Obtaining a Green Fu Yuan

Jiang Fu'an sank his consciousness deep into his mind and, sure enough, saw that the ball of light inside had grown a full circle larger than before.

Through the hazy glow, he could vaguely make out that another thatched hut had appeared beside the previously solitary one.

There were now two huts standing side by side.

At the same time, the Ancestral Home's attribute panel had undergone new changes:

[Ancestral Home lv.2]

[Inherited: 8 years]

[Buildings Owned]

[Bedroom (Selective Breeding): Descendants conceived in the Bedroom have a greatly increased chance of possessing a Spiritual Root, destiny, or special physique]

[Hall of Sacrifice (Fu Yuan): Every year, there is a certain chance of obtaining a Fu Yuan opportunity]

[Personal Rewards]

[Lifespan: +50 years]

[Copy Uses: +1 (Used to copy a descendant's destiny or special physique)]

[Upgrade Requirements: Among the family members, possess one Qi Refining Mid-Stage cultivator and two Qi Refining Early-Stage cultivators, and own one thousand mu of fertile farmland]

Hall of Sacrifice...

He was no stranger to such a room. Many common households built one to worship gods and spirits.

But his own family had never built one.

For one thing, their family had barely scraped by in the early years, with no spare money to build a Hall of Sacrifice.

For another, he had never believed in such things in his previous life. He could not even be bothered to step inside when passing a temple.

But things were different now.

This Hall of Sacrifice might bring a Fu Yuan once a year, so he absolutely had to build it.

For now, though, he planned to make do.

He would bind the Hall of Sacrifice's effect to the main hall in reality.

After all, his late wife Wang Lanhua's spirit tablet had always been placed in a corner of the main hall. It could barely count as a place of worship.

Jiang Fu'an looked farther down and saw that the lifespan reward had risen from ten years to fifty. His heart immediately burned with excitement.

Now, his lifespan was comparable to that of a Qi Refining cultivator.

With a slight thought, a translucent panel visible only to him appeared before his eyes:

[Name: Jiang Fu'an]

[Age: 28]

[Lifespan: 60+50]

[Hidden Injuries: 1 (reduces lifespan by 3 years)]

[Destiny: None]

[Spiritual Root: Five-Element Spiritual Root]

[Special Physique: Devouring Physique (Purple)]

A full one hundred and ten years of lifespan!

Jiang Fu'an immediately felt a profound sense of security.

But he also knew that this was merely a theoretical age.

If he suffered new injuries or developed lingering ailments, his lifespan would still be cut short.

Just like how this body should originally have lived to sixty-three. He had been injured while hunting a few years ago and had thought it minor at the time, yet it had unexpectedly left behind a hidden injury, forcibly shaving three years off his life.

He shook his head and continued reading.

The newly added copy use made him ponder.

At present, the most outstanding destiny and physique in the family were Yue'er's "Lucky Star Shining" and "Beast Spirit Physique."

He was still a mortal now, so raising spirit beasts was out of the question. The Beast Spirit Physique could be set aside for the time being.

As for Lucky Star Shining...

Yue'er was about to grow up as well. When he went hunting in the mountains in the future, perhaps he could bring her along.

With such a little lucky star at his side, the Lucky Star Shining destiny would no longer be of much use to him.

After pondering for a moment, Jiang Fu'an decided to save this opportunity for now.

He would work harder this winter and try to get Su Wanqing pregnant.

Perhaps the next child would bring an even better destiny or physique.

As for the next level's upgrade requirements, he already had two plans in mind.

First, he would see whether the Fu Yuan granted by the Hall of Sacrifice could help him and his family embark upon the path of immortality.

Second was the Spiritual Root test that the imperial court would arrange next spring.

As long as Seedling passed the test and was accepted as a disciple by an immortal cultivation sect, she would presumably be able to break through to Qi Refining Mid-Stage within a few years.

When that time came, asking her to help himself and Stone embark on the path of cultivation should not be too difficult.

And as for those one thousand mu of fertile farmland...

Jiang Fu'an had heard that the imperial courts of this world were mostly supported by immortal sects, specifically to manage mortals.

Only when the people lived and worked in peace and contentment could a steady supply of promising seedlings be sent to the immortal sects.

It was said that the immortal sects rewarded the court with cultivation resources based on the number of immortal seedlings selected each year.

To encourage the people, the court would grant a generous reward of gold and silver as long as someone in a household was chosen by a sect.

That money would be more than enough to buy one thousand mu of fertile farmland.

Only after Jiang Fu'an withdrew his consciousness from his mind did he realize that Su Wanqing in his arms had long since fallen asleep.

He gently shifted away, threw on his clothes, and got out of bed, intending to take a look in the main hall.

Since he had already bound the Hall of Sacrifice to the main hall, perhaps the Fu Yuan had already arrived.

The night was deep, and darkness shrouded everything around him.

Fortunately, he could walk through his own home with his eyes closed.

But before he reached the main hall's door, Jiang Fu'an froze.

Through the crack in the door, he saw a dim green glow shining within.

Could it be the Fu Yuan?

His heart skipped a beat, and his steps quickened involuntarily.

Pushing open the door, he saw a green, glowing ball of light hovering beside Wang Lanhua's spirit tablet. It cast a ghostly light over the entire room, making it rather unsettling.

Yet Jiang Fu'an found it strangely familiar—

This ball of light looked exactly like the reward orbs that dropped in the games he had played in his previous life.

He did not hesitate. Stepping forward, he grabbed the ball of light in one swift motion.

The instant he touched it, the ball transformed into a stream of flowing luminescence, burrowed into his palm, and vanished.

Immediately afterward, a vast flood of information thundered into his mind.

After roughly a dozen breaths, Jiang Fu'an slowly opened his eyes, his face filled with shock and delight.

First, he gained a clearer understanding of Fu Yuan:

It did not directly grant items, but instead provided information. One had to seek out the opportunity oneself.

Fu Yuan appeared in the form of balls of light. Other than him, no one else could see or touch them.

Furthermore, the light balls had different grades. From lowest to highest, their colors were white, green, blue, purple, orange, and red.

What he had received this time was a green Fu Yuan.

It recorded the precise location of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's cave abode.

That cultivator had passed away in meditation inside the cave more than a century ago. Its protective formation had fallen into disrepair over the years and was nearly crippled.

If he could obtain the relics within, it would undoubtedly be an astonishing fortune.

But the problem was that the cave abode lay within the Mizhang Mountains.

This mountain range stretched across the north of the village, boundless and endless. Demonic beasts roamed throughout it, and it had always been a dead zone for mortals.

When Jiang Fu'an hunted normally, he only dared move through the forests at the mountain range's outer edge. He had never truly entered the mountains themselves.

Fortunately, Fu Yuan would not present a certain death trap. Otherwise, it would not be an opportunity, but a hook that claimed lives.

The cave abode was actually located at the very edge of the Mizhang Mountains, only about ten li from the area where he usually hunted.

The Fu Yuan also provided the best time to enter:

Choose a night of bitterly cold weather and act between the Hour of the Rat and the Hour of the Tiger.

That was, between eleven at night and five in the morning.

As a hunter who had spent many years struggling through the forests and mountains, Jiang Fu'an knew very well that the fewest wild beasts appeared during this period.

Most ferocious beasts hunted during the first half of the night, then returned to their dens to rest in the latter half.

Temperature also affected the activity of wild beasts. The lower it was, the fewer beasts would appear.

Though he did not dare say danger could be avoided completely, since the Fu Yuan had indicated that he could enter, the risks were evidently still within a controllable range.

He stood in the main hall and quietly considered it for a while.

In the end, he decided to give it a try.

The coldest time of the year was probably around twenty days after the winter solstice.

By his reckoning, he still had more than a month to prepare.