Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Compared to her husband's laissez-faire attitude, Han Qingqing was undoubtedly a cultivation fanatic.

Aside from the two months she spent giving birth to children, she spent all her time in the quiet room, practicing cultivation behind closed doors and rarely leaving the house.

Zhao Sheng became even more furious when he heard his son's excuses, "Your wife was born with a useless spiritual root; she could never establish a foundation. Giving her the Spirit Origin Pill would be a waste. It would be better to give it to Xuan Han and Lan Lan."

Zhao Xuanhan, Zhao Chengle's eldest son, was twelve years old and at the Qi Refining Second Level, just like his father, with Four Spirit Roots.

Lan Lan, whose full name was Zhao Xuanlan, was only six years old, but she was the beloved treasure of old Zhao Sheng and his wife, born with three spirit roots of metal, earth, and wood.

She was the hope of the Zhao family, with a promising future of foundation establishment ahead of her.

Zhao Chengle was startled by his father's words and then muttered, "Dad, I think martial arts are good. Why must I practice cultivation? Aren't you also an Innate Martial Artist?"

Zhao Sheng scolded angrily, "Nonsense! What's so good about martial arts? Can they grant you immortality? After a hundred years, no matter how skilled you are in martial arts, you will still end up a pile of dust. Tell me, what is the ancestral teaching of our family?"

No sooner had Zhao Sheng finished speaking when a small figure hopped into the room, calling out in a childish voice, "Grandpa, I know, 'All is inferior, only cultivation stands supreme!'"

"Oh, Lan Lan is here! Come to grandpa. Where's your grandma?" Zhao Sheng's expression brightened immediately upon seeing his granddaughter, and a smile appeared on his face.

He casually tossed aside the vine stick in his hand and strode over to pick up his precious granddaughter.

"Where's your grandma?" he asked while playing with the little one.

"Grandma is in the back," Zhao Xuanlan replied earnestly with her baby-like voice, nestled in her grandfather's arms.

While they were talking, an old and decrepit figure also appeared before the three of them.

Life beyond seventy is a rarity!

Wang Yuqi, now in her seventies, no longer had the beautiful appearance of her youth and had become white-haired and full of wrinkles.

Upon seeing her son kneeling on the ground, she immediately complained, "You old man, Old Eight is already nearly forty. Why do you always have him kneel at the slightest provocation? It's useless to force him to practice cultivation if he doesn't want to."

Zhao Sheng said angrily, "Foolish! Aren't you from a cultivation family? Don't you know that only cultivators are above others in this world?"

"Humph, Zhao Zhiqin, are you saying this because you despise me for being old? After I painstakingly bore eight children for your Zhao family..."

Seeing she couldn't win against the old man, Wang Yuqi suddenly began to cry and complain.

Zhao Sheng was most afraid of this tactic. Seeing her like this, he quickly apologized and softened his stance while ordering his son to roll out at once.

Wang Yuqi was quite pleased with herself; this tactic had always worked well on her husband throughout their lives.

Yet, looking at her husband who appeared no more than fifty with a head full of black hair and not a single wrinkle, then at herself, her hair white and aged as such,

Wang Yuqi couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of melancholy over her fading youth.

However, this melancholy was fleeting, as her mind quickly shifted back to her granddaughter.

A family storm quickly subsided.

At this moment, Zhao Chengle, who had just left the ancestral hall, hurriedly returned.

"Dad, my father-in-law has arrived! He's waiting for you in the living room," he said.

Upon hearing this, a gleam flashed in Zhao Sheng's eyes. He immediately commanded, "You keep your mother company first, I'll go see your father-in-law."

After saying this, he apologized to Wang Yuqi once more, then quickly left the ancestral hall and headed to the living room.

The year before last, the Purple Sun Sect had sent Han Xuanwu to Heavenly Pillar Mountain to preside over the trade fair as the special emissary in charge.

Zhao Sheng had benefited greatly from this.

To know, being a special emissary in charge meant occupying a lucrative position. Buying low and selling high, exploiting medicine collectors, finding deals, and playing both sides of the market for elixirs and magical artifacts to earn a markup—there were plenty of easy ways for them to make spirit stones.

Two months prior, Zhao Sheng, having recovered from his injuries, obtained a thousand-year-old Nine-Section Ink Jade Orchid through Han Xuanwu.

Not only did he exchange it for a batch of Five Elements Talismans and Spirit Origin Pills among other basic cultivation resources, but he also received an important piece of information.

Today, as Han Xuanwu returned to visit, he surely brought good news.

Zhao Sheng and Han Xuanwu were relatives through their children's marriage, so there was no need for deliberate pleasantries.

After a brief chat, Zhao Sheng couldn't help but eagerly ask, "Xuanwu, is the news confirmed? How many Hundred-year Tokens will the Purple Sun Sect release this year?"

Han Xuanwu gestured a cross with his hands and said, "Exactly ten."

Without waiting for Zhao Sheng to inquire further, he quickly explained the details of the matter.

It turned out that over twenty years ago, a True Immortal on the verge of Perfect Golden Core within the Purple Sun Sect was about to challenge the Nascent Soul Realm.

To increase the success rate, the Purple Sun Sect spared no expense in attempting to refine a Nascent Soul Pill.

The Nascent Soul Pill, a fourth-rank top-grade Treasure Pill, had an obviously very low success rate of refining.

So after failing twice in a row, the Purple Sun Sect was severely weakened and recently had no choice but to sell off a large amount of resources to recover.

The Hundred-year Token was one such very important resource.

It was not a Magical Treasure, yet more precious than one, as it represented a hundred years of ownership rights to a First-rank Spirit Vein, which was sufficient to support a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

A Cultivation Family in possession of a Hundred-year Token would also be protected by the Purple Sun Sect.

As a large influence with a Nascent Soul Ancestor sitting in residence, with more than a dozen Golden Core Masters and over a hundred at Foundation Establishment, the Purple Sun Sect's strength was exceptionally strong, with few powers daring to provoke them.

Therefore, the Hundred-year Token was extremely important for a Cultivation Family, especially for a small Qi Refining family like Zhao Sheng's.

Conversely, the price of the Hundred-year Token was naturally exorbitantly high.

Zhao Sheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, "What's the starting bid? How many Spirit Stones need to be repaid each year?"

Han Xuanwu sighed and said, "Alas, the starting bid is from 50,000 Spirit Stones, the upper limit unknown, but at the very least also 60,000. Anyway, our two families combined can't afford it. It's better not to mention the annual rent."

"How do you know I can't afford it?" Zhao Sheng said with a smile.

"Do you have 50,000 Spirit Stones?"

"That I really don't!"

"Alas, you don't, so what are you talking about? The Hundred-year Token isn't something we can covet."

Unlike Han Xuanwu, who was disheartened, Zhao Sheng thought for a moment and felt he had to take a risk and give it a try.

Because the opportunity was just too rare.

Every Spirit Vein under the name of the Purple Sun Sect had a matching strong Mountain Protection Array. Once activated, it could fend off attacks from ordinary Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

In addition, they were equipped with a Ten Thousand Miles One Line Talisman. In case of emergency, a talisman can be sent to the Purple Sun Sect for help.

For decades, the Dayong Zhou Family had been like a sharp sword hanging over him, constantly making him anxious, fearing that one day the Zhou family would suddenly come knocking.

As long as he had the Hundred-year Token, the Zhao family would not fear an attack from the Zhou family and could develop in peace for a hundred years.

Therefore, Zhao Sheng said with a determined expression, "The ten Spirit Veins, due to differences in quality and resource output, would inevitably have varying prices. We'll just target the ones with lower prices. I may not have fifty or sixty thousand Spirit Stones, but that doesn't mean I can't come up with a treasure of equivalent value."

"Brother Zhao, what do you mean...?"

Thinking of the thousand-year-old spiritual medicine that was just sold two months ago, Han Xuanwu's eyes suddenly shone like lightbulbs.

His daughter Han Qing had married into the Zhao family. As a father, Han Xuanwu didn't ask for much, only that he very much hoped the Zhao family could develop better.

Zhao Sheng signaled for him to wait a moment and then got up from the living room and left.