Da Xuan Martial Saint

There is a distinction between generous gifts and modest ones; the latter is merely a symbolic gesture, whereas the former involves emotional and social considerations.

"There's no need; just take them all as listed," he said.

Chen Mu shook his head slightly.

He accepted any gifts that came his way because what he currently lacked were resources. Before leaving, he had even visited the Yu Family's storeroom, taking away some items that the Yu Family would not readily need, yet were quite valuable.

Combined, these items were all to be taken to the Seven Profound Sect later to be exchanged for nourishing-type spiritual objects that he needed.

In fact, it didn't make much difference whether he accepted the Qin Family's gifts. His mentor, Qin Mengjun, was a member of the Qin Family and already had certain ties to them, so if the Qin Family sought his help, he was naturally inclined to consider their requests.

As for the gift from the Feng Family, accepting it was no issue. Although it appeared that he had little connection with the Feng Family, and it was Feng Hongsheng who had previously stepped in to block Elder Fu Jingyuan from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, after wiping out a branch of the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, he and Yan Jingqing had shared some of the pavilion's resources with Feng Hongsheng. Feng, as a grandmaster, wouldn't quibble over such trivial matters. It was beneath a grandmaster's dignity to personally accept them, so the resources were directly handed over to the Feng Family.

And then there was the Liu Family...

This family was somewhat interesting, with a situation similar to the previous Yu Family. Behind them stood Liu Zongsheng, an elder of the Seven Profound Sect, who was already too old, seemingly over one hundred and seventy years old. Even as a Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster, he was nearing the twilight years of his life.

Under such circumstances, it was quite normal for them to seek to ingratiate themselves and win him over, even though he wasn't a Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster but merely ranked on the Wind Cloud List by virtue of his strength. For the Liu Family at present, if they could win him over, it would be a significant support for the family.

After all, he was still very young, only thirty years old.

Therefore, the gift prepared by the Liu Family for their visit was the most generous, valued as much as three portions of Viscera Refining spiritual objects. Chen Mu accepted everything as listed and at the same time, tactfully declined the Liu Family's attempt to explore the possibility of making marital ties with him.

After all, he did not lack resources now; the more he was sent, the more he took, and he wasn't worried about being entangled in obligations. Given his talent and aptitude, it wouldn't take long for his cultivation to advance further, reaching the Grandmaster level, or even approaching the ultimate realms of martial arts.

At that time, should anyone seek his help, it would merely take a word from him to resolve the issue.

As for making marital connections, he'd pass. Being bound by blood was another matter. Although he held a rather good dual cultivation technique in his hand, he had no intention of adopting the Hehuan Sect's style—indulging in romantic entanglements and nightly revelries. Ultimately, this technique was better than nothing for him. It allowed him to satisfy desires while not impeding his cultivation progress.

"It really is the big families of the State Government Office. They are far wealthier than us in Yu County," Xiao He couldn't help but sigh while tallying the gift list beside him.

Each year, most of Yu City's resources, including taxes, various discovered medicinal materials, heaven and earth spiritual items, as well as many official businesses, would be transported to the State Government Office and then integrated into the Seven Profound Sect for digestion.

By comparison, these big and small families of the state government had a significant degree of "independence." They had control over their businesses and the various resources they discovered without having to hand them over to the Seven Profound Sect. After all, they were themselves part of the Seven Profound Sect, with Peak Masters and Elders backing them up, they were among the top beneficiaries in Yu State.

Plainly put,

The influence of each of the six families was no less than the Seven Peaks under the Seven Profound Sect, all possessing numerous Six Viscera Realm cultivators and many experts of the Five Viscera Realm. In fact, they could be regarded as the 'Outer Six Peaks' of the Seven Profound Sect.

If Chen Mu hadn't been just thirty years old, these six families would have been cooler towards him. If he hadn't defeated Situ Shu and merely made it to the bottom of the Wind Cloud List, their attitude would have cooled even further. If he hadn't made it to the Wind Cloud List at all and was merely an ordinary practitioner of the Six Viscera Realm, the six big families might not have paid much attention to his arrival. Only families like the Qin and Meng, which had previous connections, might have extended their regards.

A moment later,

Chen Mu sorted out the gifts from each family, and along with the portion he had taken when dealing with the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion branch and the items taken from the Yu Family, he made a summary. Altogether, he could probably exchange them for five to six portions of nourishing-type spiritual objects at the Seven Profound Sect. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire

"Five to six portions, that's not little," Chen Mu nodded slightly to himself.

In actuality, that was quite a lot, considering that nourishing-type spiritual objects were rarer and more precious than Viscera Refining spiritual objects. Don't be fooled by the fact that his Cold Soul Spirit Blade and Evil-Breaking Thunder Spear were worth more than several portions of nourishing-type spiritual objects. The acquisition of these two items hadn't been easy; the Thunder Spear was a stroke of fortune, and the Spirit Blade had been wrested from the hands of a Wind Cloud List expert.

He summoned the system interface and glanced at it.

[Martial Art: Qiankun Artistic Conception (Step 2)]

[Experience: 6827 points]

...

[Six Viscera Sutra (44%)]

[Experience: 0 points]

Escorting Xu Hongyu and her group from Yu County to the State Government Office, roughly a month and a half had passed. Along the way, he was always contemplating the essence of the natural world. Ultimately, he gained over three thousand experience points, which was quite substantial, and he would soon be able to continue deducing the Artistic Conception.

The refinement of the Six Viscera saw only a one percent improvement from consuming the "Yellow Turtle Vine," going from 43% to 44% over a month and a half, which was barely significant. Fortunately, the progress of both Xu Hongyu and Xiao He was considerable. Xu was likely soon to step into the Five Viscera Realm, Xiao He's Bone Tempering should also steadily succeed, and Chen Yue was probably close as well.