Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 129 A Joyful Festival
At the gate of the manor, Shen Yuan stood with his hands behind his back on the stone steps, looking at the huge human-bear demon beast corpse in front of him with a thoughtful expression, no one knew what he was thinking.

Shen Wenxing arrived and told the villagers to go back first before coming to his father.

"You killed him?"

Shen Wenxing nodded: "It's roughly equivalent to the second or third level of Qi Refining."

"I suspect there might be more than just this one monster in the mountains."

Shen Yuan walked down the stone steps, took the spear from his hand, cut open the bear's bloody belly, and rummaged through it.

"According to the alchemist's notes, when a beast becomes a demon, a primordial core forms in its abdomen."

"This Demon Essence Pill can be used as a material for alchemy."

As they were speaking, a yellowish-brown crystal the size of a quail egg rolled out from the belly of the bear-man monster.

Upon seeing this, Shen Wenxing quickly picked it up and wiped it clean on the snow pile next to him.

"Father, this thing..."

"It looks a lot like the one from the Iron-Spine Demon Wolf back then, doesn't it?"

Shen Yuan spoke with a smile.

When he returned from the ruins of the Dragon Tamer, he was followed by the Iron-Spine Demon Wolf. The father and son worked together and finally killed the Iron-Spine Demon Wolf, finding a Demon Essence Pill inside its belly.

At the time, they didn't know what that thing was. In the end, not only was the entire flesh and blood of the Iron-Spine Demon Wolf consumed, but even the Demon Essence Pill was eaten by Little Black.

After reading through the alchemist's notes and learning that the thing was a Demon Essence Pill, Shen Yuan didn't feel any regret.

Over the years, the original "guinea pig," Zhonghua Wuhei, has grown up and become exceptionally handsome, becoming the best playmate for Shen Chongming and his two friends.

"Fairy Wei said that the flesh and blood of demonic beasts and demonic essence pills are helpful for body cultivators."

Looking at the corpse of the bear-like monster in front of him, Shen Wenxing spoke.

"I'm going to give it a try."

Shen Yuan frowned upon hearing this, suddenly feeling that feeding the Iron-Spine Demon Wolf's flesh and blood to dogs was indeed a waste.

"By the way, Father, take a look at this."

Shen Wenxing was just about to find someone to dismember and store the bear carcass when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He then remembered that there was something else, so he took out the bluish-gray ore and handed it over.

Shen Yuan took the ore, looked it over, and squeezed it hard a couple of times, finding it to be very hard, unlike ordinary stones.

"I suspect this is a kind of spiritual ore that can be used to refine magical artifacts."

He described the scene inside the cave in detail.

Shen Yuan nodded, guessing that the reason why this bear-man was able to cultivate into a demon beast first was most likely related to this mine.

"Father, when spring comes, should we send someone to secretly mine some?"

"There seem to be spirit crystals in that cave."

"Although we don't need the mined ore right now, we can store it up and exchange it for spirit crystals later."

Shen Yuan examined the bluish-gray stone in his hand without saying a word.

In the secular world, a mineral vein represents enormous wealth, and the same should be true in the world of cultivators.

They don't yet know how rare this mine is. If it's too precious, with the Shen family's current strength, rashly mining it would only bring disaster.

After some thought, he tossed the bluish-gray ore to Shen Wenxing and said:

"Go to Yunzhong County now and take this ore to Fairy Wei for a look."

"If possible, we will mine this vein together with Luoxia Mountain."

"If all else fails, we can offer the mine to Luoxia Mountain in exchange for some tangible benefits."

A few days ago, he guessed that it was the disciples of the Cliff Mountain Academy of Qiyun Valley who wiped out the entire Xu family, and he had already realized that there were big problems within Qiyun Valley.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Now is the crucial moment when Luoxia Mountain is willing to befriend the Shen family, so we can reciprocate their kindness.

Even if Qiyun Valley becomes unreliable, the Shen family won't completely lose their backing.

Another point is that once this ore is mined, it's just a bunch of useless stones in their hands.

It's uncertain how long it will take before it becomes truly useful.

Instead of using it to exchange for some tangible benefits, let's focus on improving the strength of our family members first.

Although Shen Wenxing hesitated for a moment, he didn't ask any more questions, put the ore back into his pocket, and left.

……

"This is a Qingling Stone, a relatively good item among low-grade refining materials."

"Adding a small amount of [something] during the refining of magical artifacts can increase their hardness."

In the elegant pavilion of Yunzhong County, Wei Qiuling glanced at the ore and smiled as she spoke.

"It really is material for refining immortal artifacts!" Shen Wenxing thought to himself. At the same time, remembering his father's instructions, he immediately told him everything about the Azure Spirit Stone mine.

“Fairy Wei, I seem to have seen something that looks like a spirit crystal in that cave.”

Wei Qiuling nodded and said, "It should be a fragment of a spirit crystal."

“There are many ways to obtain spirit crystals in the cultivation world.”

"The most common type is the specialized spirit crystal vein, from which most of the extracted spirit crystals are intact."

"In addition, there are some spirit crystals that are associated with spirit mines. These spirit crystals are not very pure and often produce spirit crystal fragments."

"The spirit crystals that Brother Shen saw should be fragments of spirit crystals that come with this Azure Spirit Stone, and there shouldn't be too many of them."

Shen Wenxing suddenly realized.

Spirit crystal fragments are also good; the Shen family is currently lacking in everything.

However, now that this matter has been informed of Luoxia Mountain, we should still see what they say.

"I wonder what Fairy Wei plans to do with this Azure Spirit Stone mine?"

Wei Qiuling slowly picked up the teacup in front of her, without rushing to answer.

She could guess that the Shen family's move was mostly intended to curry favor with Luoxia Mountain, but she was unsure how to proceed regarding the interests of the Qingling Stone mine.

The value of the Qingling Stone mine is very high. If we give too little, the Shen family may harbor resentment if they find out in the future.

Giving too much is not conducive to long-term planning.

After all, she only needs to show a little kindness to make the Shen family extremely grateful.

"How about this, Brother Shen, after you go back, arrange for people to mine the ore. I'll take the mined ore from Luoxia Mountain to the cultivation world to sell, and we'll discuss profit sharing after we make a profit."

"As for the spirit crystal fragments obtained during the mining process, how about the Shen family keep them all?"

Shen Wenxing frowned slightly upon hearing this. He didn't quite understand Wei Qiuling's meaning.

Is it because the market for Azure Spirit Stones in the cultivation world is not good, or is there some other reason?

However, considering that Luoxia Mountain was usually quite generous, Shen Wenxing felt that Wei Qiuling must have other considerations this time, so he didn't ask any further questions.

"Mining the Qingling Stone vein requires a large number of people."

"Qiu Ling will soon inform the He family that the entire Yunshui Town will be managed by the Shen family."

"in addition……"

Wei Qiuling paused for a moment and looked at Shen Wenxing, saying, "The Yangnao Land has been revived, and the spiritual fields and blessed lands should be planted with spiritual seeds."

"Junior Sister Yu Jin has returned to Luoxia Mountain to transport spirit seeds. In a while, Qiu Ling will have someone send some spirit rice and spirit herb seeds to the Shen family."

Seemingly realizing that her ambiguous words had little practical significance, Wei Qiuling offered to give the entire Yunshui Town to the Shen family, and also planned to give them some spirit seeds later.

Compared to other things, these practical things are what the Shen family hopes to see more.

As expected, Shen Wenxing's face lit up with joy upon hearing this, and he repeatedly clasped his hands in thanks.

After returning home from Yunzhong County, the hunting competition had already ended.

Although Zhao Jinhu and Liu Fang did not gain much from their encounter with the human-bear demon beast, they unexpectedly obtained a "fate to immortality".

Shen Yuan explained that anyone who discovers a demon beast in the mountains will have a chance to obtain a chance to become an immortal. If they are lucky enough to hunt down the demon beast, they will not only receive a chance to become an immortal, but they may also receive other rewards.

Besides Liu Fang and Zhao Jinhu, four other participants in the hunting competition received the Immortal Fortune reward.

These four were all disciples of the martial arts school, and were among the few people Huang Qingzhou determined to have good talent.

After Shen Yuan had them swear a “true spirit oath,” he passed on the Five Elements Breathing Method, only to consider teaching them the complete cultivation method later when he was sure it was safe.

Inside the Blackwater Pavilion, Shen Wenxing relayed Wei Qiuling's words verbatim.

"Father, Fairy Wei's attitude seems a bit strange."

Shen Yuan remained silent, pacing back and forth in thought.

After a long while, a sneer rang out.

"This Fairy Wei is much smarter than Li Heshan."

"Alright, let's do it this way for now."

"The annual memorial service is in a few days. After the service, please take some gifts and visit the He family."

"Also, hand over the affairs of Yunshui Town properly."

Shen Wenxing nodded.

As the year's ancestral rites approached, it was an unusually early spring, and the sun was shining warmly on everyone.

Shen Yuan also gave himself two days off. Instead of going to the Blackwater Pavilion to cultivate, he just sat on the threshold of the house with his hands in his pockets, watching the three little guys, Shen Chongming, and a big black dog with shiny fur playing in the yard.

Over the years, this big black dog has become increasingly intelligent and human-like.

At this moment, he even started playing the game of "eagle catching chicks" with the three little ones.

Shen Yuan looked at them quietly, a smile involuntarily appearing on his face.

"His father."

Hu Yufen walked out from the backyard, her face beaming with undisguised joy.

Shen Yuan looked up at her, then continued staring at the three little ones in the yard and asked, "What's wrong?"

Hu Yufen came up and said, "Good news!"

"Oh?"

Shen Yuan turned his head: "What happy news?"

Hu Yufen whispered in her ear, "Both the eldest son's family and the second son's family have it!"

At this point, she squeezed in next to Shen Yuan and chuckled, "What a coincidence!"

"Judging by the time, the second son's baby should be a month or two earlier than the eldest son's baby."

A broad smile spread across Shen Yuan's face as he looked up at the sun and murmured, "Alright..."

A year has passed since he last asked his wife to persuade his two daughters-in-law to have another child, and now they finally have one.

In this way, in less than ten months, the Shen family will be able to have another member.

"Shouldn't Wenping be back today?"

Suppressing his joy, Shen Yuan spoke.

Hu Yufen nodded: "I had Shitou tell her the day before yesterday that the year-end ancestral rites are the day after tomorrow, and that she should close the shop early."

"He should be back around today."

"His father," Hu Yufen suddenly asked seriously, "what do you think of Zishi?"

He Zishi?
Shen Yuan frowned in thought, only vaguely remembering that the little guy had been helping out at the town's shop for the two years he had been with the Shen family. He rarely saw him and didn't know him very well.

"Why are you asking him?"

When his wife asked him this, Shen Yuan felt a sense of unease.

Hu Yufen glared at him and said, "Naturally, it's for Wenping."

“All you do all day is cultivate yourself, and you don’t care about the children at all.”

“After the New Year’s Eve, Wenping and Wen’an will both be sixteen.”

I'm sixteen...

Shen Yuan seemed somewhat dazed, then frowned and asked, "You want Wenping to marry He Zishi?"

"What's wrong?" Seeing that he seemed very unhappy, Hu Yufen said, "I think Zishi is a good kid, especially obedient to Wenping."

Shen Yuan nodded.

He also thought He Zishi was a good man, but as a father, the thought of his daughter, whom he had raised for more than ten years, getting married was something he couldn't bear to do, no matter how good the other person was.

Hu Yufen seemed to have seen through his thoughts and teased, "If you can't bear to part with your daughter, then you can let them live in Blackwater Pool."

"Anyway, Zishi probably won't go back to the He family."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan's eyes lit up.

That's not bad.

It's just past the New Year's Eve ancestral rites, and the eldest son is going to visit the He family. I can mention this to He Yan later.

(End of this chapter)