Chapter 79: The Forces of Heaven and Earth Unite

Mother was always very reasonable; not only did she pay as promised, but she also expressed her gratitude to Shen Shi, the hidden “hero” behind the scenes.

“My son, even if you hadn’t mentioned it, I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while. Ever since your father reassembled his household troops, the price of meat at the market has risen quite a bit. If we could raise our own, it would be so much better.”

Feeding over a hundred men with meat had driven up prices and even caused shortages at the market. Naturally, Shen Shi’s mother fully supported his plan to buy a boat and bring in supplies from elsewhere.

Yet, throughout her explanation, she never revealed why she had come herself instead of Shen Shi’s father, Shen Liang.

“Young master, shall I write a prescription to help your father recover his strength?” Lady Eight could not help but lift the veil on this secret.

“Hmm?” Shen Shi was momentarily stunned.

“Judging from your mother’s appearance, she’s certainly put your father through his paces. And since your father hasn’t gotten up yet, he must be depleted. I can tell these things at a glance,” Lady Eight said.

“Eighth Sister!” The Fourteenth Lady blushed in embarrassment at her words.

“Little Fourteen, your Eighth Sister is not speaking nonsense. I’m telling the truth, am I not, young master?” Lady Eight chuckled.

“Yes, I’ll trouble you for this,” Shen Shi nodded.

He himself knew the family’s martial arts—skills honed for the battlefield, with little in the way of health cultivation. As for the scholarly path, there was even less talk of nurturing one’s health.

Shen Shi had examined his family’s constitutions and found none suited for the pursuit of immortality. Lacking innate vital energy, they could not draw out enough of it. Even if given the formulas, without sufficient innate energy, unless they could, like Shen Shi, open their eyes and find the spiritual energies they needed in the world, they would only absorb impure energies, ultimately harming themselves.

The so-called “turbid energies” among Daoist cultivators often referred to those with insufficient innate quality, unable to refine external energies; in such cases, it was not the practitioner refining the world, but the world assimilating the practitioner.

Thus, if Lady Eight knew any way to replenish vital energy, Shen Shi would not refuse.

But Lady Eight was taken aback, “You… you trust me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“But these are your parents…”

She truly could not contain her surprise. Hadn’t the scholars always said, “A son must not speak of his father’s faults”? Could it be she’d misunderstood all along?

Lady Eight was left bewildered.

…

Buying a boat, purchasing piglets, and transporting supplies—all went smoothly. Of course, when it came to castrating the piglets, since the butcher wasn’t particularly skilled, a few piglets were lost at first, but that was inevitable. As long as the castration succeeded and the piglets survived, they quickly became just as Shen Shi remembered: no longer fighting, leading the blissful life of eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating.

“Shi’er, is this really all there is to it?”

No one cared more about the piglets than Shen Shi’s mother. The monthly expenses were no small sum, so she was most eager for self-sufficiency. When the butcher killed a few piglets at the start, her heart ached so much she almost wanted to send him away.

Fortunately, they persevered.

Seeing the piglets eating heartily after being castrated, she felt as if it were a dream.

“Yes, Mother. I estimate that in a hundred days, they should weigh about two hundred catties each.”

There were no special feeds here that would make a pig gain a pound for every pound eaten, but everything was completely natural. Not only was the pig grass nutritious, but even the small crabs, shrimp, and scallops from the river—things no one ate—could be ground into powder and cooked, making feed no worse than commercial mixtures.

Shen Shi’s only concern was the piglets themselves, as they weren’t bred for meat production like in later generations. Otherwise, a pig could reach three or five hundred catties in just two months. But his mother knew nothing of such things; two hundred catties in a hundred days was enough to make her overjoyed.

In her happiness, she asked, “Shi’er, do you know how to raise chickens and ducks too?”

“More or less!”

“That’s wonderful. Next time, we’ll buy some chickens and ducks as well,” she decided, delighted.

Grandmother, upon hearing the news, was equally thrilled. Who wouldn’t want their family to prosper? In the past, they simply didn’t know how. Now that her grandson was cultivating the Dao and had developed these new “skills,” she and the rest of the family were overjoyed.

Both grandmother and mother threw themselves eagerly into learning. They were determined to master these “Daoist arts” and pass them down as a family legacy.

Shen Shi had no reason to refuse their enthusiasm. He only regarded them as technicians, though, and didn’t support them keeping the techniques to themselves.

“Mother, grandmother, just leave these tasks to the servants. There’s no need for you to do everything personally.”

“You silly child, what nonsense. These are Daoist treasures, secret techniques from the sect; of course, they must be kept secret,” grandmother insisted.

Since she’d begun busying herself with these tasks, the old lady seemed ten years younger. Watching the piglets grow day by day, the joy of success truly invigorated her, unlike in the past when she’d toiled in vain, always seeking help but never tasting success.

“Grandmother, mother, these can hardly be called secret arts of the sect. True secrets lie in strengthening oneself, achieving transcendence…”

Though grandmother and parents listened, they were still reluctant to let go. Shen Shi did not press the point, but instead taught them the method of body cultivation.

Body cultivation and cultivation for immortality were slightly different. The techniques were the same, but body cultivation did not involve spiritual refinement.

The path of immortality cultivated essence, energy, and spirit.

Body cultivation was more fundamental, meant to temper the body and lay a foundation.

In other words, body cultivation focused on developing one’s own potential, while the latter required exploring the world beyond.

Without innate energy as a foundation, one’s exploration led not to mastery of the world, but to being assimilated by it.

Yet innate energy was not irreplaceable. When body cultivation reached its limit, breaking through and transcending physical constraints, the flesh could stand in for the protective role of innate energy.

Of course, this step was difficult, but not impossible. Rather than dreaming of instant ascension, it was better to start practicing.

Once grandmother and the others tasted the benefits of cultivation, they began to spread the farming techniques as well, no longer stubbornly keeping them secret. Naturally, only those loyal to the Shen family were entrusted with these methods, which in turn became a source of cohesion among the household retainers.

When Shen Shi looked at the Shen family’s fortunes again, prosperity blazed like a red flame.

With such flourishing luck, the family’s cultivation progressed much more smoothly. If Shen Shi had enjoyed such fortune when he first began training, he would have had no need to rely on his special vision—the path would have been smooth regardless. Such was the power of fortune.

“Young master, is it true what you said? That spreading techniques aids in cultivation?” Grandmother and the others, having overheard his words, did not hide them from Lady Eight.

“You can see for yourself,” Shen Shi replied.

He reached out and touched her eyelids.

When she opened her eyes again, she too saw the Shen family’s fortune burning scarlet, drawing streams of spiritual energy from the heavens and earth.

When fortune comes, all things lend their strength!