Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Harvesting the Talents of Demonic Beasts

Chapter 247 Breakthrough in Array Formation, Huang Family Crisis

Chu Lingyu still received the spirit stones, but her workload was halved. She only needed to guide others, send messages, and complete the tasks that Lin Changheng occasionally assigned her, which made her very relaxed and carefree.

Xu Xujun, who was standing next to this woman, looked at the dojo below with a look of amazement and envy.

The spiritual land below has an extremely favorable environment, and the scenery is like a scroll painting unfolding. Although they have now occupied the Qiu family's second-tier spiritual land and completed the initial relocation, it is still not as good as this place.

However, compared to the miserable days before when they could only use mid-grade spirit stones and special spirit-gathering arrays to forcibly simulate a second-tier spirit vein, this was already extremely good.

Xu Xujun was also satisfied, after all, his family was truly improving and making leaps forward step by step.

At least it's a steady progress, a gradual digestion.

But where in the world can things always go smoothly?

As immortal families move forward in the river of time, even a small ripple is enough to annihilate a Foundation Establishment immortal clan.

Lin Dan's steady approach has provided the Xu family's senior management with a valuable lesson that they should emulate and learn from.

……

"Fellow Daoist Xu."

Lin Changheng came out of the main hall to greet them.

"Master Lin, this is a wonderful place! Beautiful mountains, clear waters, and stunning scenery. It's truly a treasure trove, something to be envied."

Xu Xujun sighed.

"Quickly come inside and have a seat."

Lin Changheng's face showed deep agreement.

After catching up, Xu Xujun began to talk about the main points of his trip.

The first piece of news was that the Qiu family had been wiped out.

"I wonder to what extent it has been achieved?"

Lin Changheng was not surprised by this, and then asked about something else.

"Exterminate them all, cut the weeds and wipe them out at the root."

Xu Xujun's expression turned slightly cold as he uttered eight words.

"We have already suffered greatly from the Chen family's previous affairs. Some of the Chen family remnants escaped, and we have been troubled by them ever since. With the support of the Qiu family, they killed many of our clansmen and robbed many merchant caravans. Han Ji was almost killed that time. How can we be careless again?"

“Wars between enemy tribes are never over until one is dead. Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to one’s own people. This principle has been upheld from beginning to end in intra-tribal wars.”

Lin Changheng nodded noncommittally, fearing that some of the Xu family's higher-ups might hesitate or even be too soft-hearted, which could backfire in the future.

Fortunately, the Xu family had learned their lesson from a previous experience.

"The decisions made by the clan have always been reasonable and correct."

Lin Changheng praised with a smile.

"But this is a problem that the family can hardly avoid. This generation has met us, and we are relatively clear-headed and united, so naturally we are thriving. But what about the future? It is impossible for every generation to be like this. That will be the real test."

Xu Xujun was surprisingly clear-headed, looking back a hundred years.

"Therefore, cultivating a talent pool within the family is very important, especially the training of successors. Character and ideology must be well-developed. Otherwise, even without external enemies invading, the family will disintegrate itself due to internal power struggles."

Lin Changheng sighed.

Then he suddenly asked, "I wonder... how are the Foundation Establishment preparations of the Eighth Daughter of Fugui going?"

A hint of satisfaction appeared in Xu Xujun's eyes. "That girl is very hardworking."

But that was all that followed. After all, unless one could reach the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment like Lin Changheng, with full preparation and resources, or possess exceptional talents such as Heavenly Spiritual Root or Earthly Spiritual Root, it was truly difficult to grasp the situation.

Therefore, Xu Xujun would not go too far in his words.

After extending it a little further, Xu Xujun finally took a storage bag from his waist.

Bulging.

He handed it to Lin Changheng.

"This is……"

Lin Changheng needs to confirm.

"These are some gains from the Qiu family. They may be useful or of great value to Master Lin Dan, so I picked them out to fulfill my previous promise."

Xu Xujun chuckled, "I've come here precisely to fulfill my promise."

Lin Changheng took the items, scanned them with his divine sense, and immediately showed some surprise.

The storage bags were divided into two main categories.

The first category consists of a collection of various spiritual materials, ores, and medicinal herbs that radiate light and exude spiritual energy.

The second category is spirit stones, numbering at least thirty to forty thousand.

In total, it amounted to at least 60,000 spirit stones.

Even Lin Changheng was surprised.

"How come there are so many?"

A hint of surprise crossed his eyes as he looked at Xu Xujun.

It's not that a Foundation Establishment family couldn't raise that many spirit stones, but rather that this was originally a share that the Xu family had already divided up. Furthermore, a family's circulating assets are limited, and most of them are fixed assets.

It's impossible to store too many spirit stones.

"The spirit stones were obtained by selling some inferior external resources that were seized; there weren't actually that many. However, we were quite surprised to see such a wealth of resources, after all, the Qiu family had been implementing a long-term contraction strategy, and they couldn't even afford to sit idle and run out of resources."

"Later we learned that the Qiu family was keeping several groups of thieves outside, who burned, killed, and looted to support the family. Moreover, these resources were enough to create another Foundation Establishment cultivator, but we accidentally blocked them, preventing them from going out to trade!"

"Later, the 'Jiazi Secret Realm' opened, and the Ziji Sect strictly prohibited families from competing within the secret realm. This gave the other party a chance to leave; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to leave even a little bit."

"Fortunately, it was eliminated by Master Lin, otherwise it would have been much more troublesome."

Seeing Lin Changheng's curiosity, Xu Xujun did not hide anything and told him everything.

"I see." Lin Changheng nodded.

"Oh, right, there are two more letters."

Xu Xujun continued to take out two letters from his storage bag, one from Tantai Feiyue and the other from Xu Hanji.

"Thank you for your hard work, Fellow Daoist Xu."

Lin Changheng accepted it with a smile, saying that it was getting late and the dojo was quite large, so they could stay there.

"Then it's better to be respectful than to obey."

Xu Xujun did not refuse.

……

Day three.

Lin Changheng invited two neighboring Daoist friends and Xu Xujun, who had been persuaded to stay, to a small-scale birthday banquet before the latter took his leave.

The relationship between the three island owners of Jade Belt Lake has also improved and become much closer.

After all, it is necessary to form an alliance to enhance mutual understanding and knowledge of each other.

Next, Lin Changheng began a long period of seclusion.

Besides cultivation and physical training, which were part of his daily routine, Lin Changheng began to focus his main energy on formations.

His mastery of formations is now on the verge of reaching the top-tier first-order level.

We need to work hard to figure it out.

It would be better to advance to the first-tier superior array master.

……

A year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Changheng, who was in seclusion, was interrupted by Yan Mingyi.

Lin Changheng knew that Yan Mingyi would not usually interrupt him unless something important happened.

After clearing customs, I met an old friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

Chef Zeng.

Chef Zeng was noticeably different from before. He had lost his composure and now showed a hint of anxiety and urgency.

The tea placed on the table beside him remained untouched.

"Brother Zeng, it's been a long time. What's wrong?"

When Lin Changheng came out, he greeted him with a smile, and then, seeing Chef Zeng's condition, he was immediately surprised.

"Brother Lin..."

"Our clan urgently needs a batch of high-quality second-tier mid-grade pills for healing, detoxification, and mana restoration. I wonder if it's possible to expedite their production?"

Chef Zeng hesitated for a moment, then cut to the chase without engaging in pleasantries.

"You need these supplementary pills? What happened?"

Lin Changheng frowned slightly, sensing that something was amiss.

"Our ancestor passed away half a year ago. Three previously hostile families, who had been lying low, have now sensed an opportunity and decided to join forces to attack our clan and launch a war."

Chef Zeng briefly explained the process.

In reality, the Huang family's core ancestral land has not yet been invaded, but the various resource points scattered around have all suffered some damage.

Apart from leaving two Foundation Establishment cultivators to guard the ancestral land, the Huang family's Foundation Establishment cultivators all went to the front lines to oversee the situation.

Conflicts have also broken out on several occasions.

Huang Qingshan, the Foundation Establishment cultivator who participated in the promotion ceremony with Chef Zeng last time, was ambushed and seriously injured during a battle. He urgently needs a special elixir to detoxify and heal. The formula is available, but there is only one set of medicinal materials, so he has no choice but to ask Lin Changheng for help.

If the refining fails, Huang Qingshan's path to enlightenment and even his life will be in danger.

The loss of another Foundation Establishment cultivator would be an unbearable burden for the Huang family.

As for other healing pills, they are intended to be prepared as well, for the family's foundation building and personal protection.

"Naturally."

Lin Changheng did not refuse and nodded in agreement.

Soon, Chef Zeng took out a storage bag, which Lin Changheng glanced at and accepted. "Please stay here for a while, Brother Zeng. I'll be ready to start refining pills in a couple of days."

Chef Zeng finally showed a hint of joy on his face. "I have some other important things to do, so I won't bother you any longer. I'll just come back to pick it up later."

"Alright."

The Huang family is in a very precarious situation now. Chef Zeng must have been carrying out many missions and tasks to be able to come out. Lin Changheng naturally wouldn't force him to stay and sent him away directly.

"By the way, Brother Lin, you might need to be careful lately. Some of the family's retainers and guest elders have been attacked and forced to publicly declare that they are severing ties with the Huang family. This is an attempt to destroy the family's external support and leave them isolated and helpless..."

On the way out, Chef Zeng's expression kept changing, clearly he was considering something, and finally he said.

"Such a thing is possible?"

Lin Changheng clearly hadn't expected this.

"Indeed. That's why I'm reminding Brother Lin."

Upon hearing this, Lin Changheng nodded and fell into deep thought.

"Then I'll trouble you with the matter of the elixir."

Chef Zeng looked exhausted, but he still mustered his spirits, bowed to Lin Changheng, and rode away in his escape light.

Lin Changheng waved his hand to close the formation, his face ashen. It was clear that the three hostile families not only wanted to provoke a war, but also to ruin the Huang family's reputation and leave them isolated and helpless.

The more famous someone is, the greater the chance they will be targeted.

And the name of Master Lin Dan...

hiss!
Lin Changheng gasped, thinking that there might really be some clueless person who would come over.

Make an attempt to take advantage of him.

After instructing the spirit beasts to keep a close watch on the situation and be careful, he also pointed this out to Yan Mingyi, telling her not to go out recently and not to pay attention to visitors. He simply told her that he was in seclusion.

……

Then Lin Changheng immediately started his furnace and went into seclusion.

In fact, at this moment, he had already achieved a breakthrough in the art of formations.

After a year of honing his skills, he reached the first-tier superior level and became a superior-grade array master.

However, at this moment, the sudden matter of alchemy interrupted him, and he could only divide his mind between alchemy and the formation method he had learned.

But this also gave Lin Changheng a boost of confidence. At least it told him that perseverance really works. Although it was slow, he finally made a breakthrough.

He still has over 260 years of life ahead of him.

There's no need to worry about not being able to grind it up.

……

Whether Lin Changheng was overthinking it or not, although there were more cultivators passing by Jade Belt Lake, none of them stopped.

The few people who went there also went to the other two islands, either to make purchases or to inquire about something.

Yan Mingyi's heart gradually calmed down, and she obediently stayed on Qiyue Island.

Now, Qiyue Island is basically self-sufficient in terms of spiritual food. It has opened two more spiritual fields of more than ten acres each and planted some spiritual vegetables and fruits, which have now grown.

It was purchased from Shengyang Island.

Xu Maoling's island had everything.

……

More than twenty days later.

A figure stumbled and flew in from the horizon.

"It's Chef Zeng."

Yan Mingyi kept Lin Changheng's instructions firmly in mind. She saw through the array that Chef Zeng's face was pale, as if he had just gone through a great battle, and his breathing was disordered.

However, instead of rashly opening the formation to guide it in, she quickly went to Lin Changheng's secluded cultivation chamber to inform her husband.

After all, she knew that there were many illusions or techniques to change one's appearance that were deceptively realistic in the cultivation world.

I dare not easily believe anything.

Lin Changheng had already finished refining the pills and was cultivating. He quickly stepped out, scanned Chef Zeng with his divine sense, and found that their auras matched before welcoming him in.

"Brother Zeng, what happened?"

Lin Changheng invited him to a pavilion near the lake and poured him a cup of refreshing tea.

“Those thieves somehow knew my intentions and ambushed me on the way. But I had some kind of 'spiritual food' with explosive properties. After consuming it, my magical power increased by three points, which allowed me to escape from the enemy.”

Chef Zeng gritted his teeth.

He was planning to ask the Huang family of Mangdang Mountain, another family with dual Foundation Establishment levels, for help.

The two families originally shared the same origin, but separated two hundred years ago. Although their contact has become increasingly rare, they are still connected by blood. The Huang family sent Chef Zeng, who had previously persuaded Lin Changheng and was known for his sharp tongue, to convince the Huang family of Mangdang Mountain to help them.

Because they were facing three well-prepared enemies, the Huang family of Mangdang Mountain had already heard the news and did not express their intention to take action, but instead warmly welcomed Chef Zeng who came to visit.

It was incredibly meticulous, but it completely ignored the important points.

Chef Zeng was very anxious and tried to bring up the key points several times, but was interrupted and pushed aside.

He understood perfectly well what the other party was really thinking, but the other party just wouldn't give a response, forcing him to give up. Then, he was attacked halfway through the journey...

"Setting up an ambush in advance?"

Lin Changheng keenly perceived the key point.

"I'm surprised too."

Chef Zeng also had this question.

"I wonder what Brother Zeng's plans are for the future? The elixir you mentioned earlier has been refined."

Lin Changheng then asked another question.

“I did not damage my essence. After meditating for a night, I can recover to about 70-80% by the next day and return directly to my clan.”

Chef Zeng's eyes flickered; he dared not delay and gritted his teeth to make a decision.

(End of this chapter)