The Affairs of the Jianghu Are Settled in the Jianghu
"Sir, there are many." Wang Xu stood to the side and behind, speaking respectfully. "In Minghui City alone, I know of more than twenty families, large and small, all similar to our Wang Lineage's situation."
"You all connect through real-life connections too?" he then asked.
"Yes, we meet in the city every Friday to exchange some resources from the Spirit Realm," Wang Xu replied. "Usually, it's common resources, like weapons and equipment, or some food."
Lin Xu stroked his chin. "Tell me, if I provide them with safe haven and basic Spirit Realm resources, what can these people offer me?"
"My lord, they'll definitely be scrambling to join your territory!" Wang Xu's eyes lit up. "You only need to give them 5..."
"Give them a three-year construction management right, and they'll support you without hesitation!"
Lin Xu looked at him in surprise. He thought he was already quite dark-skinned, but he never expected that someone was even darker than him!
Wang Xu noticed his surprise and explained with a wry smile, "You might think that these Spirit Realm properties are ancestral assets that our whole family has worked hard to develop over decades, and that we would never give them up, but in reality—"
He looked helplessly at the vast expanse of zombie corpses outside the wall. "The Spirit Realm is really too dangerous! This time we only encountered the lowest level of zombies. Although there were more of them, they were still within our comprehension."
But sometimes, an entire family might not even know how they died. Two years ago, more than 30 members of the Liu Clan in our city went to the Spirit Realm and never came back.
He sighed wistfully, "Take this time, for example. If it weren't for your rescue, Lord, our Wang Lineage would have become the next example at the next gathering—"
At this point, Wang Xu bowed and said, "My lord, when adventuring in the Spirit Realm, the most important thing is not how many resources you obtain, but whether you can protect your own life and that of your family."
There are quite a few functional buildings that spawn in the Spirit Realm. Our Wang Lineage's activity area is not large, only within a two or three li radius of this blacksmith shop. We can encounter one every one or two months.
But in the end, only this one was occupied. Only when people are alive can they consider profits; once people die, nothing remains.
Lin Xu nodded knowingly. "Alright! Go to the next gathering under my name and tell them that as long as they are willing to settle in my territory, they can have three years of operating rights for these occupied functional buildings! In return, I will reward you with 100 Heaven Silver for each household you bring in, which you can use to purchase elixirs, talismans, and spirit-patterned equipment in my territory."
He looked at Wang Xu: "And your Wang Lineage, all functional buildings you occupy from now on will be handled in the same way! If they are barracks or exclusive lord buildings, I will buy the ownership of the buildings at a high price!"
"Thank you, Lord!" Wang Xu was overjoyed and bowed again.
"We've arrived—" Lin Xu looked up at the wasteland. The fog obscured his view, but he had already realized that the territory was less than a mile away.
A few minutes later, Lin Xu led the Wang Lineage back to their territory safely.
"This is the lord's territory, it's so vast!" Wang Xu looked at the land bathed in light and relaxed completely.
The Spirit Realm was filled with Soul-Devouring Mist; this was the first time he had ever experienced unobstructed vision.
"Follow the patrol team; they will take you to the village to settle in," Lin Xu instructed Wang Xu, summoning a militia team.
"Yes, sir." Wang Xu bowed and led the Wang Lineage adventurers to follow the patrol.
Feeling the blessing of the territory's power, Lin Xu breathed a sigh of relief. With a thought, he completed the planning of a new spirit-patterned stone slab road. Accompanied by the pulsation of the Source Fire, a path extended straight out from the Daoist temple.
The Heavenly Craftsman Rabbit Demon arrived as scheduled, and their full set of spirit-patterned equipment greatly increased their road-paving speed.
"Grandpa, aren't you going to take a look?" Lin Xu asked, watching the rabbit demon rapidly paving a path through the mist.
Having arrived here through the teleportation portal, Elder Jiang gazed into the distance with a complex expression. His knuckles were white as he gripped the spirit-patterned jade pendant, but he remained silent, his lips pursed.
After a long silence, he slowly spoke, "No, it's all in the past. Chen Lingfeng is dead, the Chen Lineage is destroyed, let's bury this grudge too—"
His voice was hoarse, carrying an undeniable pain.
For him, this place marked the turning point in the Jiang Clan's rise and fall, and was also the site of the death of his son, whom he considered his hope. It was an ominous place.
After a pause, seemingly to divert attention, Elder Jiang slowly lowered his head and looked at the two jade pendants in his hand. "A-Xu, these two jade pendants originated from an adventure in the Spirit Realm when I was young—"
In his youth, Elder Jiang was both capable and ambitious. He chose the Spirit Realm Trial, which had an extremely high mortality rate, and ventured into the dangerous Spirit Realm.
"I once stumbled upon a ruin while lost; magnificent palaces and towers had been reduced to rubble, yet the outlines of celestial palaces and sacred halls could still be faintly discerned—"
"I was incredibly reckless back then. I searched for useful items in the ruins and didn't even trigger any dangerous magical restrictions—"
Elder Jiang stroked the two jade pendants, his expression dazed, lost in memories. "----To escape the pursuit of the guardian demons, I had to leave the Spirit Realm. When I returned, I lost track of that ruin and was never able to go back there again."
He turned to look at Lin Xu: "I did some research afterward, and according to my guess, that special Spirit Realm ruin should be a kind of inheritance, and each person only has one chance."
"Inheritance?" Lin Xu thought of the "Spirit Pivot Qi Guiding Art".
"Yes, the lineage of talisman masters comes from here." Elder Jiang sighed. "It's a pity that I was too ambitious and lacked the talent to obtain the complete inheritance back then, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted so much time later on."
Based on the previous trials, he was certain that this inheritance trial, in its final stages, would offer an opportunity for ordinary people to transform into talisman masters, but unfortunately—
"One chance?" Lin Xu knew in his heart that the dragon and phoenix jade pendant was a key.
"Take this. When you're confident, you might want to give it a try. This ruin is of a very high level, perhaps even slightly inferior to your Xuanwei Monastery." Elder Jiang placed the jade pendant back in Lin Xu's hand, taking one last look at the stone path disappearing into the mist. "I won't go."
He paused, then turned and left, his steps slightly unsteady. "A-Xu, I ask for nothing more than that you treat Wanqing well—and don't tell her about her father."
"Chen Xuan, you old thief! You killed my Jiang Clan's blood relatives and friends! Your son, Chen Lingfeng, killed my son and cut off my Jiang Clan's lineage!"
"But in the end, I won. My Jiang Clan still has Wanqing, but what about you? Your Chen Lineage is wiped out, completely wiped out~ Ahahahaha--"
--They're all dead----"
The sound was both desolate and exhilarating, tinged with a hint of melancholy, as it gradually faded into the distance.
Lin Xu remained silent, his fingers gripping two jade pendants, whether he was sensing the ruins deep within the mist or simply lost in thought was unclear.