"Father, spiritual fruits and elixirs are both very helpful for cultivation. I never intended for them to be as common as daily necessities. They can only be scarce items, items that everyone will scramble for every time they appear. They are special products that belong only to our An family!"
"As for the selection..." An Ran laughed softly, her smile very confident. "Father, since our family moved to Xinghu City, we have spent a large amount of money every month and the whereabouts are unknown. I think the only possibility is that the money is used to support some special people outside... They should be able to be used now, right?"
An Changcheng was shocked. "How do you know all this? This is our family's top secret. Even your mother doesn't know about it!"
An Ran shrugged nonchalantly and said, "During the time I was at home, I had some free time and looked through the family account books and various historical records. I found that there were always some mysterious people who would appear when our An family was about to decline. However, they haven't appeared since my grandfather's generation!"
An Changcheng smiled bitterly. He said that today he had suffered more blows than any other blows he had ever received since he was born. Fortunately, An Ran was his daughter. If she was an enemy, she would have revealed all his cards!
He sighed deeply. He didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse to have such a smart daughter.
Never mind... leave it at that. Since An Ran already knows, I'll just tell her everything...
"Yes, there is indeed such a group of people. They are the shadow of our An family. However, every time they appear, it is when the An family has experienced a huge disaster!"
"But...since your grandfather's generation, our An family has slowly begun to decline. Our family population has also gradually decreased, and those branches have also separated from our main branch and established their own families. Our family has become even more decadent for a while."
"Those shadows are a group of talented homeless children carefully selected by each family head to protect our family."
"In my generation, our family doesn't have much spare money, so we only have eighteen young people. Do we really have to use them? This is our family's last resort. If they also take action, then when our family suffers a blow, we will really be wiped out..."
An Ran was slightly taken aback. He understood his father's worries. If they continued to compromise, their family would indeed be able to survive. Although life would not be good, at least the family could still live happily together. If they really began to prepare for a rise, then those other families would definitely secretly make a move against their An family. Their family did not have anyone powerful enough to protect them. This was indeed a problem...
However, An Ran could no longer accept that his family was suppressed by the Burt Empire!
"Father, what do you think of my place?" An Ran suddenly asked An Changcheng.
An Changcheng was confused and smiled as he praised, "It's great, as beautiful as a fairyland! The spiritual energy in the air is also very rich, it's definitely a great place!"
"Then...what if we recruit all those shadows to practice?" An Ran asked.
"This..." An Changcheng frowned and looked at An Ran. He understood what his daughter meant. "Do you want them to speed up their cultivation? But those people are not necessarily completely loyal to our family!"
An Ran raised a wicked smile and said meaningfully, "It doesn't matter, they will agree!"
Seeing An Ran so confident, An Changcheng suppressed his doubts and agreed with An Ran's approach. He had been dissatisfied with the Burt Empire for a long time. He even dreamed of leaving this country. This was a rare opportunity, so how could he not seize it?
An Changcheng immediately decided to set off overnight and return to Xinghu City to gather all those shadows and bring them to An Ran!
That night, An Changcheng and An Ran set out to return to Xinghu City. On their way back, An Changcheng had already notified those shadows through special channels to be on standby at the An family. When An Changcheng and An Ran came back, they saw those shadows standing in the Yinghu courtyard of the An family!
Eighteen people!
Not one less!
After seeing these people, An Ran's lips curled up slightly. These people were all in their twenties, and their strength was around level five or six, with only one being a magician.
The moment they saw An Ran and An Changcheng come in, there was no surprise on their faces. They had already known the news on their way here.
An Changcheng looked at the eighteen of them seriously and said, "I called you here today because I have something important to announce. From now on, the eldest lady's orders are my orders!"
"Meet the young lady!"
The eighteen people were not surprised at all. They knelt on one knee, placed their right hands on their chests, and spoke solemnly.
An Ran nodded. The eighteen people were of good quality and there was no treacherous person among them. They were much better than he had imagined.
"All eighteen of you, please introduce yourselves. Let me get to know you first. Just your name, age, and strength."
After hearing what An Ran said, the eighteen people did not panic. Starting from the first person on the left in the first row, they introduced themselves one by one.
"An Yi, age 37, warrior level 6."
"An Er, age 29, warrior level 5."
"Anshan, age twenty-seven, warrior level six."
“…”
"An Shiba, age twenty-four, fifth-level magician."
After listening to them introduce themselves one by one, An Ran looked at her father in silence. "Did you come up with this name? That's too lazy, isn't it?!"
From one to eighteen, it was a good thing there weren't that many people. Otherwise, if there were thousands of people, wouldn't it be hard to remember the names? Thinking that he might have to call out the name three thousand four hundred and ninety-nine, An Ran couldn't help but sweat...
An Changcheng blushed slightly. He had come up with these names, and he hadn't thought anything wrong with them at the time. He even thought they were easy to remember and didn't require any thought. But now, looking at his daughter's playful gaze, he suddenly realized that these names were a bit strange...
"Are you willing to be loyal to our An family for life? And never reveal any secrets of our An family to others?" An Ran asked the eighteen people his second question.
"I, An Yi, am willing to be loyal to the An family for life and will never reveal any secrets of my family to others. If you break this oath, you will be killed on the spot!" An Yi stood up without hesitation, performed a knight's salute to An Ran, and made a vow.
(To be continued.)
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