Far away in the Sun Glow Sect, there was a pavilion bathing in yellow light, supernatural powers lighting through it pillars.
An elderly woman sat inside the pavilion, watching the yellow light fall upon the the grass on the ground.
When sunlight touched grass, there was no burning heat of summer nor nourishing green of spring, the yellow glow seemed to quicken the growth of the grass, from a finger long to a hand long, only for them to stop right there, illusory sickles forming and harvesting it, before the cycle repeated itself.
This was the Yellow Sun, the Sun of Autumn, the Sun of Harvest.
As the elderly woman was observing the principles of Autumn and the roundness of the Yellow Sun, she saw a young man walking up the road to the pavilion, his head lowered in respect and fear, not daring to look directly into the sun.
"Grandmaster," the young man called out.
The elderly lady didn’t say anything, merely continuing her observation.
Knowing her temperament, the young man bowed a bit deeper and explained his purpose, "Grandmaster, I have reached the limit of Qi Refining and wish to visit my wife for a last time before I go into seclusion..."
The turbidity in the elderly woman’s eyes dissipated slightly upon hearing this, memories flashing through her mind.
Her son...
She bore a single son when she was young, her only offspring, which is now over three hundred years ago...
Her son was simple, loyal and never corrupted by sect politics, but he was also of lower talent and unambitious. He wasn’t weak nor negligent, but his cultivation wasn’t one of extreme diligence to the dao, willing to die for it. Rather, it seemed he always valued filial piety more than his own cultivation.
Alas... such a matter was utterly wrong. Even cultivation clans wouldn’t raise the importance of filial piety above that of their own cultivation, only his son would be so foolish.
But a sigh of relief and happiness emerged from her when she thought of her son—
As foolish as he was, he was still able to establish a strong foundation when he left the sect, establishing a clan of her surname, giving them ample teachings and passing the first dangerous years without any of her help. Maybe... maybe such cultivators were indeed more suitable to be clan members than sect members.
Turning back to the young man in front of her, the smile deepened slightly.
He was her eldest disciple’s disciple, her grand disciple. Now her eldest disciple had been out of the sect for ten years, and she was taking care of this disciple.
Many years ago, when the Fu Clan had contacted her for a good marriage for one of their descendants... one of her descendants, she hadn’t taken it too seriously—few cultivators would be willing to allow their offspring to be members of other forces.
But when she conveyed this message to her disciples to find a suitable person, most likely a talented but impoverished young disciple, the first to turn up was actually this grand disciple—he hadn’t known about the relationship between her and the Fu clan, he merely had the wish for offspring and once said that bloodline would be all that mattered, and even if his offspring was in a different force, as long as the child recognised him as the father, the rest wouldn’t matter.
Now it seems... it seems even after so many years, this grand disciple hadn’t forgotten about this matter?
"Are you sure?" she asked, not concealing her thoughts, "If you go there now, your karma will be deepened. Going after the Foundation Building stage, or possibly only after that girl reached that stage too, will loosen the karma considerably."
"Grandmaster, this disciple is sure! Karma between husband and wife, father and son, are nothing to speak of! I am willing to take it upon myself!" the young man declared deeply.
"Very well, but having reached the limit of your cultivation, you should know the wonders of the Foundation Building stage. Go and take the Thunder-Wood Amulet and a Wisdom Seed from my storage as gifts. But know, after you’ve become entangled in this karma, even after reaching the Foundation Building stage, you will be a half-member of the Fu Clan, and you will bear the consequences. If you truly wish to accept this karma, then you should look for an item that can strengthen their foundation and give it to them."
As she said this, she seemed to remember something, "There is a semi-third stage Spiritual Plant in their ancestral heartland. Bathed in the Green Glow for hundreds of years, it has reached the peak of spring, but the peak of a plant is only at the peak of Summer. Go and gather dew drops of the grass below the Crimson Sun. 129.600 drops, gathered in the early hours, shortly after the sun rises."
"Thank you grandmaster, I won’t disappoint you!" the young man replied, his expression one of delight. His relationship with the Fu Clan was one entirely based on his marriage, but through the years, he only contracted her and ignored the clan, mostly focusing on sect tasks and his own cultivation. He never heard that they possessed a near third-stage plant!
Getting the sun glow dew drops anywhere else would be difficult even for a Foundation Building cultivator, but in the Sun Glow Sect, anyone willing to put in the work could get it!
He walked down the pavilion peak after bidding farewell to his grandmaster, his expression one of elation and hope.
...
At the same time, in the Fu Clan, the Mu generation was slowly showing signs of emerging talent.
The first of the Mu generation, Muhuan, had reached the sixth stage of Qi Refining, his talent of three roots combined with diligent training and resources from the family allowed him to rapidly grow. He was taken in as the heir of one of the Three Gardens and now learned secret techniques of planting.
Following after him, the second of the Mu generation had left the clan with an elder, now being stationed in the Seven Mountains Market and learning the way of merchantry. He had a hidden talent, making him the most likely to become the Foundation Building elder that would control the families’ market business in the future.
And Muyu, the third of the Mu generation, had just... crossed the 10% success rate mark for his talismans, fulfilling the first requirement of a talisman master!
The Mu generation was full of talent, and many more people were competing for attention below those three.