Tiger-Leopard Forest

He had gotten up too fiercely and saw someone casting a spell on the Yang Family's Spirit Field.

Yang Genshuo rubbed his eyes and looked again. Jiang Xiaobai was sitting outside the Spirit Field, cross-legged on the ground, her palms spread flat at her sides as a faint glow flickered over her body.

Yang Genshuo's heart stirred, and he opened Jiang Xiaobai's character card.

Name: Jiang Xiaobai

Gender: Female

Identity: Proprietress of Yang's Board Game Teahouse

Lifespan: 16/100

Realm: Embryonic Breath Stage, First Layer

Spiritual Root: Five-Element Spiritual Root (Metal: 17, Wood: 23, Water: 20, Fire: 20, Earth: 20)

Comprehension: 20

Luck: 20

Talent: Wood Affinity (Earth Grade)

Skills: Mystic Stone Qi-Guiding Art, Spirit Rain Art

"Sure enough, it was her."

"Sigh, I knew someone with a spiritual root wouldn't be so simple."

"How could an ordinary family give birth to a child with a spiritual root?"

Yang Genshuo's thoughts returned once more to the day, two years ago in the game, when he took Jiang Xiaobai in.

That day, after rejoicing over picking up an SR card and gradually calming down, he made a special decision.

He would not tell Jiang Xiaobai that she possessed a spiritual root.

He would keep it hidden until Yang Shi died.

"Once one cultivates immortality, the two are boundless and lost. Without thinking of it, who could forget?"

Jiang Xiaobai's natural lifespan was one hundred years, while Yang Shi only had seventy. Yang Shi was also four years older than her.

In other words, under normal circumstances, after Yang Shi died, she could still live another thirty-four years.

If she cultivated immortality, her lifespan would grow even longer.

By then, the highly cultivated Jiang Xiaobai would become the true controller of the Yang Family. That was not what Yang Genshuo wanted to see.

But reality would not continue according to his script. Jiang Xiaobai had embarked on the path of cultivation herself.

He checked the records. Three months ago, Jiang Xiaobai had taken two Low-Grade Spirit Stones from Yang Shi.

After three months, she had entered the ranks of cultivators.

"Even if the Spirit Rain Art is simple, someone would still have to teach it to her, right?"

"And where did the Mystic Stone Qi-Guiding Art come from?"

"Jiang Xiaobai, just how much have you been hiding?"

Yang Genshuo rubbed his face. Things had slipped beyond his control, and not even the Spirit Rain drifting down from the sky could make him happy.

In some respects, Yang Shi and Yang Genshuo's brainwaves matched quite well.

The moment Yang Shi saw Jiang Xiaobai make it rain, he roughly understood why the old ancestor had told him to take her in and treat her well.

"Brother, I did it!!"

"I'm a cultivator now! I'll be able to protect you from now on!"

A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind. In the end, as he looked at the little potato running toward him with a face full of joy, he pulled her into an embrace and indulgently stroked her head.

"Foolish girl."

"So what if you're a cultivator? Am I, a Half-Step Innate Realm master, showing off?"

"From now on, just farm properly for our family!"

Jiang Xiaobai lifted her head from Yang Shi's embrace, her cheeks flushed as she said softly:

"It's our family."

Things had come to this. No matter how many plans Yang Genshuo had made, he had no choice but to yield to change.

"I hope this will be a good thing for the Yang Family."

Thinking of the smiles of those two people embracing in that world, Yang Genshuo gave a helpless smile as well.

"At least for now, it is a good thing."

The Yang Family had gained its first cultivator.

"Although Jiang Xiaobai's spellcasting is rather strained, and her Spirit Rain Art isn't as effective as my blessing, she can cast it for free every day. That saves my limited Incense Value so I can focus on helping Yang Shi activate Blessing: Vitality more often."

He glanced at his Incense Value. There were still 104 points left.

"This Incense Value isn't enough to keep buffs active every day. Is there any way to increase it quickly?"

He looked at the description of Incense Value.

Incense Value has countless uses. It is the bond between you and your descendants. The growth of your Lineage will grant Incense Value. (More wondrous uses will unlock as the Lineage grows.)

"Lineage expansion? Lineage growth?"

He filtered through the history messages and found every method that had increased Incense Value.

He summarized them into several tags.

"Faith, wealth, personnel, martial strength, and the cultivation tech tree."

"All five have increased Incense Value before. Faith can only occasionally earn a little from Yang Shi, and it's very little. It can serve as a carrot and a chicken."

"As for wealth... an increase in the family's total assets will grant Incense Value."

He looked at the most recent record.

Obtained the first Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Incense Value +50.

Personnel was manageable. Huzi could lead the wandering fighters to capture more Black Ghosts and add them to the estate, accumulating them bit by bit.

As for martial strength, there was nothing to be done. He could only watch Yang Shi slowly level up on his own.

"The cultivation tech tree is interesting, though. The first time one does something related to cultivation, it triggers—like farming."

The Yang Family sowed a Spirit Field for the first time. Incense Value +50.

Harvested Spirit Rice Paddy for the first time. Incense Value +50.

The rewards were all extremely generous.

"Just like an achievement system in a game."

With that summary, Yang Genshuo had a clear direction.

"Develop, farm, earn Spirit Stones."

"If only I could find a few more Spirit Fields."

Yang Genshuo loved cloud farming far too much.

This one mu of Spirit Field simply was not enough to play with.

"Maybe I can have Yang Shi go out and look. What if there are Spirit Fields no one has discovered yet?"

From his entire 3D overhead view, as long as a Spirit Field was not hidden inside a cave, he could see its pale blue glow.

Manifestation.

"Now that your strength has improved, go beyond the city more often and search for new Spirit Fields. A wisp of my soul is attached to your body, and it can sense Spirit Fields within a hundred meters around you."

"Yes, Old Ancestor!"

After spending so much time together, Yang Shi found this immortal-cultivator ancestor, who was left with only a soul, very approachable. He had no airs at all, like a father who treated him well unconditionally.

Thinking of his father, Yang Shi recalled the blood that had filled his home when he was six years old. He clenched his fist tightly.

"One day, I will make the Xiang Family repay this blood debt with blood!"

Time accelerated.

Year 2, Day 189: Yang Shi led Huzi and ten Body Tempering Third Layer wandering fighters out of the city into the scarcely traveled Tiger-Leopard Forest. They were attacked. Huzi used the Gale Saber Technique to kill two adult tigers and gathered twelve precious herbs, but they did not find a Spirit Field.

Year 2, Day 193: Yang Shi led the team into Tiger-Leopard Forest again. They killed several wild beasts and gathered eight precious herbs, but did not find a Spirit Field.

Year 2, Day 200: Yang Shi set out again and was surrounded by fierce beasts. The entire team was injured and fled out in miserable disarray.

Year 2, Day 215: The Spirit Rice Paddy had completely dried. Jiang Xiaobai husked it to obtain Spirit Rice, steamed it into rice, and ate it with Yang Shi. Their bodies were nourished by spiritual energy.

You used Blessing: Vitality on Yang Shi. Yang Shi's training speed increased.

Time passed amid Yang Shi's Body Refining and expeditions, until the end of that year.

Year 2, Day 348: Yang Shi ventured deep into Tiger-Leopard Forest and encountered a Flame Giant Tiger at the Fetal-Breathing Fifth Layer. Its claws spewed fire, leaving anything they touched charred black. Yang Shi's team fought it bitterly for a long time. Three wandering fighters died, and everyone was injured. After a sneak attack with the electric baton, Yang Shi used the Trace-Free Sword Technique to kill the Flame Giant Tiger.

In the Flame Giant Tiger's lair, Yang Shi found a little tiger still asleep and a Magma Fruit Tree. The soil beneath the fruit tree shimmered with a faint glow.

"Good! Hard work did not fail the bitter-hearted. After searching for half a year, we finally found something worthwhile."