183: Are you really only thirteen?

Over three years, Liu Xuan selected ten Junior Sisters from the Sect each year, and the Cultivation Families in the Red Pine territory sent about ten beautiful female Cultivators for marriage alliances.

With the addition of ten children born each year, the population of the Liu Family at White Crane Lake increased by about thirty people annually.

Nowadays, Liu Xuan has nearly two hundred Concubines on Lake Heart Island, one hundred and fifty-one children, and with the servants and maids, the total population exceeds five hundred.

The west side of Lake Heart Island is entirely populated by the Liu Family, while the remaining few hundred members of the Sect Enforcement Team all reside on the east side.

The Law Enforcement Team sends a batch back to the Sect each year, and those who remain are all quite obedient, commanded by Zhang Kexin, Yan Qingyao, and Zhou Xiaozhu.

Xiao Ran has started closed-door cultivation again to attempt a Foundation Establishment Breakthrough. This time, it is unknown how long it will take to begin the Breakthrough, or whether it will succeed.

The Liu Family is now in charge of Lake Heart Island at White Crane Lake. Liu Xuan held a celebration for his Eldest Son's Breakthrough as a Martial Artist, and the entire White Crane Lake immediately became lively.

Lin Xue'er kept advising Liu Xuan that it was unnecessary, as it was only a Breakthrough to the Muscle and Bone Realm, and making it too grand would invite ridicule.

Liu Xuan, however, insisted on it. The celebration was just a facade; he wanted to use this to show the importance he placed on his children's cultivation improvements and to motivate the children to Cultivate even harder.

He wanted the other children to see the benefits, and he also wanted their mothers to see the benefits.

At the same time, he also wanted to gradually bring the children into the public eye, preparing them to take over the business of White Crane Lake and the Merchant Alliance in the future.

The Merchant Alliance is currently developing rapidly and is in full swing, but in reality, most of the profits have been divided by various Families, and the portion flowing into Liu Xuan's hands is very small.

Liu Xuan previously looked down on these small profits and did not want to bother with them. In a few years, when the children grow up, it will be the perfect opportunity for them to gain experience and seize these profits back.

White Crane Lake was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers. All the prominent figures in the Yongning territory came, including eight Cultivators at the Qi Refining Perfection Realm, and more than twenty Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivators.

Even the Foundation Establishment Family, the Lu Family, sent a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Perfection Realm to offer congratulations, and they also brought a substantial generous gift.

Over these years, with Liu Xuan holding down the fort at White Crane Lake, various troubles that occurred in the Merchant Alliance were easily resolved, and no one doubted Liu Xuan's strength anymore.

As for the Lu Family, Lu Pingan thought that True Person Xiao truly valued Liu Xuan's talent, so naturally, he was also willing to befriend him.

"Eldest Son, this is the head of the Bai Family, Bai Lingfeng, you should call him..."

Liu Xuan led Eldest Son to the head of the Bai Family to introduce him, but he suddenly did not know what would be appropriate for Eldest Son to call the other party.

His relationships with these Families were very messy; in terms of cultivation status, they were peers, but in terms of ethical relationships, he had to call the other party, or even their sons and Juniors, father-in-law.

Bai Lingfeng quickly spoke up to resolve the awkward situation, smiling at Eldest Son, "Eldest Young Master Liu is truly talented and handsome. I am peers with your father, so you can just call me Uncle Bai."

Eldest Son turned to look at Liu Xuan, and seeing Liu Xuan nod slightly, he cupped his hands and bowed to Bai Lingfeng, "Junior Liu Daoyuan greets Uncle Bai."

Afterwards, Liu Xuan led Eldest Son to meet the head of the Wang Family, Wang Chen, and the head of the Luo Family, Luo Yun...

The entire Yongning Cultivation World quickly remembered this little chubby boy in a black Martial Artist robe, and one after another, they instructed their Juniors to befriend him well when they saw him in the future and not to offend him.

At the end of the banquet, Liu Xuan found an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist and asked him to spar with Eldest Son.

"What is this for?"

"Didn't they say Eldest Young Master Liu just broke through to the Muscle and Bone Realm? Is this to make him spar with an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist across levels?"

"Who knows? Let's watch."

...

The crowd below was whispering, mostly holding the idea of watching a show. If it weren't for Eldest Son's special status, they wouldn't even have glanced twice at a mere Muscle and Bone Realm Martial Artist.

The Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist sparring with Eldest Son was wearing the uniform of the Merchant Alliance Guard Team and was once a member of the Flower Snake Gang under She Xiaorong.

The disparity in their status and position was vast, but he did not intend to hold back; instead, he was determined to defeat his opponent.

Because Liu Xuan had summoned him earlier and told him to go all out; if he could win the spar, he would immediately be promoted and rewarded with ten bottles of qi and blood pills, but he was not allowed to use lethal force.

Liu Xuan's reputation was extremely high, and he always kept his word in the Merchant Alliance. The guard Martial Artist was overjoyed and immediately guaranteed to go all out.

On the sparring stage, the guard Martial Artist cupped his hands to Eldest Son, "Eldest Young Master, I apologize!"

After speaking, his figure moved rapidly, and at the same time, he threw a straight punch towards Eldest Son's chest.

Inner Qi circulated, and a burst of energy radiated from his fist, causing the air to emit a sonic boom.

"Bang~"

A dull sound rang out. Eldest Son stood motionless in place, a large hand blocking the guard Martial Artist's fist with a backhand.

He had no Inner Qi enhancement, relying entirely on his immense strength to block the opponent's frontal punch.

The guard Martial Artist was experienced; his Inner Qi instantly gathered in his right leg, and he planned to withdraw his fist to use a more powerful sweeping kick to attack the opponent's lower body.

"Hmm?"

Just as he intended to withdraw his fist, he found that he could not pull it out at all, as if it were firmly clamped by a pair of iron claws.

Eldest Son pulled with force, and the guard Martial Artist immediately lost his balance. With a flash of a black shadow, the guard Martial Artist was instantly sent flying, falling to the ground in a extremely disheveled state, with a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.

The guard struggled to climb up from the ground, clutching his chest and bowing to Eldest Son, "Thank you, Eldest Young Master, for showing mercy!"

He finally understood why Liu Xuan had told him to go all out; it turned out that he was simply no match for the opponent at all.

If the Eldest Young Master hadn't held back his strength earlier, he wouldn't be able to get up even if he didn't die.

"Hahaha!"

Liu Xuan walked over laughing and waved his hand at the guard, "Go down and collect your reward!"

"Thank you, Alliance Leader!" The guard Martial Artist bowed and retreated, his Face full of excitement. Although losing the fight meant he didn't get as much of a reward as winning, it was still quite a lot for him.

Liu Xuan looked at his son, patted him on the shoulder, and praised him, "Well done, you did not disappoint me!"

Eldest Son's strength, Liu Xuan was clear about; it was enough to match a Late Stage Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist. The only thing lacking was actual combat.

Physical strength is one thing, but whether one can unleash that strength is another. Some Martial Artists have very high Realms, but when they encounter actual combat, they panic and cannot even unleash half of their strength.

Now it seems he was overthinking. Eldest Son's calmness and decisiveness during the battle far exceeded his expectations.

Easily defeating an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist showed that Eldest Son was not at all inferior to an average early-stage Qi Refining Cultivator. Once closed in, an early-stage Qi Refining Cultivator would basically be no match for him.

"I didn't expect this Eldest Young Master Liu to actually be a Martial Arts Genius!"

"Yeah! A Muscle and Bone Realm defeating an Inner Qi Realm across levels; it looks like the average Inner Qi Martial Artist is no match for him!"

The Clan Chiefs of various Families attended in person, giving enough Face, but the Face they gave was to Liu Xuan, and they had never really cared about Eldest Son, a Martial Artist without a Spiritual Root.

Some people even maliciously speculated in their hearts that Liu Xuan held such a grand celebration just to earn their gift money.

Now that Eldest Son has shown extremely high Martial Arts talent, everyone is truly paying attention to him.

"He is indeed a rare Martial Arts Genius, but... is he really only thirteen years old?!!" someone couldn't help but ask.