Two Years in Seclusion

In Harmony Courtyard, after patiently soothing him, Zhao Sheng sent away Zhao Xiaoqi, who had come to inquire about the news.

After seeing Zhao Xiaoqi off, he shook his head with a bitter smile, unable to stop himself from sighing inwardly. "This mastermind behind the scenes has truly gone to extraordinary lengths. He's even resorted to spreading rumors among mortals. Looks like he won't rest until he has driven the Zhao Family to its death."

By this point, Zhao Sheng had already vaguely guessed who was manipulating everything from the shadows. Nine times out of ten, it was that old fox Wei Chengwo.

Only he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Wei Chengwo wanted to force the Zhao Family to death not merely to target the Zhao Family's cultivators, but more importantly, for the Zhao Clan's fifty thousand mortal relatives.

Do not think mortal relatives were unimportant to a Cultivation Family.

On the contrary, they were the most vital foundation of any Cultivation Family.

Taking the Zhao Family as an example, more than ten of the Zhao Clan's thirty-one cultivators had come from secular households.

Once the Wei Family absorbed the Zhao Clan's fifty thousand relatives, the number of new cultivators born into their family would certainly increase greatly.

In the Cultivation World, quite a few Cultivation Families had achieved leaps in strength by constantly assimilating the mortal relatives of other families.

Zhao Sheng also guessed that perhaps he was not the only one who had figured it out. Even several of the family's shrewd Elders likely had a rough idea in their hearts.

But so what!

Wei Chengwo was clearly acting without fear, and the conspiracy he employed was more like an Overt Scheme.

Who could blame the Zhao Family for exposing such a huge weakness through their own incompetence?

Zhao Sheng had no good solution either. He could only respond to each move as it came.

The key to breaking this deadlock lay in whether the two clan elders could successfully reach Foundation Establishment.

If they succeeded, everyone would have a bright future.

If not, they could only make other plans!

The Blazing Sun scorched the earth; July's heat burned like fire. In the blink of an eye, another two months passed.

That day, Zhao Sheng was fully focused on drawing an Invisibility Talisman in the Talisman Room.

A moment later, spiritual light suddenly blossomed over the surface of the Talisman Paper. An intricate and ornate talisman pattern flashed and vanished, and an Invisibility Talisman took shape.

When Zhao Chongwei at his side saw that Zhao Sheng had succeeded again, she could not help but dejectedly toss down her talisman brush and complain to him, "Chonghe, why are Invisibility Talismans so hard? I've already failed more than ten times today."

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng walked over to her side, picked up a ruined talisman from the table, and studied it for a while before saying, "Xiaowei, your brushwork and talisman pattern are correct, and all the spirit-aperture nodes are present. The reason you keep failing is that the Spiritual Power is distributed unevenly between the talisman lines, causing the nodes to connect poorly."

Zhao Chongwei took the talisman and examined it for a while before saying in frustration, "I've already tried my best to control it, but the Invisibility Talisman is too complicated. All my attention goes into its talisman pattern and spirit apertures. I really can't spare any for anything else. Not everyone is such a freak like you!"

Zhao Sheng was rendered speechless. So this was somehow my fault? In the end, he could only comfort her. "Don't rush. Take it slowly. Practice makes perfect. At your current pace, you'll succeed in three months at most."

Zhao Chongwei could not help rolling her eyes at him. "Are you mocking me for being stupid?"

Zhao Sheng's expression stiffened at once. He hurriedly apologized, "My little grandaunt, you're the family's genius girl. You've already reached Qi Refining Level Three at only seventeen. I'm just a rookie at Qi Refining Level Two—how would I dare mock you?"

Hearing him say that, the gloom in Zhao Chongwei's heart lessened somewhat, but she still sighed. "What use is Qi Refining Level Three? I can't help the family at all. I wonder when the clan elders will come out of seclusion?"

Zhao Sheng's expression darkened slightly as he comforted her, "Don't worry. The two clan elders will definitely succeed!"

After hearing that, Zhao Chongwei clasped her hands together, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and prayed devoutly, "Ancestors, bless our Zhao Family with another Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

After saying that, she jabbed Zhao Sheng with her elbow and urged, "Chonghe, hurry up and pray with me."

Zhao Sheng was somewhat speechless.

Who said cultivators were not superstitious? They were actually incredibly superstitious.

Take the Zhao Family's alchemist Zhao Ke Ru, for instance. Before opening his furnace to refine pills every time, he would bathe and change clothes, burn incense, and pray, making a grand spectacle of it.

And he was not the only one. More than half the Weapon Refiners, alchemists, and Formation Masters in the Cultivation World had similar worship rituals. Some worshipped heaven and earth, some worshipped the sages who had come before them on their path, while others worshipped their own ancestors.

Seeing that Zhao Sheng did not move, Zhao Chongwei urged him again, "Hurry up!"

Zhao Sheng rubbed his nose and could only perfunctorily mutter a few words asking the ancestors for their blessing.

Because of his halfhearted attitude, Zhao Chongwei complained about him for quite a while.

She only let him off after he "mended his wicked ways."

Honestly, asking myself to bless my own descendants—there was really no one else like me! The facts proved that asking the ancestors for blessings was not worth a damn.

Two days later, terrible news that struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky threw the Zhao Family into a panic.

Zhao Jingang had failed his Foundation Establishment attempt!

Not only had he failed, several of his meridians had even ruptured, and his cultivation had fallen back to the initial stage of Qi Refining Level Nine.

In less than half an hour, Zhao Chonghe, as the only member of the Chong Generation, was once again seated around the round table with seven Zhao Clan Elders who held real power.

At this moment, the atmosphere in United Hearts Hall was even heavier than it had been two months ago.

There was no doubt that Zhao Jingang's failure was a grave blow to the Zhao Family—grave enough to shake everyone's confidence.

At this emergency meeting, Zhao Sheng did not speak. There was really nothing to say.

Failure was failure. It was not as if the sky had fallen.

This time, the other Zhao Clan Elders behaved with great rationality. After a brief period of despondency, they immediately settled the aftermath arrangements.

Simply put, they sealed off the news to the outside, downplayed the failure within, did everything possible to soothe people's hearts, and cracked down harshly on any rumors.

After leaving United Hearts Hall, Zhao Sheng immediately went to the Merit Hall. In his capacity as family head, he drew ten years of spiritual salary in advance, then exchanged all the treasures in his Storage Bag—flying swords, Profound Ripple Crystals, and the like—for Bigu Pills and Spirit Essence Pills.

Then he plunged headlong into the Water Vein Cultivation Room and began a long period of secluded cultivation.

He had to prepare a way out.

If Zhao Jinding failed as well.

Zhao Sheng decided that once he advanced to Qi Refining Level Three, he would enter Heaven Pillar Mountain ahead of schedule.

Time rushed by, and two years passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, Zhao Sheng finally emerged from the cultivation room, his hair and beard a tangled mess.

At this point, no one knew that he had already successfully advanced to Qi Refining Level Three.

After leaving seclusion and surfacing from the water, Zhao Sheng boarded a wooden boat and instructed the boatman to head for the shore of Dragon Carp Lake.

Halfway there, he was astonished to discover that there were more than sixty percent more vessels on Dragon Carp Lake than there had been two years ago.

From wooden boats three zhang long to broad-bottomed, upturned-prow ships measuring ten or even twenty-odd zhang, there were over a hundred vessels of every kind.

There were even two medium-sized dragon-prow Law Boats more than thirty zhang long and seven or eight zhang tall, their hulls glittering with countless rune lights as they sped across the lake.

From time to time, people aboard the Law Boats cast fishing nets glowing with spiritual light into the water.

Such a bustling scene seemed to signify that the Zhao Family was flourishing in great prosperity.

Yet Zhao Sheng was not pleased by the sight. Instead, his brows drew tightly together.

Standing at the bow, Zhao Sheng muttered to himself, "This doesn't look good!"

After coming ashore, Zhao Sheng swiftly learned another piece of terrible news from the clan members.