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“I understand. In a couple of days, the clan will recruit another batch of house servants.”
“I’ll leave this matter to you.”
Ethan Chen turned his gaze to James Chen.
Hearing this, James’s face lit up with joy, and he immediately bowed in gratitude:
“Thank you for your trust, Clan Chief. I will make sure to handle this matter well and contribute to the prosperity of our clan.”
Ethan smiled slightly and, after checking the current growth of the Blood Rice, turned and left.
After Ethan left, many house servants came forward to congratulate James.
Being valued by the Clan Chief meant that James had a bright future ahead.
Oliver Chen stood silently by the side.
James’s behavior made him seem somewhat foolish. Although Oliver was curious about James’s transformation, he felt he couldn’t learn such things himself.
But as long as there were more hands, it wouldn’t be a problem.
James, enjoying the flattery from everyone, was in an extremely good mood.
It seemed that the ancient book he had found at the market a few days ago was quite effective, at least initially.
The Clan Chief had already taken note of him.
But he knew he had to work even harder and not mess things up, or all his efforts would be in vain.
Before going to bed tonight, he planned to study that tattered ancient book more carefully.
…
“Clan Chief, is it really appropriate to leave the recruitment of house servants to James Chen?”
“Yes, I think so too. He seems too frivolous, unlike the others.”
On the way back to the clan, two clan members behind Ethan were discussing.
Ethan just smiled and said:
“You’re wrong. Don’t just listen to what he says; watch what he does.”
“The clan is in need of people right now. We can’t rely solely on our clan members; it’s too much work. We need people like him.”
“Assigning him the task of recruiting house servants is also a test for him.”
“Warriors are the core of our clan. It’s too early for you to be involved in these matters. Focus on your martial arts training.”
The two young clan members looked puzzled but nodded in agreement.
In recent days, besides planting Blood Rice, the clan had also planted a considerable amount of grain rice.
After all, with the increasing number of clan members, relying solely on Blood Rice was not enough. Most of the Blood Rice would be consumed by the clan’s warriors for Body Tempering.
Ordinary fields were several times more fertile than regular ones.
However, before this, Ethan had already gathered the village chiefs from various villages and expressed his intentions.
According to Ethan’s plan, aside from Blood Rice, all other fields would be handed over to the nearby villagers for cultivation.
As compensation, the clan would take seventy percent of the grain rice produced from the fields, leaving thirty percent for the villages. Despite this, the villages were more than willing to comply.
There was a difference between fields.
The fields of the Chen Clan were different from those they had previously cultivated. Even if they couldn’t grow Blood Rice, the quality and yield of the grain rice produced were far superior to what they had grown before.
These fields were previously controlled by the various families in Disordered Burial Mountain and were not allowed to be cultivated by outsiders.
But now, the clan lacked manpower and couldn’t manage so many fields.
Moreover, several villages had marital ties with the clan, making their relationships much closer, so they naturally wouldn’t oppose.
Additionally, the clan granted many villages the right to hunt in Disordered Burial Mountain.
In the past, Disordered Burial Mountain was controlled by the three major families. Villages could only hunt common beasts around the periphery, which left many village hunters in poverty.
But now, with the clan allowing them to hunt in Disordered Burial Mountain, their harvests would undoubtedly be much better.
The clan valued the resources of the fierce beasts in Disordered Burial Mountain.
Fierce beasts could only be dealt with by warriors, and ordinary hunters didn’t dare venture too deep into the mountain, so it wouldn’t affect the clan.
Instead, it would increase the clan’s favor among the villages.
This information made many villages grateful to the Chen Clan.
With fertile fields to grow grain rice and the ability to hunt in the mountains, the villages would undoubtedly develop better. Villagers wouldn’t have to worry about going hungry, and there would be no more deaths from hunger and cold during winter.
…
Two months later, in the clan’s main hall, Ethan and others were filled with joy.
A few days ago, the clan had sent people to pick a few Five Leaf Flowers discovered in Disordered Burial Mountain.
According to Benjamin Chen’s description, these flowers had already shown some effects and could be harvested, which would slightly enhance the clan’s strength.
After consuming the flowers, several Blood Condensation Realm warriors in the clan made progress.
For instance, Mason Chen and Elijah Chen, who were originally at the mid-stage Blood Condensation Realm, both broke through to the late-stage Blood Condensation Realm.
Of course, this was also because they had been at this stage for a long time.
Although a few others didn’t break through their realms, they also made progress within their current realms. Additionally, in these two months, the clan gained another Blood Condensation Realm warrior and several Body Tempering Realm warriors.
The number of house servants, which was originally around ten, reached forty a month ago.
The newcomers were all selected from various villages.
Although James was in charge of this matter, the clan had been secretly observing.
With the addition of house servants and the original clan members, the total number of people in the clan finally exceeded a hundred. However, this number was still too small.
But the prosperous life and the clan’s strength made the clan members feel at ease.
It was expected that many new lives would join the clan this year.
In two months, the Blood Rice planted at the beginning of the year would soon be harvested, and there were more fierce beasts in Disordered Burial Mountain.
The clan didn’t hunt excessively. With the current food supply, they could easily support themselves until the first batch of Blood Rice was harvested.
However, the clan had taken many protective measures in the cave where the Five Leaf Flowers grew to prevent fierce beasts from accidentally eating the clan’s precious resources.
The peaceful life made many clan members smile often, filled with vitality.
At this time last year, the clan was still troubled by the Li Clan.
In the Ancestral Hall, Ethan performed his routine worship of the Sacred Tree, his eyes full of thoughts about the clan’s future.
The clan’s strength was now quite formidable. Even if they encountered another Liu Family, the clan could easily handle it.
In the coming years, as the number of clan members increased, there would undoubtedly be more warriors in the clan.
At that time, they could consider expanding outward.
According to his father, for the clan to become strong, it must connect with the outside world.
Disordered Burial Mountain was too small, small enough to hold only one Chen Clan.
But it was too early to think about this now. At least, they should wait until the clan had several Innate Realm warriors before considering it.
By then, he would probably have already stepped down as Clan Chief.
Ethan looked up at the Sacred Tree in front of him and bowed twice.
In the past two months, the Sacred Tree hadn’t changed much, but a new cluster of leaves had grown on its branches, making it slightly more lush.
Although the Sacred Tree’s growth wasn’t obvious, according to his father, it seemed to have reached the Innate Realm. Other deceased clan members had also made progress, indicating that the Sacred Tree had become stronger.
He wondered if he would see the Sacred Tree’s former glory and the once somewhat prosperous clan in his lifetime.
Or perhaps, surpass the former clan?
PS: This is about the end. I’m sorry, although it’s hard to part, I still want to thank all the readers for their support. The author might…
Start writing the next volume.
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