After sending the voice transmission.
Before Guo Feilong could put away the jade slip, the defensive formation at the entrance of the cave abode split open from the middle, parting like curtains.
"Fellow Daoist Guo, why didn't you notify me in advance? I could have come with Senior Sister to greet you."
Shangguan Mingyue emerged, her white dress as pure as snow.
After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, she regained her youthful appearance.
Having taken the Beauty Retaining Pills given by Guo Feilong, her appearance hadn't changed at all over the years.
Her face was full of youthful vitality, resembling a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.
Liu Feiyu was visiting her Junior Sister Shangguan Mingyue and came out with her. She also appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, but her demeanor was more composed and less lively.
She smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Guo, please come in."
Guo Feilong followed them into the cave abode.
Inside, the cave abode was magnificent and spacious.
All the furniture and decorations were exquisitely crafted.
Describing it as opulent would not be an exaggeration.
The floor was laid with golden carved tiles, and the walls and semi-circular ceiling were embedded with numerous fist-sized Night Pearls, providing gentle yet bright illumination.
There were also many potted spirit herbs and spirit medicines emitting a unique fragrance, decorating the hall of the cave abode with vibrant colors, making it quite beautiful.
Women will be women, dressing adorably and decorating their homes beautifully.
Guo Feilong thought that if he had a cave abode, just having tables and chairs would suffice; the simpler, the better.
On the day Guo Feilong held his Foundation Establishment banquet, both Liu Feiyu and Shangguan Mingyue attended.
They were truly astonished when they saw Guo Feilong's youthful and handsome appearance.
They hadn't expected an old man to look so good after becoming young, still retaining a masculine charm.
After they all sat down, Guo Feilong took out two storage bags, giving one to Shangguan Mingyue and the other to Liu Feiyu.
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Inside were ten thousand low-quality spirit stones and several bottles of Sixth Grade cultivation elixirs for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, with a total value of seventy to eighty thousand spirit stones.
This was to thank them for taking care of his children and speaking well of him at the Spirit Creek Sect, which led the sect to grant him a First Grade Small World as his fiefdom, in consideration of their children's Golden Elixir stage master.
Even though his wife Sun Yufeng and others were now Foundation Establishment stage elders at the Spirit Creek Sect, their status was vastly different compared to Liu Feiyu and Shangguan Mingyue.
Although Liu Feiyu and Shangguan Mingyue were Foundation Establishment stage elders, and their master was a Golden Elixir stage grand cultivator, they still had to earn their own cultivation resources.
The resource expenditure for cultivating at the Foundation Establishment stage was significant. If they earned fifty thousand low-quality spirit stones a year, their cultivation expenses would be around forty thousand.
Adding the costs of social obligations and gifts, they would have at least several thousand spirit stones in expenses, leaving little by the year's end.
Sometimes, if a disciple performed well, they would reward them with spirit stones or elixirs, leaving the two women somewhat financially strained.
Seventy to eighty thousand spirit stones were not a small amount for them, and after a few polite refusals, they gladly accepted.
Relationships between people cannot rely solely on emotions; only benefits can maintain a long-lasting good relationship.
Guo Feilong understood these social intricacies well, using money and gifts to maintain relationships with practiced ease.
Everyone who had worked with him had a very good impression of him.
Shangguan Mingyue's children thought he genuinely wanted to see the children, so they sent people to bring all of Guo Feilong's children at the Spirit Creek Sect over.
Guo Feilong affectionately hugged each child, then set them down, giving each one a storage bag containing 2000 low-quality spirit stones and ten bottles of cultivation elixirs for Qi Refining stage cultivators.
This is the advantage of having wealthy parents; the children don't need to work hard to earn spirit stones for cultivation resources, as their parents have already prepared everything.
They don't need to do any tasks, and their cultivation resources are inexhaustible.
Ordinary disciples with no background or support from their families have to work tirelessly to earn more cultivation resources, sometimes risking their lives for them.
There is a common misconception about children from wealthy families, thinking they are spoiled, ignorant, and unable to withstand challenges, like the foolish sons of landlords.
In reality, most children from wealthy families work harder and endure more than those from ordinary families. Although they don't worry about food, clothing, or shelter, they undergo intense learning and social training from a young age.
In this cultivation world, the survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle prevail. Those wealthy second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth generations of cultivators, although they don't do miscellaneous tasks, spend long hours practicing spells and sparring.
They are instilled with the belief from a young age that:
If you don't work hard, your family won't prosper.
If you don't work hard, your family might fall apart.
If you don't work hard, you might die in a fight.
If you don't work hard, the woman you like might end up with someone else.
If you don't work hard, your descendants won't continue to live well.
As for the incompetent and idle second-generation cultivators people see, it's because their families have given up on them, knowing they are hopeless.
Just like in ordinary families, there are also very capable children and those who are not.
However, people envy those who are born into wealth, who don't need to work hard, who can enjoy life without effort, living a life of leisure.
In major cultivation sects, ordinary disciples without background are seen as laborers, meant to handle various tasks.
Whether ordinary disciples can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage is not of great importance to large cultivation sects.
More Foundation Establishment stage cultivators mean higher expenses for the sect.
And the territory of a sect is generally fixed.
The output of cultivation resources is also more or less fixed.
In a situation where there are many wolves and little meat, major cultivation sects and families will prioritize resources for descendants and personal disciples with higher spiritual root aptitude.
They won't allocate much to those with decent aptitude but no background.
If you have only one Foundation Pill, the kind that guarantees Foundation Establishment, would you give it to your disciple or your son?
Anyone with a normal mind would give the Foundation Pill to their son, not their disciple.
Just like ancient emperors, who would pass the throne to their biological sons, not adopted ones.
In an environment where cultivation resources are not abundant, those with strong family backgrounds can enjoy cultivation resources without worry, while ordinary disciples without such backgrounds have to fight tooth and nail for resources.
For example, obtaining a Foundation Pill was very difficult for ordinary disciples at the ninth level of Qi Refining in the past, and it's even harder now.
Disciples with background never had to worry about Foundation Pills; their families would prepare them.
It's still the same now; their families will still prepare Foundation Pills for them, and they only need to ask for what they need.
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