Chapter 11 Promotion to Elder

Before long, over a dozen Qi Refinement, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm) cultivators from the clan arrived at the main family hall.

As it was the end of the year, most clan cultivators had returned to the family estate, with the exception of the Grand Elder who remained stationed in Pingyang Town (Location) and could not be relieved of his duties. Even the Second Elder had set aside his business in Yuyang Market and returned to Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location) to attend this clan gathering.

Presiding over the clan assembly was Third Elder, who oversaw the clan’s affairs. He served as the family’s linchpin, possessing a broad understanding of all matters and the clearest insight into the clan’s financial situation.

A rare smile graced his face, the usual look of sorrow nowhere to be seen.

"Let us first discuss a few matters at today's clan gathering."

Chapter 1 The first matter is that after these years of everyone's efforts, the family's external debts have been completely repaid.

"This year’s Qi Gathering Pill (Spiritual Object) has also achieved an excellent alchemy success rate, likely to fetch over 1,600 Spirit Stones (Quantitative Description)."

Hearing the Third Elder's account, everyone couldn't help but reveal looks of excitement.

The clan vault received an infusion of 1,600 spirit stones, signifying that the family now had funds. The owed spirit stones and stipends could gradually be repaid.

But at that very moment, Third Elder spoke again.

"The clan leader's injuries show no signs of improvement. If this drags on any longer, I fear they may deteriorate further."

“I heard that a few years ago, the Daoist Jiang of Celestial Ruins Mountain refined a batch of Meridian-Nourishing Pills to save his disciple. There are still 3 pills remaining.”

"Therefore, I intend to set aside these funds. Once we've accumulated enough, I'll have someone take them to Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) to purchase a Meridian-Nourishing Pill (Elixir), hoping to shorten the clan leader's recovery period by some time."

Upon hearing this, everyone was momentarily taken aback, yet none voiced any objections.

The Nourishing Meridian Pill is a high-grade Tier-2 elixir capable of treating meridian injuries in Foundation Establishment cultivators. For the Chen Family, ensuring the Clan Leader's swift recovery was currently the most crucial priority.

Eldrin listened quietly, knowing that if the stipends remained unpaid for years and the borrowed money was never returned to the clan members, even if no 1 voiced complaints aloud, most would likely harbor some resentment in their hearts.

Most crucially, prolonged suspension of stipends would likely severely hinder the cultivation progress of the Chen Clan's practitioners. Contemplating this, Eldrin spoke.

"In recent years, the family vaults have been depleted, and none of us have enough merit points to spare."

"Very well. From this year onward, I shall contribute 30 spirit peaches annually to the clan repository in exchange for family merit points."

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but freeze in astonishment. Although family merit points and spirit stones maintained a 1-to-1 exchange ratio, their practical applications were entirely different matters.

The family treasury was now nearly depleted, making contribution points virtually worthless. By exchanging 30 spirit peaches for contribution points each year, Eldrin was essentially using his own resources to revitalize the clan's coffers.

Until the family deficit was eliminated and the clan treasury replenished, these merits would be of little use to Eldrin.

However, for the clan's cultivators, this was a tremendous boon. The spirit peaches could enhance their cultivation, proving even more effective than spirit stones.

A single spirit peach was worth 5 spirit stones, and 30 spirit peaches amounted to 150 spirit stones. With these 30 spirit peaches available each year from now on, everyone could hold a glimmer of hope for their cultivation journey.

"No." Third Elder Lior shook his head immediately. "If the spirit peaches are stored in the repository, what about your cultivation?"

"No matter, I have already broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining. From here on, it's merely a matter of patient cultivation."

"Besides, the spirit peach tree still yields a considerable surplus of spirit peaches."

"Absolutely not," Eldrin declared resolutely. The others paused briefly upon hearing this, ultimately refraining from further persuasion.

"You."

Third Elder patted Eldrin on the shoulder, shaking his head helplessly before turning to address the crowd:

"The second matter to be announced concerns the appointment of the Eighth Elder."

"Since Eldrin has broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, according to our clan's rules, he shall become the eighth elder of our family. Does anyone object to this?"

Elder Chen Qinghe smiled faintly and said, "Having 1 more elder in the family helps alleviate our current predicament. How could we possibly object?"

Since even the Second Elder, who held an extremely high status within the clan, had spoken, everyone present naturally agreed with smiles.

Thus, at the age of 18, Eldrin became the first Nian-generation cultivator to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining, officially joining the ranks of the family's few power holders.

The meeting proceeded in an orderly manner, primarily addressing arrangements for the coming year, and lasted a full 3 hours before concluding.

After the meeting concluded, the Third Elder specifically asked Eldrin to remain behind.

"Eldrin, after the New Year passes, do not return to Spirit Isle Lake just yet."

"Oh?"

Lior noticed Eldrin's puzzled expression and said with a smile, "After the New Year celebrations, it will be time for the annual spiritual root examination of the clan's mortals."

"I am currently tied up with matters, so I would like you to test the children's spiritual roots."

Hearing this, Chen Muzhi (Person Name) nodded.

Testing spiritual roots for mortals was no simple task. Generally, the most effective method involved using a Spirit Measuring Plate to conduct the assessment.

However, the Spirit Testing Plate was a high-grade, second-tier magical artifact, valued at a full several 1000 spirit stones. Most weaker cultivation clans could not bear the expense of purchasing it, and the Chen Family naturally had no spare funds to buy such an item.

Aside from the Spirit Testing Plate, a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator with perfectly harmonized true energy could barely sense spiritual roots.

However, this is a crude method, with only an 80 to 90 percent chance of detecting a spiritual root, and it can only vaguely sense the spiritual root's attributes.

The method employed by the Chen Family to detect spiritual roots in mortals was, in fact, this rudimentary approach. With few Qi Refinement ninth-level cultivators currently in the family and Eldrin having advanced to that very stage, the Third Elder promptly enlisted him for the task of spiritual root assessment.

“Eldrin (Person Name)…”

After exiting the Ancestral Artifact Hall, Chen Qingmeng suddenly called out to Eldrin (Person Name), her expression caught between hesitation and unspoken words.

Chen Muzhi’s footsteps halted as he noticed the Sixth Elder seemingly waiting ahead for quite some time. He hurried forward and cupped his hands in salute.

"Greetings, 20-Sixth Uncle."

"You are already an elder of the family. There is no need for such formalities from now on."

A shadow of melancholy crossed Chen Qingmeng’s face as he gazed at the youthful Eldrin, his heart growing ever more sorrowful.

As the only first-grade, high-rank alchemist of the Chen Family, Chen Qingmeng’s innate talent was actually quite remarkable. Born with a dual spiritual root, he had been full of ambition since childhood. He stepped into Qi Refinement at the age of 12 and had already broken through to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement by the time he was 30-7.

After accumulating experience for another dozen or so years, he had thoroughly reached the peak of Qi Refinement. In terms of innate talent alone, he was second only to Chen Qingyuan—who had been accepted into the Qingyang Sect—among the Qing-generation descendants of the Chen Family.

Now in his early fifties, Chen Qingmeng should have been in his prime according to Qi Refinement, Peak Stage (Cultivation Realm) lifespan standards. Yet his hair had already turned silver-gray, lending him an unnaturally aged appearance that carried the weight of decaying twilight.

Logically speaking, with the aid of the Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object), even if Chen Qingmeng failed his breakthrough, he shouldn’t have deteriorated to such a state of depleted vitality. His current condition was likely due to the overwhelming pressure—both mental and emotional—from owing his family a debt he could never repay in this lifetime.