Chapter 402: Returning Home

The green-robed Taoist priest gave Wang Changsheng a meaningful look and said, "Out of consideration for you, Junior Nephew Wang, let me give you a word of advice. The beast resources in the Taiyi Mountain Range are abundant, but cultivators above the Core Formation stage are strictly forbidden from hunting them. It's like draining the pond to catch all the fish. Those low-level beasts are preserved by our Taiyi Immortal Sect for our disciples' training, not for Core Formation cultivators to hunt. A few years ago, a fellow named Huang Fugui repeatedly entered the Taiyi Mountain Range to hunt beasts. Given that his grandnephew is a disciple of our Taiyi Immortal Sect, he was merely expelled. It's the same in other areas; without rules, nothing can be accomplished. If there's a genuine need, hunting a few second-tier beasts might be acceptable. However, high-level cultivators indiscriminately hunting low-level beasts is a taboo, and it's the same in other nations.

"Of course, if you're bold enough, you could venture into the heartland of the demon race to hunt beasts. But I advise you, go back and manage your family honestly. Don't dream of getting rich overnight; a down-to-earth approach is the right path."

Wang Changsheng pondered for a moment, then asked, "If I leave, will this debt still be tied to me? How would I repay it then? And to whom should I give the spirit stones?"

"The Hall of Deacons is in charge of this matter; I was merely informing you. I'm taking you to the Hall of Deacons now, where specialists will handle the recovery of these spirit stones. Follow me."

Having said this, the green-robed Taoist priest transformed into a streak of green light and flew away. Wang Changsheng followed closely behind.

Less than half an hour later, the two landed at the entrance of a magnificent palace, surrounded by a large complex of buildings.

The silver plaque above the entrance bore the three characters "Hall of Deacons," and numerous Taiyi Immortal Sect disciples were bustling in and out.

The main hall was bright and spacious, with long queues forming in front of several green jade tables, where deacon disciples were assigning tasks.

Wang Changsheng followed the green-robed Taoist priest into a side room. Inside were a middle-aged scholar in his thirties and a beautiful woman in a blue dress, also in her thirties.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, these are the deputy hall masters of the Hall of Deacons, Junior Brother Li and Junior Sister Chen. This Fellow Daoist Wang borrowed the Haotian Mirror and owes 310,000 spirit stones. I'm leaving him in your care."

Having said this, the green-robed Taoist priest turned and left.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, according to the rules of our Taiyi Immortal Sect, you must first repay one-third of the debt before you can leave the sect. The remaining two-thirds must be repaid within thirty years. Until you've cleared your debt, your guarantor cannot leave the sect, cannot take risks, and can only cultivate at their residence. If you fail to repay the debt within thirty years, it will automatically transfer to your guarantor until it's fully settled. Do you understand?" the middle-aged scholar spoke slowly.

Wang Changsheng frowned. One-third, that meant over 100,000 spirit stones.

"I don't have that many spirit stones on me. Can I use items as collateral?"

"Yes, but the price will be determined by us. You are free to disagree."

Wang Changsheng nodded and took out the Dark Yin Tree, some second-tier puppet beasts, and more than a dozen magic artifacts.

During his trip to the Ghost Abyss many years ago, Wang Changsheng had unearthed a Dark Yin Tree, which he had kept in his storage bag ever since.

The middle-aged scholar carefully inspected the items. The Dark Yin Tree was valued at 60,000 spirit stones, and the other items at 20,000, totaling 80,000.

With no other option, he had to take out the natal scale of a third-tier demon dragon. The natal scale was valued at 30,000 spirit stones, bringing the total to 110,000, exactly one-third of the debt.

The middle-aged scholar wrote Wang Changsheng a receipt, listing all the items Wang Changsheng had sold. The beautiful woman in blue, meanwhile, produced a recording disk, documenting the entire process to prevent corruption.

"Alright, you still owe 200,000 spirit stones, which must be repaid within thirty years. You may leave now, and I will escort you out."

The middle-aged scholar put away all the items and escorted Wang Changsheng out of the Taiyi Immortal Sect.

Over an hour later, Wang Changsheng arrived at the Guest Reception Hall, heading directly to Wang Ruyan's residence.

"Husband, from now on, our Wang family won't be a small family anymore," Wang Ruyan said, her heart full of joy.

Wang Changsheng nodded and recounted his experiences of the past year or so to Wang Ruyan.

"Uncle Mingren gave me 30,000 spirit stones, and Bingbing gave 3,000. Combined with my own savings, I can gather 60,000 spirit stones. There's still a shortfall of 140,000. I'll borrow some from my maternal family. If we hold a celebration, we should receive a significant amount in gifts, and selling some family assets should help us gather the remaining 140,000 spirit stones," Wang Ruyan offered her suggestions.

"I was thinking the same thing. There's no time to lose. Let's return home immediately and gather the 200,000 spirit stones as quickly as possible, so we don't burden Uncle Mingren."

After Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan finished their discussion, they left the Guest Reception Hall and flew towards Wei State.

Wei State, Qinglian Mountain.

In the deliberation hall, Wang Qingkai sat in the main seat, listening to the eight elders present their reports.

Before Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan left the family, they removed the "acting" designation from Wang Qingkai's title, making him the official head of the Wang family.

Twenty years ago, the Wang family began its transformation. They purchased the required first-tier spirit rice and spirit beans from other cultivation families. Most of the spirit fields controlled by the Wang family were used to cultivate spiritual herbs. These herbs had now matured for the second time, yielding a bountiful harvest.

Spiritual herbs have long growth cycles, and cultivating them means no income for over a decade. If a locust plague occurred, the losses would be even greater. Consequently, many cultivation families primarily relied on spirit grains with shorter growth cycles for their income. Only cultivation families with considerable strength could extensively cultivate spiritual herbs.

Wang Qingyuan had already married, and his wife had given birth to a son named Wang Qiuzheng.

Wang Qingyuan stood up and said, "Family Head, this year's total income is 65,549 spirit stones, with expenditures of 32,670 spirit stones, resulting in a profit of 32,879 spirit stones. Regarding income, the elixir shop accounts for 40% of the total revenue, the restaurant, distillery, and weapon shop account for 30%, and the remaining 20% comes from other industries."

The spiritual herbs currently cultivated by the Wang family mature once every ten years. Each time the spiritual herbs ripen, they bring significant profit to the family. When the herbs mature, Wang Qingqi leads the family's alchemists, working day and night to refine elixirs for sale, earning a considerable sum.

Without major wars, weapon sales were limited. However, to improve cultivation, taking elixirs was essential. Relying solely on meditative cultivation took too long. Therefore, elixirs had become the Wang family's primary industry. Unfortunately, the Wang family currently controlled too few spiritual fields, allowing them to cultivate only spiritual herbs that matured once a decade, yielding a harvest only every ten years.

"Excellent! With so much income, this year has been a bountiful one," Wang Changxing said with a smile.

Wang Qingkai's face was also full of smiles as he said, "If Fourth Brother hadn't led people to refine elixirs day and night, the spiritual herbs wouldn't have been converted into spirit stones so quickly."

Everyone deeply agreed with this. Wang Qingqi's character and alchemy skills were evident to all.

The ten-year-old spiritual herbs were only refined into first-tier elixirs.

"Such a large income this year, truly delightful! Haha!" A rather hearty male voice rang out. As soon as the voice faded, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan strode in.

"Ninth Brother (Ninth Uncle), you're back! That's wonderful!"

Wang Qingkai and the others were all at the Qi Refining stage, so they hadn't noticed the change in Wang Changsheng.

Wang Ruyan smiled sweetly and said, "I have amazing news for everyone: my husband has formed his Core! Our Wang family now has a Core Formation cultivator!"

At these words, the entire hall was stunned.

They paused in surprise for a moment, then erupted into loud cheers.

Wang Changsheng smiled and said, "My ability to form my Core this time is entirely thanks to Uncle Mingren's help. To borrow the Haotian Mirror, I incurred a debt of 310,000 spirit stones. I've already repaid 110,000, leaving 200,000 still owed. Qingyuan, how many spirit stones does the family currently have in its accounts? I need to repay the spirit stones as soon as possible, so as not to burden Uncle Mingren."