Dongting Immortal Clan

"Senior Brother Li!"

Chen Xiaohu immediately left the bamboo house and walked quickly to the front.

"I will soon be going down the mountain to return to the family."

Li Kaihe smiled broadly and stated his purpose directly:

"I remember you mentioned before that you wanted to send some things home, and now is the perfect time."

"My spiritual treasures have reached perfection. I need to return to my family to retrieve a secret 'Innate Golden Qi' to refine in order to attain the Innate state."

"On our return to Tianyong, we can first take a detour to Dongting Lake."

He looked at Chen Xiaohu, his eyes questioning:

"I wonder if Junior Brother has anything you'd like me to bring back to my residence?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaohu was overjoyed; it was exactly what he had hoped for.

Without hesitation, he immediately took out a gray storage bag that he had prepared beforehand from his pocket, handed it over with both hands, and said sincerely:

"Yes, senior brother!"

"Everything has been prepared and is in this bag. I am deeply grateful for your kind consideration in making the detour to my home!"

Li Kaihe took the storage bag; it was slightly heavy in his hand. He smiled and waved his hand, saying:

"You're too kind, junior brother."

"If it weren't for the fact that I've been helping you connect with other fellow disciples in the mountains to trade pills over the past two years, which has brought me a lot of benefits, I probably wouldn't have been able to reach the threshold of the Spiritual Treasury Perfection so quickly."

"This is merely a return favor, nothing more than a small act of kindness."

After going up the mountain, Chen Xiaohu followed Li Ziyan to cultivate and learned a few alchemy techniques. He never lacked anything he needed for his daily cultivation.

If there is any surplus, they will ask Li Kaihe to help them take it and trade it with other fellow disciples.

Li Kaihe makes a profit from the price difference and lives a comfortable life.

He paused, looking at Chen Xiaohu, who was calm and composed, and his tone became even more sincere.

"You are my clanswoman's disciple, so naturally our relationship should be closer."

"I will remember your kindness as a junior brother. When you have completed your cultivation and have some free time, you are welcome to visit Tianyong City."

"Although my 'Tianyong Li Clan' is only a Foundation Establishment clan, we still have some foundation in Tianyong."

"Going back a thousand years, our ancestors were once wealthy. One of them was a powerful swordsman who was ordered to guard Tianmen Pass. His illustrious reputation was comparable to that of a Purple Mansion True Person."

When mentioning his family history, Li Kaihe couldn't help but feel a touch of pride.

Chen Xiaohu was also aware of this matter.

The ancient swordsman ancestor of the Tianyong Li clan a thousand years ago, though only at the Foundation Establishment stage, possessed power comparable to a Purple Mansion Divine Realm cultivator.

Unfortunately, the Li family patriarch did not achieve great mastery of supernatural powers, remaining at the half-step Purple Mansion realm.

After his death, the Li family never produced another person of such extraordinary talent.

Fortunately, during the time of the ancestor's lifetime, the family had accumulated a rich foundation over hundreds of years, and the Li family's descendants had never lost their foundation, thus maintaining the dignity that the clan should have.

His master, Li Ziyan, is the most promising person in the Tianyong Li Clan to establish a foundation. She has already reached the late stage of Qi Refining and is just waiting to find a suitable "Daoist Companion" before she can try to establish a foundation.

Once the mission is accomplished, the Li family will have another Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge.

Chen Xiaohu pondered to himself.

"Moreover, my master is a highly skilled alchemy master, whose status is higher than that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Many virtuous cultivators are willing to do her a favor."

"If she succeeds in establishing her foundation, the Li family can be guaranteed to prosper for at least three to five hundred years."

"This bond of kinship is my greatest reliance in the immortal sect."

"I and the Li family of Tianyong are naturally in the same boat."

Chen Xiaohu smiled and nodded, bowing respectfully as he said:

"Thank you for your guidance, senior brother."

"If I have the opportunity in the future, I will definitely go to Tianyong City to pay my respects to the elders of the Li family."

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.

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

On the day Chen Changhe's second son, Chen Xuanze, was born, the first light rain of autumn fell on Dongting Lake.

The rain pattered down on the green-tiled eaves, making a soft rustling sound.

Chen Changhe stood under the eaves, his trouser legs half-soaked by the rain, but he was oblivious, his eyes fixed on the raindrops, while his spiritual sense was locked onto the house behind him.

Zhang Xiulan's painful groans could be heard from inside the room from time to time. He remained expressionless and motionless.

A short while later, the door creaked open, and Aunt Liu came out carrying the child, smiling respectfully:

"Congratulations, Erlang, on the addition of another young master."

Chen Changhe already knew the outcome, but seeing the baby's face still made his heart tremble.

He carefully took the child, turned and went into the house. Zhang Xiulan was pale and covered in sweat. Seeing him come in, she quickly called out:

"My lord."

He bent down and gently placed the child beside her pillow, saying softly:

"According to the generational naming convention, this child should be named 'Xuanze'."

"Chen Xuanze".

Chen Xuanji, from Chen Dajiang's family, is only two months old and still in swaddling clothes, unable to roll over. Now, with the addition of Chen Xuanze, the younger generation in the family has suddenly become lively.

Three-year-old Zhang Nianci can already walk steadily and speaks much more fluently. At this moment, she is curiously lying by the bed and gently touching Chen Xuanze's little face.

"Wow--!"

Suddenly, Chen Xuanze burst into tears.

Zhang Nianci was startled and quickly withdrew her hand, looking at her father with her big, dark eyes, feeling wronged:

"Father, why is my little brother crying?"

Chen Changhe chuckled, picked her up, and said gently:

"My little brother is still too young to talk. When he's uncomfortable or hungry, all he can do is cry."

"You were the same when you were young."

Zhang Nianci was still skeptical, but after looking at the little wrinkled thing by the bed for a while, she finally accepted that it was her younger brother.

……

Not long after Chen Xuanze was born, autumn deepened, and the grains in the fields finally ripened.

The five acres of spiritual fields cultivated by the lake actually yielded nearly ten bushels of "White Jade Valley".

Chen Changhe, along with Chen Dajiang and relatives from the Wang and Zhang families who came to help, went to the fields to harvest the crops.

Chen Baiye even pulled his two sons along, busying himself in the field, never leaving their side.

Harvesting, threshing, drying, and storing... Chen Baiye personally handled every step, taking it extremely seriously and daring not to make the slightest mistake.

Chen Changhe saw it all and kept it in mind.

Of these ten stones of spirit grain, forty percent must be paid to the Taixu Sect according to the rules, and the remaining six stones can be kept for personal use.

Roughly calculated, the hard work of the past six months is equivalent to earning six bottles of "Nourishment Pills".

After completing the transaction with Shen Congyun and obtaining the pills, Chen Changhe's thoughts involuntarily drifted back towards Zhoujia Village.

Now that his cultivation has been gradually consolidated and his magical power is abundant, and with his elder brother having the Peiyuan Pill to assist in his cultivation, the day of his transformation is not far off.

The idea of ​​"expanding his land" then arose in his mind again.

The land around Baiyukou suitable for planting spirit grains is already limited. Apart from the land that has been cultivated, the rest is either barren of spiritual energy or located in remote areas, making it inconvenient to take care of.

Only near Zhoujia Village, because it is close to the evil spirit, there is a piece of land of more than ten acres, full of spiritual energy, which is far superior to other places, making it a good place to plant white jade grain.

The problem is, these lands belong to the Zhou family.

The Zhou family has been operating in the Baiyukou area for over a century, with farmland, shops, and tenants, establishing a deep-rooted presence.

Land was the lifeblood of these gentry families.

Considering the unknown origin of the evil spirit in the Zhou family, Chen Changhe discussed the matter with his father, brothers, and adoptive father several times and finally decided to try "literary acquisition" first to sound out their intentions and see if they could purchase some land with money.

……

That day, he took the composed Chen Yupeng with him and went to Zhoujia Village.

Zhou Chengli, the former village chief of Zhoujia Village, is over seventy years old and is highly respected.

Upon hearing Chen Changhe's purpose, he was willing to act as a go-between and arranged to meet in his own courtyard.

As soon as Chen Changhe led Chen Yupeng into the courtyard, he sensed something was amiss.

There were at least twenty or thirty people sitting or standing in the courtyard.

Most of them were elderly people who were prominent figures in the village. On the benches in the center, the person sitting upright was clearly a representative sent by the Zhou family.

Zhou Yesheng, the third master of the Zhou family, was too busy to attend in person. Instead, Zhou Yefeng, the second son of the Zhou family, who lived in the old house and was known for his reclusive lifestyle, represented him.

In addition, there was Manager Zhao, whom Chen Changhe had dealt with before, and an old woman who dressed strangely and talked nonsense.

What was even more striking was that around the corner of the courtyard stood more than a dozen strong young men, each with broad shoulders and thick waists, staring at Chen Changhe and his companion with hostile eyes as they entered.

"A show of force?"

Chen Changhe sneered inwardly.

In village council meetings, there are rules regarding seating arrangements, with elders taking the lead.

Chen Changhe glanced around indifferently and saw that the benches in the courtyard were almost full, with only the seats below and above the shrine near the entrance still empty.

His expression remained unchanged. He led Chen Yupeng straight through the crowd's gaze, sat down on an empty chair beside the shrine, looked around, and spoke in a clear and calm voice:

"Now that everyone is here, let's begin."