Xu Chuan Reached Xiantian

[Today's divination: Auspicious. You cultivated hard at the Jade-Cold Pool today and gained an opportunity.]

"An opportunity?"

Daily Divination could only divine matters he asked about. It had its uses, but it was not much help to him at present.

Still, asking a question every day had steadily strengthened his soul.

Xu Chuan gave it no more thought and began his hard cultivation for the day.

In the blink of an eye, it was midmorning.

Suddenly, insight struck him. He sensed the power of heaven and earth around him. Every pore in his body seemed to open and breathe, while the apertures throughout his body drew that power inside him in an endless rush.

Crack, crackle!

His bones rang out with strange noises.

Then specks of black matter seeped through his skin.

A cleansing of marrow and remaking of bones!

This was a transformation that came only with drawing Qi into the body for the first time!

Half an hour later.

Xu Chuan opened his eyes. A blue-green gleam shone in them, and delight spread across his face.

"Xiantian. At last!"

"As I thought, age and Root Bone make an enormous difference."

"Even with three Fate Talents, I only broke through to Xiantian as I approached forty. Someone else who started training at twenty-five or twenty-six would have excellent aptitude if they managed to become a Third-Rate Martial Artist."

The younger one was, the easier it was to open the apertures.

After twenty, the difficulty rose with every passing year.

Catching the strange smell coming off his body, Xu Chuan laughed freely.

He went to the Jade-Cold Pool, stripped off all his clothes, and laid them on a large bluestone beside it.

Then he leaped into the pool.

The cold pierced to his bones and made him shudder. He hurriedly circulated Xiantian Qi through his body, then settled in to enjoy the icy bath as though it were an ordinary soak.

"Let's have a look down there."

A moment later, Xu Chuan took a deep breath and dived.

But the pool was deeper than he had imagined, and the effort greater. In the end, he gave up and surfaced.

"How strange. Could there truly be a rare opportunity hidden here?"

Xu Chuan pondered for a while, then decided to try again another day.

"I haven't come down the mountain in three months. I wonder how those little rascals are doing."

A faint smile on his lips, Xu Chuan strolled down the mountain with his hands behind his back.

"Household Head!"

"Household Head!"

As he passed fields and orchards, patrolling guards and farmers working the land cupped their hands and bowed to him.

Clearly, the Xu Household had won their hearts.

One guard even hurried back to the Xu Residence to report that he was coming down the mountain.

The Xu Residence immediately bustled with activity.

Xu Mingwei and his brothers, Xu Mingyuan and Xu Mingxuan, were overjoyed when they heard.

Dad's coming down the mountain. Could he have broken through?!

Xu Mingwei knew better than anyone why Xu Chuan had gone up the mountain to cultivate in seclusion.

Excitement stirred in his heart.

The Xu Household has a second Xiantian Martial Artist!

"A Yuan, Charcoal Head, go welcome Dad at the gate. I'll fetch Mother and your sister-in-law."

"All right, Big Brother," the two brothers answered with smiles.

"The Household Head is back—"

The call rang through courtyard after courtyard and soon spread across the entire Xu Residence.

"Ah, Dad's come down the mountain!"

"Little White, let's go!"

Xu Mingshu stopped practicing her punches at once, sprang onto the White Tiger's back, and raced toward the gate.

Xu Mingxian followed close behind, wind beneath her feet.

"The head of the Xu Household?"

Gu Yiping muttered to himself and walked toward the main gate as well, his hands clasped behind his back.

Before long, Xu Mingwei arrived slowly with Yang Ronghua on his arm and Bai Jing beside them.

Quite a crowd had gathered at the gate. Servants and guards stood in two rows, with the Xu family in the middle.

"What a grand welcome."

Xu Chuan spotted the dark mass of people from afar. His lips lifted slightly, then he shook his head.

All this fuss just because I came down the mountain.

When he reached the entrance, Bai Jing approached with tears in her eyes. She lowered her head, wiped them away, and said, "So you do remember how to come home."

"Were you lonely? I'll keep you company tonight." Xu Chuan laughed.

"Still such a smooth talker!" Bai Jing said with a teasing smile.

Then—

"Dad!" all five called.

Xu Mingwei led his siblings forward, and they greeted Xu Chuan in unison.

Xu Chuan smiled and nodded.

Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian reached his sides first. Xu Mingxian held herself back a little, but Xu Mingshu threw her arms around him.

The two girls were still young enough to cling to him. The others had grown past that age.

"You'd think I'd been gone for years." Xu Chuan did not know whether to laugh or cry.

His eyes brightened when he spotted Gu Yiping in the crowd. He stepped forward with a smile. "You must be Hall Master Gu. Forgive the spectacle."

"Why would I laugh at genuine affection? If anything, I envy you."

Watching the Xu family line the way to welcome Xu Chuan home, Gu Yiping could not help feeling wistful.

He had spent half his life wandering and was still alone.

"Go on, everyone. Back to your work."

"Yes, Household Head."

The servants bowed respectfully, then began to disperse.

"Let's talk in the main hall," Xu Chuan said.

"Ronghua and I will take a walk elsewhere," Bai Jing said with a faint smile.

"Mm. Don't tire her out."

"I don't need you to tell me that."

With that, Bai Jing and Yang Ronghua returned to the rear courtyard, while the others went to the Xu family's main hall.

"Dad, your timing is perfect. The Dragon Elephant Martial Hall opens in half a month," Xu Mingyuan said with a smile.

"With an expert at the late Xiantian stage like Hall Master Gu overseeing it, there shouldn't be any trouble."

"Shitou, go lend them some support when the time comes. We can't keep troubling Hall Master Gu to handle everything himself."

"Yes, Dad." Xu Mingwei nodded.

Xu Chuan then turned to Gu Yiping and asked how he had been faring with the Xu family, and whether they had neglected him in any way.

After chatting for a while, they went to the training ground.

Xu Chuan had Xu Mingwei test his younger siblings one by one.

Overall, Xu Chuan was satisfied. They had taken his words to heart and put real effort into the Martial Way.

As for Xu Mingyuan.

"A Yuan, if you don't work harder, Xueji and Yunnu will catch up to you."

"Dad, I've already been working very hard."

Xu Mingyuan's face was full of misery. He had known he would come under particular scrutiny.

"I'm not blaming you," Xu Chuan said with a smile. "The Xu Household couldn't have come this far without you. But you must keep progressing in the Martial Way too."

"I don't want you to be the only one of my five children stuck at the Houtian Peak."

"Yes, Dad." Xu Mingyuan lowered his head, thoroughly dejected.

If the wealthy merchants of Qingjiang County saw Xu Mingyuan like this, they would hardly believe he was the silver-tongued, high-spirited "Xu family's God of Wealth."

That night.

Xu Chuan made up for Bai Jing's months of loneliness.

After their passionate lovemaking.

Bai Jing lay in Xu Chuan's arms, savoring the quiet moment.

"Husband, did your cultivation on the mountain lead to a major breakthrough?"

Bai Jing traced little circles on Xu Chuan's chest with her finger.

"Didn't you just see for yourself, my dear?"

Xu Chuan's lips curved as he looked down at her, his other hand roaming over her smooth back.

Remembering what had just happened, Bai Jing blushed fiercely.

She was nearly forty, yet her appetite had been fierce as a wolf's and wild as a tiger's. She felt she had let herself go a little too far.

"Haha! We're husband and wife. What's there to be shy about in sharing a bed?"

"It's your fault, Husband. You have so many tricks. I can't imagine how you came up with them all."

"You were quite caught up in it yourself, my dear."

Bai Jing blushed even deeper and said with a touch of anger, "If you keep talking like that, Husband, I really will be cross."

"Hahaha! All right, I'll stop."

Xu Chuan grew serious. "After these months on the mountain, your husband has finally broken through and become a Xiantian Martial Artist."

"Ah!"

"Xiantian!"

Bai Jing knew what Xiantian meant, of course.

The Xiantian Martial Artists in all of Qingjiang County could be counted on one hand.

She stared at Xu Chuan in disbelief. "Husband, didn't you start training in the Martial Way at twenty-six? You could still become a Xiantian Martial Artist?"

"That just shows how extraordinarily gifted your husband is."

Yes. In every respect.

"But there's no need to tell anyone. Another card up the Xu Household's sleeve can only be a good thing."

"I won't let it slip."

"I know." Xu Chuan kissed her forehead. "You're tired tonight. Get some rest."

"We have plenty of time ahead of us."