Crafting an Immortal Race with Daily Hexagrams

After each Patriarch or Clan Elder of the attached families delivered their tributes, Shen Chongming handed over the final verification tasks to Shen Xiuyan and went off to drink with Zhao Tuan.

The courtyard at the foot of the mountain.

In the pavilion, the two brothers sat facing each other, and Youran personally served a dish of delicacies.

Seeing this, Zhao Tuan quickly stood up and cupped his hands in a salute.

Chen Youran pretended to be angry and said, "After all these years, Brother Tuan still hasn’t gotten rid of this bad habit."

Zhao Tuan laughed awkwardly, "Etiquette cannot be discarded."

Shen Chongming shook his head with a smile, "Madam, please sit and join us."

After a slight hesitation, Chen Youran boldly took a seat.

In their early years, the three had ventured through life and death together with Shi Miao of the Shi Family, forming a deep friendship.

Unfortunately, Shi Miao and the Shi Family behind him had too much ambition, secretly embezzling spiritual ore veins, blatantly violating clan rules, and were ultimately discovered by the Clan Court.

After the exposure of their deeds, Shi Miao refused to be executed according to the clan rules and chose to lead a few cultivators from the Shi Family in a desperate battle against the demon beasts of the Great Witch Mountain, ultimately perishing.

Once seated, Chen Youran personally filled the brothers’ cups with wine, leaving Zhao Tuan both surprised and honored.

Shen Chongming raised the jade cup in front of him, the two brothers gently clinked glasses, and each drank their wine.

The three of them drank as they reminisced about the past.

They talked about their fathers, their childhood, and then the past few years, revisiting these rugged stories of over a hundred years.

After several rounds of drinks, Chen Youran excused herself, claiming to be too tipsy, and quietly left.

The pavilion was left with only the two brothers.

"In the past, when father passed the position of Patriarch to me, he once said,"

"Each generation must have its own thoughts, and when it comes to matters not concerning life and death, the Elder Patriarch of the Shen Family need not interfere with the new Patriarch’s decisions."

"Now Xiuyan is also gradually growing up..."

"Brother Tuan, what do you think of Xiuyan’s ability to manage the family?"

Zhao Tuan was sentimentally reflecting, but upon hearing this question, he was startled and quickly cupped his hands, "Young Master Xiuyan is law-abiding and remarkably intelligent."

"Upon assuming the role of Patriarch, he will surely lead the main family to greater prosperity, and we, the attached families, are certain to share in the main family’s blessings and advance further."

Shen Chongming laughed.

"Brother Tuan, you become more cunning with age, keeping things hidden even when talking among brothers."

He then sighed, "Law-abiding..."

"That is precisely what I and grandfather worry about the most."

Zhao Tuan, upon hearing this, picked up the wine pot in front of him, poured drinks for them both, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "Subordinate actually believes this to be a strength of Young Master Xiuyan."

"The law restrains the unlawful."

"At its core, the Immortal Sect Family is not very different from the Secular Dynasty."

"Subordinate believes that strict laws are the true long-term solution."

Shen Chongming lowered his head, raising his jade cup, and said, "Since Brother Tuan believes so, let it be."

"In the end, there are still a few generations of Elder Patriarchs who can provide support for him."

The brothers drank for over an hour before Zhao Tuan left Yunshui City.

On the way back to Anyang City via wind manipulation, the clear breeze sobered the slightly intoxicated Zhao Tuan, who let out a small sigh.

He knew that Shen Chongming mentioned these matters to assess the opinions of the various attached noble families regarding the new clan rules issued by the Clan Court.

However, what he said at the banquet wasn’t mere flattery.

From his perspective, he also felt that strict laws were a good thing.

If laws aren’t strict, as the cultivators under their rule grow stronger, allowing them to be this lax will eventually lead to trouble one day.

"I hope Young Master Xiuyan can indeed bring a different appearance to the Shen Family..."

Zhao Tuan thought to himself, his fingers subtly executed a finger technique, heading quickly toward Anyang City.

...

By night.

The bright moonlight, tinged with a bit of cold melancholy, shone onto the earth.

The rear mountain of the Shen Family’s old residence in Yunshui City.

Ever since the strange phenomenon appeared where Shen Xiubai secluded himself, all paths leading there have been strictly guarded by the cultivators of the clan, with no one allowed to approach.

On the winding bluestone path, two Shen Family cultivators stood attentive on either side.

Suddenly, a slender figure in a moon-white long robe, with a topknot tied, walked slowly from behind the two along the winding path.

As moonlight shone on that figure, it surprisingly emitted a faint glow.

What’s strange is that the two Shen Family cultivators felt nothing about it.

Not until that figure turned a corner, getting less than a few feet behind them, did one of the early-stage fetal breathing cultivators realize something might be amiss.

He turned around somewhat suspiciously and was immediately startled into a shiver!

Instantly, he summoned a magical artifact, ready to employ spiritual power to strike.

The other cultivator, seeing this, assumed something was amiss, immediately began forming a finger technique in panic.

"Stop!"

Just as the early-stage fetal breathing cultivator had activated his magical artifact, preparing to strike, he noticed that the figure in the moon-white long robe was the Shen Xiubai they were supposed to protect!

He hastily stopped the fellow cultivator beside him from taking action, then withdrew his presence and cupped his hands toward Shen Xiubai, "Subordinate greets Young Master Xiubai."

Shen Xiubai approached slowly, emitting a faint glow, nodded slightly to the two of them, and said, "Make no sound, I’m just going to Black Water Pavilion and will be back shortly."

"You two should keep this a secret."

Hearing this, the two Shen Family cultivators, although puzzled, still cupped their hands.

"Rest assured, Young Master Xiubai, neither of us will reveal a word!"

After Shen Xiubai nodded, he walked directly toward the old residence at the foot of the mountain.

Watching his back, the two behind him had peculiar expressions.