I Built A Family Of Immortal Cultivators

Chapter 172: The Old Story of Bilin River (Part 1)

But only Zhao Xiu knows that his exaggerated expression is not unwarranted. Thinking back to when Lin Qing was just at the ninth level of Qi Refining, to the changes he has undergone today. And thinking about his own past, when he was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and now he has fallen to such a state. The difference between the two is not something that outsiders can understand.

To say that he has fallen is an understatement. He now knows that he only has half a year of life left, not much longer to live.

But there is still one important thing to do on this trip.

Zhao Xiu thought this as he looked at the Lin family's gathering.

Then he noticed Lin Zhifeng and Lin Zhifeng, who were covering their mouths and laughing. He saw a hint of Lin Qing's shadow in their appearance, so he spoke up to stop them.

After confirming that they were from the Lin family, he took out the wooden box and said what he had to say to Lin Xuchang.

Actually, this wooden box containing talismans was indeed given to him by Lin Qing when she first moved in. But to say that it had been kept solemnly in his storage bag all these years would be a lie. In fact, after Lin Qing gave him the wooden box, he put it in his storage bag and forgot about it for many years. It was only when he came to the Lin family's gathering that he suddenly remembered it.

Although a wooden box doesn't mean much, there is still a trace of sentiment in it.

He also knew that it might not be easy to see Lin Qing as she is now, so he took out this item to increase his chances of success.

And it turned out to be true. The next day, Lin Xuchang gave the wooden box to Lin Qing. When Lin Qing heard that it was a wooden box given to him by Zhao Xiu, he felt a wave of emotions and memories. He remembered the past.

When he first arrived at Chiyang Immortal City, he rented a house and then prepared this gift to visit his neighbors. After getting to know his neighbors Zhao Xiu and Zhou Xiu, many things happened later, and he also obtained his own opportunity.

Looking at this wooden box now, and the several well-preserved first-grade talismans inside, Lin Qing suddenly smiled.

Time flies and cannot be chased, but sometimes seeing a certain item from the past can bring a different kind of surprise.

What is seen is not just an item, but also the past.

As for what Lin Xuchang said about Zhao Xiu wanting to meet him, Lin Qing naturally wanted to meet him. Not to mention this wooden box, he wanted to see the fate he had with the Lin family back then. Moreover, he also wanted to know what happened after Zhao Xiu and Zhou Xiu left.

Lin Qing was also curious about this.

Lin Family Gathering.

The next day at noon, Lin Qing met Zhao Xiu.

"Senior Lin!"

As soon as they met, Zhao Xiu knelt down to Lin Qing. Lin Qing quickly helped him up, not because he didn't want to accept this gesture, but because he was worried that Zhao Xiu had been kneeling for too long and might faint.

He was just too old.

A Qi Refining cultivator has a lifespan of 120 years, and Zhao Xiu must be at least 119 years old.

What surprised Lin Qing was that Zhao Xiu actually said that he had already lived to 122 years old. Lin Qing was amazed at Zhao Xiu's long life. He also thought that perhaps the Foundation Building Pill he took back then didn't help him successfully build the foundation, but it did benefit his body.

"Senior Lin, it's me."

Facing Lin Qing, Zhao Xiu couldn't find the right words to say due to his excitement. Lin Qing motioned for him to calm down.

At this moment, only Zhao Xiu and Lin Qing were inside the Lin family's house. After Zhao Xiu calmed down, he slowly began to speak to Lin Qing. He spoke for a full two hours, and Lin Qing listened with deep sighs.

Zhao Xiu explained in great detail what had happened after he and Zhou Xiu left Chiyang Immortal City. However, to summarize, it wasn't a long story.

When Zhou Xiu successfully built his Foundation, Zhao Xiu failed. Later, he successfully invited Zhou Xiu to join their Zhao family, providing them with a Foundation Building cultivator. After returning to the Zhao family, his failure was overshadowed by Zhou Xiu's presence. As he had hoped, there was always a Foundation Building cultivator in the family, regardless of the circumstances.

With Zhou Xiu, the Wang and Li families dared not act recklessly and even took the initiative to befriend them. The crisis within the family was immediately resolved, and everyone in the family was overjoyed.

As for the price they paid, it was merely providing Zhou Xiu with spiritual stones and a large number of beautiful women. These were trivial matters; spiritual stones could be earned again, and as for the women, the Zhao family even hoped that Zhou Xiu would leave behind a few heirs. That was something they desired.

At first, Zhao Xiu worried that Zhou Xiu had ulterior motives, but over time, he realized that Zhou Xiu, despite his love for pleasure, had an exceptionally upright character, which was rare in the cultivation world. Since agreeing to join their Zhao family, Zhou Xiu treated the Zhao family as his own, always considering their interests. Sometimes, he even moved the members of the family to tears.

As for those who controlled power and acted recklessly, it never happened. The Zhao family still belonged to the Zhao surname.

Zhao Xiu had thought more than once that he had stumbled upon a fortunate encounter. The Zhao family should continue to prosper.

In those years, after Zhou Xiu joined them, the Zhao family truly recovered. In just thirty years, the number of cultivators in the family doubled.

After the elders of the family passed away, he became the family head.

He thought that the prosperity of the family was just around the corner. If they waited a little longer, they might even obtain Foundation Building pills again. The members of the family could attempt Foundation Building. If they succeeded, they might even be able to reclaim the lost Bilin River with their combined strength.

But...

Zhao Country fell into chaos.

After the chaos, the spiritual fish industry, which was their main source of income, declined. Then, the Wang and Li families took advantage of the situation and joined forces to suppress them, causing the family's income to sharply decrease. Several younger generations inexplicably died, and the number of cultivators in the family decreased.

He knew that this was probably the work of the Wang and Li families, but the Foundation Building cultivator from the Wang family had already reached the mid-stage of Foundation Building, giving him a significant advantage over Zhou Xiu, who was still in the early stage of Foundation Building. He didn't have a good solution.

Since Zhou Xiu reached Foundation Building, he had been unable to make any breakthroughs in these years. His strength was limited to the third level of Foundation Building. He encountered a bottleneck.

If the situation had been stable, relying on the support of the Zhao family and spending time to polish his cultivation, Zhou Xiu might have been able to break through in another twenty or thirty years. But with the decline in income from the spiritual fish industry, the shortage of spiritual stones, and the constant oppression from the Wang family, Zhou Xiu felt the tension of the situation. So he forcibly tried to break through the mid-stage by taking pills. In his view, once he broke through the mid-stage, all problems would be solved.

When Zhou Xiu broke through to Foundation Building, luck was on his side. But this time, luck had deserted him.

After taking the pills, not only did he fail to break through, but his foundation was also damaged. He would find it difficult to make any breakthroughs in this lifetime, and his strength would be limited to the third level of Foundation Building.

For a while, the Zhao family lost their confidence when facing the Wang and Li families.

However, Zhou Xiu was still a Foundation Building cultivator, and the Foundation Building cultivator from the Wang family didn't dare to go too far, fearing that something unexpected might happen. So the two families continued to drag on.

This dragging on lasted for thirty years. During these thirty years, the Foundation Building cultivator from the Wang family still couldn't break through to the later stage, but Zhou Xiu couldn't hold on any longer. Because of the damage to his foundation, he was on the verge of death.

(End of this chapter)