Building a long-lasting family lineage starting with genealogy

Chapter 157 Celebration, Wedding, Gift Giving (Please subscribe and vote!)

"The Xu family rose from humble beginnings and rapidly transformed. In just two or three decades, they have accumulated four late-stage Qi Refining experts, including one who has reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage. It seems that they can advance even further within a hundred years."

In the entire Great Wei Dynasty, it had been a long time since a powerful family had developed so rapidly.

Of course, the royal family wouldn't pay much attention to remote counties like Yuehu County.

It's already quite rare for a family like the Xus to attract even a little attention.

Within the imperial city, the powerful families and sects of the third rank and above are the ones that the Cao family values.

"Master Xu, congratulations on the Xu family being listed in the register of immortals. When you hold your ascension celebration, don't forget to invite the Zhou family."

"How could I forget that?" Xu Chuan laughed heartily.

"Then we shall take our leave."

The Yuan family immortals and the Zhou family immortals departed on their swords.

"It's finally over, Father. Let me see this imperial edict." Xu Mingshu stepped forward with a smile.

Xu Chuan smiled faintly and handed her the imperial edict.

Xu Mingxuan and the others looked over curiously, wanting to see what words were engraved on it.

Xu Chuan walked to the side, and Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan came over and asked, "Father, are we really going to hold that ascension celebration?"

"If it's a custom, then we should follow local customs."

"Invitations have been sent to all martial arts families and immortal cultivation families of the sixth rank or above in the county. My Xu family will hold an ascension celebration in Dongxi three months from now, and we sincerely invite all families to participate."

Furthermore, the celebration will feature a competition between martial arts and immortal cultivation juniors, limited to those under thirty-three years of age. The martial arts champion will receive six Grandmaster Martial Pills, and the immortal cultivation champion will receive one Divine Sense Pill.

"The Su family also tried to assess the strength of various powerful families, but unfortunately, they were completely unsuccessful."

Xu Mingyuan's eyes were like black pearls, and a smile appeared on his lips. He said, "My Xu family only needs to lay out the bait, and all other families will naturally flock to it."

After pondering for a moment, Xu Mingwei said, "Then should my Xu family send someone to participate?"

"For martial arts, we can select two or three people from the vassal families and those we have trained to participate, so that they can also see the foundation of the aristocratic families in the county. As for immortality, forget about it. My Xu family will not participate, so that they will be more eager to compete."

"Apart from you and Mingyuan, everyone else meets the requirement of being under thirty-three years old."

Xu Chuan smiled faintly.

"That's true. If Yun Nu were to make her move, I'm afraid no one from any of the other families would dare to step forward. Tan Tou and Xue Ji have both concealed their cultivation levels. If they were to make a move, they would inevitably expose themselves."

"Now, among the five of us, I am the only one who has not yet mastered the Breath Concealment Technique."

"Your talent lies not in cultivation, but your spiritual root aptitude already surpasses that of many disciples from cultivation families. You only need to proceed step by step."

Xu Mingyuan cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Father."

"The Dark Division is responsible for overseeing the entire Xu family and even its vassal families. It is only responsible to you. Mingwei, Mingyuan, if you need anything, you must provide full support. If you encounter any difficulties, you can come to me again."

"I understand, Father."

Xu Chuan nodded and called out again, "Mingxuan, come here."

"Father, what do you want with me?"

"Tomorrow, go to the Zhou family to discuss Mingxian's marriage. Tell them that the day of the celebration will be the day my Xu family welcomes the bride, and the day of their wedding."

"Alright, leave this to me."

The following day, Xu Mingxuan rode his sword to the Zhou family.

After some discussion.

The Zhou family agreed, but due to the distance, some members of the Zhou family might have to go to Qingjiang earlier.

The next few days.

The vassal families, including Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Chen, and Bai, all went to the host family to offer their congratulations.

Each family will naturally receive some resources as a reward.

"Da Niu, Li Zhi, now that our family has been promoted to a family of immortal cultivators, you two should hurry up and produce talent. Perhaps you can nurture offspring with the potential to cultivate immortality."

Look at me, I just took my ninth concubine this year.

Da Niu's lips twitched slightly. "I admire you."

Li Zhi smiled faintly, "Having one wife is enough for me; let the rest take its natural course."

"Then I'm the only normal one. I only have two, which is just right for me to have two women on my left and right. Too many women are always fighting and arguing over this and that, which is very annoying."

Immediately afterward, Chen Daniu added, "By the way, Li Zhi, I heard that the master intends to hold a martial arts and immortality competition at the ascension celebration."

You must represent us and compete against the martial arts geniuses of the prominent families in the county."

Among the many vassals of the Xu family, these three are the most prominent.

Because he was closest to the Xu family.

The Li family was the first to attach itself to the Xu family, and Li Zhi has a remarkable talent in martial arts. He has now entered the Grandmaster realm and is just thirty-three years old, so he can compete with the martial arts families of the county town.

As for the Chen family, they are the family of Xu Chuan's childhood friends.

The Bai family is related to Xu Chuan by marriage; Xu Mingwei and others are Bai Hui's cousins.

Currently, the head of the Chen family is Chen Daniu, the head of the Bai family is Bai Hui, and the head of the Li family is Li Zhi.

The three had a fairly good relationship, but in terms of martial arts talent, the other two could not compare with Li Zhi.

They are only at the middle stage of the innate stage.

If he had received the current martial arts system of the Xu family from childhood, with full support, he might have reached the peak of the Innate Realm by now.

From the innate to the grandmaster, without exceptional martial arts talent, most people will be stuck at this bottleneck.

There are bottlenecks in cultivating immortality, and the same is true in martial arts.

Li Zhi said calmly, "If the patriarch chooses me, then I will go; otherwise, forget it."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go have a drink. It's rare for us all to get together like this," Bai Hui said.

Li Zhi nodded slightly.

Not a few days.

On the eighth day of the second lunar month, the Xu family held a celebration for Xu Mingxian's ascension to immortality and her wedding. The entire Qingjiang and the entire county's aristocratic families knew about it.

The Wu family members felt a slight bitterness upon hearing this.

After Magistrate Wu passed away, the Wu family's fortunes declined further, but fortunately, they still had some wealth and could still do business.

The wealthy merchants who traded with him knew that he was related to the Xu family by marriage, and they would still give him some face, but not much.

After all, if the Xu family had truly wanted to help, the Wu family wouldn't have fallen to such a state.

As for the other four families, they either perished or left their hometowns and departed from Qingjiang County.

Almost no one cared about the outcome.

"Years ago, when I met the head of the Xu family, I knew he was no ordinary person. During the martial arts competition, he only glanced at me unintentionally, but it shocked my soul."

"What's so special about that? I knew the Xu family was no ordinary family when they opened a fruit shop in the county town. Otherwise, how could they grow such a rare variety as the Qingyu Pear? I've heard that even in the county town, not every aristocratic family can afford to eat it."

The rumors became increasingly outrageous, even dating back to when Xu Chuan was born.

“I heard from my uncle in Dongxi that when the old patriarch Xu was born, auspicious clouds descended from the sky and golden lotuses sprang from the ground. As soon as he was born, he pointed one finger to the sky and one finger to the ground, which meant that in Qingjiang, Xu was the only one who was supreme in heaven and earth.”

These rumors reached the ears of the Xu family, causing them to burst into laughter. "Father, when you were born, did you really point one finger to the sky and one finger to the earth?" Xu Mingxuan blinked and asked.

"You're making fun of your father, aren't you? You won't get your monthly allowance next month, and you can forget about any cultivation resources either."

"Father, Father, my dear father, I was wrong." Xu Mingxuan was completely under his control and immediately knelt down.

Xu Mingyuan chuckled and said, "Not just Father, but everyone else has been made up. The eldest brother was born able to run and jump and was incredibly strong. I was born holding a gold ingot. The third brother, you filled the room with fragrance. Xueji was worshipped by wild beasts. Yunnu was a celestial being descended from heaven and was a reincarnation of an immortal."

Bai Jing listened with a smile on her face and chuckled, "These are all my children. How could I, as their mother, not know about so many strange phenomena?"

Yang Ronghua and the others were just there for the excitement.

After a while.

Xu Chuan said with a serious expression, "For the ascension celebration, my entire Xu family must burn incense and pray to heaven and earth. None of you should be careless and make a fool of yourselves."

"Yes, father."

Moon Lake County City.

Yuan family.

The meeting hall.

"The Xu family has been quite lively lately. They acquired 30% of the Su family's resources, then got engaged to the Zhou family, and recently became a fifth-grade Qi Refining family. In three months, they will hold an ascension celebration and their youngest son's wedding."

The head of the Yuan family said calmly.

"It's all the Xu family's fault for interfering; otherwise, the Zhou family wouldn't have only allocated 10% of the resources to each of us!" someone said, their eyes filled with resentment.

"So what if they're dissatisfied? The Xu family is currently in the limelight, and a marriage alliance is imminent. The Zhou family would never turn against the Xu family."

As for the other Qi Refining families, they're all cunning old foxes and opportunists; they would never join forces with us to deal with the Xu family.

Some people sighed deeply, feeling utterly helpless.

"Yes, I thought that once the Su family fell, the Yuan family would be the only dominant family in Yuehu County besides the Zhou family. Who would have thought that the Xu family would emerge from the countryside and rise to prominence in one step?"

"The Xu family's power is unstoppable, and my Yuan family will eventually remain the third-ranked family in Yuehu County for all eternity."

"The eldest elder of the Xu family is a master alchemist who has reached the Qi Refining stage. If he doesn't die, the rise of the Xu family will indeed be unstoppable. However, it's not unreasonable to make him lose some face."

Upon hearing this, many elders looked over.

The man chuckled and said, "Isn't the Xu family going to hold an ascension ceremony and a grand wedding? With so many people coming and going, the Xu family's mist formation will definitely not be activated."

Find two or three Qi Refining cultivators at random and have them cause trouble at a crucial moment. There's no need to go too far. Release one or two spells and have them land among the Xu family's servants, then turn around and leave.

The deaths or injuries of some servants are insignificant, but in such a public setting, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the Xu family's reputation will likely suffer a great loss, and even the Zhou family may have to reassess its relationship with the Xu family.

Everyone's eyes lit up. "This plan seems feasible. We can just use a low-grade spell, which will only take a breath or two. The Xu family's territory is close to the mountains. As long as they rush into the mountains, they can easily escape."

After a moment of contemplation, the Yuan family patriarch said, "Ninth Elder, since you brought this up, I'll leave it to you to handle."

"Yes, master."

Few families, like the Yuan family, are thinking about how to deal with the Xu family. Most aristocratic families are considering what gifts they should give to gain the Xu family's friendship or favor.

The Xu family has no shortage of elixirs, and recently they have also won over the Hundred Refinement Weapon Workshop in Yuehu Market. With the Su family's 30% foundation, they certainly don't lack mid-to-low-grade magic weapons.

However, even the Zhou family would feel bad if they gave away high-grade magical artifacts as gifts.

A single item costs at least five or six hundred spirit stones. Do they really think spirit stones are just windfalls, so easy to make money?

Some even sent people to find Manager Jin of Guanghuju.

It was no secret among the various aristocratic families that he was a member of the Xu family.

However, Manager Jin seemed to have received prior instructions that if anyone came to inquire about Xu's favorite items, he should mention ancient magical artifacts with special effects, rare materials, spiritual herbs or spiritual wood, seedlings and seeds of spiritual fruits, special secret techniques, ancient formulas, rare elixir recipes, and so on.

In short, the Xu family has no interest in ordinary elixirs or magical artifacts.

This is true.

Chang family.

"Elder, your injuries have not healed for a long time and cannot be cured by ordinary healing pills. Why not take advantage of the Xu family's ascension celebration to present a generous gift and ask the Xu family's elder to heal your injuries?"

"Ahem~" The eldest elder of the Chang family coughed, "With the current status and foundation of the Xu family, how could ordinary items move them? Not to mention that my Chang family had previously coveted the Xu family's assets."

"Grandfather, I firmly believe that there are no eternal friends in the world, only eternal interests. As long as our things can impress the Xu family, they will definitely make a move."

The Chang family absolutely cannot function without you here!

"So what gift do you plan to give?"

"This is a treasure of the Chang family. We originally intended to use it as material to create a fine magical artifact for a future member of the Chang family with extraordinary talent."

However, my Chang family ultimately lacks that fortune, so it's better to make the best use of what we have now.

"Ahem, now that you are the head of the family, you shall make the decision."

"Thank you, Grandfather."

Yang Mansion.

"Father, the Xu family's ascension to immortality celebration coincides with Mingxian's wedding. What gifts do you think our Yang family should send?"

Yang Shichang looked at Yang Zhao and said, "Now that you are the head of the Yang family and hold the key to the Yang family's treasury, why don't we go in and make some selections?"

"Nonsense!" Yang Zhao rebuked, "Do you think you can just walk into the Yang family's treasure vault as you please?"

"I'm just in a hurry," Yang Shichang chuckled awkwardly. "Did you really intend to send something ordinary?"

"My sister, your daughter, is the wife of the head of the Xu family!"

Yang Zhao remained silent.

Yang Shichang's words are not without merit.

This is a major event for the Xu family. The Yang family is currently the most closely related family to the Xu family on the surface. If they were to send gifts casually, it would be a sign that they do not value this celebration of the Xu family.

This could easily make Yang Ronghua lose face as well.

It seems unlikely that those two families will be able to get closer to each other again.

After a while, Yang Zhao said, "I'll go take a look in the treasure vault later."

Yang Shichang grinned, "By the way, Father, I asked Manager Jin, and Uncle Xu likes some rare pill formulas, unique materials, cultivation techniques, spiritual herbs, spiritual wood, spiritual fruit seeds, and so on."

"I understand," Yang Zhao said calmly.

He then went to the ancestral home and told Yang Wenfeng about it. They wandered around the treasure vault together and finally selected a fist-sized piece of silver ore from a jade box, which looked like it had been eroded by wind and sand for countless years.

Yang Wenfeng said, "According to records, this piece of ore was left behind by an ancestor of the Yang family. It has been more than a hundred years since then. It is said that it was obtained from a seriously injured rogue cultivator. Its material seems to be only first-grade silver ore, but an ancient spirit insect is sleeping inside it."

The ancestor once said that no cultivator in the clan, except for one with the ability to control insects, should casually touch this spiritual mine.

They feared that the spirit insects might awaken and bring disaster upon the Yang family.

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhao said, "Xu Mingshu is rumored to have the ability to control beasts. Controlling insects and controlling beasts should be similar. Perhaps it would be appropriate to give it to the Xu family as a gift. Moreover, with the Xu family's abilities, they should be able to deal with the larvae after they awaken."

"If this can change the Xu family's opinion of my Yang family, then it would be well worth it."

"Uncle, this matter cannot be forced, but I will do my best to mediate between the Xu family and the Yang family."

Time flies like an arrow, passing by quietly.

The Xu family and its affiliated families spent three months in a flurry of activity.

(End of this chapter)