“How could an outsider like me choose the name? It should be you, the father, who does it!” Wang Hao declined.

“You are a Foundation Establishment cultivator, far beyond what Wenxin can compare to. This old man dares to ask you to bestow a name upon the child!” Wang Wenxin’s father stepped forward, respectfully bowing to Wang Hao before speaking.

Wang Hao pondered for a moment and said, “The next generation of our Wang family uses the character ‘Wu.’ For a girl, let her be called Wang Wuyan, and for a boy, Wang Wuxian. How does that sound?”

Wang Wenxin repeated the names, his face lighting up with joy as he nodded. “Wang Wuyan, Wang Wuxian. Good names, truly good names! Thank you, Fifth Brother!”

“Thank you, Immortal!”

Seeing that they all liked the names, Wang Hao nodded and handed the child back to Wang Wenxin. “I am also the child’s Fifth Uncle, so I’ll give some greeting gifts to my two nephews.”

As he spoke, he took out a small sword, a jade pendant, and two talismans. “These are low-grade magical tools I used in my early years, along with two top-grade first-rank spirit talismans. Let them use these for protection.”

After a moment’s thought, he added, “Wang Wuyan has good aptitude and possesses a Fire Spiritual Root. She will likely be prioritized for cultivation by the family. You can care for her until she is five years old. After that, she must be sent back to Wang Family Ridge to receive unified instruction from the family. Of course, if you wish to return with her, you can also apply to the family! Additionally, you can go to the Administration Hall to claim the family’s rewards for children with Spiritual Roots. If I remember correctly, a child with dual Spiritual Roots can receive two hundred Spirit Stones.”

When he mentioned family rules, none of them dared to object. They quickly replied, “We understand. Everything will be done according to the clan regulations.”

Wang Hao glanced at the woman and took out a bottle of pills. “This bottle of spirit pills is for your wife and your parents. It will strengthen their bodies and prolong their lives. Moreover, your wife has given birth to two children with Spiritual Roots in succession—no small contribution. I hereby authorize you to elevate her to the status of Sect Leader wife!”

Mortals generally could not become the Sect Leader wives of cultivators. This woman was originally Wang Wenxin’s concubine, but now she had ascended in status in one step. With a daughter of good aptitude and occasional spirit pills to take, living to a hundred years old would not be a problem.

The woman wept tears of joy and struggled to rise from the bed to kowtow to Wang Hao. “Thank you, Immortal! Thank you, Immortal!”

“I am merely following clan regulations. There is no need to thank me,” Wang Hao said with a smile.

To encourage childbirth, the family had established many policies that Wang Hao did not find entirely reasonable—such as elevating concubines to Sect Leader wives. For someone like Wang Wenxin who had no Sect Leader wife, it was fine. But what if one already had a Sect Leader wife? Would they really divorce her? Or adopt the practice of having equal wives?

But overall, this encouragement policy was quite effective. Wang Hao would not waste energy on such mundane matters as long as no major chaos ensued.

Seeing their family’s harmonious and joyful atmosphere, Wang Hao could not help but feel a twinge of envy. However, he knew that the path of cultivation was destined to be lonely. Hadn’t even Old Demon Han only started a family after reaching the Nascent Soul stage? Wang Hao was in no hurry. Once his cultivation was high and his lifespan long, everything would come in time.

Shaking his head to dispel these random thoughts and declining the family’s invitation for a feast, Wang Hao bid farewell and left.

Returning to his cave abode, Wang Hao began meditating and cultivating. It had been over two years since he advanced to Foundation Establishment, yet he still saw no hope of reaching the second layer.

Generally speaking, those with heavenly Spiritual Roots could cultivate from Foundation Establishment first layer to ninth layer in about fifty or sixty years—averaging five years per layer. Dual Spiritual Roots required ten years per layer; triple Spiritual Roots required fifteen; quadruple Spiritual Roots required twenty; and quintuple Spiritual Roots required twenty-five years.

This was the speed based on steadily absorbing spiritual energy from the external environment under normal conditions. Many cultivators lacked either the time or suitable spiritual veins for cultivation, resulting in slower progress than this baseline. Conversely, those with better conditions could achieve faster speeds. Additionally, bottlenecks and other factors existed.

Wang Hao cultivated a dual-attribute technique, so his speed would fall between that of dual and triple Spiritual Roots—neither too slow nor too fast.

His meridians and Divine Consciousness had been strengthened and were superior to those of ordinary cultivators, which could also accelerate his cultivation speed somewhat. Coupled with an ample supply of spirit pills, Wang Hao estimated it would take him about seven or eight years to advance one layer.

Unfortunately, he lacked a second-rank spirit gathering array—his original one was no longer effective! Otherwise, his cultivation speed could have been even faster!

Although his cultivation progress was slow, Wang Hao had diligently practiced spells over these past two years. Previously preparing for the beast tide and now planning to venture out for training meant he needed some life-preserving skills before setting out.

Additionally, there were sword techniques—the Profound Origin Sword Art obtained from ambushing that cultivator last time. While Wang Hao would not change his cultivation technique entirely, he could practice its Profound Origin Sword Techniques to enhance his combat methods. Its sword control techniques and various transformations were superior to any sword arts accumulated by the Wang Family.

One day, all six Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Wang Family gathered together. Even Wang Guang’an, who had declared he would no longer involve himself in mundane affairs, appeared seated in the place of honor.

He looked upon the Foundation Establishment cultivators present with deep satisfaction. “In my lifetime, I can still witness our Wang Family prospering. This life has not been in vain! Wenhao, are you prepared?”

Wang Hao stepped forward. “The road ahead is unknown, but all necessary preparations have been made.”

Wang Guang’an nodded. “Pioneering is always arduous. When our founding ancestor established our family’s foundation at Wang Family Ridge, there were only a few clansmen. Through five hundred years of trials, our family now has over one hundred fifty cultivators!”

He turned to look at Wang Yanfeng and Wang Yanping. “Although you two are elders, you lack experience, and your temperaments are not decisive enough. In all matters, you must defer to Wenhao as primary. Do not act rashly.”

“We understand!”

Looking at Wang Yanzhao, he asked, “How is the selection of other Qi Refining clansmen proceeding?”

Wang Yanzhao replied, “Old Ancestor, this selection focuses on triple Spiritual Root cultivators who have hope of reaching Foundation Establishment. They are: Wang Yanlang, Wang Yanyuan, Wang Wenmei, Wang Wenyan, Wang Wenwu, Wang Wenxiu, and Wang Wenjin.”

“These seven have minimum cultivation at Qi Refining eighth layer. Four among them have already reached Qi Refining ninth layer and can attempt Foundation Establishment. To be honest, I am somewhat concerned. These are all elites of our Wang Family. Any mishap would be a loss for our clan.”

Wang Guang’an stroked his beard calmly. “Jade must be carved to become an artifact. In just two short years, Wenhao’s childbirth encouragement policy has added over forty children with Spiritual Roots to our Wang Family—including one fire-wood dual Spiritual Root genius. Therefore, there is no need to worry about our family’s cultivator lineage facing disruption. If this overseas pioneering succeeds, our Wang Family will continue increasing investment and dispatch more clansmen there!”

He then looked at Wang Longyou. “What about the Li family?”

“The Li family sent word that they are fully prepared and can depart at any time. They have two Foundation Establishment cultivators leading—one is Li Derong, whom Wenhao is familiar with; the other once sparred with Wenhao named Li Dedao!” said Wang Longyou. “The Li family has also invested heavily this time by sending two newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivators from their clan.”

“Likely they also intend to conceal their true strength. News of these two young Foundation Establishment cultivators is something even I am hearing for the first time.”

The Wang Family employed similar tactics—Wang Yanfeng and Wang Yanping had never appeared publicly before; they had been kept hidden all along. The Qingyuan Sect loomed like a mountain over many Foundation Establishment families—providing protection while simultaneously exploiting and suppressing them. To rise above others, merely operating diligently within the Qingniu Fang region would not suffice.

Wang Guang’an stood up holding a Storage Bag. Addressing Wang Hao earnestly, he said, “A poor home but rich provisions for journeying afar—these are some high-grade spirit talismans and pills I’ve accumulated over these years. Take them along for use on your journey!”

Wang Hao accepted it and examined its contents. There were four top-grade second-rank spirit talismans, over ten mid-grade second-rank spirit talismans, plus several bottles of pills for Foundation Establishment use—some for enhancing cultivation, others for healing injuries. Their total value already exceeded ten thousand Spirit Stones.

In earlier times, Wang Guang’an absolutely could not have produced such items. But now, the Wang Family was much more prosperous. Coupled with the recent end to the beast tide chaos, the Wang Family had obtained many materials, and their Spirit Stone reserves were at their highest in many years!