Chapter 283: Heavenly demon plant, the mysterious demon flower!

Emerald Lake Mountain.

Lu Family Manor, Discussion Hall.

“Currently, the family has three hundred and sixteen members, including three Foundation Establishment cultivators, four late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, thirty-four mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and sixteen early-stage Qi Refining cultivators.”

Lu Changsheng sat at the head seat, listening calmly as his wife, Lu Miaoyun, summarized the details.

Unconsciously, the number of members in his Lu family had already exceeded three hundred.

Furthermore, among the three hundred and sixteen family members, there were fifty-seven immortal cultivators!

This proportion was astonishing!

The reason for so many cultivators, particularly those in the mid-stage Qi Refining realm, was entirely because his twenty-one wives and concubines were all at this cultivation level.

As for his children, currently thirteen had broken through to the mid-stage Qi Refining, and sixteen were in the early-stage Qi Refining.

“Total income this year was thirty-one thousand one hundred and forty-three spirit stones, and expenses were thirty-five thousand six hundred and sixty-five spirit stones, with family stipends accounting for seventy percent of the expenses.”

Lu Miaoyun continued speaking.

Inside the hall, everyone felt a bit heavy-hearted upon hearing that it was another year of negative expenditure and losses.

After all, it had been over four years, and Emerald Lake Mountain was still operating at a loss, having not yet turned losses into profits.

And everyone in the hall was clear about the reason for the losses and the main expenditures.

Lu Changsheng himself didn’t feel too strongly about this, thinking that achieving this much in four years was quite good.

After all, in his view, the expenses related to starting a family and having children were necessities, and calculated over the long term, it was always a gain.

However, these family expenses did not include costs such as the ‘Divine Wood Grand Array’, the ‘Vast Sea Array’, cultivating Dao soldiers, and so on.

Otherwise, the expenses would be even more exaggerated.

“Income has improved compared to last year; let’s strive to break even next year.”

Lu Changsheng chuckled softly, tapping the table, and said, “Next, I have two matters to discuss.”

“Our family has been in a state of semi-closure for the past few years, and it hasn’t been convenient to manage many industries and businesses.”

“Therefore, starting this year, family disciples who reach eighteen years old and break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining can apply to go out and manage business industries.”

Lu Changsheng looked at his wives, concubines, sons, and daughters, and said.

“Apply to go out and manage business industries?”

Some Lu family disciples exchanged glances, their eyes showing joy.

Although no one had mentioned it during these four years of mountain closure, some Lu family disciples still had some complaints in their hearts.

After all, at this age, they were in the prime of their youth, full of longing for the outside world, and naturally wanted to go out and see more.

Not to mention traveling or gaining experience, having grown up on Green Bamboo Mountain and Emerald Lake Mountain since childhood, with a pile of rules and restrictions at home, they would inevitably feel bored and yearn for the outside.

Moreover, many wives, concubines, sons, and daughters heard this and knew it was another opportunity to prove themselves.

“As for going out for training, you must have a cultivation level of at least the sixth level of Qi Refining to apply.”

Lu Changsheng continued.

Earlier, Lu Quanzhen had expressed a desire to go out for training, and he was certainly not the only one with such an idea.

So he directly set the rule, setting the cultivation level at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

For the children currently in the family, this cultivation level was neither high nor low, and their age would be roughly around twenty-five, having accumulated some experience.

“Finally, regarding the matter of the Family Head.”

Lu Changsheng looked at his children below and spoke.

Currently, family affairs were divided quite meticulously, with each person having their specific duties, and trivial matters were basically coordinated and handled by Lu Miaoyun.

Some major decisions were made by him and Ling Zixiao.

But now that the family had decided to open the mountain gates, whether it was trivial family matters, business affairs, or dealing with other families, there needed to be one person in charge, that is, the Lu Family Head.

“Family Head!?”

Hearing this, many concubines and children looked surprised and exchanged glances, looking towards Lu Ping’an, Lu Quanzhen, and Lu Yun.

Although the Lu family did not pay too much attention to the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.

In the eyes of most concubines and children, there would still be a distinction in this regard.

After all, although Lu Changsheng treated all his children equally in terms of welfare and benefits, there would still be obvious favoritism in daily life.

For example, Lu Ping’an, Lu Quanzhen, and Lu Yun were all born to the main wife, and they were relatively older and favored by Lu Changsheng, so most people guessed that the Family Head would be chosen from among them.

“Currently, the first Family Head of our Lu family will be Lu Yun.”

Lu Changsheng didn’t bother with any voting and directly looked at his son Lu Yun and said.

Choosing Lu Yun was partly because his sons Lu Ping’an and Lu Quanzhen had no intention of being the Family Head.

On the other hand, it was also about ability.

Although Lu Yun lacked initiative and decisiveness, under Lu Miaoyun’s guidance, he did not do poorly in handling matters.

Serving as the Family Head, with the help of his mother Lu Miaoyun in the early stages, at least no major problems would arise.

Furthermore, this son was not without his merits.

At least he was diligent and obedient, and in terms of marrying and having children, he set an example.

He currently had one wife and three concubines, and had fathered three children.

Although he couldn’t be compared to his father.

Among these children with spiritual roots, he was already considered quite good.

“Thank you, Father, this child will certainly live up to Father’s expectations and the hopes of the multitude!”

Lu Yun took a deep breath upon hearing this, rising with a mix of joy and nervousness, cupping his hands and bowing.

Although the Family Head of an immortal cultivation family was different from a Family Head in the secular world.

Serving as the Family Head meant essentially giving up half of one’s immortal path, having to spend a lot of time on daily trivial matters, and basically having no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment.

However, the identity, status, and power of the Family Head were unquestionable.

“Congratulations, Brother Yun!”

“Congratulations, Brother Yun!”

“Greetings, Family Head!”

Immediately, some people congratulated Lu Yun.

“Mm, perform well.”

“The position of Family Head is for a term of five years, and one can serve a maximum of four terms.”

“I will make a judgment based on your performance during your term. If you do well, you will be heavily rewarded and continue in the position. If you don’t do well, I will directly replace you, understand?”

Lu Changsheng said.

His choice of Lu Yun as Family Head, besides the factor of Lu Miaoyun, was also because there weren’t many suitable children to choose from in the family at the moment.

If Lu Yun’s ability was indeed insufficient and unsuitable, he would still replace him and choose from other children.

After all, in his eyes, there was really no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children in this regard; serving as Family Head depended mainly on ability.

“Yes, Father!”

Lu Yun took a deep breath and nodded in response.

He had already learned about these matters from his mother Lu Miaoyun beforehand and was mentally prepared.

“This family meeting concludes here. If you have any other matters, you can come directly to me.”

Lu Changsheng looked at his wives, concubines, sons, and daughters, and said.

“Yes, husband, Father!”

Everyone in the hall stood up and responded respectfully.

Immediately, Lu Changsheng left the hall with several of his wives.

As the family meeting concluded, Emerald Lake Mountain became lively.

Lu Changsheng also spent this time accompanying his wives, concubines, sons, and daughters, discussing the arrangements for the children going out.

After all, when the children went out, they would prioritize choosing market towns near Emerald Lake Mountain, such as Red Leaf Valley Market or Nine Dragons Market.

In addition, he also asked Hong Lian to refine identity tokens for the family.

These tokens would allow all Lu family disciples outside to sense each other’s location, send messages, request assistance, verify identities, and so on.

Furthermore, during this time, he also spent more time nurturing the third-tier treasured talismans he had prepared for his children.

“Young Master, what do you think of this design?”

On this day, Xu Ruyin handed the refined identity token to Lu Changsheng.

The token was roughly three fingers wide, made of what seemed like gold and jade, with emerald green embellishments along the edges.

One side was engraved with a mountain and sea pattern, while the other side had the character ‘Lu’, looking both magnificent and somewhat simple.

This token could sense the presence of others within a hundred miles and send simple messages within a thousand miles.

If Lu Changsheng wished, he could use the Limitless Tracking Technique of the Red Lotus Sect to find the location of the token.

“Not bad. Just make a simple mark on each token to differentiate them.”

After examining it for a few moments, Lu Changsheng asked Hong Lian to put a simple mark on the side with the character ‘Lu’, and thus it was decided.

There were a total of thirteen children in the family eligible to apply to go out.

However, only six had applied so far, so he was not in a hurry to refine the tokens.

At Hong Lian’s speed of refining one every three to five days, it was sufficient.

After roughly arranging and handling the family affairs, Lu Changsheng remembered that the auction at White Jade Pavilion should have results by now.

Immediately, he went out and arrived at the White Jade Pavilion in Nine Dragons Market.

“Young Master Ye, please come in.”

“Regarding the four maidservants you previously auctioned at our White Jade Pavilion, except for No. 66 which failed to be auctioned, Nos. 69, 77, and 98 were all successfully bid on.”

“May I ask if Young Master Ye confirms this?”

The manager of White Jade Pavilion saw Lu Changsheng and immediately said enthusiastically.

In Nine Dragons Market, someone who could spend nearly fifty thousand spirit stones to purchase maidservants was definitely a major client, hence the great enthusiasm.

“No. 66 failed, huh.”

Lu Changsheng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this but didn’t pay too much attention.

He then paid the remaining balance for the other three maidservants.

Since these three maidservants also needed to be transported by White Jade Pavilion from other places, it would take over a month.

Therefore, after confirming the details, Lu Changsheng bid farewell, stating that he would come to pick them up himself and they didn’t need to be delivered home.

In the blink of an eye, over a month passed.

“These are life-saving talismans that Father refined for you. You should smear a drop of blood from between your eyebrows and essence blood onto them.”

“If you encounter a life-or-death crisis, you can activate the talisman to escape.”

“Regarding this talisman, you must absolutely not reveal it to outsiders, understand!”

Lu Changsheng looked at his children one by one in front of him, his expression serious, and said in a deep voice.

This talisman of his was called the ‘Substitute Talisman’, ranked third-tier low-grade.

Its effect was somewhat similar to his Life Substitute Talisman; it could be linked through essence blood, body, and soul, forming a substitute puppet to block disaster when encountering danger, and then teleporting a thousand miles away.

However, its effect was far inferior to the Life Substitute Talisman, only being able to withstand a single strike from a Core Formation cultivator at most.

Furthermore, unlike the Life Substitute Talisman, it couldn’t substitute for bad luck or block fate, or guard against some difficult-to-parry methods.

But for these children, it was already enough.

They were all heading to the market to manage businesses; unless they encountered some powerful rogue cultivators, they would likely not need these talismans.

“Yes, Father!”

It was the first time they had seen their father with such a majestic expression.

Knowing the matter was important, they dared not be negligent and all swore heart demon oaths.

Then, looking at the talismans in their hands, which resembled purple dragon scales outlined with mysterious tadpole-like script, their expressions were all joyful.

After all, they all knew that their father was a top-tier talisman master with a formidable reputation, and such life-saving talismans were certainly not simple.

Seeing his children each use the ‘Substitute Talisman’, Lu Changsheng gave a few instructions and then left.

Dawn broke in the east, the morning light faint.

At the peak of Azure Cloud Peak, at the highest point of Azure Lake Mountain, stood an ancient tree dozens of feet tall, its entire body like gold and jade, with crystal clear light flowing.

This place was a restricted area of Azure Lake Mountain, the cultivation ground of the Ancestor Lady-Monarch, from which one could easily overlook the entire landscape of Azure Lake Mountain.

At this moment, on the ancient tree, a man and a woman were doing something shameful and pleasurable.

Lu Changsheng had Xu Ruyin hold onto a branch, while he supported her from behind, feeling her supple strength.

“Mmm~”

Xu Ruyin wore a red gauze dress, her two shapely beautiful legs like jade pillars, forced to stand on tiptoe, occasionally lifting her heels high, causing her fair jade toes to turn red.

“Miss Xu, do you like it like this?” Lu Changsheng teased.

After spending so much time together, he naturally couldn’t resist and plucked the fruit that was Xu Ruyin.

Perhaps under his daily ’training’, or perhaps under Ling Zixiao’s ‘brainwashing’, Xu Ruyin also gradually accepted her fate and offered herself during a moment of intimacy between him and Ling Zixiao after drinking.

Faced with this situation, Lu Changsheng naturally wouldn’t pretend to be a gentleman.

In the following days, Xu Ruyin essentially became like Ling Zixiao’s ‘bed-warming maid’, helping to serve and making Lu Changsheng feel happy and comfortable.

And on ordinary days, some of Lu Changsheng’s ‘playful activities’ that weren’t suitable to do with his wife could also be done with Xu Ruyin’s cooperation.

“Wuwuwu… I… I like it…”

Xu Ruyin was forced to grasp the branches of the Sumeru tree, her beautiful eyes tightly closed, her fiery red hair dancing wildly, and muffled sounds coming from her mouth.

At this height, the two could even see fishermen fishing in Azure Water Lake and some rogue cultivator apprentices cultivating on the island in the center of the lake.

“Do you think they can see us?” Lu Changsheng looked at the vast and misty Azure Water Lake, his hand tracing over her smooth skin, and said softly, “Or are they wondering what we’re doing here?”

Although Xu Ruyin knew that with the ‘Inverted Five Elements Array’ below, they absolutely couldn’t see them, as her hazy beautiful eyes opened and closed, looking at the scenery below, her body still tensed up, and an indescribable thrill surged in her heart.

Finally, with a crisp sound, Xu Ruyin whimpered, groans burst forth, and she went limp all over with a hint of a sob in her voice, her hands dropping powerlessly.

Seeing this, Lu Changsheng thought to himself that even though Xu Ruyin was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, her body was still a bit weak.

He patted her jade buttocks, wrapped his arm around her delicate body, changed positions, and continued.

Just then, a system notification sounded.

[Congratulations to the host! Thirty of your descendants have completed Qi Introduction and embarked on the path of cultivation, gaining the bloodline effect: Descendant Spiritual Root probability increased by 5%, and gaining one lottery chance!]

“Hmm? Thirty now…”

Hearing the system notification, Lu Changsheng paused slightly in his heart.

There was no notification when it reached twenty-five, so he had already made this guess.

Hearing the system give a ‘gift’, Lu Changsheng was also in a great mood, supporting her graceful waist, driving straight in, going directly to the core, and venting the pleasure in his heart.

The beauty’s jade body trembled, shaking and quivering, abandoning her armor and helmet, looking disheveled and miserable, sweet springs gushing forth.

It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky that Lu Changsheng let Xu Ruyin go back to rest, while he came to the talisman room and began the lottery draw.

‘System, lottery!’

Lu Changsheng silently chanted in his heart.

Immediately, golden light appeared on the light red large turntable, which began to spin for the draw, and then stopped on the ‘Pet’ section.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the spiritual pet: Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower!]

[Reward has been issued to the system space, host can view it at any time]

A flower pattern, completely dark with blood-red mist surrounding it, emerged from the large turntable, accompanied by a system notification sound.

“Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower, a demonic plant?”

Lu Changsheng’s eyes lit up when he saw this reward.

Although he didn’t have much interest in pets, spiritual plant-type pets were definitely an exception.

After all, through the Sumeru Tree King, he knew that this type of demonic plant could also be used to cultivate the ‘Heaven and Earth Eternal Life Method’.

Immediately, Lu Changsheng looked at the system space.

[Demonic Beast: Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower]

[Grade: Heaven-tier High-grade]

[Description: Formed from the soul transformation of a fifth-tier great demon in the Underworld, born through being watered by the fresh blood of countless living beings, it feeds on flesh, blood, and souls, has a prison in its belly to imprison living beings, and currently possesses second-tier strength.]

“Hiss, Heaven-tier High-grade?! Possesses second-tier strength!?”

Lu Changsheng looked at the grade and description of the Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower before him, his face showing joy.

Whether it was the grade or the strength, he felt that this Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower was very good.

If there was any issue, it was that it looked a bit sinister.

“Born through being watered by the fresh blood of living beings, feeding on flesh, blood, and souls.”

“Does this mean that this demonic flower doesn’t require much spiritual vein energy, and only needs enough flesh and blood?”

“If that’s the case, planting this Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower won’t add too much pressure to Azure Lake Mountain’s current situation.”

“I just don’t know if this demonic flower can be used to cultivate the ‘Heaven and Earth Eternal Life Method’.”

Lu Changsheng muttered to himself in his heart as he looked at the demonic plant in the system space.

He planned to give this demonic plant to Lu Miaohuan or Qu Zhenzhen to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Eternal Life Method.

Through Lu Miaoyun cultivating the Heaven and Earth Eternal Life Method, he knew that after refining a ‘Heaven and Earth Spiritual Plant’ into a natal spiritual root, besides affecting the spiritual plant’s growth to a certain extent, there wouldn’t be any other major problems.

And as a demonic plant with a Heaven-tier bloodline, the Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower definitely met the requirements for cultivating the ‘Heaven and Earth Eternal Life Method’.

If used to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Eternal Life Method, the effect might be much better than the Spiritual Bright Treasure Tree.

“However, this Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower should be more suitable for Huanhuan?”

Lu Changsheng rubbed his chin.

This Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower, whether in appearance or description, was a bit like a demon.

According to Qu Zhenzhen’s personality, she would probably be scared just looking at it, let alone dare to feed it with flesh and blood.

Although Lu Miaohuan might not necessarily like it, she was clearly much better than Qu Zhenzhen and probably wouldn’t mind this aspect too much.

“If I can get Sumeru to generate another companion spiritual plant, then both Huanhuan and Zhenzhen’s spiritual plants will be sorted out.”

Lu Changsheng let out a long breath.

He planned to choose a time to plant this Abyssal Prison Demonic Flower and let Lu Miaohuan and Qu Zhenzhen see it.

Half a month later, Lu Changsheng came to Jiulong Market.

About three months had passed, and his three maidservants had already been delivered.

Lu Changsheng looked at the three maidservants before him.

Similar to Shao Yuyao, Xiao Yueru, and others from back then, all three had excellent looks and figures, but their eyes were devoid of light and filled with numbness.

The only difference was that two of these three women possessed fifth-grade spiritual roots, and one possessed a sixth-grade spiritual root.

“Fifth-grade spiritual roots, huh…”

Lu Changsheng felt quite emotional in his heart.

He still clearly remembered the first time he came to White Jade Tower and could only afford a ninth-grade spiritual root maidservant.

At that time, mid-grade spiritual roots were simply unattainable for him.

But after years of hard work and struggle, women with mid-grade spiritual roots were just a moderate expense for him.

There were even female cultivators with mid-grade spiritual roots who proactively came to offer themselves.

“‘Wealth, Companions, Technique, Land’, no wonder wealth is first. Tsk tsk tsk, money makes the world go ‘round.”

After a slight sigh of emotion, Lu Changsheng indicated that there were no issues and took the three back to Azure Lake Mountain.

During this time, Manager Xia also upgraded Lu Changsheng’s membership.

He said that with a higher membership level, the number and quality of maidservants available at future auctions would also increase.

This surprised Lu Changsheng; he hadn’t expected the auction house to also have different tiers.

Immediately, he asked Manager Xia about the prices the previous few high-grade spiritual roots were auctioned for.

The other party didn’t hide it, stating that number one was auctioned for 150,000, and number two was auctioned for 160,000 spirit stones, which made Lu Changsheng gasp.

He felt that there were more rich people than he had imagined, but with such financial power, they were definitely not Foundation Establishment cultivators, but certainly Core Formation Masters!