Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

At the entrance of Lingxi Village, the willows were a fresh green.

The brothers Shouheng and Shouye had traveled less than half a li from the village entrance when a green-canopied carriage approached on the main road.

The driver was none other than Bai San.

The carriage stopped.

The curtain was lifted, and a figure in gray was the first to step out. It was their father, Chen Li.

Linglong and Gossip jumped down from the driver’s board right after him.

"Father, you’re back?"

Chen Shouheng and Chen Shouye quickly dismounted.

Seeing his two sons traveling together, looking as if they were setting off on a long journey, Chen Li asked, "Where are you two going?"

Chen Shouheng immediately gave a concise report, explaining the dire situation of their dwindling food supplies and Zhou Shuwei’s proposal to seek out multiple channels to purchase grain, including Kao Mountain Martial Arts Hall, Zhuifeng Martial Arts Hall, and Master Zhou Zhen.

Chen Li listened quietly, then nodded slightly. "Shuwei’s considerations are thorough. These avenues are indeed reliable methods."

He approved of his sons’ plan, but then his tone shifted. "However, Shouheng, you will stay behind for now. I have another important matter for you to handle."

Turning to his second son, he said, "Shouye, you will go to Jingshan County Town first. Find your father-in-law, tell him plainly about our need to purchase grain, and ask for his help."

"Yes, Father."

Chen Shouheng agreed, then said to Chen Shouye, "Second Brother, I’ll have to trouble you to make this trip. When you see Master Li, please give him my regards."

Although Chen Shouye was also surprised, he didn’t ask any questions. He nodded and said, "Don’t worry, Big Brother. Father, I’ll be on my way."

With that, he mounted his horse and rode off along the main road toward Jingshan County.

Chen Shouheng, meanwhile, returned home with his father.

Back at the residence, Chen Li first sent Bai San, Gossip, and Linglong to rest in a side courtyard.

He then carried the two burlap sacks he had brought back from Hidden Emperor Castle into the secret chamber.

After stowing the items, Chen Li took out a Jade Box.

Upon opening it, he revealed six strange, egg-sized fruits lying inside. They emanated a faint, five-colored glow and a fragrant, unusual scent filled the air.

Light flowed across the fruits’ surfaces, corresponding faintly to the five colors: azure, crimson, yellow, white, and black.

"Take this fruit and refine it."

Chen Li took one out and handed it to Chen Shouheng.

As it turned out, just as his second son, Chen Shouye, successfully broke through to the Second Level of the Spirit Realm, the Profound Acupoint Pass, a system notification had sounded in Chen Li’s mind.

[Congratulations to the Host. Your second son, Chen Shouye, has broken through to the Second Level of the Spirit Realm, the Profound Acupoint Pass. Reward issued: Five Viscera Five Elements Fruit x6.]

After checking the system’s description, Chen Li understood the miraculous effects of this Five Viscera Five Elements Fruit.

This fruit contained pure Innate Five Elements Qi, which could help a Cultivator temper their five viscera, solidify their foundation, and accelerate the construction of their Inner Mansion Little World.

The item was already ineffective for him, but for his eldest son, Chen Shouheng, who had not yet reached the Inner Mansion Pass, it was absolutely perfect.

Chen Shouheng was long past being surprised by his father occasionally producing unheard-of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

Without asking questions, he took the fruit, sat cross-legged on the cattail mat in the center of the secret chamber as instructed, and, Concentrating and Calming the Mind, popped the Five Viscera Five Elements Fruit into his mouth.

The moment the fruit entered his mouth, a vast yet gentle wave of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi exploded within his body, transforming into five streams of incomparably pure Innate Qi that rushed straight toward his internal organs.

Chen Shouheng dared not be negligent. He immediately focused his Heart Spirit, circulated his Cultivation Technique, and guided the five streams of Five Elements Qi to their proper places.

Ever since Chen Li had urged him on last time, despite being a newlywed, he had not dared to slack off in the slightest. His Cultivation was even more diligent than before.

During this period, he had already finished tempering his kidneys, with only the final step of tempering his heart remaining.

Now, as the pure qi from the Five Viscera Five Elements Fruit surged in, the effect was immediate.

The four viscera he had already tempered were baptized and polished anew, nourished by this fresh power.

The majority of the remaining Five Elements Qi then surged tumultuously into the heart that had yet to be completely tempered.

THUMP-THUMP!

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

Chen Shouheng’s heart began to beat violently.

The five qi circulated, generating and overcoming one another. Each flush brought a tearing pain and a sensation of blissful rebirth.

After an unknown amount of time, the heart’s frantic beating gradually calmed, and an unceasing, vibrant feeling spread out from it.

With that, the tempering of his five viscera was finally complete, reaching Perfection!

Immediately after, an even more wondrous change occurred.

The five streams of Five Elements Qi began to flow between his five viscera.

The mysterious and profound embryonic form of his Inner Mansion Little World actually began to condense at an accelerated rate, gradually becoming clearer and more stable.

A long time passed.

Chen Shouheng opened his eyes, his face filled with irrepressible joy. "Father, this Spirit Fruit is truly miraculous! My five viscera have been tempered to Perfection, and the embryonic form of my Inner Mansion Little World has stabilized. I’m just one final step away from truly stepping into the Inner Mansion Pass."

Chen Li nodded in satisfaction and told him to go to the pharmacy for a few doses of Eight Treasures Spirit Nourishing Soup, to recuperate for a few days before attempting to break through in one go.

Since his eldest son was on the verge of a breakthrough, Chen Li didn’t plan to have him take any more.

The number of Five Viscera Five Elements Fruits was limited—he had only gotten six—so they had to be used well.

What made Chen Li feel a bit helpless was that, since the birth of his eldest grandson, the system rewards still only seemed to recognize his own six children and did not include grandchildren in the count.

Although there was a reward when his eldest grandson was born, it was a one-time thing and didn’t increase the base number for subsequent rewards.

His original plan had been to have his sons spread their branches and scatter their leaves, while he sat back, reaped the benefits, and ’farmed’ the system for free rewards.

But now, it seemed that plan had fallen through.

To continue receiving the system’s rewards, he would ultimately have to rely on having more children himself.

This left Chen Li not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

It wasn’t that he was against taking concubines and having more children, but he felt that anything in excess was a vice.

If he really started taking on a host of concubines just for the rewards and fathered dozens or even a hundred children, setting aside the cost of raising them, he was afraid he wouldn’t even be able to recognize them all.

Familial affection would grow thin, and the children would just become tools for acquiring rewards—that was not what he wanted.

What he pursued was the steady growth of the family and the preservation of kinship ties.

How to balance resources, offspring, and the long-term development of the family still required careful consideration.

But for now, his wife Song Ying was worn out from managing the household and showed fatigue at the prospect of having more children.

His concubine, Liu Yun, had been helping Song Ying with the accounts recently and was also stretched too thin.

It would be difficult for either his wife or his concubine to have another child in the short term.

Chen Li pondered for a moment before setting the idea aside.

As Chen Shouheng was leaving, Chen Li told him to ask Zhou Shuwei to come to the study.

Before long, the sound of light footsteps came from outside the study, and Zhou Shuwei’s voice, tinged with a slight confusion, rang out. "Father, you were looking for me?"

"Come in," Chen Li replied.

Zhou Shuwei pushed the door open and entered, a sense of surprise in her heart.

Normally, while Chen Li wasn’t overly strict or formal, he rarely summoned her to speak with him alone.

Chen Li didn’t waste time with pleasantries. He got straight to the point, turning to take another Five Viscera Five Elements Fruit from the Jade Box and holding it out to Zhou Shuwei.

"Take this and refine it with your technique right here."

Chen Li didn’t explain the fruit’s name or its effects.

Zhou Shuwei was taken aback, surprise flashing in her beautiful eyes.

But she had a sharp and perceptive mind. Seeing how her husband Chen Shouheng’s aura had surged and his face had been filled with joy just moments before, and now seeing this miraculous Spirit Fruit, she already understood.

She took the fruit, sat cross-legged on the cattail mat as instructed, and consumed the Five Viscera Five Elements Fruit.

Once the fruit was in her stomach, an experience similar to Chen Shouheng’s unfolded. A vast and pure surge of Five Elements Primordial Qi transformed into five torrential streams, each with different properties, and rushed toward her internal organs.

However, the effects were even more remarkable for her.

Zhou Shuwei had reached the Second Level of the Spirit Realm, the Profound Acupoint Pass, earlier than Chen Shouheng. She had also long since completed tempering her five viscera. She was only lacking a bit in her Cultivation of the Inner Mansion Little World and had been unable to take that final, crucial step into the Inner Mansion Pass.

Now, with the help of the Spirit Fruit, the effect was immediate.

HUMMM...

Her internal organs seemed to be completely activated, and the flow of her Inner Qi became increasingly smooth and natural.

The generative and restrictive connections between them grew tighter and tighter, and the speed of their circulation began to quicken involuntarily, until finally, they were spinning wildly like a pinwheel.

When the last trace of turbulent Inner Qi settled, her five viscera formed a perfect, self-contained minor cycle, becoming a world unto itself.

The Third Level of the Spirit Realm, the Inner Mansion Pass, achieved!

Zhou Shuwei’s delicate body trembled slightly. She opened her beautiful eyes, an irrepressible joy appearing on her face.

She rose and gave Chen Li a deep bow, her voice filled with gratitude. "Shuwei thanks Father for bestowing this medicine."

She knew in her heart that a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object like this, capable of helping someone directly break through a major Realm, was of inestimable value.

She had only been married into the Chen Family for a few months, yet Chen Li was willing to use such a precious treasure on her. This trust made her feel both grateful and unworthy.

Chen Li nodded, accepting her thanks.

However, his next action left Zhou Shuwei stunned once again.

Without saying much, Chen Li took out a Small White Jade Bottle, uncorked it, and tipped out an Elixir the size of a longan. It was milky-white, and a faint light seemed to flow across its surface.

"Take this Elixir as well and continue your practice."

Chen Li handed the Elixir over.

Zhou Shuwei took the Soul-Stabilizing Pill, sat cross-legged once more, and put the Elixir into her mouth.

As the Elixir entered her mouth, her Divine Soul was wrenched.

An unknown amount of time passed.

BANG!

An extremely faint sound, like something shattering deep within her soul, exploded in Zhou Shuwei’s sea of consciousness.

The next moment, she felt as if her world had suddenly opened up.

A mysterious Acupoint—one she had never perceived in her Cultivation before, one that was dark, inexplicable, and seemed to exist between reality and illusion—appeared clearly in her perception.

The Divine Hall Acupoint!

Zhou Shuwei was inwardly shaken. She had never imagined that the effects of the Soul-Stabilizing Pill would be so miraculously potent, that it could directly help a Practitioner sense the Divine Hall Acupoint.

She dared not be the least bit negligent. She immediately focused her Heart Spirit and began to compress and condense her Inner Qi, preparing to detonate this power outside the Divine Hall Acupoint at the right moment and forcibly blast open this gate to a new world.

This was a Water Grinding Technique, a task that could not be rushed or forced.

Zhou Shuwei became completely immersed in a deep state of Cultivation, as if the outside world had ceased to exist for her.

Seeing that Zhou Shuwei had entered a state of self-forgetting Cultivation and wouldn’t be finished anytime soon, Chen Li withdrew from the study.

He found Chen Shouheng, who was brewing the Eight Treasures Spirit Nourishing Soup, and instructed him, "Shouheng, Shuwei is in seclusion, attempting a breakthrough. You must guard her well and make sure no one disturbs her. You also need to intensify your own Cultivation and strive to reach the Inner Mansion Pass as soon as possible."

"Yes, Father."

Chen Shouheng acknowledged.

Lately, Chen Li had been feeling an increasingly acute shortage of manpower. There were too few people who could truly help him.

For all these years, he had acted with a low profile, doing his utmost to hide his true strength. On the surface, at least, there was no record of him ever making a move.

But here in Jiangzhou, many people actually knew of his power.

As the family business expanded and developed, exposure was inevitable.

Although this world had the Martial Dao, its foundation was ultimately an agrarian society, and the growth of resources had its limits.

Even in his past life, in that industrially developed era, it was impossible to avoid getting trapped in a zero-sum game of competition over existing resources after reaching a certain stage of development.

And in this dynasty, which had been at peace for hundreds of years, any struggle for valuable resources was, in essence, a zero-sum game.

The pie didn’t just get bigger on its own.

If his family wanted a bigger piece, it inevitably meant taking food from someone else’s bowl.

When you moved the cheese of those with vested interests, conflict became unavoidable.

An individual might be able to rise quietly with a bit of luck, but for a family to grow strong, the idea of it happening smoothly and without conflict was practically a false premise.

Looking at his own family, of his three adult children, Shouheng and Shouye’s Cultivations were still in the early stages of the Spirit Realm, and Shouyue had yet to reach Perfection in the Qi Realm.

With such strength, forget about them helping him in future storms; it would be a blessing if they didn’t become a burden or a weakness for enemies to exploit.

The family’s high-end combat power, besides himself, consisted of only Elder Zhan, a single Grandmaster who was fit to fight. Liu Zongying’s injuries had not healed, and it was uncertain when he would recover.

The family’s power was simply too weak.

In particular, the conflict with Governor He Mingyun had grown more intense and was now out in the open.

It was imperative that they increase the strength of their core members for self-preservation.

Right now, besides his two sons, the only other person he could trust and whose strength could be rapidly increased was his new daughter-in-law, Zhou Shuwei.

If she, Shouheng, and Shouye could all reach the Divine Hall, achieving the Grandmaster Realm, then the family would instantly gain three new pillars of support.

At that time, whether it was dealing with the external pressure from the Governor’s Mansion or internally protecting the family’s assets, the burden on his shoulders would be greatly lightened, and he would be able to act with much more freedom.