Unlimited Investment in the Destined Protagonist: Forging an Eternal Immortal Clan - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Treat It as Our Lu Royal Mansion Feeding Dogs—Invest in the Second Elder and Seventh Elder!

The Council Hall of the Lu Royal Mansion.

After that beast tide, only five core elders of the Lu Royal Mansion remained, and at this moment, all of them were seated here.

“Damn it, those three major families dare to take advantage of our misfortune—they deserve to die! If it weren’t for the fact that our Lu Royal Mansion’s strength is now greatly diminished, how would those three families dare to act like this!”

The faces of the five core elders were all filled with anger as they vented their frustration. However, at that moment, Lu Qingxuan, dressed in a purple robe, entered the council hall and sat directly in the main seat.

The five elders immediately stood up and respectfully saluted Lu Qingxuan.

Lu Qingxuan had just waved his hand when a system prompt sounded in his mind.

[Ding, a blue-tier investment clansman has been detected. The host may initiate an investment!]

[Investing one Mysterious Profound Golden Pill will yield three bottles of Mysterious Soul Pills and one low-tier Heaven-grade Spirit Gathering Array!]

[Investing the high-tier Earth-grade martial skill Heavenly Seal Art will yield the high-tier Heaven-grade martial skill Human King Seal Art!]

[Ding, a green-tier investment clansman has been detected. The host may initiate an investment!]

[Investing one scroll of a Heavenly Alchemist’s alchemy insights will yield the high-tier Heaven-grade technique Great Yin-Yang Co-Cultivation Secret Method!]

[Investing one scroll of the Mysterious Profound Golden Pill recipe will yield three pots of Purple Clarity Spirit Essence Pills, one pot of Mysterious Profound Golden Pills, and 500 Earth-grade spirit herbs!]

[Investing one Purple Copper Medicine King Cauldron will yield the low-tier Heaven-grade treasure Heavenly Net Azure Cloud Umbrella and 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones!]

Hearing the series of investment prompts triggered by the system, Lu Qingxuan’s eyes lit up.

Following the system’s guidance, Lu Qingxuan identified the two investment targets: the Second Elder Lu Changfeng, who was at the peak of the Purple Mansion Realm, and the Seventh Elder Lu Jingyu, an Earth-grade alchemy master.

However, Lu Qingxuan didn’t invest immediately. Instead, he suppressed his excitement and listened to the Second Elder’s report on the current urgent matters.

“My Lord, after the sea beast tide incident, our Lu Royal Mansion’s strength has been severely damaged. Now, the other three major families have dared to seize our mansion’s mineral veins.

“As of now, three Mystic-grade mineral veins have been taken by the three families. In particular, the Zhou Family even injured several of our clansmen. Please, My Lord, make a decision on this matter!”

By the end, the Second Elder’s face was filled with righteous indignation.

The resources in Beiyuan County were essentially divided among the five major forces: the Lu Royal Mansion, Zhou Family, Fang Family, Han Family, and the County Governor’s Mansion.

Previously, all five of these forces were sixth-rank powers.

The Lu Royal Mansion, with a Soul Palace Realm patriarch overseeing it, had been the dominant force in Beiyuan County, controlling half of the county’s resources. But after the recent beast tide attack, the Lu Royal Mansion suffered heavy losses among its powerhouses, causing it to fall directly from a sixth-rank force to a seventh-rank force, rendering it unable to compete with the other families.

The three major families, which had always had friction with the Lu Royal Mansion, now bared their fangs without hesitation.

Relying on their powerful backers within the dynasty, these three families weren’t particularly afraid of the Lu Royal Mansion.

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Qingxuan asked, “Have any of our clansmen suffered casualties?”

“There have been no deaths among our clansmen, only some who sustained injuries of varying degrees,” the Second Elder replied truthfully.

Hearing this, Lu Qingxuan understood the situation. While the three major families had seized the Lu Royal Mansion’s mineral vein resources, they didn’t dare to offend the Lu Royal Mansion too gravely. The reason was simple: the current Emperor Lingyun had betrothed the Fifth Imperial Princess to him.

With this connection, even if the three families didn’t fear the Lu Royal Mansion itself, they had to be wary of the Lingyun Dynasty’s imperial family.

As for minor matters like resource plundering, the imperial family wouldn’t bother intervening.

After pondering for a while, Lu Qingxuan let out a slight sigh and said comfortingly, “With our Lu Royal Mansion’s current strength, it’s not suitable to confront the other families head-on. What our Lu family needs to do now is to quickly enhance our clan’s strength.

“When I grandly welcome the Fifth Imperial Princess, we can use that opportunity to slightly intimidate those three families and make them wary. As for the resources they’ve taken now, treat it as our Lu Royal Mansion feeding dogs. In time, our Lu family will make them spit it all back out, doubled.”

At Lu Qingxuan’s words, the others fell silent.

Clearly, they all agreed with Lu Qingxuan’s perspective. With the Lu Royal Mansion’s current strength, it was indeed unable to directly confront the three major families. But the thought of their resources being occupied by hostile forces left them deeply unwilling.

At that moment, Lu Qingxuan stood up and walked over to the Second Elder. He took out a pill and a black-gold scroll from his Physique and handed them to the Second Elder.

“Second Elder, you’re currently the most likely in our Lu Royal Mansion to break through to the Spiritual Pill Realm. I hope this Mysterious Profound Golden Pill can assist you in achieving that breakthrough! And this Heavenly Seal Art martial skill—take it and cultivate it well to enhance your combat strength. I hope the Lu Royal Mansion can soon have a Spiritual Pill Realm powerhouse.”

Hearing this, the Second Elder could hardly believe it.

As a core elder of the Lu Royal Mansion, how could he not know about the Mysterious Profound Golden Pill and the Heavenly Seal Art?

The Mysterious Profound Golden Pill was the best pill for breaking through to the Spiritual Pill Realm. Even as an elder of the Lu Royal Mansion, he couldn’t easily obtain such a pill.

And the Heavenly Seal Art—this was the Lu Royal Mansion’s strongest martial skill, regarded as a clan-guarding technique.

Only the successive clan leaders and core direct-line elders were allowed to cultivate it. But he, as a core collateral-line elder, now had this precious martial skill placed before him.

“This …” The Second Elder looked at the two items before him, momentarily unsure whether to accept them.

“Take them. Our Lu Royal Mansion is currently in a period of vigorous development, and everything will require the Second Elder’s efforts.”

Hearing this, the Second Elder’s resolve solidified. He carefully accepted the two items in front of him.

“Thank you, My Lord, for your grace. This old man will dedicate himself fully to the mansion in the future and will not fail your expectations!”

[Ding, investment successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining three bottles of Mysterious Soul Pills, one low-tier Heaven-grade Spirit Gathering Array, and the martial skill Human King Seal Art!]

[Mysterious Soul Pill: A high-tier Earth-grade pill. When taken by peak Spiritual Pill Realm cultivators, it increases the chance of breaking through to the Soul Palace Realm by 50%, with no pill toxicity!]

[Low-tier Heaven-grade Spirit Gathering Array: Can condense spiritual energy within a thousand-mile radius, doubling the spiritual energy density within the array and concealing anomalies!]

[Human King Seal Art: A high-tier Heaven-grade martial skill containing the Mountain-Opening Seal, Earth-Covering Seal, Heaven-Flipping Seal, and Human King Seal. Each form possesses the might to overturn rivers and seas or devour heaven and earth. When all four seals reach perfection, it rivals king-tier martial skills!]

Seeing that the returns from one investment had arrived, a gleam flashed deep in Lu Qingxuan’s eyes.

The Human King Seal Art—this was a high-tier Heaven-grade martial skill. Aside from forces above the fourth rank, such martial skills were practically unseen among other ranks, making its value self-evident.

And the Mysterious Soul Pill—this grade of pill was almost never seen in the entire Beiyuan County! Whenever one appeared, it would inevitably be snatched up, its preciousness beyond words.

Suppressing his thoughts, Lu Qingxuan turned his gaze to the other elders.

Since he had broken precedent by passing a clan-guarding martial skill to a collateral-line elder, he decided to treat everyone equally to boost the clan’s cohesion and strength.

“From now on, any clansman who enters the ranks of core elders—whether direct or collateral—may cultivate the Heavenly Seal Art! Even exceptionally talented younger generations can be granted it as an exception.”

Since he had obtained the even more powerful Human King Seal Art, he wasn’t stingy about letting the clan cultivate a martial skill that was only high-tier Earth-grade.

The Lu Royal Mansion was currently in a phase of vigorous development, and he needed to quickly break through the clan’s strength barriers.

As Lu Qingxuan’s words fell, the faces of the other five core elders lit up with excitement, and they respectfully said in unison, “Thank you, My Lord. We will dedicate ourselves fully to the mansion and will not fail your expectations.”

The next moment, a mechanical voice sounded in Lu Qingxuan’s sea of consciousness.

[Ding! The host’s family cohesion has increased. Rewarding 500 family luck points!]

“Hm, an unexpected bonus!”

Lu Qingxuan was inwardly surprised. He hadn’t expected that his actions would unintentionally increase the family’s luck.

Family luck, according to the system’s earlier explanation, was tied to the clan’s strength and the luck of its members—an extremely important factor.

Immediately, he spoke again, “If the other elders reach the peak of the Purple Mansion Realm, each of them can also claim one Mysterious Profound Golden Pill! I hope all the elders can quickly improve their own cultivation and enhance the overall strength of our Lu Royal Mansion.”

Hearing this, the eyes of the other four core elders gleamed with excitement, and they once again thanked Lu Qingxuan respectfully.

With such an opportunity before them, how could they not strive harder to surpass themselves?

At this moment, they all resolved in their hearts that in the days to come, they would work even harder to break through to the peak of the Purple Mansion Realm, hoping for a chance to obtain a Mysterious Profound Golden Pill.

Lu Qingxuan nodded slightly, then shifted his gaze to the Seventh Elder, Lu Jingyu, the alchemist.

He walked straight up to Lu Jingyu and said, “Seventh Elder, while I was cultivating at the Qingyun Dao Sect, I collected some alchemy-related items that should be helpful to your alchemy skills.”

As he spoke, Lu Qingxuan took out two scrolls and a cauldron, introducing them: “This scroll contains the alchemy insights of a Heavenly Alchemist, and this scroll is the recipe for the Mysterious Profound Golden Pill.

“As for this cauldron, it’s called the Purple Copper Medicine King Cauldron—an upper-tier Earth-grade alchemy furnace. Using this furnace for alchemy can increase the pill success rate!

“I’m giving these three items to you, hoping they can help the Seventh Elder improve your alchemy skills and refine more and better pills for our Lu Royal Mansion!”

Lu Jingyu looked at the three treasures before him, his face full of shock.

As an Earth-grade alchemist, how could he not see how precious these three items were to an alchemist? Especially that scroll of a Heavenly Alchemist’s insights—if he could obtain it, he was absolutely confident he could advance to a Heavenly Alchemist and refine Heaven-grade pills.

Breaking through an alchemist’s rank was the ultimate pursuit of every alchemist. Now, with this opportunity right in front of him, how could he not be excited and astonished?

“Take them. I only hope that all the elders can do their utmost to improve their respective strengths, making the Lu Royal Mansion develop faster and grow stronger overall!”

Hearing this, Lu Jingyu’s resolve solidified. He solemnly accepted the three items and sincerely bowed in gratitude, saying, “This old man will surely not fail My Lord’s expectations!”

[Ding! Investment successful. Obtained the high-tier Heaven-grade technique Great Yin-Yang Co-Cultivation Secret Method, three pots of Purple Clarity Spirit Essence Pills, one pot of Mysterious Profound Golden Pills, 500 Earth-grade spirit herbs, the Heavenly Net Azure Cloud Umbrella, and 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones!]

[Heavenly Net Azure Cloud Umbrella: A low-tier Heaven-grade defensive treasure capable of withstanding a full-strength strike from a peak Soul Palace Realm cultivator!]

[Great Yin-Yang Co-Cultivation Secret Method: A high-tier Heaven-grade dual-cultivation technique. This method embodies the principles of yin and yang. If cultivated by a man and woman together, it allows yin and yang to complement each other, enhancing both parties’ cultivation!]

The Great Yin-Yang Co-Cultivation Secret Method!

When he saw this technique, a flicker of intrigue passed through Lu Qingxuan’s eyes. What was the system getting at?

Did it know he was about to get married and thus sent him this technique in advance?

Should he give the system a thumbs-up for this!?

As his thoughts shifted, Lu Qingxuan briefly glanced over the other returned rewards, feeling very satisfied.

Afterward, Lu Qingxuan asked the other elders about some matters regarding the reconstruction of Zhenhai City and other issues.

It wasn’t until he had instructed the elders to prepare everything for the Lu Royal Mansion’s grand welcome of the Fifth Imperial Princess that they finally dispersed.