Protect Our Patriarch

Two days later.

Before dawn.

Wang Shouzhe opened his eyes from the bed and felt the slow progress of his cultivation. After reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining, the difficulty of cultivation had clearly increased.

It was not because he had abundant spiritual food and occasionally took small Peiyuan Pills, but also because he had the assistance of spiritual stones in his cultivation. He was afraid that he couldn't even perceive his cultivation progress.

However, the path of cultivation advancement relied on persistence. It was a long-term process of perseverance and gradual progress.

If one could easily level up by taking pills, there would have been countless top experts running around in this world. And the clans wouldn't have to go through so much trouble and effort to cultivate a Spirit Platform Ancestor.

The Xuanwu Clan had its own family heritage and cultivation was equally difficult. Not to mention those wandering cultivators.

Recently, Wang Shouzhe had also read some of the secret books passed down within the clan.

One of them was specifically about wandering cultivators. It described how these cultivators had incredible adventures and could even pick up ancient holy beast cubs while walking on the road. They could easily obtain high-grade cultivation techniques by falling off a cliff. They would then go on a killing spree, targeting the legitimate sons of various clans, and even countless young ladies from prominent families would fall for them.

The path of a wandering cultivator was often ten times or more difficult than that of the children of prominent families.

Even if a wandering cultivator occasionally appeared with excellent conditions in all aspects, they would mostly only be able to marry relatively outstanding women from collateral branches. Only a few could marry direct-lineage women.

As for marrying a noble daughter? That was something out of the question.

It wasn't that there were no wandering cultivators with extremely good luck, experiencing a sudden mutation in their bloodline and possessing extraordinary talent, or reaching the peak of life through fortuitous encounters. But those were still rare events in probability theory. Under the same conditions, the children of prominent families would inevitably go higher and farther.

Moreover, if a wandering cultivator did reach the peak of life, what they would do next would be to establish a family, so that their descendants wouldn't have to follow the path of a wandering cultivator.

Using the words Wang Shouzhe said in his previous life on Earth, the social hierarchy in this world had already solidified. It was extremely difficult to take even one step forward.

Putting aside these thoughts for now.

Under the service of his servant Wang Gui, Wang Shouzhe washed up and had his breakfast.

His breakfast had now become white jade spiritual rice porridge and some preserved spirit fish meat, the standard fare.

Breakfast was the foundation of the day. After eating these delicious spiritual foods, he felt his spirit rejuvenated. In just a short moment, he could feel his depleted qi and blood gradually recovering due to cultivation.

After a short rest and digestion, it was time for Wang Shouzhe's daily Xuanwu cultivation.

As a Xuanwu practitioner who was determined to reach the Spirit Platform, it was necessary to cultivate the Xuanwu battle technique. Otherwise, after exhausting resources and working hard to cultivate to the level of an Ancestor, it would all be in vain.

The cultivation of the Xuanwu battle technique also had no shortcuts. It required diligence and perseverance every day, following the path of gradual progress. This was an advantage that the children of prominent families had over wandering cultivators. They didn't need to constantly travel around, enduring hardships and sleeping in the open. They could cultivate steadily.

After finishing cultivation, cleaning up, and taking a rest, Wang Shouzhe went to visit Ancestor Long Yan.

At this moment, Ancestor Long Yan's residence was more lively than usual. Not only had Ancestor Mang already come to visit early, but the Liu siblings were also there.

Everyone greeted each other respectfully.

"Grandmother." Ancestor Mang said respectfully, "Thanks to your guidance a few days ago, I feel that the bottleneck that has troubled me for many years has loosened. I'm afraid I will be able to break through to the third level soon."

He also felt emotional. Ancestor Mang was naturally considered to be a talented individual. He had achieved the Spirit Platform Realm in his forties. At that time, he was full of ambition and wanted to reach the Human Realm in his lifetime.

However, decades had passed, and his cultivation had been stuck at the peak of the second level of the Spirit Platform for eight years. With such slow progress, not to mention reaching the Human Realm, even breaking through to the later stage of the Spirit Platform would depend on luck.

"Mang'er, there's no need to be polite. Your talent is not bad. With a few more years of hard work, you will likely break through smoothly." Ancestor Long Yan calmly said, "The most difficult part of the Spirit Platform Realm for our lower-class clans is the scarcity of resources and the lack of guidance from predecessors. Every step is particularly difficult."

"What Grandmother said is true. I originally thought that after reaching the Spirit Platform Realm, the road would be smooth. But I didn't expect that the path to the Human Realm would be like an insurmountable barrier. If I open up my resources for cultivation, I'm afraid that most of the resources of the Gongsun Clan will be used by me alone. If that's the case, what about the future generations?" Ancestor Mang sighed, "But thinking about it carefully, it's normal. How can a Human Realm clan be so easily established? In our Changning Guard, there are dozens of clans, but only two are Human Realm clans."

The younger generation, including Wang Shouzhe, listened to the ancestors' conversation and naturally wouldn't interrupt.

However, Wang Shouzhe was calculating in his mind. The ancestors' discussion about the difficulties of the path to the Human Realm, especially the lack of cultivation resources, made him understand more.

Indeed, it was easier for him to solve the problem of resources. If he could bring the entire Ping'an Town under his control, he would be able to support three Spirit Platform Ancestors.

"Shouzhe." After Ancestor Mang finished speaking, he shifted his attention to Wang Shouzhe and said, "A few days ago, regarding the matter of the girl you asked about..." He hesitated and glanced at the Liu siblings.

"It's fine for Ancestor Mang to speak." Wang Shouzhe smiled and said, "Yuanrui and Ruolei are our own people. There's no secret that can't be shared."

Of course, this was Wang Shouzhe's way of showing goodwill. If it really involved the core secrets of the Wang Clan, how could he casually let them know? But since Liu Ruolei was going to become the main wife of the Wang Clan in the future, it was normal for the two families to establish a close alliance in advance.

With a casual remark, Liu Yuanrui and Liu Ruolei's favorable impression of Wang Shouzhe increased greatly. They both expressed that they wouldn't reveal any secrets they heard.

Especially Liu Ruolei, before coming, she had been saying that she would help her sister train her future brother-in-law. But she didn't expect to betray her words as soon as she arrived. She didn't want to go back home after enjoying the good food, drinks, and fun in the Wang Clan these days.

"If I'm wrong, please correct me, Grandmother." After Ancestor Mang finished speaking, he turned his attention to Wang Shouzhe and said, "Because I also walked the path of refining and tempering the body, I have done more research on various types of battle body bloodlines. But no matter what bloodline it is, it is ultimately the bloodline of our ancestors. When I say ancestors, I'm not referring to the Spirit Platform Ancestors of various families and clans, but the true ancestors who once stood at the pinnacle of humanity."

"It is rumored that in ancient times, those human ancestors possessed various magical and powerful battle body bloodlines. Some had immense strength, some were indestructible, some were immortal, and some could burn lakes and boil seas with a wave of their hand. These human ancestors passed down their bloodlines from generation to generation, and the various bloodlines mixed and gave birth to more bloodlines. After countless generations, our ancestors' bloodlines have almost completely disappeared. Only a few lucky ones awaken a part of the ancestral bloodline due to opportunities or luck."

"Of course, if one cultivates to the Spirit Platform Realm and strengthens their physical functions, they will inevitably awaken a part of the ancestral bloodline. Like me, after the Spirit Platform Realm, a faint Gengjin bloodline appeared. As for your grandmother, she is different. She was born with a medium-grade aptitude, which means she has already bred a bloodline to be called medium-grade. I remember that Grandmother Long Yan should have awakened the Yuan Water bloodline."

"Yes, when I was young, I had the Yuan Water bloodline. After reaching the Spirit Platform Realm, it evolved into the Xuan Ice bloodline, which is even more profound than the Yuan Water bloodline." Ancestor Long Yan added calmly, "The Yuan Water bloodline should be the main bloodline of the Liu Clan. Cultivating the 'Yuan Water Heart Technique' makes it easier to awaken the Yuan Water bloodline when breaking through the Spirit Platform. As for my mother, because she is the legitimate daughter of the Liu Clan, it is normal for me to awaken the diluted Yuan Water bloodline."

After speaking, Ancestor Long Yan looked at Liu Ruolei, her eyes showing a hint of smile and satisfaction.

Wang Shouzhe's mind moved, and he also looked at Liu Ruolei. This future sister-in-law had used some kind of concealment technique, which probably awakened a certain diluted bloodline, most likely the Yuan Water bloodline.

The conversation between the ancestors gave Wang Shouzhe a better understanding of the bloodline awakening in the Xuanwu Clan.

Unfortunately, Wang Shouzhe himself had not awakened the bloodline of any ancestor. Did he really have to wait until he reached the Spirit Platform and rely on the transformation of his physical functions to randomly stimulate some ancient bloodline?

He was really unwilling. Just as he was about to ask again.

Suddenly.

A voice came from outside, "Master, I dare to disturb you."

"What happened? Speak freely." Wang Shouzhe already had a guess in his mind. If it wasn't for the thing he expected to happen, Wang Wu wouldn't dare to disturb Ancestor Long Yan's residence.

"A report has come from the front." Wang Wu said from outside, "The Liu and Zhao Clans have sent their elite members, escorting two ancestors, and are coming towards our Wang Clan in a grand manner."

Just as expected!

Wang Shouzhe narrowed his eyes. His series of plans, especially the plan to replace labor with machines, had already affected the survival foundation of the Liu and Zhao Clans.

Those two old guys couldn't sit still anymore.

On the other hand, Liu Yuanrui and Liu Ruolei's faces changed drastically, and they became extremely nervous.

...