Chapter 41: Paying Respects to Ancestor Longyan (Patreon)

All Novels | Protect Our Patriarch: Chapter List 

~9~8~7~6~5~4~3~2~1~

**Family Industries**

**Fishing Team**
**Changning Fish Market**

**Fenggu Farm** *

**Xingsheng Farm**

**Xinmao Silkworm Farm**

There are five items in total, each with a "View Details" option.

Wang Shoujie naturally clicked on the **Fishing Team**.

The page jumped to the **Fishing Team** details page.

**Fishing Team**

* Small fishing boats: 9

* Medium-sized fishing boats: 1

* Fishermen: 46

* Family manager: Wang Dinghai

* Average annual revenue for the past five years: 606 gold

* Average annual expenditure for the past five years: 385 gold

* Average annual net profit for the past five years: 221 gold

* Average annual catch of Spirit Fish for the past five years: 400 pounds ...

Direction for improvement: Developing a variety of fishing gear for mixed fishing operations ...

This year's targets:

* Net profit target: 1000 gold

* Spirit Fish target: 1000 pounds

This is the simple dashboard of the **Fishing Team**, recording the financial data before Wang Shoujie took office, as well as the direction for improvement and this year's profit targets. According to Wang Shoujie's estimate, this target is easily achievable.

After all, they are currently in the peak season, and this year's food shortage due to the insect plague has led to a price increase for fish as a substitute for staple food.

Wang Shoujie's overall profit target for the **Fishing Team** and the fish market is 2000 gold. However, the only problem is that increasing the catch of the **Fishing Team** may gradually disrupt the ecological balance, although it won't be a major issue in the short term. But this is not a long-term solution.

For a martial clan, a stable and long-term source of income is the true pillar industry. Short-term windfalls can only serve as a supplement to the family's industries. Industries like **Fenggu Farm** are truly long-term and can provide resources for a martial arts family for hundreds of years. This is extremely important.

The Mysterious Martial World is not lacking in windfalls, where one can stumble upon treasures or inheritances from predecessors, or encounter high-level fierce beasts, and so on. These can make one rich overnight.

But what happens after getting rich? No matter how many resources one has, they will eventually be depleted, and only a solid foundation can last forever.

Take Wang Shoujie himself, for example. At 18 years old, he is currently at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm and spends nearly 200 gold in resources every year.

According to the family's estimates, he will reach the peak of the Qi Refining Realm in about 20 years, when he will be 38 years old and in his prime.

Even if the 200 gold in resources remains unchanged, it will take at least 20 years to consume 4000 gold.

Of course, it's impossible for the resources to remain unchanged. When he reaches the seventh and eighth levels of the Qi Refining Realm, his annual resource expenditure will skyrocket. To reach the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm, he will need to consume at least 8000 gold in resources.

Where will these resources come from? They are all squeezed out from the annual output of the family's various industries.

The industries that can provide long-term and stable benefits are the true foundation of the family. Similarly, this is why the Wang Clan currently lacks the power to cultivate a second Wang Shoujie.

Otherwise, even if someone has slightly inferior talent, as long as they are willing to invest resources, they can also become a young master. In fact, if Wang Shoujie were to receive a few more times the resources, he might not need 20 years to reach the peak of the Qi Refining Realm.

He might only need 15 years, or even 10 years or less. This is also why it's difficult for loose cultivators to achieve anything, as they are rootless and without a foundation. They might get lucky and obtain some resources, but if they're unlucky, they might even go hungry.

Loose cultivators who can reach the Spirit Realm either have extraordinary talent and luck or have luck that has reached an extreme.

Therefore, Wang Shoujie's over 10,000 gold in resources seems like a lot, but it's only the total expenditure of the family for a few years. If not planned properly, it will only be a flash in the pan for the Wang Clan, without any lasting power.

Wang Shoujie looked at his own simple system dashboard, and his mind was racing with thoughts of how to allocate the resources.

What does the family lack the most right now? Of course, it's a Spirit Realm strongman. This would allow them to replace Ancestor Longyan's position and become the family's long-term protector. Ancestor Longyan's injuries have yet to heal, and the situation is getting worse.

But is over 10,000 gold in resources enough to support the cultivation of a Spirit Realm strongman? That's naturally far from enough. If Spirit Realm strongmen were so cheap, the Ping'an Wang Clan's overall financial power would have easily solved the problem long ago.

In fact, all Martial Clan Spirit Realm ancestors would be overflowing. Therefore, this option can be eliminated and doesn't need to be considered. It's better to use this money to develop the family's industries...

This issue had been carefully considered by Wang Shoujie, but how much clan property could be developed with over 10,000 gold?

It's worth noting that some industries, known as pillar industries, are renowned for their large scale, long development cycles, and relatively low input-output ratios. Take, for example, the Fenggu Farm of the Wang Clan, which had invested the blood and sweat of many predecessors.

However, its annual profits were only around 700-800 gold, a decent amount in good years. In the long run, increasing investment in pillar industries is an inevitable trend.

However, this approach cannot solve immediate problems, so Wang Shoujie had temporarily put this idea on hold, waiting to see how things would unfold.

Alternatively, purchasing a large quantity of cultivation resources to support himself and other talented clan members could be an option. Wang Shoujie had, of course, considered this as well.

However, there was a growing marginal effect in this approach. Even if Wang Shoujie were to take Minor Nourishing Pills every day, could he cultivate to the Spirit Realm in just a few years?

Obviously not. Not to mention the Spirit Realm, it was uncertain whether he could even reach the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Even if he could recklessly squander resources to cultivate to the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm in a short period, how would that solve the fundamental survival problems of the clan?

Not even someone with his exceptional talent, the best among the young generation in the clan, could achieve this, let alone others.

Sixth Grandfather Wang Xiaohan had once failed to break through to the Spirit Realm and was now stuck at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm, his state declining with age.

If provided with ample resources and confidence, he might have a chance to regain his peak state and attempt to break through to the Spirit Realm again.

This was the fastest way Wang Shoujie could think of to produce a Spirit Realm ancestor for the clan. However, the resources required for this were far from sufficient.

Moreover, Sixth Grandfather Wang Xiaohan's mental and physical states needed to be adjusted to attempt to break through to the Spirit Realm, which was no easy feat.

Wang Shoujie thought that if this money could be used to treat Ancestor Longyan's injuries and prolong her life, it would be the most pressing matter to attend to.

However, it was clear that this amount of money was far from enough to fully cure Ancestor Longyan. If 10,000 gold could cure her, the clan would have already done so.

Therefore, even if she could be cured, the cost of doing so would far exceed the cost of nurturing one or multiple Spirit Realm powerhouses.

Perhaps investing a large sum of money would only alleviate her injuries and extend her life slightly. Wang Shoujie furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

He couldn't help but envy those who possessed a true Golden Finger system, which could solve all difficulties.

They could spend their days carefree, relying on their Golden Finger to overcome any obstacle. Unlike him, who had to carefully consider every penny, even with a relatively rich resource base.

It took him several months to cultivate from the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm to the seventh, a small step in his journey.

However, upon further reflection, he felt that this world was quite realistic, and the path to becoming a strong cultivator required gradual, step-by-step progress.

As he was lost in thought, Gong Sunhui sent her attendant, Xia He, to summon him to meet with Ancestor Longyan.

Ancestor Longyan had summoned him? Wang Shoujie was taken aback, immediately gathering his spirit. Ancestor Longyan had been in seclusion for several years, rarely seeing clan members. She hadn't even attended Wang Dingyue's funeral, indicating that her health was not good.

Even Wang Shoujie, the most favored among the seventh generation, hadn't seen Ancestor Longyan in over a year.

Usually, it was Gong Sunhui who took care of her. "Thank you, Miss Xia He," Wang Shoujie said politely. Xia He hurriedly curtsied: "You're too kind, Master. If you have no urgent matters, please follow me to see Ancestor Longyan."

She was a clever and literate woman, skilled in mathematics, who had been trained by Gong Sunhui since she was nine years old. She helped with many of Gong Sunhui's accounts. Wang Shoujie followed Xia He to the Longyan Residence, where Ancestor Longyan lived in seclusion, near Zhuwei Lake.

After a short while, they arrived at the residence. To avoid disturbing Ancestor Longyan's quiet cultivation, this area was a clan forbidden zone, off-limits without her permission.

Gong Sunhui was already waiting at the door, and when they met, she said in a clear voice: "Ancestor, Wang Shoujie has arrived." "Come in, Wang Shoujie." A calm, peaceful voice responded from inside.

"Yes, Ancestor," Wang Shoujie took a deep breath, composed himself, and entered the Longyan Residence.

This was a simple, unadorned courtyard, with ordinary flowers and plants swaying gently in the breeze.

In the pavilion, a slender woman with a frail figure stood with her back to Wang Shoujie, her long white hair cascading down her shoulders.

At the sight of her white hair, Wang Shoujie's heart ached.

This was a deep memory from his past life, when Ancestor Longyan's hair was only half white. In just over a decade, it had turned completely white.

Wang Shoujie's throat felt constricted as he approached and bowed: "Wang Shoujie pays his respects to Ancestor."

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! SlaySaga]

~1~2~3~4~5~6~7~8~9~

Next Chapter ->Chapter 42: The Ancestor's Intention to Set Out