Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

After leaving the He Niu Martial Arts Academy, Chen Shouheng was anxious to return home.

He spurred his horse onward, stopping only when necessary. He quenched his thirst at roadside tea stalls and ate from the dry rations he carried. At night, he paused only long enough at post stations for his horse to rest before setting off again before dawn.

Four days later, he finally arrived at Liyang City.

Once inside the city, he rode straight for the Chen Mansion.

The old servant at the gate saw him return and hurried to open the gates and take his horse.

Chen Shouheng dismounted. He had no time for pleasantries and strode quickly into the mansion.

"Big Brother?!"

A surprised and happy voice came from the front hall.

Chen Shouheng looked over and saw his third sister, Chen Shouyue, walking out of the main hall, followed by Elder Zhan.

"Shouyue, what are you doing here? Elder Zhan."

Chen Shouheng strode forward, but his eyes couldn’t help but scan the surroundings. "Where’s Shuwei?"

Chen Shouyue smiled. "Don’t worry, Big Brother. Sister-in-law is far along in her pregnancy, so Father and Mother didn’t feel comfortable with her being in the Commandery City alone. They brought her back to Lingxi a few days ago. Father had me stay here for now to help Elder Zhan handle some of the affairs in Liyang."

"He had *you* handle affairs?"

Chen Shouheng let out a breath of relief, though he was a bit surprised.

Shouyue was still young and unfamiliar with Liyang, let alone managing business matters.

He looked at Elder Zhan.

Elder Zhan explained, "Before the Young Mistress left, she gave clear instructions for all the businesses in Liyang. As for Miss Shouyue staying... after all, she is a child of the Patriarch. Her presence here is a statement in itself, and the subordinates wouldn’t dare act out of line."

Chen Shouyue stuck out her tongue and chimed in, "Actually, it’s Grandpa Zhan and Sister Bi He who are doing all the work. All I do every day is look at the ledgers and listen to reports. There’s not much else for me to do."

"I see." Chen Shouheng nodded.

But then, as if suddenly remembering something, Chen Shouyue’s eyes lit up. She smiled and said, "Big Brother, I’ve been worrying about something, and now that you’re here, you can help me solve it."

"What is it?" Chen Shouheng asked, puzzled.

Chen Shouyue said, "I exchanged twenty million copper coins. They’re packed in dozens of large chests and piled up in the warehouse. Grandpa Zhan has to stay here and can’t leave, so I was just worrying about how to transport them back to Lingxi safely."

"Twenty million?"

Chen Shouheng was stunned by the number for a moment. "What did you exchange so many copper coins for?"

Chen Shouyue spread her hands, her face also showing confusion. "I don’t know either. Father told me to do it. Earlier, he even had Chen Pi and Zhao Gui exchange them over at Mirror Mountain. I heard they drove up the price of copper coins in the entire Mirror Mountain area so much that one tael of silver could only be exchanged for four hundred and eighty cents.

Some cunning merchants even started hoarding copper coins, refusing to sell them. We had no other choice, so Father sent me to Liyang to find a way to keep exchanging."

’What is Father planning to do?’

Chen Shouheng was dumbfounded, his mind filled with doubt.

’If he needed a large amount of copper to forge weapons or other items, wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to just buy copper ingots or raw copper materials?’

Exchanging silver for already-minted copper coins was clearly a losing proposition.

He couldn’t figure it out for the moment, but since it was his father’s arrangement, he just had to follow orders. He nodded immediately and said, "I’ll rest for a moment, then set out."

He immediately ordered a servant to go to the brokerage to hire Porters and carts.

Once all the arrangements were made and the goods loaded, Chen Shouheng escorted the dozens of large wooden chests back to Lingxi.

Escorting such a huge amount of copper coins, the convoy moved slowly. The journey, which would have taken only a day on a fast horse, took the convoy a full three days.

By the time he returned to the old Lingxi Chen Mansion, it was the afternoon of the fourth day.

Because the next day was the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chen Li had taken the Chen Family clansmen to the ancestral tombs early in the morning to pay their respects.

The house was rather quiet. Chen Shouheng directed the Porters as they carried the heavy chests, one by one, into the warehouse.

The count was finished, and the Porters left.

As he was about to go find his wife, a familiar voice came from the covered walkway. "Shouheng? What are you doing back?"

It was Song Ying, who had been informed by a servant and had hurried over from the Textile Workshop.

Chen Shouheng explained, "Mother, I was worried about Shuwei, so I took an early leave from the Martial Arts Academy and came back."

As he spoke, his gaze naturally fell upon his mother.

However, in that single glance, the smile on his face froze instantly. His pupils constricted, and his entire body went rigid.

The Eight Extraordinary Meridians, clear and unobstructed.

Three hundred and sixty-five Acupoints, faintly glowing, their auras linked with the meridians, forming a self-contained cycle.

These were clearly the signs of the Spirit Realm Second Level, the Profound Acupoint Pass.

’How is this possible?!’

’Is this still my mother?’

A tidal wave crashed through Chen Shouheng’s mind. He could hardly believe his Divine Sense.

’How long has it been since I left home?’

He had left for the He Niu Martial Arts Academy in mid-March. It was now only mid-July. All told, just four months.

He knew a thing or two about his mother’s Cultivation progress, of course.

For years, her progress had been extremely slow. She couldn’t even successfully sense Inner Qi, never truly crossing the threshold into the Qi Realm.

Before he left home, there wasn’t the slightest trace of successful Cultivation on his mother.

’To reach the Profound Acupoint Pass of the Spirit Realm Second Level in just four short months?!’

It was utterly unbelievable.

Even the legendary heaven-sent prodigies, consuming top-tier Medicinal Cuisine and receiving the full guidance of a master, might not achieve such terrifying progress.

If Cultivation could be this easy and fast, then what did his own decade of bitter training even count for? Had he wasted it all for nothing?

Chen Shouheng stood there, dumbstruck, his mind a chaotic mess.

Of course, he didn’t know that it had only taken Song Ying ten days to go from cultivating her first wisp of Inner Qi to breaking through to the Spirit Realm.

And from first entering the Spirit Realm to stabilizing the Profound Acupoint Pass, it had taken her little more than a month.

If he knew of such an appallingly fast Cultivation speed, he wouldn’t just be shocked right now—he’d be questioning his entire existence.

"What’s wrong?"

Song Ying was puzzled, seeing the constantly shifting expression on her eldest son’s face.