I proved immortality with thunder magic.

There's no such thing as a free lunch, and Zhou Tai certainly knew that.

Wang Fengying summoned him today and repeatedly mentioned the phrase "help from a benefactor," almost explicitly revealing her intentions.

Therefore, after the other party said "let's be frank," he no longer needed to hold back and could directly ask about the other party's plans.

Faced with Zhou Tai's question, Wang Fengying laughed heartily and said, "Junior Brother Zhou is indeed straightforward. Then I will be frank with you."

She looked at Zhou Tai and spoke eloquently: "To be honest, Junior Brother Zhou, I am different from the disciples recruited by the Spirit Testing Conference. I come from the Wang family, a family of cultivators. I was sent to the sect to cultivate from a young age. It was only with the help of my family that I was able to enter the outer sect with my four spiritual roots and get this job at Young Eagle Peak."

"Ever since you, Junior Brother Zhou, a genius with a unique lightning-attribute spiritual root, entered the sect, I and the Wang family have taken notice of you and have tried every means to investigate your background."

"According to our Wang family's investigation, Junior Brother Zhou, you seem to have never married or had children. Is this true?"

As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on Zhou Tai, not missing a single detail.

After a slight pause, Zhou Tai nodded gently and said, "That's right. Because I admire the path of immortality, I have never thought about marriage and having children before!"

Upon receiving his affirmative answer, Wang Fengying relaxed and broke into a bright smile again, immediately praising him generously: "Junior Brother Zhou's steadfastness in pursuing the Dao is truly admirable!"

Zhou Tai was unimpressed by her praise and looked directly at her, saying, "Senior Sister Wang, stop beating around the bush. What does my being unmarried and childless have to do with the benefactor you mentioned?"

"Of course it's related, and it's very related!"

Wang Fengying clapped her hands with a smile, then suddenly turned her gaze to the woman in green.

She raised her hand and pointed at the woman in green, smiling as she said, "Let me introduce you, Fellow Daoist Zhou. This is my niece, Wang Ying, who is from the same clan as me. She is twenty-three years old this year and is also a miscellaneous disciple of the sect."

The woman in green did not say anything upon seeing this, but simply smiled and greeted Zhou Tai.

Zhou Tai's expression shifted, and he roughly guessed Wang Fengying's intention. In a flash, he smiled and said, "Then she is also my junior brother's senior sister. Zhou Tai greets Senior Sister Wang."

After saying this, he bowed to the woman in green.

That's the rule at Spirit Beast Mountain: disciples who haven't formally become apprentices are ranked by their cultivation level, not by their age.

Since Wang Ying is already twenty-three years old, she must have been a disciple for more than ten years, and her cultivation level must be higher than Zhou Tai's. Naturally, he should address her as senior sister.

After Zhou Tai bowed, Wang Ying, the woman in green, could no longer remain reserved and immediately returned the bow, saying, "Junior Brother Zhou, there's no need to be so polite."

Seeing that the time was right, Wang Fengying finally revealed her true intentions.

"Although Ying'er only has the aptitude of four spiritual roots, her father is an elder of my Wang family. Junior Brother Zhou, if you could become her Daoist partner and marry into my Wang family, with your talent in the Thunder Spiritual Root, Elder Wang would definitely give you his full support. It would be a win-win situation, gaining both love and wealth!"

Just as I thought!

Upon hearing Wang Fengying's words, Zhou Tai's expression immediately showed realization; he wasn't too surprised.

He had suspected this from the way the other party introduced Wang Ying, and now it was just that his guess had been confirmed.

He didn't rush to refuse, but after thinking for a moment, he looked at Wang Fengying and asked, "May I ask, Senior Sister Wang, what is Elder Wang's cultivation level?"

Upon hearing his question, Wang Fengying narrowed her eyes and, after glancing at Wang Ying, replied in a deep voice, "Elder Wang's cultivation is only at the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage, but he possesses exquisite talisman-making skills, which are highly valued by the two Foundation Establishment ancestors of the clan!"

Upon hearing this answer, Zhou Tai's heart sank, but he didn't rush to refuse. Instead, he continued, "Elder Wang must have more than just Senior Sister Wang Ying as a child, right?"

Before Wang Fengying could even reply, Wang Ying, unable to contain herself, glared at him and demanded, "Junior Brother Zhou, what do you mean by this? Do you think you've been taken advantage of by marrying into my Wang family?"

Seeing this, Wang Fengying quickly gave Wang Ying a look, signaling her not to be impatient.

At the same time, he also said, "Although Elder Wang has two other children, in terms of spiritual root aptitude, Junior Brother Zhou, you are definitely the best. After you marry into the family, resources will definitely be prioritized for you."

Upon hearing her evasive words, Zhou Tai shook his head repeatedly with a look of disappointment, saying, "Since Senior Sister Wang knows about my experiences in the mortal world, she should know that this kind of empty talk is something I am good at."

After saying that, he bowed solemnly to him and said, "Junior brother, I am grateful for your care over the past six months, Senior Sister Wang. I will not say anything fancy or pretentious. If Elder Wang is willing to offer a dowry of three thousand low-grade spirit stones first, so that I can see the sincerity of the Wang family, then the matter of marrying into the family is certainly not impossible."

"If it's just empty promises, please forgive me, junior brother, for not being able to comply!"

Upon hearing his words, Wang Fengying's face immediately darkened, while Wang Ying angrily shouted, "Do you know how much three thousand low-grade spirit stones is? You, a thirty-seven-year-old Qi Refining Stage 1 cultivator, might never earn that many spirit stones in your entire life! You're really asking for it!"

After saying that, he stormed off in a huff.

Seeing this, Zhou Tai immediately looked at Wang Fengying and said, "It seems that Senior Sister Wang harbors quite a bit of resentment towards me. I think we should just drop this matter of marrying into the family!"

Wang Fengying looked at him with a gloomy expression and said in a dissatisfied tone, "Junior Brother Zhou, your conditions are indeed a bit outrageous. You should know that purchasing a Foundation Establishment Auxiliary Spiritual Object only requires three to five thousand low-grade spirit stones!"

"Outrageous? I don't think it's outrageous at all!"

Zhou Tai shook his head and said seriously, "If Elder Wang, whom you mentioned, truly intends to support me in my attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, why wouldn't he even part with a spirit stone for a Foundation Establishment aid? If he's only willing to offer small favors, why should I, with my ambition to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, humiliate myself by marrying into another family?"

Wang Fengying was speechless.

Zhou Tai was neither an innocent seven or eight-year-old child nor a naive seventeen or eighteen-year-old teenager, but a wealthy merchant who had been struggling in the world for decades.

The saying goes, "No merchant is without guile." A successful businessman like Zhou Tai would never be tempted by petty gains and lose his greatest asset.

If she were to argue further at this point, she would not only be belittling Zhou Tai, but also deceiving herself.

After a moment of silence, her expression gradually returned to normal, and she said in a low voice, "Actually, the idea of ​​having Junior Brother Zhou marry into my Wang family was just Elder Wang's personal idea. Now that Junior Brother Zhou has firmly refused, Elder Wang probably won't force him anymore."

Zhou Tai, however, discerned a deeper meaning in her words and looked at her thoughtfully, asking, "Judging from what Senior Sister Wang is saying, does the Wang family perhaps have other plans?"

"Junior Brother Zhou is indeed clever."

Wang Fengying gave Zhou Tai an approving look and slowly said, "Junior Brother Zhou is, after all, a rare talent with a lightning spiritual root. If a female cultivator can marry Junior Brother Zhou and have offspring, the chances of their offspring having spiritual roots are definitely not small. It is because of this that Elder Wang does not mind the age gap between you and Ying'er and wants to bring you together."

Having said that, she laid her cards on the table: "Now that Junior Brother Zhou is unwilling to marry into the Wang family, my Wang family cannot force him. However, if Junior Brother Zhou is willing to lend his seed to a female cultivator of my Wang family, and we never contact each other again, my Wang family will definitely reward him handsomely!"

Looking at Zhou Tai, upon hearing the words "borrowing seed," he immediately understood the true intentions of the Wang family.

He immediately smiled faintly and said, "I'm afraid this is the Wang family's true intention!"

Seeing Zhou Tai's indifferent reaction, Wang Fengying was first taken aback, then overjoyed.

She was initially worried that Zhou Tai would be resistant to such things, after all, the world's social norms placed great importance on bloodline inheritance.

If Zhou Tai were to conceive for the Wang family, it would mean severing all ties with his future children, something many men wouldn't be willing to do.

Judging from Zhou Tai's reaction now, this matter has great potential!

In fact, she was right; Zhou Tai was not at all opposed to the idea of ​​using a sperm donor.

In his previous life, he had donated sperm while in school, so what the Wang family was asking for was no different from donating sperm.

Besides, he was devoted to the path of immortality in this life and had never thought about getting married and having children. If he conceived for the Wang family, at least his bloodline would continue in this world should he die in the future.

As for whether the child's surname is Zhou or Wang, he certainly doesn't care, after all, a name can be changed, but bloodline cannot.

Even if he doesn't mind this matter, as a successful businessman, he certainly wouldn't "sell off" his superior bloodline.

Therefore, he quickly spoke up, saying, "To be honest, I come from a beggar background, so I don't really mind the matter of borrowing a seed."

"However, to be fair, if the Wang family wants to borrow sperm, they should at least pay a fee!"

When he directly brought up the "sperm fee," Wang Fengying felt a sense of amusement. It seemed that Zhou Tai cared more about this matter than the Wang family did.

She looked at the fair-skinned middle-aged man before her, suppressed the strange emotions in her heart, and smiled slightly, saying, "Of course I'll pay the seed donation fee. Junior Brother Zhou, does that mean you agree?"

"Senior Sister Wang, let's first discuss how much the seed donation fee will be."

Zhou Tai replied noncommittally, without giving a definite answer.

Upon seeing this, Wang Fengying pondered for a moment before speaking, "This matter is simple. As long as the child born possesses spiritual root aptitude, my Wang family will provide different amounts of spirit stones according to the quality of the aptitude. Specifically, five spiritual roots will receive ten low-grade spirit stones, four spiritual roots will receive thirty low-grade spirit stones, three spiritual roots will receive one hundred low-grade spirit stones, and two spiritual roots will receive three hundred low-grade spirit stones."

After listening, Zhou Tai pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "This fee is not low, but I cannot agree to it, Junior Brother."

Wang Fengying was surprised by his words and looked at him with astonishment, asking, "Why? Since Junior Brother Zhou admits that the fee is not low, why won't you agree?"

Zhou Tai replied with a serious expression, "While I don't mind borrowing seeds, I don't want to be a seed-planting machine. If we follow Senior Sister Wang's logic, I'm afraid I'll have to plant seeds countless times if I want to earn more spirit stones, which is something I don't want!"

"Furthermore, it's not that I don't trust Senior Sister Wang, it's just that from the time the seed is planted until the child is three years old, the spiritual root can only be tested. This period takes quite a while, and whether or not a spiritual root is detected is entirely up to the Wang family. This is very disadvantageous for me!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Fengying frowned and said, "Junior Brother Zhou, you're overthinking it. If you don't trust the Wang family, you're welcome to come to our family to witness the spiritual root aptitude test in person!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai immediately waved his hand and declined, saying, "Senior Sister Wang is joking. With my meager cultivation, how could I dare to leave the sect so easily!"

Understanding his concerns, Wang Fengying didn't bring it up again, but calmly looked at him and asked, "Then what do you intend to do, Junior Brother Zhou?"

Zhou Tai already had an idea about this matter, and upon hearing this, he immediately replied, "It's very simple. Junior brother, I don't care whether the children born have spiritual root aptitude or not. I only charge based on the number of successful attempts. For each successful attempt, I will charge thirty low-grade spirit stones, and the maximum charge will be three hundred low-grade spirit stones!"

"Moreover, if I agree to this, the Wang family must do their best to arrange a good job for me so that I can cultivate peacefully for the next few years."

Upon hearing his proposal, Wang Fengying immediately fell into deep thought.

After a long silence, she looked at Zhou Tai with a complicated expression and said, "Junior Brother Zhou truly lives up to his reputation as a successful businessman; he's really got a good plan!"

Zhou Tai didn't respond to her words, but calmly met her gaze and said, "Junior brother, these are my conditions. If the Wang family can agree, then they can; if not, I dare not force them!"

After pondering for a moment, Wang Fengying gritted her teeth and said, "Alright, I agree on behalf of the Wang family. Junior Brother Zhou, you can go back and wait for good news!"

"In that case, junior brother, I shall take my leave now."

Zhou Tai clasped his hands in a salute and then left the place.