"Mother reached the limits of her Core Lifespan and passed away five years after you closed yourself in…"
"The clan suffered heavy losses during the battle in Pingyao and the battle on Yuyan Mountain. Xiachao and Chaozhao both died in that battle…"
When he spoke about this, Lu Chaoxi's tone had a tinge of grief.
The death of his wife pained Lu Qing's heart. His wife, Ye Xincheng, was also an unaffiliated cultivator. She was 30 years younger than him. They had met each other when they were still insignificant. Back then, Lu Qing was still rather weak. They had supported each other on their path of cultivation.
However, Ye Xincheng was not a cultivator with exceptional talent. In fact, she was stuck at the ninth tier of the Foundation Building Stage. Lu Qing had helped her search for many treasures that could help her achieve a breakthrough, but ultimately, she had been unable to break through to the Initial Enlightenment Stage.
The limit of a Core Lifespan at the Foundation Building Stage was about three revolutions, around 180 years. Lu Qing could not bear to watch his wife leave this world early, so he searched and found several treasured medicine that could extend her lifespan. He did not take any of the medicine and instead gave it all to Ye Xincheng. This allowed Ye Xincheng to live a hundred years longer than an average Foundation Building cultivator.
If one could not take a step further on the path of cultivation, then the passage of time would be merciless toward them.
Lu Qing had been mentally prepared for this. No matter what he did, Ye Xincheng's lifespan would ultimately be used up.
However, it was different for Xiachao and Chaozhao. They had died at the hands of the Zhao Clan's cultivators.
After Lu Qing's eldest son was named "Chaoxi," he decided that his clan would follow the structure of a standard genealogical record. All of the descendants of the Lu Clan in Pingyao would have a generation name that followed a ten-word sequence—"Chao, Ting, Ming, Wen, Qi, Si, Shu, Yu, Hou, and Guang."
As the founder of this clan, he was not counted within the structure. His nine children, regardless of whether they were male or female, all had the generation name "Chao."
He was someone who had crossed over from Earth. Also, in this cultivation world where strength reigned supreme, there were no traditions that favored males over females. Powerful female cultivators were also important members of the clan.
Under his instructions, all female members of the clan would also follow the system of generation names. However, to differentiate male and female clan members, his sons would have the word "Chao" placed in the middle of their name, while his daughters had the word "Chao" as the third letter of their name.
Xiachao, who Lu Chaoxi had mentioned, was Lu Qing's third child and his first daughter. Chaozhao was his eighth son.
Lu Qing remembered that the two of them were cultivators who had reached the Foundation Building Stage before he went into seclusion.
This was the true pain of losing a child.
He was already 300 years old. He suddenly heard that his third daughter and eighth son had left this world before he did. Lu Qing could not suppress the emotion in his heart.
When he thought about the circumstances that his clan had faced over the past 50 years, most of the pain he felt transformed into hatred for the Zhao Clan.
"Zhao Zidan… I should have killed you back then!" Lu Qing thought bitterly in his heart.
After he finished speaking, Lu Chaoxi paused for a moment. He did not hear any reply from his father and thus continued, "Then, another thing happened."
"Around 15 years ago, evil demons descended onto the neighboring Xuecheng Prefecture. Demonic cultivators tore open space and summoned evil demons from the outer path. The sect gathered all of its subordinate families as well as all of the forces in the prefecture. We engaged in an intense battle with the demonic cultivators and the evil demons from the outer path. We succeeded in suppressing the demonic unrest, but…"
Lu Chaoxi could not hide his pained voice when he talked about this. "But two Foundation Building cultivators from the Lu Clan lost their lives. Tingfang and Tingying died during that battle…"
Lu Qing remembered these two names.
Lu Tingfang was Lu Chaoxi's second son, and Lu Tingying was Lu Chaoling's eldest son. Lu Chaoling was Lu Qing's fourth son.
They were all his grandsons. When he closed himself off, Tingfang was eight, and Tingying was only four.
The condition of the clan had continuously deteriorated during the 50 years of his closed-door training. Even so, the two of them managed to break through to the Qi Refining Stage and enter the Foundation Building Stage. Lu Qing could see that they were talented and hardworking.
The two of them should have been the pillars of the clan's next generation. If they had ample resources, it might have been possible for them to break through to the Initial Enlightenment Stage.
However, the two juniors had died on the battlefield during the demonic uprising.
The two crises had caused the death of five Foundation Building cultivators, including Ye Xincheng. That had a significant impact on a developing clan.
The backbone of the Lu Clan was almost completely broken.
This was especially so with the death of Lu Tingfang and Lu Tingying. That caused a gap in the younger generation.
Currently, there were only three living Foundation Building cultivators left in the Lu Clan. They all had the generation name "Chao." But the strongest among the three, Lu Chaoxi, was inflicted with the status "Plagued by an ailment, Core Lifespan greatly reduced" and could not fight with other cultivators. Any future of him advancing in his cultivation level was lost. Being 109 years old was supposed to be the glory years of a Foundation Building cultivator. However, Lu Chaoxi was already waning. There was no way he could live to the 180-year lifespan limit of a Foundation Building cultivator.
Lu Chaoxi could not suppress his emotions after having narrated the clan's bitter history of the past 50 years. He wept continuously.
He was the leader of the clan in the eyes of the clan members and naturally had to have authority.
However, in front of his father, the hardship of sustaining the clan for the past 50 years, the fear of the countless crises, and the guilt of the clan's decline welled up in his heart. It made him unable to control himself.
He knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the tightly shut door. "I am to blame. Not only was I unable to ensure the steady development of the clan, but also I landed the clan into such a situation. I am to blame!"
Lu Qing listened silently to the weeps of his eldest son. He sighed after Lu Chaoxi finished crying.
"Chaoxi, it's been hard on you."
Lu Chaoxi composed himself and then said, "Father, since you can send me a voice transmission, your injuries must have taken a turn for the better. The situation of the family is going to be reversed. I wonder, Father, how long are you going to close yourself in? When will you come out?"
Lu Qing felt a little sad when he heard this question.
He was already dead. It was just that his consciousness had not entered the stream of reincarnation. He was living through the system.
However, he could not say this.
"My injuries have not improved. It will still be a long time before I can come out… However, I will no longer ignore the events that had happened to the clan. Even though I cannot come out, I can give you a few instructions."
"Please speak, Father."
"Did people from the sect come to the clan to select disciples today?"
"Yes." Lu Chaoxi was a little confused. He did not tell Lu Qing this just now.
Lu Qing was an unaffiliated cultivator, not a cultivator from the Qingfeng Sect. He had the abilities of a Golden Core cultivator, which was why the Lu Clan could remain independent within the Feiyun State.
Even though the Lu Clan of Pingyao could be considered as a subordinate of the Qingfeng Sect, they were not that close to the sect. It was just that they had to show a respectful attitude to the powerful figures in the Qingfeng Sect since they occupied a piece of land in the Feiyun State.
In actuality, the relationship between the two parties was more like collaborators.
Lu Qing's children did not enter the Qingfeng Sect. Similarly, the "Ting" generation under the "Chao" generation did not join the sect either. All of the cultivators were nurtured by the clan and served the clan.
They were independent of the other families in the Feiyun State.
Almost all of the other families sent their talents to the Qingfeng Sect and nurtured them alongside the sect.
Cultivators who were nurtured by the clan themselves belonged completely to the clan and would naturally be able to serve the clan better. Meanwhile, clan members who were sent to the sect would become cultivators of the sect and would be stationed in the sect throughout the year. They had to serve and undertake missions given by the sect.
There was a large difference between the two.
However, an ordinary clan had no choice but to send their talents to the sect. The resources of the families were limited, and only a limited number of cultivators could cultivate. If they did not send the talented members of their clan to the sect, these people would be buried within the clans and would not be nurtured.
These people had the opportunity for better training if they were sent to the sect. Furthermore, with their clans on the outside, the disciples who were sent to the clan would receive even more assistance.
The clan members, who entered the sect, ultimately came from the same bloodline as the people in their clan. Furthermore, they would receive assistance from their clan during their growth. They would naturally repay their clan when they obtained the results of their training.
This was the case with Zhao Zidan and the Zhao Clan.
However, the Lu Clan never did that. They had always nurtured their own cultivators.
But since Lu Qing was no longer around in the last 50 years, they had lost their strongest protector. It was inappropriate for the Lu Clan to continue having that attitude.
Lu Chaoxi understood that. He had tried to send clan members with good potential to the sect, but he had always been unable to succeed.
He knew that the Zhao Clan must have been causing trouble for them. The Zhao Clan had massive influence within the sect.
This time around, Lu Chaoxi had spent a great deal of effort and a large amount of Spirit Stones to create a connection with a person within the sect to obtain such an opportunity.
He did not expect to receive his father's voice transmission today.
Lu Qing had always disliked the idea of sending members of the clan into the sect. Lu Chaoxi felt a little uneasy. He was afraid that his father would strongly object to this matter.