Chapter 449: Planning for the Future

"Next, I need to find a cave dwelling, a cave dwelling that belongs to me."

Su Fan looked at the cave dwelling before him. Although this second-tier high-grade cave dwelling was not bad, it would soon become unsuitable for him.

According to his estimates, he would break through to the Purple Mansion within these five years.

Moreover, more importantly, this cave dwelling belonged to the Taihe lineage, and he was merely renting it.

As for the Purple Mansion cave dwelling that the Su family had in the wilderness, it would belong to the Clan Leader and the Great Elder in the future. Furthermore, that location was too far from both the Taihe Mountain Range and Yu County, making it unsuitable as a base for the Su family, as it could not support the cultivation of mortals.

The Taihe Mountain Range's main vein belonged to the lineage of Ancestor Taihe, and that Ancestor Taihe's strength was not bad either—at the peak of the Purple Mansion.

Su Fan was not afraid of this person, but he was not someone who would seize things by force. If he were dealing with an enemy, he could be unscrupulous.

However, Su Fan actually had a fairly good impression of this Ancestor Taihe. Although the other party was not from the Zheng State, he had made contributions to the Zheng State in the years since he arrived.

He had personally led his disciples to conquer the Taihe Mountain Range, greatly expanding the space for Zheng State cultivators.

Moreover, the Taihe Mountain Range was strategically very important to the Zheng State. With this mountain range, combined with another mountain range to form a line, it greatly improved the buffer capacity of Zheng State cultivators when resisting the invasion of the demon race.

Previously, relying on a single mountain range was not enough to keep the demon race out, but the addition of the Taihe Mountain Range changed that.

Since then, the Zheng State had firmly kept the demon race out during the last two or three century-long beast riots, and even if some demon race members broke through, the damage to the Zheng State was no longer significant.

Therefore, the Taihe lineage had been of great help to the Zheng State.

The Taihe lineage also acted quite fairly; the Su family had previously obtained several Foundation Establishment Pills from them.

Thus, Su Fan would not forcibly seize the Taihe Mountain Range, but it was indeed a good place.

With him, the Su family was destined to leap over the dragon gate in the future. Yu County would limit the Su family's development, and even now, Yuntai Mountain was no longer enough for the Su family disciples to cultivate.

Therefore, the Su family needed a higher-level spirit vein.

The high-level spirit veins in the Zheng State all had owners. To obtain one, the price paid would inevitably be high, so they could only seize one from the demon race.

The Taihe Mountain Range was something Ancestor Taihe had seized himself.

So if he were to take action, he would also seize one from the demon race.

There were several spirit veins near Taihe, but most were second-tier. The nearest third-tier spirit vein was eight thousand miles away.

Moreover, that mountain range was already beyond the borders of the Zheng State, located in the territory of the demon race.

Once they conquered it, they would be on the front line if the demon race invaded.

That mountain range was indeed a good third-tier high-grade spirit vein, not much worse than the Taihe Mountain Range. At the very least, when facing a demon race invasion, the Su family would need to put in the effort to resist.

The Su family was not the Taihe lineage.

Although Su Fan's strength was not inferior to Ancestor Taihe, and his true explosive power was even at the Golden Core stage, the strength of the rest of the Su family was far inferior to the Taihe lineage.

Ancestor Taihe had several Purple Mansion disciples, and even more at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Plus, he was an alchemy and artifact refining master, attracting many loose cultivators. The Taihe Mountain Range had many Foundation Establishment cultivators from the very beginning.

By comparison, the Su family was far behind.

Of course, fortunately, there was still about a century until the next demon race invasion, as the demon race's invasion had just ended.

And this time, the fourth-tier demon beasts near the Zheng State had been severely damaged by the Yunyang Sect. Unless they invited fourth-tier demon beasts from other places next time, their threat to the Zheng State would be greatly reduced.

In that case, it would give the Su family a buffer time. A century was enough for the Su family to produce several Purple Mansion experts.

This was not Su Fan being arrogant. After all, for him, breaking through to Golden Core within a century was not a problem, and the possibility of the Clan Leader breaking through to Purple Mansion was also very high. As long as the Great Elder had sufficient resources, there was also a significant possibility of him breaking through to Purple Mansion.

After all, their spirit roots were not bad, and with the secret technique provided by Su Fan, as long as they obtained some spirit wood, the chances would be very high.

The Fire Origin Apricot at the cave dwelling where the Clan Leader was currently stationed was suitable for the Great Elder. The Great Elder was now at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, and with this secret technique, it would absolutely not be a problem for him to break through to the peak of Foundation Establishment within thirty years.

The remaining time would be for opening the Purple Mansion.

Opening the Purple Mansion, if one had the resources, was actually not too difficult.

The key was to have money.

The best auxiliary treasure for opening the Purple Mansion was the Profound Yang Warm Jade. Its price was the highest, a full eighty thousand spirit stones.

An ordinary Purple Mansion family would likely need a century to scrape together this amount. Purple Mansion families had significant income, but their expenses were inevitably high as well.

Take the current Su family, for example. Although their income had greatly increased, the annual surplus was only about three to five thousand.

This was already the best in Yu County; previously, the Su family was even in the negative.

Of course, although the price of this auxiliary treasure for opening the Purple Mansion was high, its effect was not bad. With the Profound Yang Warm Jade, the success rate could be increased by thirty percent, which was already very significant.

As long as one was not too unlucky or a cultivator who relied entirely on pills, most could open the Purple Mansion in one go.

Even if one could not succeed the first time, as long as the primordial spirit injury was repaired, the success rate for the next time would also greatly increase. Of course, those whose lifespan was nearing its end might be another matter.

However, neither the Clan Leader nor the Great Elder lacked lifespan; among those at the Foundation Establishment stage, they were both considered young.

"However, to attack that mountain range, it is best to wait until the Clan Leader breaks through to the Purple Mansion."

Su Fan was not afraid of that third-tier mountain range; he could conquer it alone. But to develop this mountain range into something like Taihe in the future, he would need the Su family members.

Relying on himself alone was naturally impossible, and he would need to pull in other cultivation families and loose cultivators to build it together.

Ancestor Taihe had done the same with the Taihe Mountain Range, which was why it could develop into the current holy land for loose cultivators.

If the Su family wanted to follow Ancestor Taihe's example, they naturally had to show a certain level of strength; otherwise, no cultivators would come, fearing they wouldn't be able to hold it.

If there were two Purple Mansion cultivators, and they could persuade the Yunyang Sect to send one or two Purple Mansion cultivators to be stationed there, they would be able to attract loose cultivators.

As for whether the Yunyang Sect would agree, Su Fan believed that the other party would not be so short-sighted. After all, Su Fan conquering this mountain range was equivalent to expanding the territory of the Zheng State.

Moreover, besides this mountain range, the surrounding spirit veins, especially those behind the mountain range near the border of the Zheng State, would all be incorporated into the hands of the Zheng State.

The more spirit veins there were, the more cultivators there would naturally be, which was equivalent to enhancing the strength of the Zheng State's cultivators.

As long as the Yunyang Sect wasn't blind, they would naturally ensure the safety of this mountain range.

And Su Fan believed that the Yunyang Sect must also want to develop spirit veins.