"Mm, that makes sense too."
Lu Changan smiled but did not contradict Li Ergou.
To a farmer's son like Li Ergou, marrying a wife and having children was already winning at life; cultivating immortality was probably just a bonus along the way.
Lu Changan, on the other hand, had his eye on the Mu family's spirit vein and cultivation grounds, and had no interest whatsoever in a wife and children.
In his previous life he had come from a cultivation clan and cultivated to the peak of Core Formation, with wives and concubines like clouds and a brood of children.
"Young friend Lu may want to think it over. The cultivation world of Liang Kingdom is hardly stable these days, and the Mu family, as a righteous-path cultivation clan, has an excellent reputation."
The Mu family head did not press him, and turned to the other youths.
Lu Changan had not made up his mind; he would first ask around about the Mu family.
The Young Marquis Lin Yi was well informed, so Lu Changan went to him with his questions.
Lin Yi did not put him off, and said after a moment's thought: "The Mu family of Feiyue Lake—I seem to have heard of them..."
"Don't be hasty. Let me ask around for you."
Leaving that one sentence behind, Lin Yi headed into the crowd to question people from the cultivation clans.
"Brother Lu, how come the Young Marquis is so easy to talk to all of a sudden?"
Li Ergou muttered.
Before this, Lin Yi had leaned on his status and his superior cultivation to treat the two of them coolly, even with a touch of disdain.
Lu Changan smiled. Lin Yi was getting used to his role as a cultivator.
They had all been rejected by the sect, and all now sat at the very bottom of the cultivation world.
Once he and Li Ergou joined a cultivation clan, their prospects would at least be better than those of bottom-tier rogue cultivators.
Making good karma was always better than making enemies.
A short while later, Lin Yi hurried back, his face serious:
"I asked around. The Mu family of Feiyue Lake is a proper cultivation clan, no bad reputation."
"A few years back the family fought the Zheng family over the rights to a spirit ore lode and lost nearly half its able-bodied cultivators. On top of that, the Mu family has produced barely any new spirit-rooted children these past two years and badly needs fresh blood!"
Hearing this, Lu Changan understood.
These rejected immortal seedlings had nothing of value for anyone to covet except their spiritual roots.
The Mu family head had come in person to recruit openly at the foot of Golden Cloud Valley; he was not about to stoop to any foul play.
"Rumor has it the Mu family's only Foundation Establishment ancestor was gravely injured in a duel some years ago and likely won't live another ten years."
Lin Yi suddenly lowered his voice.
The implication was plain: the Mu family's future prospects were not promising.
"I understand. Thank you for the warning, Brother Lin."
Lu Changan did not mind at all.
If not for these special circumstances, would outsiders like them ever have a chance to enter a cultivation clan?
As for how long the Mu family's ancestor would live, and what the family's prospects were—
What's that to me?
The Mu family was only a way station for Lu Changan's cultivation. If real trouble came his way, he would cut and run without a moment's hesitation.
"Young friend Lu, have you considered it?"
The Mu family head, in a blue scholar's gown, refined and fair of face, looked toward the two who had come back.
"The two of us agree to join the Mu family. But this junior has one small request of his own."
Lu Changan said, cupping his hands.
"Oh? And what do you have in mind?"
"This junior is sincere about the immortal path. At this early stage of my cultivation, I do not wish to lose myself in women. I hope Senior Mu can grant me ten years; after ten years, this junior will consider taking a wife and having children."
"Ten years?"
The Mu family head gave a cold snort, as if muffled thunder rolled through the empty air.
Li Ergou staggered, his face ashen, too frightened to say a word.
The eighth layer of Qi Refining was absolute suppression over the first.
Lu Changan struggled to steady himself, putting on a look of terror.
But he did not withdraw the request.
"Your will is decent."
The Mu family head was silent a while, offered that flat assessment, and in the end made a concession:
"The Mu family does not keep idlers. I will give you five years at most!"
"Five years... all right, then!"
Lu Changan looked as if he had agreed only reluctantly.
In truth he had never hoped to stretch it to ten years; he had simply left himself room to haggle.
Five years matched his expectations.
"Five years from now, if you break the agreement, you must pay back three times the cultivation resources the Mu family has provided."
The Mu family head said, with meaning in his words.
He was no fool; why would he let a junior freeload off the family's resources and then run off years later?
He was willing to concede because of Lu Changan's mid-grade spiritual root.
One hour later.
The Mu family head selected ten spirit-rooted youths, Lu Changan and Li Ergou among them.
All of them were youths without backing.
"All right. From now on you are outer-surname disciples of the Mu family. Come with me back to Feiyue Lake."
The Mu family head led the ten youths down the mountain.
Besides the family head, Mu Maode, there were
four Mu family cultivators of mid Qi Refining came along, their cultivation between the fourth and sixth layers.
After leaving Golden Cloud Valley, the Mu family party did not fly.
They rode fine horses of mortal breed.
These horses answered to the lead spirit foal, so even Li Ergou, who could not ride, was unaffected.
"Brother Lu, why aren't these immortal masters flying us back to the family seat?"
Li Ergou was rather disappointed.
When they had gone to Golden Cloud Valley for the test, they had ridden a sect flying boat.
"Mm... maybe the immortal masters want to temper our bodies and will along the way."
Lu Changan said, his face gravely profound.
He knew the real reason perfectly well, but as a rookie with no backing who had just set foot on the immortal path, he absolutely must not play the know-it-all.
Qi Refining cultivators had shallow mana after all; they could fly only by borrowing magical tools, which did not suit long journeys.
And their flying speed was nothing to brag about—worse than an ordinary little car on Earth.
Never mind carrying a pack of dead weight.
As for flying boats? Those were rather valuable; given the Mu family's circumstances, they might not have one at all, or would not bring it out lightly.
Compared with that, traveling by horse was far more practical.
It saved mana.
If a long flight drained too much mana and an enemy caught them at a disadvantage, that would be a real laughingstock.
"Temper our bodies and will? That must be it! Brother Lu, you really know a lot."
Li Ergou had a revelation and believed it utterly.
Their conversation did not escape the Mu family members leading the way ahead.
The Mu family head said nothing, while the four Mu family cultivators wore strange expressions, the corners of their mouths twitching slightly.
Night fell.
The Mu family party rested in the wilderness.
Hunting, building campfires, feeding the horses... the four Mu family cultivators set the youths to work.
"They won't even spare a fasting pill?"
Lu Changan stared at the boar and rabbits turning on the fire spits and sank into thought.
The finances of the Mu family of Feiyue Lake might be worse than he had imagined.
"May I ask the family head, how long until we reach the family seat?"
One of the youths asked.
"The horses you ride carry a trace of spirit-foal blood, yet it will still take three months to reach the family."
The Mu family head sat cross-legged before a campfire of his own, several Mu family juniors keeping watch around him.
Three months?
The spirit-rooted youths looked at one another.
Those among them who had sat down cross-legged to cultivate looked rather grim.
Until they reached the Mu family, they would be stuck in the mortal world's spirit-poor regions, where cultivation progress was extremely slow.
And that was not even counting the time spent resting along the road.
Which was as much as to say that two or three months on the road would be nearly wasted for cultivation!
"Yunfei, hand each of them a share of spirit stones."
After a brief pause, the Mu family head called over a handsome, distinguished Mu family youth of the fifth Qi Refining layer.
Handing out spirit stones?
Lu Changan was pleased; it seemed he had misjudged the Mu family head.
Soon the ten spirit-rooted youths received their spirit stones.
So-called spirit stones...
Looking at the small handful of crystalline grains in his palm, giving off faint ripples of spirit qi, Lu Changan's mouth twitched.
This was spirit sand.
In the cultivation world it was the smaller unit of currency beneath spirit stones.
Spirit stones and spirit sand alike were mined from spirit stone ore.
1 standard low-grade spirit stone = 50 liang of spirit sand.
"Mm, about twenty liang of spirit sand. Less than half a spirit stone."
Lu Changan weighed it in his hand and sank into thought once more.
Forget it.
No point expecting that much.
What he valued was the Mu family's spirit vein—a place to cultivate.
He would find a way to earn spirit stones later.
"We got spirit stones! Thank you, Family Head—"
Those youths who had just set foot on the immortal path were beaming.
Spirit sand could supply spirit qi for cultivation too.
"As long as you sincerely join the Mu family and produce plenty of offspring, there will be more rewards later."
The Mu family head looked utterly generous.
Looking at the spirit sand being handed out, the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly.
Having received the spirit sand, the youths who knew cultivation methods sat down to cultivate, drawing the pure spirit qi from the granules.
The first layer of the Kaiyuan Scripture—barely at the threshold?
Lu Changan examined the state of his mana.
He was the young gang master of the Raging River Gang, who had set foot on the immortal path after befriending a down-and-out rogue cultivator priest.
The Kaiyuan Scripture was an entry-level technique he had wrung out of the man at no small cost.
The technique had no elemental attribute; its virtue was that one could switch smoothly to other techniques.
Lu Changan, who had already lived two lives on the immortal path, would naturally not cultivate a cheap common commodity like that.
He closed his eyes and recalled the store of techniques he had commanded at the peak of Core Formation in his last life.
"The Ninefold Blazing Heavens Art, a high-tier fire-attribute technique; it cultivates nine layers of flame and burns all things to ash, and its divine-power combat strength stands out among the same tier..."
"The Wind Nether Scripture, a demonic-path technique; its methods are uncanny, its escape speed first-rate, its ability to preserve one's life considerable..."
"No. This life's goal is the Nascent Soul stage!"
Lu Changan quickly shook his head, rejecting several powerful high-tier techniques.
In his last life he had come to understand deeply what "beneath Nascent Soul, all are ants" meant.
As for the difficulty of reaching Nascent Soul—even with the memories of a peak Core Formation cultivator, he had little confidence in re-cultivating it in this life.
After all, in his second life he had an upper-grade spiritual root and was born into a cultivation clan; his starting point had been far higher than this life's.
A long while later, he finally made his decision:
"It seems I can only choose that ancient technique..."