Chương 3: A Son's Duty

Other spirit fields across the region now needed guarding as well. Right now, every cultivator in the Zhang family already had their hands full. But Zhang Huaijin had recently reached the third stage of early Qi Refining Realm, the peak of the realm's initial phase. He possessed real combat ability now. He was ready to contribute to the family. This was simply unavoidable. For a Qi Refining Realm family like theirs, the greatest source of resources came from the spirit rice grown in their spirit fields.

The family's very survival depended on it. Even more critically, that spirit rice was also essential to the Zhang family's source of income, to brew spirit wine. If anything happened to the harvest, their spirit wine shop in Langya County Town would have to shut its doors for good. Zhang Chongwen hadn't founded this family on a whim. He'd had his advantages. The injuries he'd sustained back then had come from seizing certain opportunities. He possessed three recipes for brewing spirit wine.

This was the true reason the Zhang family had managed to establish a foothold in Langya County. On top of that, he'd also inherited the knowledge for crafting talismans and forging artifacts. Both were first-grade inheritances, modest by the wider cultivation world's standards, but compared to other Qi Refining Realm families in the county, the Zhang family's foundation was remarkably deep being as young as they are.

Among the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation, alchemy, artifact forging, array formation, and talisman crafting were the most widely useful and offered the greatest potential for the future. Zhang Huaijin's second uncle, Zhang Liliang, was a first-grade, mid-tier talisman master. Every month, he could refine over a hundred talismans for the family. Zhang Huaijin himself had not yet chosen an art to specialize in, due to his current cultivation level and his spirit root.

But his father was a Spirit Plant Cultivator. And in his spare time over the years, Zhang Huaijin had absorbed that profession's skills until they were second nature to him. The Spirit Plant Cultivator's art was one of the most accessible and easiest to learn among the Hundred Arts. Now, on the verge of breaking through to the mid-Qi Refining Realm, it was time for Zhang Huaijin to choose his own path, one that would let him earn the resources he needed to grow.

Becoming a Spirit Plant Cultivator would also deepen his understanding of spirit fields and spirit herbs. And if he could later obtain an alchemy inheritance and invest enough resources into the practice, he might one day become a respected alchemist.

"Grandfather. Father." Zhang Huaijin's voice was calm.

"I understand what you're telling me. I'll go to Heavenly Yang Mountain. The family needs hands, and I'll go stand guard." Zhang Chongwen's expression flickered with pain.

"Huaijin... I'm sorry." Heavenly Yang Mountain was a first-grade, low-tier spirit vein the Zhang family controlled. After decades of development, they had reclaimed forty acres of spirit fields there.

"Heavenly yang Mountain is only a low-tier spirit vein," the old man continued.

"The spiritual energy there is thin. It will slow your cultivation speed." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Helplessness bled through his words. This was the tragedy of a Qi Refining Realm family. To ensure the family's survival, they had to sacrifice their own members' individual paths to immortality. Zhang Huaijin's spirit root was a lowly five-element root, the worst kind.

But he was naturally gifted with a photographic memory, and Zhang Chongwen thought very highly of this grandson. The old man had hoped... but now, the family simply had no one else to spare.

"It's all right, Grandfather." Zhang Huaijin smiled.

"I'm fifteen now. It's time I did my part for the family." He had been reborn into this world fifteen years ago, and in that time, he had come to truly see himself as a member of the Zhang family. From childhood, even while pinching every spirit stone and tightening every belt, the family had never skimped on his training and education. Among the twelve Qi Refining families of Langya County, the Zhang family ranked at the very bottom. Survival was a constant, grinding struggle.

His grandfather and father had worked themselves raw just to keep things afloat. His father, Zhang Lixian, was the Zhang family's first cultivator with a three-element spirit root. A far better root than Huaijin's own. It was precisely because of Zhang Lixian's birth that Zhang Chongwen had made the decision to establish the family in the first place. And now Zhang Lixian was forty-eight years old, stuck at the eighth stage of Qi Refining Realm, the peak of the mid-stage.

If he had been born into a Foundation Establishment family, he would have been a prime candidate for Foundation Building. With enough resources, he might already be a Foundation Establishment cultivator by now. But he had been born into a Qi Refining Realm family. He had never had sufficient resources.

"Father," Zhang Lixian said quietly, "this is the duty of a Zhang family member. Hanren has been working for years. Now it's Huaijin's turn." The first generation of the Zhang family consisted of Zhang Chongwen alone. After founding the family, he took wives and concubines to continue the bloodline. Over decades, he fathered over twenty children. But only four of them had spirit roots, three boys and one girl.

The children without roots were all moved twenty five km away to the foot of Green Bamboo Mountain, sent to branch out and multiply among the mortals. After decades, a lively town named Green Bamboo Town had formed there. Of the Zhang family's third generation, there were nine cultivators. Zhang Huaijin was the second eldest. Half of them were the children of his uncles without spirit roots, uncles who had been born in Green Bamboo Town.

Mortals could give birth to children with spirit roots, but the chance was vanishingly small. About one in a thousand.

"Ah, Huaijin..." Zhang Chongwen sighed heavily. He flicked his finger, and a storage pouch materialized in front of his grandson. Zhang Huaijin's eyes lit up. A storage pouch. Essential gear for any cultivator. Even a low-tier, first-grade pouch cost dozens of spirit stones. Zhang Huaijin had never been able to afford one.

"Inside are two mid-tier, first-grade artifacts," Zhang Chongwen said.

"A bottle of mid-tier, first-grade Essence Pills. And a hundred spirit stones. This is your grandfather's compensation, for sending you out there." He sighed again.

"And the storage pouch itself is yours too." Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away, his hands clasped behind his back. Another sigh trailed behind him. Zhang Lixian stood up as well. He walked over to his son and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Huaijin. You know everything I've taught you about being a Spirit Plant Cultivator. You'll qualify soon enough. The forty acres on Heavenly Yang Mountain... I'm entrusting them to you." His voice was heavy.

"Be careful. And don't go outside the mountain unless you absolutely have to." He reached into his robe and produced two Transmission Talismans.

"If you run into something you can't handle, send me a message immediately." He paused, his grip tightening slightly on his son's shoulder.

"The family is in a difficult spot right now. And I have a feeling... someone is targeting us. Be very careful on your way to Heavenly Yang Mountain. Do you understand?" Zhang Huaijin's expression remained calm. He nodded.

"I understand, Father." Then he smiled.

"The Zhang family will get better. You'll see." Zhang Lixian blinked. Then, slowly, a brilliant smile spread across his weathered face.

"Yes," he said softly.

"Our Zhang family will definitely get better." He squeezed his son's shoulder one last time, then let go.

"You'll be leaving soon. Go see your mother." Zhang Huaijin nodded. Father and son parted ways, and Zhang Huaijin made his way home. His mother's name was Sun Xueqi. She had been a rogue cultivator once. When Zhang Lixian first set out on his cultivation journey, young and inexperienced, he had crossed paths with her. A bond formed. Several encounters followed. Eventually, he brought her home as his wife. Unknowingly, over twenty years had passed. Sun Xueqi's contribution to the Zhang family was immense.

She had given Zhang Lixian seven children. Only three had spirit roots. But even so, three out of seven was considered a tremendous stroke of luck. Sun Xueqi held a very high status in the family because of it.