The appearance of Xu Changsheng was somewhat unexpected, but Zhou Luo still received him in the main hall.
“Brother Zhou, you have truly soared to great heights now,” Xu Changsheng said with a smile as he sat on a chair.
“These are ultimately just external things. I actually envy Brother Xu’s Qi Refining second layer cultivation,” Zhou Luo waved his hand dismissively.
“Please don’t flatter me,” Xu Changsheng said, suddenly changing the subject with a somewhat desolate expression. “After today’s parting, I’m afraid we may never meet again.”
“What does Brother Xu mean by that?” Zhou Luo couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
“Has Brother Zhou not heard about the family recently conscripting cultivators to the front lines?” Xu Changsheng asked in surprise.
Zhou Luo shook his head.
During this period, he had been busy refining pills. Where would he have time to pay attention to outside matters?
Xu Changsheng sighed. “That’s true. After all, Brother Zhou’s status is different now. It’s just pitiful for us matrilocal husbands, who are being sent to the front lines by the Lin family to die in vain.”
As he spoke the last words, a clear flash of unwillingness appeared on his face.
Unlike most matrilocal husbands, Xu Changsheng had a very clear understanding of his own situation.
When he was rejected by the Qingyuan Sect back then, he had almost immediately chosen to join the Lin family.
Even when he later learned he would become a matrilocal husband, he felt no regret.
Because he clearly understood that this was the price he had to pay to continue cultivating. To be able to pursue the path of cultivation, he felt all these sacrifices were worthwhile.
So after coming to the family, he had always been diligent and hardworking, even making many friends, all to strengthen himself and improve his cultivation.
But in the eyes of the Lin family, he was ultimately just a matrilocal husband.
Now that the family needed him, they naturally wouldn’t hesitate to discard him.
Even though he had produced descendants with spiritual roots for the family.
“Isn’t Brother Xu only at the second layer of Qi Refining?” Zhou Luo asked in surprise.
Ordinary cultivators usually only possess true combat capabilities once they reach the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
A cultivator like Xu Changsheng at the second layer, with that meager amount of Spiritual Qi, was completely insignificant in battle.
Sending him to fight was no different from sending him to his death.
“Sigh! Even if I can’t fight, I can still do other things. Moreover, the family recently recruited another batch of matrilocal husbands…” Xu Changsheng said, his eyes darkening.
These words made Zhou Luo frown.
Was the Lin family’s current situation really that dangerous?
Just as Zhou Luo was thinking, Xu Changsheng suddenly stood up and knelt with a thud before him.
“Please, Brother Zhou, save me.”
“What are you doing?” Zhou Luo was startled and hurriedly tried to help him up.
But Xu Changsheng stubbornly remained kneeling on the ground. “Now, Brother Zhou, you are still a proper son-in-law of the Lin family, with a status vastly different from us matrilocal husbands. Please speak up for me to the elders. This Xu will definitely be eternally grateful.”
As he spoke, he made as if to kowtow.
Zhou Luo quickly stopped him. “Brother Xu, what kind of talk is this?”
When Xu Changsheng looked up, Zhou Luo’s expression was bitter. “Actually, I am no different from you. I have little influence and a low status. How could I have the ability to plead on your behalf?” Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
“Brother Zhou…”
Xu Changsheng’s eyes were red, as if regarding Zhou Luo as his last lifeline.
But Zhou Luo deeply understood that this matter was not something he could decide.
For such major family matters, let alone a minor matrilocal husband like Xu Changsheng, even core family descendants would be sent to the front lines.
In fact, if he hadn’t revealed his alchemical talent and gained the family’s favor, he would probably have been arranged to go to the front lines to die as well.
At this critical juncture, being able to protect himself was already a great fortune.
So no matter what Xu Changsheng said, Zhou Luo indicated he was powerless.
In the end, Xu Changsheng left dejectedly.
Looking at this matrilocal husband, who was the only one he had any real contact with, Zhou Luo shook his head slightly.
He planned to go to the spiritual vein’s blessed land tomorrow for secluded cultivation, to avoid being swept up in this war.
But before he could leave for the spiritual vein, the steward, Lin Fu, came looking for him.
Seeing this steward again, Zhou Luo noticed he had completely lost his previous cold indifference. Instead, a faint worry was visible between his brows, showing he was also affected by this incident.
Lin Fu’s appearance made Zhou Luo’s heart skip a beat.
Fortunately, the family did not arrange for him to go to the front lines, only asking him to assist the family by refining pills.
Hearing the family’s arrangement, Zhou Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed showing his value appropriately had been the correct move.
Following Lin Fu to Shouchun Garden, Zhou Luo was surprised to discover there were now guards stationed here.
When they arrived at the alchemy rooms, he found several unfamiliar faces.
After Lin Fu’s introduction, he learned these people were all alchemists cultivated by the family.
Most were at the novice level, with a small portion being first-tier middle-grade alchemists.
Zhou Luo casually glanced around, estimating there were about eight or nine people in the hall.
It seemed the Lin family’s foundations were not shallow.
Because Lin Zhishou was in secluded cultivation, Zhou Luo was assigned to the same area as Lin Nian.
This nominal senior brother still treated Zhou Luo coldly when he saw him, not even acknowledging his greeting.
Zhou Luo did not mind.
Refining pills here was still better than going to the front lines to die.
…
And so, in the following days, Zhou Luo’s daily life-eating, sleeping, and everything else-was confined to Shouchun Garden.
Spending all day in the alchemy room, Zhou Luo did not know how the battle outside was going.
But looking at the daily quotas continuously increasing, he vaguely guessed the situation was not optimistic.
According to past practice, if nothing changed, this conflict would last at least one or two months.
Because he only needed to refine novice-grade pills.
Plus, with everyone busy and no one paying attention to him, he did not need to be as cautious or restrained as before.
Half a month later, the battle situation finally saw a turning point.
Lin Zhishou broke through.
He had been stuck at first-tier high-grade for many years. This time, under the pressure of the family’s crisis, he finally took that last step and entered first-tier top-grade.
Thus, the Lin family gained their first first-tier top-grade alchemist.
Among the hundred auxiliary arts of cultivation, only the four major professions are most welcomed by cultivators.
Because these four great arts often possess the power to alter the course of a battle, and can even turn victory or defeat single-handedly.
Although Lin Zhishou, who had just advanced to first-tier top-grade, was not that terrifying, his presence clearly improved the Lin family’s strength.
Most notably, the number of healing pills Zhou Luo had to refine each day decreased significantly.
This indicated that the losses among the Lin family’s forces at the front lines had also decreased.
On the twenty-eighth day of the war, both sides finally agreed to a ceasefire.
Zhou Luo and the others were relieved of their duties and left Shouchun Garden one after another.
Returning home, Zhou Luo plunged into Lin Qinghan’s bed and slept soundly.
Nearly a month of high-intensity pill refining had exhausted him physically and mentally; he could finally rest.
When Zhou Luo woke again, it was already the next morning.
Lin Qinghan sat at the bedside, holding the sleeping Little Chang’an, quietly watching him with a soft expression.
“You’re awake?”
Zhou Luo rubbed his temples and sat up. “How long have I been sleeping?”
“A day and a night,” Lin Qinghan replied.
Zhou Luo nodded, then covered his stomach. “I’m hungry.”
Lin Qinghan gave a gentle smile. “Feiying has already prepared food.”
Hearing this, he immediately jumped up from the bed and rushed straight to the dining hall.
…
At the dining table, Zhou Luo ate the spiritual food prepared by Lin Feiying while listening to Lin Yiyi recount the events of the front lines.
In this conflict with the Lu family, the Lin family had suffered heavy losses.
Just family members alone, they had lost over fifty cultivators, and of the matrilocal husbands sent to the front lines, two-thirds had died.
The latter had no real impact on the family, but the former was a heavy blow to their lineage.
It was highly likely the Lin family would soon massively recruit another batch of matrilocal husbands to replenish their ranks.
Fortunately, Xu Changsheng had returned alive, though he was now missing an arm.
But since it did not affect his ability to sire children, the family kept him on.
Zhou Luo originally planned to visit him after eating, but before he could, he was summoned to Shouchun Garden by Lin Zhishou.