Cultivating a family of immortals

One hour ago.

When Ma Xiaoman was hurriedly taken away by Ma Chunwang, he hastily told Zhang Aqin that he was going to test the child's spiritual root.

Just before leaving, he turned back, covered in sweat, and gave the instructions:

"I... no matter what, the destruction of the spirit seedling is my responsibility... If I don't come back, my son will have spiritual roots. If the Xu family wants to cover up the secret of the Green Wood Powder, they will definitely kill me. No matter what, you must pretend you don't know anything and make sure my son becomes a disciple of the Xu family. After he successfully cultivates the technique, tell my son about this matter and let him avenge me so that the Xu family will be doomed!"

"However, if I am lightly punished, or if my son does not have spiritual roots, then I will consider this as my fault."

Zhang Aqin quickly asked, "Then we were wrong, those spirit seedlings were destroyed..."

"It's alright, we've already admitted our mistake. The Xu family... has descendants cultivating in the inner sect of the Immortal Sect, so this loss is nothing to them."

These words echoed in Zhang Aqin's mind as she looked at Li Rongping with pleading eyes.

Li Rongping naturally understood the answer she wanted.

After a moment of silence, she slowly said:

"Your son does have a spiritual root, but it is the lowest level of the Five Elements spiritual root. After examination by the immortal master, it was found that his spiritual root has nothing to do with the Green Wood Powder."

Upon hearing this, tears welled up in Zhang Aqin's eyes without her realizing it.

She stared blankly at Li Rongping, then covered her mouth in shock.

"Then...then my son might become an apprentice in your household...so he can help with the garrison in the future!"

Li Rongping really didn't know how to start the conversation. She inwardly resented Xu Wanghe, but on the surface, she still feigned a relaxed expression and said:

"Sister Aqin, although this child has spiritual roots, my Xu family cannot bear to let him cultivate. After all, your family has few connections. If something happens to him in the future, leaving you alone in the world will be a terrible thing for you."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Aqin felt both sorrow and anxiety, and immediately knelt down on the ground, sobbing as she recounted:

"I beg you, Madam, to have mercy on my son. His father has always wanted Xiaoman to cultivate immortality... I know he was wrong about the spirit seedling, but the blame doesn't fall on my son!"

Li Rongping sighed and tried to dissuade him gently, again and again.

In the end, Zhang Aqin knew that there was no way to change the situation, and she burst into tears.

Ma Xiaoman also cried loudly along with her.

Feeling annoyed, Li Rongping left some more silver coins and turned to leave.

A moment later, Zhang Aqin saw that there was no movement outside the door. Suddenly, she stopped crying, sat up straight, and hugged the crying child into her arms, patting him gently.

She looked at the corpse on the ground and murmured in a barely audible voice, "Just as you said, my son has spiritual roots... but they refuse to take him in..."

After pondering for a long time, she turned Ma Xiaoman around and faced him directly. "Xiaoman, from today onwards, every day after you finish eating, kneel at the Xu family's door and beg them to take you in and teach you cultivation. If they refuse, kneel there all day long so that the Xu family can't explain themselves in the village. If they don't take you in, they'll be bent over by gossip!"

Ma Xiaoman was just three years old and could barely speak, but seeing the bloodshot eyes in her mother's eyes, she seemed to understand something and nodded blankly.

…………

Late at night, in a dark room of the Xu residence.

Xu Guanyi, holding Xu Jingheng, looked at Xu Changle and said in a trembling voice:

"Brother, you've been in this dark room for over two years?"

Xu Changle smiled slightly, looking at Xu Guanyi, who was now a head taller than him, and said with a smile:

"It's alright. With your sister-in-law by my side, I don't find it difficult to spend my days in spiritual practice."

Xu Guan looked at his sister-in-law standing next to Xu Changle. She seemed a little different from the one he remembered, as if she had gained some weight.

But he dared not say it aloud, so he quickly bowed and said, "Guanyi greets sister-in-law."

"This child has really grown up," Zhou Xingyao said with a smile.

The family then sat down, and Xu Wanghe, watching the happy family together, never forgot the smile on his face.

After chatting about family matters for a while, Xu Wanghe finally spoke:

"Guan Yi, what stage has your cultivation reached now?"

Xu Guan teased the child, raising his head and saying, "Father, I recently broke through to the third level of Qi Refining."

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

Xu Changle, in particular, was stunned and said, "Qi Refining...you've reached the Qi Refining stage?"

Xu Guanyi asked in confusion, "Brother, how far have you progressed?"

Xu Changle said somewhat ashamedly, "I've only reached the sixth level of the Fetal Breathing stage. I don't know how many more years it will take before I can enter the Qi Refining stage."

Xu Guanyi pondered:

"It took me two years to reach the sixth level of the Fetal Breathing stage. In the sect, that's considered average talent. But I have been consuming spiritual seedlings nurtured with green liquid, so my cultivation shouldn't be so slow."

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Guanyi finally understood.

He immediately said:

"Brother, a cultivator's progress is greatly influenced by their cultivation techniques. You're currently cultivating the [Five Elements Spirit Guiding Technique], and that's probably why your progress is slow. To be honest, even that dog in the Vast Immortal Sect doesn't cultivate this kind of technique..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Guan felt two sharp, piercing gazes fixed on him.

One is the older brother, and the other is the sister-in-law.

"Brother, I was just saying..." Xu Guanyi shrank his neck.

Xu Wanghe sighed. He knew that the cultivation technique was something ordinary that the Immortal Sect had bestowed upon him.

"Guan Yi, do you know where you can buy better cultivation techniques?" Xu Wanghe asked.

Xu Guanyi put Xu Jingheng down, gently patted his head, and told him to go play somewhere else.

Then he said, "Father, I've already inquired about it. You can buy some good cultivation techniques at the town's market, but they're quite expensive."

As he spoke, he took out a storage bag from his pocket, sighed and said, "I originally had some spirit stones saved up, but after entering the Qi Refining Realm, the number of spirit stones required was too large, so I only have these forty mid-grade spirit stones left."

Xu Changle shook his head and said, "You are now the hope of the Xu family. You should keep these spirit stones for your own cultivation."

"Brother, it's okay, I..."

"Listen to me. Logically speaking, we should be the ones supporting you. But if we can't support you now, we can't hold you back either."

Xu Changle said with a smile.

Xu Guan hesitated for a moment before putting the spirit stones away again, but then took out a book from his pocket.

"Father, now that the spirit seedlings have been destroyed, do we have any stored spirit seedlings at home?"

"Of course I have it. What is this?" Xu Wanghe took the book and saw the three large characters "Alchemy Techniques" written on it.

"Father, this is the alchemy technique of the Haoran Immortal Sect. I went through a lot of trouble to obtain it."

"Alchemy, is it a Daoist technique that can refine Qi-condensing herbs into pills?"

Xu Changle immediately exclaimed excitedly.

Xu Guanyi sighed and began to explain to everyone.

"Brother, don't get too excited yet. Of the many arts of cultivation, alchemy is one of them. Brother, guess how many alchemists there are in the entire Vast Immortal Sect?"

Neither Xu Changle nor Xu Wanghe knew of this, so they asked, "Are there any among the hundred?"

"A hundred?" Xu Guanyi exclaimed. "I thought so too at first, but brother, can you imagine that out of thousands of people in the entire Haoran Immortal Sect, there are only twelve alchemists?"

The group of people were all secretly amazed.

Xu Wanghe felt that the alchemy book in his hand had become inexplicably heavier.

"The reason why there are so few alchemists is that, firstly, one must have a fire spiritual root to refine pills, and one must have three spiritual roots or above. Secondly, one must have excellent talent for cultivating immortality and be able to sense the differences between various spiritual energies at the embryonic breathing stage, so as to mobilize fire spiritual energy to refine pills. Thirdly, pill formulas are hard to find. Even if one knows how to refine pills, one cannot refine pills without sufficient pill formulas."