Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 170 Offensive and defensive changes
During this period, although those in the Shen family who knew the truth were trying their best to conceal the news of He Zishi's death, Shen Wenping was not a fool.

On the contrary, she is very smart.

"Father, please tell your daughter, what... what happened to Zishi?"

That night, after He Chongyi fell asleep, Shen Wenping came to the courtyard and, suppressing the urge to cry, asked him what was wrong.

Shen Yuan turned around, intending to make up another reason, but seeing the tears in his daughter's eyes, he realized there was no need to hide it anymore.

"Zishi... was attacked on his way to Yunshui Town with Elder He."

Upon hearing this, Shen Wenping felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her ears!
She staggered, nearly fainting.

Shen Yuan quickly reached out to support her.

Feeling his daughter's trembling body, he could only sigh, unsure how to comfort her.

The two had been married for over two years and had a very good relationship. They had just had a child, but... they were separated by death.

How can anyone accept such a blow?

Shen Wenping threw herself into her father's arms, biting her lip so hard that it bled, but she dared not cry out.

Shen Yuan clenched his fist, then waved his hand to create a spiritual energy shield.

"Child, if you want to cry, then cry out loud."

He spoke, his voice trembling.

Upon hearing this, Shen Wenping could no longer bear it and burst into tears.

She cried for only a moment, then suddenly stopped and hurriedly wiped away her tears.

"Chongyi, Chongyi is crying..."

"Father, did you hear Chongyi crying?"

"Is Chongyi hungry?"

She murmured blankly, and when she turned around and rushed into the house, she bumped into the spiritual energy shield and fell to the ground.

"Chongyi, don't cry, your mother is here."

Getting up from the ground, Shen Wenping ignored everything and prepared to rush back into the room.

Upon seeing this, Shen Yuan's face showed a trace of grief, and he reached out and released a stream of spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy entered Shen Wenping's body, and her body went limp, causing her to faint.

Supporting his unconscious daughter, Shen Yuan wiped away the blood from the corner of her mouth and the tears on her face with trembling hands, and carried her into the house.

Hu Yufen walked towards them and was greatly surprised when she saw this.

"What's wrong with Wenping?"

Shen Yuan shook his head slightly.

"Upon learning of Zishi's death, she was overcome with grief and lost her composure. I used my spiritual power to soothe her and put her to sleep for the time being."

Hu Yufen breathed a slight sigh of relief, then came over and looked at her daughter's bitten lip, tears suddenly falling from her eyes.

"My poor child..."

Since learning of He Zishi's death, Hu Yufen has felt both grief and worry.

She couldn't even imagine how her daughter would cope if she found out.

"Let this child sleep with you for the next couple of days." After placing Shen Wenping on the bed, Shen Yuan sighed, put his hands behind his back, and left the room for the Blackwater Pavilion.

He sat cross-legged on the prayer mat, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, lost in thought.

Logically speaking, having lived for over a hundred years in both his past and present lives, and having embarked on the path of immortal cultivation, he should have long since become indifferent to life and death.

But whether it was Huang Qingzhou's death or He Zishi's death, it felt as if a knife had been plunged into his heart.

This feeling caused his spiritual energy to become restless, and he had a faint sense that it was about to get out of control.

"Father."

Shen Wen'an came downstairs and called out softly.

Shen Yuan turned around, a bitter smile on his face.

Shen Wen'an sat down beside him, quietly observed him for a moment, and said, "If Father's spiritual power is not controlled, it will be very dangerous."

Shen Yuan nodded.

He was also aware of the current situation and knew that he could no longer wallow in grief.

"Father is fine, go and cultivate."

Shen Wen'an nodded and got up, returning to the second floor of the Blackwater Pavilion to sit down, but his divine sense kept watching his father downstairs.

September marks the harvest season for Ling rice once again.

In recent years, with the emergence of several new Qi Refining cultivators in the clan, some spirit rice has also been planted in the spirit fields of several villages.

This harvest yielded a total of 550 catties of spirit rice.

After deducting the two hundred catties handed over to Luoxia Mountain, the remaining three hundred and fifty catties were divided into three large clans, ten catties each, and five catties each, leaving a little over three hundred catties.

In the front yard, Shen Wenxing greeted Shen Yuan who was walking in from outside and said, "In the past two months, Luoxia Mountain and Suihuo Sect have had several conflicts. Disciples from both sides' immortal sects have taken action, and it is said that many people have died or been injured."

"It seems that the patriarch of the Zhang family in Yingchuan has been killed."

Shen Yuan nodded slightly after hearing this and said, "This year's spirit rice harvest is good. When you go to Yunzhong County to deliver the offerings, please take an extra hundred catties of spirit rice with you."

"Our Shen family cannot participate in the battle with the Flint Sect, but we will help in any way we can."

"Take out another fifty catties of the remaining spirit rice, along with the spring water from the spirit spring and fragments of spirit crystals, and send them to the mountains. Give ten catties to each of Chongming and the other three, and distribute the rest among the disciples of the clan."

“Chonghong and You’er have already reached the Qi Refining Realm, and the two kids from Dayan Village are now at the peak of Body Tempering.”

“In the future, the resources of my Shen family will need to be allocated according to qualifications. If we cannot improve our strength as soon as possible, we will eventually become the object of others’ bullying.”

Shen Wenxing nodded: "My sister-in-law came to see me the day before yesterday and said that Chongxu is already three years old and she wants him to start cultivating."

Shen Yuan nodded: "I'll go take a look later, you go about your business."

After the father and son parted ways, Shen Yuan arrived at the gate of Shen Wenyan's courtyard.

"grandfather?"

Shen Chongxuan, who was reading in the courtyard, saw him and hurriedly came forward to greet him.

"Where's your mother?"

As Shen Yuan spoke, Zhao Xuan came out of the room, followed by a chubby-faced little guy.

Upon seeing Shen Yuan, the little guy grinned and rushed over in a flash!
"Grandpa, hug me!"

Shen Yuan squatted down and picked him up.

"Chongxu..."

"It doesn't matter."

Just as Zhao Xuan was about to speak, Shen Yuan interrupted her with a smile, "Did the boss say you went to see him?"

Zhao Xuan nodded somewhat nervously: "I think Chongxu is already three years old, and it's time for him to start cultivating..."

Shen Yuan looked at her and said with a faint smile, "You can say that to your father directly."

"Weren't all those boys trained by their fathers?"

Zhao Xuan lowered her head and didn't say anything.

"Alright, I'm taking Chongxu with me."

Shen Yuan was well aware that his daughter-in-law's reserved nature stemming from inferiority was beyond redemption; she would never be like his eldest son's daughter. "Chongxu, shall Grandpa teach you cultivation?"

"Alright! Chongxu wants to cultivate, he doesn't want to study with his brother!"

“Cultivation is cultivation, but you still have to study. You can’t become an immortal and not even know how to read, can you?”

……

The figures of the grandfather and grandson gradually disappeared into the distance.

Hidden Dragon Mountain.

At the age of eleven, Shen Chongming's cultivation had reached the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining.

The remaining two, Chen Youran and Shi Miao, have also broken through to the early stage of the third level of Qi Refining.

As for Zhao Tuan, he remained at the peak of the first level of Qi Refining and had not yet broken through.

At this point, the difference between having spiritual roots and not having spiritual roots becomes apparent.

Of the four, Zhao Tuan was more diligent in his cultivation than the others, but the gap between them was widening.

Even so, Zhao Tuan was not impatient at all.

He had long known that he could not compare with the three in terms of talent for cultivation, and he had made this plan from the very beginning when he decided to cultivate the path of immortality.

"Brother Tuan".

Shen Chongming's voice came from outside the wooden house.

Zhao Tuan awoke from his cultivation, got up, opened the wooden door, and cupped his hands in greeting: "Young Clan Leader."

Shen Chongming chuckled: "Without the two of them here, Tuan-ge, don't stand on ceremony."

Zhao Tuan smiled and shook his head: "We can't break the rules."

"Is the young clan leader going out hunting?"

The hunt he spoke of was not about killing wild beasts and monsters in the mountains, but about finding the barbarian cultivators who had infiltrated the area.

In Fengxian County, Qiyun Valley was surprisingly reliable, frequently sending people to attack Crane County, which was controlled by Hundred Beasts Mountain, to steal their spirit rice and burn their spirit fields, thus severely restraining the power of Hundred Beasts Mountain and the Western Wilderness Barbarians.

This gave the Shen family's mountain defenses more breathing room.

Now that the initiative is in the hands of the Shen family, Shen Chongming and his three companions often take the initiative to hunt down cultivators from the Western Wilderness who come into the mountains in search of spiritual herbs and mineral veins.

"We'll talk about this later. Here's something for you first."

Shen Chongming walked into the wooden house, took out a cloth bag from his pocket, and tossed it to Zhao Tuan.

Zhao Tuan curiously took the bag, opened it, and immediately closed it again, bowing as he handed it back to Shen Chongming, saying, "Young clan leader, this... I cannot accept it!"

The bag was filled with spirit crystal fragments, seven or eight in total.

Shen Chongming did not reach out to take it, but instead said seriously, "Brother Tuan."

Zhao Tuan raised his head and looked at him.

“My father often said that our two families are related by marriage. My grandfather and your grandfather were good brothers, and my father and your father were comrades-in-arms who had shared life and death.”

"We're killing barbarians together now, so we're brothers, right?"

Zhao Tuan did not dare to reply.

Shen Chongming continued, "I have spiritual roots, so my cultivation speed is fast. I don't need this."

"If Brother Tuan wants to help me more, his cultivation level definitely can't fall too far behind, right?"

Zhao Tuan hesitated upon hearing this.

He has no spiritual roots and relies solely on breathing in the spiritual energy in the air, so his cultivation speed is indeed very slow.

The Zhao family is a small clan, and they can only obtain some resources for cultivation each year.

All these resources are now being used on him alone, yet his cultivation level is still improving slowly.

Zhao Tuan estimated that if he accepted the spirit crystal fragments in the bag, he would have a very high chance of breaking through to the second level of Qi Refining.

With the remaining spirit crystal fragments and this year's resources, I might be able to reach the threshold of the third level of Qi Refining after a year of cultivation.

"Take it."

“You are different from Shi Miao and the others.”

Shen Chongming pushed the cloth bag that he was handed over back.

This time, Zhao Tuan did not insist.

After hesitating for a moment, he stuffed the cloth bag into his bosom, took a step back, and respectfully bowed deeply to Shen Chongming.

"Thank you, Young Clan Chief!"

Shen Chongming chuckled and helped him up, saying, "Brother Tuan, cultivate diligently. The clan's spies recently said they seem to have discovered a mineral vein belonging to the barbarians."

"Once you break through, we'll sneak over and take a look."

A mineral vein!?
Upon hearing this, Zhao Tuan's eyes lit up instantly.

Where there are mineral veins, there must be barbarian cultivators guarding them.

This saves them the trouble of searching for traces of barbarian cultivators throughout these vast mountains.

They might even be able to kill people and steal some spirit ore.

"Young clan leader, rest assured, I will break through as soon as possible."

Shen Chongming nodded and said, "Then I won't bother you any longer."

After leaving Zhao Tuan's wooden house, Shen Chongming tilted his head and thought for a while before turning and walking towards Shi Miao's wooden house.

When we brought him to the front of the wooden house, Shi Miao was just stretching and walking out of the house.

I don't know if he just finished his cultivation or just woke up.

"Young Clan Leader!?"

Upon seeing Shen Chongming, Shi Miao ran over excitedly and asked, "Are we going out?"

Shen Chongming nodded.

Upon seeing this, Shi Miao immediately said, "Then I'll go and call Tuan-ge'er and Youran."

"Wait a minute," Shen Chongming called out to him, "No need to call them, the two of us can go this time."

"The two of us?" Shi Miao asked, somewhat taken aback, a hint of fear in her eyes. "Isn't it too dangerous for the two of us?"

Shen Chongming looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Scared?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Miao immediately puffed out her chest and said, "Afraid...afraid of what!"

Seeing his lack of confidence, Shen Chongming laughed and said, "Alright, I won't tease you anymore. I'll take you to do something important."

"Aren't you going to hunt barbarians?" Shi Miao asked, leaning closer.

Shen Chongming nodded: "No, let's go."

The two left the camp and headed deeper into the jungle.

After a long time, their figures appeared at the edge of the poisonous miasma.

Shen Chongming stopped and shouted at the poisonous miasma, "Big centipede, come out and show yourself!"

The sound echoed through the forest, and soon after, the poisonous miasma in front of them churned, and a huge centipede head emerged from it.

(End of this chapter)