Father's Sacrifice

Speaking of the Beast Tide, his reminders were endless.

"Father, how have you been lately?" Lu Xuanji asked.

"Same as always. Your father is already one hundred and thirty years old. Without some great fortuitous opportunity, it will be difficult for me to become a Purple Mansion cultivator. Only you have great hope!" Father said with a smile, filled with expectations for his son.

Father had awakened his Spirit Root at six. His aptitude was a Triple Spirit Root, tending toward the lower end. At Fifty-three Years Old, he entered the Qi Refining peak. At the time, the family happened to have an extra Foundation Establishment Pill. Father spent contribution points to buy it, then consumed it to attempt Foundation Establishment.

Unfortunately, his Foundation Establishment attempt failed.

Then came a long, bitter life of debt repayment.

He toiled for the family for twenty consecutive years before repaying the debt.

At seventy, unwilling to accept defeat, Father entered seclusion once more to attempt a breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm. This time, he had no Foundation Establishment Pill, yet he forcibly turned the impossible into possible and became a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

After becoming a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Father was high-spirited and ambitious, wanting to break through to become a Purple Mansion cultivator. Yet reality swiftly slapped him across the face.

It took twenty years just to break through one minor layer.

The later stages took even more time.

By the time he passed away, Father had only reached Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer.

Seeing no hope of reaching Purple Mansion, Father placed his hopes on the next generation.

At one hundred, he married a female cultivator from the Ye Family—Mother—and over thirty years, they had three children.

Elder Brother had no Spirit Root. He went to the mortal world, married three wives and took four concubines, and lived a carefree, happy life.

Second Sister had a Five Spirit Root, and her prospects were limited. After living in the family for ten years, she went to the secular world to manage the family's businesses.

He had awakened a Triple Spirit Root, leaning toward the upper end and comparable to a Dual Spirit Root. There was hope for Purple Mansion.

Father placed much of his hope on Lu Xuanji now.

For his son's future, certain matters had to be planned in advance.

"Son, do you know how much a Foundation Establishment Pill costs?"

Father asked.

"One Foundation Establishment Pill costs around ten thousand Spirit Stones," Lu Xuanji said, naming its price.

The various materials required for a Foundation Establishment Pill cost three thousand Spirit Stones, yet once refined into a pill, it sold for ten thousand Spirit Stones. Its profit margin was as high as two hundred and thirty percent—a truly exorbitant profit.

"Ten thousand Spirit Stones is only the market price!" Father sighed. "Its actual price is at least fifteen thousand Spirit Stones."

"According to the family rules, to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, one must meet three conditions. First, reach the Qi Refining peak before sixty. Second, gather ten thousand Spirit Stones, or the equivalent in contribution points. Third, make corresponding contributions to the family."

"Son, if you want to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill before sixty, you must accumulate at least ten thousand Spirit Stones. My annual salary is four hundred Spirit Stones. After excluding necessary expenses, I can save two hundred Spirit Stones a year. If I tighten my belt a little more, add the contribution points I have saved before, and borrow some debts from friends, it is still possible."

"Father, if you tighten your belt like this, will you have enough Spirit Stones to spend?" Lu Xuanji asked worriedly. "How will you cultivate without Spirit Stones?"

For Father to save Spirit Stones meant spending very little on himself. His cultivation progress would become very slow, perhaps even grind to a halt.

In other words, in order to save enough money to buy Lu Xuanji a Foundation Establishment Pill, his father had already given up cultivating.

"My prospects are limited. Whether I reach Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer or Foundation Establishment Layer Seven makes little difference. Either way, I have no fate with the Purple Mansion Realm. I might as well support you!" Father said, very free and easy, with an indescribable calmness in his words.

"Father, you do not need to do this. Your sacrifice is too great!"

Lu Xuanji said.

"The sacrifice is great, but for your sake, all of it is worthwhile. Without the sacrifices of those before us, how could those who come after rise?" Father said. "If you can become a Purple Mansion Ancestor, then Father's sacrifices will all be worth it. Our generation is not afraid of sacrifice; we only fear that our sacrifices will have no value! I will accumulate the Spirit Stones. You must strive to reach the Qi Refining peak before fifty."

Lu Xuanji sighed. "Father, I will work hard!"

The family gathered together, chatting and exchanging intimate words.

Mother had a Five Spirit Root and poor aptitude. Now in her fifties, she was only at Qi Refining Layer 2. Most of the time, she planted spirit herbs near Ziyang Mountain or refined White Yang Pills to earn a profit. Father was stationed at a mine, leading some of the family's cultivators in excavating spirit ore.

Spirit ore was difficult to excavate and could bring all kinds of dangers. Mortals could not take part in the digging; only cultivators could personally enter and mine spirit ore.

Father was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, yet he often entered the mine tunnels himself to excavate spirit ore.

Father smiled as he spoke of things that had happened at the mine. Not only did they have to guard against demonic insects emerging from the veins, but they also had to guard against Rogue Cultivators coming to rob them.

In Father's description, Rogue Cultivators were an unstable element in the Cultivation World. They often killed for treasure, robbed mines and shops, and committed all manner of wicked deeds. Their moral bottom line was abysmal, they were utterly unscrupulous in their actions, and they were rotten to the core.

Lu Xuanji listened and asked questions as well.

After three months of leave, Father departed.

The mine could not do without Father; it needed a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator to oversee it.

Before long, the cultivators who had gone out returned one after another and gathered at Ziyang Mountain.

The cultivators in seclusion emerged from their Cave Mansions one after another.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At that moment, bells rang out nine times in succession.

The Lu Clan's cultivators gathered in the square, and the Lu Family Purple Mansion Ancestor also appeared.

As the Lu Family Ancestor appeared, he radiated a Terrifying Aura. Traces of terrifying pressure spread out, as though he were a humanoid nuclear bomb possessing destructive power.

"The once-in-a-century Beast Tide is about to arrive... Under the Beast Tide, we cultivators must protect mortals. Though mortals are lowly, they are the foundation of cultivators. Without a vast number of mortals as a foundation, how could cultivators be born? The insignificant mortal saved today may be the mother of a future Nascent Soul True Lord."

"I hereby command all of you to pilot spirit boats and go receive the mortals, bringing them into Ziyang Mountain!"

"Lu Tianyi, you will go to Danyang County and receive the mortals."

"Lu Tianming, you will go to Beichen County and receive the mortals."

"Lu Xuance, you will go to Qingshui County and receive the mortals."

"Lu Yan'an, you will go to Xuanwu County and receive the mortals."

"Lu Yanping, you will go to Heishi County and receive the mortals!"

"Lu Wanli, you will go to Tianshui County and receive the mortals!"

The ancestor issued his orders. More than a dozen Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the family set out for nearby counties to receive the mortals.

PS: Seeking collection and seeking readership here.