I'm determined to become an immortal!

Four months have passed in the blink of an eye.

He Shengdu completed the three rounds of forging the Cold Moon Arc Sword, not only creating another high-quality sword, but also returning to Yuanxia Immortal City to restock the Sitong Merchant Guild.

However, he still had no clue how to obtain the Qi-absorbing Divine Channel Technique corresponding to his destiny, and in the end, he could only convince himself to take it one step at a time.

Anyway, didn't Ye Shaochen say he would send a fourth-grade cultivation technique later?

Let's see how it goes first.

"Master, the He family has sent someone to deliver their New Year's tribute."

Inside the rear hall, He Sheng, who was studying the weapon-refining diagrams, came back to his senses.

He held a piece of gold paper in his palm, on which was a weapon-refining diagram drawn with his magic.

This diagram was improved upon by him based on the "Blood-Transforming Shadowless Blade," a top-grade magical artifact recorded in the "Secret Essentials of Refining Weapons at Tianyue Mountain."

He Sheng's initial intention for improvement was simple: he wanted to use the materials of the Black Jade Blood Serpent as the main material to create a magic weapon that could match the new killing move "Thousand-Condensed Poison Dragon Break".

Or rather, it's a magical artifact tailor-made for the "Thousand-Condensed Poison Dragon Break"!

"The poisonous water within the River Pearl is ultimately finite; it will be depleted after only a few uses of the Thousand Condensed Poison Dragon Strike. We can't let the lack of casting materials prevent us from using our trump card, can we?"

A thought flashed through his mind, and He Sheng snapped back to reality, closed the blueprint in his hand, looked at the green snake who had come to report, and said:

"I can't see them right now. Go and lead them to the Water Mansion to kowtow, then let them leave on their own. After that, bring the things over."

A moment later,

The green snake returned, presenting a storage bag with gold and silver trim, and said somewhat indignantly:

"Immortal Master, people from the He family are still waiting outside the Water Mansion, saying they want to pay a visit in person."

I already told him that King Xuan Turtle doesn't receive guests, but he insisted on staying outside, which infuriated Qing'er.

He Sheng laughed and teased:

"Since you're just a lowly Qi-refining demon, the other side isn't afraid of you, so you still need to cultivate diligently."

"Don't spend all your time going to the Treasure-Swallowing Serpent with your sister. That thing... is no good."

He Sheng shook his head, a knowing glint in his eyes.

Over the past few months, although he had been focused on his cultivation, his divine sense had allowed him to thoroughly investigate the situation within the Water Mansion.

The treasure-swallowing serpent was trapped in the water cage, seemingly losing its freedom, but in reality, it lived quite peacefully.

The reason this guy wouldn't budge was because he wanted to flirt.

It constantly sends the green and white snakes to find it, frequently describing the wonderful life it will have in the mountains afterward—one moment roaming freely in the wilderness, the next ruling over its territory, and then recruiting a group of lesser demons as its subordinates to lord it over it...

The green snake was alright; it still had some self-respect.

But the white snake was already delirious from the wind and actually began to think about leaving with the treasure-swallowing snake in the future.

The White Snake and He Sheng were not close to begin with, and He Sheng didn't really care about that, but he didn't want the Green Snake to be deceived as well.

In his eyes, the green and white snakes were both naive little demons, while the treasure-devouring snake was a second-tier spirit pet. Once it gained its freedom, it would become a second-tier great demon, an old and experienced demon. Could it possibly speak the truth?

Upon hearing this, the green snake drooped its head and muttered:

"I really haven't gone recently, and I've also advised my sister not to go anymore."

I don't think that giant python with its radiant light has any good intentions.

"You are quite clever."

He Sheng nodded in satisfaction, then probed his spiritual sense into the storage bag with gold and silver trim.

follow closely,

He frowned almost imperceptibly.

Two thousand low-grade spirit stones, plus various spiritual materials, with Gangyin Sand as the main ingredient.

That's it? Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?

He Sheng felt slightly annoyed.

He had previously stated that He Weixiong should go back and tell the He family to send 50% of their annual income to the Water Mansion for safekeeping.

Is that 50%? That's less than 4,000 spirit stones in total.

You're kidding me!

"This clan elder, He Weixian, is still playing tricks!"

Who are you trying to impress by acting like you've been exploited too much by the Liu family?

snort!"

He Sheng snorted coldly, his anger rising even higher.

This is actually a matter of attitude.

Since he has spoken in the name of the Star-Backed Black Tortoise, even if the Liu family really exploits too much and reduces the He family's profits, the He family has accumulated wealth over the past twenty years. If the elders of each branch of the family pool their resources, can't they raise half of their usual annual income?

According to the figures reported by He Weizhen, the He family's accumulated resources over the past twenty years amount to more than 400,000 spirit stones.

Spread out, that's equivalent to more than 20,000 spirit stones a year.

Keep in mind that this is a surplus, not revenue!

So be it.

"I'd like to see what other tricks the He family has in store for them."

He Sheng flipped his palm and put away the storage bag. Ignoring the He family members outside the Water Mansion, he sent the green snake away and resumed studying the top-grade magic weapon he was about to refine.

......

More than half a month later,

He Weixiong, who had been delivering the annual tribute to the Wanshoutan Water Palace, returned to Changyang Mountain.

Unlike Foundation Establishment cultivators, Qi Refining stage cultivators have limited magical power and cannot fly quickly using magical artifacts. They travel with frequent stops and starts, and the fact that they did not take more than a month to return is already considered a fast pace.

Back mountain,

Inside Guiyuan Cave,

Elder He Weixian, seeing He Weixiong return, hurriedly asked:

"Did you pay a visit to Lord Xuan Gui in person on your trip?"

What did Lord Xuan Turtle say?

He Weixiong said with a face full of embarrassment:

"I didn't see Lord Xuan Turtle. It was that green snake that came to deliver the message. After I kowtowed in front of the Water Mansion gate, it sent me the annual tribute inside."

I told it that I wanted to pay a visit to Lord Xuan Turtle in person, but the green snake ignored me and remained silent after entering the water palace.

I waited for several days, and it wasn't until I was about to leave that the Green Snake came out and scolded me.

"What did they say to you?"

"They said that our He family didn't take Lord Xuangui's orders to heart, which angered Lord Xuangui greatly."

He Weixian sighed upon hearing this. He understood what these words meant, since He Weixiong had made it clear when he returned last time that Lord Xuangui had instructed the He family to send half of their annual income to the Wanshoutan Water Mansion for temporary storage.

But...

"Now even the main peak has been taken over by the second branch again, and I can no longer make decisions about the clan's resources."

If it weren't for the Everlasting Victory Token given to him by that Foundation Establishment senior in He Ziyang's possession, Liu Yunxi would have torn down the Green Bamboo Courtyard.

Upon hearing this, He Weixiong quickly asked:

"Elder, what outrageous thing has Liu Yunxi done this time?"

Elder He Weixian said quietly:

"If you consider Liu Yunxi's complete restoration of all the clan policies implemented during the previous clan chief's time as going too far, then so be it."

Well...

That means the second branch of the family has absolute power, and there's an extreme bloodline system where ordinary members of the second branch are considered more valuable than other members of the He family, and...

He Weixiong felt a sense of powerlessness.

He was almost fifty years old and had spent many years learning from his experiences in the streets. He knew that in the Yinsha River region, every family valued their direct lineage, but none of them had reached the level of the He family, who defied the immortals with their mortal status.

If former clan leader He Sheng did this out of filial piety towards his mother, who was born a commoner, then Liu Yunxi's actions were digging up the roots of the He family.

The direct descendants of the second branch of the family were allowed to run wild and squander resources, while the other descendants of the He family who truly needed resources for cultivation were short of them.

If this continues, how could the He family possibly produce a second Foundation Establishment cultivator?

"no!

This absolutely cannot continue.

He Weixian couldn't help but say:

"Elder, I think Lord Xuan Turtle wants us to express our stance."

Even though Liu Yunxi has usurped our power and we haven't received much from the clan's resources, we should still be able to scrape together some money to send to Lord Xuan Turtle, right?

He Weixian sighed again upon hearing this and said:

"If everyone in the clan thought like you and was willing to sacrifice for the greater good, how could my He family have ended up like this?"

Regardless, things still need to be done, so we'll do it your way.

I'll personally persuade each of the eldest son's family members; now it's up to you to handle the third son's family.

After saying that, the two went their separate ways to gather resources for "Lord Xuan Gui".