Chapter 178

"It's damn cold."

The cold winter snow lingered on the lake for several months. The weather warmed up slightly, but the spring was as cold as the previous winter. The seedlings inserted in the ground withered and turned yellow, and not a single one could survive.

After the lingering cold receded, the summer was only warm for a few days before falling back into the bone-chilling autumn. There was no harvest in the fields for the whole year. The farmers could only swallow their saliva and put down their hoes to forage in the mountains.

Xu Laoyezi sat in front of the door, rubbing his hands in the cold wind, estimating whether the remaining grain in the house was enough for next year's food and clothing. He had been the head of the family for more than ten years since his father Xu San passed away, and he had become familiar with this path.

The Xu clan is also one of the major clans in the town, but it is much more dilapidated than the Tian and Liu clans. It did not govern a town in the era when the Li family rose decades ago, so it naturally declined year by year. The population expanded a lot by taking advantage of the Li family's exploitation of Shanyue and the absorption of the Eastern fleeing population, but it lived the same way year after year, without any progress.

Getting up and walking around the courtyard, Xu Laoyezi finished counting the grain left last year, and the courtyard gate was knocked with a thud.

"Who is it?"

"Uncle, it's me, Gongming!"

The courtyard gate was opened with a creak, and a young man walked in. Xu Laoyezi twisted his beard and shouted:

"Gongming, come inside and sit."

Xu Gongming entered the courtyard and said as soon as he opened his mouth:

"Uncle, have you heard? The main family wants to fight Shanyue and is currently recruiting soldiers in the town. The gongs and drums have been beaten for many days. Gongming wants to join the army, but my parents only know how to farm and can't make up their minds, so they told me to come and ask you."

After Xu San died, the Xu family immediately separated, each developing in the town. As the eldest son and having read a few days of books, Xu Laoyezi was naturally the one who made the decisions in the clan. He looked at the youth in front of him and did not speak for a while.

As the only person with spiritual apertures in the clan, Xu Gongming now also has the second level of Embryonic Breath cultivation. Seeing this, he was a bit anxious and whispered:

"Uncle! None of the clans are as dilapidated as ours now! The Liu clan has been the landlord of Jingyang since ancient times and is also the concubine of the ancestor. The Tian clan has many capable people, and most of the spirit fields are under their management. The Chen clan is quiet, but they already have Qi Refining cultivators... Now if my family wants a place to go, it can only be the army!"

Xu Laoyezi picked up the large basin, squinted his eyes and counted the grain inside, and said slowly:

"The army is the tool of the townspeople. Which of the several thousand-man commanders is not surnamed Li? Don't think about it too easily..."

Xu Gongming sat on a broken wooden chair. Hearing this, he was a bit decadent. The plan he had thought out well was disrupted by Xu Laoyezi's words, and he said hurriedly:

"Then uncle, give me an idea... The Xu clan is about to be handed over to me, but I can't do anything!"

Xu Laoyezi nodded, his gray-white beard trembling, and seeing a few mouse droppings turned out from the bottom of the basket, his face collapsed, and he answered:

"If you want to join the army, it is indeed a good path. Uncle has no military formation, nor does he understand cultivation, but he can only teach you two words."

"First, is loyalty."

Xu Laoyezi put down the basket and finally became serious. His wrinkled face relaxed a lot, and he said in a low voice:

"My Xu family once killed enemies for the main family. Both the ancestor and the family head have names for us. Once you enter the army, you are carrying the name of the Xu family. You can get a good position as soon as you come up. This is the shade of the predecessors... You have to be willing to be injured, you have to die at critical moments, you have to be selfless and offend people, and you have to brand this mark of loyalty firmly in the main family's mind!"

Xu Laoyezi's words hit Xu Gongming's heartstrings like a hammer. He finally understood why his parents told him to seek his uncle directly, remembered these words, and opened his mouth again:

"Then what is the second word?"

"Second, is steady."

Xu Laoyezi sat beside him, stretched out his withered fingers like chicken claws to gesture, and whispered:

"Young Master Xiu knows the movements of the family like the back of his hand. If you are in the army, don't seek merit, only seek no mistakes. Don't talk too much when you see the main family members, be silent and steady. Don't associate with people in the army, don't mention the clansmen, and handle things impartially. If you act like this for twenty years, a thousand-man commander is enough. If you are lucky enough to break through to Qi Refining, you can be a confidant of the main family, and my Xu family will have a place in the towns!"

"Twenty years..."

Xu Gongming nodded silently, thanked him hurriedly, and said for a long time without saying any insights, just asking about the questions Li Yuanxiu might ask when he summoned him. The old master picked up the basket and answered one by one listlessly, then shook the rice basket in his hand and said impatiently:

"Roll, roll, roll, stop talking here, hurry up and prepare your things."

Xu Gongming was choked by him and didn't know whether to advance or retreat. Knowing that this elder had a strange temperament, he thanked him repeatedly, lowered his head, and went out thoughtfully.

Xu Laoyezi sat in the courtyard for a while, looked at the rice basket in his hand, picked out a few mouse droppings, shook the old rice in the basket, and then muttered:

"It can barely be used."

————

"Xu Gongming..."

Li Yuanxiu dismantled the small letter sent up and read it, recalled the situation of the Xu family, and whispered:

"This Xu family member is the first Embryonic Breath cultivator to join the army."

"Yes."

Li Pingyi below responded. Then he saw Li Yuanxiu ponder for a few breaths, read the small letter in his hand over and over again, and whispered:

"The Xu family also has merit to my family. The family has given opportunities in these decades, and father also specifically mentioned it to me, but the Xu family descendants are not competitive, failed to grasp it, and have been living unhappily."

"Xu Gongming has already arrived outside."

Li Pingyi reminded. Li Yuanxiu nodded and said:

"Call him up."

Not long after, a young man of twenty-five or twenty-six walked up, with a sword at his waist, his brows and eyes were still atmospheric, and he looked quite honest. He clasped his fists at Li Yuanxiu and said in a deep voice:

"Xu Gongming has seen the Young Family Head."

After saying this respectfully, Xu Gongming stood straight with his head lowered and said nothing more.

Li Yuanxiu asked about the situation in his family. Xu Gongming answered concisely and clearly. I don't know if he was prepared in advance or if his thinking was agile. Everything was answered well. Li Yuanxiu nodded slightly and said softly:

"Go to the military camp tomorrow."

Xu Gongming bowed, retreated with a solemn expression, and did not ask what position he had obtained. He left without saying a word. Li Yuanxiu felt a bit more favorable in his heart and whispered:

"The Xu family has been living unhappily these years. Now that they have a spiritual aperture person, it seems they want to engage in the army. Then let him be a hundred-man commander first. With his second-level Embryonic Breath cultivation, it can be considered heavy use."

The cultivators in the army are basically cultivators from the minor clans and branches of the Li family. The first and second levels of Embryonic Breath are hundred-man commanders, and the third and fourth levels of Embryonic Breath are thousand-man commanders, totaling eight people. Plus Xu Gongming, there are now nine cultivators.

Li Yuanxiu was pondering when he saw a person walking quickly outside the courtyard, entering the courtyard like wind. The clan soldiers knelt down as usual, and the sound of weapons falling to the ground clattered. Li Yuanxiu hurried down when he saw this, stared, and said with joy:

"Father!"

(End of chapter)