He had put much thought into the decision to choose the area north of Yuyan Mountain.
Yuyan Mountain was the main headquarters of the Lu Clan. They had spent hundreds of years here and were extremely clear on the situation around the area. To the cultivators, the area 200 miles from the mountain was akin to a backyard. The resources around there had mostly been discovered and utilized. For example, the small-scale Energy Stone Mine at the base of the mountain was a point of resources that the Yuyan Mountain controlled.
If Lu Qing wanted to find new resources, he had to try his best to place the scouting area farther away.
The area to the south of Yuyan Mountain was Pingyao County.
When the Lu Clan was at its strongest in the past, they controlled many of the towns and resource points between Yuyan Mountain and Pingyao Country. With that area at the center, their sphere of influence extended throughout the Anling Prefecture. They even controlled parts of the capital city of the prefecture.
However, currently, the Lu Clan only controlled about a quarter of Pingyao County, much less the rest of their old territories.
There was even their greatest enemy, the Zhao Clan, within Pingyao County.
Even if he managed to find a resource point by searching to the south of Yuyan Mountain, it would be hard for them to keep it a secret when they developed it. It would easily attract the attention of the Zhao Clan.
There were fewer problems if he searched to the north.
On the map, after the red dot was set, ripples appeared and started to spread outward with the red dot at the epicenter.
A moment later, a blue light appeared at a place roughly 40 miles to the north of the epicenter.
Lu Qing tapped on the blue light, and detailed information appeared.
[Group of Water-Spirit Horses, Level Two resource]
[Quantity: 15 to 30]
[Status: Migrating. They will leave the area controlled by the clan in a month.]
[Estimated Income: 300 Spirit Stones/Year]
******
Water-Spirit Horses were a low-level horse-type Spiritual Beast. Compared to regular horses, they had an exceptionally large frame and a gentle nature. They could activate Water Spiritual Energy and quickly recover their stamina. If they sprinted at the speed of a regular horse, these horses would never get tired.
Also, these horses could easily be tamed. If his clan managed to capture this group of horses and successfully tame them, they would become a great source of income.
In the long term, these horses could be used to set up a merchant group or rented to other families and merchant groups for their use. They could also rear ponies and expand the variety of horses for sale.
In the short term, even if they were to sell all of the Water-Spirit Horses, they would be able to obtain an income of 3,000 Spirit Stones judging from the quantity of the horses.
The clan's situation would improve considerably if they managed to control this group of horses. If they truly managed to obtain the estimated income of 300 Spirit Stones a year, then the clan's books would be balanced.
Lu Qing wanted desperately to send Lu Chaoxi a voice transmission and get him to organize men to deal with the matter.
However, he controlled himself.
He had to spend one Karma to do a voice transmission. He should save wherever he could. Anyway, according to his instructions, Lu Chaoxi would be bringing Lu Weiwen over tomorrow.
He now had 24 Karma left. He also intended to spend all of them.
He set his sights on the Resource-type options in the Exchange tab. There were two options for him here.
[Seeds of the Turtle Snake Grass, Level One, low quantity]
[You can plant these in the medicine garden to increase the income of the medicine garden. It can be used as a medicinal resource after it is harvested.]
[5 Karma]
This was a Level One herb. They were not expensive, but they were not common.
[Recipe of the Turtle Snake Pill, Level One]
[It can be used to create Turtle Snake Pills. In the event that you have the Turtle Snake Grass resource, this can be used to increase the income of the elixir room.]
[Consuming the Turtle Snake Pills regularly every month can slightly increase the cultivation speed of Water Elemental Techniques. It must not be consumed for over a year. Otherwise, there will be side effects once the toxins from the pill have accumulated. After consuming this pill for a year, one must wait for five years before consuming similar pills.]
[10 Karma]
This recipe was a perfect complement to the seeds he saw previously.
What confused Lu Qing was that the seeds of the Turtle Snake Grass he saw previously were a material object. How would such an item appear if he obtained it?
He did not have to think about it. He would know if he tried it out.
After choosing to get the item, Lu Qing saw a jade scroll and a bag of seeds appear in front of him. They were not physical objects. Instead, similar to him, they seemed to be illusory objects that could not be seen by others.
As for him, he could freely fly around with these objects in his hands. He could also present them as material objects whenever he wished.
He now understood how it worked.
******
On the second day, Lu Chaoxi came again as promised. He also brought along the three-year-old Lu Weiwen.
He knelt on the ground. Lu Weiwen followed his example. The two of them bowed toward the door of the chamber at the same time.
"Father, Chaoxi is here."
"All right." Lu Qing's voice rang out in their ears at the same time. "Stand up. Little Weiwen, take two steps forward."
Lu Weiwen stood up and looked around with her soulful little eyes. She had heard from her great-grandfather, the leader of the clan, on her way here that this person was the forefather of everyone in the family. She was not afraid. She obediently stepped forward and stood in front of the door. She even tried to look into the room through the slits of the stone door.
Behind her, Lu Chaoxi was worried. He was scared that the little girl would offend his father because of her immaturity. However, he did not have the opportunity to speak and could only stare at the girl.
Naturally, Lu Qing did not mind. His laugh rang out. "I think this little girl, Weiwen, is cuter the more I look at her. I've had a good look at her. This little girl has Metal–Earth Double Spiritual Roots and is more suitable to cultivate Metal Elemental Techniques. Her earth Spiritual Root could only complement her cultivation."
Lu Chaoxi was elated when he heard the news.
"Let this child remain in the clan. She's from Chaoheng's lineage?"
"She is indeed from the same lineage as Second Brother."
"Is your second brother still on the ninth tier of the Qi Refining Stage?"
"Yes. Second Brother is already 107, but his body is still rather hardy these days."
"A Qi Refining cultivator won't last much longer no matter how hardy he is… Have him nurture Weiwen well. Spending his final years with his great-granddaughter should be comforting for him."
"Second Brother will be very happy."
The two of them fell silent when they reached this topic.
Lu Qing was not psychologically prepared for this. However, now that he thought about it, if his descendants could not become successful on the path of cultivation, then he would frequently have to witness the deaths of his descendants in the future.
Lu Chaoheng, who they had mentioned just now, was Lu Qing's second son. He did not have great talent and had five Spiritual Roots. With Lu Qing's help, he barely managed to reach the Qi Refining Stage. He was already 30 years old when he reached that stage. His advancement in different cultivation levels after that was also extremely slow. It was only with Lu Qing's assistance that he managed to reach the ninth tier of the Qi Refining Stage.
Even so, he had no hopes of reaching the Foundation Building Stage.
Lu Chaoheng might have cursed at the heavens when he was young. He might have asked why his talent was so poor despite being born into the same family. However, now that he was over a hundred years old, he had long come to terms with it.
Now, whenever he had nothing to do in the clan, he would guide and teach the younger generation and make use of the life he had left.
After all, he must have accumulated a good amount of experience in cultivation, having trained for nearly a hundred years. He had no problems teaching the little children who had just begun to train.
"Little Weiwen, your father is waiting for you outside. You can go out first. I still have something to say to your great-grandfather." Lu Qing's voice rang out.
"All right, old ancestor." Lu Weiwen hopped on her way out.
Just now, she suddenly felt a special feeling in her body. She had felt extremely comfortable. The feelings of bitter discomfort she felt in her body in the past had vanished immediately.
She did not understand the meaning of the conversation between her two ancestors, nor did she know what had happened in her body. She was merely happy.
When she was outside, she saw that her father, Lu Mingsi, had been waiting.
"Father!" Little Weiwen ran and jumped into her father's embrace.
After she was picked up by her father, Little Weiwen said, "I spoke to the old ancestor just now."
"What did the old ancestor say?"
"Old ancestor said that I had Metal–Earth Double Spiritual Roots."
Lu Mingsi froze for a moment, then felt extremely elated!
At the start, he did not know why they had to bring his daughter here. However, he could not suppress the joy in his heart after he heard this news.
"The ancestor has blessed us! My daughter has exceptional, top-grade Double Spiritual Roots!"