From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 233 Water, Fire, and Earth Spiritual Roots

Xu Xiaoniu received the wanted poster, which featured a portrait of a young and beautiful woman with almond-shaped eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, and cherry-red lips.

The portrait artist was highly skilled, capturing her pure and refined temperament.

However, Xu Xiaoniu noticed the contents of the wanted poster: "...If you capture him alive and hand him over to the Demon Subduing Division, you will receive a Three-in-One Pill as a reward. If you kill him, you will receive 100 spirit stones as a reward."

"strangeness."

He had some doubts.

The bounty is far too high for a demonic cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining. The market price of a Three-in-One Pill is at least three thousand spirit stones.

Another issue is the huge difference in rewards between capturing alive and killing, which clearly encourages capturing alive.

Xu Xiaoniu had some doubts about the identity of the demonic cultivator on the wanted poster.

But he didn't bring it up; it wasn't something he should be concerned about. He had been in the county town for over thirty years and had seen similar things many times.

Those who can get the county government's Demon Subduing Division to issue an arrest warrant are not necessarily heinous demonic cultivators, but rather those who have offended a powerful family.

Issuing a bounty under the guise of an arrest warrant was merely a way to settle a personal score for the clan.

The inside information was known only to high-ranking figures such as the Director or Deputy Director of the Demon Subduing Division. Xu Xiaoniu and other reserve Demon Subduing Guards, as well as ordinary Demon Subduing Guards, only needed to follow orders.

The "unusual" nature of this arrest warrant wasn't only noticed by Xu Xiaoniu, but everyone tacitly kept quiet about it.

Everyone carefully put away the wanted poster. If they were lucky enough to run into this person, they could hand him over and receive a Three-in-One Pill.

"Director Fan, congratulations in advance. Your family is about to produce a genius who will be famous throughout Yuanli County in this selection of celestial officials."

"This was said by a third-level Foundation Establishment cultivator preparing to become a Demon Slayer."

His name was Cheng Xingao. Like Xu Xiaoniu and Jiang Hao, he came from a humble background and was a cultivator without the support of any powerful family. He used to be the director of the Demon Subduing Division in Qingping County, and he climbed to that position step by step through his merits.

"Oh? You knew?"

Fan Kongye looked at Cheng Xingao with slight surprise. The fact that a member of his family had dual earth elemental roots had not been made public before, and even within his family, only a few people knew about it.

Cheng Xin Gao said with a fawning smile, "Director Fan, I heard someone from your family mention it a few days ago."

"hehe."

Fan Kongye chuckled lightly: "My great-grandson is still young, and I haven't made it public yet."

"Forehead……"

Cheng Xingao realized he had misspoke and was momentarily embarrassed, unsure of what to do.

Fan Kongye waved his hand: "We're all on the same side, just don't tell anyone."

He knew in truth that the news couldn't be kept secret any longer. The news of this selection of celestial officials would quickly spread throughout Yuanli County.

"Yes Yes Yes."

Cheng Xingao responded repeatedly.

Their conversation drew curious glances from the members of the Demon Extermination Bureau present.

After Fan Kongye left, someone approached Cheng Xingao and asked, "Fellow Daoist Cheng, what brings you to congratulate Director Fan? Has something good happened to the Fan family?"

"Tell us about it, we won't tell anyone else."

"..."

Cheng Xingao realized that Fan Kongye didn't want everyone to know for the time being. Although he didn't know why such good news wasn't being made public, he remained silent and didn't mention the Fan family again.

Seeing that he kept delaying and wouldn't say anything, the crowd lost interest in pressing him and dispersed.

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.

Baihe Mountain.

In the past twenty years, the Xu family has only had three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Although there were a few more clansmen who had reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage, none of them were able to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Take Xu Zhongche, for example. He had already reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage, and a few years ago he took a Three-in-One Pill to try to break through, but he failed to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. His talent in alchemy does not mean that he can easily break through the Foundation Establishment bottleneck; these are two different things.

Given that the Xu family's Five Elements Stance Technique has cultivated five spiritual roots, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage is extremely difficult.

Xu Xiaoniu hadn't been back for a while, and when he returned this time, he found that Xu Xiaohou and Xu Zhongxi had both broken through to the third level of Foundation Establishment.

"Liu Zi, Xiao Xi, you two have both broken through?"

He is still at the second level of Foundation Establishment, and is still some distance away from breaking through.

"Brother, you'll know when you see our father."

Xu Xiaohou kept it a secret.

Xu Xiaoniu scanned the area with his divine sense and found Xu Fugui in the spiritual plant garden of the spiritual land. He floated over and called out, "Father."

Spiritual Plant Garden.

Xu Fugui bent slightly as he fiddled with the spiritual plants.

Upon seeing Xu Xiaoniu arrive, he straightened up: "Da Niu, how's the inquiry about the sacred land going?"

They had previously discussed finding another sacred burial site for the Xu family.

“Father, I’ve inquired around and found two second-tier spiritual sites, but neither is quite suitable.”

The second-tier spiritual land, Jinghua Mountain, was originally occupied by a Foundation Establishment family. However, the patriarch was nearing the end of his life, and there was no one in the family who could reach the Foundation Establishment stage to lead the family. Therefore, they planned to give up the second-tier spiritual land, Jinghua Mountain.

However, Jinghua Mountain is too far from our Tonggu County, 1,600 li away. Also, this family has not only contacted me privately, but also other people, waiting for the right price. They are somewhat greedy, and it will cost a lot of spirit stones to negotiate a deal.

The second-tier spiritual land, Dreamland Island, is quite a good place. The Foundation Establishment family that occupies this spiritual land has seen its power decline sharply over the past hundred years, and now there is only one Foundation Establishment stage patriarch in the family.

Mengze Island is quite large, and among the second-tier spiritual lands in Yuanli County, it is considered one of the highest quality. Their occupation of Mengze Island has attracted the covetousness of many, so they want to find another family to share the island, with each family owning half.

Mengze Island is not close to our Tonggu County either, it's 1,200 li away, and the two families each occupy half of it, which is too inconvenient.

......"

Listening to Xu Xiaoniu's explanation, Xu Fugui made his own calculations.

Indeed, neither of these two second-tier spiritual sites is very good.

However, there is no way that there are suitable second-tier spiritual lands waiting for them to occupy in Yuanli County.

The sacred land was won through struggle.

However, even now, the Xu family still adheres to the principle of "I will not offend others unless they offend me," and will not bully others by taking advantage of their power.

Unlike the Chu family, who could ruthlessly seize the second-tier spiritual land of Ru'an Mountain from other families.

"Father, why don't we settle for second best and find a large, high-quality first-tier spiritual land?"

Xu Xiaoniu suggested.

If there is no second-tier spiritual land, a first-tier spiritual land with a wide area will also be acceptable.

The problem with the Hundred Valleys Mountain spiritual land is that its area is too small to meet the growing needs of the Xu family's immortal cultivators.

Xu Fugui thought for a moment and could only agree to this, so he nodded and said, "That's fine then. You can ask around and see where there are suitable spiritual sites. Oh, and here, take this."

As he spoke, he took out a jade bottle and handed it to Xu Xiaoniu.

"This is?"

"Spiritual Dew, a single drop is equivalent to the spiritual energy of three thousand spirit stones. You are not far from the third level of Foundation Establishment, enough for you to break through the bottleneck."

Spiritual Dew?

The spiritual energy of three thousand spirit stones?
Xu Xiaoniu was surprised; such a vast amount of spiritual energy was indeed enough for him to break through.

After Xu Fugui gave Xu Xiaohou a drop of the Spirit Branch Dew, seeing its remarkable effect, he gave Xu Zhongxi another drop.

Xu Xiaoniu carefully put away the jade bottle containing the spiritual dew and brought up another matter: "Father, the selection of immortal officials is about to begin. With Yiqing's aptitude, there's a high chance he'll be selected."

"Haha, our family is going to have a second celestial official. Tell Yiqing to sign up quickly." Xu Fugui showed a kind elder's smile.

He was very proud of his great-grandson, whose aptitude for the three true spiritual roots was indeed extraordinary.

Xu Yiqing, who is only twenty-three years old, has not used spirit stone resources much. He started cultivating at the age of seven and has reached the sixth level of Qi Refining by relying solely on the spiritual land of Baihe Mountain.

The next step is the late stage of Qi Refining.

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.

Near Yuanli City. The towering Mount Wanren.

This is the highest second-tier spiritual mountain in Yuanli County. It has only one main peak, which is a hundred feet high and soars into the clouds. The surrounding flat and gentle slopes are shrouded in a light spiritual mist.

Its mountain peak is hidden in the swirling clouds.

This is the sacred ground of the Fan family, which has established its foundation.

At this moment, in the main hall of the Fan family, a group of people were discussing something.

"As the saying goes, water and fire are incompatible. Our Tianlin has dual earth spiritual roots of water and fire. What does this mean? It means that our Tianlin is a great power capable of defying the heavens and proving the Dao!"

"In twenty or thirty years, most of us will be surpassed by Tianlin."

"..."

Among the crowd was a young man.

He hasn't fully grown up yet, and his face still has a touch of immaturity and awkwardness.

His name is Fan Tianlin, the great-grandson of Fan Kongye. He has dual earth elemental roots of water and fire, is sixteen years old this year, and is at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Despite being praised by the Foundation Establishment elders of his clan, he remained unmoved, his eyes showing no sign of being flattered or disgraced. He was tired of hearing similar words and had long been accustomed to the praise and flattery of others.

On the other hand, his great-grandfather, Fan Kongye, often taught him: one must remain low-key and humble in order to go far. Many brilliant cultivators have perished before they could fully mature.

"Be quiet."

Fan Kongye frowned slightly, interrupting the group. He had summoned everyone to discuss matters, but they had only been praising Tianlin and had completely forgotten the important business at hand.

Before discussing serious matters, he had another matter to discuss: "I have never made the matter of the Heavenly Scale Spiritual Root public, and I also asked you to keep it a secret. Who among you leaked it?"

The scene fell silent.

The crowd exchanged glances, and after a moment, an old man said, "I mentioned it to my old friend. I was quite proud that our family has produced a genius like Tianlin."

"Ahem, clan leader, I've already told others about it."

"And I."

Several people have admitted to saying this publicly.

The Fan family seems to have been blessed with good fortune for the past two hundred years. Currently, there are nine Foundation Establishment cultivators in the family, ranking among the top three Foundation Establishment families in Yuanli County.

Another genius with the Earth Spirit Root has emerged; it is truly a stroke of good fortune bestowed by heaven.

"You, humph!"

Fan Kongye stared wide-eyed. It seemed impossible to keep this news a secret; it was only a matter of time before it spread throughout Yuanli County.

"Clan leader, the selection of celestial officials is about to take place, so there is no need to hide it."

"Yes, clan leader, everyone will definitely know."

That's why they didn't hide the news.

Fan Kongye took a deep breath, a hint of worry in his heart: "Earth Spirit Root. How many years does it take for a genius with an Earth Spirit Root to appear in the entire Yuanli County? I remember that ten years ago, during the selection of Immortal Officials, Yuanli County only produced one person with an Earth Spirit Root."

It takes ten years, with a population base of over 100 million, for a single cultivation genius with dual earth elemental roots to emerge.

This shows how rare earth spirit roots are.

"It is rumored that people with earth spirit roots do not need foundation-building pills to break through to the foundation-building stage. They have no bottlenecks and can cultivate all the way to the late foundation-building stage or even the foundation-building perfection without any bottlenecks. What kind of talent is this?"
There's hope for achieving the Golden Elixir!
Golden Core cultivators? There aren't any Golden Core cultivators in our Yuanli County.

Tianlin is still so young, only at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Any Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily kill him. Our Fan family may not appear to have any enemies on the surface, but who knows?
If someone is jealous of our family and makes a move against Tianlin, how much loss will we suffer?

"Who among you can afford to take that responsibility, huh?"

Fan Kongye questioned aloud.

"This……"

Everyone present was speechless.

Indeed, when Tianlin detected the Earth Spirit Root back then, Fan Kongye used the same excuse to tell everyone to keep it a secret and not spread it.

Aside from Tianlin's parents, only a few Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Fan family knew about it.

However, as time went by, Tianlin grew older, and with the selection of celestial officials imminent, they relaxed their vigilance and couldn't help but show off to others.

"Chief, now?"

"Ah~"

Fan Kongye sighed and shook his head: "I originally didn't plan to let Tianlin participate in the Immortal Official selection this time. Anyway, it only happens once every ten years. If he participates in the Immortal Official selection next time, he will definitely be at the Foundation Establishment stage and have a certain ability to protect himself."

Since the news can't be kept secret, let him participate in this selection of celestial officials.

"His safety is actually better in Zhennan Prefecture than it is at our home. The prefectural city will likely provide him with ample resources."

"The clan leader is right. With the status of a Celestial Official of the Earthly Spirit Root in the capital city, who would dare to harm him?"

"At that time, the status of our Fan family will probably be unmatched in Yuanli County."

If Fan Tianlin truly becomes a celestial official in the prefectural city and has the potential to advance to the Golden Core stage in the future, then the Fan family will undoubtedly be the number one family in Yuanli County, aside from those Golden Core families that are already based in the prefectural city.

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 wanted notice from the Demon Slayer Bureau spread throughout Yuanli County.

People from various county offices, as well as those independent cultivators, all took note of the contents of the wanted notice.

The reward of the Three-in-One Pill motivated them to search for Du Wanyun.

For ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, the "Three-in-One Pill" is extremely tempting.

According to the wanted notice, Du Wanyun is not very strong, only at the third level of Qi Refining.

Such a level of skill would even inspire the innate martial artists serving in the county government to dare to fight.

Driven by the reward, many people are searching for her.

The county government's soldiers, the Demon-Subduing Guards of the Demon-Subduing Division, members of cultivation families, and independent cultivators were all searching for Du Wanyun in various places.

Du Wanyun had no idea that the Chu family had gone to such great lengths to find her, even using their connections in the Demon Subduing Division to issue an arrest warrant.

She was hiding when she noticed people searching for her with wanted posters featuring her image, and then she realized something was wrong.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly and dodged in time, otherwise she would have been discovered.

After that, she became more cautious and disguised herself as an ordinary rural girl on her journey.

"The Chu family is truly heartless. All I did was elope, so why are they treating me like a demonic cultivator and issuing a warrant for my arrest?"

Is it really that hard to find a wife for Chu Qiutuan?

She was indignant.

Fearing being discovered by the Chu family, she traveled day and night, specifically on remote country roads or through desolate mountains and wilderness outside the county town.

She hid and avoided people all the way, sometimes even hiding in the ravines.

They dared not use their lightness technique casually, nor dared to appear in broad daylight.

Given her condition, it would be very difficult for her to break through the blockade and search to leave Yuanli County.

She cannot leave Yuanli County in the short term.

(End of this chapter)