From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 240 The Lin Family, Prefects
Five hundred miles of ancient southern city.

The third-tier spiritual veins were divided up by the Golden Core families, while the second-tier spiritual veins were fought over and occupied by the Foundation Establishment families.

Countless first-order spiritual veins are distributed across the area.

The vast city was shrouded in a light spiritual mist, and even in the mortal living areas where spiritual energy was scarcest, the concentration of spiritual energy was several times higher than that of the outside world.

Countless independent cultivators traveled from afar, crowding into the most prosperous city in Zhennan Prefecture, attempting to seize a place rich in spiritual energy to settle down and cultivate.

Among the ancient families that have developed for tens of thousands of years, the number of mortals is countless.

Families, independent cultivators, and ordinary people—countless people crowded into the ancient southern city, making every inch of land here extremely valuable.

The lofty and unrestrained Golden Core cultivators, the disciplined Foundation Establishment cultivators, the cautious and meticulous Qi Refining cultivators, and the humble mortals at the bottom of society...

The difference in strength and realm, family background and influence, spiritual root aptitude and future potential... all these factors passively divide everyone into different classes, creating a clear hierarchy.

In the third-tier spiritual land, there is a towering mountain peak, like a pillar supporting the sky, its summit shrouded in a sea of ​​clouds.

Surprisingly, this mountain is smaller at the bottom and larger at the top.

The mountain resembles a needle shooting straight up from the earth to the sky, yet a magnificent complex of buildings stands atop it. From a distance, it looks like a slender mushroom.

This is the government office of Zhennan Prefecture.

The government office is like a small city in the air, supported by the mountain below and suspended hundreds of feet in the air.

In one of the main halls, Prefect Lin Shengping was handling affairs of Zhennan Prefecture.

Lin Shengping is an eighth-level Golden Core cultivator. In terms of strength, he is not considered top-tier in Zhennan Prefecture, but he comes from the Lin family, a Golden Core family in Zhennan Prefecture.

The Lin family ranks among the top three families in Zhennan Prefecture, with a recorded lineage spanning over ten thousand years. It is said that the Lin family possesses a Nascent Soul Daoist.

Before Lin Shengping lay a document recording various situations recently reported by the fifty-four prefectures of Zhennan Prefecture via communication talismans.

"It's the Tuoba family from Jiurong City again."

He frowned slightly as he looked at a secret report in his hand.

Some time ago, Nie Tingjun, the governor of Yuanli County, sent him a message saying that Tuoba Hongyang had fabricated a pretext to massacre a Foundation Establishment family and seize their family resources.

The secret report in his hand was about another matter related to the Tuoba family: members of the Tuoba family had slaughtered several Qi Refining families for resources.

"Heh, those martial arts techniques that could cultivate spiritual roots back then only made the Tuoba family more ruthless and unscrupulous."

A cold glint flashed in Lin Shengping's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel disgusted with the Tuoba family.

He ignored Tuoba Hongyang, whom Nie Tingjun mentioned. Dealing with a mere Foundation Establishment Realm immortal official was meaningless when it came to the Tuoba family's affairs.

If he were to deal with the Tuoba family one day, he would definitely eradicate them completely, leaving them no chance of recovery.

"Now is not the time to deal with the Tuoba family."

Given the power of the Tuoba family and their recent actions, it is not yet the right time.

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. Lin Shengping decided to let the Tuoba family remain active for a while longer.

“Let’s take a look at the selection of celestial officials in each prefecture.”

He picked up the lists of candidates for the celestial officials sent by various prefectures.

"Similar to previous years, each prefecture has one or two earth spirit roots."

Just then, someone came to deliver a message.

"Your Excellency, the Immortal of a Hundred Flowers requests an audience."

"Understood, I will go and greet you."

Lin Shengping slowly stood up. He had already sensed the Golden Core cultivator waiting outside the palace gate.

He flew outside the main hall and saw a beautiful woman wearing a floral dress.

Baihua Zhenren, whose real name is Xiang Huifen, comes from the Xiang family, a Jindan family in Zhennan Prefecture, which is also one of the top ancient families.

"Greetings, Your Excellency the Prefect."

He bowed gracefully to Huifen.

"Master Baihua, what brings you here today?"

Lin Shengping nodded slightly as a return gesture.

"According to the schedule, the selection of celestial officials in various prefectures of Zhennan Prefecture should have concluded. May I ask, Prefect, what are the results?"

Xiang Huifen was a seven-patterned Golden Core cultivator, a renowned Golden Core cultivator in the prefectural city, and she showed no restraint in front of Prefect Lin Shengping.

"It's about the same as in previous years."

"Shouldn't that be the case?"

"Ten days from now, I will summon you to discuss this matter."

Lin Shengping knew what Xiang Huifen was expecting.

Having obtained the answer he wanted, he bid farewell to Huifen and left.

Lin Shengping then sent messages to several major Golden Core 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.

Ten days later.

The government office, the main hall.

Lin Shengping sat in the main seat, with four Golden Core cultivators below him, all of whom were in the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

"open!"

A beam of light from an array illuminated the main hall.

The shielding formation can block all detection from outside the formation.

"The lists of candidates selected for the Celestial Officials from various prefectures and the ancient southern city are here. You may take a look."

Lin Shengping held several books in his hands, and used his true essence to lift the books in the air and send them to the four Golden Core cultivators.

There are ninety-two people with the Earth Spirit Root.

Among them, three were from Golden Core families, thirty-five were from Foundation Establishment families, and twenty-three were from Qi Refining families.

None of the others had any celestial background.

With the addition of the ancient southern city, there are a total of 92 people with dual-elemental earth spirit roots across the 54 prefectures, averaging less than two people per prefecture.

In reality, there are definitely more than ninety-two geniuses with dual earth spiritual roots in Zhennan Prefecture, but some of them will not participate in the selection of immortal officials, especially some who come from Golden Core families.

With a family background that leads to the Golden Core stage, the "Immortal Official position" is not that important.

What Lin Shengping said were just numbers; the document contained detailed information about each person: their earth elemental root attribute, age, cultivation level, cultivation method, family background, and so on.

The other four Golden Core cultivators examined the matter carefully.

Xiang Huifen flipped through the book in her hand, her jade-like finger lightly tapping on a certain name: "This fifteen-year-old boy named Niu Yong, with the spiritual roots of water, wood, and earth, has come to live with me."

The others did not raise any objections.

"Liu Zheng, with the spiritual roots of water and earth, is thirteen years old and comes from a farming family. This is suitable for my family."

"..."

Several powerful figures in the late Golden Core stage distributed the list of geniuses with earth-elemental roots.

"Water, fire, and earth spiritual roots? This Fan Tianlin from Yuanli County actually possesses rare water, fire, and earth spiritual roots."

As the saying goes, "water and fire are incompatible," among the five elemental roots, water and fire are the two most mutually destructive attributes.

"This Fan Tianlin comes from a Foundation Establishment family. There are eight Foundation Establishment cultivators in his family, and one of them is the deputy director of the Demon Subduing Division. With his Qi Refining level nine cultivation, his spiritual power is not weak either."

Inappropriate. "

"What's wrong with that? So what if they're a Foundation Establishment family? No matter how many Foundation Establishment members they have, they're no match for you. Believe me or not, I'll wipe them out right now!"

The person speaking had a domineering look on their face.

"Ok?"

Lin Shengping's cold gaze swept over them.

The man immediately gave an awkward smile: "Your Excellency, my clan has a rather powerful cultivation technique, which is most suitable for those with water, fire, and earth spiritual roots. We have finally encountered someone with water, fire, and earth spiritual roots, so we cannot let this opportunity pass us by."

"..."

Lin Shengping hesitated slightly before giving an ambiguous answer: "We'll discuss it further."

"Alright." Although the man said that, he had already made up his mind: he had to get Fan Tianlin, who had the spiritual roots of water, fire, and earth, into his home no matter what.

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 County, Baihe Mountain.

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and it was time to go to the ancient city to participate in the selection of the celestial officials of the government.

Xu Yiqing's cultivation level has reached the ninth level of Qi Refining!

A month ago, he was at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Because he was going to participate in the selection of immortal officials by the government, Xu Fugui heard that if someone with a three-element true spiritual root performed exceptionally well, they might be selected by the government, so he gave Xu Yiqing a drop of spiritual dew.

The precious spiritual dew, one drop is equivalent to the spiritual energy contained in three thousand spirit stones.

After Xu Yiqing consumed it, it took him a full month to fully digest it, and his cultivation level leaped to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

It is important to know that progress in the later stages of Qi Refining is very slow; even one level requires decades of persistent and arduous cultivation from an ordinary cultivator.

Xu Yiqing possesses a true spiritual root, and he faces almost no bottlenecks during the Qi Refining stage. Therefore, advancing his cultivation level is a natural and unimpeded process.

Before he left, the Xu family saw him off.

Xu Fugui, who was 120 years old, smiled and said, "Yiqing, do your best and try to be selected as a celestial official in the government office."

"Grandpa Gao, I'll do my best."

Faced with Xu Fugui's earnest expectations, Xu Yiqing could only say this.

His grandfather, Xu Zhonghuai, the current head of the Xu family, patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are the first genius in our family with a true spiritual root. You are the hope for the future of our Xu family. You must live up to expectations."

"I know, Grandpa."

Xu Yiqing felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders; everyone had very high expectations of him.

Before the selection of celestial officials, he was quite proud of himself, considering himself a genius in cultivation. But after seeing Fan Tianlin and Yang Zhen during the selection, he realized what it meant to be superior to others and to be outmatched.

Yang Zhen, who possessed the Earth Spirit Root, came from a poor family and didn't even know any cultivation techniques. He had no spiritual land and had never used a single spirit stone, yet he was able to naturally become a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator at the age of sixteen.

The gap is too big.

And these are just the geniuses of Yuanli County; it's unimaginable how many prodigies there will be in Gu Nan City.

Xu Fugui noticed his tension and pressure and comforted him: "Don't worry, being a celestial official in the prefectural government is already excellent. Our Xu family has only been developing for a short time. It's normal that you can't compete with those geniuses from ancient families when you go to the prefectural city."

Just keep a calm and normal mindset.

"Ah."

Xu Yiqing nodded, much more relaxed.

"Go Yiqing!"

"Bon Voyage!"

"..."

After everyone bid farewell, Xu Yiqing and his father Li Yuan flew to the county town.

Xu Yiqing and Xu Liyuan went to the ancient city to participate in the selection of immortal officials by the government office, without any other members of the Xu family accompanying them.

There's absolutely no need to worry about safety; a Foundation Establishment expert dispatched by Yuanli County will escort you throughout the journey.

No one dared to harm those who went to Gu Nan City to participate in the selection of immortal officials, otherwise it would be a provocation against Zhennan Prefecture.

The prefectural government office.

The list of twenty-six people has been reduced to twenty.

The remaining six people, knowing they could not become celestial officials in the government office, abandoned their mission.

Due to the long distance, each of the twenty people who went to the ancient city of Gu Nan was accompanied by only one or two family members.

Those of ordinary birth didn't even bring their families.

For example, Yang Zhen went alone without his family accompanying him.

There were about 40 people in total, including 20 people and their accompanying family members.

Nie Tingjun dispatched two Foundation Establishment Realm Immortal Officials to escort them throughout the journey. One of them was a deputy general of the county camp at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, and the other was an Immortal Official at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment.

Before they left, Nie Tingjun instructed the two Foundation Establishment Immortal Officials to protect everyone's safety, and then watched them depart.

Nie Tingjun watched the departing figures of the group, his expression complex.

Their Nie family's influence was far from enough to get involved in the affairs of the top families in Zhennan Prefecture. However, being a Golden Core family after all, he knew some inside information about the "Selection of Immortal Officials".

Those geniuses with earth-elemental roots, especially those born into mortal families, often do not have good outcomes.

Nie Tingjun was conflicted. He could guess Yang Zhen's fate. But with one more genius with an earth-spirit root in Yuanli County, he, as the county governor, would gain more merit.

He has been stuck at the bottleneck of Foundation Establishment Perfection for many years, unable to reach the Golden Core stage.

If one has enough merit to exchange for the opportunity to break through to the Golden Core stage, one may be able to advance to the Golden Core True Person level.

However, his long-held beliefs and principles made him unwilling to use any means to gain merit or to collude with others.

"How exactly should one walk this path to immortality?"

Nie Tingjun sighed inwardly.

He couldn't see the path to immortality; he only saw a demonic path strewn with white bones.

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 deputy commander of the county camp, who had reached the seventh level of foundation building, was named Yan Zhenwu.

He flew ahead, clearing the way, and used his spiritual power to carry several people who couldn't fly: "Everyone, stay close to me, let's go!"

Having reached the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, he used his spiritual power to create an oval-shaped energy shield in front of him, allowing those behind him to easily fly alongside him.

Xu Yiqing and Xu Liyuan followed behind him; both of them were at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

With a Foundation Establishment cultivator leading the way, the two flew easily using their internal energy.

To Xu Yiqing's surprise, Yang Zhen, who was being carried by Yan Zhenwu, already possessed the aura of the fifth level of Qi Refining!
A month ago, during the selection of celestial officials, Yang Zhencai was only at the second level of Qi Refining.

In just one month, his cultivation level increased by three levels.

This is because Yang Zhen has received a lot of resources in the past month. He lives in someone else's second-tier spiritual land, and those who deliberately befriend and flatter him give him spirit stones and elixirs.

With ample resources, he demonstrated the superior aptitude of an earth-elemental root, and his cultivation level advanced by leaps and bounds without any bottlenecks.

"Tianlin, are you all alone?"

Not far from Xu Yiqing, someone was flying alongside him; it was Fan Tianlin, who was at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"Well, my father originally said he would come with me, but I said it wasn't necessary. With the two seniors sent by the Prefect protecting us, there won't be any accidents. Besides, on the way to Gu Nan City, who would dare to harm our participation in the Celestial Official selection?"

Despite being only sixteen years old, Fan Tianlin is bold and independent.

……

The wind howled.

Yan Zhenwu flew at a moderate speed ahead, ensuring that those in the later stages of Qi Refining could keep up with him.

The journey is long, spanning tens of thousands of miles.

Even if someone in the late Qi Refining stage flies until their internal spiritual energy is exhausted, they can only travel two or three thousand miles at most. Including the time it takes to recover spiritual energy along the way, it will take at least three days to reach Ancient South City.

"Please hold on a little longer, everyone. We will stop and rest in Huangting City ahead to recover our spiritual energy."

"That's what Yan Zhenwu, who's leading the way, said."

The group flew for another hour before landing on a second-tier spiritual mountain.

This is the territory of a Foundation Establishment family.

The route for this trip was planned in advance, and resting in the second-tier spiritual land will allow everyone to recover their spiritual energy as quickly as possible.

Three or four hours later, everyone's spiritual energy recovered, and they set off again for Ancient South City.

During the tedious journey, Xu Yiqing and Fan Tianlin chatted idly from time to time.

Fan Tianlin is an outgoing person. Coming from a Foundation Establishment family like the Fan family, he is knowledgeable and well-informed. Although he is young, he is polite and knows how to behave appropriately.

Despite also having an earth-elemental root, Yang Zhen still appeared somewhat reserved and rarely chatted with others.

(End of this chapter)