Chapter 137 – Xinying

‘I wonder if anyone will bother buying swords here. I feel like they’d just look around at the well-established shops and buy whatever they need before coming here.’ Shu Yang thought as he looked around the storefront that connected to his Shu Sword Hall. 

He had purchased quite a large variety of things that might be needed by the students who came over, mainly swords.

‘Whatever. I didn’t make it to make much money anyway. At least not for now.’

The store was a rather large building with both an opening out to the street, and one to the Hall. He doubted many people would stop by who weren’t students, but he figured that it would be stupid not to at least make it an option.

Besides, they might not offer anything appealing to the general public at the moment, but that would change in the future.

Shu Yang had great hope for his family’s body cultivation elixirs. Perhaps people would flock here to buy it one day. He might even need to expand.

It wasn’t that pills and elixirs for body cultivation didn’t exist; they certainly did, although a bit harder to find than ordinary alchemy products. But none of those that Shu Yang had found could compete with his prices. 

That was because his family came from a place practically devoid of spiritual qi, so the body cultivators there had to make use of mundane plants to create pills and elixirs to help with cultivation. 

That was something the people here seemed to completely miss. There was simply too much land with spiritual qi available, and even the lowest level of alchemists used spiritual plants to make their pills. They seemed to have the idea that mundane herbs were for ordinary people, who lived in the Mortal Kingdoms. Cultivators needed spiritual medicine in order to gain any effect.

That might actually be the case for spiritual qi cultivation, but certainly not for body cultivation. Just an ordinary meal full of meat and a cup of bone broth would have an effect. And there were countless herbs that could help with blood circulation, metabolism, increasing vigor, among countless other things.

It might decrease in effectiveness as you advanced, and eventually, you would definitely need to use materials of spiritual nature in order to see any effect at all.

But up until the Innate stage, at least, there was plenty you could do with mundane materials.

And no matter how much spiritual land there was, it was definitely limited, and the prices of the resources grown there were a lot higher. 

So Shu Yang was pretty confident that he could basically create a monopoly on the resources needed for low-level body cultivators in the city. 

It might not be the most profitable business to have a monopoly in, but Shu Yang was thinking further. If those body cultivators were used to buying resources from the Shu Family while in the lower stages, they would probably keep buying from them even as they advanced, even if their prices stopped being so advantageous.

‘Perhaps we will even succeed in creating something unique even for body cultivators in the higher stages.’

‘But that will probably take a long time. Perhaps it will be a task for the coming generation.’

His grandchildren, or mainly Xinxiao, Xinru, and Xinchu, had a certain talent for alchemy, but they really didn’t stand out much when compared to all the people in Jingli Immortal City. 

Besides, their lack of spiritual qi would eventually limit their progress.

The disciple Master Chinu had sent over had already made that very clear, completely flabbergasted that they were even trying to become alchemists with their limited talent.

‘Well, everything can’t be done at once. For now, we just need to focus on the market of low-level Qi Refiners.’

“Oh? This place is starting to look quite nice,” Tianyue commented as she stepped inside the store. “Not much compared to my store, though. Even so, you never pay it much attention.”

Shu Yang rolled his eyes. It had been about three months since he bought the property where his Hall was to be established, and in the meantime, his daughter had managed to collect the money needed for her shop, and then opened it for business just a few weeks ago. 

Unfortunately, Shu Yang had been incredibly busy with the Shu Sword Hall, renovating and getting things ready. So he had only come around and visited Tianyue’s shop at the grand opening, and then basically ignored it.

“I’ve been very busy, you know,” Shu Yang said. “But I promise I’ll come over and take a look at how things are going in a few days.”

The shop Tianyue had opened was a bookstore at the edge of the outer city. But the books inside mostly contained mundane knowledge; their family really didn’t have access to anything else, so the income was bound to be very limited.

Still, Shu Yang was very happy about the initiative, and he should really show a bit more support.

“How about we put up a section here in the store where you can sell some books? It might work as an extra source of income for you, and might be good advertisement for your bookstore,” Shu Yang suggested.

“Good,” Tianyue said, smiling brightly.

“How many people have signed up now, by the way?” Shu Yang asked.

“Still only 12 people,” Tianyue answered.

“Right,” Shu Yang said. He really couldn’t expect the place to be crowded from the start. It would take a while for word to spread.

‘At least the place won’t be empty when we open. That’s good.’

“Can’t you find someone else for these things?” Tianyue asked, “I’m already in charge of resource allocation, and now I have my own shop to run.”

Shu Yang smiled and patted her head. “You’re my brightest star. Who else could do it but you?”

“Don’t try to flatter your way out of this. I’m too busy,” Tianyue complained, but she couldn’t help but smile.

Shu Yang laughed, “Don’t worry. Tianhu and Xiaoshi will take over once-”

Shu Yang interrupted himself as he suddenly felt a rush of power course through his blood.

‘The child is born? So suddenly?’

Xiaoshi hadn’t shown any particular signs when he left that morning. 

‘I guess it’s been quite a few hours.’

“Dad? What’s wrong?” Tianyue asked.

“Nothing,” Shu Yang said, shaking his head. “Anyway, we’re done here for today. Let’s head back.”

Shu Yang took out his flying ship, jumped aboard with Tianyue, and started making his way home.

‘Let’s see what kind of talent the kid has.’

Shu Yang closed his eyes and focused on his connection to the Bloodline Tree, trying to get a feel for his new granddaughter. 

[ Bloodline Power: 5.26 (Founding - Low) ]

[ Bloodline Ability: Sudden Cut ]

[ Traits: Good body cultivation aptitude, Trash-grade spirit roots ]

‘A Founding bloodline!’

Shu Yang smiled widely. It looked like that Fetus Nourishing Pill had been worth it.

‘I guess the child might have gotten a Founding bloodline either way, but still.’

As for the traits, Shu Yang was more than happy with the results. He never expected another Founding trait to appear. Good body cultivation aptitude meant there was at least hope of advancing to the Foundation stage, or it might even be easy, considering she had a Founding bloodline. 

Trash-grade spirit roots weren’t useless either. But what made Shu Yang most excited was the Bloodline Ability. 

‘Looks like she has inherited her mother’s Bloodline Ability. Thankfully, Xiaoshi managed to develop it before she conceived. I don’t really know what would have happened otherwise.’

Shu Yang tried to get a feel for how the feedback from his granddaughter’s birth had affected his own strength.

[ Bloodline Power: 15.21 (Founding - Low) ]

[ Bloodline Ability: Piercing Gaze ]

[ Founding Traits: Sword Bone ]

[ Common Traits: Great body cultivation aptitude, 9th grade spirit roots, Sharp Mind, Lucky, Charming, Long-lived ]

‘Not a great increase in Bloodline Power, but that will quickly change.’

Shu Yang really looked forward to when his granddaughter grew up, and her Bloodline Power started rising above the 10.0 mark. It would be the first time any of his descendants reached that point. Even with just half feedback, Shu Yang would probably gain a lot.

He also felt some improvement to his body cultivation aptitude and spirit roots, but nowhere near enough to advance the traits. 

‘As for my Bloodline Ability…’

Shu Yang decided to activate it to gain a better understanding.

He looked in the direction of his home and saw Tianhu happily holding his newborn daughter in his arm. It was quite obvious she was special, as she more resembled a baby of one or two months than a completely newborn child. 

‘I actually feel some sort of new understanding.’

Shu Yang stopped using his Piercing Gaze and looked around the flying ship. He felt he somewhat understood Xiaoshi’s Bloodline Ability all of a sudden. With a thought, he could probably cut the ship in half. 

But that was something his sword intent could do already, so it wasn’t that useful.

‘That feeling wasn’t completely absent when I used my Piercing Gaze, though. If I get more used to it, I might actually be able to attack things at a distance!’

Shu Yang grew incredibly excited by the possibility. In the future, he might be able to sit safely in his backyard and deal with all his enemies from thousands of miles away, none the wiser to what had happened.

‘It will be hard getting there, though. But I’m not afraid of hard work.’

‘Besides, this won’t be the last time I receive feedback from a Bloodline Ability. The future possibilities are endless!’

Shu Yang stopped activating the strange power that was always present within his blood that powered his Bloodline Ability, and that’s when he noticed that it seemed he had gained something in that area as well.

‘I can actually use my Bloodline Ability longer now!’

It wasn’t a great increase, but it wasn’t insignificant either. 

‘Will I be able to keep it active constantly once my family has grown large enough?’

Shu Yang didn’t have time to fantasize any longer, as they had arrived back at the Shu Estate. 

After putting the flying ship back in his storage ring, he immediately hurried over to Tianhu’s courtyard.

“Are you going to see Tianhu and Xiaoshi?” Tianyue asked.

“Yeah. Maybe the child has been born,” Shu Yang said.

“The child has been born?” Tianyue asked.

“Who knows? Let’s take a look,” Shu Yang said.

“You obviously know, so why pretend?” Tianyue questioned, hurrying past him.

Shu Yang smiled wryly. He couldn’t fool his children as easily anymore.

There was already a large gathering at Tianhu’s when he arrived. It was almost a ritual at this point for the siblings to gather whenever a niece or nephew was born.

Tianhu was standing next to Tianxu, both looking at the newborn in his arm.

“Dad! You have a new granddaughter,” Tianxu called out when he saw him.

“I noticed,” Shu Yang said, walking up to his granddaughter and taking a look at her.

“She looks healthy, right?” Tianhu asked. 

“Definitely,” Shu Yang said, nodding. She was quite big, and Shu Yang almost worried Tianhu would drop her, holding her with only one arm. “What will you name her?”

“We decided on Shu Xinying,” Tianhu answered.

“Good name,” Shu Yang said, nodding. He looked around and didn’t see his wife anywhere. “Is your mother with Xiaoshi?”

“Yes,” Tianhu answered. He then gave Tianxu a quick glance and asked carefully, “Do you think Xinying is…talented?”

Shu Yang rolled his eyes. He really couldn’t escape being questioned about his grandchildren's talent. 

As a parent, he could understand the concern, though. But he had tried to stop giving any hints about the children’s talents when they were born, hoping that it would avoid any unequal treatment. 

Even if revealing Xinying’s talent would probably just make Tianhu relieved, Shu Yang wanted to get rid of the habit of sharing too much too early.

“Are you talented?” Shu Yang asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. “Don’t worry. With you and Xiaoshi here as her parents, she will grow up very happily. Isn’t that all you need to know?”

Tianhu actually laughed, and then nodded. “You’re right.”