Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

The next day, early in the morning.

Wu Fan had just opened his eyes from cultivation when a gentle knock came from outside the courtyard, accompanied by a woman's gentle voice: "Fellow Daoist Wu, the patriarch invites you to the front hall for a banquet to welcome you and cleanse your body of the dust of your journey."

Wu Fan opened his eyes, completely concealing his aura.

He straightened his robes, stood up, and opened the door: "Thank you for leading the way, young lady."

Following the woman through the corridors of Yunxi Manor, he could see Bai family cultivators coming and going from time to time. Most of them had peaceful eyes, and those who looked at him curiously only glanced at him briefly before looking away.

Upon reaching the front hall, one could hear conversations coming from inside, with Bai Chenzui's hearty laughter being particularly clear.

The woman lifted the curtain, and Wu Fan slowly walked in.

Seated in the main seat of the hall was a middle-aged man in a brocade robe. His face bore a resemblance to Bai Ruanyu's, and he had a dignified expression. His spiritual energy was concentrated and not released. He should be Bai Chenzhan, the current head of the Bai family.

Bai Ruanyu was sitting to one side. When she saw him come in, she nodded slightly in greeting.

Bai Chenzui then stood up and waved: "Young friend Wu has arrived, please have a seat."

Wu Fan bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings to the Bai family head, Senior Bai, and Miss Bai."

Bai Chenzhan gestured for him to sit down, his gaze falling on him with scrutiny and approval: "Thank you for saving Ruan Yu, young friend. The Bai family owes you a favor. We have prepared a small feast today to express our gratitude. If you have any needs in the future, as long as it does not violate morality, the Bai family will do its best to help you."

Wu Fan bowed slightly, his tone humble yet firm: "Patriarch, you are too kind. It is the duty of us cultivators to help those in need, and besides, Miss Ruan Yu and I are old acquaintances, so it is only right that I lend a hand."

Once Wu Fan was settled in, Bai Chenzhan cut to the chase and took out a bulging storage bag from his wide sleeves, placing it on the table with a flick of his finger: "This is a small token of my gratitude as a father to you, young friend, for saving my daughter. It may not be a generous gift, but it carries my thanks, and I hope you won't find it offensive."

Wu Fan looked up and saw that the storage bag was full, so he knew that it must contain a lot of spirit stones.

He knew in his heart that he had earned this gift through his own abilities, and there was no need to pretend to be coy or put on a show of declining.

He paused slightly, then calmly took the storage bag and nodded slightly to Bai Chenzhan: "In that case, I will accept it without being impolite. Thank you, Patriarch."

Seeing Wu Fan's open and honest nature, his lack of greed and his feigned arrogance, Bai Chenzhan's admiration deepened. He slowly nodded, and his tense expression softened.

The atmosphere gradually relaxed, and the four of them toasted each other, chatting more amiably.

Bai Chenzhan would occasionally mention the changes in Yunxi Market. When he spoke of the Deng family and those plundering cultivators, his brows furrowed slightly, and the hostility in his eyes was hard to hide. Clearly, he still harbored resentment over that disaster.

Wu Fan sat quietly to the side, occasionally echoing a few words, and then began to observe the attitude of these people without making a sound, secretly paying attention to some key information about the Bai family.

Bai Chenzhan's expression remained calm throughout, except when he mentioned the group of cultivators from Yunxi Market. His expression tightened slightly, but he quickly smiled and said, "Those clowns can't cause any real trouble. As for you, young friend, you possess such alchemy skills and martial arts prowess at such a young age; your future is limitless. May I ask what your plans are for the future?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan felt a chill run down his spine, knowing that the main event of the banquet was about to begin.

He slowly put down his wine glass and said sincerely, "I don't have any long-term plans for now. I just want to devote myself to studying alchemy and steadily improve my cultivation."

A knowing glint flashed in Bai Chenzhan's eyes. Far from being displeased, he clapped his hands and laughed, "Very well. My Bai family's alchemy room still has some vacancies. If you don't mind, young friend, you can stay here temporarily. You can use all the utensils in the alchemy room. As for the treatment you receive for refining pills for my Bai family, someone will come and discuss that with you later."

This suggestion was exactly what Wu Fan wanted to hear. He immediately stood up, cupped his hands, and bowed to express his gratitude: "Thank you for your kindness, Patriarch. I am deeply grateful."

Halfway through the banquet, Bai Ruanyu used the excuse of changing clothes to leave the table.

As soon as I stepped onto the corridor, I saw my second uncle, Bai Chenzui, already waiting in the shadows.

"Second Uncle, why did Father make this arrangement? Didn't we agree..."

Bai Ruanyu asked in a low voice, her tone tinged with confusion.

Bai Chen gestured for her to take two steps back to a secluded spot, lowering his voice even further:

"The patriarch acts with careful consideration. Wu Fan is extremely calm and composed, and his alchemy skills are indeed remarkable. He also saved your life, so he is a talented individual. But you must remember that after talking with him today, you will find that he is not someone who is willing to be subordinate to others. The position of family retainer is inherently related to the distribution of interests among the various branches. If we cannot completely win him over to our branch and make him serve us wholeheartedly, and instead give him the position of family retainer, other branches may seize it first in the future, leaving our branch in an even more passive position."

Bai Ruanyu nodded silently, her emotions at that moment complex and difficult to discern.

She knew that her family was now facing internal and external troubles, and that the main branch of the family had recently fallen out of favor with the patriarch, putting them in a difficult situation.

What my second uncle said is true; Wu Fan is no ordinary person and cannot remain subservient to others for long.

However, it seems that the promised position of honor will be broken.

But then he thought, what if he could win Wu Fan over to his side?

The thought suddenly popped into her head, and she remembered that Wu Fan had previously looked down on Ruan Qiu, perhaps...

Thinking of this, Bai Ruanyu's pretty face blushed slightly, and she quietly lowered her eyes.

Meanwhile, Wu Fan, inside the hall, picked up his wine glass, gazing at the sake within, his eyes slightly darkening.

The position of Bai family retainer that Bai Ruanyu had previously mentioned has now been given only as a cooperative relationship, similar to that of a resident alchemist at Bai Dan Tang.

The Bai family's actions were driven by two ulterior motives.

Firstly, she wanted to distance herself from him and not be too deeply bound by the matter of "saving Bai Ruanyu"; secondly, she must have seen through his unwillingness to be controlled and deliberately left room for maneuver.

Regardless of the Bai family's intentions, it perfectly aligned with his original intention of finding a peaceful place to cultivate in seclusion. Wu Fan pondered this to himself, then raised his cup and drank the wine in one gulp.

After the banquet, Wu Fan returned to the courtyard assigned to him, but did not rush to meditate and cultivate.

He took out the storage bag given to him by Bai Chenzhan, infused it with spiritual power, and gently opened it. Various colored lights emerged from the bag's opening, and the spiritual energy of the spirit stones rushed towards him.

Wu Fan immediately sat cross-legged and carefully counted the spirit stones in the bag.

Half an hour later, a satisfied smile appeared on his lips. There were actually a full 1,800 low-grade spirit stones in this storage bag. Although Bai Chenzhan was deep in thought, he was quite generous in his spending.

Including his original savings, his net worth now exceeds three thousand low-grade spirit stones. Even without considering the magic weapons he possesses, this amount of money is enough to purchase two ordinary spirit weapons.

Then, Wu Fan took out several magical artifacts one by one.

Shattering Star Needle, Azure Shadow Blade, and the top-grade magic weapon Dangkang Banner that was taken from Liu Xi.

He picked up the yellow flag first, his fingertips tracing the shimmering light on its surface. He recalled how the flag had possessed astonishing power when Liu Xi hastily activated it that day, and a sense of joy welled up in his heart.

The fact that Liu Xi has such power even though he hasn't fully mastered it means that if he could completely refine the Dangkang Banner, its full power would be even more terrifying.

Having made up his mind, Wu Fan did not delay any longer. He slowly probed his spiritual sense into the Dangkang Banner and began to refine the magical artifact with great care.

The spiritual energy slowly seeped into the flag through his spiritual consciousness, and the patterns on the yellow flag gradually lit up. The soft spiritual light enveloped him, and the spiritual energy in the courtyard also slowly surged and gathered.