Black Cloud City, Nie Family.

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As night fell, Nie Xi, dressed in plain white clothes, leaned against the windowsill, gazing at the artificial mountain outside, lost in thought.

Inside the room, Nie Tian, just one year old, impatiently pushed away his wet nurse. His mouth was smeared with milk, but he stared longingly at Nie Xi, babbling, "Meat, eat meat..."

Nanny Zhou Ma's face flushed with embarrassment as she stammered, "Miss, you see..."

Nie Xi came back to her senses and glared at Nie Tian, who looked like a little tiger. "This little brat has already eaten two bowls of meat puree today, didn't drink his milk properly, and now he wants to eat more meat again. Who knows if he can even digest it properly."

"Meat, I want to eat meat..." Nie Tian still shouted with a smile.

Looking at Nie Tian's fawning smile, Nie Xi thought of her deceased sister and her heart softened. She gently nodded at the wet nurse, Zhou Ma.

Mother Zhou immediately brought out a bowl of minced meat, placing it gently on the table. Nie Tian's dark eyes lit up, and he picked up the silver soup spoon, skillfully scooping it up. His chubby face was full of satisfaction.

Listening to Nie Tian's "chomp chomp" eating sounds, Nie Xi inexplicably felt a bit irritable. "Xiao Yue, how many children are participating in the tug-of-war tomorrow?" Nie Xi suddenly asked.

At the doorway, maidservant Han Yue hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice: “Miss, any child of the Nie family, around a year old, will participate. After all, every five years, the Old Immortal from Lingyun Mountain would bring his spiritual artifacts here once, as a reward for the Nie family’s many years of hard work. Any family with a one-year-old child wouldn't want to miss this opportunity.”

The Nie family was a prominent clan in Heiyunc City, however, in this world, cultivators were the most respected. The influence of ordinary families like the Nie family was almost entirely serving those powerful cultivators.

Nie's clan's cultivator sect was the Lingyun Sect, located in Lingyun Mountain near Heiyun City. Inside the mountain belly of Lingyun Mountain, there was a plentiful supply of Huo Yun Stone. Huo Yun Stone was a common low-grade spiritual material needed by cultivators to cultivate. The cultivators of the Lingyun Sect were always busy cultivating and didn't want to waste time mining this low-grade Huo Yun Stone in the mountain belly, so they arranged for members of Nie's clan to do it.

Through generations, the Nie family has mined Huoyun Stone and offered it as tribute to Lingyun Sect in exchange for their protection.

And the Qi cultivators of Lingyun Sect, besides protecting the Nie family from the oppression of other families in Hekun City, would also visit the Nie family every five years. They would use some low-level spirit tools to test the cultivation aptitude of the young children in the Nie family through a method similar to a lottery draw.

Every child, upon birth, carries within them unique attributes. Aside from the common elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, some children possess rarer properties like lightning, wind, clouds, or ice. When cultivators from the Lingyun Sect visit, they bring with them a variety of low-grade spiritual artifacts imbued with diverse elemental properties.

Children and spirit tools with the same attributes can sense and attract each other. This allows parents to determine the child's attributes and know their future cultivation direction, making the path of cultivation twice as effective.

The cultivators of the Lingyun Sect would use those low-grade spiritual tools to ensnare the loyalties of the Nie family, and the low-grade spiritual tools taken out at the Crane Picking Competition would be given to the Nie family children who were a good match for their attributes.

For the Qi cultivators of Lingyun Sect, those low-level and insignificant spiritual tools could be helpful for the cultivation of the Nie family's children, and for a long period of time, they were even the most handy spiritual tools for the Nie family children.

It is the same with the every five years' Grand Catching-The-Jade-Swallow Ceremony, which will make the Nie family boil over. Any elder of the Nie family who has a child around one year old will regard it as a major event in their child's life and rush to participate.

This time, it's no exception.

"I'm asking you, how many children participated this time?" Nie Xi frowned.

"Seven," Han Yue whispered softly, bowing her head.

“Little Tian just turned one year old, and he also has the surname Nie. Why didn’t anyone tell me to let Little Tian participate in this celebration?” Nie Xi snorted coldly.

"Miss...," Han Yue gave a wry smile, raising her head to look at Nie Xi and saying weakly, "Although Nie Tian is the child of the Second Miss, the Second Miss... just like you, was only a daughter. And before the Second Miss passed away, she never mentioned who Nie Tian's father was."

"The Nie family rules are clear. Only true grandchildren and granddaughters are eligible to participate in the once-every-five-years Qizi ceremony. Grandchildren from other families...are not included."

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

"I don't care about those rules! Father is still the head of the family, I'll go find him and complain!" Nie Xi said angrily. After she finished speaking, she stormed off.

“Although the old man is still the head of the family, this position... is not secure!” After Nie Xi left angrily, Han Yue looked bitter and murmured to himself.

Half a ring later.

Nie Xi stormed into Nie Donghai's pavilion, opening her mouth to shout indignantly: "Father, Nie Tian is also..."

Her cry was abruptly cut short.

In the dimly lit room, Nie Donghai, the current head of the Nie family, had a haggard face etched with fatigue. His once imposing physique was now gaunt and withered, leaning against the wall like a frail stick. He stared intently at a dark crimson pill in his left palm, his expression filled with hesitation.

With anger surging through her, Han Xi's heart ached. Her voice suddenly softened, and she pleaded gently, "Father, please don't."

She recognized at once that the pill in Nie Donghai's palm was a Huishen Dan. Taking a Huishen Dan could allow a Qi cultivator to have abundant spiritual energy and be full of vitality for a short time, bringing back the light and reviving their spirit.

While the Elixir of Returning to One's Senses can be effective, it overdraws a cultivator's potential and lifespan. Afterward, it will severely damage their mind and body.

Generally speaking, only cultivators would use the Returning Spirit Pill in a life-or-death battle to seek a glimmer of hope. In normal times, they would never dare to take it.

With a drooping head and gazing intently at the Returning God Pill for a long time, Nie Donghai finally noticed Nie Xi's arrival. He managed to force a smile and spoke in a strained voice: “Since being severely wounded by the Yun family and Yuan family, my Qi Sea has shattered, and the speed at which my spiritual energy gathers can no longer keep up with its dissipation. My cultivation level has become hopeless for stepping into the Innate Realm, and even maintaining this Middle Heaven realm... might soon be impossible.”

“The second and third sons have been coveting my position as the head of the family for a long time. Tomorrow, people from the Lingyun Sect will be arriving. If he sees that my cultivation base is declining and then stirs up trouble with the second and third sons, I'm afraid I'll have to relinquish my position.”

“Father, if it means sacrificing your lifespan to gain the position of head of the family, I would rather you step down sooner.” Nie Xi said with moistened eyes.

"What do you know?" Nie Donghai glared fiercely, his face full of killing intent and anger. "Only I am still the head of the Nie family, can you seek justice for the humiliation you suffered at the Yun family? And the person who deceived your sister, only I can use the power of the Nie family to have a chance to find out who he is!"

"If I step down, the second and third sons will never care about your grudge with your sister! For you and Jiner, I can stay in this position for one more day, and I will."

Let me know if you have other text you'd like me to translate!

"What does it matter to live a few years less? Once I step down, I will no longer be able to fight for you. What's the difference between that and being dead?"

"Daddy!" Nie Xi was already crying uncontrollably.

"Alright, alright, don't act like a child. Just tell me, what's so urgent that you had to find me?" Nie Donghai took a deep breath and his expression returned to its usual firmness.

“Father, tomorrow's Qi-Capturing Grand Assembly is of great importance. Since you let Xiaotian take the surname Nie, I hope Xiaotian can participate as well. If Xiaotian can find a suitable spirit weapon at the Qi-Capturing Grand Assembly, it would greatly help his future cultivation. Perhaps, he could use that kind of spirit weapon to step into the ninth level of Qi Refinement at the age of fifteen, and thus enter the Lingyun Sect.” Nie Xi pleaded.

"This matter..." Nie Donghai's face showed difficulty, "I am well aware of it. I have already discussed this with the second and third sons, but they insist that Xiaotian is not my Nie family's true son and want to expel him according to family rules."

"Father, your path of cultivation has reached its end, and little sister is gone. And I... this is all there is to my life. Our branch is dwindling in numbers, with only Little Tian as our sole male heir. I hope you can do everything you can to secure an opportunity for him." Nie Xi said through tears.

Nie Donghai fell silent for a long time, then nodded gently. "I understand, you go back. Tomorrow, you bring Nie Tian to participate in the Capture the Flag event on time."

Nie Xi's eyes, glistening with tears, suddenly revealed a glimmer of joy before she bowed respectfully and retreated.

Just as she stepped out of the room and was about to leave, she heard Nie Donghai swallow the elixir to regain his composure, followed by a long sigh from him. Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! ?

Nie Xixin felt a sharp pain in her heart. She knew that her arrival had only strengthened Nie Donghai's resolve. Unable to bear the sight, she turned and hurried away.

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