Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Chapter 72 The Mysterious Characters Make Their First Appearance

Gazing at the beautiful scenery between the mountains, Zhao Sheng's heart was stirred, and he soon sank into his memories.

Five years ago, the Zhao family arrived at Taifu Mountain aboard the Heavenly Eagle Cloud Boat.

They encountered a major problem on the first day.

The limited buildings on Taifu Mountain were absolutely insufficient to house three thousand people.

Facing this difficulty, Zhao Sheng went against everyone's opinion and used the last of his Spirit Stone savings to hire the Spiritual Craftsmen from the Heavenly Workshop,

who managed to construct a city on the plains fifty miles away from Taifu Mountain in just half a month.

It was eventually named: Zhao'an City.

But simply having a place to live wasn't enough.

Cultivators had access to the resources produced by the Spirit Veins of Taifu Mountain, enough for their cultivation needs.

But what about the future lives of the three thousand mortal relatives?

The path of cultivation was not about cutting off emotions and severing ties.

As Zhao Clan Members, it was the undeniable responsibility of Zhao Sheng and other Cultivators to take care of the futures of these three thousand relatives.

For this purpose, Zhao Jijian and sixteen other Cultivator Clan Members from the main family neglected their cultivation and tirelessly visited all the nearby Cultivation Families and Sects to carve out a living space for their family.

Zhao Sheng went directly to the Elixir Cauldron Sect, found Liu Quji, and candidly spoke of the Zhao family's predicament.

His forthrightness was a result of careful consideration.

Sometimes, seeking help from a "friend" can strengthen the relationship and affection between two parties.

At that time, Liu Quji was keen on getting closer to Zhao Sheng.

On hearing Zhao Sheng come for help, Liu Quji was very pleased, so he used all his connections and successfully arranged several long-term collaborative trades for the Zhao family.

It could be said that the successful settling of the three thousand Zhao Clansmen was largely thanks to Liu Quji's efforts.

As a result, Zhao Sheng returned the favor with interest, and took the opportunity to sell most of the spiritual peaches, spirit grain, and Spiritual Medicine produced by Taifu Mountain through Liu Quji.

Because interests were intertwined.

Over time, the relationship between Zhao Sheng and Liu Quji grew closer and closer.

Indeed, by leveraging the influence of the Denver Liu Family, the Zhao family, having just moved to Taifu Mountain, easily integrated into the local cultivation environment and swiftly formed alliances with the nearby Cultivation Forces.

The environment of Taifu Mountain was far superior to that of Dragon Carp Lake, boasting not only beautiful mountains and thick spiritual energy, but its cultivation resources, such as the spiritual peach, were even more profitable than selling spirit fish.

Furthermore, there were fewer than twenty Cultivators from the Zhao family's main house.

Over the years, Zhao Sheng and the others were pleasantly surprised to find that the spiritual peaches from Taifu Mountain alone were enough to support the cultivation needs of all the Zhao Clan's Cultivators.

Taifu Mountain became famous in the vicinity for its spiritual peaches, with hundreds of acres of peach orchards on the mountain, including forty-eight spiritual peach trees under three hundred years old, and seven spiritual peach trees between three hundred and under a thousand years old.

Apart from that, there was a revered Spiritual Peach Tree over a thousand years old at the summit of Taifu Mountain.

This millennium-old Spiritual Peach Tree, rooted in the core Spirit Acupoint of the Spirit Vein, blossomed once every ten years, bore fruit once every ten years, and ripened once every ten years. In thirty years, it produced only eighteen Spiritual Longevity Peaches, which had the miraculous effect of prolonging life.

One of the main reasons Zhao Sheng chose Taifu Mountain was because of this millennium-old Spiritual Peach Tree.

An aside, when Zhao Sheng chose Taifu Mountain, the competing Cultivation Family cried all the way home after their loss.

Having spent a large sum of money and ending up empty-handed, they had no choice but to cry on their way back!

Since cultivation resources were ample for sharing, the Zhao family's atmosphere was harmonious as never before, with every Cultivator's spirits skyrocketing, cultivating so intensely they forgot to sleep and eat.

By the time the difficult period ended two years ago, the Zhao family was the first to experience a baby boom.

In just a few years, the Zhao family seemed to have turned their fortunes around, giving birth to as many as seven children with Spirit Roots.

These seven children were the first batch of cultivators of the Zhao Family's Xuan generation.

Zhao Sheng clearly remembered that he named the first child of the Xuan generation Zhao Xuanjing, carrying the meaning of expecting the Zhao family to enjoy peace and smoothness henceforth.

Just as Zhao Sheng was lost in his memories, a ruckus of children playing suddenly reached his ears.

Zhao Sheng looked up and saw two radish-heads running towards him, one after the other.

The one in front was about three or four years old, wearing a red bellyband, with a round face and big eyes, his arms and legs as tender as lotus roots, looking like a chubby baby from a New Year painting.

At this moment, the child was laughing with his eyebrows raised, holding a large white peach with a red top in his arms, munching on the spiritual peach while running.

Compared to this child who looked like a spiritual boy, the one chasing after him was much less impressive.

His height was not much different from a seven or eight-year-old, with slightly yellow skin, robust arms and legs, and barely handsome with thick eyebrows and big eyes, but he naturally had a mournful look about him.

"Second Brother, hurry up and give me back the spiritual peach. Auntie said it was mine, you're shameless!"

"Haha, if you catch up to me, I'll give you back the spiritual peach. If you can't, you'll only get the pit."

Zhao Sheng saw this scene and his eyebrows shot up, his brows knitted tightly as he immediately shouted sternly, "Zhao Xuan'an! Come here, now!"

The spirited child looked up and saw the stern Zhao Sheng, and was scared nearly half to death.

The child quickly stopped and obediently approached Zhao Sheng.

"Uncle Seven, Xuan'an knows he's wrong!"

No sooner had the words fallen than four-year-old Zhao Xuan'an knelt on the ground with a thud, holding the irregularly bitten spiritual peach high above his head with both hands.

By this time, the child from behind also caught up. Seeing Zhao Sheng, he immediately saluted respectfully, saying, "Xuanjing pays his respects to Uncle Seven."

Zhao Sheng nodded to him, his face softened, and asked, "Jing'er, has Xuan'an been bullying you again?"

Five-year-old Zhao Xuanjing sneaked a glance at Zhao Xuan'an, just in time to make eye contact with a pair of pitifully large eyes.

His heart softened and he hesitated to say, "Uncle Seven, it's not... my Second Brother didn't... didn't bully me. It's just... just that... "

Zhao Xuanjing was naturally honest and simple, unable to tell a lie. His face turned crimson with the strain, he stumbled over his words and failed to come up with a good excuse even after a long while.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng snorted and said with a straight face, "Hmph, can't even lie properly, you're exactly like your father."

Zhao Xuanjing's father was none other than Zhao Keru, the only alchemist in the Zhao family.

Zhao Sheng handed over the Heart of Alchemy from Master Qiong Shen to Zhao Keru five years ago, and he immediately plunged into the Alchemy Room to pore over it, not even sparing a glance for his newborn son.

It wasn't until the baby was nearly a month old that he held his son for the first time, which was utterly preposterous.

Turning his head, Zhao Sheng looked at Zhao Xuan'an whose eyeballs were spinning wildly. He said sternly, "Recite Zhao Rong's Pear for me. If you get it right, I'll let today's incident slide. But if you miss a single word, you'll roll to the ancestral hall and kneel for four hours."

After settling on Taifu Mountain, in order to reaffirm the family discipline, Zhao Sheng not only amended some of the ancestral teachings but also personally wrote dozens of "ancestral stories."

Zhao Rong's Pear was one of those moral stories.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xuan'an, as if pardoned, opened his little mouth and recited the several-hundred-word story without a hitch, not missing a single word.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Both belong to the Zhao family's Xuan generation, and although Zhao Xuanjing is a year older than Zhao Xuan'an, he's only grown in stature. When it comes to wisdom, he lags far behind his brother by more than just Taifu Mountain."

"If only the two could switch places," thought Zhao Sheng, unable to help himself.