[This book progresses at a slow pace, and the number of new subscriptions to single chapters continues to rise 24 hours after publication, indicating that at least the storyline of the current 1.6 million words has not collapsed. Readers who enjoy this can follow along with peace of mind~]
...
The year 3145 of the Great Qianlong Chang — the ninth day of the fourth month.
The Ping'an Wang Family, the former patriarch Wang Dingyue passed away at a young age.
After the seven-day mourning period, Wang Shouzhe, as the legitimate son of direct lineage, according to national rules and family protocols, was hosted by Lady Gongsun Hui of the Wang Family and the clan elders, and after reporting to Ancestor Longyan and the ancestors, succeeded as the new clan leader.
The Wang Family is a ninth-grade Black Tortoise Clan registered and assessed by the Daqian Kingdom, its influence limited to the Ping'an Town area of the Changning Guard Region, classified as a lower-rank noble family.
However, they had also seen prosperous times, tracing back to the lineage of the Daqian Wang Family.
A millennium ago, for unknown reasons, the ancestor branched out from the Daqian Wang Family, traveled thousands of miles to Longzuo County, and established the Longzuo Wang Family, laying the foundation for the clan.
At that time, the Longzuo Wang Family was considered a prestigious clan, unmatched in prominence.
Alas, glory does not last forever, nor does prosperity.
After a period of splendor, the family's power gradually waned.
Subsequently.
In the year 3000 of Longchang, the talented Wang Zhouxuan of the Longzuo Wang Family led his family with a Pioneer Order south to the Changning Guard Region, at the convergence of the Liping Mountain Range and the Anjiang, where they opened up wastelands and established settlements and towns, painstakingly pioneering human habitats, earning accolades, and establishing the Ping'an Wang Family that took root and thrived.
During Ancestor Zhouxuan's peak, his combat strength reached the late stage of the Spirit Platform Realm, wielding considerable influence in Ping'an Town.
What made Ancestor Zhouxuan most proud was his legitimate granddaughter, Wang Longyan, who was exceptional in talent. She reached the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Realm at the age of eighteen, was admitted to the renowned Purple Mansion Academy, and by thirty had broken through to the Spirit Platform Realm, reaching the middle tier of the Spirit Platform Realm before turning sixty, receiving significant nurturing from the Purple Mansion Academy.
Simultaneously, Wang Longyan and Liua Xuanfu of the Shanyin Liu Family were known as the "Double Beauties of Changning," their fame widespread.
In addition, Wang Qiongyuan, the legitimate great-grandson of the ancestor, was also extraordinarily gifted, reaching the Spirit Platform Realm at forty under the nurturing support of the ancestor and taking up the position of clan leader.
At that time, the Wang Family boasted three individuals in the Spirit Platform Realm, their influence extending to the entire Changning Guard Region.
Until the year 3095 of Longchang, when Ancestor Zhouxuan was 145 years old, a long-dormant outbreak of fierce beasts deep in the Liping Mountain suddenly erupted, with Ping'an Town becoming the first disaster area.
To protect the century-old foundation of the family, Ancestor Zhouxuan did not hesitate to hold back the Tier Five Ferocious Beast, the Golden-winged Sun-devouring Tiger, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
The battle was extremely fierce, with two patriarchs of vassal families going missing in action against the beast tide, their fates unknown. Although the Golden-winged Sun-devouring Tiger and the beast disaster were eventually besieged and killed by the reinforcements from the Changning Guard that followed, the Ping'an Wang Family had already suffered significant damage.
Not only did Ancestor Zhouxuan fall in battle, but the fourth-generation clan leader Wang Qiongyuan, who was initially at the Spirit Platform Realm, as well as the fifth-generation successor Wang Xiaoqi, also perished in the beast disaster.
The fall of two generations at the Spirit Platform Realm of the Ping'an Wang Family led to a significant reduction in strength.
Meanwhile, the two vassal families, the Liu Family and the Zhao Family, had long harbored ambitions, secretly preserving their strength during the beast disaster, with their patriarchs feigning death to escape. After the Wang Family's decline, they conspired in concerted efforts to annex the Wang Family's foundation.
At this critical moment, the third-generation clan member Wang Longyan resolutely violated the Purple Mansion Academy's ordinances, forsaking a promising future to return to the family, taking the initiative to confront and battle against a total of three Spirit Platform Realm experts from the opposition.
Against three opponents, Wang Longyan boldly slew the allied Spirit Platform Realm foes, intimidating the Spirit Platform ancestors of the Liu Family and the Zhao Family.
Regrettably, Wang Longyan's wounds from this battle were too severe, causing her strength to fall to the initial tier of the Spirit Platform Realm, and her lifespan was greatly diminished.
Yet, even so, Wang Longyan continued to shoulder the heavy burden alone, defending the Ping'an Wang Family with great effort. The Liu Family and Zhao Family dared not overly provoke Wang Longyan, thus resorting to tactics of gradual encroachment.
Time swiftly passed, and another 40 to 50 years went by, without any new emerging Spirit Platform Realm members in the clan, and even the former clan leader Wang Dingyue had passed away.
All the burdens seemed to fall on the young clan leader, Wang Shouzhe!
...
Within the main residence of the Wang Family, inside an ancient, quaint courtyard annex room.
"Young, no, Patriarch~ What's done is done, please have some food first. If this continues, your body might not hold up. These meals were personally prepared for you by Lady Gongsun." Wang Gui, the personal servant, cautiously carried a purple sandalwood food box, his brows filled with worry.
"Hoo~" Wang Shouzhe exhaled a deep breath, putting aside the "Wang Family Inheritance Records," his eyes regained some clarity, and a thought rose in his mind, "To think, after a car accident, I would transmigrate to a mystical world and inexplicably become the clan leader of a declining Black Tortoise Clan. It's just a pity that the responsibility seems heavy."
It turns out that three days ago, the original Wang Shouzhe was overly grief-stricken from guarding the spirit and mourning, collapsing in front of his father's coffin. When he awoke, he had become a transmigrator.
Over the past three days, the process of memory fusion left Wang Shouzhe somewhat dazed, and everyone only thought he was excessively heartbroken and out of sorts, unaware of the substantial reality within, merely following family rules and inheritance protocols to elevate him to the position of clan leader.
After reading the "Wang Family Inheritance Records," Wang Shouzhe gained some understanding of the family and the world. This world he was in was called the "Daqian Kingdom," where Black Tortoise Clans founded the kingdom, the Imperial Family being the largest of such clans, while various smaller and larger Black Tortoise Clans spread like stars throughout the realm.
Intertwined, whether directly or indirectly, they influence the entire Daqian's politics, economy, and even the country's lifeline.
Do not underestimate the Wang Family being merely a lower-rank ninth-grade noble family, as in the Changning Ping'an area, it is considered one of the dominant local forces, holding a significant voice in government institutions and the Guardian's Mansion.
Even back in the generation of Wang Shouzhe's great-grandfather, the Wang Family was the undisputed noble family in Ping'an Town, with their influence reaching the surrounding areas of Changning Guard.
However, following those two thrilling turnaround battles documented in the "Wang Family Inheritance Records," and the fall of the family's experts, it had been declining year after year. Even though Ancestor Longyan strained to support them, it was difficult to resist the joint encroachment of the Liu Family and Zhao Family.
Wang Shouzhe always felt that there was something suspicious about that war. Why did the Liu Family and Zhao Family dare to secretly harbor strength and eventually rebel? And why did the reinforcements arrive the latest?
The records were vague, with many things left unexplained. For the moment, Wang Shouzhe decided to remain vigilant.
Afterward, the prior Patriarch, Wang Dingyue, in hopes of turning the tide by cultivating to the Spirit Platform Realm, dared to venture into dangerous outer domains seeking opportunities for a breakthrough.
However, Wang Dingyue's efforts failed just short of success, and his untimely death in his prime added to the woes of the already declining Ping'an Wang Family.
If no unexpected events occurred, following this development, in the coming decades, the Wang Family's territories and industries would gradually be devoured and replaced by the other two families in Ping'an Town, and the once-vast and glorious family would deteriorate and collapse, with the family bloodline descending into commoners.
"However, it is quite an interesting world." Wang Shouzhe slightly squinted, thinking silently as he gradually merged with his memories, "It seems that the former Wang Shouzhe, though young, was not a simple character."
Memory told him that Wang Shouzhe was hailed as a youthful genius from an early age, with talent and aptitude in the bloodline seven generations down from Ancestor Zhou Xuan, only slightly inferior to Ancestor Longyan.
With the concentrated nurturing of the family's resources, Wang Shouzhe reached the high stage of the sixth layer of the Qi Refining Realm at eighteen and wasn't far from the seventh layer.
This is good news, at least it wasn't reincarnating into a wastrel.
Next to him, the servant Wang Gui, seeing Wang Shouzhe's face shifting between clear and cloudy, became even more worried: "Patriarch, please rest first, I'll go summon a doctor."
"No worries, I'm already fine." Wang Shouzhe stopped his action, "Wang Gui, you go out first, I need to contemplate some things."
"Yes!"
Wang Gui set down the food box and retreated, carefully closing the door.
After Wang Gui left, leaving him alone, Wang Shouzhe finally breathed a sigh of relief, his spirit relaxed. These days, with the vigil and memory integration, he hadn't been eating well, and his stomach had been growling with hunger. Revitalizing the family and all that would have to wait till after filling his belly and slowly contemplating.
He opened the lid of the exquisite sandalwood food box, and a wondrous aroma of food flowed into his nostrils. The food box was divided into several compartments, with rice, vegetables, meat, and a piece of steamed fish.
Under the stimulus of appetite, he quickly picked up his chopsticks, clamped a piece of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth. The seasoning was ordinary, but the texture was exceptionally rich, with an excellent chewiness, filling his mouth with a fragrant and savory taste, and after swallowing, he could faintly feel a subtle warmth moving within.
Mmm, this is so delicious?
What kind of meat is this? Pork? No, pork is coarse, not this tender. Lamb? No, this meat has no muttony smell at all, the meat aroma thick and juicy, rather resembling the expensive imported beef I occasionally tasted before crossing over.
However, soon, his integrated "memory" informed him that this was Spirit Horned Yak meat, a precious food that could strengthen the physique and aid in cultivation when consumed over time.
As the Young Clan Leader, with extraordinary talent, he was naturally in the top tier of family resources and entitled to such resources.
Wang Shouzhe felt the slight warmth flowing within him, his energy rapidly recovering peculiarly. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, truly excellent meat; under the temptation of gourmet food, he quickly devoured the small amount of yak meat with just a few strokes of his chopsticks.
Not entirely satisfied, he then eyed the piece of steamed fish. His merged memory informed him that it was called Red-tailed Spirit Eel. It was a rare spirit fish produced from the nearby Anjiang, belonging to a Tier Two fierce beast level, with a body that could easily grow to several hundred jin, capable of overturning boats, extremely fierce.
Ordinary fishermen, when encountering this kind of fierce beast, feared to evade it, a slight delay in fleeing would undoubtedly lead to capsized boats and drowned people.
This Red-tailed Spirit Eel was captured last year by the former Patriarch Wang Dingyue and some family experts with great skill and luck. After being dissected and pickled, it was stored in the family's ice cellar as a supplement of spiritual food for the family's young bloodlines.
The cook had carefully picked out the fish bones; the fish meat was savory, tender, and smooth as it entered the mouth, accompanied by a refreshing and comfortable sensation moving within, immensely delicious and satisfying.
The rice was also not ordinary; the grains were plump and translucent, firm and elastic to chew, with a rich orchid aroma, exactly the famous spiritual food White Jade Ganoderma Rice.
This meal was infinitely flavorful for Wang Shouzhe, instantly dispelling the weakness and lethargy in his body, replaced by vigor and liveliness.
If every meal was eaten like this, cultivation would undoubtedly be exceptionally rapid.
But this obviously wasn't feasible; now the family was no longer in its former glory. Even his status sequence couldn't afford such lavish meals, let alone other family members.
Having now become the Patriarch, it was impossible to disregard other family members and endlessly seize their resources to provide for himself. If it truly were like this, it wouldn't be long before the family would be scattered, accelerating its demise.
Even for eating various gourmet dishes at every meal, the Wang Family must be helped to grow and strengthen.
"System!" Wang Shouzhe lay on the bed, digesting, calmly calling out with his mind.
But after a while, there was no response at all.
Impossible, right? A chill went through Wang Shouzhe's heart, crossing over without a golden finger, is this rhythm a trap? Subsequently, Wang Shouzhe repeatedly kept trying, yet there was never a trace of the golden finger.
His heart grew colder and colder; in this mystical world, filled with experts and ferocious beasts rampant, how could he play without a golden finger?
[Author PS: Adjusted the endpoint of the first chapter following suggestions. Also, the book's performance in the early to mid-stage has steadily increased, and after 1.3 million words in the mid-stage, the results have been skyrocketing. The late stage hasn't been written yet... Don't miss it as you pass by.]
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