Cultivation Family

"Dad, have you noticed that the tree in our yard seems to have grown a bit since yesterday? And its leaves don't look as sickly as they used to; it's like they've been coated in a layer of oil."

Early in the morning, the sun had just risen, and a lingering dampness still clung to the world.

Even though he had only managed to fall asleep in the latter half of the night, Yu Xiaoshan had already climbed out of bed.

Although he was only twelve years old, he was already the primary laborer in the household. Sleeping until the sun was high in the sky was a luxury that didn't belong to him.

The Settlement had a school, but it only taught basic reading and writing. Children entered at seven or eight, and after two or three years, they would basically graduate.

Truly mastering a specialized skill was not an easy task; such knowledge was usually passed down from father to son, generation after generation.

For professions like a Spirit Planter Master, one not only had to become a Cultivator first, but also possess close personal connections—either through family lineage or a master-disciple relationship—to receive instruction.

The school certainly didn't teach such things.

Similar professions included Alchemists, Formation Masters, and Artifact Refiners.

For ordinary people, these were all impossibly out of reach. Even if one had the opportunity to become a Cultivator, it was extremely difficult to gain access to such teachings.

The professions suitable for ordinary Cultivators were usually Settlement guards, caravan escorts, or joining an Insect Hunter Team—all of which were essentially unskilled or highly dangerous jobs.

As for having heaven-defying talent and becoming a Foundation Establishment or even a Golden Core True Person through one's own efforts, that was little more than a beautiful wish.

Since the Great Cataclysm three thousand years ago, not only had the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster appeared in the world, but the path of human cultivation had also been severed at the waist.

In the past, after reaching the Perfection of Fetal Movement, one could absorb a mysterious aura from the heavens and earth. After refining it, it could help a person break the first shackle within their body and successfully step into the Qi Refining Realm.

But now, due to the Great Cataclysm, let alone those at the Fetal Movement stage, even low-level Cultivators found it difficult to perceive that mysterious aura.

For someone at the Perfection of Fetal Movement to try and step into the Qi Refining Realm through their own ability was simply impossible.

Thus, the concept of Immortal Destiny came into being.

High-level Cultivators could extract that mysterious aura from the heavens and earth and bestow it upon ordinary people.

Likewise, the heavens had left a glimmer of hope. Under the assault of the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster, some spiritual objects containing the mysterious aura were born. These objects could be a stone, a blade of grass, a cloud, or a pool of spring water.

They were truly bizarre and varied.

But regardless of their form, as long as they could help a human step into the Qi Refining Realm, they were all considered Immortal Destiny.

For an ordinary person to seek Immortal Destiny was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

This single threshold alone blocked ninety-nine percent of ordinary people.

Strictly speaking, Fetal Movement was the first step onto the path of cultivation, so it should, by rights, belong to the category of Cultivators.

Three thousand years ago, that was indeed the case.

However, due to the concept of Immortal Destiny, and the fact that those high-ranking figures deliberately distinguished the supremacy of the Immortal Dao, the Fetal Movement stage was directly excluded from the category of Cultivators.

They issued a decree stating that Fetal Movement still belonged to the ranks of ordinary people. Only upon reaching the Qi Refining Realm could one truly step over the threshold of a Cultivator and be granted the title of Cultivator.

Furthermore, ever since the Great Cataclysm of Heaven and Earth, when the surviving Cultivators managed to create Blessed Lands, this world no longer had any so-called sects. All that remained were Blessed Lands—families that continued through bloodlines. Even when these families needed servants and guards, they rarely recruited from the outside.

A Blessed Land often housed many families, and only these families possessed sufficient resources to support Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Realm or higher.

Without resources and without the cultivation techniques firmly controlled by Cultivation Families, no matter how great your natural talent, you could only struggle in vain.

Of course, to strengthen themselves, some families would choose to recruit sons-in-law, taking in Cultivators with decent talent. After a few generations, they would be thoroughly assimilated, becoming deeply rooted members of the family.

In a situation where resources were essentially monopolized by families, even if an ordinary person were lucky enough to obtain Immortal Destiny and step into the Qi Refining Realm, the road ahead remained fraught with difficulties.

Unless one happened to encounter the reclamation of a new Blessed Land, combined with a bit of luck and the desperate efforts of several generations, there was only a slim possibility of squeezing into one, slowly developing and growing, and eventually supporting a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator of one's own.

This was the "broad and smooth road" to climbing up in this world.

Therefore, the cohesion of families in this world was far beyond what outsiders could imagine.

This was also the reason why Old Man Yu was willing to sacrifice himself just to ensure his three sons could survive.

In his view, he was already old; rather than wasting resources on himself, it was better to make the path a little easier for his descendants.

As long as his eldest son, Yu Dashan, could obtain Immortal Destiny and successfully reach the Qi Refining Realm, becoming a true Cultivator, there would be a glimmer of hope to establish a family of his own.

The word "family" in this world represented heritage and was the standard for dividing power; it was called a Cultivation Family.

Without a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Realm, even if you had a hundred people at the Perfection of Fetal Movement in your house, you could not be called a Cultivation Family.

As a family worked together to support a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, they would be qualified to use a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root to open up a small Blessed Land.

But this was only in theory.

Because Heaven and Earth Spiritual Roots were far too scarce, they could be considered the most important resource in this world.

Almost every time a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root appeared, it would trigger a bloody storm. After a brutal struggle, the winner would be qualified to open up their own Blessed Land.

From then on, they would become famous in the region and become masters of their own domain.

Above Foundation Establishment Families were Golden Core Families and Nascent Soul Families. Even within those large Blessed Lands, they were the most elite existences.

For the Yu family, all of this was undoubtedly too far away.

Even if Old Man Yu were given the courage of ten men, he wouldn't dare to think in that direction. If his family could support one Qi Refining Realm Cultivator, establish a family within a Blessed Land, and possess permanent residency, that was already the limit of what he could imagine.

He was moving his body in the courtyard when he heard his youngest son's words. He glanced at the Elm Tree that Yu An had transformed into and said indifferently, "The trees on the entire Ox Ridge are like this in the morning. That sheen is just the morning dew being hit by the sun, which is why they look a bit more vibrant."

After speaking, Old Man Yu instructed, "Go wash your face quickly, then cook two jin of spirit rice, and go call your eldest and second brothers back for dinner."

"Cook Spirit Rice?"

Yu Xiaoshan had only said it offhandedly, but upon hearing that they were actually going to cook Spirit Rice, he became instantly excited.

Don't let the fact that the Yu family farmed ten acres of Spirit Fields fool you; it didn't mean they ate the stuff on a daily basis.

Unlike ordinary rice, even Spirit Rice grown in Spirit Fields didn't have a high yield. Under normal circumstances, a harvest of 170 to 180 catties per acre was considered good.

This year, they might harvest a bit more, perhaps reaching just over 200 catties.

According to the purchase price, one Spirit Stone could be exchanged for 30 catties of Spirit Rice. If someone at the Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment stage ate their fill, they could consume one catty in a single sitting.

After all, Spirit Rice contained spiritual energy and was rich in nutrients, making it very filling. Eating too much would only lead to indigestion and waste.

The Yu family had four members: two at the Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment stage, one at the Fetal Movement Minor Accomplishment stage, and one growing lad. A single meal required three catties of Spirit Rice, which meant nine catties a day, or 270 catties a month—the equivalent of nine Spirit Stones.

In previous years, the Yu family's annual surplus of Spirit Stones was at most forty. After deducting the twenty Spirit Stones required for the four of them to enter the Blessed Land, they were left with only twenty.

Eating nothing but Spirit Rice, they could maintain that diet for two months at most, and that was pushing it.

Furthermore, Yu Ershan needed to nourish his body, which was a fixed annual expense of three Spirit Stones.

The seeds for the Spirit Rice were included in the rent, but didn't every other aspect of life require Spirit Stones?

Even though the Yu family would set aside some Spirit Rice for their own consumption each year, it was at most one or two hundred catties—and that had to last the entire year.

Therefore, being able to eat Spirit Rice occasionally was already considered quite good.

Yu Xiaoshan's greatest wish was to be able to eat Spirit Rice every day, at every meal.

Whether it was for someone like him who was still growing, or for those who had already reached the Fetal Movement stage, eating Spirit Rice offered immense benefits.

If Yu Ershan had been able to eat more Spirit Rice when he was younger, he wouldn't have damaged his foundation when he reached the Fetal Movement stage at fourteen.

To put it bluntly, it all came down to poverty.

For an ordinary family, let alone cultivation, just maintaining the necessities of daily life was a difficult task.

As Yu Xiaoshan excitedly went into the house to cook the Spirit Rice, Old Man Yu turned his gaze back to the elm tree beside him. His eyes were as bright as the rising sun, and a flush of excitement even appeared on his face.