Immortality: Beginning With The Great Zhou Divine Dynasty

Chapter 4: Family

Yanqing Hall.

Count Lin Xianzhi, the eldest son of the Earl's Mansion, returned after completing his task to greet his mother. He saw his usually dignified and graceful mother lying listlessly on the couch.

"Son greets mother."

Madam Lin got up and looked at her son from head to toe, her tone concerned as she asked, "Has my son had dinner? Was it hard work on duty today? Did you get injured during training?"

Lin Xianzhi's expression softened. "Mother, your son is almost forty."

"Even if you're eighty, can't I still ask?" Madam Lin glared at him.

Lin Xianzhi quickly appeased her with a smile and then said seriously, "Mother, I heard that you accepted Fifth Brother's gift of medicine?"

Madam Lin nodded helplessly. "I accepted it. What else can I do? Shenger just made a breakthrough, and he needs it. Otherwise, I was planning to borrow some from your uncle with a thick face."

Lin Xianzhi hurriedly served tea to his mother and comforted her, saying, "Fifth Brother is all alone, thin and weak. He can't even lift a two-thousand-jin tripod. How can we not help him? It's my duty as an older brother to support him."

"Support him? Do you think I don't want to take care of Wulang more? But there are rumors in the court that a war will break out soon. You're still only at the Inner Strength level and haven't reached the Marrow Cleansing stage. Shenger is eager to go to the front lines. I have to take care of you two first."

"Your Third Uncle Lin Ze was already at the Blood Replacing stage, a famous brave general in the court. He might have become a city commander, but in the end, he couldn't be saved from a serious injury."

As Madam Lin spoke, her eyes turned red.

Lin Xianzhi also sighed at the mention of his Third Uncle's name. If it weren't for the scheming of others, the Lin family would probably have several experts at the Divine Will level by now!

But he still spoke gently to his mother, "Grandfather has already said that he will find an Essence Nurturing pill to assist me in Marrow Cleansing. There's no need for you to worry so much."

The Essence Nurturing pill was a true pill refined by profound methods, and its effects were self-evident.

Although the orthodox sects were rarely seen in public nowadays, the Divine Dynasty's power was extraordinary. They had cooperation with some sects, and even some sects within the Divine Dynasty's territory had to pay taxes to the Divine Dynasty. Some small sects even almost submitted to the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The sect taxes mainly consisted of Spirit Rice, spiritual herbs, spiritual stones, and other treasures. There were also offerings of incense, heavenly silver, and Law Weapons. Gold and silver were not acceptable.

Madam Lin sighed, "How can I not worry? One's success in battle may lead to the death of thousands. The situation on the front lines is unpredictable. Those clan members don't understand me. They only think that what I've saved has gone into your and Shenger's stomachs. They can't see the hardships of this world, and life is not easy."

Lin Xianzhi also understood his mother's feelings and could only comfort her with a gentle voice.

In fact, Madam Lin had indeed prioritized the medicinal soups saved from other places for Lin Xianzhi and Lin Sheng, as well as the Fourth Master Lin Fengzhi and several other clan members who were about to break through to the Inner Strength level.

Meanwhile, Lin Xuanzhi returned to his own courtyard and hid in his study, looking for more means of protection at the Essence Nurturing level.

Before dinner, Lin Xianzhi and his wife, along with Lin Sheng, came to River Watching Courtyard in person, bringing generous gifts to express their gratitude for the Tiger Bone Body Tempering soup.

The main ingredient of the Tiger Bone Body Tempering soup, besides the spine of a demon tiger with a history of over five hundred years, required many herbs with at least a hundred years of medicinal age to assist in the brewing process.

Usually, a spine could only be brewed three or four times, yielding only a small cauldron each time. The entire Earl's Mansion and the relatives of the branch families on the adjacent street each received only a small bowl.

A five-hundred-year-old demon tiger was valuable in every part of its body, even if the spine was relatively less valuable. It still required three to five thousand taels of silver, and most of the time, it had to be traded with spiritual stones or other items.

The Earl's Mansion had been passed down for nearly a thousand years and had its own estate for growing herbs, saving costs. Although ordinary military officials and small officials received subsidies from the Divine Dynasty, it was still difficult to support their entire family's cultivation.

Moreover...

Demons that had cultivated for over five hundred years were not inexhaustible. Therefore, sometimes the spine of a bull demon or other substitutes would be used, although the effect was slightly inferior.

The Divine Dynasty ruled over a vast territory in the Divine State, with abundant resources. Emperor Taizu divided the world into thirteen regions, with numerous provinces, prefectures, and counties.

In addition to the Divine Dynasty's rule in the mortal realm, there were also city gods, land gods, and other deities in various places.

When Lin Xuanzhi first arrived, what surprised him the most was that the Divine Emperor actually had the power to confer titles on city gods, land gods, and other deities.

Although it was a joint rule with the underworld, they truly held the power of gods in their hands.

With such power, the Divine Dynasty truly deserved its name!

The bones of tiger demons are mostly found in the border areas near the Tianhuang Continent, close to the Ten Thousand Mountains. There are also evil tiger demons killed in various places.

After all, the Divine State is vast, how could there be no monsters at all?

As for whether there are those who falsely claim credit for killing "good demons," that is unknown.

"Big brother, sister-in-law, there's no need to be so serious. Sheng'er is also my nephew, and as an uncle, I naturally want to see him achieve a good ranking."

Lin Xianzhi's wife, Qu Yingfeng, also comes from a family of warriors. Although she is now a woman, she still dresses smartly and confidently said, "How can that be? In this special period, the backbone of mountain lords is rare. Even the finished medicinal soup from the Heavenly Medicine Pavilion is being sold for three hundred taels per bowl, even if it's diluted."

"Wulang, you love Sheng'er as an elder, we adults can't be ignorant!"

Lin Xianzhi also smiled and said, "Wulang, you have solved our urgent problem. I believe Sheng'er will be able to stabilize his realm soon, and his ranking in the martial arts examination should not be too bad."

Seeing this family like this, Lin Xuanzhi didn't say anything more about the outside world and calmly accepted a big gift from Lin Sheng.

Qu Yingfeng laughed heartily and said, "The thank-you gift we received today is just for fun. In a few days, there will be things from my family that can be used by cultivators. I will send them to you then. Don't refuse, it just so happens that we have extras, and no one else needs them except you."

After saying that, she took Lin Sheng and left in a hurry to exercise, leaving Lin Xuanzhi and Lin Xianzhi staring at each other.

As a Martial Dao cultivator about to undergo Marrow Cleansing, Lin Xianzhi was sensitive and couldn't help but look at Lin Xuanzhi and ask, "Wulang, have you made a breakthrough? No, what cultivation technique are you practicing?"

He knew his younger brother's temperament!

One of the taboos in the cultivation world is asking about someone's cultivation technique, but Lin Xianzhi naturally wouldn't treat Lin Xuanzhi as an outsider.

"It's a breathing technique I obtained from the Hidden Knowledge Pavilion. It should be an authentic technique passed down by a sect," Lin Xuanzhi didn't hide it from his own family and smiled quite satisfied.

Lin Xianzhi's expression changed slightly. After getting up and pacing for a moment, he said, "Did you report it?"

The authentic techniques of sects are not trivial matters, and the merits are probably not small. But if the sect that owns that technique finds out, it might cause trouble.

After all, authentic sects at least have Essence Soul Perfected Beings.

Lin Xuanzhi shook his head and said, "No, and I don't plan to."

The "Eight Scenic Breathing Technique" is hidden very well. Without the Jade Wheel, it is difficult to discover. How could a rookie like him who has just reached the Essence Nurturing stage find it?

Lin Xianzhi nodded and said, "Let's wait for grandfather to come back and tell him. I won't be curious."

The two of them had dinner together and talked about the chaos in the court. After Lin Xianzhi left, he went to the martial arts arena to exercise.

Lin Xuanzhi didn't think too much about it, so as not to add to his own troubles.

He had already experienced the profoundness of true cultivation when he started practicing the "Eight Scenic Breathing Technique." He had long wanted to go to the countryside outside the city to cultivate for several years, but after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to maintain his peaceful and regular life.

One reason was that he still held a lucky mentality and wanted to see if he could find something good in the Hidden Knowledge Pavilion's collection. After all, who among ordinary people is not "greedy"?

The other reason was that his father, Lin Ze, had the opportunity to be promoted to the Core Incubation level and become a city marshal, but he was seriously injured and died in a Witch-Barbarian Race attack. The military supplies and medicines that were always ready happened to be borrowed?

There were suspicions of leaked military information and delayed support.

Over the years, Lin Tianhuo, his grandfather, had found some clues through careful investigation, and he himself had tried to inquire. In the end, he found that it seemed to be related to the generals of the Dongping County Prince's faction.

This may also be the reason why the emperor compensated the Lin family with two techniques.

After all, if there were deliberate leaks and delays in military information, it would be an extraordinary matter.

Since someone dared to do it, they would naturally arrange everything as well as possible. Even if there were some remaining clues, without solid evidence, the Lin family couldn't do much.

And even if there was evidence, it was now a time when people were needed...

"This matter needs to be clarified. In any case, I must have a clear conscience and a clear mind!"

With a firm determination in his heart.

Lin Xuanzhi continued with his usual duties and returned home, but instead of sleeping, he replaced it with meditation and cultivation every night, immersing himself in the indescribable wonders of cultivation, making remarkable progress.

(End of this chapter)