Chapter 289: Three Years

"Chang Sheng, with this much spirit water, you can focus on your cultivation. Just leave the family affairs to me." Wang Changsheng agreed and returned to his residence.

Wang Qingjing was sitting in a stone pavilion, carving a wooden puppet, while Wang Mingren watched nearby. After a while, she put down her spirit blade, holding a lifelike puppy puppet in her hand.

"Great-uncle Forty-two, look, the first step in making a puppet beast is complete!" Wang Qingjing's crystalline eyes sparkled with pride.

"Qingjing, you're amazing! I've tried carving so many times and haven't succeeded," Wang Mingren said with an envious tone.

"Uncle Forty-two, as long as you practice diligently, you can do it too," Wang Qingjing giggled and encouraged him.

"Qingjing is right, Uncle Forty-two. Heaven rewards diligence. As long as you work hard, you can definitely achieve it," Wang Changsheng said with a smile as he approached.

The Wang family didn't have a cultivation method for dual spirit roots of gold and fire. Wang Mingren was currently practicing the "Qi Nurturing Art," a cultivation method suitable for any spirit root. Its cultivation speed was average, allowing one to reach only the ninth level of Qi Refinement. Lacking a suitable cultivation technique, the Wang family could only let Wang Mingren practice the "Qi Nurturing Art," which any cultivator could learn. They planned to send him to the Hundred Spirits Sect once he was older and had a deeper sense of belonging to the family.

"Dad, I'm ready to refine a puppet beast, but there are many things I don't understand. Please explain them to me quickly." Wang Changsheng smiled faintly and carefully explained the process of refining a puppet beast to Wang Qingjing. Whenever she had questions, Wang Qingjing boldly asked, and Wang Changsheng answered them one by one, while Wang Mingren listened in.

"I think I know how to refine a puppet beast now. I'll go back to my room and try to make one." Wang Qingjing, her face full of eagerness, rushed towards her room.

"Uncle Forty-two, I'm going into seclusion for a while. If anything comes up during this time, just go to my father; he'll help you resolve it." Wang Mingren nodded obediently. "Okay, I've got it. Chang Sheng, you go ahead and be busy!"

He picked up a refining manual and carefully flipped through it, his youthful face filled with a serious expression.

Wang Changsheng nodded to himself and stepped inside the house. Closing the secret room door, he took out refining materials and a refining diagram, preparing to forge a life-bound spiritual artifact for Wang Ruyan. To be honest, he wasn't entirely confident. He had never refined a zither-type artifact before, mostly making swords, flags, and inner armor.

After meditating for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Wang Changsheng picked up the purple zinc wood, tossed it into the space in front of him, and opened his mouth to emit a stream of blue Innate True Flame, enveloping the purple zinc wood.

***

Time flew by; three years passed quickly.

It was midday, and the sun shone brightly.

In a vast golden rice field, Wang Mingsen and five other clan members stood before the spiritual fields. Wang Qingzhi summoned two green sickles, which quickly plunged into the rice field, causing stalks of spirit grain to fall one after another. After harvesting all the spirit grain, the others each summoned two storage bags and collected the grain.

Wang Mingsen took out a shimmering red flag. With a gentle wave, a large expanse of crimson flames appeared out of thin air, quickly igniting the dry grass in the spiritual field. The fire quickly spread. A massive white cloud mass appeared above the spiritual field at some unknown moment. After swirling and surging, large raindrops poured down. Soon, the flames dissipated, leaving the spiritual field charred black and steaming.

Wang Qingzhi squatted down, took out a palm-sized yellow gourd, and opened its lid. Five yellow earthworms, several *zhang* long, emerged one after another and quickly burrowed into the ground. The spiritual field became uneven, as if it had been plowed over. After less than a quarter of an hour, the five yellow earthworms had tilled the spiritual field and consumed the excess dry grass.

"It's so much more convenient now! We use spirit insects for plowing. Unlike before, when we had to lie in bed for two days after each spirit grain harvest," Wang Mingsen said with a reminiscent look, sighing.

"Before? Great-uncle Twenty-two, didn't you use spirit insects for plowing back then? Wasn't harvesting spirit grain quite simple? What was so tiring?" Wang Qingzhi was utterly confused and asked curiously.

"Conditions weren't nearly this good back then. We didn't even have enough spirit stones for ourselves, let alone for buying and raising spirit insects. Harvesting spirit grain was all done by hand, and even if a single grain fell to the ground, we'd pick it up. It's different now. Forget a single grain; even if a *jin* of spirit rice is dropped on the ground, none of you would bother to pick it up. Just go to the mess hall and see how wasteful those young clan members are; they leave half a bowl of spirit porridge unfinished. In our time, we wouldn't waste a single grain of spirit rice," Wang Mingsen spoke slowly, his words conveying deep dissatisfaction with the younger generation's wasteful habits.

A flicker of surprise crossed Wang Qingzhi's eyes as he pressed, "No way! Great-uncle Twenty-two, was the family's life really that hard back then?" Wang Mingsen hesitated briefly, then recounted the story of the Profound Gold vein. So much time had passed that there was no secret left to tell.

"A great-ancestor died at their hands? How could we tolerate that? We should have fought back and pulverized our enemies!" A clan member was very perplexed.

Wang Mingsen scoffed coldly and reprimanded them without ceremony: "If your strength isn't enough, you can only endure. If you win, fine, but if you lose, it means annihilation for the clan. You all have several spirit artifacts now. Back then, it was good if a young clan member had even one, and it would be one used by an elder. One family against three, how could we fight? If I told you to fight to the death against three rogue cultivators right now, one against three, would you fight?"

"Well... if we can't beat them, we could call for reinforcements! Form an alliance."

Wang Mingsen let out a cold laugh and spoke earnestly: "Call for reinforcements? Who would help you if there's no benefit for them? Between clans, there's only interest. If your friend is surrounded by three rogue cultivators, would you rush in recklessly to help him? If you save him, and the reward he gives isn't to your liking, would you help him again next time? You're all young and impetuous. You must think thrice before acting. Don't let a moment of passion lead you to do foolish things; you'll be the one to suffer. A person must know when to advance and retreat. Taking a step back opens up vast horizons; enduring for a moment brings calm. If your strength isn't enough, you must endure. Just like now, if I weren't your great-uncle, you would have talked back long ago. And if you all reached Foundation Establishment, I wouldn't dare speak to you this way."

"Yes, great-uncle, your grandsons will remember your teachings." Wang Qingzhi and the others repeatedly agreed, though what they truly thought in their hearts remained unknown.

"Alright, those are all matters of the past. Even if I tell you, you wouldn't fully understand. Just do your work diligently and cherish your current life. It was earned by the blood and sweat of generations of ancestors. I hope the family continues to prosper and never returns to those hard times. Go back now! Come again in a couple of days."

"Yes, Great-uncle Twenty-two." Wang Qingzhi and the others agreed and turned to leave.

Upon returning to his residence, Wang Qingzhi saw Wang Ruyan and Liu Qinger drinking tea and chatting in the stone pavilion.

"Grandma, Mother, hasn't Dad come out of seclusion yet?" Wang Qingzhi asked casually.

"Not yet, Qingzhi. You've been working in the spiritual fields again, haven't you? Look, you're drenched in sweat. Come, have something to eat and a cup of hot tea to refresh yourself," Liu Qinger said with concern, her eyes full of doting affection.

Wang Qingzhi acknowledged her and walked towards the stone pavilion.

"Grandma, where's Sister? Why don't I see her? Isn't this her favorite peach blossom pastry?" Wang Ruyan smiled and said, "Your sister went to your Fifth Great-aunt's place. She currently has a relatively high success rate refining low-grade first-tier puppet beasts and says she wants to put in more effort to refine a mid-grade first-tier puppet beast. There's no need to wait for her for dinner."