Chapter 641 : A Clan's Essence and Ambition

"This matter can be arranged."

Eldrin Chen nodded. In recent years, the cultivation progress of the Chen Clan Cultivators had been swift, and correspondingly, the resources they could obtain had also increased significantly.

With the Chen Clan's industries and shops opened in several nearby great continents, it should, in principle, be sufficient to support one or two cultivators at the Nascent Soul Late Stage.

It was only because Eldrin Chen and Lyra Jiang's cultivation advanced too rapidly that the reserves of Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] within the Clan Treasury remained insufficient.

Once Eldrin Chen and Lyra Jiang broke through to the Qi Refinement, Mid Stage, each would have several Lifebound Spiritual Treasure [a magical artifact bound to a cultivator's life force and soul] requiring advancement. The amount of Five Elements Essence needed for this would be an immeasurable figure.

The Five Elements Essence consumed by merely ten Lifebound Spiritual Treasure would be enough to drain an ordinary Nascent Soul Immortal Clan, let alone the additional consumption required for their Lifebound Divine Ability [a supernatural power intrinsically linked to a cultivator's being].

Although the Chen Clan had accumulated a considerable amount of Five Elements Essence over these years, several clan members had also recently advanced to the Nascent Soul realm. Coupled with the Five Elements Essence consumed in refining the Dual Polarity Treasure Lotus, the clan's stockpile was indeed running low.

Furthermore, the Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy] reserves in the Clan Treasury were also somewhat insufficient, necessitating the temporary allocation of Spirit Stone from the personal resources of the clan members.

Having made his decision, Eldrin Chen sought out Thalion Chen and explained the situation to him.

The Old Patriarch listened, then nodded and said, "In truth, it is not that the clan lacks wealth. It is simply that our ascension to an Nascent Soul Immortal Clan is still recent, and most of the Spirit Stone in the Clan Treasury has been invested for future growth." For the best reading experience, visit *audio-novel.com*.

"Oh?"

Eldrin Chen's eyes flickered slightly as he listened to Thalion Chen's detailed account.

As the Old Patriarch narrated, Eldrin Chen gained a general understanding of the current state of the Chen Clan.

Having captured several Fifth Rank Spirit Mountains and slain numerous formidable enemies, the Chen Clan was, in fact, quite wealthy. The resources listed on its ledgers placed it among the top-tier Nascent Soul Immortal Clans.

However, after the clan's ascension to a Nascent Soul Immortal Clan, there were far too many aspects of its Deep-Seated Foundation [the profound and stable base required for long-term cultivation power] that needed accumulation. Consequently, the clan's investments of Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy, used as currency and for cultivation] were primarily focused on three areas.

These three main areas of investment were: loans to clan members, Fixed Assets, and market-town investments.

The loans to clan members primarily covered borrowing for breakthroughs to the Foundation Establishment [the realm where a cultivator solidifies their spiritual foundation], Purple Mansion [the realm where the cultivator's spiritual consciousness forms a 'purple mansion' within the dantian], Golden Core [the realm where spiritual energy condenses into a golden core], and even Nascent Soul [the realm where the golden core hatches into an infant soul] realms.

This system encompassed everyone, from high-ranking Nascent Soul True Lords like Thalion Chen and Silas Chen, down to minor cultivators at the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer [the ninth and final layer of the Qi Refinement realm].

The primary goal was to nurture promising clan cultivators. The interest rates set were exceptionally low. Upon a successful breakthrough, the recipient was required to work for the clan or repay the debt by earning Spirit Stone through mastery of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation [a collective term for various supportive skills like alchemy, artifact forging, and formation setting].

The second major area of expenditure was Fixed Assets, which also constituted a significant portion of the clan's financial outlay.

In merely two centuries, the Chen Clan has cultivated over one thousand Spirit Mountain [mountains imbued with spiritual energy] of varying grades across The Vast Sea and Chen Nation, and has also opened up more than two million Mu-area [one Mu-area equals six hundred sixty-six point six seven square meters] of Spirit Farmland [land enriched with spiritual energy for cultivating spiritual plants].

These two investments alone consume four-tenths of the clan's annual expenditure.

The Spirit Mountain and Spirit Farmland are primarily used to cultivate the Spirit Wood [wood infused with spiritual energy] required for refining Treasure Ship, as well as various types of Spirit Fruit [fruits containing spiritual essence] and Spirit Medicine [herbs with medicinal and spiritual properties].

For these investments to yield returns requires hundreds or even a Millennium [a period of one thousand years]. Currently, most of what has matured are low-grade Spirit Medicine.

The profit margin on these low-grade Spirit Medicine is not high; after deducting the stipends for the clansmen responsible for cultivation, the actual earnings are rather modest.

The primary profits come from mid-to-high grade Spirit Medicine of Third Rank [a specific level of power and refinement] and above. Herbs of this grade can already serve as supplementary ingredients for Nascent Soul Pill [a pill that aids in achieving the Nascent Soul realm], making them exceptionally lucrative.

However, Spirit Medicine of this caliber requires at least five hundred years to mature, a timeframe that is still far from being reached.

Among these Spirit Mountain and Spirit Farmland, hundreds to thousands of high-grade Spirit Medicine of the fourth and Fifth Rank [a very high level of power] are now planted. These include rare treasures like the Tribulation Transcendence Flower, yet their maturation will require several Millennium.

Yet, these investments are indispensable. Since Eldrin Chen's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul [a high-level stage of cultivation where one forms a spiritual infant], the supplementary herbs required to refine a single batch of high-grade Pill [a medicinal pellet refined for cultivation] demand the combined resources of an entire continent to gather.

The primary ingredients for refining Fifth Rank Pill are all purchased from external sources at great expense. If the scale of the Spirit Farmland is not further expanded, in the future, even gathering the supplementary herbs for a single batch of Pill will become difficult, let alone procuring the precious primary ingredients.

Old Patriarch possessed a far-sighted vision, thus he invested heavily in this area, and continued to do so year after year. By the time the Millennium arrived, the clan would gradually begin producing Fifth Rank Spirit Medicine [exceptionally potent spiritual herbs of the fifth rank].

Among these Spirit Medicine, some were even key auxiliary ingredients for Nascent Soul Pill [a legendary pill that aids in forming the Nascent Soul]. Even if the Chen Clan or myself had no use for them in the future, they could be used to forge connections with the great Sacred Land [renowned cultivation holy lands].

Beyond these Fixed Assets, there were the clan's shops. Over the years, through purchases, leases, exchanges, and various other means, the Chen Clan had established shops in the surrounding great continents.

By now, the Chen Clan had opened shops in over ten of the surrounding Seven Great Continents, within one thousand three hundred and sixty-four market towns.

For this purpose, Thalion Chen personally traveled across these dozen or so great continents, paying his respects to the major Nascent Soul Immortal Clan and Sect, and offering a generous share of the profits. Altogether, this constituted a significant expenditure.

These shops served not only to sell the Chen Clan's goods but also to purchase Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] for Eldrin Chen. This content originates from audio-novel*com. Please respect copyright.

According to Thalion Chen's arrangements, in just another two or three Jiazi-time [cycles of sixty years], the Five Elements Essence accumulated by these shops would be sufficient to meet Eldrin Chen's consumption needs after his advancement to the Nascent Soul, Mid Stage.

However, it was unforeseen that after Eldrin Chen's breakthrough to Nascent Soul, he would encounter significant serendipity. Now, with the acquisition of the Moon God Pearl [a mystical pearl imbued with lunar divinity], it seemed his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul, Mid Stage would occur even sooner. This has left the clan's reserves of Five Elements Essence and stockpiled Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy] somewhat insufficient.

"So that's how it is,"

Eldrin Chen sighed. In recent years, he had focused solely on his cultivation, paying almost no heed to clan affairs.

If these matters were left for him to handle, it would likely greatly hinder his cultivation, and he might not perform as well as Old Patriarch [the venerable leader of the clan].

Contemplating this, he said thoughtfully, "Although the clan's supply of Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy] is insufficient, we cannot let it delay the cultivation of our clansmen."

"Let it be this way: those cultivators whose cultivation bases are not far from a breakthrough shall be temporarily exempt from the levy."

"We can also take some of the more common Fifth Rank Spiritual Object [a high-grade spiritual material] from the Clan Treasury [the clan's central repository of wealth and resources] and sell them."

Thalion Chen nodded, then said with a smile, "I see the Eight Trigrams Treasure Tree [a mystical tree that enhances divination and fortune] is nearing its advancement. Once it does, those few Spiritual Treasure [enchanted artifacts of significant power] of mine will become useless. You were the one who gave most of them to me in the first place, so now I shall use them to trade for Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] on your behalf."

"I trouble you, Old Granduncle [a respectful term for a senior male relative]."

Eldrin Chen smiled faintly upon hearing this and discussed matters further with Thalion Chen for a while longer.

Considering that managing affairs would greatly impede cultivation, he pondered for a moment and still advised, "There are some matters you need not handle personally. You should focus more of your mind on cultivation."

"It is of no consequence."

The Old Patriarch chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. "Within the clan, aside from you, the one I trust most is Lior. Now that Lior is preparing for his second attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul [the stage where a cultivator forms a spiritual infant within their dantian] realm, I simply have no time to extricate myself from these duties."

"Oh?"

It dawned on Eldrin Chen then. Unbeknownst to him, Lior Chen was already over seven hundred years old and was closing in on his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul [the stage where a cultivator forms their immortal infant soul] stage. Original publication: audi0-n0vel.c0m - The source of this chapter.