"Lingtao Manor"

The manor where Lin Jiang resided is called Lingtao Manor, which covers an area of thirty miles, but the manor itself is not large, housing only a hundred or so families. The manor not only has walls but also is protected by an array formation.

Lingtao Manor has a peach orchard of one hundred and twenty acres. These peach trees are not ordinary but spiritual plants, and the peaches they produce are not only extremely sweet but also imbued with spiritual energy, known as spirit peaches.

The manor's spirit peaches bear fruit once a year. Half of the harvest is kept for the family's own consumption, and the other half is sold for seventy to eighty spirit stones. Additionally, there are two hundred acres of spiritual fields producing spirit rice, which is also sold to the family at a slightly lower price than the market rate, bringing in around a hundred spirit stones a year. This constitutes all the income of the manor.

Of these roughly two hundred spirit stones, Lin Jiang could keep half because, strictly speaking, the manor was not Lin Jiang's property but rather the dowry of Lin Jiang's mother.

Lin Jiang's stepmother came from a family of independent cultivators, with Lin Jiang's maternal grandfather being a Foundation Building cultivator. Seeing Lin Ba's formidable prowess and great potential, he married his daughter to Lin Ba as a concubine, providing a generous dowry.

Afterwards, Lin Ba became increasingly powerful, continuously annexing the territories around him. Lin Jiang's stepmother then used her dowry to purchase Lingtao Manor, aiming for a steady stream of income.

Three years prior, Lin Jiang, due to stagnation in his cultivation, angered Lin Ba and was punished. Unable to bear seeing this, Lin Jiang's stepmother handed over the management of the manor to her son, essentially providing him with private support in the hopes that he would make something of himself, bring honor to her, and improve her standing in Lin Ba's household through her son's achievements.

"Good day, Young Master Lin."

"Hello, Young Master Lin."

"Young Master Lin."

As Lin Jiang arrived at the spiritual fields, the working tenants continuously greeted him with respect. These tenants were genuinely grateful to Lin Jiang and the Lin family.

In this world, where there are no official governments but plenty of landlords, bandits, wild beasts, and demons, the ordinary people's lives are fraught with danger.

However, at Lingtao Manor, they are protected by walls and array formations, safe from bandits, wild beasts, and demons. The rent demanded by the Lin family is very low. The Lin family only claims the produce from the one hundred and twenty acres of peach orchard and the two hundred acres of spiritual fields, allowing the tenants to cultivate the rest of the land as they wish, keeping all the produce for themselves and ensuring their basic needs are met.

Inspecting the spiritual fields, Lin Jiang noticed that the growth of the spiritual rice was very promising, potentially better than the previous year, meaning they could harvest more spiritual rice and earn a few more spirit stones.

During his inspection, Lin Jiang also encountered several guards. These were not cultivators but ordinary people trained in martial arts, patrolling the manor to protect against wild beasts and common bandits. In the case of demon beasts or enemy cultivators, they would signal for help, and Lin Jiang would send a message for assistance from the family, expecting more powerful cultivators to handle the situation.

After completing his inspection, Lin Jiang returned home to meditate. He set a goal to practice for two hours each day. Considering his ample lifespan, he thought it wouldn't matter if it took him several hundred years to progress through the Qi Cultivation stage.

After meditating, his meal was ready, prepared by the tenants. Although their cooking skills were not as good as his previous servants, Lin Jiang was not picky, having been accustomed to simple meals for years.

······

"System Name: Lifespan Check-in System

Host: Lin Jiang

Lifespan: 17/180"

Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and just as Lin Jiang checked in with the system, a guard hurriedly came in.

"Young Master, the family's steward has arrived."

"Understood, lead him to the warehouse. I'll be right there."

Lin Jiang nodded. With this year's harvest of spiritual rice ready, the family sent a steward to purchase it, a significant event for the manor.

Upon arriving at the warehouse, a middle-aged man was already waiting. Greeting Lin Jiang with a smile, he was a guest of the Lin family, treated with respect despite his working status.

"Steward Wu, you've had a long journey."

"You're too polite, Young Master Six. Shall we begin?"

"Let's start," Lin Jiang nodded, instructing the tenants to bring out the bags of spiritual rice for weighing.

"This year's harvest isn't great, and the price of spiritual rice in Yunzhou has gone up. One spirit stone can only buy five hundred pounds now. Let's follow the usual practice and make it six hundred pounds per stone, shall we?" Steward Wu proposed, offering Lin Jiang a deal that was slightly below market value but convenient since the family would purchase the entire harvest.

"No problem," Lin Jiang agreed readily, valuing the convenience over a slight loss in price.

Spiritual rice is heavier than ordinary rice, with top-quality spiritual fields yielding about six hundred pounds per acre. Lin Jiang's two hundred acres, mostly of average quality, yielded over eighty thousand pounds of spiritual rice. Keeping over twenty thousand pounds for personal use, the rest was sold to the family.

"Young Master Six, here's the receipt. You can collect the payment from the clan in a few days."

Steward Wu took out several storage bags, packed them in batches, and then gave Lin Jiang a receipt, which could be used to collect money from the family's treasury.

Lin Jiang nodded, saw off Steward Wu, and then had the servants help mill rice. Cultivators do not eat grains but consume spiritual food, which is beneficial for cultivation. The remaining spiritual rice he planned to send some to his foster mother and sister Lin Ying, as the family's distribution of rice was not enough for a year, and any extra had to be purchased.

In the blink of an eye, another two months had passed, and it was the end of the year. Lin Jiang had the guards prepare two large carts, hauling ten thousand jin of milled spiritual rice to the Lin family. His poor family background meant Lin Jiang couldn't produce a storage bag that could hold ten thousand jin of spiritual rice.

The Lin family's mountain gate was about eight hundred miles from the estate, but the horses pulling the carts had demon beast bloodlines, strong enough to travel five hundred miles a day, so they arrived in two days.

"Yo, isn't this my Uncle Six?"

Just at the entrance, a frivolous voice came. Lin Jiang turned around to see his eldest nephew, Lin Kewen, the son of his eldest brother Lin Shan, who was a few years older than him.

"Kewen, you don't even salute your Uncle Six. Believe it or not, I'll report you in a moment?"

"You, you..."

"What about me? Doesn't the family have any rules anymore?"

"Fine, you win, nephew has seen Uncle Six."

Lin Kewen eventually backed down. As an emerging family, the Lin family had strict rules, and Lin Ba valued filial piety. Despite Lin Jiang being considered a disgrace of the second generation of the Lin family, he was still Lin Kewen's uncle.

"Nephew, seeing you being so naughty, you've lost your New Year's money this year."

Lin Jiang laughed loudly and then walked into the Lin family's mountain gate.

According to Lin Ba's rules, unless occupied with significant matters, such as retreats for breakthroughs, the family must gather at the end of the year, so now inside the Lin family's mountain gate, family members were everywhere.

"Greetings, elder brother."

"Hello, second brother."

"Hello, third sister."

Lin Jiang greeted all the way. As the sixth in line among the Lin family's second generation, he had to actively greet the five before him, while his younger brothers and sisters had to greet him.

Afterward, Lin Jiang went to see his foster father, Lin Ba, and his principal wife, Zheng Shi, and also delivered two thousand jin of spiritual rice to each of them. This was not a gift without expectation of return; by New Year, they would reciprocate with even more generous gifts.

After visiting his foster father, he then went to see his foster mother, Zhuang Rong. Zhuang Rong, with her beauty, ranked high among Lin Ba's concubines. Lin Jiang and Lin Ying inherited her excellent genes, both having admirable appearances.

Zhuang Rong, with her seventh level Qi cultivation and not bad spiritual roots, unfortunately, was too focused on love. Since marrying Lin Ba, she hadn't seriously cultivated, spending all her efforts on concubine infighting, which resulted in no progress in her cultivation for over a decade.

"My son, you've suffered..."

Seeing Lin Jiang, Zhuang Rong immediately hugged him, tears streaming down her face. Although not the brightest, she was exceptionally caring towards her children.

Lin Jiang was resistant to such affectionate actions, but being weaker in cultivation than his mother, he couldn't break free and had to look to Lin Ying for help. Lin Ying came over with a smile to persuade her.

After Zhuang Rong let go of Lin Jiang, she turned to crying and complaining about the grievances she suffered at the gate, which concubine bullied her, and then quickly changed the topic to boasting about her son's achievements to gain face and vent her frustrations. It was the same every time they met.

Lin Jiang rolled his eyes at these words, knowing from the original host's memories that his mother was quite capable and it was unlikely others bullied her.

"Son, why don't you speak?"

"Mother, don't be angry with what I'm about to say."

"How could I be angry with you?"

"Mother, I think, rather than relying on one's child for honor, it's better to seek one's own. Father is at the Golden Core stage and can live for five hundred years, while the other concubines are only at the Qi training stage, living up to a hundred years. Even with the best cultivation techniques, beauty fades. If I were you, I would focus on improving my cultivation, advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, and outlive the others. If you reach the Golden Core stage, even the principal wife's Foundation Establishment stage cannot compare, and you could spend five hundred years with Father.

If both you and Father could advance to the Nascent Soul stage, or even the Soul Transformation stage, and ascend together, wouldn't you be able to stay together forever, becoming a happy celestial couple?"

Lin Jiang couldn't help but suggest, thinking his foolish mother focused too much on petty fights. In the world of cultivation, strength was everything. No matter how beautiful one is, beauty cannot be maintained forever, but cultivation can.

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Rong's eyes lit up, finding the idea very reasonable. If she reached the Golden Core stage, she would outlive all her rivals.