Three days later.
The Xu Household held a vassalage ceremony, inviting its vassal clans to attend.
Wu Mingsheng publicly presented his inheritance of the Artifact Refining Path.
Not long afterward.
Wu Da, Wu Er, and Wu San married in succession.
Although the Xu Household had promised two hundred years of protection, the Wu Household still had to strive on its own and produce more descendants with cultivation aptitude.
Gathering the five qi meant finding places where they flourished, then using a mystic art to collect the essences of the five elements.
Water qi naturally had to be collected from lakes, rivers, and similar places.
Dongxi happened to have a lake.
With spirit fish raised there and aquatic plants that produced small amounts of spiritual qi, it was sufficient for gathering water qi.
For wood qi, the Broken Fang Mountain Range teemed with lush vegetation.
Fire qi was more troublesome, requiring a place where the fire element flourished.
Thus, that task was entrusted to the knowledgeable and well-traveled Wu Zhen.
Earth spiritual qi was also simple. Boundless earth lay beneath their feet, and it could be gathered anywhere.
As for metal spiritual qi, they needed to find a mineral vein.
The Xu Household had discovered several in the Broken Cliff Mountain Range. Though they were all ordinary veins and gathering the qi would be somewhat troublesome, there was no need to leave Dongxi to search as Wu Zhen had.
If a spirit iron mine were discovered in Moon Lake Commandery, it would undoubtedly stir up a storm of blood.
But, like spirit stone mines, such deposits were rare.
Most lay buried deep underground.
Throughout this period, the Xu Household's development never slowed.
The Xu Clan Trading Company firmly established itself in every county seat.
The stairway upward had opened, filling every