Mysterious mirror hanging high

"It's rare for my uncle to be so kind, I would be disrespectful to refuse!"

After Jing Yu arrived, no more cultivators came, so the family banquet began.

This time, the celebration was divided into two tables. Mu Shan, Jing Yu, Li Sheng and other cultivators occupied one table, while the other table was occupied by Zhao Mingyu, Zhao Chenghuan, Zhao Chengyan and several mortal body cultivators who were on good terms with Mu Shan's circle. This small family dinner had already revealed the difference between immortals and mortals.

The guests and hosts were all having a great time at the banquet. As they drank and chatted, it was already late at night. Everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and left.

"Sixth brother, please stay." Before Jing Yu left, Zhao Mingyu stopped him.

"Oh? Third sister, do you have anything else to do?" Jing Yu asked in surprise.

"Please come into the inner hall and talk." Zhao Mingyu said in a low voice, leaning on the iron crutch.

Jing Yu followed Zhao Mingyu into the master bedroom and found that Mu Shan, Zhao Chenghuan and Zhao Chengyan were already waiting inside.

Mu Shan is the host here. He drank a lot of spiritual wine tonight. Fortunately, he is a cultivator and has forced out the drunkenness with his spiritual power. However, Zhao Chengyan's face is still slightly flushed at this time.

"Third sister, what's so mysterious? Are you trying to give Old Mu the position of manager of Area A of the Spiritual Plant Garden?" Jing Yu thought of a possibility and asked directly.

"That's not something that can be done overnight. We still have plans for the future." Zhao Mingyu shook his head before saying in a hoarse voice, "There's one more thing to consider... Cheng Yan is thirty-seven years old this year!"

"Oh! That's it!"

Jing Yu suddenly understood and nodded, "I was wondering why we invited Wang Po from Yue Lao Pavilion today. That woman and Old Mu don't have much friendship on weekdays. So it turns out she should be here."

He turned to Zhao Chengyan and smiled, "Chengyan, do you have a girl you like?"

Zhao Chengyan's face was still flushed, but he didn't know if it was due to the spirit wine. "Uncle, I don't have a favorite girl. Actually... my mother's lineage must have an heir. This matter still needs to be handled by me, oh my!"

Jing Yu was stunned when he heard this. He himself was immortal and had been reincarnated for forty-eight years without any rush or delay. He usually spent his days leisurely, practicing and farming. Although he had not saved many spirit stones in the Wushan market over the past three years, he had lived a relaxed and comfortable life and had never thought about the continuation of his bloodline.

Only then did I realize that my nephew was almost forty years old. In ordinary people's eyes, this age would make him a grandfather. It was a bit late to worry about his marriage now.

So he could only agree with a few words: "Yes, you should also think about the issue of continuing your offspring."

Since he didn't have anyone he liked, he thought he would have to listen to his family's arrangements. Jing Yu turned his gaze to Zhao Mingyu and said, "Third sister, do you have a choice?"

Zhao Mingyu was silent for a moment, then raised his chin, his tone becoming more stubborn.

"Third sister means... to find a female cultivator with a suitable temperament for Cheng Yan."

"A cultivator? How is that possible?" Jing Yu cried out in disbelief, "Third sister, I think you've lost your mind!"

"There is a difference between immortals and mortals. The cultivators in Wushan Market are superior to mortal body cultivators. If Cheng Yan wants to marry, he can only look for a lower class."

"How could a young female cultivator with such a promising path and the opportunity to establish a foundation commit herself to a mortal..."

"But if it's an old or disabled female cultivator whose path to enlightenment is cut off and who has no hope of building a foundation, not to mention whether they can still have children, how many spirit stones would it cost to make them willingly marry a mortal?"

Jing Yu sighed and said, "Even if I gritted my teeth and married her, she would most likely harbor resentment, and future unrest in the family would be the least of my worries... Besides, even if she's a female cultivator whose path has been cut off, I don't necessarily have to commit myself to her!"

"Third sister, you were one of the most intelligent among the royal heirs back then. Now that you're old, how come you've become confused?"

Zhao Mingyu's eyes dimmed as he whispered, "Sixth brother, you've laid out the pros and cons so earnestly. How could I not know all these details? But Cheng Yan is already a mortal. If he marries a mortal woman, the chances of him having a child with spiritual roots will be extremely slim!"

"You saw it today. At a public family banquet like this with outsiders present, mortals and cultivators weren't even allowed to sit at the same table. The cultivators didn't see any problem with it, as if it was just the way it was. Mortals didn't feel offended either, having long since become accustomed to it. After all, it's been this way for so many years... Isn't it still the difference between immortals and mortals?"

Zhao Mingyu lowered his eyebrows. "When I first entered Wushan Market, I often didn't understand the key points. In terms of combat power, mortal body cultivators don't have any techniques to learn, so their methods are a bit simpler. They are slightly inferior to Qi cultivators of the same level, but the gap is not too big."

"Speaking of lifespan, a Qi cultivator can only live for a hundred years. If a mortal body cultivator takes good care of themselves, it's not difficult for them to live to seventy or eighty years old. There are also cases of people living to eighty or ninety years old. What's the difference between these ten or twenty years?"

"But why are the mortal body cultivators in the market considered inferior to the Qi cultivators?"

"Isn't it because even the most destitute Qi-cultivating cultivator still has a glimmer of hope of building an immortal foundation?"

"Even for an older cultivator like my sixth brother who only began to draw Qi into his body in middle age, if he can achieve perfection in Qi training by the age of eighty or ninety, he may be able to seek the foundation-building stage!"

"Once you establish your foundation, not only will you be able to fly and hide underground, you'll also be able to live for three hundred years! My Emperor Zhao has only been in power for over two hundred years! How many dynasties in this secular world can last for three hundred years? The difference between immortals and mortals is actually the difference between cultivators who have established an immortal foundation and ordinary people!"

"All these things are just a matter of having one more or one less spiritual root!"

"Sixth brother, in the three years since you've been here, for some reason, more and more cultivators specializing in puppetry have appeared in the market. They say there's a Xumi Cave Heaven in the Wushan Mountains, wandering through the void, occasionally appearing somewhere... There are some Qi-training-level puppetry inheritances within the cave heaven, so it seems the rumors are probably true."

"Though the puppets created by those cultivators may not be good at fighting, they are sufficient for simple tasks like carrying heavy objects. They maliciously lower prices to secure jobs, making it miserable for us mortal body cultivators. If my gang only focuses on maintaining stability in the market, we will soon be unable to make ends meet!"

"If you want to earn more spirit stones, you can only fight to the death in the Monster Mountain Range, but that's not a long-term solution. Cheng Yan is the only male in my family. If anything happens to him, our family line will end here! But an old woman like your third sister, who is only at the first level of body training, doesn't even have the qualifications to fight to the death..."

"Not to mention that once those puppeteer cultivators become more skilled and create puppets capable of fighting, mortal body cultivators might not even be able to defeat those easily broken and repaired iron lumps!"

"If this continues, what future do mortals have? Are we really going to gather together and become slaves to the monks?"

The flickering candlelight in the room cast a terrifying light on Zhao Mingyu's wrinkled face. "If we are truly mortals for generations, how can our family ever rise to prominence in this Wushan market?"