97: Children must win at the starting line!

Fearing that Liu Xuan might misunderstand, Liu Qingqing explained, "I was originally a Disciple of the Spell Hall. I only came to the Dual Cultivation Hall to serve as a deacon after reaching the Middle Stage of Qi Refining. My status is absolutely clean!"

Liu Xuan looked Liu Qingqing up and down. Her appearance was fine; she was a conventional beauty.

Although she was a bit older, estimated to be over thirty-five, she looked only in her twenties, which was the prime of her youth.

Cultivators at the Qi Refinement Stage naturally aged slower than Mortals, and since female Cultivators loved to maintain their appearance, they generally did not show signs of aging until after forty.

Since her cultivation could reach the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, her talent probably was not bad; she was barely acceptable.

"Are you really willing to become my Dao Companion?" Liu Xuan asked.

Liu Qingqing nodded without hesitation.

She was thirty-six, and her cultivation had always been stuck at the fourth level of Qi Refining. After breaking through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, she felt her potential had somewhat exhausted.

With an eighth-grade Spiritual Root and no other talent or background, the Late Qi Refining Stage was already an extravagant hope; she had to consider her future.

There were two types of people among Cultivators. One was the determined seeker of the Dao, who would not give up Cultivating until the day they died.

The other type was the Late Stage hedonist. Once they felt that the hope of a Breakthrough was slim, they would engage in retaliatory indulgence, and some would even marry and have children, pinning their hopes on their descendants.

Liu Qingqing was clearly the latter. Since she was going to have one or two children anyway, Liu Xuan was the best choice.

Moreover, if she could get Liu Xuan's support, her chances of a Breakthrough in cultivation would be greater.

"What conditions do you want?" Liu Xuan continued to ask.

"This..." Liu Qingqing pondered for a moment. "How about ten... ten Spirit Stones every month?"

Her salary at the Dual Cultivation Hall, combined with occasionally taking on tasks from the Spell Hall, was about ten-plus Spirit Stones per month.

Disciples of the Spell Hall had no specialized skills. Although their combat ability was stronger, their standard of living was much worse.

It had been better in the last two years, as there were many more tasks in the Spell Hall. In previous years, the income was even lower; sometimes, she did not even have ten Spirit Stones a month.

"Fine!" Liu Xuan nodded. "In a few days, together with the other new Dao Companions, I will pick you up to live in the Talisman Hall."

"Really?" Liu Qingqing was overjoyed. She did not expect Liu Xuan to agree so readily.

"Do your job well. The heavy reward I promised afterwards still stands!"

After speaking, Liu Xuan bid farewell and left. He was not in a hurry to get intimate with Liu Qingqing.

Adhering to the principle of 'better to have it than not,' he agreed to take in Liu Qingqing, but as for how to treat her specifically, he still needed to observe her for a while.

Talisman Hall. Talisman Masters Small Building.

"Daddy~" "Father~" "Daddy is back!!"

It was like entering a kindergarten; seven or eight children came stumbling over to surround him.

His eldest son, Xiao Yuan, was over two years old and had become the leader of the children, with the rest of the children following behind him.

"Daddy, take it out quickly! What good things did you bring us this time?" Xiao Yuan tugged at Liu Xuan's clothes, his little face full of anticipation.

During this period, Liu Xuan would come back about every half month, and each time he would bring them delicious food and fun toys, which was why everyone was so excited.

One or two-year-old children did not understand what blood relations were; whoever gave them milk was mother. They only knew that when Liu Xuan returned, there would be good things to eat.

Liu Xuan opened the package in his hand. "Look, what is this?"

Xiao Yuan, as well as the two girls Lingxiu and Ling Hui, craned their heads to look.

Lingxiu frowned her little brows and shook her head slightly, saying in a milky voice, "Red fruit, never seen it before!"

"So fragrant!" Xiao Yuan licked his lips, grabbed one, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"You brat! All you know is eating." Liu Xuan scolded with a smile, then distributed the fruits, one for each child.

"This is called Mellow Fragrant Fruit. Eating it can increase your strength, got it?"

Ling Hui held the fruit, which was the size of her fist, and examined it carefully, whispering, "Stupid... Fragrant... Pot... increase strength!"

Lingjing, Ninth Son, Dao Ming, and Dao Shun were still young and could not even walk properly, let alone understand what Liu Xuan and the others were saying. Seeing Xiao Yuan eating so happily, they imitated him, getting juice all over their faces.

The Mellow Fragrant Fruit was an unranked spiritual fruit. It tasted slightly sweet, had a rich fragrance, was very juicy, and had the effect of slightly increasing Qi and blood.

Unranked spiritual fruits were very cheap; this big bag of several catties only cost one gold coin.

Unlike spiritual rice, which had mild spiritual power, many spiritual fruits had very strong spiritual medicinal effects and were not suitable for children to eat.

The Mellow Fragrant Fruit was not expensive and contained only weak spiritual power, making it just right for them to eat.

"Daddy, I want more!" While the other children had just started, and the quiet Ling Hui was still examining her fruit, Xiao Yuan had already finished one.

"Here!" Liu Xuan took out two more and stuffed them into his hands, then took one for himself and walked into the house while munching on it, with a group of children following behind him.

Inside the house. Chang Dan and Wu Qingyue had gone out to handle matters, and Da Shuang had also gone out to tend to the bees. Only Xiao Shuang and Lin Xue'er were taking care of the three infants under half a year old, while the remaining seven children who could walk were being looked after by Huang Qian and Li Man.

Besides that, there were two female menial Disciples responsible for cooking, as well as seven menial maidservants, with each person in charge of one.

Once there were many people, the expenses were high. With over twenty people in total, the food expenses alone were quite significant.

Fortunately, Liu Xuan had plenty of Spirit Stones. Besides the money for the children's moonlight spiritual marrow, Liu Xuan gave Lin Xue'er one hundred Spirit Stones every month for the household's total expenses, and she never used it all up.

The monthly salary of six Spirit Stones for each of Chang Dan, Wu Qingyue, Li Man, and Huang Qian was not included in the daily expenses; counting that, it was also a raise for them.

In addition to the Spirit Stones given by Liu Xuan, they could also earn some Spirit Stones by doing work in the Sect during their spare time, so it could be said that they lived very comfortably, at least with no worries about basic Cultivating.

"Husband!" "Husband!" ...

Lin Xue'er was wearing casual clothes, her hair was scattered casually, and her youthful face had gained a touch of mature beauty.

"Husband, I plan to hire a female teacher from the city to come every day to teach the children how to read and write. What do you think?"

"Ah..." Liu Xuan turned back and looked at the group of children, the oldest of whom was only two-plus years old. "Wouldn't that be too early? They are still so young."

Xiao Yuan finally stopped eating the fruit and nodded along. "Too young! We are all too young!"

"It's not early. Children must win at the starting line!"

Lin Xue'er pointed at her eldest son, Liu Daoyuan. "Look at him, how smart he is! He can start learning."

"Wuwuwu..." Xiao Yuan shook his head repeatedly. "Not smart, not smart!"

Liu Xuan found it funny and nodded, saying, "I'll listen to Xue'er. You decide!"

"But don't push them too hard. Children should focus on playing; don't crush their curiosity!"

"Don't worry, Husband!" Lin Xue'er leaned against Liu Xuan, saying gently, "I know the measure; I won't mistreat them."

Liu Xuan gently put his arm around her shoulder. He was very reassured by how Lin Xue'er handled things; otherwise, he wouldn't have given her all the household's Spirit Stones to manage and arrange.

He took a fruit out of the package and handed it to Lin Xue'er. "Taste it, it's quite delicious!"

Lin Xue'er bit into it with her pearly white teeth, revealing a sweet smile. "So sweet!"

It was indeed very sweet...