Chapter 136 - Hall

‘Finally. The third stage of Qi Refining.’ Shu Yang thought as he rose to his feet, ending his daily cultivation.

‘This place is truly a paradise for spiritual qi cultivation. Too bad not many people in the family can take advantage of it.’

You could only cultivate for a few hours each day; at least that was the case for Shu Yang, or he would wear out his meridians. But with the high concentration of spiritual qi he had access to now, his cultivation could progress a lot quicker during those hours than before.

‘Higher concentration of spiritual qi apparently makes it easier to break through bottlenecks as well. I hope it makes it so Tianyi can break through, even with her weak spirit roots.’

‘If she can’t, it will really limit her progress in formations in the future.’

Shu Yang left his cultivation place, which was just a mat he had placed by the pond in his and Qianyue’s backyard, and walked toward the southern side of his estate. Tianhu and Xiaoshi had returned the previous day, and it was time to take his son away to where he would spend most of his time in the future.

‘Hopefully the twins and Xinmo are doing alright.’

Tianhu and Xiaoshi hadn’t been allowed to enter the Sword Sect with them, so they were completely in the dark about where they ended up. But they had written a letter to Xinmo while in the Sword Sect’s territory, so hopefully, they would be receiving an answer soon enough.

Shu Yang had tried peeking at them with his Piercing Gaze, but there was simply no way to pierce through the formation covering the Sword Sect. Just the formation covering Jingli Immortal City was out of his league.

‘I’ll keep trying. It’s a good way to hone my ability.’

“Dad.” Tianren spotted him and called out.

“What’s up?” Shu Yang asked with a smile.

“Didn’t you advise the kids on what to buy?” Tianren asked, looking a bit helpless.

“Of course, I did,” Shu Yang said. He had escorted the grandkids to a nearby market the other day so they could spend the spirit stones they had received.

“Then why did Xinxin return with four new dresses?” Tianren asked.

Shu Yang shrugged. “I advised them; I didn’t force them. In the end, it’s up to the kids how they choose to spend their money.”

“That…Fine. I guess I’ll have to talk some sense into them,” Tianren said with a sigh, and returned back home.

Shu Yang could really only do so much. In the end, there was no forcing it. Some children were bound to never develop a strong interest in cultivation, no matter how much the family encouraged it.

‘It’s fine, really. It’s not bad for someone like Xinxin to just buy what she likes, as long as she’s happy.’

He continued on his way over to Tianhu’s courtyard.

When he arrived, he saw Xiaoshi and Tianxu’s wife, Ling Ximing, standing next to each other in the yard. Xiaoshi’s belly was quite big by this point, and she was probably only a month or two away from giving birth.

Shu Yang had heard that pregnancies lasted a bit longer for stronger cultivators, though, so he couldn’t be sure.

Shu Yang walked up to them and asked how they were doing. Ximing was also pregnant again, though not very far along.

“A little uncomfortable, but that’s just how it is,” Xiaoshi answered, rubbing her belly.

“I still feel fine. I haven’t felt the same morning sickness like I did last time,” Ximing answered. She then added with a worried frown, “By the way, I’m not sure I should receive so many spirit stones. I really don’t have a way to spend them all. It’s just going to go to waste on me.”

“Well, you’re getting them,” Shu Yang said with a laugh. “We can’t make any exceptions, or chaos will ensue.”

He could understand Ximing, though. As a daughter-in-law, she received a whole 250 spirit stones each month. It truly was a ridiculous amount for someone like her.

“Save it for your children to use if nothing else. Xinzi should be quite talented; she will need a lot of resources in the future,” Shu Yang said. “Or if you still feel uncomfortable with so much money, you can talk it over with Tianyue later; she has an idea for those with spirit stones to spare. It might be worth a try.”

Tianyue had been looking into opening a business. So had Shu Yang’s other children, taking his suggestion of creating a revenue source for the family seriously.

But Tianyue had gotten the furthest in her plans, and right now, she was in great need of spirit stones to get the ball rolling, so she was planning on seeking investments from other members of the family who had spirit stones with no idea what to spend them on.

“Dad,” Tianhu called out to him as he stepped outside. “Are we leaving?”

“Yes,” Shu Yang said, nodding. He had already told his son that he had business with him the night before.

“Will it take long?” Xiaoshi asked.

“We’ll be back before nightfall,” Shu Yang answered, waving goodbye and walking off. Tianhu gave his wife a helpless smile and hurried after him.

“Are you ready to tell me what we’re doing?” Tianhu asked.

“You’ll see,” Shu Yang said, smiling slightly. He had no reason to keep things a secret, really, but he felt it was better to show his plans than talk about them.

After they had created some distance from the courtyard, Shu Yang pulled out his flying ship, the one he had bought for him and Tianyi to get home on, from his storage ring.

“A flying ship? I thought you couldn’t fly in the city,” Tianhu said.

“Not normally,” Shu Yang said with a nod, stepping aboard the ship. “But I got special permission.”

Things would be quite chaotic if everyone was allowed to fly freely over the city. Not to mention the risks of collisions; no one wanted people flying over their property all day.

But obviously, flying was required sometimes, and the Sword Sect would issue grants to fly within the city when it was necessary.

Thanks to Duo Wengze, it hadn’t been very difficult for Shu Yang to get one. He had a reason for it, after all.

‘Alright. This should be the proper altitude.’ Shu Yang thought as he controlled the flying ship to lift into the air. Even with permission, he couldn’t just fly around as he pleased. He was only allowed to fly a specific route, and at a specific altitude.

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“It’s quite small, but it’s not too bad,” Tianhu said, inspecting the flying ship. “Do you think we could use this to visit the kids in the future?”

“Was it inconvenient getting back?” Shu Yang asked.

“Not really, no,” Tianhu answered. “There were flying ships departing pretty regularly to Jingli Immortal City. Still, using our own flying ship would be smoother.”

“Let’s not use it if we can help it,” Shu Yang said, shaking his head. “In this area, we are still weak. Who knows if there are robber cultivators on the way? It’s not worth the risk. Besides, this flying ship will be needed at home in the future.”

“For what?” Tianhu asked.

“To get us to our Hall,” Shu Yang answered, looking down at the city beneath them and seeing that they had arrived.

“Our Hall?” Tianhu asked.

“That’s right,” Shu Yang said, lowering the flying ship. “It’s this place. What do you think?”

Tianhu looked around curiously as the ship lowered. “It’s ours?”

“Sure is,” Shu Yang said with a pleased smile. He had looked at countless properties before finally deciding on this one. It was about 5 times larger than their home back in the inner city. Even so, the rent was only 12,000 low-grade spirit stones each year.

It might sound like a lot, but it was nothing compared to the rent of 220 middle-grade spirit stones he paid for their main residence.

The reason, of course, was that this property was in the outer city and only had access to a 1st-stage middle-tier spiritual vein.

“You want to set up a Hall here? For martial arts?” Tianhu asked as he stepped off the flying ship.

“Well, for body cultivation,” Shu Yang answered, “And for swordsmanship.”

He placed his flying ship back in the storage ring and waved at his son to follow him around the property as he continued to explain. “We need to start earning some spirit stones. Thankfully, I still have quite a lot of wealth from the inheritance, so we aren’t in that much of a rush. But we need to lay a stable foundation, something to build upon that can support the family ten or twenty years from now.”

“This is just something to start with?” Tianhu asked, gesturing to the vast expanse of land.

“Of course,” Shu Yang said, “We’ll have to move at least part of the Hall to the inner city if we want to earn any real money. This place is just so we can gain some experience, and more importantly, a good reputation.”

“That makes sense,” Tianhu said, nodding. “So what’s the plan?”

“The plan is to open something resembling the Martial Art Halls back home. But ours will differ slightly. Our goal isn’t to build a force, or nurture a group of loyal warriors. What we want to do is simply exchange our expertise in body cultivation and sword intent for spirit stones. A business through and through. Once someone has gained what they can from us, they will leave and won’t have any connection to our Hall anymore.”

Shu Yang really had no interest in building a force under him. Why would he do that when he had a Family Clan? They were already the perfect force. Not only was loyalty basically guaranteed, but he would also receive feedback from their progress.

His only interest was to earn spirit stones, and perhaps build a bit of influence that could make it easier for his grandchildren to find talented partners in the future.

“Here, this is the Sword Art we’ll be teaching,” Shu Yang said, taking out a manual from his storage ring and giving it to Tianhu.

Shu Yang had learned countless martial arts over the years, and with his perspective as a Foundation stage body cultivator, he could easily create a respectable body cultivation manual. It wasn’t quite as powerful as the Shu Art that he taught his family members, but it wasn’t far off.

He really couldn’t be teaching something too weak if he wanted to make an impression. Besides, his Shu Art would continue to improve in the future, so there was nothing to really worry about.

“It seems like the Shu Art, but the only focus is on the sword,” Tianhu commented as he looked through the manual.

“That’s basically what it is,” Shu Yang said with a nod. “This is the territory of the Sword Sect, after all. I imagine people will be a lot more keen on learning body cultivation from us if we offer it through practice with the sword. Especially with the two of us here. I don’t really expect anyone to comprehend sword intent from us, but it doesn’t hurt to mention that there will be instructors with 3rd- and 4th-tier sword intent, does it?”

“You’ll teach here as well?” Tianhu asked.

“No,” Shu Yang said, “Or at least I doubt it. We will offer the possibility, but we can’t sell ourselves too cheaply. If they want instructions from a Foundation expert with sword intent, they’ll have to pay the price.

“The same goes for you. I mainly intend for you here as a bit of an advertisement. But you’ll mainly be in charge of the day-to-day, and perhaps show off your sword intent once in a while. We’ll have different tiers that people can sign up to, and if they want to be taught by you, they’ll have to pay the highest price.”

“Who will be teaching all the students, then?” Tianhu asked.

“We have a family full of body cultivators,” Shu Yang said with a shrug. “Even some of the grandkids, like Xinyang, can teach. I don’t think that will be an issue. We’re not exactly targeting people who already have a body cultivation at the high Qi-Refining level. It will probably be mostly beginners coming.”

Shu Yang had looked into the state of body cultivators in this area, and he really felt there was an opportunity to stand out.

Body cultivation was obviously not unheard of; there were plenty of them around. But compared to cultivators of spiritual qi, they were indeed quite rare.

It wasn’t just a talent issue. It was mainly because almost everyone here had spiritual roots. Those who didn’t lived outside the Immortal Lands, in the Mortal Kingdoms.

And those who had spiritual roots obviously focused their attention on cultivating spiritual qi. Even if they gave it all their time and energy, it still wouldn’t be enough to reach the higher stage of cultivation. Add to that the time needed to study immortal arts, or any other matter of things, and not many found themselves with the time to spare for body cultivation.

This created a bit of a negative feedback loop. Since not many people practiced it, there weren’t many resources available for those who did have an interest in it. At least compared to how accessible the things needed for spiritual cultivation were.

This didn’t mean that the Shu Family would make a huge splash in the city, shaking things up with their unheard-of way of approaching cultivation. Body cultivation was a well-known path already. There was even apparently a body cultivator at the Golden Core stage in the Beast Taming Sect.

What he hoped to achieve was just to open up a slightly new path. A convenient way to practice body cultivation for all those who had an interest.

His Hall would not only provide a body cultivation manual, it would also sell pills and potions that were specific to body cultivators, as well as have experienced body cultivators to explain each and every step.

Those geniuses who could join the Sword Sect or Beast Taming Sect would obviously not be interested in what they offered, but the city was filled with more ordinary cultivators, struggling to find a way forward, a way to gain strength. Shu Yang believed his family’s Hall would be very appealing to those people.

“Anyway, see if you find a place you like for you and Xiaoshi to have as a second home. You’ll be spending a lot of time here in the future,” Shu Yang said.

“Xiaoshi too?” Tianhu asked.

“She’s a Foundation stage body cultivator,” Shu Yang said, rolling his eyes. “Obviously, her presence is crucial. I won’t be able to spend all my time on this place in the future, so I’m leaving it to you two to manage.”

“In charge? Of all of it? Dad, I really don’t know how to. I’m not good at those things,” Tianhu said, frowning slightly in worry.

“Don’t worry. You have your siblings to help you. Everyone is receiving generous stipends, so everyone has to put in the effort. Besides, I’ll be here to get things started. Once things are running smoothly, and Xiaoshi has given birth, I’ll let you guys take over.”

Shu Yang had high hopes for this place, but he also had many other things to take care of. For one, he was one of the few people in the family who could actually take advantage of the spiritual qi in the family estate.

Then there was the need to study formations, deduce cultivation manuals, maintain his relationships with the cultivators in the city, try to improve his sword intent, and so on. The list was never-ending. He really couldn’t waste all his time watching over this place in the future.

‘Hopefully, this place will be able to make up for most of our family’s spending in the future.’

‘Either way, I’ll definitely need a different business venture eventually.’

‘But first, I’ll make sure our Shu Sword Hall takes off properly.’