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Chapter 32 - 32: Looking Towards the Future 1
Chapter 32 - 32: Looking Towards the Future 1
Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Looking Towards the Future 1
Translator: 549690339
Formation, alchemy, and artifact refining are all one of the four major secondary professions in the Cultivation Realm, also divided into nine grades down to the first grade.
After absorbing thirty years of experience in formations, Han Li became an Eighth Grade Formation master, capable of setting up some simple basic formations such as Spirit Gathering Arrays and so on.
If he had the corresponding level of array diagrams, he could also set up an Eighth Grade Formation that could contend with the Pihai Realm.
Formation, alchemy, and artifact refining were three skills that Han Li was not yet very proficient in, at only Eighth Grade, which were not very useful for him, yet they were extremely beneficial for his concubines and the Han Family’s descendants.
For example, with formations, he could now set up Spirit Gathering Arrays to enhance the spiritual energy of Han Mansion, speeding up the cultivation rate of the Cultivators in Han Mansion; with blueprints, he could set up Killing Arrays, Instant Arrays, Maze Arrays, Defensive Arrays, and so on, to greatly increase the security of Han Mansion.
Allixirs and refined artifacts could be supplied to the Cultivators of Han Mansion to enhance their strength, as well as being sold to the outside, opening up financial sources for Han Mansion, and continuously earning spirit stones.
Han Li also hoped someone could help him share the burden, but Han Mansion really didn’t have capable people for the task.
His concubines, although they all had cultivation talent, with Qiu Yueyao having the best at Seventh Grade, still needed to practice cultivation to improve their realms, otherwise their lifespans wouldn’t be long.
There were two types of Han Family descendants, one with talent, who would be sent to various sects for cultivation upon reaching the age of eight, initially focusing only on cultivation. After reaching a certain realm, they could start learning alchemy, artifact refining, and formations; otherwise, those with poor talent would end up mastering neither.
The other type was those without talent. Those capable helped Han Li manage the family affairs, earning worldly wealth to support the operations of the Han Family; those who weren’t capable simply enjoyed the family benefits, receiving the allocated wealth each month, which was not much. If they wanted more, they had to reproduce and spread the family line.
All of this needed time to support. In hundreds of years, or even a thousand years, the Han Family would definitely be able to share all these responsibilities, and he, the old ancestor, wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
By then, the Han Family’s descendants would have grown up, such as those with Seventh Grade talent reaching the Gangyuan Realm; without hope for the God Refining Realm, they could turn to study alchemy, artifact refining, formations, and so on. As long as they achieved something and made a certain contribution to the family, they could apply for the family’s help to break through to the God Refining Realm.
By then, the Han Family would have a large number of Alchemists, Artifact Refiners, Formation Masters, etc., as well as countless mighty individuals to suppress one area, and Han Li, the old ancestor, would only need to take care of taking in concubines.
By then, the Han Family would also have many geniuses, Third Grade talents, Second Grade prodigies, First Grade monsters… adventuring abroad, becoming famous in the vast world, and spreading the prestige of Han Mansion.
After envisioning the future, Han Li returned to reality. In fact, there was another solution, which was to recruit externals who cultivated pills, artifacts, and formations.
But there were few who studied these arts, and even fewer who achieved something significant. With the prowessHan Li demonstrated, at the Fifth
Layer of the Pihai Realm, it would be difficult to hire Eighth Grade Alchemists, Artifact Refiners, and Formation Masters.
“Forget it, let’s take it step by step,” he said.
Shaking his head, Han Li decided to take it slowly and not to try to achieve everything at once; recruiting some Ninth Graders would be enough for now. This way, he would only need to be responsible for refining elixirs and weapons for the Pihai Realm, greatly reducing his workload.
Once he showed a higher level of cultivation to the outside world and advanced to the Gangyuan Realm, he should be able to recruit Eighth Graders.
In the following two months, Han Li spent his time inside Han Mansion.
He first set up a large Spirit Gathering Array for the Han Family, and then placed an enhanced version of the Spirit Gathering Array in the backyard of the Han Family, which he had paid for the array diagrams.
Han Li had long instructed the descendants of the Han Family to collect pill formulas, array diagrams, and refining blueprints, the more the better.
He also set up an Eighth Grade Trapping Array and an Eighth Grade Defensive Array, plus a host of Ninth Grade formations, which would not be breached by the typical Pihai Realm attackers even after three days and nights of continuous assault.
During this period, Han Mansion recruited several Ninth Grade Alchemists and Artifact Refiners who were willing to serve the Han Family. Han Li had them stationed within the Alchemy Pavilion and Artifact Refining Pavilion, which greatly reduced his workload. He only needed to spend about half an hour each day concocting Eighth Grade Elixirs and forging Eighth Grade Spiritual Artifacts.
At the last gathering of Loose Cultivators, Han Li collected many Pill Formulas and Refining Blueprints, such as the Sea Opening Pill, the Returning Origin Pill, the Tiger-Slaying Blade, and so on. He refined some of each and, after selling them, gained a large number of Spirit Stones.
The Sea Opening Pill, in particular, was very popular and in high demand. Han Li’s output was also very limited, primarily because the ingredients were rare.
If it weren’t for the large number of Spirit Stones he gained at the gathering of Loose Cultivators, the repayment of the owed Spirit Stones from Li Deshun, as well as the nearly one hundred thousand Spirit Stones obtained from killing seven Loose Cultivators, the Han Family wouldn’t have had enough Spirit Stones to purchase the materials for Alchemy and Artifact Refining.
After depleting nearly all of the Spirit Stones in Han Mansion by stockpiling a massive amount of medicinal ingredients and Refining Materials, the inventory skyrocketed, increasing by six to seven times, when Han Li transformed these into Elixirs and Spiritual Artifacts to sell.
With a large number of Spirit Stones at his disposal, Han Li began to assemble the ingredients for refining the Rebirth Pills, but for the time being, he only took out those that were relatively easy to gather.
As the Han Family entered a virtuous cycle, Han Li began to reform the family traditions, establishing stricter family rules to prevent the descendants from causing trouble and inadvertently offending hidden powerful figures, which could bring great trouble to the Han Family.
Every ten years, he would personally deal with a batch of people from the Han Mansion, including some of his descendants who had committed serious crimes. The lighter punishment was whipping, while he personally put several incorrigible descendants to death.
Under Han Li’s strict constraints, the descendants of the Han Family became more sensible, daring not to indulge in oppressive or harmful behaviors toward others or cause trouble for civilians.
Otherwise, if caught by the Han Family’s enforcement team or reported by civilians, they would be locked in the family jail for severe punishment.
Furthermore, Han Li once again increased family welfare. Those capable descendants who managed family affairs effectively were all rewarded with Beauty Preserving Pills, Lifespan Extension Pills, and other Elixirs, to boost their enthusiasm.
Descendants with lesser abilities also saw their monthly resource allocation increase by thirty percent, while the rewards for producing offspring doubled, as an incentive to encourage the expansion of the family lineage.
Aside from these matters, Han Li spent the rest of his time with his concubines, naturally attending to the well-being of his descendants, occasionally forming various shapes for play.
As his cultivation reached the peak of the ninth level of the Gangyuan Realm, his combat strength also increased countless times over. Apart from Qiu Yueyao, who had reached the Innate Realm and could barely hold her own, the other concubines could not.
Therefore, Han Li often played the game of Landlords with multiple concubines at once, just to determine a winner.
In a certain part of Han Mansion, there was a small courtyard, which was the residence of the head of the guards, Zhang Xuan.
He was the First Disciple of Han Li’s good friend Qiu Xuan and the only one who followed Han Li to Lingjun City, receiving many benefits as a result.
“Life here is much more comfortable than in Fenglei City,” Zhang Xuan sighed.
Han Li took good care of him, providing ample cultivation resources and giving him several pointers that helped Zhang Xuan break through to the True Qi Realm.
Of course, the True Qi Realm was somewhat lacking for a head of Han Mansion’s guards, but due to the relationship between Han Li and Qiu Yueyao, no one voiced any objections, they were just envious of his good fortune.
Over the years, Han Mansion had recruited a large number of guards below the Pihai Realm, with only those in the Innate Realm qualifying to be head guards, while those in the True Qi Realm could only serve as team leaders.
As head guard, Zhang Xuan also enjoyed a lot of downtime. Besides leading people to escort Han Family descendants to various Sects, there was not much else to do.
But he did not idle away his time; instead, he cultivated assiduously, aiming to break through to the Innate Realm as soon as possible and legitimately become the head of the Han Mansion’s guards..