Three more years slipped by.
Shu Yang stood by his fields, looking out over the vast expanse of land that was now his own, and felt great satisfaction.
These past few years had been great for the Shu family. Two years ago, Shu Yang finished his first batch of wine, and the sales exceeded expectations.
At first, he had considered going the luxury route with the wine. He knew from his previous life that wine could become ridiculously expensive, relying on nothing more than reputation. He could commission fancy bottles from a glass maker and send out bottles to the high-ranking Officials in town. After a few years of scarcity marketing and implementing the idea that the wine was only for the elite, he could charge a high price.
But he ultimately changed his mind. This wasn't a world where even the most expensive wine wasn't much different from the cheaper kind. Here, there existed all kinds of rare ingredients that not only tasted good but could help martial artists advance.
If Shu Yang dared market his wine made from ordinary grapes as a luxury, there was a high risk that he would eventually get a visit from an angry martial warrior in the future.
So in the end, feeling quite good about the taste of his wine, he relied on the old-fashioned tactic of making a tasty wine at a cheap price.
It worked wonders. After a few months of word of mouth, he had sold out.
Last year, he doubled production and still sold out in just three months.
Needless to say, the silver accumulated at an astonishing rate. So last year, after a poor harvest made some of the families in the village unable to afford to keep their land, Shu Yang decisively bought up the land from them. His land increased from 15 acres to 50 acres in a single year.
The families he bought the land from were also promised to be kept on as workers for a fair pay, so now Shu Yang rarely had to spend his days working in the fields and could spend his energy on brewing wine and practicing martial arts.
He also stopped forcing his children out to work as farmers, and instead introduced them to the process of brewing wine so they would be able to take over from him in the future.
After going around his fields for a while, talking with his workers, Shu Yang headed back home. The people he passed along the way all looked at him with different eyes now. He had become quite well-known lately, as he shot up to become one of the wealthiest men in the entire village in just a few years. There were probably no more than five other families in Baishu Village who could compete with him.
That, along with his tasty wine and being one of the few 2nd-grade warriors in Baishu, had made him a frequent topic of rumors in the small village where nothing much else of note happened.
As for being a 2nd-grade warrior, that was something Shu Yang had spread once his wine business started taking off, in order to stave off some potential trouble. Of course, he still didn't reveal his real strength to anyone, lest he'd attract too much attention.
While walking back to his home, Shu Yang suddenly felt his blood rushing, a new yet familiar sensation.
'Could it be?'
Shu Yang focused on the Bloodline Tree in his mind and focused on his connection to his son Tianren.
[ Name: Shu Tianren ]
[ Stage: 3rd-grade martial warrior ]
[ Bloodline Power: 1.21 (Mortal - Low) ]
[ Traits: Slight martial arts talent ]
'As expected.'
Shu Yang smiled. His son had advanced. At only 11 years old, he was now a martial warrior. That was six years earlier than Shu Yang himself managed to advance.
'Tianren is my first son, so he didn't inherit any Bloodline Power from me, so he should be a pretty good standard for the ordinary person.'
'It seems that the Bloodline Power of an ordinary 3rd-grade warrior is just 1.2 or so.'
'Not very high. But he has broken past the Bloodline Power he inherited from me, thanks to his martial arts talent. It's something to be proud of.'
Shu Yang also sensed the change in his own Bloodline.
[ Name: Shu Yang ]
[ Stage: 1st-grade martial warrior ]
[ Bloodline Power: 3.41 (Mortal - Middle) ]
[ Traits: Slight martial arts talent, Clear mind ]
'An increase of 0.04. Not anything huge, but I'll take it.'
Shu Yang had a Bloodline Power of 3.37 just that morning, meaning the increase was all thanks to Tianren's advancement, which fed back to him through the Bloodline Tree.
Seeing his Bloodline Power increase brought a smile to Shu Yang's face, and his pace picked up as he happily trotted down the road.
He had advanced to the 1st-grade warrior stage a year ago, and that advancement had made his Bloodline Power break through the 3.0 mark, making it so his Bloodline finally wasn't labeled as 'Mortal - Low' anymore.
Shu Yang still didn't know exactly what 'Mortal - Low' or 'Mortal - Middle' meant, but just labeled it that way through a vague sense from the Bloodline Tree that that is the way it's supposed to be.
He figured those powerful families in the big cities all had bloodlines above the Mortal grade, allowing them to stay in power generation after generation while the Mortal bloodlines came and went.
Shu Yang was increasingly looking forward to when his Shu family's bloodline would reach that level.
Later that night, the atmosphere was lively at the Shu family's house. Qianyue was ecstatic when she found out her son had advanced; she didn't know Tianren had such a talent for martial arts.
Actually, besides Shu Yang, no one, not even Tianren himself, knew about his talent. There was no way of measuring martial art talent, at least not that Shu Yang was aware of.
So when it spread that Tianren had advanced at only 11 years old, it caused quite a bit of commotion. This kind of talent might be common in big cities, but in a small place like Baishu Village, it was incredibly rare.
"Tianren, you've worked hard," Ren Ming said, patting his grandson on the shoulder, trying his best to suppress a wide grin from spreading across his face.
"Didn't I tell you that I could teach the children on my own?" Shu Yang questioned from the table. His father-in-law had always bothered him, trying to take over the children's martial arts training. He couldn't help but feel a little proud now that the results were out.
"Bah! With Tianren's talent, he would have advanced getting instructions from a pig, let alone you," Ren Ming harshly criticized, "Now that we know about his talent, it's more important than ever that he gets some proper instructions."
Shu Yang narrowed his eyes slightly, not about to take a scolding lying down.
"Dad! No arguing," Qianyue told her father.
Shu Yang swallowed his response. Now wasn't the time for another argument with his father-in-law. There were guests there after all.
Besides Shu Yang's family, Ren Ming brought his two sons, Ren Luo and Ren Zhenyi. They, in turn, brought their wives and kids. The brothers were both a few years older than Qianyue, so their oldest kids were already young adults.
Watching Tianren surrounded by his cousins, talking about martial arts, Shu Yang started thinking that he might have isolated his children a bit too much.
It wasn't like he forbade them from playing with friends, but he was quite strict in the children's education, which took up a lot of time.
'Now that Tianren is older, I don't need to be so strict anymore. He can read and write, and he can probably recite the Hundred Characters of the Shu family in his sleep. Since he doesn't plan on taking the Royal exam, there is no need to study as much any longer.
'It would be better to socialize more with the other kids in the village. In particular, his cousins. They are family after all, and they are also gifted in martial arts. It would be good if he could train with them and get used to fighting at a young age.'
Of course, Shu Yang had to figure out a way to arrange things without his father-in-law thinking he had won.
"I can't remember the last time I had fish," Zhangye said from beside him, "You have this kind of food just lying around?"
"It's good for you, and not too expensive," Shu Yang answered with a shrug. There was no sea around the Yan Kingdom, but there were lakes. Nonetheless, fish was considered a luxury for most people. Shu Yang himself wouldn't buy it if he didn't have the winery.
"It seems your wealth isn't just a rumor," Zhangye mused, "Now you are rich, have a beautiful wife and a house full of children, and a talented eldest son. I used to be able to brag about my strength, but now you are a 2nd-grade warrior too…"
Shu Yang almost laughed aloud, watching Zhangye's despondent expression, "I told you it's better to start a family early."
"Maybe you're right," Zhangye said, considering the matter seriously for the first time.