Including Chen Jianghe and the other two, nineteen junior fisher-farmers had embarked on the path of immortality thanks to the Yun Household's kindness.
Yun Bufan looked at the remaining nineteen, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. He seemed unwilling to accept it, yet powerless to do anything.
He turned and withdrew behind Yun Zhonghou.
"Some of you were orphans, others farmers' sons. All of you were fortunate enough to embark on the path of immortality because the Yun Household looked after you and bestowed that opportunity upon you."
Yun Zhonghou stepped down from the pavilion and came among the fisher-farmers, his voice growing gentler.
"In my eyes, you are no different from the Yun Household's own children. You are all the lineage's future, the pillars that stand firm in the current."
"Perhaps you think my words are merely polite pleasantries. Very well. Today, I will give you an opportunity to truly become children of the Yun Household."
Huh?!
All the junior fisher-farmers, Chen Jianghe included, stirred at this. Their astonished gazes turned toward Yun Zhonghou, eager to hear what this opportunity was.
"If you are willing, the Yun Household will arrange marriages for you, all to women of the Yun Household who possess spiritual roots.
"Once married, you will be children of the Yun Household and may receive the same treatment as its direct descendants according to your contributions."
At this point, Yun Zhonghou returned to the pavilion and looked at the stunned junior fisher-farmers.
Yun Zhonghou said no more, giving them time to digest it.
Marrying into the household!
Towering waves surged through the fisher-farmers' hearts. They could not help thinking of that legendary figure from a century ago, the man with the greatest talent for raising fish.
But then they all shook their heads.
Their situation was different from that legend's. The Yun women promised to them all possessed spiritual roots; they were not ordinary mortal women.
Moreover, Yun Zhonghou had promised that they could receive the same treatment as direct descendants according to their contributions.
These marriage terms far exceeded those offered to that fish-raising legend.
Marrying into the household would not mean raising fish without compensation.
Chen Jianghe lowered his head and glanced around at the others' expressions. Some were excited, some worried, but more were watching and waiting to see what others would choose.
"May I ask, Elder, would our children take their father's surname or their mother's?" a fisher-farmer asked respectfully.
He was the fisher-farmer on Chen Jianghe's left. He met the requirements for entering the Inner Waters and had also embarked on the path of immortality thanks to the Yun Household's kindness.
"They will take the surname Yun," Yun Zhonghou said plainly.
At these words, quite a few of the undecided fisher-farmers lost interest. Clearly, this was something they deeply objected to.
Among these junior fisher-farmers who had benefited from the Yun Household's kindness, most were farmers' sons. Orphans like Chen Jianghe were rare.
Some measure of resistance could be seen in the eyes of those farmers' sons.
The orphans, by contrast, looked unconcerned and were full of longing for the treatment afforded to direct descendants.
"Those willing to marry into the Yun Household, step forward." Yun Zhonghou did not give these fisher-farmers much time to consider.
In the Yun Household's eyes, if so many of its younger direct descendants had not been killed or injured, these bottom-rung fisher-farmers would never have had the chance to marry into the household, much less be matched with a woman surnamed Yun who possessed a spiritual root.
In moments, seven junior fisher-farmers stepped forward, expressing their willingness to marry into the Yun Household.
The other twelve junior fisher-farmers remained where they were.
Chen Jianghe saw Yu Daniu step forward but did not stop him. Under these circumstances, he could not afford to interfere.
Incurring a Yun Household elder's displeasure would bring death upon him.
By taking these men into the Yun Household as live-in sons-in-law and matching them with women surnamed Yun who possessed spiritual roots, the Yun Household's intentions were plain.
It meant treating the fisher-farmers who married in as breeding stallions, rapidly spreading the Yun Household's branches and leaves.
The Yun Household had lost too many of its younger direct descendants over the past two years. Its very foundations had been shaken.
Unless their numbers were swiftly replenished, there would come a time when the old crop was gone and the new had yet to ripen.
As for receiving the same treatment as direct descendants according to their contributions, that surely meant the more children they had, the greater their contribution.
Of course, there was one prerequisite: the children had to possess spiritual roots. On the path of immortal cultivation, releasing one's primal yang too early, or squandering it without restraint until the body became depleted, was extremely detrimental to cultivation.
Thus, while receiving excellent treatment, they would also sacrifice some of their own interests.
Yu Daniu's spiritual root aptitude was poor, his talent for raising fish was not high, and he had no aptitude for the Talisman Dao. Perhaps marrying into the Yun Household was a very good choice for him.
"Very well. You seven stay. Everyone else may leave." Yun Zhonghou's commanding voice rang out.
The junior fisher-farmers who had not chosen to marry into the household immediately hurried out of the gathering.
Chen Jianghe said goodbye to Yu Daniu and left with the crowd.
He merely felt some regret.
It was not because of the marriage offer.
Although his spiritual root aptitude was poor, he had a long lifespan. By managing his affairs steadily and cultivating step by step, he would eventually reach the late Qi refining stage. There was absolutely no need to marry into the household and squander his primal yang.
What he regretted was not becoming a senior fisher-farmer ahead of time.
This had been an opportunity that would neither draw attention nor leave him exposed to the wind.
Becoming a senior fisher-farmer a year earlier meant receiving a senior fisher-farmer's pay a year earlier, potentially several times that of a junior fisher-farmer.
He could also have enjoyed the rich spiritual energy of the Inner Waters ahead of time.
"Forget it. If I missed it, I missed it."
Chen Jianghe did not take his boat away. Instead, he headed for the Welcoming Inn, where Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun were still waiting.
They surely wanted to know just what the opportunity for the junior fisher-farmers was.
After arriving at the Welcoming Inn, Chen Jianghe went straight to the private room upstairs.
"Brother Jianghe."
Gao Peiyao rose to greet him, her phoenix eyes shimmering as she asked in puzzlement, "Why isn't Brother Daniu with you?"
Chen Jianghe said with a smile, "Daniu is still at the gathering."
"Hmm?"
Both Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun looked surprised. They stared intently at Chen Jianghe, wanting to know the answer.
Chen Jianghe concealed nothing and recounted what had happened after the two women left.
Upon hearing what the supposed opportunity was, Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun both breathed sighs of relief.
They had thought it was some extraordinary opportunity. It turned out to be marrying into the Yun Household, along with allowing some junior fisher-farmers with good aptitude to enter the Inner Waters ahead of time and fill the vacancies among the senior fisher-farmers.
This had little effect on them and was easy enough to accept.
"Fellow Daoist Yu is going to marry into the Yun Household?"
Zhou Miaoyun pondered for a moment, then said, "That is just as well. Perhaps it is a good choice."
"Since Brother Daniu has chosen to marry into the Yun Household, we should respect his choice.
"May he have many children and much good fortune in the Yun Household," Gao Peiyao said.
Of cultivators who married into another household, nine out of ten met miserable ends.
Either they exhausted their primal yang too early and became good-for-nothings, too physically depleted to advance their cultivation.
Or they had a few children with spiritual roots and, with the lineage's rewards, quickly cultivated to the mid Qi refining stage.
As for the late Qi refining stage?
There was practically no point thinking about it. Someone with a five-element mixed spiritual root needed a Calamity-Transcending Pill to break through to the late Qi refining stage. Why would a lineage provide a costly Calamity-Transcending Pill to a live-in son-in-law?
Thus, once a man became a live-in son-in-law, the end of his prospects was visible at a glance.
While the two women were sighing over this, an attendant from the Welcoming Inn entered and respectfully addressed Chen Jianghe.
"Someone from the Yun Household has brought word asking Immortal Master Chen to accompany them to the Inner Waters in three days."
(End of chapter)
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