Meng Family's Vastness

Great Yu Immortal Dynasty, Yangzhou, Qinghe Commandery, Qingyang County.

The ancients once said, "May I ask where the wine shop is? The shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village from afar."

The "Xinghua Village" here refers to the Meng Family located on the mountain behind the village.

Three hundred years ago, the ancestors of the Meng Family moved their entire clan to Xinghua Village and developed a special wine using a secret family recipe.

It was precisely because of this "Meng Family Wine" that the Meng Family laid the foundation for becoming a cultivation family.

With "Meng Family Wine," the Meng Family in Xinghua Village established a solid foundation within Xinghua Village, and even within Qingyang County, accumulating considerable Cultivation Resources.

This allowed them to gradually become one of the overlord cultivation families in Xinghua Village.

Between Qingyang County Town and Xinghua Village, there is a large expanse of spirit herb land. Most of this spirit herb land is the ancestral property passed down through generations by the Ninth-Rank Cultivation Families in the county town, with only a small portion belonging to the Meng Family of Xinghua Village.

In the Meng Family's spirit herb land, a junior from the Meng Family, Meng Haoran, is currently casting the Daoist Magic "Minor Cloud Rain Art" to irrigate this land.

Faint heaven and earth spiritual energy mixed with rainwater descended, revealing wisps of mist as it fell upon the Meng Family's spirit herb land.

Meng Haoran turned his head and looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he extended his right hand. A small bronze cauldron, covered in mysterious and intricate patterns, suddenly appeared in his palm.

"Heavenly Cauldron!"

This mysterious bronze cauldron was something Meng Haoran accidentally acquired by the roadside just before he embarked on his cultivation journey.

One day, while practicing the Meng Family's ancestral cultivation method, the "Forging Yin Refining Yang Method," he was surprised to discover that this "Heavenly Cauldron" could actually generate mysterious liquids through his cultivation.

Driven by curiosity, Meng Haoran began using these mysterious liquids on the spirit plants in the Meng Family's spirit herb land, as well as on some of the Spirit Beasts raised within the clan.

Under Meng Haoran's careful observation, in just ten days, the spirit plants and Spirit Beasts that had consumed the "Cauldron Liquid" grew at a slightly faster rate than those that had not.

This point surprised Meng Haoran quite a bit.

He hadn't expected that this bronze cauldron, acquired by chance on the roadside, would have such a remarkable effect.

It was also with the secret assistance of the "Heavenly Cauldron" that Meng Haoran took excellent care of the spirit plants and Spirit Beasts within his purview in the Meng Family of Xinghua Village, earning him the praise of some high-ranking members of the clan.

Just a month ago, Meng Haoran, as a third-generation disciple of the Meng Family in Xinghua Village, whether it was through the "Cauldron Liquid" from the "Heavenly Cauldron" or not, found it easier to use various Daoist Magic techniques when tending to spirit plants and Spirit Beasts. His cultivation also smoothly broke through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining.

Meng Haoran's cultivation at the Third Layer of Qi Refining was considered among the best of the younger generation in the Meng Family.

Due to Meng Haoran's decent cultivation and his skill in tending to spirit plants and Spirit Beasts, the clan agreed to send him out for training.

"Go!"

With a sharp cry from Meng Haoran, mysterious liquids suddenly generated from the "Heavenly Cauldron," surging forth with his mental command. Together with the "Minor Cloud Rain Art," they transformed into rain and gently sprinkled upon the Meng Family's spirit herb land.

As the rain, mixed with faint heaven and earth spiritual energy, finished falling, Meng Haoran looked closely and saw that the First-Tier Spirit Plant, "Three-Pattern Wheat," in the Meng Family's spirit herb land had become even more lush and green.

Seeing this, Meng Haoran couldn't help but smile, "In less than ten days, this patch of First-Tier Spirit Plant, Three-Pattern Wheat, should be ripe for harvest!"

A month ago, when Meng Haoran first arrived in Qingyang County Town and attempted to plant this "Three-Pattern Wheat" using the "Minor Cloud Rain Art" for the first time, he had tried using the mysterious liquid from the "Heavenly Cauldron" to irrigate them. To his surprise, these "Three-Pattern Wheat" were as sensitive to the "Cauldron Liquid" as the ones he usually planted in the Meng Family of Xinghua Village, growing even faster.

Meng Haoran was overjoyed at that time.

Because the Meng Family of Xinghua Village is a low-tier family with no official rank and no other lucrative industries, and the clan has a large number of members who need Cultivation Resources to improve their cultivation, they can only rely on arduous industries like cultivating this spirit herb land to maintain the family's daily expenses.

Since the Meng Family's arrival in Xinghua Village, there has always been a rule: any junior whose cultivation reaches the Third Layer of Qi Refining must go out to the clan's various industries and station themselves in the mortal world for training.

Therefore, Meng Haoran followed the suggestion of the clan elders and came to Qingyang County Town for training.

There were two reasons why he came to the Meng Family's spirit herb land in Qingyang County.

First, he had just broken through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining and needed to go out for training to solidify his cultivation foundation.

Whether in life or in affairs, one must proceed steadily. Moreover, the path of cultivation, which is fraught with peril, emphasizes the word "foundation" even more. Only by building a solid "foundation" could Meng Haoran travel further on the path of cultivation.

Throughout history, countless cultivators have become overconfident and, at the moment of breaking through their cultivation, have failed due to an unstable "foundation," rendering all their previous efforts futile.

Second, the purity of the heaven and earth spiritual energy in Xinghua Village is far inferior to that in Qingyang County.

Cultivators cannot practice without heaven and earth spiritual energy. Within the Great Yu Immortal Dynasty, the heaven and earth spiritual energy is mixed and chaotic. Almost no cultivator, regardless of their realm, can directly absorb and refine such low-purity heaven and earth spiritual energy. The more this heaven and earth spiritual energy is absorbed, the more impurities and waste remain in the cultivator's body, ultimately leading to stagnation in cultivation, and even potentially affecting the cultivator's lifespan.

Therefore, cultivators can only rely on the "Great Array of Heaven and Earth" established by the Taizu of the Yu Dynasty, combined with their own cultivation methods and the "humanity spiritual essence" from the unseen realm, to refine the heaven and earth spiritual energy before it can be absorbed and refined by cultivators in the world.

The Great Yu Immortal Dynasty has been established for 100,000 years. In order to manage the various regions within its vast territory in an orderly and systematic manner, Taizu of the Yu Dynasty divided the realm based on the three levels of states, commanderies, and counties for the long-term governance of the Immortal Dynasty.

Qingyang County is the superior county to Xinghua Village, and its conditions are naturally much more prosperous than Xinghua Village.

Qingyang County Town has a large population, several dozen times that of Xinghua Village. Consequently, the "humanity spiritual essence" there is much higher than in Xinghua Village. The heaven and earth spiritual energy, refined by "humanity spiritual essence," is naturally very suitable for cultivators like Meng Haoran to cultivate and absorb.

After completing the task of planting "Three-Pattern Wheat" for the day, Meng Haoran climbed onto the back of the Spirit Beast "Twin-Horned Moon Sheep" and prepared to head towards Qingyang County Town.

"Now, the Great Yu Immortal Dynasty has established the Immortal Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System, and almost all family forces have a rank. First-rank is the best, and ninth-rank is the worst. Families like ours, the Meng Family, a cultivation family, don't even have a rank. We can only live at the mercy of the seven Ninth-Rank Cultivation Families in the county town."

As he passed by the Meng Family's own spirit herb land, Meng Haoran suddenly whispered, "Moreover, all the various Cultivation Resources our Meng Family needs are strictly controlled by the Ninth-Rank Cultivation Families in the county town. For our Meng Family to rise from a low-tier family to a Ninth-Rank Cultivation Family, someone in the clan must break through to the Qi Refining Realm and become a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

Thinking of this, Meng Haoran sighed slightly, "Alas, despite the efforts of our ancestors for three hundred years and the lifelong dedication of three generations, our Meng Family has been unable to obtain the spiritual elixirs needed to support our clan members in reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, let alone leave Xinghua Village. Even my father, a cultivator at the Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm, unfortunately died outside the county town in the Qingyang Mountain Range during the rise of the Meng Family. This shows that becoming a Ninth-Rank Cultivation Family and standing on equal footing with those families is by no means easy!"

Meng Haoran, currently at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, needs to advance seven more levels to reach the peak of the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining before he can become a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Furthermore, he must consume Foundation Establishment level Cultivation Resources to condense heaven and earth spiritual energy into his Dantian and build his Dao foundation. Only then can he become a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"But now, the Patriarch is at the Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm. With one foot in the grave, he has been unable to build his Dao foundation in his Dantian for a long time due to the lack of Foundation Establishment level Cultivation Resources in the clan. Therefore, he cannot become a true Foundation Establishment cultivator. Without a true Foundation Establishment cultivator, our Meng Family will never be qualified to move into Qingyang County Town as a whole clan."

Meng Haoran said softly, "According to general theory, Qi Refining cultivators have a lifespan of a hundred years, Foundation Establishment cultivators have a lifespan of three hundred years, and Golden Core cultivators have a lifespan of five hundred years. The Patriarch is now 150 years old. If in another twenty to thirty years, our Meng Family still hasn't obtained Foundation Establishment level Cultivation Resources, and the Patriarch is still unable to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and passes away in Xinghua Village, our Meng Family will be in grave danger!"

Thinking of this, Meng Haoran stopped in his tracks and looked back in the direction of Xinghua Village.

He said with deep worry and resentment, "If my thoughts come true, and the Patriarch passes away from old age, and no one in the clan successfully reaches the Foundation Establishment Realm, then without the Ninth-Rank families of Qingyang County making a move, the Lin and Chen Families of Xinghua Village alone will tear our Meng Family to shreds. At that time, our Meng Family will face a tragic situation of a broken home and ruined family!"

"Phew!"

Meng Haoran lightly shook his head, then looked down at his right palm, chuckling, "Fortunately, now that I have this Heavenly Cauldron, I'm sure it will be a great help to my personal foundation building path and the Meng Family's rise in the future!"

Just as Meng Haoran's thoughts drifted, his peripheral vision caught a faint glimmer from the Meng Family's spirit herb land not far away.

Meng Haoran's heart filled with curiosity, his brow furrowed slightly.

These past few days, in order to better care for these spirit plants, the "Three-Pattern Wheat," and hoping to obtain more Cultivation Resources for the clan, Meng Haoran had practically scoured this spirit herb land. He hadn't noticed anything unusual within it before.

So he strode over, crouched down to observe, and discovered that the glimmer he had seen earlier was emanating from a stalk of "Three-Pattern Wheat."

He reached out and plucked the "Three-Pattern Wheat" in his hand, but as he clearly saw the patterns on the "Three-Pattern Wheat," his heart was filled with astonishment.

"This is Six-Pattern Wheat!"