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Developing a cultivation path for those without a bloodline was something that countless geniuses had longed for and diligently pursued. So why was it that, prior to Shi Kaihuang, people without bloodlines could only reach the Blood Boiling Realm at most, and would even need to rely on luck?

It was because this path was an extremely difficult one from the very beginning!

Why was Shi Kaihuang able to make two successive breakthroughs?

Because he was standing upon a foundation built by others, and because he had Su Chen’s help.

And where had Su Chen’s help come from? They both came from fragments of historical knowledge as well as his repeated experiments, which consumed a ton of resources.

Shi Kaihuang didn’t need money when he did research, but that was solely because everything that did require money was taken care of by Su Chen.

This was also a reason why Shi Kaihuang had put Su Chen in charge of setting the price. He knew that Su Chen was the most suited for this.

As such, it could be said that the path of cultivating without a bloodline had reached the extent that it had in no small part due to money. In the future, it would become even more important, because he would become less and less able to utilize his prior knowledge. Every possible path would require Su Chen himself to explore it. This would require a ton of resources, even if just to prove that the path was an incorrect one!

This all required money!

Su Chen was very clear about the advantages of doing the research himself.

When compared to the countless geniuses that had come and gone by these past few millennia, his greatest advantage was his microscopic eyes, followed by the vast amounts of knowledge he had accumulated over the years, and then finally his deep pockets.

Even so, every step Su Chen took towards his next goal of reaching a Light Shaking Realm technique without a bloodline was excruciatingly difficult. He had no idea when he was going to reach it.

Under these kinds of circumstances, he would have no more hope if he had no money.

Even though a billion Origin Stones was in fact an incredible amount of money, it might not be enough even if he used it all for the pursuit of this goal.

As such, how could Su Chen be willing to just hand it over to the Gu Clan?

Shi Kaihuang had said a long time ago: promises made for a woman could also be broken because of a woman.

Su Chen was very lucky. Under Shi Kaihuang’s direction, his dream no longer revolved around Gu Qingluo, so he also wouldn’t choose to throw money at the problem in order to “buy” Gu Qingluo.

Of course, this didn’t mean that he would give up on her. A bit of spending was still acceptable.

As such, he said, “I’m not planning on spending more than ten million Origin Stones on this matter.”

Gu Jintang’s expression sank a bit. “That makes things complicated. Even though ten million Origin Stones isn’t a small amount, using that to try to settle things with my old fogey of a Senior Uncle might not be enough. Even if you settled things with him, you would still need to settle things with the elders of the clan as well.”

“So Qingluo’s marriage requires everyone in the Gu Clan to agree to the marriage, not just the Gu Clan’s Patriarch?” Su Chen asked.

Gu Jintang replied, “Seventh Junior Sister is Senior Uncle’s daughter. Under normal circumstances, his approval alone would be enough. The problem is that it her engagement to Zhou Qingkuang would be a normal circumstance, but her engagement to you would not be! That’s called marrying into a lower social class......!”

“......”

After thinking about it for a bit, Su Chen said to Gu Jintang, “So tell me a little about the inner workings of the Gu Clan. I want to know more about them — the more the better.”

Gu Jintang revealed a hesitant expression. “That’s not appropriate, is it? Even though you aren’t an enemy of the Gu Clan, telling you insider secrets about the Gu Clan still feels like I’m selling the clan out. How could I possibly do something like that?”

Su Chen pulled out a card. It was a normal Origin Card from the Huitong Company and carried a maximum of 50,000 Origin Stones on it. The one he placed in front of Gu Jintang was naturally a full one.

Gu Jintang still shook his head. “You’re looking down on me! I won’t be shaken by money, I really can’t do this for you.”

Su Chen pulled out another card.

A hundred thousand Origin Stones was now on the table.

Gu Jintang was getting a bit upset. “Hey, I have bottom lines too. Can you not be like this?”

Su Chen pulled out another card.

Gu Jintang cried out bitterly, “You’re just making things difficult for me!”

Su Chen pulled out another card. “You know that Gu Qingluo would also tell me these things for free.”

Gu Jintang swiftly grabbed the four cards. “The Gu Clan’s patriarch is my Senior Uncle Gu Xuanmian, but he is only responsible for the day-to-day matters. Actually, there is a Clan Relative Society and our clan’s ancestor above him. The Clan Relative Society is mostly responsible for the major matters, including the appointment and dismissal of clan patriarchs, ancestor worship, war declarations, etc. Of course, that also includes determining the fates of individuals from different races. The clan’s ancestor usually doesn’t interfere with anything. They mostly just send requests to other retainers: today I want these resources, tomorrow I want those resources, why have my resources not arrived yet? Anyone who is incapable will be dismissed, castrated, or dragged out and killed. Of course, they will also go out on journeys on a whim. No one knows when he leaves or when he comes back, so you don’t need to take him into consideration. That depends on fate.”

“Seventh Junior Sister’s marriage is a day-to-day matter, so Senior Uncle is responsible for managing it. However, if she is going to marry someone without a bloodline, that’s another matter entirely. Bloodline Nobility Clans place a lot of weight on bloodlines. Even if someone from a high-status Bloodline Nobility Clan married someone from a low-status Bloodline Nobility Clan, that might be acceptable. However, marrying someone without a bloodline is considered a humiliation. If news spread, everyone would think that it was a reversal of fortunes within the clan. As the old men say......”

Gu Jintang massaged his throat, then clapped his chopsticks together like castanets. “If news of this spreads, how will my Gu Clan have any face left to remain in Longxi? Those people who covetously eye the Gu Clan might come and try to see how sharp our fangs still are. Even those who we have no enmity with might start provoking us!”

After giving his impression, Gu Jintang returned to his normal voice and sidled up to Su Chen. “Right, do you have any interest in marrying into our family? If you are, the difficulty will be lower; at the very least, the elders would feel like they can save some of their face.”

Su Chen shook his head.

Gu Jintang continued, “Then there’s not much you can do. This matter will reach the Clan Relative Society as soon as it gets brought up. If Gu Qingluo marries you, then the Gu Clan will lose face, meaning each and every one of them will lose face. How could they agree to something that would only harm them and not bring any benefits?”

He didn’t even pause once when he said all of these things. Su Chen was rendered completely helpless.

Su Chen thought for a moment, then asked, “How many people are in the Clan Relative Society?”

Gu Jintang replied, “The Gu Clan’s older members were all quite reproductive. My father and uncle’s generation has six in total, my grandfather’s generation has seven, three of whom died. The total number of descendants from these people combined is around forty, but there are only fourteen within the Clan Relative Society. There were also seven in my great-grandparents’ generation, but five of them are dead now. Oh, right – my great-great-grandfather is still alive. He’s my grandfather’s grandfather. He also has his descendants, but they are considered a side branch of the clan, not the main branch. Regardless, he and his descendants also have their place in the Clan Relative Society. There are twenty-seven people in total.”

Su Chen was astounded. “So your clan ancestor is your great-great-grandfather?”

“No!” Gu Jintang shook his head. “I told you already that the clan ancestor is not a part of the Clan Relative Society. However, the Clan Relative Society has to listen to what he has to say. The clan ancestor is my grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather. He should be around 400 years old, but I don’t remember exactly how old he is. There’s too many people here in the clan and I can’t keep track of all of them.”