Chapter 7: Resource Scouting
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Sending people to the sect is not necessarily a bad thing.”
Lu Chaoxi felt more at ease when he heard his father say this.
It was good that he did not blame him.
“The children who leave the clan still have the Lu blood in their veins. We must not implicate the descendants now that the clan is undergoing difficult times. The clan must continue to support Wenen even though he had gone to the Qingfeng Sect.
“Yes.”
Lu Chaoxi did not know how his father knew that the child who had been taken away by the cultivators of the sect was called Lu Wenen. Lu Chaoxi had not been at the main hall when the Qingfeng Sect came to select their disciple. He had only known about this when he received the report just now.
However, he did not feel that the situation was strange. After all, his father was a Golden Core cultivator. Wasn’t it normal for him to have a few mysterious techniques?
“Also, that little girl Weiwen, I quite like her. The test conducted by the people of the sect was not accurate. Test her again a few days later.”
“Hng...” Lu Chaoxi felt a little distressed. “The clan no longer has a Spirit Detection Array.”
Lu Qing did not know what to say.
Even the most basic Spirit Detection Array needed to be led by a Foundation Building cultivator. Four other high-tier Qi Refining Stage cultivators had to each hold a Spirit Detection Pearl for the array to be set up.
The Lu Clan could still gather the cultivators needed, but they had no way of obtaining four Spirit Detection Pearls.
They definitely had it in the past, but they no longer had it now.
“Bring the child over here in a few days. I’ll have a look.”
He could determine a person’s Spiritual Roots through the system. All he needed to do was to come up with a logical reason for the changes to the child’s Spiritual Root.
After talking about this, Lu Qing asked about something else. “I see that your body is not in good condition. What’s going on?”
“It’s an old injury I sustained during the demonic uprising,” Lu Chaoxi said. “I wanted to protect Tingfang. However, not only was I unsuccessful, but also I ended up with a serious injury. I barely managed to recover over the past few years. A few years ago, Seventh Brother was the one dealing with the clan’s matters.”
“Seventh Brother” referred to Lu Chaohe.
Lu Chaohe was Lu Qing’s seventh child. He should be 79 years old this year and was a fourth-tier Foundation Building cultivator with three Spiritual Roots. He was the one who received the cultivators from the Qingfeng Sect and hosted the disciple selection ceremony that day in the main hall.
While listening, Lu Qing accessed the system. He spent ten Karma to obtain the “Level One Injury Treatment” and used it on Lu Chaoxi.
He tapped open Lu Chaoxi’s profile. The status of “Plagued by ailment, Core Lifespan greatly reduced” had changed into “Initial recovery of an old injury, Core Lifespan greatly reduced.”
At the same time, Lu Chaoxi also felt the changes to his body. The old injury that had plagued him for a dozen years instantly became much better.
His father must have done something.
Lu Qing’s voice rang out at the appropriate moment. “With your current condition, you should be able to recover in a year fully.”
“Thank you, Father.” Lu Chaoxi kowtowed once again.
“Get your seventh brother to help you with the matters of the clan. You should already have sensed that your Core Lifespan had been significantly reduced after your major injury and that you no longer have much time left. However, once you recover from your injury, your vitality should also slightly return. You are currently an eighth-tier Foundation Building cultivator with about 10 to 20 years left. You can try to hit the Initial Enlightenment Stage.”
“The clan is crucially lacking in resources, and I’m already on my last legs. Why not leave some of the resources...”
“You need not say anymore. Do as I say,” Lu Qing said. “I will think of a way to solve the problem regarding the clan’s resources. I cannot come out and might not be able to come out for a long time. If you managed to break through to the Initial Enlightenment Stage, the clan would be able to catch a breath. Our situation would not be as arduous as what we are facing now.”
“Yes.”
The two of them were silent for a moment. Then, Lu Qing said, “You have to keep the fact that I have woken up a secret. Don’t tell too many people. You can go off for now. Remember to bring Weiwen over tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
Lu Chaoxi kowtowed a third time before he left.
When he left the chamber, he saw that there was a glimmer of light at the horizon.
Unknowingly, it was already dawn of the second day. He had come here after he heard his father’s voice transmission and told him about everything that happened to the clan in the past 50 years. It had taken him the entire night.
Those were all the things that he had been through. He would feel grief every time he thought about it.
However, even though he could not help but feel grief when he talked about those matters, he also felt a sliver of hope.
Lu Qing was his father. He was the pillar of support in his heart. Even though his father could not come out at the moment, he felt much more at ease now that his father was going to instruct him on the development of the clan.
The Lu Clan had started to decline after Lu Qing closed himself off and disregarded all worldly affairs. It would definitely prosper again now that Lu Qing was retaking the helm of the clan!
Regarding this, Lu Chaoxi was filled with hope!
******
After Lu Chaoxi left, Lu Qing continued to stay in the chamber. He emptied his thoughts and remained motionless.
Even Lu Qing had to take some time to digest everything that happened to the clan during the past 50 years.
At the same time, he also had to think hard about what the clan had to do to free itself from their current situation.
Currently, the Lu Clan was facing both an external and internal threat.
The main external threat was the Zhao Clan.
Fortunately, the situation with this external threat had already improved from a few dozen years ago. Even though the two parties still had a few minor skirmishes from time to time, there were basically no longer any large-scale public conflicts.
The main reason for that was the interference of the sect. During the demonic uprising, the Lu Clan also had to react to the summons of the sect and made a great sacrifice. Of the five Foundation Building cultivators in the clan, two of them died, and one was heavily injured.
Since that was the case, the sect had to show their appreciation. Other than Zhao Zidan, the two other Golden Core cultivators in the sect also had a decent relationship with Lu Qing in the past. They had helped one another a little in the past. This might also be the reason why the Zhao Clan had not annihilated the Lu Clan.
Comparatively, the internal threat might be more troublesome to deal with.
The current income of the clan was too low. It was so low that it could not sustain the necessities of the clan members and the necessary defense of the clan’s resources.
The Lu Clan’s expenditure could no longer be reduced. A clan member at the Qi Refining Stage needed an offering of ten Spirit Stones a year. That was already the least the clan could give him. If they did not give him even this much, the bond of the members of the clan would decrease drastically. At the same time, the clan members would not be able to train normally. Thus, three Foundation Building cultivators had to receive 100 Spirit Stones a year, and that was necessary. Otherwise, they might find it hard even to sustain their current cultivation level, much less improve.
According to what Lu Chaoxi had said just now, the clan had managed to sustain itself until this day by selling their assets...
...
When they severely lacked money, they had no choice but to sell some of the treasure and items left behind by Lu Qing for Spirit Stones to sustain the clan.
If they could not restrict spending, then they had to find more ways to increase their income.
After a series of calculations, Lu Qing noticed that he still had 89 Karma.
He had spent one Karma to send Lu Chaoxi a voice transmission just now. He then spent 10 Karma on “Injury Treatment” to solve Lu Chaoxi’s problem of being “Plagued by ailment.”
As for the rest of the 89 Karma, he had to leave 50 Karma for Lu Weiwen’s “Spiritual Root Enhancement.”
Qualitatively, if the clan wanted to improve, there had to be an endless stream of exceptional descendants.
Lu Qing still had 39 Karma. He had to find a way to increase the income of the clan.
[Level One Map type: Resource Scouting]
[15 Karma]
[Select an area within the clan’s territory and search to see if there are any hidden resources. The success rate of finding new resources is correlated to the level of the ability.]
Lu Qing exchanged his Karma for this function.
...
The system interface automatically changed and became a map interface. A red dot that Lu Qing could freely move with his thoughts appeared on the map.
This red dot was the epicenter of the search. After Lu Qing had made the choice, the system would search to see if there were any usable resources in the area with the red dot at the center.
Lu Qing thought for a moment and then chose a spot 200 miles north of Yuyan Mountain as the starting point before he activated the search function.