Paying Respects to Ancestor Longyan (Monday, Please Vote)

Family Industries

Fishing Brigade

Changning Fish Stall

Fenggu Farm

Xingsheng Farm

Xinmao Silkworm Farm

There were five items in total, each followed by "(click to view details)." Naturally, Wang Shouzhe clicked on the Fishing Brigade.

The page "jumped" to the Fishing Brigade's details page.

Fishing Brigade

Small fishing boats: 9

Medium fishing boats: 1

Boatmen and fishermen: 46

Clan supervisor: Wang Dinghai

Average annual revenue over the past five years: 606 Qian Gold

Average annual expenditure over the past five years: 385 Qian Gold

Average annual net profit over the past five years: 221 Qian Gold

Average annual Spirit Fish catch over the past five years: 400 jin

...

Direction for improvement: develop mixed fishing operations using multiple kinds of fishing gear

...

This year's targets:

Net profit target: 1,000 Qian Gold

Spirit Fish target: 1,000 jin

This was the Fishing Brigade's simple panel. It recorded the financial data from before Wang Shouzhe took office, along with directions for improvement and this year's profit targets.

By Wang Shouzhe's estimate, those targets would be easy to achieve. It was peak season now, and this year's insect plague had caused food shortages. Fish, as a partial substitute for staple grain, would inevitably rise in price.

For the Fishing Brigade and the fish stall together, Wang Shouzhe's total profit target was 2,000 Qian Gold.

The only problem was that once the Fishing Brigade increased its catch, it would very likely begin to damage the ecological balance. There would not be much of an issue in the next few years, but—

That was not a long-term solution in the end.

For a Profound Martial Aristocratic Clan, a long-term and stable source of income was the true pillar industry. Short-term windfalls could only serve as supplements to the clan's businesses.

An industry like Fenggu Farm was a true foundation meant to last a century. It could even supply a Profound Martial Family Clan with resources without interruption for several centuries.

This was extremely important.

The Profound Martial World did not lack windfalls. Stumbling into a treasure through dumb luck, encountering the legacy left behind by some senior, or finding two high-level Fierce Beasts that had killed each other—miracles upon miracles like these could make someone rich overnight.

But what came after getting rich overnight? No matter how abundant the resources, they would eventually be exhausted. Only a foundation could remain evergreen and never decline.

Take Wang Shouzhe himself. He was eighteen years old now, at the upper stage of the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm. His annual resource consumption was currently close to 200 Qian Gold. According to the clan's estimates, he would reach the peak of the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm in around twenty years. By then, he would only be thirty-eight, right in his prime.

Even if those 200 Qian Gold in resource expenses did not change, twenty full years would still cost 4,000 Qian Gold.

Of course, it was impossible for it not to change. Once he reached the seventh and eighth levels of the Qi Refining Realm, his annual resource consumption would rise rapidly. For him to cultivate from his current level to the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm, he would need to consume at least 8,000 Qian Gold worth of resources.

Where would those resources come from? They were squeezed out bit by bit from the annual output of the clan's various industries. Those clan assets that could produce profits steadily and endlessly over the long term were the true foundation of the clan.

For the same reason, given the Wang Clan's current circumstances, it did not have the strength to nurture a second Wang Shouzhe. Otherwise, even if someone's aptitude were slightly worse, as long as the clan was willing to invest resources, it could still produce a young expert.

In truth, if the resources invested in Wang Shouzhe were increased by another one or two times—or if no expense were spared—he would not need twenty years to reach the peak of the Qi Refining Realm. Perhaps fifteen years would suffice, or even ten years, or less.

That was why independent cultivators found it so difficult to achieve anything. They had neither roots nor foundation. If they were lucky, they might obtain a batch of resources; if they were unlucky, they might not even have enough to eat.

Independent cultivators who could reach the Spirit Platform Realm either possessed heaven-defying aptitude along with good fortune, or their luck had exploded to the absolute extreme.

So although Wang Shouzhe's ten thousand-plus Qian Gold in resources seemed like a great deal, it was only a few years' worth of total expenses under the clan's current tight circumstances. Without careful planning, it would at most let the Wang Clan burn brightly for a moment, only to leave it lacking momentum afterward.

As Wang Shouzhe looked at the "crude system panel" he had made, his mind spun rapidly as well. How to spend money where it counted most was something he had been pondering these past few days.

What did the clan lack most right now? Naturally, a Spirit Platform Realm expert. Such a person could replace Ancestor Longyan and serve as the clan's protective umbrella for the long term. Ancestor Longyan's injuries had never fully healed, and her condition was worsening by the day.

But were ten thousand-plus Qian Gold in resources enough to support someone into the Spirit Platform Realm? Naturally, they were nowhere near enough. If Spirit Platform Realm experts were so cheap, the Ping'an Wang Clan's overall financial strength would have solved this problem with ease long ago.

Otherwise, Spirit Platform Realm ancestors among all Profound Martial Aristocratic Clans would be everywhere. So this option could already be crossed out without further consideration.

Use all this money to expand the clan's industries...

Wang Shouzhe had considered this carefully as well. But how much could ten thousand-plus Qian Gold expand the clan's industries? One had to know that industries known as pillar clan assets were distinguished by their large scale, lengthy development cycles, and relatively low return on investment.

Take the Wang Clan's Fenggu Farm. How much effort and money had generations of predecessors poured into it? Yet how much profit did it normally make each year? In a good year, a net profit of seven or eight hundred Qian Gold was already quite decent.

In the long run, increasing investment in pillar industries was inevitable. But distant water could not put out a nearby fire. So Wang Shouzhe temporarily circled this idea and marked it for later consideration.

Or perhaps buy large quantities of cultivation resources to supply himself and the clan members with potential?

Naturally, Wang Shouzhe had considered that as well.

But there was still an increasingly severe diminishing return involved. If Wang Shouzhe swallowed Lesser Foundation-Cultivating Pills every day for several years straight, could he cultivate his way into the Spirit Platform Realm?

Clearly not... Forget the Spirit Platform Realm—even the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm was not guaranteed.

Even if he could burn resources with the ferocity of a savage beast and cultivate to the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm in only a few short years, so what? Would that solve the clan's fundamental problem of survival?

Even he, the most talented young member of the clan, could not do it. How much less could the other clan members?

Sixth Grandfather Wang Xiaohan had once failed in his attempt to break through to the Spirit Platform Realm. Although his condition had declined with age and he currently remained only at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm, he was simply no longer at his former peak. If he were given abundant resources and confidence, he would have a chance to return to the peak of the Qi Refining Realm and attempt a Spirit Platform Realm breakthrough once more. This was the fastest way Wang Shouzhe could think of to add another Spirit Platform Realm ancestor to the clan.

But this sum of resources was still far from enough compared to gathering the resources needed for a Spirit Platform Realm breakthrough. Moreover, Sixth Grandfather Wang Xiaohan's mental and physical condition could not be adjusted to a state fit for breaking through to the Spirit Platform Realm in a day or two.

After turning it over and over in his mind, Wang Shouzhe felt that if this money could somehow be used to treat Ancestor Longyan's injuries or extend her life, that would instead be the most urgent solution.

But clearly, it was absolutely impossible to completely heal Ancestor Longyan with this sum of money alone. If spending ten thousand-plus Qian Gold could cure her, the clan would have smashed its pots and sold its iron to do so long ago.

Thus, even if she truly could be cured, the cost of healing her would inevitably far exceed that of supporting one or even several Spirit Platform Realm experts.

Perhaps pouring in a huge sum of money would only ease her injuries somewhat and extend her lifespan by a little.

Put it down as a backup option for now. Wang Shouzhe frowned, deep in thought.

He truly envied those transmigrators who possessed genuine cheat systems. They could solve any difficulty with their golden fingers. Every day, all they needed to do was laugh, frolic, and play, yet they could kill anyone who blocked them and slaughter any Buddha who stood in their way, indulging themselves as they pleased and spending recklessly at will.

Unlike him. With only a little money in hand, he still had to rack his brains over how to spend it where it mattered most. To advance from the upper stage of the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm to the seventh level—merely a single stage within a minor realm—he had to spend months cultivating and polishing himself little by little. That was already because his resources were relatively abundant, making his speed far greater than that of ordinary people.

But on further thought, this world felt quite real. The path of the strong had always required one to climb it step by step.

Just as his thoughts were running wild, Gongsun Hui sent her personal maid Xia He to summon him, saying that Ancestor Longyan wished to see him.

Ancestor Longyan was summoning him?

Wang Shouzhe froze for a moment, then immediately gathered his focus. The ancestor had often gone into seclusion in recent years and rarely summoned the clan's younger members. She had not even appeared at Wang Dingyue's funeral, which showed that her physical condition was not very good.

Even Wang Shouzhe, the most favored member of the seventh generation, had not seen the ancestor in over a year. Usually, it was Gongsun Hui who cared for the ancestor.

"Thank you for your trouble, Miss Xia He." Wang Shouzhe was quite courteous toward Xia He.

Xia He hurriedly curtsied. "You are too polite, Clan Head. If you have no pressing matters, please come with me to see the ancestor."

She was one of Gongsun Hui's attendants. She had been raised from the age of nine and was now nineteen. Although she had no cultivation aptitude, she was exceptionally clever and quick-witted, literate and well-read, and proficient in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.

She helped Gongsun Hui calculate and organize many of the accounts.

Afterward.

Wang Shouzhe followed Xia He toward the side courtyard. The side courtyard where Ancestor Longyan lived in seclusion was relatively close to Zhuwei Lake. Before long, Wang Shouzhe arrived at the side courtyard called Longyan Residence.

To avoid disturbing Ancestor Longyan's quiet cultivation, this area was designated a clan forbidden ground. No one was permitted to enter without the ancestor's summons.

Gongsun Hui was already waiting outside the gates of Longyan Residence. When the two met, she called out in a clear voice, "Ancestor, Shouzhe has arrived."

"Shouzhe, come in."

A calm, unruffled voice sounded softly from within.

"Yes, Ancestor." Wang Shouzhe took a deep breath, steadied his emotions slightly, then pushed open the door and stepped into Longyan Residence.

It was an ancient, unadorned courtyard, simply decorated without the slightest extravagance. Within it, a few ordinary flowers and plants that could be found anywhere had been planted. They swayed faintly in the breeze.

Inside the pavilion, a thin woman stood by the railing, gazing at the garden scenery. Her back was to Wang Shouzhe, and a head of white hair lay loosely draped over her shoulders.

The sight of that snow-white hair made Wang Shouzhe's heart ache for no reason. It was a deep memory from the original owner of this body. When Wang Shouzhe was little, he clearly remembered that only half of Ancestor Longyan's hair had been white.

Yet in merely ten-odd years, it had all turned white.

Wang Shouzhe's throat tightened slightly. He stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Shouzhe pays his respects to Ancestor."

A new week had begun. It was not easy blazing a trail with a niche, fresh perspective, so please give it your support if you enjoy it~