Longevity: Starting From Getting Down The Mountain And Marrying A Wife

Qingyang City.

In the southern district, at a certain mansion.

A cultivator came to visit another cultivator.

"Zhong Yan has been hiding in the city for over a year, and he finally left the city!"

"Oh? Did he go to the market?"

"I don't think so. He went north, but he's also a cowardly person! He brought a group of martial artists as his followers, all of them strong and powerful!"

"Haha~ Who isn't afraid of death!"

"Well, it's not easy to get his attention. We need to find the right opportunity to strike, preferably on his way to and from the market. He must have accumulated a large number of talismans to sell in the market."

"Hey, what if we kidnap his concubines or children?"

"Hmph~ That won't work! This guy has many wives and concubines, all bought from the Marriage Pavilion. He doesn't care about their lives. He can just buy more, and the same goes for his children. Losing one or two is nothing to a cultivator."

"That's true. I guess only Yu Qingyao might be valued more by him, as she can bear him offspring with spiritual roots."

"But her cultivation level is higher, so it's not easy to deal with her if she doesn't leave the city."

...

...

Outside Qingyang City, on the road to the north.

Zhong Yan, dressed in a green robe, rode on a horse.

On his left was Yan Sandao, dressed in black armor, and on his right was Li Liushi, dressed in white armor. Both of them wore veiled hats to cover their faces.

The gentle breeze lifted their ribbons, creating a black and white contrast.

There were eighteen martial artists following them, ten from the Li Mansion, five at the Innate stage, and five at the Post Natal stage. The other eight were young disciples from the Zhong Mansion's martial arts hall, all of them at the Post Natal Realm.

They were fully armed, carrying swords and hanging crossbows.

Even if someone attacked them, it would be difficult to succeed without sufficient strength and numbers.

On both sides of the road, at the foot of the mountains, and in the fields, there were still ragged refugees everywhere, sitting, lying down, or walking slowly. Most of them were elderly, weak, and sick women.

If it weren't for the galloping horses, they would have rushed up to beg for food. This was a common sight.

Fuyang Town was a small town under the jurisdiction of Qingyang City, located more than 130 miles to the north, at the foot of the mountains.

The group arrived in the town, stepping into the sunset glow.

The tenant farmers responsible for the Zhong Mansion's fields were already waiting at the entrance of the town.

As soon as they saw Yan Sandao removing his veil, the leader, an old man in his fifties, knelt down with a group of people in excitement.

"Li Chungeng pays respects to Lord Zhong, Madam, and all the esteemed guests!"

The landlords were their providers, especially after the Zhong Mansion took over the fields from the Xue Mansion, reducing the rent for many tenant farmers and providing various preferential policies.

This made the tenant farmers from other landlords' estates envious.

Yan Sandao gracefully dismounted his horse, "Please rise, everyone. Are all the people gathered?"

"Everyone's here, everyone's here! Over at the granary!"

"Nothing bad happened, right?"

"It's bustling, bustling!"

Li Chungen shook his head repeatedly, grinning and showing his teeth. "Madam, rest assured, everything is fine! Thanks to Madam's generous provision of silver to buy quilts and firewood, otherwise, last year's cold would have definitely caused many deaths from freezing!"

Yan Sandao nodded and gestured to Li Liushi beside him. "This is Madam Ying, she is in charge of checking and managing the accounts of both the Zhong and Li households."

"Yes, yes!" The old man bowed repeatedly and pointed to two young men.

"You two, escort Madam and make sure to report all the harvests, rents, and this year's planting from every household. Take good care of her! Don't neglect Madam!"

"Yes, Uncle Gen! Please come this way, Madam!"

"Then I will go ahead." Li Liushi bowed to Zhong Yan and led the two warriors towards the town.

The old man looked at Zhong Yan and smiled, "Lord Zhong, it's getting dark soon. I have prepared food and drinks. Shall we eat something first and rest for the night before continuing our work tomorrow?"

"No need, lead the way."

"Alright, alright!"

The old man waved his hand and had someone bring the prepared food to the granary. He and a few strong men cleared the way and led the group forward.

After walking for a while, he hesitated and glanced at Zhong Yan, then looked at Yan Sandao, feeling somewhat embarrassed and cautious.

"May I ask, Madam, how should we handle the refugees? There are too many people, and once the busy season is over, there won't be any work left. It's not a sustainable solution, and I can't handle it."

Yan Sandao said, "After selecting the workers, each of them will be given five taels of silver as travel expenses to find their own way. If you're willing, you can choose a few strong ones to stay and help with farming."

The old man was shocked. Five taels is a lot, and he nodded repeatedly, "Alright, alright, Lord Zhong and Madam are both bodhisattvas in this world!"

They continued along the dirt path.

The spring breeze brushed the greenery, and the setting sun seemed endless.

The countryside scenery was exceptionally beautiful.

Zhong Yan surveyed the fields, and many farmers were still working in their fields. There were clusters of houses in the distance.

"Li Chungen, right? How many households are there in Fuyang Town?"

Hearing the question, the old man immediately ran to Zhong Yan's horse and followed, smiling, "Replying to Lord Zhong, there are 162 households in the town, not including those who are away doing business. There are 1,225 people..."

"There are 27 villages below, some with over a hundred households, and some with only forty to fifty households. The entire Fuyang Town has over 13,000 people..."

"Our town mainly relies on farming, with cotton as the main crop. We also grow wheat, corn, and vegetables, which are transported to Qingyang City... In recent years, the weather has been favorable, and the harvests have been decent..."

Even the number of hunters with certain martial skills, several landlords, and the number of guards in each landlord's house were all mentioned one by one.

Zhong Yan glanced at him. The one who could lead the way must have his own smooth ways. Being so detailed, it was clear that he had made sufficient preparations.

What impressed Zhong Yan was that Fuyang Town had such a vast land area, but only had a little over 10,000 people.

There were many wastelands at the foot of the mountains.

In the Immortal Martial Continent with a population of trillions, the relative area was even more vast and boundless.

Almost all residential areas were like this.

It wasn't that they didn't want to cultivate the land, but they didn't have the ability to do so.

The common people were exploited and oppressed. Being able to avoid starvation was already a great fortune. If they couldn't eat enough and had no energy, how could they cultivate fertile land?

The majority of them relied on the wealthy landlords to make a living.

After half an hour.

The sky gradually darkened.

Zhong Yan pulled the reins and stopped, looking into the distance for a moment before pointing to a spot.

"Do you see those two mountains? Flatten the valley between them and build a fortress. Once we gather enough people, those who are willing can work. They will be provided with food and drink, and three hundred copper coins each day."

Liu Chungeng was momentarily stunned, but quickly responded, "Yes, yes, I will follow your instructions, Lord Zhong!"

"I will have someone inform you of the specific requirements later."

"Alright, alright."

They continued on their way to a nearby village, where a crowd of people stood or squatted on the flat ground. A row of tents was set up not far away.

The strong young man beside Li Chungeng received a signal and ran forward, shouting, "Line up! Ten in a row!"

"Your good fortune has arrived! If you are chosen by the Lord, you will have wealth and prosperity that knows no bounds!"

"Hurry up! Don't dawdle! One by one, don't crowd, no talking or noise..."

Several disciples of the Zhong family dispersed to maintain order.

Meanwhile, the Li family's disciples began examining the refugees one by one, checking their aptitude for martial arts.

Zhong Yan walked up to a makeshift platform and sat down. "Come forward."

A dark-skinned and thin young boy walked up and sat on a stool.

Zhong Yan placed his hand on the boy's head, circulated his inner energy, and after a moment said, "Next."

Checking for spiritual roots could be done directly with inner energy, taking only two or three breaths. It was quite fast.

If there were spiritual roots, they could further determine the specific attributes using a specialized spiritual root detection bead.

"Next."

"Next."

In the blink of an eye, an hour had passed.

They had examined seven hundred people.

None of them had spiritual roots.

Zhong Yan let out a sigh, feeling a little disappointed.

Yan Sandao, holding a torch, leaned down and whispered, "My Lord, should we take a break?"

Zhong Yan shook his head slightly and placed his hand on the head of another young boy who stepped forward.

Another incense stick burned.

Only five people remained.

Zhong Yan sighed bitterly in his heart. It seemed that luck was not on their side this time.

Before coming here, he had held some hope.

Many of these refugees were under fifteen years old and came from various parts of the Wei Kingdom. If they hadn't been tested for spiritual roots, there was a certain probability of finding one or two.

Although people with spiritual roots were rare, they were relatively more common.

These sects searched for young boys and girls from various towns and villages to recruit as disciples. Most of their parents were ordinary people, relying on luck to give birth to a child with spiritual roots.

For example, in Qingyang City, Fire Cloud Sect could select five or six disciples every year, and sometimes even more than ten.

Zhong Yan raised his hand again and casually pressed it down.

Just about to let go.

His gaze focused.

Activating his elemental energy to confirm, a smile appeared at the corner of Zhong Yan's mouth. There is spiritual root, although the sensitivity to elemental energy is relatively weak. "Stand behind me."

Another person arrived at the scene.

The contrast before and after became a pleasant surprise.

Yan Sandao, holding a torch, blinked his eyes, his eyes shining. Fortunately, fortunately. Otherwise, if she secretly gathered so many people and bothered her husband to make a trip, it would be distressing.

She couldn't help but look around. This place has beautiful mountains and water, it's a nice place, suitable for love. Her husband will definitely reward her...

A scene appeared in her mind, lost in her thoughts, Yan Sandao heard Zhong Yan's joyful exclamation, "Not bad, not bad!"

Yan Sandao was surprised and followed with joy, "Husband, is this child also...?"

Zhong Yan nodded. Finally, five people appeared at once, this trip was not in vain!

Moreover, this person's sensitivity to his elemental energy is even stronger.

"What is your name? How old are you?"

The half-grown teenager looked timidly at Zhong Yan.

The last girl standing behind him quickly stepped forward and knelt down, pulling the young boy down as well.

"Kneel and greet the master! This is my younger brother, called Dunzi, his full name is Huang Dun, almost nine years old. I am Huang E, fourteen years old. Please take us in, I can endure hardships, I can do all kinds of work like washing clothes and cooking!"

Zhong Yan reached out and touched her head, probing for a moment. No spiritual root. He nodded towards Yan Sandao.

Yan Sandao went up and pinched her for a while, shaking his head, "The aptitude is very average, it's difficult to cultivate internal energy."

Zhong Yan looked at the girl and asked, "Are there any other people in your family?"

"Replying to the master, there are none. My family of six fled to Yan country, my older brother was killed by bad people, my second sister died of illness, my parents gave me and Dunzi all the food they found, and they starved to death..."

Yan Sandao spoke up, "The mansion happens to be looking for maidservants."

Zhong Yan stood up, "Bring them back together."

"Yes, husband."

"Thank you, thank you, master, thank you, madam..."

Zhong Yan looked to the other side and waved his hand. Checking bone structure and martial arts aptitude takes a bit longer, and there are still one or two hundred people left to check, but more than ten promising candidates have already been selected.

A martial artist from the Li mansion stepped forward, "Master Zhong, there are a few with excellent bone structure, but they are a bit older, all over twenty years old."

Zhong Yan said calmly, "No need."

Practicing martial arts should start from a young age. Fifteen to twenty is the most suitable age for improvement. Wasting this golden opportunity, no matter how good the bone structure is, it's not suitable.

And it's better to cultivate those who are younger, they can be trusted in the future.

At this moment, a shout came from afar.

"Uncle Gen!"

"Master Zhong!"

A figure ran towards them and knelt down in front.

"Master Zhong! Bandits have come to the town! They've captured the madam!"