9: Chapter 9 Giving birth

Since the day the Internal Affairs Hall assigned marriages, the peripheral spirit fields of the Qingmu Su Clan continued to operate as usual.

But in the small courtyards of those branch family disciples, there were now more figures of mortal women, and a bit more worldly atmosphere.

After Su Yu married Song Qingwan, his life fell into a routine—plain and regular.

Song Qingwan had a gentle temperament and acted very dutifully.

She was well aware of her mortal status, treating Su Yu with a mix of reverence and fear. She managed the daily chores of the small courtyard meticulously and never inquired about any of Su Yu's clan affairs.

As for Su Yu, aside from patrolling the spirit fields during the day to earn a stable monthly salary of eight spirit stones, and sneaking to the formation nodes at midnight to absorb ownerless spiritual energy,

the rest of his energy was naturally devoted to continuing the bloodline.

Although the probability of cultivators and Mortal conceiving a child with a spirit root was higher than that of ordinary people, it was still no easy feat.

Many branch family disciples, having been forcibly cut off from the path of immortality by the clan, were filled with reluctance and resentment.

In their eyes, the mortal wives assigned by the clan were not true spouses at all, but merely tools to vent their pent-up frustration and anger.

They indulged in nightly revelry, unrestrained in their release.

Not only did they neglect their cultivation, but they also drained their own vitality, yet their wives remained childless for a long time.

But Su Yu was different.

In his previous life, as the Prince of Zhennan of the Great Xia Dynasty, he had been a notorious womanizer, with lovers scattered across the land.

He had long mastered the secret arts of yin-yang union to perfection.

He did not need to blindly indulge like the others.

Every time he was intimate, he could guide the union of yin and yang with extremely skillful methods.

Not only did this not harm his own cultivation foundation, but at the most opportune moment, it would nourish Song Qingwan's mortal body and maximize the chances of conception.

In the deep autumn of the first year of marriage, their first son was born.

Su Yu named him Su Cheng, meaning to carry on the family line.

According to clan rules, newborn children had to be taken to the Internal Affairs Hall for a bloodline spirit root test on their one-month birthday.

The result was as expected: the testing orb showed no reaction. The eldest son, Su Cheng, had no spirit root—he was merely a mortal.

When she learned the result, Song Qingwan's eyes reddened. She knelt before Su Yu in guilt, begging for forgiveness, afraid that her husband would be angered and cast her aside.

But in a low-level cultivation clan, it was common for even parents with spirit roots to bear mortal children, let alone Su Yu, who himself had only a low-grade Ninth-Grade Poor Talent spirit root.

Su Yu was unmoved. He gently helped her up and calmly collected the five low-grade spirit stones as a childbirth subsidy promised by the clan from the Deacon Elder.

Life continued to move forward.

During this time, the maid Qing'er was also taken into Su Yu's household as a concubine, serving him alongside Song Qingwan.

In the early summer of the third year, Song Qingwan gave birth again, delivering their second son.

Su Yu named him Su Yuan.

On the day of the one-month celebration, Su Yu gathered with several other branch disciples who had also fathered children at the testing platform in the Internal Affairs Hall.

The hands of the first few children were pressed onto the testing orb, but all remained dead silent, drawing sighs from the branch disciples.

When it was Su Yu's turn, he held Su Yuan, still in swaddling, and gently placed the infant's tender hand on the translucent testing orb.

The Deacon Elder of the Internal Affairs Hall sat in the main seat and casually cast a hand seal into the orb.

The next moment,

within the previously calm testing orb, a clear halo of light suddenly lit up.

This light swiftly rose, breaking through the dark lower regions representing the eighth and ninth grades without any impurity or stagnation, and finally settled steadily at the peak of the low-grade spirit root scale, pure and dazzling.

"There's spiritual light!"

The surrounding branch disciples let out low exclamations, their expressions shifting instantly.

Even the Deacon Elder, whose face was usually stern, showed a rare hint of emotion, standing up abruptly.

"The spiritual light is clear—Seventh-grade Spirit Root!"

The elder's voice echoed through the hall. His eyes fixed on the baby in the swaddling clothes, he stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly.

Looking at the dazzling spiritual light, even Su Yu's usually calm eyes flickered with surprise.

In the cultivation world, the probability of a Ninth-Grade Poor Talent cultivator and a mortal woman conceiving a child with a spirit root was extremely slim.

Not to mention the second child—some people could have eight or ten children and still not see a single trace of spiritual light!

Moreover, the child born was not just a Ninth-Grade Poor Talent, but a Seventh-grade Spirit Root, far superior to his father!

Such luck was almost heaven-defying at the bottom of Qingmu Market.

A Seventh-grade Spirit Root was already among the best of low-grade spirit roots, just one step away from mid-grade.

With proper nurturing, he would at least be able to steadily advance to the late Qi Refining stage and become a pillar of the clan's presence in the market.

"Good! Good! Good!"

The elder exclaimed three times, and the look he gave Su Yu now held a tangible weight of importance.

Not only the elder, but also the Su Hao, who had arrived upon hearing the news, showed a clear smile on his face as he looked at the test results.

Su Tian was a follower he had promoted.

Over the past three years, Su Tian had stayed in line and kept a tight watch on the peripheral spirit fields.

Now, not only had he actively responded to the clan's call, but he had also fathered a child with a Seventh-grade Spirit Root.

When this reached the higher-ups, they would only say that Su Hao was not only exceptionally talented himself, but also had subordinates blessed with fortune who could contribute to the clan.

"Su Tian, you have done very well."

Su Hao stepped forward, patted Su Yu on the shoulder, and praised him with the bearing of a superior.

"It is all thanks to the Young Clan Leader's blessings and the clan's cultivation. Su Tian dare not take the credit."

Su Yu lowered his eyes, returned the salute with cupped hands, and spoke respectfully, skillfully deflecting the credit.

This remark made Su Hao find this follower even more pleasing.

"According to clan rules, those who bear a child with a spirit root shall receive a generous reward."

The Deacon Elder returned to his seat, waved his sleeve, and a delicate storage pouch landed steadily in Su Yu's hand.

"Inside the pouch are ten low-grade spirit stones, a bottle of 'Qi-Gathering Pills' suitable for early Qi Refining cultivation, and a low-grade magic tool, the 'green edge sword'."

The elder said slowly, "These resources are a personal reward to you from the clan. As for the child, when he reaches six years of age, the main branch will directly take him into the clan school to teach him techniques."

At these words, the eyes of the surrounding branch disciples turned red with envy.

Ten spirit stones were one thing, but the Qi-Gathering Pills and low-grade magic tool were hot commodities in Qingmu Market!

Many low-level rogue cultivators, even at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refining, might still be using ordinary steel weapons.

But Su Yu, simply because he had fathered a good son, had directly obtained a magic tool!

"Thank you, Elder, and thank you, Clan."

Su Yu took the storage pouch calmly, stowed it away properly, and did not show the overwhelming joy that others might have.

...

After the crowd dispersed, Su Yu carried his second son back to his small courtyard.

Upon learning that her second son had tested positive for a spirit root and had good talent, Song Qingwan was so excited she cried tears of joy, repeatedly kowtowing in the direction of the Internal Affairs Hall.

A mother's status rises with her child.

In this cultivation clan, having given birth to a child with a spirit root, her position as a mortal wife was now completely secure.

Su Yu handed the child to Song Qingwan to care for and entered the meditation room alone.

He opened the rewarded storage pouch and took out the Qi-Gathering Pills and the green edge sword, placing them on the stone table before him.

Through three years of covert accumulation, he had already pushed his cultivation to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

With the help of this bottle of Qi-Gathering Pills, breaking through to the sixth layer was only a matter of course.

And this low-grade magic tool, the green edge sword, made up for his biggest shortcoming.

With his peak martial arts insight from his previous life, combined with a cultivation magic tool, and if he used the explosive techniques of the Heavenly Dragon True Qi,

even against a cultivator of the same realm, he was confident that in close combat, he could decapitate his opponent within ten moves.