One morning in March of the year 3349 of the Great Tang Calendar, Liu Changxu returned to Hundred Blossoms Mountain after completing his sect assignment.
Upon arriving at Hundred Blossoms Mountain, Liu Changxu found that the once-bustling estate had suddenly become very quiet. A sweep of his divine sense revealed that fewer than one in ten of the lineage members remained, with only some elderly people, women, and children left!
Looking toward his own home, he saw only his mother, Lin Yulian, and Lian'er. Everyone else had vanished.
Without needing to guess, Liu Changxu knew that most of the estate's residents had probably gone to the new territory the lineage had occupied.
When he returned home, his mother, Lin Yulian, was delighted to see him and said:
"Xu'er, you're finally back. Our Liu Lineage gained so much land all at once that everyone was overjoyed.
"If we hadn't been waiting for you to return, Lian'er and I would have gone to help in the lineage's new territory long ago."
"Mother! I noticed that most of the people on the mountain aren't here. Have they all gone to the new territory too?"
Liu Changxu asked with a cheerful smile:
"You're right, Xu'er. Ever since you secured so much land for the lineage, most of our Liu Household members have gone to the new territory."
His mother, Lin Yulian, said happily:
Then Lin Yulian began explaining the lineage's plans for developing its new territory to her son.
Since the territory the Liu Household had occupied this time was so vast, Su Jinxiu and Li Zhenxin had first led its senior members in a basic survey of the entire new territory.
Through this comprehensive survey, the Liu Household discovered two hundred and seventy second-tier spirit veins, one hundred and eighty ore deposits, nine