13: Chapter 13 Returning Home and Seeking Advice

Originally, she was unwilling to become a Dao Companion with a Cultivator who had a pseudo Spiritual Root. However, upon hearing that his household enjoyed spiritual wine, spiritual meat, and spiritual rice daily—things even Mortals could consume—she felt a bit tempted.

Her Aptitude was actually quite good, but unfortunately, as a member of a branch Family, her status in the clan was not high, and her Realm had not improved significantly over the years.

Additionally, her parents were tight on money and highly favored this marriage. Left with no other choice, she reluctantly agreed.

After taking a careful look, Chen Fan was quite satisfied.

“Though she is slender, her figure is quite nice. With some proper care, she will surely become plump and radiant, and bear many children.”

At this moment, the Cultivator who had escorted Qin Wei whispered, “Alchemist Chen, the Grand Elder instructed me to remind you that the Family currently needs many Medicinal Pills. Please increase your cultivation and Alchemy skills as soon as possible, and reach Qi Refining Level 5 quickly.”

“Please assure the Grand Elder not to worry,” Chen Fan said, sighing inwardly. If they didn't let him have more children, his Realm would improve even slower.

Although there was no wedding ceremony, the dinner banquet was extremely lavish.

Looking at the large table filled with spiritual wine, spiritual meat, and spiritual vegetables, Qin Wei was overjoyed, and her gaze toward Chen Fan softened with a touch of tenderness.

After dinner, the atmosphere in the room grew intimate.

After washing and dressing up, Qin Wei looked radiant. She had discarded her simple clothes and changed into a soft, high-quality, lotus-pink sheer gown.

“The night is getting late...”

Chen Fan blew out the candle, preparing to fulfill his duty as the Qin Family's Matrilocal son-in-law.

“Yes... please be gentle, husband.”

After a night, Chen Fan felt refreshed and invigorated.

As his Realm improved, the soreness in his waist had lessened significantly.

Three days later, he accompanied Qin Wei back to her parental home.

When he saw the courtyard where they lived, he was still somewhat shocked. He had not expected it to be so dilapidated.

“Father, my husband and I have come to visit you.”

“It's good to have you back. Please, sit down.”

Qin Wei's father hurriedly brewed some tea. Seeing his daughter and son-in-law return with a large amount of gifts, he was overjoyed and felt even more certain that this marriage was the right choice.

Qin Wei's father was named Qin Mushan. He was over forty years old, had ordinary Aptitude, and his Realm had remained stuck at Qi Refining Level 4.

Because he managed the spiritual fields year-round, which was extremely hard work, his face was darkened and wrinkled, and his back was quite hunched, making him look very weathered.

Logically, they shouldn't have been living in such poverty. The reason was that he saved up most of his cultivation resources to fully support his other son.

As for Qin Wei's mother, she had passed away from a severe illness years ago.

At the time, it wasn't that he hadn't thought about giving his daughter a dowry, but unfortunately, he was empty-handed and had to give up the idea.

Chen Fan felt a bit guilty. After all, he hadn't given a bride price initially, so he immediately retrieved twenty Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch.

“Please rest assured, Father-in-law. Since Qin Wei is with me, she won't suffer.”

“Good, good, good.” Qin Mushan stared at the Spirit Stones, a glimmer of light appearing in his eyes.

Not long after, Qin Wei successfully became pregnant.

With the Qin Family's Grand Elder's reminder, Chen Fan did not lose himself in indulgence. Instead, he focused his energy on cultivation and the Dao of Alchemy.

As his success rate in Alchemy increased, he gradually accumulated quite a few Medicinal Pills. Aside from a small portion sold at the Duobao Pavilion in the Family market, most were used for his own cultivation.

A few months later, with the help of a large quantity of Medicinal Pills, he showed faint signs of a Breakthrough.

Just when he thought life could remain this peaceful, the refining tasks from the Alchemy Hall suddenly increased.

Chen Fan's first instinct was that something was wrong. Having been with the Qin Family for so long, he knew more or less about the complex conflicts among the local cultivation families.

...

The Dongfu Mountain Range was located in the far west of the Song State. It was home to three Foundation Establishment families: the Cuiwei Mountain Qin Family, the Qinglan Mountain Su Family, and the Black Stone Fort Wang Family.

Aside from the three Foundation Establishment families, there were nearly thirty small Qi Refining clans in the surrounding area, each affiliated with a different Foundation Establishment Family.

For many years, these three Foundation Establishment families had lived in relative peace with one another.

Who could have known that two years ago, the Qin Family and the Su Family simultaneously discovered a small mineral vein deep within the Dongfu Mountain Range? Unable to agree on its ownership, they came to blows.

In the end, the Qin Family was defeated because their Foundation Establishment Old Ancestor was injured, and from then on, a great enmity was forged between the two families.

The current new conflict arose from the competition over Medicinal Pills in the Qingyang Market.

The Qingyang Market was jointly operated by the three Foundation Establishment families. Due to its unique geographical location, it attracted a large number of Loose Cultivators, and its scale grew larger and larger.

The Qin Family excelled in Medicinal Pills, the Su Family in Formations, and the Black Stone Fort Wang Family in Artifact Refining. In the past, because of their respective divisions of labor, they had coexisted peacefully.

Who would have thought that ever since the Ancestor of the Qin Family was injured last time, the Su Family took the opportunity to gather manpower and expand their Alchemy business.

To fight back, the Qin Family had no choice but to increase their efforts in refining Medicinal Pills, repeatedly lowering their profit margins to suppress the opponent through sheer volume.

...

Even from far away from the Alchemy Hall, various sounds of Alchemy could be heard.

Because the tasks had suddenly become much heavier, the Alchemists had no opportunity to slack off and arrived early in the morning to begin refining.

The Alchemy Hall was divided into three main sections: the Outer Courtyard, the Middle Courtyard, and the Inner Courtyard, which were partitioned entirely based on the quality of the Medicinal Pills.

The Outer Hall refined Low Grade Medicinal Pills with one to three pill veins, which were generally refined by Elementary Alchemists and primarily consumed by Cultivators in the Early Stage of Qi Refining.

The Middle Hall mainly refined Medium Grade Medicinal Pills, which had four, five, or six pill veins, specifically provided to Cultivators in the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

Meanwhile, the Medicinal Pills refined in the Inner Hall were of higher difficulty with complex ingredients, primarily provided to Cultivators in Late-stage Qi Refining.

Of course, as a small Foundation Establishment Family, the Qin Family had not had any Cultivator capable of refining High Grade Medicinal Pills with higher quality and more pill veins over the years.

“You're here,” Wu Shouzhuo said, looking as amiable as always.

In his eyes, Chen Fan was a rare talent with an extremely high success rate in refining Low Grade Medicinal Pills. If his Realm improved again, he might even be able to enter the Middle Hall and become a Tier 1 Medium Grade Alchemist.

“This is today's refining task. You need to refine four batches of spirit-gathering pills and two batches of qi condensation pills, maintaining a success rate of sixty percent.”

“So many?” Chen Fan was quite surprised.

“The current situation is critical; if we do not move forward, we will fall behind. I heard the Su Family is going all out to refine Medicinal Pills, and our Qin Family cannot afford to fall behind in this aspect.”

Hearing this, Chen Fan nodded slightly.

Although a troubled expression appeared on his face, he felt quite relieved in his heart.

As his Realm improved, his success rate in refining Medicinal Pills with three pill veins could be said to have reached one hundred percent.

He could spend his remaining time either cultivating in secret or refining higher-quality Medicinal Pills with four pill veins for himself.

As long as he kept a low profile for a bit longer, he would be able to smoothly enter Qi Refining Level 4.

Just as he was about to step into his private Pill Refining Room, he saw the beautiful and extraordinarily elegant Qin Lingxi.

However, she looked much more haggard today than before.

She possessed outstanding natural talent and a cultivation of Qi Refining Level 5, allowing her to proficiently refine various Low Grade Medicinal Pills. Yet under this kind of pressure, she still felt somewhat overwhelmed.

“Greetings, Clan Sister,” Chen Fan greeted her warmly.

“Mhm,” Qin Lingxi nodded half-heartedly. Just as she turned to enter her refining room, she suddenly spoke up, “I heard your Alchemy success rate has been quite high recently. I've run into some issues lately and would like to ask you for some advice.”

“Ask for advice? I wouldn't dare. I've just had slightly better luck.”

Chen Fan appeared extremely humble on the outside, but his heart was racing. Having the opportunity to get close to this ice beauty was something he could only dream of.