"Ancestor, what should our Lin Household do next?"
Looking at the Zhao Household party, reduced to a mist of blood with not even their bones left, the usually composed Lin Changge found himself at a loss.
He walked over to Lin Xiye and cupped his hands, asking with a face full of respect.
As Lin Changge spoke, the many members of the Lin Household turned their gazes toward Lin Xiye.
Things had come to this, and there was no way back for the Lin Household! Faced with the Purple River City Zhao Household, a force of overwhelming power and deep foundations, every member of the Lin Household was filled with unease.
"What are you all panicking for!"
"Take all the Zhao Household's carriages back to the household..."
Lin Xiye remained calm as he reassured the assembled household members.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the enormous ferocious tiger, which lay sprawled on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
The enormous ferocious tiger stood nearly two meters tall and was five or six meters long, with black fur covering its entire body.
Although it had yet to formally join the ranks of Demon Beasts, it was only one final step away from becoming a true Skin Refining Realm Demon Beast!
The thought of subduing the enormous ferocious tiger crossed Lin Xiye's mind.
Lin Xiye took a leaf of hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass from his robes and looked at the enormous ferocious tiger. In a tone that was half threat and half enticement, he said,
"This old man knows you can understand human speech."
"Now this old man will give you two choices. First, submit to me. Second... die!!"
"Submit to me, and this leaf of hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass will be yours..."
"But before that, you must drink this bottle of Spirit Severing Powder."
"Once you formally break through to the Body Tempering Skin Refining Realm and make a Spirit Beast Contract with me, I will give you the antidote to the Spirit Severing Powder."
As Lin Xiye spoke, threads of killing intent laced his voice, and his presence erupted in surging waves, bearing down on the enormous ferocious tiger like a mountain.
It was only because Lin Xiye saw that the enormous ferocious tiger had some aptitude, and because the Lin Household had too few immortal cultivators... Otherwise, he would never have wasted words on it. He would have stripped its bones and skinned it long ago, then cooked it into a pot of spirit food.
Sensing Lin Xiye's terrifying killing intent, the enormous ferocious tiger was badly frightened. It sprawled on the ground and frantically bowed its head to him in submission.
It did not want to die yet.
To it, so long as it could stay alive, it did not matter whether it followed the Zhao Household's third elder or became Lin Xiye's spirit pet!
Seeing that the enormous ferocious tiger knew what was good for it, Lin Xiye's expression softened slightly. He tossed a bottle of Spirit Severing Powder and the leaf of hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass in front of it.
A single leaf of hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass was enough to let the enormous ferocious tiger break through to the Body-Tempering Skin Refining level.
As for the Spirit Severing Powder, it was a special kind of poison concocted by the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect.
As long as one's cultivation had not surpassed the Spirit Nourishing Realm, if one took Spirit Severing Powder and failed to get the antidote within seven days... death was certain!
Within the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, Spirit Severing Powder was an ordinary poison, and its antidote could be bought anywhere in the sect's immortal cultivation markets!
But in the outside world... Spirit Severing Powder could be called a poison without a cure!!
Lin Xiye had the enormous ferocious tiger take Spirit Severing Powder to prevent it from fleeing the Lin Household after swallowing the leaf of hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass.
Before signing a Spirit Beast Contract, Lin Xiye had to have a safeguard against the enormous ferocious tiger.
To sign a Spirit Beast Contract, he first had to raise the enormous ferocious tiger to the Body Tempering Skin Refining Realm and turn it into a true Demon Beast.
Only after signing a Spirit Beast Contract would its life and death be completely in Lin Xiye's hands, and it would never again be able to betray him!
Looking at the jade bottle containing the Spirit Severing Powder, the enormous ferocious tiger did not dare hesitate. It promptly swallowed all the Spirit Severing Powder in the bottle.
"Very good..."
Lin Xiye was very satisfied with the enormous ferocious tiger's performance.
Immediately afterward, Lin Xiye took a step and settled firmly onto the enormous ferocious tiger's back.
Having an enormous ferocious tiger like this as a mount was indeed quite nice!
Sitting cross-legged on the enormous ferocious tiger's broad back, Lin Xiye made some simple adjustments and arrangements for the entire Lin Household.
First were the Lin Household's armored guards, many of whom were elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.
Lin Xiye gave a direct order to dismiss all these elderly, weak, sick, and disabled guards and make arrangements for them.
As for the household's younger generation, Lin Xiye instructed the household members to prepare an assessment and selection for them.
Among these young descendants, those who were good at careful calculation would be assigned directly to the accounting office to learn how to manage the account books...
Those with a talent for business would be sent to the Lin Household's various shops.
Those skilled at coordinating the big picture would be given opportunities to handle matters on their own.
If the Lin Household was to develop rapidly, it was bound to need more talent in the future!!
And the Lin Household's future would ultimately have to be upheld by the younger generation!
As for the villages around Qiao Town and the younger generation in the town... they too had to be cultivated and brought into the fold! The aim was to turn them all into supporters of the Lin Household.
Since he wanted to make the Lin Household stronger, the order of the entire household had to be thoroughly reformed!!
Lin Xiye had also decided that once he had completely dealt with the external threat of the Purple River City Zhao Household, he would search as widely as possible within a thousand li of Zichuan City... for infants or children with Spirit Roots.
He would then bring them back to the household and cultivate them step by step!
In this world, it was always the immortal cultivators who stirred the winds and clouds and controlled the course of events!
A force's hard power came down to the number of immortal cultivators it had!
Of course, that was not to say that mortals were unimportant.
Quite the opposite: the size of the mortal population was extremely important! The more mortals there were in the territory under one's rule, the more infants with Spirit Roots would be born!
When major immortal cultivation forces fought over territory, it was often to gain more mortals!!
However, as an immortal cultivation lineage, the Lin Household also had to encourage its members to have children while taking in and seeking out other infants and youths with Spirit Roots!
After all, only if more immortal cultivators were born into the Lin Household could the lineage remain stable and prosperous!!
Moreover, when it came to a force's development and expansion, more important than fighting and killing was influencing and infiltrating the forces around it.
Fighting and killing were only a means to an end.
Marriage alliances, infiltration of other forces, assimilation through bloodlines... these were also among the most stable and effective ways for a lineage to expand!
Sitting on the enormous ferocious tiger's back, Lin Xiye explained his general plans and strategic arrangements for the Lin Household's future to Lin Changge in the simplest, clearest terms.
As the ancestor, Lin Xiye naturally would not busy himself with every little matter.
As an immortal cultivator, what he had to pursue was still his own cultivation and strength!
As for the household... once everything was on the right track, he only needed to remain behind the scenes and guide the general direction of its development.
The details of the household's development would be left to Lin Changge and the many members of the Lin Household...
Hearing Lin Xiye's plans, Lin Changge was profoundly shaken!
At that moment, it was as though he saw the gates to a new world!
Ever since becoming patriarch of the Lin Household, Lin Changge had always considered himself a fairly competent, even outstanding patriarch!
After all, since he had taken charge, the Lin Household's wealth and population... had both doubled!
Yet his strategic goal had been, at most, to expand the Lin Household's businesses into Zichuan City during his lifetime, or perhaps expand its sphere of influence a little further.
By contrast, his ancestor's plans were plainly aimed at building the Lin Household into a major force that held sway over an entire region!!
As for plans further into the future, Lin Changge had never thought about them, nor had he ever dared to!!
For a moment, he suddenly understood why his ancestor had dared to take the Zhao Household head-on...
Because beneath his ancestor's grand ambitions, the so-called Purple River City Zhao Household might truly be nothing more than an obstacle before the rise of the Lin Household!