Gu Hao chose the morning.
Not because it was auspicious.
Because the clan was awake.
He stood in the inner cultivation chamber, posture relaxed, breathing even. There was no urgency left in him, no restless edge.
That alone told Gu Rui everything.
"You're ready," Gu Rui said quietly.
Gu Hao nodded. "I have been for a while."
Gu Jian stood nearby, arms folded, already steady in his Half-Step Foundation state. He did not speak. He did not need to.
This was not about courage.
It was about timing.
Gu Hao sat.
He did not draw qi aggressively.
He allowed it to arrive.
The widened meridians accepted the flow without resistance. The cleared acupoints no longer redirected or slowed it. Every circulation path behaved as if it had been waiting for this moment.
The dantian compressed.
Not violently.
Decisively.
This breakthrough felt different from Gu Rui's.
Less effort.
More inevitability.
Qi did not surge outward. It condensed inward, layer by layer, until it stopped behaving like energy at all.
It became foundation.
Gu Hao exhaled once.
The pressure in the chamber deepened.
Then stabilized.
Foundation Establishment.
Early stage.
Perfectly stable.
Gu Hao opened his eyes.
Nothing changed on his face.
Everything else adjusted.
Gu Jian inhaled sharply.
"That's it," he said quietly.
Gu Rui bowed deeply.
No cheers followed.
No celebration.
Because something more important had just happened.
Gu Hao stood.
The clan now had three anchors.
Not potential.
Reality.
That evening, the elders gathered.
This time, Gu Hao allowed the reassessment to be spoken aloud.
Cultivation Power
Foundation Establishment
3 cultivators
Gu Hao (Early, stable)
Gu Rui (Early, stable)
Gu Jian (Newly crossed, early)
Qi Condensation
3 Peak
5 Mid
3 Early
Total cultivators: 12
Regional parity achieved
Deterrence status: equal to neighboring clans
Economic & Structural Status
Weekly income: 78–82 low-grade spirit stones
Trade stabilized
Sect contracts reliable
No route interference
Cultivator-facing product (fasting grain):
Internal use stabilized
External release pending
The Gu Clan had crossed a line.
From vulnerable to viable.
Gu Hao listened.
Then spoke.
"This phase is complete," he said calmly.
The room stilled.
"We can defend what we have," he continued. "And we can grow it."
He paused.
"But power like this dies in one generation if it is not renewed."
That was when the conversation changed.
Gu Hao looked toward the inner compound, where lanterns glowed softly.
"Cultivators are not grown," he said. "They are born… or refined at great cost."
Gu Yuan frowned slightly. "Patriarch, are you suggesting—"
"Yes," Gu Hao replied. "That we think beyond training."
That night, Gu Hao sat alone again.
Not with qi.
With notes.
On Earth, he had studied probability. Genetics. Inheritance.
Here, the language was different.
Qi affinity. Meridian openness. Bloodline resonance.
But the question was the same.
Why were some born ready?
And others not?
He did not rush.
He observed newborns instead.
The first was born that month to a mortal family working the fields.
Healthy. Loud. Ordinary.
Gu Hao watched quietly.
No tests.
No labels.
Just… observation.
He began writing carefully.
Not conclusions.
Questions.
Does long-term grain consumption affect prenatal qi?Does parental cultivation stability influence meridian formation?Is affinity inherited… or conditioned?
This was not a project for months.
This was a project for decades.
Gu Hao smiled faintly.
Good.
That meant it would last.
He closed his notes and wrote one final line beneath the rest:
A clan that cannot replace itself is only borrowing time.
The Gu Clan now had power.
Now it needed continuity.
And Gu Hao had already begun planning for people who did not yet exist.