The Immortal Clan begins with deductive intelligence.

"A fragment is a fragment."

Xu Changqing showed no disgust, and instead put it into his sleeve with a calm expression.

"Many thanks to Fellow Daoist Wan for bestowing the Dharma."

To others, the fragments represent risks, but in his hands, with the Heavenly Mirror, a treasure beyond compare, the fragments are merely unfinished gems.

Seeing that he accepted the gift, Wan Huaiyi's eyes flashed with a hint of relief that the cause and effect had been resolved. He said no more, not even leaving a polite "see you later".

With a flicker, he transformed into a shadowy figure and disappeared into the vast night.

The courtyard fell silent again, with only the rustling of the wind through the bare branches.

Xu Changqing looked in the direction where Wan Huaiyi disappeared, his heart unmoved.

Meeting by chance, each taking what they need—this is the norm in the world of cultivation.

He turned and went back to his study. Instead of looking at the book "Thunder in the Palm," he sat down at his desk and tapped his fingers on the tabletop.

Now that the four children have been sent to the Qinghe Sword Sect, it can be considered as leaving a way out for the Xu family. But life still goes on, and the whole family still needs to eat and cultivate.

You can't expect him, the clan leader, to go out and kill and rob every day, or to dig up people's ancestral graves in the middle of the night.

One cannot rely on shortcuts for long; if you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet.

If a family wants to prosper, it needs to focus on the word "production".

Xu Changqing was making plans in his mind.

Right now, the Xu family can only do two kinds of business.

One is fish farming.

Fish ponds are the Xu family's traditional business. With one more pond, they can earn several hundred more kilograms of fish by the end of the year. But after digging the pond, they still need to bring in water, buy fish fry, and buy feed.

This is a significant investment; the Xu family can only dig one more hole at most now.

The second is farming.

The battle at the Demon-Slaying Dike is now intense, causing the price of healing pills in the market to fluctuate three times a day.

Even the most basic hemostatic herbs and low-level spiritual herbs like the Qi-condensing flower have seen their prices rise accordingly.

Even if those precious spiritual herbs cannot be grown, the lowest-grade medicinal materials like hemostatic herbs can be harvested every three to five months as long as one is willing to put in the effort to cultivate the wasteland and take good care of them.

Although the profit margin is lower than that of fish farming, the costs are much lower, and there's no worry about sales.

However, whether it's raising fish or growing medicinal herbs, it all depends on people.

Although those two traitors, Xu Sanshun and Xu Tiezhu, are dead, this thorn remains in Xu Changqing's heart.

When hiring people, you must hire those you can trust.

If they were to encounter another person with malicious intentions, the Xu family's investment would be wasted again.

The Xu family now only has a few dozen collateral relatives left. They seem honest and unassuming on the surface, but who knows if they might be carrying another Xu Sanshun inside their bellies?

"We need to find a few trustworthy people."

Several faces of his clansmen flashed through Xu Changqing's mind, but he suppressed them one by one.

You can know a person's face but not their heart. If you rely solely on your feelings, you're likely to repeat the same mistakes.

Jiang Rou is meticulous and, as the mistress of the house, she has no problem managing things.

But she alone is definitely not enough; we also need strong laborers who are willing to work hard and keep their mouths shut.

"We still need a mirror."

Xu Changqing cleared his mind of all distractions and focused his thoughts into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Amidst the swirling mist, the Heavenly Mirror floated silently.

"Through deduction, among the current members of the Xu family, who is truly loyal, capable of great use, and utterly without the risk of betraying their master?"

This time, Xu Changqing didn't have to wait too long.

After all, it only deduces the nature of a few ordinary people, and does not involve any celestial opportunities or destiny; the cause and effect are still shallow.

In less than half an hour, ripples appeared on the mirror's surface, and several lines of golden characters clearly emerged.

[The simulation is complete]

[Xu Yanling: Although she lacks spiritual roots, she is meticulous, adept at managing household affairs, and possesses an extremely strong sense of belonging to her family.]

[Xu Daniu: A member of a collateral branch of the clan, possessing superhuman strength and a simple, honest nature. Although somewhat greedy, he is fiercely loyal to the family and can be entrusted with heavy physical tasks.]

[Xu Zhong: A member of a collateral branch of the Xu family, he is taciturn and only knows how to work hard. He was once saved by the old clan chief and remains loyal to him to the death.]

[Xu Ermazi: Usually slick and slippery, but actually bold and meticulous, and extremely protective of his own.]

……

There are seven or eight names in total.

Xu Changqing's gaze lingered on the three characters "Xu Yanling" for a moment.

Although this girl has no spiritual root, she has a good personality and is organized in her work. She can be let to assist Jiang Rou.

Xu Changqing silently repeated the names of these people twice in his mind, making a mental note of them.

Tomorrow, I'll have Jiang Rou call these people over. First, we'll level the ten acres of wasteland behind the mountain, plant hemostatic herbs, and then discuss the fishpond matter.

As for that lightning magic...

Xu Changqing composed himself and did not withdraw from his sea of ​​consciousness.

He focused his mind again and reviewed the contents of the incomplete jade slip in his mind.

"Based on this fragment of 'Thunder in the Palm', we can complete the method."

[Deduction begins]

[Subject to Implementation: Complete "Palm Thunder".]

[Time required: Twenty days.]

......

The next morning, as the sky began to lighten and the morning mist grew damp and cold.

The long-abandoned hillside behind Cangwu Island is now bustling with noise.

Xu Changqing stood on the edge of the field, looking at the familiar faces before him, and nodded to himself.

The people chosen by the Heavenly Mirror are indeed all honest and upright.

Xu Daniu was shirtless, revealing his strong, bronze-colored muscles. Sweat streamed down his back, rising in the cold wind as white mist.

"Da Niu, that rock is in the way, go move it."

Xu Yanling pointed to a black rock about half a person's height at the edge of the ground.

Xu Daniu chuckled, spat twice into his palm, rubbed it together, wrapped his two thick arms around the black rock, veins bulging on his neck, and let out a low growl.

The black rock actually swayed a few times, then he forcefully lifted it off the ground and tossed it into the ditch, moving it step by step.

"Wow, that's strong!"

Several clansmen cheered. Xu Daniu scratched his head, his face slightly red, and turned around to pick up the hoe and dig in the soil again.

Jiang Rou, who was overseeing the overall situation, stepped forward when she saw Xu Changqing looking over and handed him a clean handkerchief.

"Don't worry, my husband. These people are all hardworking. At this rate, the ten acres of medicinal fields will be leveled in less than three days."

"You've worked hard. Once this medicinal herb field is on track, you'll have to keep an eye on the finer tasks. These men are only good at the rough work."

Jiang Rou smiled gently and nodded in agreement.

Xu Changqing felt somewhat relieved and was about to turn and leave.

"Chieftain."

Xu Changqing turned around and saw Xu Yanzhen leaning on his cane, still carrying the cloth bag under his arm, with a few beads of sweat on his forehead, clearly having traveled a long way.

Without saying a word, he reached out and untied the cloth bundle, taking out a stack of talismans that were completely different from the previous yellow paper ones.

The talisman paper glowed with a faint blue light, indicating it was a genuine first-grade low-level talisman paper. Its cinnabar was bright red, the talisman core was full, and its spiritual light was contained and did not dissipate.

"Twenty first-grade low-level golden light talismans in total."

Xu Yanzhen handed the talisman to Xu Changqing, whose usually tense face now showed an undisguised sense of pride and relief.

"I've been on a roll these past few days, and my success rate with talismans has reached 30%. Please accept the 30% of the estimated profit from the talismans that we agreed on after we sell them, clan leader."