Those Who Plant Trees Let Later Generations Enjoy the Shade

After bidding farewell to the Ancestor, Lu Xuanji returned to his ordinary life.

At the foot of the mountain, he opened up Spirit Fields and planted Spirit Rice.

After reaching Qi Refining Layer 3, the area of his Spirit Fields expanded to three hundred mu.

One hundred mu were planted with Spirit Rice, while two hundred mu were planted with spirit herbs.

Of the spirit herbs and Spirit Rice he grew, roughly half had to be handed over to the clan, while the rest belonged to him.

Spirit Rice still yielded a harvest roughly every three months. Spirit herbs, however, needed ten years before a single harvest.

During those ten years, they had to be carefully tended, guarded against withering and death, as well as spiritual insect infestations.

The spirit herbs he planted were still young, mainly prepared for refining low-grade pills in the future.

Some clans planted spirit herbs that ripened only once every few decades, every few centuries, or even every thousand years. The investment of time was long, and the planting cycle was long, but it was inevitable. Only through unceasing cultivation like this could they maintain an ample supply of spirit herbs for pill refinement.

Relying solely on gathering them from the wild was both unstable and unsafe.

For example, when the Lu Clan had been founded a thousand years ago, it had begun cultivating Jade Marrow Mushrooms in large quantities. Purple Marrow Jade needed three hundred years to mature, but because the Lu Clan had started cultivating it early, they replanted it immediately after every harvest.

This ensured sustainable development.

On average, they harvested once every twenty years and opened the furnace to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.

Because the medicinal ingredients were self-sufficient, the Lu Clan's Foundation Establishment Pill price had fallen from fifteen thousand spirit stones to ten thousand.

As long as one reached Qi Refining Layer 9 before sixty and had enough contribution points, most could purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill.

This policy kept the Lu Clan's number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators above twenty. Every generation produced Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and powerful figures emerged from the clan in endless succession.

Any excess Foundation Establishment Pills could also be sold to other cultivators at high prices.

This was the older generation planting trees so the later generation could enjoy the shade.

Those who planted the trees might not enjoy the benefits themselves, but those who came after certainly would.

Moved by the deeds of those before him, Lu Xuanji also cleared out one mu of land and scattered Jade Marrow Mushroom seeds within it. He tended them with care. If he could live to three hundred, he would see the day the Jade Marrow Mushrooms matured.

Time flowed on, peaceful and tranquil.

Four years later, Lu Xuanji's aura changed once more. He had reached Qi Refining Layer 4.

By then, he was already twenty-two years old.

"Qi Refining Layer 4."

Lu Xuanji left the Cave Mansion and wandered around Mount Ziyang. Many clan disciples cultivated here, opening Spirit Fields and planting Spirit Rice.

Yet most of their cultivation was not high. They were merely at Qi Refining Layer 3, with some at Qi Refining Layer 4.

One old man was already eighty, yet because he had a Five Spirit Root, he was still only at Qi Refining Layer 3.

There were many such people in the clan.

"The gap between people is even greater than the gap between people and dogs."

Lu Xuanji could not help sighing as he looked at them.

Effort was often useless. No matter how hard a Five Spirit Root cultivator struggled or how unwavering his will, by the time he passed away, he would at most reach Qi Refining Layer 5. Unless he possessed a Little Green Bottle like Han Paopao's. Or unless he had a top-grade blessed realm and an endless supply of spirit herbs to support him.

Within the clan, Five Spirit Root cultivators numbered over a thousand.

In the cultivation world, Five Spirit Root cultivators made up eighty percent of the cultivator population.

The bottom rung would always be the most numerous.

Looking at those humble Five Spirit Root cultivators, Lu Xuanji secretly counted himself fortunate.

He was fortunate to have awakened a Triple Spirit Root, granting him significant cultivation value within the clan and allowing him to be raised as a Foundation Establishment seed.

Had he possessed a Five Spirit Root, he would have been abandoned outright.

A Quadruple Spirit Root was only half-abandoned.

Within the clan, when Foundation Establishment Pills were distributed, Triple Spirit Roots were supplied first, followed only then by Quadruple Spirit Roots.

As for Five Spirit Roots, no clan would be willing to give them Foundation Establishment Pills.

When he reached the medicinal garden, he made a round of inspection and cleared away weeds. Then he went to the Spirit Fields, where he weeded, loosened the soil, applied fertilizer, and so on. After being busy for half the day, he returned to the Cave Mansion in the afternoon and began cultivating.

All of a sudden, his head grew muddled and heavy, and he could not help falling asleep.

Hoo hoo hoo.

After a long while, Lu Xuanji opened his eyes, only to find his body slightly numb. Several acupoints and meridians had been sealed, leaving him unable to use any spells.

Not only that, he was seated in a chair, with ropes binding his body.

Under normal circumstances, he could easily have broken free from those ropes.

But with his acupoints and meridians sealed, he did not have the slightest ability to resist.

Looking up, he saw someone familiar.

"Ancestor, why have you brought me here?"

Lu Xuanji asked.

That familiar person was none other than Lu Fuming.

He did not know why this Purple Mansion Ancestor had bound him here, but unease rose within him.

"I'm sorry."

At that moment, the Lu Clan's Purple Mansion Ancestor wore a complicated expression—savagery, fear, unease, and guilt all mingled together.

Lu Xuanji's unease deepened.

It was exceedingly strange for a Purple Mansion Layer 8 Ancestor to kneel before a Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivator and apologize. Beneath his unease, fear began to stir.

"Ancestor, what are you going to do?"

Lu Xuanji asked, his voice trembling slightly.

His instincts told him that the Ancestor was dangerous.

"I failed." The Ancestor said, "I was once a genius. When I was six, it was determined that I possessed a Wood-Fire Dual Spirit Root, with Wood as primary and Fire as secondary..."

"Wait, Ancestor, weren't you a Triple Spirit Root? Weren't you Wood-Fire-Metal? How did it become a Dual Spirit Root?"

Lu Xuanji asked in confusion.

"That was to deceive outsiders."

The Ancestor sneered. "In the thousand years since the Lu Clan was founded, only three Dual Spirit Root cultivators have been born. Who would be foolish enough to announce that they possessed a Dual Spirit Root, inviting the envy of outside cultivators, along with all manner of schemes and assassinations?"

Lu Xuanji fell silent.

True enough. Anyone who did not hide their talent would have been beaten to death long ago.

"Spiritual Root attributes can be hidden, but some things cannot be concealed. That is cultivation speed. One only needs to judge a person's cultivation speed to infer their Spiritual Root attribute." The Ancestor said, "Back then, I achieved Foundation Establishment at twenty-three and became a Purple Mansion cultivator at one hundred. I was high-spirited and full of vigor, believing I could become a Golden Core Ancestor."

Speaking of those bygone days, the Ancestor's brows danced with pride, and he looked utterly pleased with himself.

"Ancestor, achieving Foundation Establishment at twenty-three is truly remarkable. I am far inferior. I am already twenty-two, yet I am only at Qi Refining Layer 4, far behind you, Ancestor." Lu Xuanji said, somewhat envious of Dual Spirit Roots.

The gap between people was even greater than the gap between people and dogs.

The gap between a Dual Spirit Root and a Triple Spirit Root was even greater than the gap between a noble and a beggar.

"Envious? I am not envious in the slightest. Instead, I regret it to the extreme." The Ancestor said, "I entered the Purple Mansion Realm shortly after one hundred, and I believed I could achieve Golden Core and bring glory to my ancestors. Unfortunately, my early speed was too fast and exhausted my own potential. I also consumed too many pills, leaving behind too much Pill Poison in my body, which was difficult to expel. The Pill Poison accumulated within me and affected my cultivation speed. I entered the Purple Mansion Realm at one hundred, yet by three hundred and fifty, I had only reached Purple Mansion Layer 8."

"If there were a medicine for regret in life, if life could begin again, I would achieve Foundation Establishment on my own at fifty, enter the Purple Mansion at one hundred and twenty, and attempt Golden Core at three hundred."

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