Chen Changsheng silently noted the Liu Family in his heart, while on the surface, he continued to greet the villagers with a cheerful smile.
He spent 8 taels of silver to buy a large fat pig from a villager. After a busy morning, he treated the villagers to a sumptuous pork feast.
After the meal, the crowd dispersed.
Chen Changsheng, his wife, and the others gathered around the silver. The sunlight reflecting off the silver was somewhat dazzling.
"Husband, I didn't expect us to have so much silver!"
Yi Lian hadn't yet recovered from the surprise, and she happily held Chen Changsheng's arm as she spoke.
"I'm afraid this silver will be too hot to handle; it won't be easy for our Family to keep it!"
A shadow flickered in the eyes of the second son, Chen Chuanwen. He spoke with a somber face and a somewhat sinister tone.
"What's wrong? Who would dare to steal it? I want to see who dares to make a move!"
The eldest son, Chuanwu, had a naturally stubborn temper. Hearing Chuanwen's words, he immediately stood up, a fierce glint in his eyes!
"Eldest Brother, it's not just one person stealing; it's everyone. Our Family has earned such a large sum of money; it's bound to attract jealousy and greed!"
Chen Chuanwen spoke somewhat helplessly. Chen Changsheng hadn't expected a nine-year-old child to think so much.
"But... didn't our Family just treat the villagers to pork?"
Chen Chuanwu lacked his younger brother's shrewdness. At eleven years old, he was still somewhat naive and muttered under his breath.
Chen Changsheng waved his hand, interrupting the brothers' debate. He narrowed his eyes and said:
"This is just how human hearts are. Unless we treat them to pork every day, they will always be eyeing the thousand taels of silver in our hands."
"We all come from farming backgrounds; no one is more noble than another. Now that we have money and they aren't benefiting from it, they'll become jealous and want to take it from us!"
Chen Chuanwu was momentarily speechless. The villagers who once seemed kind to him now appeared like green-eyed jackals, staring greedily at their Family.
"Then what should we do, Father? Are we just going to take it and be bullied?"
Fire burned in Chen Chuanwu's eyes as he spoke with a face full of indignation.
Chen Changsheng smiled and patted his son's shoulder, saying cheerfully:
"That's why you must practice martial arts diligently. No matter the time, the only thing that can protect our Family business and our Family members is the fist in your hand!"
"When your fist is big enough, your back will be straight. Whoever dares to reach out, chop off their hand!"
Hearing his father's words, Chen Chuanwu's eyes lit up. He immediately stood up and said solemnly to Chen Changsheng:
"Father, don't worry. I will definitely practice martial arts hard. Whoever dares to bully our Family, I will crush them!"
Looking at Chuanwu's fierce appearance, a helpless smile played on Chen Changsheng's lips. His second son was like a venomous flood dragon, and his eldest was like a fierce tiger. It seemed he was the only honest person in the Family.
"I should probably Cultivate the third son's character a bit, so his two sons wouldn't make the Family atmosphere too aggressive!"
"Practicing martial arts by yourself isn't enough; a lone tiger can't withstand a pack of wolves!"
"Today, since the whole Family is here, I'll tell you all a secret!"
"Actually, our Chen Family's ancestors passed down a martial art. This technique leads directly to the Innate Realm. From now on, everyone in the Chen Family except the eldest will Cultivate this technique."
"Our Chen Family will become a Martial Arts Clan in Longwei County!"
Chen Changsheng's words were like a thunderclap in everyone's hearts. They hadn't expected Chen Changsheng to be hiding such a secret.
"Directly to Innate? Father, there isn't a single Cultivation Technique in all of Longwei County that reaches the Innate Realm. This must be kept secret, or it will attract countless martial arts experts to steal it!"
Having already stepped onto the path of martial arts, Chen Chuanwu was the most alert and immediately realized the value and danger of the technique!
"It's fine, Chuanwu. To the outside world, we'll just call it an ordinary technique. Anyway, before reaching the Innate Realm, no one will be able to tell!"
Chen Changsheng reassured his eldest son, then added in a regretful tone:
"It's just that for now, you still have to learn martial arts from Master Wang. When you're about to Breakthrough to the Innate Realm, you can switch to our Family's technique. It's a pity it'll waste a lot of your time to switch!"
Chen Chuanwu was upright and didn't care about his own loss. He happily said to Chen Changsheng:
"What's a little wasted time? Countless Fourth Refinement experts in Longwei County search in vain for such a technique. I'm more than happy to have a technique that can Breakthrough to Innate!"
Seeing that his eldest son had no hard feelings, Chen Changsheng felt relieved. He took advantage of everyone's presence to teach them the cultivation method for the Five Elements Origin Cultivation Art.
Chen Chuanwu had already entered the gates of martial arts, so he naturally understood the basic bone-feeling technique. Thus, Chen Changsheng had him check everyone's bones except for the third son.
It turned out that root bone talent was indeed rare.
After checking, except for Chen Chuanwen who had a medium root bone, Chen Changsheng and his wife both had low-grade root bones.
According to martial arts experience, Chuanwen would reach the Bone Refining Realm at most in this lifetime, while Chen Changsheng and his wife would be lucky to reach the Flesh Refining Realm.
However, if the root bones weren't good enough, medicinal decoctions could compensate. Chen Changsheng still remembered the medicinal formulas in the Five Elements Origin Cultivation Art.
As long as there were enough medicinal materials in the future, he believed he could definitely push the whole Family to the Innate Realm!
By the time everyone had memorized the martial art, it was already dark.
Chen Changsheng told his two sons to sleep lightly and stay alert, fearing someone might come for the silver at night.
In the middle of the night, Chen Changsheng couldn't sleep. His Family currently only had Chen Chuanwu, a Martial Artist at the Skin Refining Major Achievement. If a thief came, only their neighbor Wang Yong could help.
That might stop petty thieves, but if a powerful bandit came, the Family would be in trouble!
Moreover, there was the even more powerful Liu Family watching them like a hawk, plotting against him in secret!
No! He needed a way to protect the Family and defend himself!
Chen Changsheng climbed out of bed, opened the Family Treasure Trove, and fell into deep thought as he looked at the treasure options!
"[Demon Pointing Stone (Mortal): Can enlighten an animal that voluntarily signs a contract into a Spirit Monster. The master can communicate with it through the contract, and based on the animal's comprehensive characteristics, two talent abilities will be generated.]"
"[Exchange Lifespan: Fifty years of Lifespan]"
In the Family Treasure Trove, besides the [Demon Pointing Stone], the other three—the curious item [Divination Tortoise Shell], the [spiritual plant manual], and the Divine Ability [Wither and Flourish Conversion]—were all auxiliary and wouldn't help immediately increase the Family's martial power.
But the [Demon Pointing Stone] could turn an animal into a Spirit Monster. In Jianghu rumors, ordinary Martial Artists were no match for a Spirit Monster; only a Xiantian Martial Artist could fight one!
Chen Changsheng wanted to enlighten the white dog the Family had been raising since the year before last. It had been fed for a year, and now it was grown and had recognized its master, being very obedient.
Moreover, dogs were naturally loyal, making it much easier than enlightening other untamed beasts, with a lower chance of failure.
However, the previous purchases of the Cultivation Technique and jasmine tea had already cost Chen Changsheng 160 years of Lifespan. Now he only had 70 years left. If he bought the Demon Pointing Stone, he would only have twenty years left!
Chen Changsheng struggled for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and deciding to exchange for the Demon Pointing Stone!
For the safety of the Family, he could only suffer a bit himself for now. He only hoped that within twenty years, his three sons would have many descendants to replenish his Lifespan.
Sigh! For this Family, this old father has really worried himself sick!