Cultivating a family of immortals

"What?"

Xu Wanghe was furious when he saw Li Rongping take Xu Jingheng out to practice Taoist arts, but lost the child when they returned. Before he could say anything, he was told that Xu Jingheng had been taken away by a celestial master from the Xuan Yuan Sect.

"How...how could you have been seen by the immortal masters of the Xuan Yuan Sect?"

Li Rongping said with a worried look in her eyes, "How would I know?"

Xu Wanghe paced back and forth in the courtyard, pondering for a long while, before finally sighing and saying:

"We killed that old Taoist priest, and we only hope that this matter will not be exposed... According to that old Taoist priest, the Xuan Yuan Immortal Sect is several times stronger than the Hao Ran Immortal Sect. Jing Heng... since this person has already discovered his Heavenly Spiritual Root and he has joined the Xuan Yuan Immortal Sect, it's better than us feeding him... We should also inform Chang Le about this matter..."

After saying this, he reassured Li Rongping and then went down into the dark room.

In the dark room, Xu Changle and Zhou Xingyao were quite worried after hearing about this. Finally, Zhou Xingyao spoke up:

"Father, since things have come to this, let nature take its course. You and Mother shouldn't blame yourselves."

Xu Changle held the sleeping Xu Jingyao in his arms and said, "Father, that old Taoist also said that Xuan Yuan Sect is stronger than Hao Ran Immortal Sect, which may be a good thing. If you are worried, let's go to Xuan Yuan Sect to see Jingheng after we finish the last few trivial matters here today."

Xu Wanghe could only sigh and nod.

When the conversation turned to the last minor detail, Xu Wanghe paused for a moment before asking, "How are the preparations going?"

"There shouldn't be any problem, but I don't know if he's actually here... Father, I'm leaving Jingyao with you. You and Mother, take Jingtao and have Master Fang accompany you to town to buy things for your birthday celebration tomorrow."

Xu Wanghe sighed deeply, "Guan Yi left in such a hurry. He said he was going to celebrate my birthday with Wan Xing. What a coincidence."

Xu Changle laughed and said, "We can celebrate next year. After Guanyi and Wanxing get married and have a big, healthy son, you can enjoy the blessings of having children and grandchildren."

"Haha, that's for the best!" Xu Wanghe then took Xu Jingyao, and before leaving, he gave him another instruction:

"Be very careful. When the thief appears, use the communication jade talisman to summon me!"

"Father, we must not let Master Fang find out that Xingyao and I are capable of cultivation. You can rest assured."

Xu Wanghe had no choice but to give up and carried Xu Jingyao out of the dark room.

Xu Changle then grasped Zhou Xingyao's hand and said softly, "Are you afraid? Today is the day we lure the snake out of its hole. I am now at the second level of Qi Refining, while Cui Hehuan was at the fourth level of Qi Refining three years ago. If we are not prepared, he may harm my child."

Zhou Xingyao shook her head and said, "What if he's not here?"

Xu Changle calmly said, "Four years ago, Brother Yuan Zuo watched over my house every day. Later, Master Fang came to my Xu family and was almost always by my father's side. He had no chance to make a move. In the past few days, I have had Jing Tao spread the word at the village entrance that I am returning to the village. While Master Fang and my parents are in town, if he wants revenge, he will definitely come back. With Master Fang not guarding the house, how can I not make a move?"

"Of course, if he's not here, then we'll live our normal lives from now on. He'll have to make his move sooner or later."

"Okay, when do we go out?"

"Three hours later, come out of the dark room, take a shortcut to the village entrance, and then return openly."

"Whatever you say."

………………

Four years ago, the Cui family thought that with the emergence of Cui Hehuan, the garrison position that had been vacant for several years would eventually fall to the Cui family, at which point they would be able to recruit soldiers and build their own power.

Unexpectedly, Xu Wanghe brought his family to Qingping Mountain Village.

That day, the head of the Cui family met Xu Wanghe, and then went to the immortal workshop in town to find Cui Hehuan and explained the matter in detail.

Cui Hehuan sneered, took out a packet of medicine from his pocket, and laughed, "Since you're here, then die here. I'll accompany Father to Qingping Mountain to capture a few spirit beasts, feed them this medicine, and drive them to cause trouble in the village. You force Xu Wanghe to make a move; if he dares to, I'll control the spirit beasts to kill him!"

The head of the Cui family nodded repeatedly, then asked, "But what if he were to have the immortal master beside him take action?"

Cui Hehuan sneered, "I will naturally keep a backup plan."

On that day, after Wu Yuanzuo killed the Mountain-Splitting Demon, Cui Hehuan hid in the crowd, sneered, and controlled the black serpent to attack Xu Wanghe. However, he was blocked by Lin Jinglan, who arrived on his sword.

He quickly severed the connection with the spirit beast, and the Cui family head also stepped forward with his head down, pretending to have been discovered after taking action. Sure enough, Lin Jinglan noticed and tied him up.

Lin Jinglan had important business to attend to, so he did not check carefully and left on his sword.

Seeing this, Cui Hehuan, who was hiding among the villagers, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He stared at Xu Wanghe in the crowd, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"That old dog, I'll kill you sooner or later!"

Seeing his father kneel down before Xu Wanghe, he felt extremely angry and ashamed, and silently plotted how to deal with the Xu family next time.

however……

Unexpectedly, Xu Changle, the eldest son of Xu Wanghe, asked two questions and then cut off the head of the Cui family.

At that moment, even with his cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he couldn't save her in time.

Watching helplessly as Xu Changle proclaimed the Cui family's actions to the villagers, Cui Hehuan made a hand gesture, his eyes bloodshot, and prepared to kill the entire family on the spot.

However, he stopped, because he sensed another spiritual energy fluctuation watching them from the shadows under the trees in the distance.

This spiritual energy is very familiar; it's... Senior Sister Lin, who's in charge of guiding disciples to the Immortal Guiding Pavilion?

He quickly lowered his eyes, dispersed his spiritual energy, and used the lowest level of [Breath Condensation Technique] to conceal his aura.

Senior Sister Lin Wan was actually personally protecting that young Xu family member...

Upon hearing that Xu Changle was going to eliminate the Cui family completely, and that Wu Yuanzuo, that bastard, was actually going to search for him in the market, Cui Hehuan panicked. He understood that the Haoran Immortal Sect would never protect him because of this, and that... the Cui family would be abandoned because of this...

After all, he was just an outer disciple... but according to Lin Jinglan, the son of the Xu family actually had dual spiritual roots...

He was filled with remorse.

He followed them out into the crowd, wanting to take his family far away, but he could always sense Lin Wan's spiritual energy fluctuations...

In the heavy snow, Cui Hehuan stood on the edge of a field far from the Cui family's residence, and could faintly hear screams coming from inside the Cui mansion.

"Mother, Second Sister..."

Cui Hehuan knelt on the edge of the field, sobbing uncontrollably, two lines of bloody tears streaming from his eyes. Gazing at the faintly visible figure of Xu Changle, he vowed in his heart that he would kill this boy and exterminate the entire Xu family in this lifetime.

He then ran away without looking back.

Two years later, relying on the trading skills he had learned in the Immortal Market, he worked under an assumed name in the markets of Qingxi County, making a living by reselling magical items.

He had considered returning to Mohe County to live in anonymity, but the Haoran Immortal Sect had issued a kill order against him! Even in Qingxi County, he had to conceal his identity from others…

Cui Hehuan's hatred for the Xu family deepened.

Occasionally, he would sneak back once, not daring to linger, to inquire about the situation in Qingping Mountain Village. He learned that Haoran Sect had once again sent Fang Shouzhuo to follow Xu Wanghe and protect him. He also learned something else.

The son of Sun Erzhu, a poor family in the village, was born with spiritual roots and entered the Xu family.

Sun Erzhu, relying on the Xu family, beat up the two Chang brothers who had been bullying the Sun family for years. The two Chang brothers dared not speak out against their anger.

One snowy night, he went to the Chang family's door, threw down dozens of taels of gold and silver, and obtained a promise from the two Chang brothers that they would provide information before leaving.

Over the course of two years, he received dozens of replies from the two Chang brothers, and from his distant home in Qingxi County, he learned about everything the Xu family was doing.

Until recently, the two Chang brothers sent a secret letter, saying that Xu Changle would be returning to the village from the spirit fields of the Haoran Immortal Sect, just in time for Xu Wanghe's grand 60th birthday celebration.

Holding the letter, Cui Hehuan knelt down on the street, facing the direction of Mohe County, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"On your sixtieth birthday... with Fang Shouzhuo protecting you, I cannot kill you, but your eldest son... I will teach you what the pain of losing a son truly means!"