Meeting an Old Acquaintance

That said, the reclamation tax is truly not low: ten low-grade spirit stones for each "Small Reclamation," and twenty for each "Great Reclamation."

Average rogue cultivators simply cannot afford this, yet they have no choice but to grit their teeth and proceed.

However, some rogue cultivators believe that because reclamation involves exploring deeper into primitive lands rarely trodden by man, the harvests will be greater, and they look forward to it with bated breath.

Compared to rogue cultivators, immortal cultivation clans are different; they must enter the Wilderness to perform reclamation and cannot hire substitutes!

They are, however, allowed to choose personnel freely from within the clan. If they are truly short on numbers, they may pay double the reclamation tax to "substitute a small quota."

Regardless, independent of human will, the "Great Reclamation"—where opportunity and danger coexist—is ultimately drawing near.

"What? A merchant caravan was raided and slaughtered less than three miles outside the market?"

That day, just as Lin Changheng stepped out of the Xu Family Shop, he heard the shopkeepers of the two neighboring stores discussing the matter.

"It's true. They say it was the Ge Family. Not only was the cargo looted clean, but several clan cultivators were also beaten to death. Their severed limbs and arms were scattered all over the ground; not a single one was spared. These bandit cultivators are becoming far too rampant!"

"This market will... cough, this is an inevitable outcome. I just didn't expect the chaos to arrive so quickly. In the past, the Wang Family would surely have been furious and cracked down hard, but now... it seems we must inform our clans to prepare accordingly."

"Indeed, indeed! When the time comes to withdraw, we must have the clan send more cultivators to meet us! We must ensure everything is foolproof!"

One shopkeeper nodded, then hesitated for a moment. "But... are the people who did this really just bandit cultivators?"

The other shopkeeper froze at these words, then fell into a silence. After a long while, he squeezed out two words: "Watch your tongue."

The two then picked up their small stools and returned to their respective shops without another word, their mutual understanding absolute.

Standing before the Xu Family Shop for a long while, having effectively "eavesdropped" on the better part of the conversation, Lin Changheng felt his expression grow grave.

Has the situation outside the market already descended into such chaos?

If he follows the Xu Clan when they withdraw, won't he run into such bad luck as well?

Always cautious, he had never ventured outside the market, but now, he began to feel uneasy.

No, I must mention this to Master Mo. Whether those outside are bandit cultivators, rivals, or something else, the Xu Clan must be made to take this seriously!

Having made his decision, Lin Changheng immediately turned back, climbed to the second floor, and knocked on Master Mo's door. He left only after a long discussion.

Still not enough!

Though Lin Changheng possessed six talismans, he still lacked a sense of security. His eyes flickered as he pondered in secret.

Half a month passed in a flash.

Master Mo reported to the clan and received a response.

The Xu Clan had already taken action, joining forces with five or six other Qi Refining clans with whom they had good relations and close ties to negotiate a joint withdrawal.

They agreed to evacuate the market at the same time.

Several clans responded, agreeing that it was a sound plan.

Furthermore, the Xu Clan sent an elder in the late stage of Qi Refining and two core members in the mid-stage to Zichuan Market, quietly transferring a portion of their supplies and spirit stones back to the clan ahead of time.

This was to avoid concentrating the risk by trying to move everything at once.

As the third-in-command of the Xu Family Shop, Lin Changheng was naturally entitled to know the inside story.

However, he refused to learn the details, citing that "success is achieved through secrecy."

In reality, Lin Changheng had thought one step further.

If the plan was completed perfectly, all would be well and everyone would be happy.

But if a mistake occurred and someone needed to be held accountable, his lack of seniority compared to Master Mo and his lack of personal standing compared to the shopkeeper meant he would inevitably be dragged into the mess.

It was better not to know.

Better to keep himself out of it!

Master Mo and Xu Qianyou were stunned at his words. After their old eyes met, both showed surprise, but they ultimately agreed that his reasoning was sound and followed his lead.

Thus, in the end, Lin Changheng only knew a vague outline.

A few days later.

Lin Changheng arrived at the Xu Family Shop as usual.

As soon as he stepped inside:

"Brother Lin."

A voice that sounded quite honest, mixed with pleasant surprise, suddenly rang in Lin Changheng's ears.

"Hm? Fugui?"

Lin Changheng looked toward the sound. A male cultivator with dark skin, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a slightly plump build was baring his teeth in a grin at him.

The two approached each other and patted one another on the shoulder, clearly quite happy.

Fugui also carried the surname Xu, yet he was not a disciple of the Blackwater River Xu Clan.

He was an immortal seedling discovered in the mortal realm, a farm boy who did not hail from the same town as Lin Changheng.

At the Spirit Testing Assembly, with eleven wisps of water-attribute spiritual resonance, he barely scraped into the qualifications for a low-grade spiritual root and was selected into the Xu Family alongside Lin Changheng.

The two of them hit it off quite well and found they had much to talk about.

Later, when faced with the two paths offered by the Xu Family, his choice differed from Lin Changheng's "path of the guest retainer," as he resolutely decided to marry into the Xu Family as a matrilocal son-in-law.

According to the rules of the Xu Family, those with low-grade spiritual roots could choose three Xu Family women, while those with mixed spiritual roots could only choose two.

At the welcome banquet for the Xu Family's immortal seedlings, he was in high spirits, having set his sights on three mortal women of the Xu Family who were graceful in figure and youthful in charm.

Although these three Xu Family women possessed no spiritual roots, they were descendants of cultivators and could not escape the matter of "marriage," yet they held a certain degree of choice regarding whom they would wed.

Xu Fugui's low-grade spiritual root placed him among the top tier of the newly arrived seedlings, so they were clear-headed and did not refuse him.

Thus, he returned home with three beauties in his arms!

Without any cumbersome formalities, he entered the bridal chamber that very night.

Later, when Lin Changheng was set to depart for Zichuan Market, Xu Fugui came specifically to see him off, feeling quite reluctant to part. Lin Changheng asked about his thoughts before marrying into the family and his experiences since.

Xu Fugui smiled, a hint of craftiness peeking through his honest demeanor:

"What does it matter if I'm a matrilocal son-in-law or not? Heh heh, besides, the children born will all bear the surname 'Xu' anyway."

"Back in my village, the old squire married two beautiful maidens, making everyone green with envy. Who would have thought that a pauper like me could marry three at once, easily surpassing him?"

Finally, he cast a wary glance around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he lowered his voice to say that everything else was fine, but he was putting too much strain on his kidneys. He asked Brother Lin to help him keep an eye out for any yang-replenishing secret techniques at the market...

Hearing this, Lin Changheng laughed and walked away, readily agreeing.

"I heard that Brother Lin has finally advanced to become an alchemist; your ten-year hope has finally been realized."

The two had never ceased their correspondence, though the frequency was low—one letter a year.

"You're not doing too badly yourself, Fugui, having broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining."

"Heh heh, that is all thanks to my fifth son, who possesses a mid-grade spiritual root, earning me a handsome reward from the clan. However, I must also thank Brother Lin for finding me the Dragon Essence Secret Technique..."

Lin Changheng nodded; he knew of this matter and had even sent a gift for it.

This was the Xu Family's way of "buying horse bones with a thousand gold," an attempt to make the numerous immortal seedlings put more effort into procreation rather than staring at their own meager cultivation all day long.

Only by producing more offspring could there be a higher probability of manifesting immortal qualifications, and only then could low- or mid-grade spiritual roots emerge.

However, giving birth to offspring with spiritual roots was not easy. In ten years, Xu Fugui had fathered six children; only the third had a spiritual root, and it was a mixed one.

The fifth son, however, suddenly manifested a mid-grade spiritual root.

But the sixth son was a mortal once again.

There was simply no pattern to be found, and the mothers of the two children with spiritual roots were not even the same woman.