That being said, the pioneer tax was quite steep. A "small-scale reclamation" cost ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones each time, and a "large-scale reclamation" cost twenty Spirit Stones.
The average Loose Cultivator simply couldn't afford it; they had no choice but to bite the bullet.
However, some Loose Cultivators believed that because these reclamations meant exploring deeper into untouched, primordial lands, the potential rewards were greater, and they looked forward to it with anticipation.
Cultivation Clans, however, were a different matter. They were required to enter the Wilderness for the reclamation—a duty they could not delegate!
However, they could freely choose which members to send from within the clan. If they were truly short on numbers, they could pay double the pioneer tax for a "small substitute quota."
But regardless of anyone's wishes, the "large-scale reclamation," an event where opportunity and danger walked hand-in-hand, was inevitably drawing near.
...
"What? A shop's supply caravan was ambushed and massacred less than a mile outside the Marketplace?"
That day, Lin Changheng had just stepped out of Xu's Alchemy Shop when he overheard the shopkeepers from the two adjacent stores discussing something.
"That's right. I heard it was the Ge Family's caravan. Not only was all the cargo plundered, but the handful of clan Cultivators were also killed. Severed limbs were scattered all over the place—no one was spared. These Tribulation Cultivators are getting way too audacious!"
"This district is about to... *cough*. This was bound to happen. I just didn't expect the chaos to start so soon. In the past, the Wang Family would have been furious and cracked down hard, but now... It looks like we need to inform our clans so they can prepare."
"Exactly! When it's time to evacuate, we must have the clan send extra Cultivators as an escort! We need to make sure everything goes off without a hitch!"
One of the shopkeepers nodded, then grew hesitant. "It's just... were the ones who did this really Tribulation Cultivators?"
The other shopkeeper froze upon hearing this, then fell silent. After a long moment, he managed to force out two words: "Speak carefully."
Then, the two of them picked up their small stools and returned to their own shops without another word, a perfect understanding passing between them in silence.
Lin Changheng, who had been standing before the Xu's shop for some time and had in fact "overheard" most of the conversation, felt his expression grow grave.
'Has the situation outside the Marketplace already become this chaotic?'
'So when I evacuate with the Xu Family, could I run into the same kind of rotten luck?'
He had always been cautious and never ventured outside the Marketplace, but now, he was starting to feel uneasy.
'This won't do. I have to bring this up with Ink Master. Regardless of whether it's Tribulation Cultivators, rivals, or something else out there, I need to make the Xu Family take this seriously!'
His mind made up, Lin Changheng immediately turned back, went up to the second floor, and knocked on Ink Master's door. He only left after a long discussion.
'It's still not enough!'
Although Lin Changheng had six Talismans on him, he still lacked a sense of security. His eyes flickered as he mulled things over.
...
「Half a month flew by.」
Ink Master had reported the matter to the clan and received a response.
The Xu Family had already taken action. They allied with five or six other Qi Cultivation Clans they were on good terms with to negotiate a coordinated evacuation.
They agreed to leave the Marketplace at the same time.
The other clans responded favorably, agreeing it was a sound plan.
Furthermore, the Xu Clan had secretly dispatched an elder at Late Stage Qi Cultivation and two core members at Middle Stage Qi Cultivation to the Purple River District. Their mission was to begin transferring a portion of the shop's supplies and Spirit Stones back to the clan ahead of schedule.
This would avoid concentrating all the risk by moving everything at once.
As one of the top three figures at the Xu Family's Alchemy Shop, Lin Changheng was naturally qualified to know the inside details.
But he refused to learn the finer details, using the excuse that "secrecy is the key to success."
In reality, Lin Changheng was thinking one step further.
'If the plan went off without a hitch, that would be for the best. Everyone would be happy.'
'But if there were any slip-ups and blame was to be assigned, his seniority was less than Ink Master's and his personal connection to the family wasn't as deep as the Shopkeeper's. He would inevitably be mired in trouble.'
'It was better not to know.'
'This way, he could keep himself clear of it!'
Ink Master and Xu Qianyou were stunned by his words. Their old eyes met, a flash of surprise in both. On the surface, however, they both agreed his reasoning was sound and complied with his wishes.
Thus, in the end, Lin Changheng only knew the vague outline of the plan.
「A few more days passed.」
Lin Changheng arrived at the Xu Family's Alchemy Shop as usual.
As soon as he entered.
"Brother Lin."
A rather simple and honest-sounding voice, laced with pleasant surprise, suddenly rang in Lin Changheng's ears.
"Hm? Fugui?"
Lin Changheng followed the sound of the voice and saw a dark-skinned Male Cultivator with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a slightly chubby build, grinning from ear to ear at him.
The two men approached one another, clapping each other on the shoulder, clearly overjoyed.
Fugui's surname was also Xu, but he was not a descendant of the Black Water River Xu Family.
Instead, he was one of the "immortal seedlings" discovered in the Mortal Realm—a farmer's son, and not from the same town as Lin Changheng.
At the Spirit Testing Conference, with his eleven wisps of Water Element Spiritual Charm—a talent that barely qualified him as having a Lower Grade Spirit Root—he had been selected by the Xu Family at the same time as Lin Changheng.
The two of them had hit it off and gotten along well.
Later, when faced with the two paths offered by the Xu Family, he made a different choice from Lin Changheng's "path of an Honored Guest Elder." He resolutely decided to marry into the Xu Family.
According to Xu Family rules,
those with a Lower Grade Spirit Root could choose three women from the Xu Family,
while those with a Mixed Spirit Root could only choose two.
At the welcome banquet for the Xu Family's new immortal seedlings, he was in high spirits and took a fancy to three mortal women of the Xu Family, all of whom were graceful, youthful, and charming.
Although these three Xu women had no Spirit Roots themselves, they were descendants of Cultivators. They couldn't avoid the matter of being married off, but they did have some say in who they married.
Xu Fugui's Lower Grade Spirit Root placed him at the forefront of the new immortal seedlings. The women were perceptive enough to realize this, so none of them refused him.
And thus, he won three beauties for himself!
With no complex ceremony, they entered the bridal chamber that very night.
Later, when Lin Changheng was preparing to leave for the Purple River District, Xu Fugui came to see him off, clearly sad to see him go. Lin Changheng asked him what he had thought about marrying into the family beforehand and how he had found the experience.
Xu Fugui grinned, a hint of slyness peeking through his simple and honest expression.
"What's the difference if I'm the one who married in? Heh heh. In the end, the children will all be named 'Xu' anyway."
"Back in my village, the old squire married two beautiful young wives and was the envy of everyone. Who would've thought that I, from a dirt-poor family, could now marry three at once and easily surpass him?"
Finally, he glanced around cautiously. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he lowered his voice and confessed that while everything else was great, it was just a little taxing on his loins. He asked Brother Lin to keep an eye out for any Yang Supplement Secret Techniques or similar things for him in the Marketplace...
Lin Changheng laughed and left, readily promising to help.
...
"I heard that you finally became a Pill Master, Brother Lin. Ten years of hope, finally realized."
The two of them had never stopped corresponding, though they did so infrequently—about one letter a year.
"You've done well for yourself too, Fugui, breaking through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Cultivation."
"Heh heh, that's all thanks to my fifth son. He was born with a Middle Grade Spirit Root, which earned me a hefty reward from the clan. But I also have to thank you, Brother Lin, for finding me that *Dragon Essence Secret Skill*..."
Lin Changheng nodded. He knew about this; he'd even sent a gift to celebrate.
This was the Xu Clan's way of "buying horse bones for a thousand gold pieces"—a tactic intended to encourage the many immortal seedlings to work harder at making babies instead of just staring at their own pathetic cultivation levels all day.
Only by producing many children was there a higher chance of one being born with cultivation aptitude, and possibly a Lower or Middle Grade Spirit Root.
But siring an heir with a Spirit Root was not easy. In ten years, Xu Fugui had fathered six children. His third son was the first to have a Spirit Root, and it was a Mixed Spirit Root.
Then, his fifth son was born with a Middle Grade Spirit Root.
His sixth son, however, was a mortal.
There was no rhyme or reason to it; even the mothers of the two Spirit Root-endowed children were different women.