Lu Xuanqing explained his difficult circumstances to his dear grandson in detail.
Only then did Lu Chenxing understand.
The Lu Immortal Clan was a small Foundation Establishment force.
It had a hundred thousand clansmen, but fewer than a hundred cultivators.
Only three of them had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm; the rest were Qi Refining cultivators.
The clan's main businesses were farming spirit fields, cultivating spirit medicines, and operating a low-grade mineral vein it occupied elsewhere.
With meager income, it naturally had to tighten its belt when it came to spending.
Disciples at the first through third levels of Qi Refining received ten Spirit Stones and two pills free each month to support their cultivation.
Those above the third level of Qi Refining, or who had received their full five years' allotment, received nothing further.
After that, they had to complete lineage missions themselves and exchange contribution points for resources.
Or they could farm spirit fields, learn to cultivate spirit medicines and put that knowledge into practice, or even venture out to explore dangerous places.
If he had relied solely on absorbing the thin Spiritual Qi that arose naturally between heaven and earth, without any resources to aid his cultivation, Lu Xuanqing's aptitude would probably only have brought him to the fourth level of Qi Refining by now.
He had managed to reach the sixth level of Qi Refining and would soon attempt to break through to the seventh.
Clearly, he was a man with the drive to struggle and forge ahead.
Yet Foundation Establishment remained a distant prospect.
Cultivators had no shortage of ways to obtain resources, but the strength of Qi Refining cultivators made competing for them difficult.
Every outing was inevitably a matter of going out with their heads dangling from their belts.
After hearing the old man's woes, Lu Chenxing's little face could not help showing distress.
He probably could not count on the old man as his way forward.
Then who could he count on?
Could it be...
"Grandpa, our lineage shares the same roots and origins, the same blood and veins. Say you handed me over to the lineage-would the three Foundation Establishment cultivators in the clan bring out resources and spare no effort to nurture me?"
A mighty expert reincarnated.
Someone who became a cultivator at two and a half months old.
For a person like that...
Any investment was bound to yield returns.
The clan's three Foundation Establishment leaders were no fools. Once they learned of Lu Chenxing's existence, there was a ninety percent chance they would protect him in secret and channel resources toward nurturing him.
Lu Xuanqing was tempted by the suggestion.
But he could not be certain.
Would the clan's leaders accept his dear grandson, this suspected reincarnation of a mighty expert?
Or would fear of the unknown make them shut him out?
"If we choose to hand little Chenxing over to the lineage, more people will learn of your peculiarities. If someone among them harbors ill intentions..."
Lu Chenxing was utterly unconcerned.
"Grandpa, if I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of?"
"Compared with the dangers of the cultivation world, what does this little risk amount to?"
Lu Xuanqing froze.
The road he had traveled surfaced unbidden in his mind.
At first, he had toiled day and night tending those two mu of spirit fields, only for an entire year's earnings to support a mere two and a half months of cultivation.
Later, he had tried cultivating spirit medicines, but there were even more problems. The slightest carelessness left him earning less than he lost.
To seek a chance at the immortal Dao, he had ventured out to compete for resources.
He had fought Demon Beasts and battled fellow cultivators to the death.
He had brushed against death time and again, buffeted by wind and rain. Only he truly knew the bitterness of it all.
"Yes. Either you brave the raging current and forge ahead, or you remain trapped in your old ways, perhaps even slide backward. Where could you find something both safe and free of worries?"
"Little Chenxing, are you sure you've thought this through?"
Lu Chenxing thought a little longer.
Although he had become a cultivator, that was essentially of no use.
Relying on the old man's efforts alone to send enough resources into Great Xia to provide the feedback needed for him to raise his cultivation rapidly...
That was simply impossible.
Drawing on the strength of the entire Lu Household was the best solution.
As for exposing himself...
First of all, Lu Chenxing was a member of the Lu Household.
Then there were Lu Chenxing's peculiarities, which were rare in this world. Anyone who heard of them would instinctively feel that his potential was by no means limited to Golden Core or Nascent Soul.
He believed the Lu Household's leaders would not be fools.
Having cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Realm, they were bound to have broad experience and knowledge. Their minds would naturally be open, and they would not lack foresight.
Having made up his mind...
Lu Chenxing nodded lightly.
Seeing this, Lu Xuanqing immediately turned and headed out of the cave. "I'll go find the clan leader right now!"
Heavenly Traversal Peak.
Inside the Lu Household's main lineage hall, a side hall had been partitioned off.
It served as the residence of Lu Changfeng, the Lu Household's clan leader.
This was mainly so that he could receive news of clan affairs immediately and deal with them.
As the head of the clan and the core of the lineage, he shouldered heavy responsibilities; toil was unavoidable.
Perhaps the only benefit was preferential access to resources.
That was also the key to Lu Changfeng becoming one of the Lu Household's three Foundation Establishment cultivators.
At that moment, Lu Changfeng was not in the side hall, but seated before a writing desk in the main hall, his face full of worry.
"That black iron mine will probably be exhausted in another three years. The clan's largest source of income will be gone."
"The yields of the spirit fields have also fallen for five consecutive years."
"I had hoped to train an Alchemist and open a new path for the lineage, but who would have thought... sigh..."
Those few disciples in the clan whose Spirit Roots contained fire and wood attributes had utterly abysmal comprehension of the Dao of Alchemy.
In the end, not only had the endeavor fizzled out...
It had also wasted a large quantity of precious spirit medicine resources.
Every one of these headache-inducing affairs showed that the Lu Household's development had not merely reached a bottleneck, but was also going downhill.
"Difficult. So difficult!"
Just as Lu Changfeng sighed in worry, a voice came from outside the hall.
"Disciple Lu Xuanqing requests an audience with the clan leader!"
"Come in."
The reply was neither warm nor cold.
If a disciple of the clan came to see him, the clan leader, there was bound to be something-and most likely a difficulty.
Lu Changfeng was truly sick of hearing bad news.
Yet he had no choice but to listen.
Lu Xuanqing entered the hall, came before Lu Changfeng, and bowed respectfully in greeting.
"Clan leader!"
"What brings you here?" Lu Changfeng asked evenly, going straight to the point.
Lu Xuanqing likewise got right down to business.
With his very first sentence, he stunned Lu Changfeng.
"Clan leader, this disciple has a grandson named Lu Chenxing. He is the reincarnation of a mighty expert and has the makings of an immortal. I have come expressly to report this, in the hope that the lineage will spare no effort to nurture him!"