After bidding farewell to the Golden Core Ancestor, Lu Xuanji returned to his normal life.
At the foot of the mountain, he opened up spirit fields and planted Spirit Rice.
After advancing to the Third Layer of Qi Cultivation, the area of the spirit fields expanded, turning into three hundred acres.
A hundred acres were planted with Spirit Rice, and two hundred acres were planted with Spirit Medicine.
The Spirit Medicine and Spirit Rice planted were about half turned over to the clan, with the remainder being his own.
As for the Spirit Rice, it could be harvested once every three months. But the Spirit Medicine required ten years to harvest once.
During those ten years, it required careful care to prevent the Spirit Medicine from dying and to guard against Spiritual Insect infestations.
The Spirit Medicine planted had a low age, mainly to prepare for refining low-level Elixirs in the future.
Some clans plant Spirit Medicine that require decades, hundreds, or even a thousand years to mature. The time invested and planting cycle are long, but it's necessary. Only by continuously cultivating like this can one have ample Spirit Medicine for Alchemy.
Relying solely on wild harvesting is neither stable nor safe.
Just like when the Lu Family was founded a thousand years ago, they started mass cultivating Jade Marrow Lingzhi. Purple Marrow Jade takes three hundred years to mature, but because the Lu Family started cultivating early, each time they finished harvesting, they immediately re-planted.
Ensuring sustainable development.
On average, they harvested once every twenty years, refining Foundation Establishment Pills.
Since their medicinal materials were self-sufficient, the price of Foundation Establishment Pills in the Lu Family dropped from fifteen thousand Spirit Stones to ten thousand Spirit Stones.
As long as one reached the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation before sixty and had enough Contribution Points, most could purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill.
This policy resulted in the Lu Family maintaining more than twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators, with each generation producing them, making the clan's strength flourish.
The extra Foundation Establishment Pills could also be sold at high prices to other cultivators.
It's the principle of the previous generation planting trees for the later generation to enjoy the shade.
The previous generation may not enjoy the benefits, but the later generation certainly will.
Reflecting on the achievements of the predecessors, Lu Xuanji also opened up an acre of land, where he scattered the seeds of Jade Marrow Lingzhi, taking care to tend to it. If he could live to be three hundred, he would witness the moment of Jade Marrow Lingzhi's maturity.
Time flowed by, peaceful and tranquil.
Four years later, the aura around Lu Xuanji changed again, and he had reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation.
At this moment, he was already twenty-two years old.
"Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation."
Lu Xuanji walked out of his Cave Mansion, strolling near Ziyang Peak, where there were many clan disciples cultivating, opening up spirit fields, and planting Spirit Rice.
However, most of them had low cultivation levels, mainly at the Third Layer of Qi Cultivation, with some in the Fourth Layer.
An elder was already eighty years old, but due to having Five Spirit Roots, he was still only at the Third Layer of Qi Cultivation.
There were many such people in the clan.
"The gap between people is greater than the gap between people and dogs."
Lu Xuanji sighed as he looked at these people.
Efforts are often futile. A Five Spirit Root individual, no matter how hard they strive and how strong their will is, can at most reach the Fifth Layer of Qi Cultivation by the end of their life. Unless they possess something like Han Paopao's small green bottle. Or, a top-tier Grotto Heaven with infinite Spirit Medicine as support.
In the clan, there were over a thousand Five Spirit Root cultivators.
In the Cultivation World, Five Spirit Root cultivators made up eighty percent of the cultivator population.
The lowest hierarchy is always the largest.
Looking at those humble Five Spirit Root cultivators, Lu Xuanji felt fortunate.
He was grateful for awakening as Three Spirit Roots, deemed highly valuable for cultivation, and nurtured as Foundation Establishment seeds.
If he had Five Spirit Roots, he would have been abandoned directly.
Four Spirit Roots were in a semi-abandoned state.
Within the family, in the distribution of Foundation Establishment Pills, Three Spirit Roots were given priority, followed by Four Spirit Roots.
As for Five Spirit Roots, no family would willingly allocate Foundation Establishment Pills.
Arriving at the Medicine Garden, he patrolled around, clearing weeds; then he returned to the spirit fields, started weeding, loosening soil, and fertilizing, keeping busy until the afternoon, after which he returned to the Cave Mansion to begin cultivation.
Suddenly, his mind grew groggy, and he fell asleep unwittingly.
...
Hoo hoo hoo.
After a long while, Lu Xuanji opened his eyes, but his body felt slightly numb, with some acupoints and meridians sealed, unable to use magic.
Not only that, at this moment, he was sitting on a chair, bound by ropes.
These ropes could easily be broken under normal circumstances.
But with acupoints and meridians sealed, there was no strength to resist.
He looked up and saw a familiar person.
"Old Ancestor, why have you brought me here?"
Lu Xuanji asked.
The familiar person was Lu Fuming.
He didn't know why this Purple Mansion Ancestor had bound him here, yet he felt uneasy.
"I'm sorry."
At this moment, the Lu Family's Purple Mansion Ancestor showed a complex expression, with fury, fear, unease, and guilt.
Lu Xuanji's uneasiness intensified.
It was bizarre for an Eighth-Layer Purple Mansion Ancestor to kneel in front of a Fourth Layer Qi Cultivator and apologize, inducing fear amidst the unease.
"Old Ancestor, what do you intend to do?"
Lu Xuanji asked, his tone slightly trembling.
Instinct told him, the Old Ancestor was very dangerous.
"I failed." The Old Ancestor said, "I was originally a prodigy. At the age of six, it was detected I had a Dual Spirit Root, with wood as the primary and fire as the secondary..."
"Wait, wasn't the Old Ancestor a Three Spirit Root of wood, fire, and gold? How did it become a Dual Spirit Root?"
Lu Xuanji asked, puzzled.
"That was to deceive outsiders."
The Old Ancestor sneered, "Since the establishment of the Lu Family a thousand years ago, only three Dual Spirit Root cultivators have been born. Who would foolishly declare themselves as a Dual Spirit Root, attracting the envy, schemes, and assassination attempts from external cultivators?"
Lu Xuanji was dumbfounded.
Indeed, if he didn't hide his genius, he would have been killed long ago.
"However, although Spirit Root attributes can be concealed, some things cannot be hidden, like cultivation speed. Based on one's cultivation speed, one can deduce the Spirit Root attribute." The Old Ancestor continued, "I established my Foundation at twenty-three and reached the Purple Mansion Realm at a hundred. I was overly ambitious, believing I could become a Golden Core Ancestor."
Speaking of the past, the Old Ancestor was animated and complacent.
"Old Ancestor, achieving Foundation Establishment at twenty-three is truly remarkable. I, however, am lacking, already twenty-two and only at the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation, falling short of the Old Ancestor." Lu Xuanji said, somewhat admiring the Dual Spirit Root.
The gap between people is greater than the gap between people and dogs.
The difference between Dual Spirit Root and Three Spirit Root is greater than the difference between nobility and a beggar.
"Envious? I am not in the least. Instead, I am filled with profound regret." The Old Ancestor said, "Just over a hundred years old and already in the Purple Mansion Realm. I thought I could achieve Golden Core, glorifying my ancestors. Unfortunately, the rapid pace in the early stages depleted my potential; and taking too many elixirs left excessive Elixir Poison in my body, which is hard to expel. The Elixir Poison accumulated in the body affects cultivation speed. I entered the Purple Mansion Realm at a hundred, but at three hundred and fifty, I'm only at the Eighth Layer of the Purple Mansion."
"If life offered a remedy for regret, allowing my life to start anew, I would initiate Foundation Establishment at fifty, reach the Purple Mansion at one hundred and twenty, and aim for the Golden Core at three hundred."