Seasons changed, spring turned to autumn and winter to summer in a cyclical dance, and before he knew it, Lu Changsheng had been at Qingzhu Mountain for over a year.
During this time, he hadn't once stepped foot outside Qingzhu Villa, leading a life that could be said to be utterly mundane and dull to the extreme.
However, with daily cultivation, talisman making, and spending time with his wives and concubines, his days were still quite fulfilling.
As for having children, that had slowed down for now.
Lu Lanshu, Lu Zi'er, and Lu Qing'er had just given birth not long ago and needed time to recover their vitality.
The two maids who had been elevated to concubines were also pregnant, and were due to give birth in a few months.
As for the two maids sent later by Uncle Fu, due to Lu Changsheng being busy with talisman making over the past few months and his limited energy, he hadn't been able to get them pregnant.
After all, he was nothing more than a Qi Refinement First Level weakling.
His body and energy were limited.
Moreover, Lu Changsheng did not see his several wives and concubines merely as birthing machines.
He would usually spend some time to develop a bit of affection and smooth over their relationships.
The Lu Family may treat him as a breeding partner, but he would not see himself as a mere sowing tool.
His wives and concubines also had nice personalities.
Indeed, just as Uncle Fu had said, they were graceful and educated daughters of the Lu Family's secular world, dignified and virtuous, without an ounce of pretentiousness or affectation.
To Lu Changsheng, a transmigrator, they were unbelievably simple and easy to appease.
Adding to that, all three wives and four concubines were from the Lu Family, they got along quite well, so his domestic life had always been very harmonious.
Today, after his cultivation session and drawing two talismans in his study, Lu Changsheng saw the weather outside was nice and took his two-month-old daughter out to the courtyard to bask in the sun.
Qingzhu Mountain, being such a place, also experienced climate changes along with the four seasons, complete with spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
It was currently spring, with the sunlight being very mild and comfortable, perfect for sunbathing.
After half an hour in the sun, Lu Changsheng heard some noise from the neighboring courtyard and went over with his daughter to visit Li Feiyu's home.
Li Feiyu was practicing martial arts in his small courtyard, his prowess quite astonishing.
To be not at all exaggerated, he could take out someone like Lu Changsheng with just one punch.
Even though he was a cultivator, Li Feiyu had not abandoned the martial path.
Seeing Lu Changsheng come over, Li Feiyu stopped and finished his practice. He wiped off his sweat with a towel and casually remarked.
"I heard you've been busy with talisman making recently, what brings you to my place?"
"Just busying myself with nothing much,"
Lu Changsheng laughed in response.
Since he had a good relationship with Li Feiyu, and their wives often chatted when idle since they were neighbors, it was natural for Li Feiyu to know about his talisman making.
"How's the talisman making going? I've heard it's quite an expensive endeavor,"
Li Feiyu sat by the stone table in the courtyard, picked up the teapot, and poured a cup of brewed tea.
"Not bad, there's some hope,"
"I'm not asking for much, just a craft to feed my wives and children in the future will do,"
Lu Changsheng also took a seat, then said.
Although he had a good relationship with Li Feiyu, he naturally wouldn't divulge matters concerning himself and kept the same explanation for outsiders.
"That's pretty good, having a craft to rely on means you can make a living anywhere in the future,"
Li Feiyu nodded, lifting the teapot to pour Lu Changsheng a cup of tea.
"What about you, what are your plans?"
"The Lu Family can't possibly let you continue like this, can they?"
Lu Changsheng took the tea, sipped it lightly.
Of the twelve Immortal Seedlings who came to the Lu Family together, all but Li Feiyu had sired children.
Lu Changsheng even heard that Li Feiyu's wife was still untouched.
"I cannot lose my virginity before reaching Innate according to the Red Sun Heart Method I cultivate. I've explained this to Uncle Fu, so the Lu Family won't pressure me for now,"
Li Feiyu said so.
As a Seventh Grade Spiritual Root, the Lu Family was somewhat more lenient with him, and the pressure would not start at this stage.
"What about after breaking through to Innate?"
Lu Changsheng asked.
Li Feiyu was silent for a moment before saying, "Having signed the contract and used the Lu Family's resources, I, Li Feiyu, will naturally honor the agreement."
"In at most one year, I'll be able to break through to Innate and also be able to lock in my essence to ensure that my vital yang doesn't leak, using it only for having children,"
Li Feiyu stated.
Awesome!
Hearing this, Lu Changsheng couldn't help but express his admiration.
He hadn't realized martial arts had this kind of function.
Should he start practicing it too?
After all, he now had three wives and four concubines, which required considerable effort.
And as for cultivation and Qi Refinement, they did not greatly enhance his physical condition at present.
He looked at Li Feiyu curiously and asked, "Feiyu, once your martial arts break through to Innate, how does your strength compare to a cultivator?"
Previously, on the road to Qingzhu Mountain, when facing a Wind Blade from a Chen Family Cultivator, Li Feiyu was able to tackle him down promptly.
Martial Dao Innate practitioners should be able to exchange blows with Cultivators.
But as for specifics, Lu Changsheng wasn't clear.
After all, he had never experienced the strength of a Martial Dao Innate expert.
As for Cultivators, he'd only seen them once.
"Breaking through to Innate and possessing Innate True Qi should be about the same as the Spiritual Power of the Qi Refinement Third Level."
"So if it comes to a fight, it's all about whether you can get in close."
"But for a Qi Refinement Third Level Cultivator, who can control objects and wield Magic Artifacts, it's too difficult for martial artists to get close."
Li Feiyu said, a bitter smile appearing on his face.
A Martial Dao Innate expert was already a top-level expert in the jianghu.
He had been practicing martial arts since he was a child, enduring the harshness of the summers and the cold of the winters, and after more than ten years of hard training, he was only considered a first-rate expert.
It was only because of his time with the Lu Family over the past year, eating Spirit Rice and being nourished by Spiritual Energy, that his martial cultivation was able to progress so quickly, allowing him to break through to Innate so rapidly.
Yet a Cultivator who reached the Qi Refinement Third Level was comparable to an Innate master.
There was simply no comparison between the two.
The reason why he hadn't given up on martial arts and still spent time on it was that he had reached this stage and had some persistence in his heart.
Lu Changsheng nodded his head, having a general understanding.
Innate masters and Qi Refinement Third Level Cultivators were like warriors and mages.
If a warrior could get close, he could win, but if he couldn't get close, he would essentially be kited to death.
But as one could imagine, it was very difficult for an Innate martial artist to get close to a Cultivator.
After all, apart from Magic Artifacts, if a Cultivator also had protective Vestment robes, Talismans, and other means, how could a martial artist fight?
"Are there realms above Innate?"
Lu Changsheng looked at his daughter in his arms and continued to ask.
He suddenly thought that if his children did not have a Spiritual Root, he could send them to train in martial arts.
After all, if only one parent has a Spiritual Root, the chances of the children having a Spiritual Root are very small.
Only a one to two percent chance.
This was also the reason why the Lu Family demanded the birth of fifty children.
The world was so dangerous; his children couldn't possibly spend their entire lives in Qingzhu Mountain without going out.
If they trained in martial arts from a young age, not only would they become strong and healthy, but they would also have some self-defense ability if they ever went out.
Moreover.
Because of the system's second feature, Lu Changsheng always felt that his current three children probably didn't have Spiritual Roots.
The "Blessings of Many Children" system would add the talents and Cultivation Levels of his children to him.
A child's Spiritual Root would manifest at around the age of five or six and could be detected, but that didn't mean there was no Spiritual Root before then.
Yet with the birth of the three children, Lu Changsheng did not feel any slight changes in his own Spiritual Root.
So he had this faint guess in his heart.
Of course, the specific situation would only be known after the children were older and tested, so Lu Changsheng was just guessing and not sure.
"Above Innate, there are Innate Grandmasters and Great Innate Grandmasters."
"But even a Great Innate Grandmaster is only on par with a Qi Refinement Fifth or Sixth Level Cultivator."
"To my knowledge, there are not many Great Innate Grandmasters in the entire jianghu, so the two cannot be compared at all."
Li Feiyu shook his head as he spoke.
Lu Changsheng nodded his head, gaining a rough understanding of martial arts.
Even if one cultivated to the limit, they could only be comparable to the middle stage of Qi Refinement.
Thinking of his children's talents and how their strength could be added to his own,
Lu Changsheng couldn't help but think that if his dozens or hundreds of children cultivated to the level of Great Innate Grandmasters, whether he could, under this enhancement, be comparable to the Energy Refinement Late Stage, or even to Foundation Establishment?
This thought made Lu Changsheng feel that in the future, his children could practice cultivation if they had a Spiritual Root, or martial arts if they didn't.
As for practicing martial arts himself, Lu Changsheng just thought about it and had no real intention of acting on it.
Currently, cultivation and Talisman Making, along with his wives and concubines, took up most of his energy.
He did not have extra time or energy to spend on martial arts.
...
Time flew by, and another month had passed.
Lu Changsheng's fourth child was born.
It was the fourth child born by one of his concubines, a girl.
Lu Changsheng named her Lu Xile.
He had thought of the name from the beginning.
At this time, Lu Changsheng also realized a problem.
If he kept having children like this, naming them would also become a problem that would make heads bald.
He thought about establishing a family naming sequence, which would make it much simpler to name future children.
As for another concubine, she would also give birth in two months.
It's worth mentioning that through testing, this concubine was found to be carrying twins.