"There are a few matters mixed together, some good, some bad."
The Patriarch shook his head, sighing as he spoke.
Elian raised an eyebrow and took a sip from his teacup.
"Please, tell me more."
"Your uncle, Xinghe, passed away not long ago," the Patriarch said, showing a trace of pain on his face. Over two hundred years had quickly passed, and nearly all of the cultivators from his generation were gone.
Elian's fingers trembled slightly, but he set the teacup down.
The next demon beast turmoil would happen in the next seven or eight years. Chen Changxuan was already over two hundred and forty years old this year, and Meng Xinghe, who was even older than him, had passed the two hundred and fifty-year mark.
Meng Xinghe had managed to live so long because he had consumed three spirit apricots, one of which was a third-grade spirit apricot that Elian had personally sent to him.
The three apricots had extended Meng Xinghe's life by fifty years, allowing him to live until recently when he passed away.
With Meng Xinghe's death, all of the Patriarch's old friends from his younger days had passed away, leaving him with no peers among the cultivators.
Even the friends he made after reaching the Purple Mansion realm, like Xu Qianyang, a False Golden Core cultivator, if they didn't break through to the Golden Core stage or use longevity-enhancing treasures, would have just over one more cycle of life.
The Patriarch's face shook slightly, a trace of melancholy in his voice as he spoke: "Before Xinghe passed, his last wish was to cultivate a Purple Mansion cultivator for the family."
"Meng Xingwan brought a sum of spirit stones and used sixty thousand to buy a Crystal of Blazing Flame from me."
The Patriarch said calmly. Sixty thousand spirit stones for one Crystal of Blazing Flame was almost the base price for such a treasure.
Normally, a foundation-building cultivator would need to pay eighty to one hundred thousand spirit stones to purchase such an item.
The Patriarch continued, "This price is my favor. I'll take out thirty thousand spirit stones to make up for the loss."
Elian nodded faintly, then smiled. "I'm sure Uncle Xinghe will be pleased in the afterlife."
"Ah, this is the only thing I could do."
The Patriarch sighed, his sorrow slightly abating.
Then he seemed to think of something and smiled as he spoke again, "There's another piece of good news. When you hear it, you'll surely be pleased."
"Oh?"
Elian was somewhat surprised, it seemed like there was indeed good news coming.
Seeing Elian's expression, the Patriarch stroked his beard and called out to the family members outside the hall.
"Bring Siting in."
"Yes."
One of the family cultivators quickly left.
After a moment, the cultivator returned, bringing a six or seven-year-old child with him.
Elian looked at the child, and his eyes widened in surprise. He immediately activated his Jade Spirit Eyes to check, and a look of joy crossed his face.
"Thunder Spirit Root?"
Elian's face showed delight. No wonder the Patriarch had said he would be pleased.
Cultivators with unique spirit roots were naturally gifted, and when they try to breakthrough to the Golden Core stage, their chances of success would increase by twenty percent.
Such a genius was practically born to become a Golden Core cultivator. Even regular Purple Mansion cultivators had very slim chances of reaching the Golden Core, but those with unique spirit roots often had a thirty to forty percent chance.
The Patriarch smiled gently, signaling for Chen Siting to approach.
"Siting, this is your Uncle Elian, come and greet your uncle."
Chen Siting, confused and nervous, his young face turning slightly pale, hesitantly looked at the two elders.
He looked up and found that the two elders sat calmly, but they seemed like towering mountains, with an aura as vast as the sun, exuding the presence of immortals.
One wore white like snow, his figure handsome and tall, as if an immortal descending to the mortal realm. The other looked young as well, his aura contained but with an immense power, like the sea in stillness.
To Siting, they didn't seem like uncles or ancestors, but more youthful than even his parents.
Fortunately, he remembered his parents and elders had repeatedly instructed him to be polite and respectful to the ancestors.
With this thought, he quickly bowed to the ground, respectfully saying, "Siting greets the ancestor and Uncle."
"Good child."
The Patriarch laughed heartily and patted his head, helping him stand up.
Then, he turned to Elian and said, "This is Chen Siting, six years old. We recently discovered his Thunder Spirit Root. I plan to keep him around and watch over him."
"Mm."
Elian smiled and nodded, handing a few treasures to Chen Siting as a greeting gift.
With another Thunder Spirit Root, it meant a potential Golden Core cultivator for the family, which made Elian quite pleased.
Over the past 130 years, the family's mortal population had grown from less than two hundred thousand to over five million, and the number of cultivators had reached over five thousand. But this was the first time they had someone with a unique spirit root.
With a sense of joy, both of them felt much better.
Elian stayed in Pingyang City for half a day, but then he remembered Yu Qingyan's matter, so he decided to fly to the Lingyuan Mountain Market.
Before leaving, the Patriarch stopped him and reminded, "There's one thing I forgot to mention."
"There's a new demon king born in Sky Python Lake, and it's the Black Horned Python. You must be cautious in the future."
"A new demon king?"
Elian's eyes narrowed slightly. With the demon beast turmoil approaching, it was no surprise that a demon king was born in Sky Python Lake, but what troubled him was that this demon king was the same Black Horned Python he had fought twice before. Their enmity ran deep, and it seemed like they would have to face each other once again.
Noticing his expression, the Patriarch nodded solemnly and said, "The Black Horned Python has been nurtured by Jade Ripple Lake, and now its bloodline has regressed to become a Black Flood Dragon. It has broken through to the Golden Core stage."
"Black Flood Dragon..."
Elian's face grew serious. The bloodline of flood dragons was incredibly powerful, almost on par with human high-grade Golden Cores, able to fight two levels higher in cultivation.
The Black Horned Python had transformed into a flood dragon, likely able to fight a Golden Core cultivator at the third level with just a first-level cultivation.
The difference between the first and third levels of Golden Core was enormous. Three False Golden Core cultivators could fight a first-level Golden Core cultivator, but to face a third-level Golden Core, it would require at least five False Golden Core cultivators.
Even though Elian now had three fourth-grade celestial swords, facing such an opponent would still be troublesome. He might only be able to escape if forced into a one-on-one battle.
"It seems I need to find a way to refine the Heavenly River Deep Water Sword to the fourth grade as well."
His thoughts briefly flashed. For the Heavenly Twin Swords to fuse, they had to be of the same grade, or the imbalance between them would cause failure. Since they couldn't fuse now, Elian had lost his strongest trump card, and he would need to think of another way to prepare for the coming demon beast turmoil.
Suppressing these thoughts, Elian bid farewell to the Patriarch and, with his sword in hand, flew toward Ling County.
With the fourth-grade celestial sword's speed, he could travel two hundred thousand miles in a day. Though Lingyuan Mountain was over one hundred thousand miles away from Pingyang City, Elian's current speed made it nothing to worry about.
In just half a day, Elian arrived at Lingyuan Mountain and landed on the spiritual vein.
...
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I need POWAAA! Gimme Power Stones :D