Aunt! The Troubles of Sudden Wealth!

Lu Yun pushed open the door and walked out, as dusk filled the courtyard.

Looking towards the horizon, the afterglow of today's sunset seems to have been painted by a divine brush, dazzling and magnificent.

The sky seemed to have been splashed with gold paint, a dazzling golden hue.

As I entered the hall in the afterglow of the setting sun, the aroma of food wafted over me.

There were two dishes and a soup on the table. The beautiful woman was eating, muttering to herself.

"Isn't the task assigned to us by the clan enough? Why do we have to take on an extra thousand catties of ore refining?"

Uncle Shen flipped through the account books without looking up.

"There's no other way. Seventh Brother can't refine it, but the clan is offering a spirit stone as a reward, so I'll take his place."

The beautiful woman's voice suddenly rose: "Seventh Brother coughed up blood just last month! Do you think the foul air in the ore refining process is a joke?"

"Yes, yes, yes, boss! We can't earn enough spirit stones!"

Still wanting to ramble on, I caught a glimpse of Shen He's dog sneakily reaching for braised pork.

He raised his hand and ate a mouthful of food with his chopsticks.

Cold-blooded and ruthless.

"You're already relaxing after ordering? There's still the Immortal Hall assessment coming up. Once you pass, you can eat whatever you want!"

Shen He pouted: "You said the same thing before we placed the order."

"Yeah?"

The woman remained calm, pulling the bowl to her lap. "I forgot."

Lu Yun walked in and saw his aunt Ye Fen teaching her daughter.

It's both funny and heartbreaking.

My aunt is also a cultivator, but she is very frugal in her daily life.

All five members of the family are cultivators, and the three children cultivate immortality by devouring spirit beasts.

In his memory, ever since he and Shen Heman started eating spirit rice when they were ten years old, his aunt had switched to eating ordinary food.

Having given up spiritual practice, I have a lot of free time and tend to ramble on.

Actually, if it weren't for the extra expense of adopting someone, my aunt wouldn't have needed to give up her spiritual practice.

I have great respect for my aunt.

"Yun'er is here."

When his aunt saw Lu Yun, she would usually nag him a bit, but she didn't say much today.

"Would you like to have a drink with your Uncle Shen?" she asked, getting up and speaking in a comforting tone.

Before he could even reach the seventh rank, he was also jilted by the annulment of his engagement.

This child has always been a bit slow-witted; don't let him become too withdrawn.

"There are plenty of good women in the world, don't worry about it. Let me tell you about someone new, Shen Yue is pretty good, long legs, big butt..."

"mother!"

Shen He was unhappy and pouted.

"What mother? Your brother is getting on in years, he needs to get married eventually."

My aunt, with a straight face, was spouting nonsense. "Actually, I originally wanted to marry Xiaohe off to you. You two can't be together anymore, Shen Yue..."

Lu Yun glanced at Uncle Shen, his expression strange.

A mischievous glint appeared in his eye, and he replied, "Has Uncle Shen not told Auntie yet?"

Shen Tingzhang kept his head down and didn't say anything, pretending to be invisible.

"What did you say?" Auntie looked bewildered.

"The other side gave me spirit stones to make up for the broken engagement. I'm confident I can break through to the third level of Qi Refining within ten days and go to the Immortal Hall."

Lu Yun spoke softly.

"Brother Yun can go to the Immortal Hall too? Mother, is what you just said true?"

Shen He excitedly pressed herself against her mother and asked.

Ye Fen stood frozen in place, wishing she could slap herself twice.

Auntie, there are times when you're speechless after being roasted...

This thought uncontrollably surfaced in Lu Yun's mind.

"What? I forgot?"

Ye Fen quickly adjusted her demeanor and resumed her cold and ruthless state.

Taking back his previous words, he grabbed Shen He by the back of her collar and shooed her to the meditation room to cultivate.

After his wife left, Shen Tingzhang came over.

"I bought the Gathering Essence Pill, but I only have two Spirit Nourishing Pills, and I bought twenty Qi Cultivation Pills."

The storage bag was handed to Lu Yun.

Uncle Shen's choice of elixirs was very thoughtful.

The Gathering Essence Pill for breaking through to the next level costs 20 spirit stones; the Nourishing Spirit Pill for replenishing a large amount of spiritual energy costs 10 spirit stones; the Cultivating Essence Pill for daily cultivation costs 1 spirit stone.

That's enough for a mid-grade spiritual root to break through to the third level of Qi Refining in a short time.

But that was referring to Lu Yun from before.

Now that he has experienced the effects of the true method, perhaps the Qi-Nourishing Pill alone will be enough.

Save more than half.

Lu Yun glanced at the strands of white hair at the ends of Uncle Shen's head and took out the remaining spirit stones.

Washing minerals year-round will shorten their lifespan.

Uncle Shen was just over fifty years old, and although he possessed cultivation, his hair had already turned white.

"Uncle Shen, please take these forty spirit stones to cleanse your body of impurities."

"I'm very happy that you have this intention."

Shen Tingzhang didn't even glance at it, and pushed it back directly, saying, "Keep it to pass the Immortal Hall assessment; the period before a cultivator turns thirty is very important."

There was no way Lu Yun could refuse a confrontation between a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator and a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator.

"Once you've made something of yourself, then you can clear Uncle Shen's name."

After saying that, he sent Lu Yun back to cultivate, saying that he had to make the most of every second in these ten days.

......

After Lu Yun left, his aunt Ye Fen came out from behind the door.

"Master, where did you get so many spirit stones?"

Shen Tingzhang then revealed that the other party had promised to repay tenfold.

"You, Shen Tingzhang, you kept it all from me! I've worried about your family for so many years..."

Shen Tingzhang was extremely troubled and repeatedly begged for forgiveness, saying it was a momentary lapse in judgment.

"Lu Yun is right, you really should cleanse yourself of your impurities."

Ye Fen touched the gray hair at her husband's temples, her eyes filled with heartache.

"Right now, they're all using spirit stones. Things will get better in a few years."

Shen Tingzhang awkwardly covered his white hair.

I'm thinking about whether I should dye my hair.

"You always say that..."

"By the way, with so many people in the council hall today, one hundred spirit stones is no small sum. The clan..."

Ye Fen was somewhat worried.

"Don't worry, I bought him the pills as soon as possible." Shen Tingzhang had expected this.

"Oh no, even if I buy the pills, it might not work!"

Ye Fen suddenly thought of something, "Just wait, someone will definitely come to borrow spirit stones tonight."

"What's wrong?"

Shen Tingzhang frowned. "If we don't lend it to them, what else can they do but steal it?"

"I heard that the clan leader's daughter, Shen Qiushui, is vying for a spot in the Immortal Academy next year and is short of spirit stones."

Ye Fen got up to clear the dishes, already planning how to deal with the situation.

"The Ascension Academy? Isn't she a mid-grade spiritual root, and she's only been a disciple of the Immortal Hall for six years?"

"Is the goal to achieve a fifth-grade ranking, or to be able to forge magical artifacts?"

Shen Tingzhang was taken aback; this reason was indeed of great righteousness.

The three major families of Zixin City are not based on their elders or patriarchs, but on the disciples of the Immortal Academy.

The Shen family has two disciples from the Immortal Academy as their backers.

The strongest is Shen Ji, who is fifty-five years old and at the eighth level of Qi Refining. The other one is his son.

"No, I heard she got involved with a disciple of a prestigious family in the Immortal Academy, who promised to help her if she broke through to the sixth level."

Ye Fen had just brewed some tea when there was a knock on the door.

She looked at her husband: "What did I say again?"

Shen Tingzhang gave a thumbs up.

Upon opening the door, they saw—the clan chief's wife.

The two families don't get along very well and rarely visit each other.

The two women sat in the hall, sipping tea and chatting for a while.

The clan chief's wife stated her purpose: "Sister Fen, my Qiushui was just one step away from being admitted to the Immortal Academy."

"Autumn Water adds luster to our Shen family."

Ye Fen simply didn't ask which step was missing: "Then we must give them our best congratulations when the time comes."

"We're just short some spirit stones to buy the breakthrough pills and to bribe the higher-ups," the clan chief's wife said, looking somewhat troubled.

"Two Shens cannot be written in one stroke, how different are they?"

The children have been spending a lot these past few years, but the family has still managed to save five spirit stones.

As she spoke, Ye Fen got up to get it.

Seeing that they were always pretending to be ignorant, the clan chief's wife simply said, "Didn't Lu Yun get a hundred spirit stones today?"

"Lu Yun doesn't have the surname Shen, so we can't make that decision," Ye Fen said, looking troubled.

"Lu Yun was raised by our Shen family, so of course he's a member of the Shen family," the clan chief's wife said anxiously.

"Since he's a member of the Shen family, can he learn the 'Reversal of Fortune Steps'?"

That's exactly what Ye Fen was waiting for.

The clan chief's wife frowned, glanced at her with surprise, and pondered something in her mind.

"He's willing to lend the spirit stones to Qiu Shui; we can give him a chance."

She only said she would give him one chance.

"Okay, then I'll go call him and lend out the remaining thirty spirit stones."

Ye Fen smiled and stood up to call Lu Yun.

"Why is it thirty spirit stones?" The clan chief's wife was bewildered.

"This child's rank was determined today; he reached the upper eighth grade and almost entered the Immortal Hall."

Ye Fen honestly explained the situation: "I bought Gathering Yuan Pills and a lot of Spirit Nourishing Pills and Yuan Cultivation Pills, planning to make a big push in ten days. I only have thirty spirit stones left."

Upon hearing this, the clan chief's wife's expression immediately changed.

Thirty spirit stones also want to learn the "Turning the Universe Step"?

"snort."

She couldn't be bothered to pretend anymore and left with a gloomy expression.

If they don't want to lend it, they don't want to. But if they offend a Foundation Establishment True Person, they'll have to cut themselves off from their own clan.

"Sister Zhen, don't go! Ask the clan leader when Xiaoyun will be able to learn the 'Reversal of Heaven and Earth Steps'?"

Ye Fen shouted at the retreating figure.

She spat after the clan chief's wife disappeared.

"I'm only a month older than her, and she calls me 'sister' every day. Is she trying to show off her youth? Trying to mess with me..."

"Madam, aren't we going too far?"

Shen Tingzhang hesitated; there was no need to offend him by refusing.

"It's too late."

Ye Fen sat down and sighed, "I heard some news from Shen Yue's family."

"Before leaving, that Foundation Establishment cultivator transmitted a message to the clan leader—he doesn't reject the Shen family, but he dislikes Lu Yun."

"The clan leader wants to squeeze our family out of the Shen family first, and then cut ties with them to avoid trouble."

"What?"

Shen Tingzhang suddenly stood up, but then slumped back down when he thought of the "Foundation Building" technique.

After a moment's pause, he said, "Don't tell the children about this yet. We'll move out of the Shen residence after they leave."

"It's fine even if I'm not at the Shen residence. With my ability to process ore, I won't go hungry no matter where I go."

"I know."

Ye Fen looked at her husband, her face showing worry.

"How can we tell the children this? We'll just have to bear it ourselves."

She didn't care whether she was in the Shen family or not.

Over the years, Shen Tingzhang has worked so hard for the family that he has visibly aged.

As a result, because of the branch family, the spirit stones they earned were not enough to support their family's cultivation.

Meanwhile, the direct descendants of the clan elders reaped enormous profits.

……

When the clan chief's wife returned home, she angrily told Shen Wenjian what had happened.

Shen Wenjian immediately sent people to investigate.

I learned that Shen Tingzhang did indeed go out in the afternoon and bought a lot of pills at the Immortal Seal Pavilion.

"How could you bear to part with such a large sum of spirit stones?" The clan chief's wife couldn't help but curse.

Those are all their spirit stones.

"Since they want to cut themselves off from the clan, let them be."

Shen Wenjian narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them.

"There are other ways to obtain Qiu Shui's spirit stones."

I had planned to borrow 100 spirit stones to help their family settle down properly outside.

No, we don't need to anymore.

"It's already spread that Lu Yun got one hundred spirit stones, and there will definitely be a lot of people coming to borrow spirit stones."

"If we don't lend them any money, the pressure of squeezing them out of the Shen family will be less, and it will also be a way to give that Foundation Establishment True Person an explanation."

The clan chief's wife was still somewhat angry: "It's fine that Qiu Shui's spirit stones have been secured, but what about Xiao Xuan?"

"He set his sights on the seventh rank. Entering the Immortal Hall requires planning for some resources. There isn't much left, but it's enough for Xiao Xuan to cultivate for two years."