyun realized that the Du family mansion was likely being targeted by the Chu family.

As her family, the Chu family would definitely send people to guard this place.

Thinking of this, Du Wanyun quickly left the Du family mansion and found a secluded inn.

"Sigh, I was planning to meet with them before leaving, but now I won't be able to."

Du Wanyun didn't intend to stay at home; she just wanted to see her parents and family before leaving Yuanli County.

She had lived in Ru'an Mountain of the Chu family for many years and had no understanding of the situation of rogue cultivators in the outside world. She thought that with her status as a rogue cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining, she could do well.

Her plan was to improve her strength to the mid-stage or even late-stage of Qi Refining in another place, accumulate five hundred spirit stones, and then return to Yuanli County to repay the Chu family's kindness with five hundred spirit stones.

"My family has enough to eat and wear now, which has eased my worries. I hope I can come back soon and take good care of my parents."

She had no idea how her family had suddenly become so wealthy; that magnificent mansion must have cost a fortune. Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about her family lacking food or clothing, so she could leave with peace of mind.

She wrote a letter to her family, briefly explaining what had happened, and before leaving, she had a courier deliver it to the Du family mansion, and then she left Wutong County.

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.

"Sir, someone has delivered a letter. It is unsigned and said to be for you."

The maidservant relayed a message to Du Tiansheng.

"What letter?"

Du Tiansheng did not realize the seriousness of the matter until he finished reading the contents of the letter.

"This... a runaway bride?!"

He was so shocked that his whole body trembled, but he dared not show it. He stiffened his body, silently put away the letter, and pretended not to know anything.

Chu Lingfeng came to capture his sister!
His sister did not appear, but only sent a letter.

This is how to do?
To honestly hand the letter to Chu Lingfeng? Wouldn't that be betraying his sister?

But what if Chu Lingfeng finds out?

"Wanyun, Wanyun, you've really gotten yourself into big trouble."

Du Tiansheng had witnessed Chu Lingfeng's methods firsthand; he was a ruthless character who could wipe out an entire family without a word. ————

a few days later.

Ru'an Mountain.

"Master, we have searched all over Changyue County, but we have not found it."

"We searched Wutong County from top to bottom, but we couldn't find it."

"We've searched the area for three or four hundred miles around; we've practically searched every single house."

"..."

Chu Shuyue and Chu Luo stood in the middle, surrounded by many members of the Chu family.

Chu Shuyue was in a bad mood and looked a little tired. She and Chu Luo hadn't been idle for the past few days. As the only two Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Chu family, they had been searching outside non-stop for days.

Foundation Establishment cultivators possess divine sense, making them far more efficient at finding people.

If it were a Qi Refining cultivator, as long as Du Wanyun was careful, she could very well slip away right under their noses.

Several days have passed and they still haven't found her. Du Wanyun has likely escaped to the vicinity of Ru'an Mountain, which is hundreds of miles away.

However, given the Chu family's power and influence, searching the entire area within a radius of four hundred miles was already the limit of human capacity; there were no more people to search an even larger area.

“Master, that Du Wanyun is an ungrateful wretch. We’ll remember this grudge and make her suffer the consequences if we encounter her again. As for Qiu Tuan’s marriage, let’s find someone else. It’s not that that woman is unacceptable.”

No one else knew about Du Wanyun's special constitution.

Now that things have come to this, Chu Shuyue has to reveal the secret, otherwise Du Wanyun's escape will render the secret meaningless.

"Du Wanyun is not an ordinary person with four spiritual roots; she has a rare spirit-nurturing physique. Our Chu family had an ancestor with a spirit-nurturing physique four or five hundred years ago, which is recorded in our family history."

The person who examined Du Wanyun's spiritual root back then noticed that her physical characteristics were the same as those of a spirit-bearing body recorded in our clan's history.

A body conceived as a spirit?

The Chu family members present were all puzzled. What kind of physique was this?
Those who had read the clan history said in unison, "I remember that part of the clan history. Our ancestor, who had a pseudo-spiritual root of five elements, married a son-in-law with a true spiritual root who moved into his family. Their first son was a true spiritual root."

He possessed exceptional talent and eventually cultivated to the eighth level of the Foundation Establishment stage, making him one of the top family heads in the history of our Chu family.

The legend says that a child born from a spirit-bearing body will always have a spiritual root, and that the child's spiritual root aptitude will be at least equal to the one with the better spiritual root among the parents. Qiu Tuan has a true spiritual root, so her offspring will at least also have a true spiritual root, and might even surpass it…”

Upon learning of the miraculous power of the "Spiritual Body," everyone realized what a great opportunity their Chu family had lost.

"this!"

Many people regretted that they should have searched for Du Wanyun more carefully before.

Because they were unaware of its significance to the family, some people were somewhat perfunctory in carrying out the search.

"Master, you should have told us sooner."

"Now that we can't find them, what can we do?"

"With so many people talking, what if word gets out? The head of the family did the right thing."

"What a tremendous opportunity this was, and we just let it slip by like this?"

"No, we must find them, even if we have to dig three feet into the ground!"

"..."

The Chu family members' attitude was completely different from before; this opportunity was too important.

Chu Shuyue pondered for a moment, then suddenly spoke, her voice louder than anyone else's: "Quiet, listen to me. This matter is of great importance. You just need to know it. Continue to search for Du Wanyun's whereabouts with all your might."

If this spirit-bearing body falls into a Foundation Establishment family, it can at least give birth to a true spiritual root descendant, the significance of which is self-evident.

If the Golden Core families in the prefectural city, who possess earth-spirit roots, were to find out, they would go crazy for it. Remember, keep it a secret!

Our Chu family isn't powerful enough. I have some connections in the Demon Subduing Division, so I'll ask them for help.

It will come at a price, but it's worth it if we can find Du Wanyun!

"Yes, it's worth the price for a clansman with a true spiritual root."

The Chu family members agreed.

The importance of a clan member with three true spiritual roots to a family is, in some ways, even greater than that of a Foundation Establishment Pill!

Chu Luo does indeed possess three true spiritual roots, but he is an outsider, a son-in-law, and does not have the blood of the Chu family flowing through his veins.

As for the Chu family, Chu Qiutuan, who possesses a true spiritual root, is the only true member of the Chu family, as he carries the bloodline of the Chu 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.

Yuanli City, the Demon Subduing Division Office.

Dozens of people were gathered in the spacious and imposing main hall of the government office.

They were seated according to seniority and status.

Sitting on the high platform, facing the crowd, was Fan Kongye, the deputy director of the Demon Subduing Division.

Xu Xiaoniu, who was at the second level of Foundation Establishment, sat in a position towards the back. Beside him were reserve Demon-Subduing Guards at the first and second levels of Foundation Establishment.

Under the jurisdiction of the Prefectural Government's Demon Subduing Division, there are only twelve Demon Subduing Guards.

All twelve of them were in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

As for the others, they were all reserve Demon-Slaying Guards. They could only be promoted and fill the vacancy when one of the Demon-Slaying Guard positions became available.

Fan Kongye summoned everyone here to arrange an important task.

"The selection of celestial officials in the entire Zhennan Prefecture is held once every ten years. This year's selection is about to begin. The Prefect has instructed that our Demon Subduing Division should be extra diligent recently to ensure that there are no demonic cultivators or tribulation cultivators causing trouble in Yuanli Prefecture, so as not to affect the selection of celestial officials..."

The selection of celestial officials takes place once every ten years, choosing those with exceptional talent in cultivating immortality to become "celestial officials" and granting them official titles.

There is only one hard requirement: monks under the age of thirty.

There are no requirements regarding spiritual roots, meaning that people with five-element pseudo-spiritual roots or four-element mixed spiritual roots can apply to participate in the selection.

However, in reality, selection was based on merit, with only twenty or thirty celestial officials chosen each time from the entire Yuanli County.

Once every ten years, twenty or thirty people are selected, but there are probably thousands of young cultivators who emerge during those ten years.

Among these people were independent cultivators and members of immortal cultivation families.

With such a low selection rate, 90% of the people can be eliminated in just the first round of rough screening.

All those chosen to become celestial officials possess three types of true spiritual roots. Hence the saying that "three types of true spiritual roots" is the threshold for becoming a celestial official.

In fact, having three true spiritual roots does not necessarily guarantee becoming a celestial official; one must go through another round of selection and stand out from the competition.

The selection of celestial officials not only selects celestial officials from Yuanli County, but those with exceptional talent may also be selected to go to Zhennan Prefecture to serve as celestial officials in the prefectural city.

"The selection of celestial officials has finally begun!"

As Xu Xiaoniu listened to Fan Kongye's words, he thought of Xu Yiqing from their Xu family.

Yiqing is twenty-three years old this year. According to seniority, he is a great-grandson and possesses the true spiritual roots of the metal, wood, and water elements!
He had already inquired and knew that with his qualifications, he could at least be selected as a celestial official in Yuanli County. As for going to Zhennan Prefecture? He had heard that the requirements were extremely stringent, so he didn't hold out much hope for that.

Yiqing was selected as a celestial official in Yuanli County, so the Xu family now has two celestial officials.

After Fan Kongye finished assigning tasks to everyone on the high platform and was about to let them disperse, someone barged straight in.

It was another deputy director of the Demon Subduing Division: Jin Kuiyuan.

After entering the main hall of the government office, he whispered a few words in Fan Kongye's ear.

The two whispered a few words, and then Jin Kuiyuan announced loudly to everyone: "There is an arrest warrant for you all. It is a demonic cultivator in the Qi Refining stage who has committed atrocities in Changyue County, killing at least a hundred people."

This demonic cultivator is named Du Wanyun. She has a cultivation level of around the third level of Qi Refining. She is cunning and ruthless.

To prevent him from escaping Yuanli County, a wanted notice with a reward of one Sanhe Dan has been issued and sent to various county towns.

Here are the portraits; each of you come and take one.

A demonic cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining?
A reward for the Three-in-One Elixir?
This demonic cultivator is quite capable.

As Xu Xiaoniu pondered this, he followed the others forward to receive the portraits of the demonic cultivators.

In fact, the Chu family wanted to offer a reward of a Foundation Establishment Pill, but Jin Kuiyuan felt it was too abrupt and changed it to a Three-in-One Pill.

(End of this chapter)