211: Women have too many worries

The news of She Xiaorong breaking through to the Great Perfection of Xiantian and advancing to the Late Qi Refining Stage as a Martial Artist quickly spread throughout the entire White Crane Lake.

For many women on the island, the shock of this news was no less than when Zi Lan reached Foundation Establishment.

This was especially true for the early batch of Liu Xuan's Dao Companions, including Lin Xue'er, Lin Anqi, and later additions like Wang Yuwan, Luo Ruoyan, Lianer...

For a Martial Artist without a Spiritual Root to defy heaven and change their fate, breaking through the limitations of their talent to advance to the Late Qi Refining Stage, was, in their eyes, not much simpler than achieving Foundation Establishment.

When Zi Lan came to White Crane Lake, she was already at Qi Refining Perfection; in many people's eyes, her Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment involved an element of luck.

She Xiaorong was different; she had been with Liu Xuan for over a dozen years, following him ever since he first arrived.

Everyone had watched her growth bit by bit. They had expected her to be stuck at the Great Perfection of Xiantian, but they never expected her to break through so quickly.

The Late Qi Refining Stage! She Xiaorong was still so young, and with Liu Xuan's support, she might even become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the future.

Jingxin Courtyard.

Under the phoenix tree.

Because of She Xiaorong's Breakthrough, the enthusiasm for martial arts training among the Martial Artist Dao Companions like Lin Xue'er and Lin Anqi increased, and they all set up their stances in the open space under the tree to train diligently.

They wore uniform plain white martial arts robes; their movements were smooth and efficient, and their Sword Qi crisscrossed, giving them a heroic and spirited appearance.

Compared to gorgeous dresses, the martial arts robes were slightly tighter, better highlighting their figures and possessing a unique charm.

The women Liu Xuan had taken in recent years were all Cultivators, whereas they had been following Liu Xuan since the early days.

Liu Xuan cherished the new but did not forget the old; as long as they made no mistakes, Liu Xuan never treated them poorly, and everyone had sufficient resources to Cultivate martial arts.

Among them, Lin Xue'er had the highest cultivation base, already at the Late Stage of Xiantian, and it was estimated that it wouldn't be long before she reached the Great Perfection of Xiantian.

Her martial arts talent was excellent, but her martial arts heart was not firm enough; otherwise, she would likely have already reached the Perfection of Xiantian.

Next was Lin Anqi, who was at the Middle Stage of Xiantian and was about to break through to the Late Stage of Xiantian.

Like Lin Xue'er, she also lacked a firm belief in martial arts and did not feel she had a chance to achieve Foundation Establishment.

Next were Wang Yuwan, Luo Ruoyan, Ye Manqing, and others, whose cultivation bases were between the Late Stage of the Inner Qi Realm and the Early Stage of Xiantian.

They came from Cultivation Families, and their talent was actually decent, but because the hope for martial arts was slim, their motivation to Cultivate was low. If not for Liu Xuan's constant reminders, they wouldn't even have their current cultivation levels.

The worst off were ordinary maids like Lianer, Meier, and Pinger. Their talent was naturally poor, and before following Liu Xuan, they didn't even have a foundation in martial arts, basically only having cultivation at the Inner Qi Realm.

Then there was Liu Xuan's sister, Liu Miao; she had also broken through to the Xiantian Realm of martial arts and was about to break through to the Middle Stage of Xiantian!

Liu Miao came from a humble background, but her martial arts talent was actually not bad, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to infiltrate the Gang back then.

However, that she could break through to the Xiantian Realm so quickly, especially while taking care of so many children, was quite surprising to Liu Xuan.

He lay on a rocking chair under the tree, watching the women practice martial arts, occasionally calling two over to provide personal guidance.

They had all switched to cultivating the Green Wood Body Sculpting Art. Since he had created this Cultivation Technique himself, guiding them was far too simple.

The speed at which the women's martial arts cultivation improved far exceeded that of other Martial Artists; besides the lack of shortage in resources, a large part of the reason was the Green Wood Body Sculpting Art and his guidance.

No matter how high the talent or how deep the background of other Martial Artists, they did not have conditions like theirs.

"The focus of the Green Wood Body Sculpting Art lies in the Mind-Cultivation Technique and internal refining, not in Moves or lethal power. Qi'er, why can't you understand that?"

Liu Xuan sighed; he had already told Lin Anqi the same thing countless times, yet she still got it wrong.

"Qi'er knows~" Lin Anqi leaned her entire body against Liu Xuan, wrapping her arms around his neck and acting coquettishly. "I've tried my best to practice according to what you said, but I just... I just can't do it~"

Jingxin Courtyard belonged to the inner court, usually inhabited only by Liu Xuan and his Concubines. Even his children needed to announce themselves to enter, so Lin Anqi was a bit more unrestrained.

I don't know when it started, but Lin Anqi had learned to act coquettishly at every turn, and Liu Xuan happened to be a sucker for that...

"Cultivate properly!"

Liu Xuan held her shoulders to keep her from fidgeting, steadied his mind, and continued to point out the deficiencies in her cultivation.

"Husband~ You haven't accompanied Qi'er for a long time!" Lin Anqi made a wronged face, looking pitiful; her mind wasn't on practicing martial arts at all.

Seeing that Liu Xuan didn't speak, she leaned into his ear and whispered: "Qi'er still wants to have another child."

Ever since Liu Xuan had more women, the affection Lin Anqi received had decreased significantly. Aside from their eldest son, Daocheng, she had only given birth to one daughter over these years.

A year ago, after Zi Lan broke through to Foundation Establishment, most of Liu Xuan's time was occupied, so the affection the other women received was very little.

"Cultivate properly first, we'll talk about it tonight!"

Liu Xuan also felt that he had neglected his other Concubines because of Zi Lan this past year, and recently he had been changing his strategy.

It was too difficult for Foundation Establishment Cultivators to conceive; rather than forcing it, it was better to let nature take its course.

The number of offspring was about to reach two hundred, and the number of offspring with Spiritual Roots was about to reach one hundred. The top priority was to get the rewards first.

It was uncertain if there was a reward for reaching two hundred offspring, but there would definitely be a big prize for reaching one hundred offspring with Spiritual Roots.

Even if he wanted to pursue the quality of offspring, the rational approach was to wait until the big prize was obtained.

Liu Xuan had realized this truth a few months ago, so he had gradually started allocating the time he spent with Zi Lan elsewhere.

"Really! Husband, you are not allowed to go back on your word." Lin Anqi said happily.

"Of course!"

"Would I lie to you about something like this!"

Liu Xuan shook his head and laughed.

"Husband~"

"Husband~"

...

The few women nearby had been paying attention to the situation here; seeing Lin Anqi's coquettishness succeed, they also stopped their training and rushed over.

"Uh..."

"Cultivate properly; there will be rewards for the one who makes the most progress!"

Liu Xuan dropped these words and vanished instantly, leaving only the rocking chair swaying in place.

Leaving Jingxin Courtyard, Liu Xuan appeared in the small building next to the water martial arts platform in the middle of the lake.

He picked up a cup of Spirit Wine, took a sip, and sighed: "Perhaps this is the trouble of having too many women!"

Looking down from the small building's terrace, he could see the largest platform in the center of the martial arts stage.

Dozens of children, big and small, were practicing martial arts on it. In a daze, Liu Xuan felt like it was a school playground.

Calculating the time, this year was the eighteenth year since Liu Xuan arrived in this world, and the number of children who had turned thirteen had reached forty-five.

Among them, the number of people who had broken through to the Muscle and Bone Realm of martial arts had reached twenty-eight, just two people short of reaching the achievement of thirty.

Among the ten who consumed the Vermilion Fruit, his eldest son, Liu Eldest Son, was the first to break through to the Inner Qi Realm, with combat power comparable to a Xiantian Martial Artist. He had begun to make a name for himself within the Merchant Alliance, and many outsiders knew of such a person.

In addition, Fourth Brother Dao Cheng, Sixth Son Dao Ming, and Ninth Son also broke through to the Inner Qi Realm, while the others were slightly behind, still at the Muscle and Bone Realm.

Except for the eldest, Liu Eldest Son, the rest were children who possessed Spiritual Roots, which showed the huge impact of Spiritual Roots on a Martial Artist's talent.