LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 55: Jade Bamboo Rice, Mysticism!
Chapter 55: Jade Bamboo Rice, Mysticism!
There was a large revolving round table in the middle of the dining room, allowing the whole family to sit together.
Of course, the children were too young to sit at the table now, but when they grew older or if he had more wives and concubines, the table would no longer be enough to accommodate them all.
“Husband, this Jade Bamboo Rice has been cooked with spiritual fire for three hours by Little Qing. Try it and see how it tastes.”
Once Lu Changsheng was seated at the head of the table, Lu Miaoyun brought over a small wooden bucket made of jade spirit bamboo and served him a bowl of rice.
Each grain of rice in the bowl was fresh green, exquisite, and translucent like agate jade, exuding a bamboo fragrance that was captivating and mouthwatering.
Lu Changsheng took a bite and found it left a lingering fragrance in his mouth.
After taking a couple more bites, he commented, “As expected of first-tier spirit rice, the taste is truly exceptional.”
“You all should try it as well,” Lu Changsheng said to his wives and concubines.
This Jade Bamboo Rice had just been delivered by the Lu Family the day before. It was part of the benefits Lu Family offered him for becoming a medium-grade talisman master.
After his promotion, his basic benefits did not change much.
In addition to the usual ten spirit stones, thirty pounds of spirit rice, and a bottle of Yellow Dragon Elixir per month, he now received an additional twenty pounds of the Lu Family’s specialty, Jade Bamboo Rice, each month.
Jade Bamboo Rice had each grain as vibrant as jade.
It not only contained rich spiritual energy and tasted sweet and fragrant, but eating it long-term could also nourish the body, cleanse impurities, and purify the flesh.
Ordinary grains and vegetables would leave impurities in the body. This is why cultivators usually ate spirit rice.
Compared to regular spirit rice, Jade Bamboo Rice was of a higher grade, classified as first-tier spirit rice.
Even for the Lu Family, the annual production was quite limited.
Only the elders and special guest elders received a certain quota each month.
With Lu Changsheng’s promotion to medium-grade talisman master and his marriage to Lu Miaoyun, the Lu Family provided him with twenty pounds of Jade Bamboo Rice each month.
In addition to the Jade Bamboo Rice reward, there was another change: by completing the Lu Family’s assigned talisman-making tasks each month, he could earn an additional bonus of spirit stones.
Before, there were no bonuses for completing the tasks.
The bonus was not a lot, just ten spirit stones, but it was a fair amount.
If he could exceed the required tasks and produce additional talismans, the Lu Family would purchase them at market price, which was an indirect improvement in his treatment and a motivating factor.
Lu Changsheng had no objections to these changes and thought they were satisfactory.
After all, the Lu Family had given him Lu Miaoyun as his wife and a servant girl as part of her dowry, which was also a form of reward.
After spending several days together, Lu Changsheng had grown quite fond of Lu Miaoyun, his young wife.
Although she had the typical disposition of a young girl, she was sweet and sensible.
She didn’t carry herself with an entitled demeanor and quickly integrated with his current wives and concubines, getting along harmoniously and showing qualities of a great wife.
Lu Changsheng was very pleased with this.
As the saying goes, a beautiful face is not as valuable as a clever mind, and a virtuous wife will support your ambition to soar to the heavens.
For Lu Changsheng at this point their appearance and physique were not his primary concerns.
An above-average appearance was sufficient, but the quality of their spiritual roots and moral character were the main factors.
“Thank you, Husband.”
“Thank you, Husband.”
“Thank you, Husband.”
Upon hearing Lu Changsheng’s words, his wives and concubines began eating.
However, there wasn’t much Jade Bamboo Rice; only a small wooden bucket was cooked.
After Lu Changsheng took a large bowl, the others could only share a small portion for a taste.
At this time, Little Qing brought over a tray with the remaining dishes and placed them on the table. Being Lu Miaoyun’s maid, her skills involved spiritual planting and cooking.
Although she was not a spiritual chef, her culinary skills were excellent—on par with top chefs in the mortal world.
So, after following Lu Miaoyun, she took on the role of a little chef in the household.
“There’s still room, Little Qing, you can sit down and eat too,” said Lu Changsheng. “I don’t have so many rules here.”
Little Qing looked at Lu Changsheng with her clear big eyes, showing a sweet smile on her face and responded crisply, “This servant isn’t hungry.”
“Little Qing, when husband asks you to sit down, you should sit down,” Lu Miaoyun said.
Lu Miaoyun, who was beside him, knew her husband did not care much for formality or excessive rituals. She stood up and took Little Qing’s arm, seating her beside her.
“Thank you, Young Master,” Little Qing responded crisply and then served herself a bowl of rice and ate it in small bites.
…
Time flew by, and more than a month had passed.
With the daily nourishment from Jade Bamboo Rice and spiritual wine, Lu Changsheng could clearly feel his physical condition improving significantly.
However, there was still no progress in the Hundred Treasure Refinement Body Tempering Technique. Unfortunately, that was the nature of a Genuine Level body tempering technique.
Though powerful, the threshold for training is really high. It’s very difficult to get started, and it has extremely high physical requirements.
Lu Changsheng’s body had not been weakened by indulgence, which was already an achievement. Thus, he had a long way to go to improve his physical foundation.
To cultivate the Hundred Treasure Refinement Body Tempering Technique, he had to gradually nourish his body over time. At his current pace, he estimated it would take at least two or three years to achieve even a basic understanding of the technique.
Unless, of course, he obtained a magical artifact through a system lottery as he previously hoped. He could then integrate it into his body using the refinement technique and use it to nourish himself.
However, this possibility seemed far off. Recently, his twenty-first child was just born. To attempt the lottery, he would need to father nine more children.
Even after reaching a total of thirty children, there was no guarantee the system would reward him with a gift.
Regardless of whether the system would provide anything, Lu Changsheng remained focused on his primary goal: fathering children.
After over a month of effort, Lu Miaoyun successfully conceived.
Although female cultivators often experience a depletion of spiritual energy during pregnancy, which can hinder their cultivation, the high-ranking members of the Lu Family were delighted with the news.
To them, the more children the couple had, the more stable the marriage would be, further solidifying Lu Changsheng’s ties to the Lu Family.
Lu Changsheng was also very pleased.
Given that Lu Miaoyun had a seventh-grade Spirit Root, there was a high probability that their children would inherit a Spirit Root as well.
In particular, considering the precedent set by Qu Zhenzhen, he was eagerly looking forward to the child in Lu Miaoyun’s womb.
Following Lu Miaoyun’s pregnancy, Patriarch Lu Yuanding and the four elders provided her with nourishing supplements.
In the world of cultivation, there is a mystical belief that if the mother has a healthy environment and receives adequate nourishment and spiritual energy during pregnancy, the child is more likely to possess a Spirit Root of higher quality.
While the veracity of this belief was difficult to confirm, Lu Changsheng, having the means, was willing to accept this mystical concept and take advantage of it.
He used some of his spirit stones to ensure his wives and children had access to spirit rice and spiritual vegetables daily.
Previously, the thirty pounds of spirit rice he received monthly from the Lu Family was far from enough for the entire family.
It was primarily allocated to him, and his wives and children only got to enjoy spirit rice and spiritual vegetables occasionally.
However, with the recent improvements in the Lu Family’s benefits, the steady income from selling talismans through Hong Yi, and the gains from Niutou Mountain, Lu Changsheng could now allocate his resources to improve his wives’ and children’s diet.