Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“Quite the turnout. How are you feeling?” Duo Wengze asked.

“I’m satisfied,” Shu Yang answered, looking out over the crowd of young men and women who were being instructed by Tianren in the distance. Tianxu, Tianan, and Tianzheng were also close by, ready to solve any doubts the students might have.

Shu Yang had finally gotten everything in order, and today was the day their family’s Shu Sword Hall officially opened. 

As an exception for the opening day, visitors were allowed to enter the Hall and take a look around, so there were quite a lot of people there, perhaps contemplating signing their children or even themselves up for lessons.

The students Tianren were teaching were those who had already signed up in advance, a total of 18 people. But most of Shu Yang’s grandchildren were also present, so it didn’t look that sparse.

“I’m sure word will spread soon enough, and even this huge place might not be big enough,” Duo Wengze flattered. 

“Let’s hope so,” Shu Yang said with a laugh. 

The two of them were sitting on the top floor of a pagoda Shu Yang had built. It had a good overview of basically the entire property, and Shu Yang threw the occasional glance outside to make sure no one was up to any trouble. 

He also had to keep watch in case any Foundation cultivators stopped by. It was unlikely, but if so, Shu Yang needed to be the one to greet them, or it would be too disrespectful.

“But don’t you think the price is set a little low?” Duo Wengze asked.

“Isn’t that a good thing? You’re free to pay me more if you want,” Shu Yang said.

He really didn’t think about earning spirit stones, at least not for the moment. He just wanted his family to gain some experience in running this type of establishment, as well as build up a reputation. 

The money would come later, when they opened up a branch in the inner city. That’s where the true path to wealth was. 

Not to mention his family’s body cultivation elixirs. Shu Yang had great hopes for the revenue that could bring them, but it would be a slow process. He couldn’t rush things. 

So the price he had decided on was 14 low-grade spirit stones each month. That included a room to stay in, food to eat, and even the body cultivation elixir his family created for optimal results.

It was a very good price, but Shu Yang was also aware that many people, especially in the outer city, needed to be careful how they spent even a single spirit stone. It was still not certain that his prices were low enough to entice that many people.

Besides, the first month would cost a whole 40 spirit stones, as that included learning the sword art he had created. 

Shu Yang really couldn’t allow people to gain that knowledge for a measly 14 spirit stones; no one would value it if that were the case. 

“Hehe,” Duo Wengze chuckled. “Do you think I’m that poor? Raise the price as much as you want; I’m not afraid. But it has to be the same for everyone; don’t take advantage of me.”

“We’ll see,” Shu Yang said, shaking his head. 

Duo Wengze had actually been very supportive, and he seemed to genuinely think creating the Hall was a good idea. Three of the kids who had signed up were actually his nephews. They were all born with trash-grade spirit roots, so body cultivation was their only chance if they wanted to stay in the cultivation world. 

The Duo Clan was a Golden Clan, with plenty of resources, but it was also incredibly big. Even people like Duo Wengze, who apparently had 7th-grade spirit roots, struggled a lot. 

The only reason Duo Wengze managed to join the Sword Sect was because his grandfather was a Foundation-stage cultivator, and he only ever had one child, so he doted on his grandchildren quite a bit and had arranged for most of them to enter the sect as outer disciples, despite perhaps lacking the necessary talent. 

But now, his favors were used up, and the generation of Duo Wengze’s nieces and nephews had to fight for themselves. 

‘I wonder if any of them will turn out to have talent for body cultivation. If that’s the case, I will really have managed to change their fate.’

Most cultivators didn’t really consider trash-grade spirit roots to be real spirit roots. If nothing unexpected happened, those kids would be sent to the Mortal Kingdoms once they grew up.

“I won’t say anything more,” Duo Wengze said, smiling. “It’s not like I have any experience in business. But if you go broke, I will definitely tell you ‘I told you so.’”

“Fair enough,” Shu Yang said with a laugh.

‘I doubt that day will come, though.’

No matter what, Shu Yang didn’t think this Hall would make him go broke. He just needed a hundred students, and he would make a profit. 

‘There is enough room for about 300 students to live here right now. Hopefully, it will fill up fairly quickly.’

It would be a bit rough to start expanding just after all the time it took to get the Shu Sword Hall in order. But it was a problem Shu Yang would definitely welcome.

“What happened to you?” Elder Yiwen asked, looking Xinmo up and down.

“Er, nothing. Why?” Xinmo asked, confused.

“You have a strange expression,” Elder Yiwen said slowly. “It almost looks like you’re happy. But what could someone in your position have to be happy about?”

Whatever hint of a smile that might have been present on Xinmo’s face disappeared.

‘Does he get some strange pleasure from talking like that all the time?’

Xinmo was rather used to Elder Yiwen’s less-than-pleasant remarks now that he had been in the sect for a few months. Luckily, the old man had a tough mouth but a soft heart. Despite his constant complaining, he had been rather good to Xinmo so far.

“Oh. Well, I just received a letter from home. I have gotten another sister,” Xinmo answered. 

‘Hopefully, Mom and Dad won’t be very lonely with a new kid to take care of.’

“Oh? Hopefully, she is lucky and inherits some useful traits like your other sisters, and doesn’t end up like you,” Elder Yiwen said.

“I’m not less talented than them, actually,” Xinmo said. “They don’t have spirit roots either.”

“With a Sword Bone, what does it matter? Of course they are more talented than you. Have you always been this delusional? Or is it something recent? Are you feeling ill?” Elder Yiwen asked.

Xinmo had to fight his urge to roll his eyes. He really didn’t think his sisters were more talented. Sure, they had a Sword Bone, but that just gave them a head start. When Xinmo comprehended sword intent in the future, what difference would a Sword Bone make?

Xinmo really didn’t doubt that he’d grasp it one day. His father had managed to grasp sword intent at the 3rd tier. And that was without any so-called talent to help him.

Xinmo was even blessed enough to be accepted into the Sword Sect. If he couldn’t grasp sword intent here, where could he?

“Do you know when we finish?” Xinmo asked, ignoring Elder Yiwen’s remarks. “I need to bring the letter from home for my sisters to see.”

Xinmo had been helping Elder Yiwen in his duties for the past few months. It wasn’t very fun, but it was something to do. Unlike all the other outer disciples, Xinmo didn’t have spirit roots, so most of the lessons the disciples his age went to were useless to him. 

He had tried asking if there was anything for body cultivators, but it seemed like that wasn’t something he could gain access to. There were a few body cultivators in the sect, but they wouldn’t waste their time on an outer disciple like Xinmo. 

It didn’t matter that much, though. He still had the Shu Art, and he had plenty of spirit stones to use on resources. He really didn’t lack anything.

Besides, his younger sisters had a Golden Core cultivator as their master, and were taught the path of body cultivation. If there was something he needed help with in the future, he could just ask them.

“Just go,” Elder Yiwen said, waving Xinmo away. “What help could a child like you be even if you stayed?”

Xinmo had to hold himself back from answering. He had helped quite a lot. He really wasn’t like a normal 10-year-old. With his trait ‘Sharp Mind,’ he doubted many people could grasp things as quickly as he could.

“Then I will see you next week,” Xinmo said, bowing and then turning to leave.

As Xinmo walked down the path that would eventually lead him to Jiandan Peak, he looked at the many disciples who passed by him, curious about their strength, their talent, their background. 

It was strange. Xinmo had been warned about being suppressed, perhaps even bullied, by the other disciples. Supposedly, he would be surrounded by geniuses, and be mocked for his lack of spirit roots.

But so far he hadn’t had a single confrontation. Not even a disagreement as far as he could recall. Instead, he was basically ignored. 

Not even the menial disciples he lived with talked with him much. 

His days were spent practicing his body cultivation, trying to comprehend sword intent, and helping Elder Yiwen. 

The only thing he had to look forward to was meeting his sisters. But even that was something that was rare. Their master didn’t want him coming around too often and disturbing them in their training. 

‘It’s all a bit boring.’

Xinmo continued walking, lost in thought. It was a long journey to Jiandan Peak; it really wasn’t meant to be traversed on foot. Even as an Innate warrior, it would take him a whole day to get there. 

He stared at the distant mountains, further away. The highest peaks all belonged to cultivators at the peak of the Golden Core stage, masters of their own unique sword intent. 

Xinmo really wanted to see those sword intents in person, to see if he could gain some inspiration for his own path.

‘I heard there was some sort of tournament coming up. Maybe I can get Elder Yiwen to take me there so I can take a look.’

The sun went down, and then rose again. The journey was long, but Xinmo quite enjoyed it. It felt refreshing.

When he was just a few minutes from reaching the reception area down the mountain of Jiandan Peak, he heard a terrifying sound from high above.

A shiver shot down Xinmo’s back, and he turned his head up.

‘What is th-’

He couldn’t even finish his thought before he, and several others in the surrounding area, had to quickly run away as something fell down from the sky.

A loud crash sounded, and a cloud of smoke rose into the air.

Xinmo shielded his eyes from the gust of dirt with his sleeve. 

‘Were those people just now?’

“Thank you for showing restraint, True Person Jiansu,” A man’s voice called out.

The dust slowly settled, and Xinmo could make out three people inside a small crater.

‘Did they seriously fall down from the sky? How are they alright?

“That was restraint!?” The woman next to them questioned in fury.

They looked like a husband and wife, and the third person should be their daughter. She was a girl about Xinmo’s age. A very pretty girl. 

“If it wasn’t, we’d be dead,” The man answered. “I should have expected this. These lunatics always want to force us to use our swords. Let’s try another Peak.”

“Another Peak? Which one?” The woman questioned.

The man shook his head. “Let’s talk about it elsewhere.” He grabbed his wife and daughter and stepped onto a flying sword. 

Xinmo was watching everything curiously from a distance. He wasn’t the only one, but for some reason, the girl turned to look at just him as she stepped onto the sword.

‘Argh!’

A sharp pain shot through Xinmo all of a sudden, and he looked away from the girl. 

‘What was that? What did she do?’

It was stupid, but for some reason, Xinmo turned back to look at the girl. She was still watching him, giving him a curious look, an eyebrow raised. 

Then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, the family of three disappeared into the sky again.

Xinmo was left standing in place for a few minutes.

Eventually, he shook his head and kept walking toward the reception area.

‘I shouldn’t complain about boredom in the future. Boredom is safe. Excitement is scary.’

That’s what he told himself, but even so, his mind raced with ways to find out more about the family of three, and that girl’s strange ability.

‘I’ll ask the twins. Maybe they can find out for me.’