Having Ten Would Be Fine, Right?

Early the next morning.

A shaft of sunlight filtered through the leafy green bamboo and spilled into the room, falling beside the bed onto the scarlet robes and wedding dress strewn in disarray.

On the floor nearby, besides a pair of boots and embroidered shoes, lay a pink dudou embroidered with lotus flowers and a pair of pure white silk stockings.

On the bed, Qu Zhenzhen lay wrapped in the quilt, hugging Lu Changsheng's arm and nestling in his embrace like a little kitten.

Her long legs were also tangled around him. A stretch of smooth, jade-like calf peeked out from beneath the quilt, revealing a delicate, creamy-white foot small enough to fit in his palm.

Lu Changsheng had only just woken when he realized how tightly she was holding him. He could barely breathe.

He opened his eyes and looked at Qu Zhenzhen in his arms.

Her hair was disheveled, and traces of tears still lingered at the corners of her eyes. Who knew how long she had cried last night? Her entire body was wrapped around him, as though she feared he would leave.

Seeing those tear tracks and reddened eyes, Lu Changsheng felt a surge of tenderness. He thought that Qu Zhenzhen really did love to cry-and cried so easily, too.

He tried to get up, but she was holding him so tightly that he gave up and simply lay there, letting her cling to him.

She was gentle and timid, lacked a sense of security, and was deeply attached to him. They had only just consummated their marriage, and he had nothing else to do, so he decided to spend more time with her.

After an unknown length of time, Qu Zhenzhen's eyelashes fluttered. She opened her limpid eyes, glanced at Lu Changsheng, and called in a slightly hoarse voice, "Husband."

"You're awake."

Lu Changsheng smiled, gently stroking her fair, tender cheek, so delicate it seemed a breath could break the skin.

Qu Zhenzhen said nothing. She lightly rubbed her cheek against his palm and pressed herself tightly into his embrace.

Lu Changsheng simply held her quietly and caressed her, enjoying their peaceful moment together.

Before long, Qu Zhenzhen's little foot outside the quilt began to stir restlessly. Her translucent, jade-like toes curled inward, then stretched and tensed, never quite staying still.

Blushing, she called to Lu Changsheng, "Husband~"

The two lingered affectionately for a while longer before getting up.

After they rose and dressed, Qu Zhenzhen suddenly asked, "Husband, will I get pregnant?"

Having spent so much time with the other women and seen all the children in the household, Qu Zhenzhen knew that Lu Changsheng loved children, and that she would have children herself.

The thought frightened her, but she also felt a certain longing.

She wanted to have a warm family again.

"Would you like to have children for your husband, Zhenzhen?"

Lu Changsheng smiled at her question and spoke softly.

Qu Zhenzhen's ears flushed slightly. She gave a quiet "Mm," then said in a voice as faint as a mosquito's hum, "I would."

Seeing this, Lu Changsheng drew her into his arms, kissed her delicate, slightly reddened ear, and asked, "Then having ten would be fine, right?"

At those words, Qu Zhenzhen stiffened. Her eyes widened, and she was at a loss.

Ten children...

How long would it take to have that many?

"Hehe, I'm teasing you. Time to eat."

Lu Changsheng smiled.

Although he had spoken partly in jest to tease her, he could not deny that he truly did entertain the idea.

After all, Qu Zhenzhen had a spiritual root.

Naturally, he hoped she could have more children.

Still, he would respect her wishes and would not treat her as nothing more than a childbearing machine.

Over the next few days, Lu Changsheng spent time with Qu Zhenzhen every day.

He also began teaching her to cultivate.

The cultivation method was among the spoils he had obtained at Ox-Head Mountain.

It was a beginner cultivation method called the "Evergreen Technique."

Compared with the Returning Origin Technique, it also had some effects on preserving youth and nourishing health.

Lu Changsheng also wanted to use this opportunity to assess Qu Zhenzhen's spiritual root aptitude.

Previously, Uncle Fu had only been able to tell that she had a spiritual root, not what grade it was.

After observing how quickly she drew spiritual energy into her body, Lu Changsheng tentatively concluded that Qu Zhenzhen probably had an eighth-grade spiritual root.

It was only a little better than his ninth-grade spiritual root.

But Lu Changsheng was already very satisfied.

As long as Qu Zhenzhen had a spiritual root, the children they had together would have a much greater chance of possessing one.

That alone was enough.

A month later.

Under Lu Changsheng's tireless tilling day and night, Qu Zhenzhen successfully became pregnant.

Lu Changsheng was delighted when he learned of her pregnancy.

After all, she was his first wife to possess a spiritual root.

Since both of them had spiritual roots, the chance that this child would have one was as high as ten to twenty percent!

Ten to twenty percent did not sound high.

But compared with having only one parent with a spiritual root, the odds had increased tenfold!

Lu Changsheng could not help looking forward to this child's birth a little more.

At this point, he also remembered the spiritual materials he had bought at Ox-Head Mountain to establish the foundation of the Immortal Bearing Art.

He planned to enter seclusion for a while, complete the art's foundation establishment, and let it cultivate automatically.

During this trip, Lu Changsheng had also experienced some of the advantages of being handsome.

Leaving everything else aside, he felt that things with Qu Zhenzhen would probably not have gone so smoothly if he had been dark-faced and ordinary-looking.

After all, a handsome man inspired a woman to repay him by offering herself in marriage; an ugly one could only expect her to repay him as an ox or a horse in her next life.

Entering the training room, Lu Changsheng took a fist-sized piece of red gold from his Storage Bag.

A length of green wood as thick and long as an infant's forearm.

A bottle of clear, translucent spiritual water.

A stone as crimson as fire.

And a bag of yellow-brown earth.

These were precisely the five-element spiritual materials he had purchased at Ox-Head Mountain to cultivate the Immortal Bearing Art.

He laid the five-element spiritual materials before him and sat cross-legged.

"Hah!"

Lu Changsheng gave a sharp cry and formed hand seals. As he activated the Immortal Bearing Art, spiritual power surged within him, causing the five materials to rise and slowly revolve around his body, suffusing the air with spiritual light.

"Buzzzz-"

Wisps of energy flew out of the spiritual materials and entered Lu Changsheng's body.

Ten days passed like this. After fully refining the five-element spiritual materials, Lu Changsheng opened his eyes, having completed the foundation establishment of the Immortal Bearing Art.

For a long time to come, the Immortal Bearing Art would circulate and cultivate automatically. Without any further cultivation on his part, it would refine his appearance and make him increasingly handsome.

At the moment he completed the art's foundation establishment, Lu Changsheng's entire being

underwent a subtle, profound transformation.

The precise details were impossible to put into words.

But his features, bearing, and overall appearance had clearly become much more pleasing and natural.

Lu Changsheng paid little attention to these small changes. He straightened his clothes and left the training room, heading to the front courtyard to spend time with his wives, concubines, and children.

In the courtyard, his eldest son, Lu Ping'an, was sleeping with the little Nine Nether Mastiff in his arms. The sight was wonderfully harmonious.

When he first brought the Nine Nether Mastiff home, his wives and concubines had been worried that the beast might hurt the children.

But after some time, they discovered that the Nine Nether Mastiff was very docile.

Apart from eating, the beast spent almost every day sleeping. They gradually lost their fear and would feed the mastiff for Lu Changsheng each day.

The children loved their Nine Nether Mastiff playmate and often pestered the beast so much that even sleeping in peace became difficult.

Six days later.

Lu Changsheng's fourteenth child was born.

It was a boy without a spiritual root.

After having so many children, Lu Changsheng could feel himself growing increasingly indifferent toward each newborn.

Without spiritual roots or system rewards to look forward to, even watching a child's birth no longer brought him much joy.

No wonder emperors in ancient times killed their own sons as though it were child's play.

Looking at his fourteenth son, Lu Changsheng felt a little wistful.

He could clearly sense how his mindset had changed over the past few years.

Still, such feelings only prompted an occasional sigh, and he soon drove them from his mind.