Building a long-lasting family lineage starting with genealogy

Chapter 91: Delivering the Cards (Seventh Update, Please Subscribe)

December 24th.

Moon Lake Market.

[Today's divination: Above average. Your second son, Xu Mingyuan, is using the Zhou family's name to maneuver with the Chang family, aiming to completely reclaim the assets and establish a foothold in the county town.]

"This child is really bold."

Xu Chuan consulted the oracle about the fortune of his family. Half a month ago, the divination showed that Xu Mingwei had broken through to the mid-stage of the Grandmaster realm, which pleased him greatly.

Currently, we are in the middle to upper tier, with a chance of winning, but also a possibility of losing.

Xu Chuan pondered, "A Yuan wants to rely on the Zhou family's influence, but he's still a bit short. Empty words are not enough, and the Chang family are not the kind of people who easily believe things."

He arrived at Xu Mingxian's room and knocked lightly twice.

"who?"

"Fellow Daoist Yunming, it is I."

The restriction dissipated, the door opened, and after Xu Chuan entered, the restriction closed again.

"What does Father want with me?"

"Your second brother will arrive in Yuehu County today to deal with the Chang family and reclaim all the profits from my Xu family's shops."

"Take my guest token and go to Mingyuan. Then stay in the county town and protect him secretly until the matter is settled, then return."

"I will go now."

"I have made a few simple jade pendants in just two months. They can withstand three attacks from the early stage of the Innate Realm, or a full-force attack from the middle stage of the Innate Realm."

Take this to my second brother, and have them take it home and give it to the younger members of the clan.

"You're quick to grasp formations; you've already mastered defensive formation patterns," Xu Chuan said with a faint smile.

"The Dao of Arrays is difficult to grasp, and even the Spirit Gathering Array is not simple. If I can comprehend it, then creating a simple defensive array combination jade tablet is a piece of cake."

"Just as Father said, I do have a talent for array formations."

"You're not being modest this time," Xu Chuan said with a light laugh, looking at him. "Didn't you initially have deep doubts about yourself?"

Xu Mingxian chuckled, took the guest elder token, made a hand seal, put it into his storage bag, and then left Moon Lake Market for Moon Lake County City.

Xu Chuan was not worried at all and continued refining pills silently.

In recent days, he has successfully produced seven pills, including five medium-grade and two low-grade pills.

In terms of the success rate of producing mid-grade pills alone, it surpasses that of Zhou Sen.

He felt he had reached a bottleneck in controlling both the heat and the properties of the medicinal liquid during alchemy.

With another breakthrough, one can refine high-grade pills.

The opportune moment is not far off.

Moon Lake County City.

Several miles from the city gate, Xu Mingxian waited there, and in less than half an hour, Xu Mingyuan arrived.

"Yun Nu, what are you doing here?"

“Father said you would arrive today, so he told me to wait here.”

"Father is really good at predicting the future," Xu Mingyuan chuckled.

Xu Mingxian patted his storage bag, and a token flew out, landing in Xu Mingyuan's palm, along with seven cyan jade pendants.

"This is?"

Xu Mingyuan noticed the character "Zhou" engraved on the front of the token and asked in surprise.

"Second brother, isn't this exactly what you need? Otherwise, how could you gain the trust of the Chang family? If you want to negotiate with a tiger, empty words are useless; you need to be half-truthful to make people believe you."

"I will also protect you in secret. You can boldly deal with the Chang family."

Xu Mingyuan clasped his hands in a fist and grinned, "Thank you for your trouble, Yun Nu. What's the use of the rest of the jade pendants?"

"I have made some progress in studying array formations. These are just practice pieces, but they can still block three attacks from a martial artist in the early stage of the Innate Realm or one attack from a martial artist in the middle stage of the Innate Realm. They are a small token of my appreciation for the younger generation."

“One piece for each person, that’s just right. Your fifth uncle is truly impartial.”

"Yun Nu's abilities have become increasingly remarkable. As expected of a cultivator, she has surpassed me and my elder brother, becoming the pillar of the family." Xu Mingyuan was very pleased and felt no jealousy whatsoever.

"Second brother is too kind. Father said that eldest brother is the one who will be in charge of the family in the future. How can I compare to him? Second brother will wait for you to cultivate immortality. The family's cultivation industry will also be managed by you."

"Haha, Yunnu is becoming more and more sensible, so I won't say any more to you. I'll go into the city first."

"Second Brother, go ahead. With Yun Nu protecting you in the shadows, you will surely be safe."

Xu Mingyuan smiled slightly, then spurred his horse into the city.

Guanghu Residence.

A quaint, antique-style private room on the second floor. "Brother Mingyuan, why have you suddenly come to the county town in person? Has something serious happened?"

Chang Haowen sat opposite Xu Mingyuan, with two people behind him, standing as immovable as iron towers.

He knew perfectly well what was going on.

Some members of the Chang family were envious of the Xu family's businesses and wanted not only 50% of the profits, but also to gradually erode their entire industry.

Although he felt this was tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, the combined strength of the Chang family left him helpless.

If the Xu family and the Yang family are on good terms, the Chang family will naturally not turn against the Yang family because of these Xu properties.

However, according to the information he had gathered, the Xu family and the main branch of the Yang family had had a falling out, and the Chang family did not take Yang Zhao seriously.

"Brother Chang, you know perfectly well why you ask. Your Chang family's appetite is far too great, forcing my Xu family to seek other paths." Xu Mingwei picked up a teacup and took a small sip.

"Is that so? Although it's common for powerful families to pool their resources and then diverge, but..."

Chang Haowen raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife, and stared directly into Xu Mingwei's eyes. "Are you sure your Xu family can bear the consequences of betraying my Chang family?"
"Are you thinking of getting back from the Yang family?"

"Brother Chang, you flatter me." Xu Mingyuan put down his teacup, a smile playing on his lips. "How could the minor disagreements between my Xu family and the main branch of the Yang family be kept secret from your Chang family?"

"Then I don't understand. Does your Xu family have a more suitable partner than my Chang family?"

Xu Mingyuan smiled faintly, and silently took out a token from his pocket, placed it on the table, and engraved the character 'Zhou' on the upward-facing side.

Upon seeing the token, Chang Haowen's pupils contracted slightly, and his brows furrowed.

The character 'Zhou' instantly reminded him of the Zhou family, a dominant force in Yuehu County.

The Xu family? The Zhou family?
How is this possible?!

The Zhou family is a fourth-rank family, which is among the top in the county.

Martial arts families like the Chang and Yang families, unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator emerges from their clan, no matter how deep their foundation, they cannot advance to the fourth rank.

Therefore, they all vigorously cultivated disciples in their clans who had the aptitude for cultivating immortality, and encouraged them to marry and have children.

Even in a fifth-rank martial arts family like the Chang family, only two or three cultivators have emerged from the clan. There are very few people in the mortal world with the aptitude for cultivation.

Most of them have pseudo-spiritual root aptitude, with the highest level being only the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining.

"This token is real!" Chang Haowen's heart trembled as he finally confirmed it.

More than a decade ago, he had the privilege of attending the Zhou family's promotion ceremony to the fourth rank and seeing the Zhou family's token.

Although there are some differences, the Zhou family tokens are divided into several types according to the identity level.

This guest minister token is second only to the head of the family and elders; it represents status and position.

Although he had never seen it before, his intuition told him that the token was genuine.

Because it is engraved with the Zhou family's unique family crest and patterns, as well as the unique charm of items refined by cultivators.

These are things that the Xu family has no access to or knowledge of.

Chang Haowen examined it for a while, then smiled and returned it to Xu Mingyuan, saying, "Brother Mingyuan, your Xu family is very fortunate to have been able to get in touch with the Zhou family."

"No, it's just that half a year ago, a Taoist priest happened to pass by Qingjiang and wanted to take one of my Xu family's juniors as his disciple. However, my junior is still too young to follow, so he plans to come back in a few years."

This token was specially left behind by that Taoist priest; he seems to be a guest alchemist of the Zhou family.

He's actually an alchemist?!

Chang Haowen's mindset had already undergone a complete transformation, and he said with a forced smile, "Your junior is really lucky. Even in my Chang family, there are not many disciples who have the opportunity to embark on the path of immortality."

"Actually, I also disapprove of the behavior of some people in the clan. They are too greedy and have no dignity as a noble family. Today, besides trying to find out what you, Brother Mingyuan, want to tell you."

Based on our long-standing friendship, I would never allow you to suffer such an injustice.

Don't worry, I will persuade the people in the clan. In fact, I feel that my Chang family is unworthy of receiving 50% of the profits. Is this the kind of thing that friends should do?

At most, it will be returned in full within a few days.

"How could I possibly accept that?"

"Given our friendship, please accept it without worry. As long as the Chang family is around, not many people in the county will dare to covet your Xu family's businesses."

In order to win over the Xu family, the Chang family willingly acted as their protectors.

There is a fifth-rank noble family protecting them in the county town, so there are really not many people who dare to provoke them.

Of course, the Chang family's goal was to contact the Zhou family's guest alchemist through the Xu family, hoping to obtain some cultivation pills from him.

Then everything done will have been worthwhile.

The Chang family might be able to obtain some rare herbs that are decades or even centuries old from deep in the mountains and forests, but elixirs are simply not something that can be bought with worldly money.

The same applies to magical artifacts; they can only be exchanged using the resources needed by cultivators.

If the Chang family wants to become a family of cultivators, they can only constantly contact and win over cultivators. Alchemists are the kind of people they are willing to do anything to befriend.

(End of this chapter)