Chapter 75

The person who came to Zhu Lingwu's courtyard to deliver the message was a steward from the Zhu family's Seventh Branch Ancestral Hall, who was also a steward specifically in charge of relaying orders from the Seventh Branch's foundation-establishing elders.

Above the Seventh Branch lineage where Zhu Lingwu belonged, there were three foundation-establishing elders, the oldest of whom was already 260 to 270 years old, while the youngest was over 200 years old.

It was said that after establishing a foundation in cultivation, one's lifespan could reach at least 300 years. For those who practiced water or wood cultivation techniques, their lifespan could even reach 500 years.

However, no matter what, the process of establishing a foundation in cultivation only granted mortals more time to cultivate, and it was merely the first step on the path of cultivation. Otherwise, how could mortals with a lifespan of only a hundred years or so embark on the long journey of cultivation?

Of course, for the scholar-gentry families in the secular world, having a foundation-establishing cultivator was already quite good. Only the imperial and royal families of the Great Jin Dynasty might have cultivators at the golden core stage.

Many scholar-gentry families, if they lost these pillars of their family, might fall from their noble status to become commoners.

The last time someone came to Tongshan County to treat Zhu Lingwu, it was the youngest of the elders, who practiced a water cultivation technique. With him around, the Zhu family's Seventh Branch could be assured of stability for three to five hundred years.

However, these elders usually only meditated and cultivated in the Seventh Branch Ancestral Hall and rarely involved themselves in the family's secular affairs. Today, for some unknown reason, they actually summoned Zhu Lingwu.

The steward from the Ancestral Hall waited respectfully outside Zhu Lingwu's room. Zhu Lingwu did not dare to delay and quickly tidied his clothes before following him out.

The steward brought a simple small carriage for Zhu Lingwu. It seemed that the foundation-establishing elders did not favor luxurious decorations, instead preferring a simple and unadorned style.

After Zhu Lingwu got into the carriage, the rotating servants who were waiting in the outer rooms of his courtyard also followed, clustering around him. No matter what, they still had to be ready to serve Zhu Lingwu at any time. However, his closest lackey, Liangcai, was not among them.

Of course, among these servants, there were some who had a status similar to Liangcai. They were originally quite close to the eight-year-old child, but not as trusted as Liangcai.

In fact, Zhu Lingwu did not pay much attention to these servants. Even Liangcai was only temporarily useful to him.

Thus, Zhu Lingwu sat in the carriage and slowly made his way toward the back courtyard of the Zhu family's Seventh Branch residence. He did not ask the steward why the elders were summoning him, but he had a vague feeling that it was probably related to Meng Yishi.

Fortunately, on the way here, Zhu Lingwu had already thought of a plausible explanation. If he faced these cultivation elders, he could not say that a magical treasure they gave him protected him.

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhu Lingwu finally arrived at the Zhu family's Seventh Branch Ancestral Hall, a very secluded place separated from the residential area by several gardens and a lake.

Upon arriving here, Zhu Lingwu could feel a substantial and dense spiritual energy emanating from the ground, as if he were standing on a steamer with boiling water bubbling and releasing steam.

According to the memories Zhu Lingwu obtained from Meng Yishi, the spiritual energy in the holy lands of the sects outside the world was not much different from this.

Of course, that referred to the places where ordinary disciples of the sects practiced. If it were the places where the sect leaders and elders meditated, the spiritual energy would naturally be even denser.

Upon reaching the entrance of the Ancestral Hall, the steward turned to Zhu Lingwu and bowed, "Young Master, the three elders are waiting for you inside. I will not enter, as my body cannot withstand it!"

Zhu Lingwu looked at him in surprise. Although the steward appeared ordinary, about forty years old, Zhu Lingwu could sense that he was also a martial arts expert, with a strength level around the ninth level of the innate stage.

Zhu Lingwu recalled the memories of this body. The child had never been here before. The initial bloodline test was conducted in the main ancestral hall of the Zhu family, which was a place for worshiping the common ancestors of the family.

Why did the steward say that his body could not withstand being inside?

However, he had seen in some movies and novels that only family members could enter the ancestral hall. Perhaps this steward was not a member of the Zhu family, so he did not have the right to enter.

Although he pondered this in his mind, on the surface, Zhu Lingwu only nodded and turned to the group of servants following him, "Wait outside! I will go see the elders alone!"

Then, Zhu Lingwu walked alone into the Zhu family's Seventh Branch Ancestral Hall. From the outside, the hall looked like an ordinary courtyard, with a signboard at the entrance gate reading "Seventh Branch Ancestral Hall."

The courtyard gate was open, and Zhu Lingwu directly crossed the threshold and entered.

First, he saw a courtyard of about 300 square meters, with many green pines and trees planted in the center, surrounded by flower beds and some medicinal plants.

Directly in front of the gate was the hall where the ancestral tablets of the Zhu family's Seventh Branch were placed. Inside, incense smoke wafted, and a faint scent of sandalwood could be smelled.

However, Zhu Lingwu did not feel any elemental fluctuations here, nor did he feel any pressure on his body. There was no significant change.

But his soul consciousness did not dare to probe here recklessly. With the experience from Meng Yishi, he did not want to reveal his powerful soul consciousness.

"Grandson, follow the paper crane, come here!"

A voice sounded in Zhu Lingwu's ear. He feigned confusion, turning his head to look around, and then saw a paper crane flying vividly on his left side.

The paper crane was made of yellow paper, faintly glowing with white spiritual light, forming a translucent crane shadow, about the size of a real white crane. Its beak opened and closed, and the words seemed to come from its mouth.

This was likely a method for long-distance communication. Of course, to Zhu Lingwu, it was just a small trick.

However, Zhu Lingwu still put on a surprised expression, carefully examining it and even trying to touch it.

Seeing that Zhu Lingwu had noticed it, the paper crane flew a circle in the air, avoiding Zhu Lingwu's touch, and slowly flew toward the left side of the ancestral hall courtyard. As it flew, it turned its head to look at Zhu Lingwu, as if inviting him to follow.

Zhu Lingwu followed it, and soon passed through a small door on the left side of the courtyard, entering a small courtyard.

At first glance, this small courtyard looked like a small garden, with several small stone and wooden houses set up in different places within the garden.

These houses were about ten square meters in size. When the paper crane reached this courtyard, it suddenly burst into flames and quickly turned to ashes, dispersing in the wind...