I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

Upon receiving this answer, Lin Che's brows furrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly.

"Is it the Zhao family, the Foundation Establishment cultivators famous for their array formations?" He asked again, his voice steady, but his eyes sharpening.

"Exactly." The female cultivator's reply was still brief, carrying a hint of perfunctory politeness.

"The Zhao family..." Lin Che murmured to himself, his thoughts racing.

The Zhao family's territory is only fifty miles away from the Shattered Star Lake area. He originally thought that the desolate waters were untouched, but he did not expect that it had already been targeted by someone.

No one gets up early without a reason. Since the Zhao family has made a move, they have most likely discovered the spiritual vein hidden at the bottom of the lake.

His mind raced, but his expression remained impassive as he continued to probe, "Excuse my bluntness, but I have personally visited Shattered Star Lake. There is absolutely no sign of development there. The Ironclad Alligator Turtle clan still occupies the area, and I haven't seen the Zhao family cultivate this place at all."

Upon hearing this, the Foundation Establishment female cultivator's face flashed with impatience, and her tone turned colder: "I don't know about that. If you have nothing else to do, please make yourself at home and don't disturb our work." She waved her hand, as if to see her out.

This obvious perfunctory attitude and dismissal caused a cold glint to flash deep in Lin Che's eyes.

He keenly noticed the subtle abnormality in the exchange of glances between the two men, and was certain that something was amiss.

After a moment's hesitation, a gentle smile returned to his face, and with a flick of his wrist, he took out two exquisite jade bottles from his storage bag.

"I apologize for my abruptness. It is our first meeting, and this is just a small gift. I hope you two fellow Daoists will not refuse it."

Before he finished speaking, he had already gently pushed the two jade bottles onto the table in front of the two of them.

The moment the jade bottle was opened, two distinct yet equally refreshing medicinal fragrances filled the entire room, causing the two impatient individuals to pause in their actions.

The female cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining curiously picked up a jade bottle, and upon just one glance, her breath caught in her throat.

Inside the bottle lay a round, translucent, and radiant Soaring Pill!

This pill is of great benefit to cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining who are breaking through the bottleneck of a minor realm. One pill is worth no less than five hundred low-grade spirit stones, which is almost equivalent to half a year's salary for her!

An overwhelming look of surprise instantly spread across her face.

Upon seeing this, another Foundation Establishment female cultivator had an idea and quickly opened the jade bottle in front of her as well.

When she saw what was inside the bottle, even though she was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she couldn't help but gasp.

Condensing Essence Pill!

This is a precious pill that helps Foundation Establishment cultivators break through the mid-stage barrier. Each pill costs as much as 20 mid-grade spirit stones and is often priceless!

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and ecstasy in each other's eyes.

After a brief silence, his attitude changed completely in an instant.

The ice and snow melted from the Foundation Establishment female cultivator's face, revealing an incredibly warm smile.

He immediately stood up and personally greeted him, "Oh! Fellow Daoist Lin, you are too kind! Fellow Daoist, you are handsome and refined, clearly an outstanding person, and your path to the Golden Core stage is just around the corner! Please, please have a seat!"

As she spoke, she gestured to the female cultivator next to her who was practicing Qi cultivation.

The female cultivator understood immediately and quickly served some spiritual tea, her voice softening considerably: "Fellow Daoist Lin, please have some tea."

Seeing the change in the other party's attitude, Lin Che felt a little more at ease, calmly sat down, took a sip of spiritual tea, and waited for what was to come.

The Foundation Establishment female cultivator was all smiles. After a moment of contemplation, she lowered her voice and said, "Fellow Daoist Lin, to be honest, according to the rules, information about expanding one's family cannot be revealed casually."

but……"

She then changed the subject: "According to the development regulations formulated by the higher authorities, the Zhao family did indeed fail to complete the corresponding development clauses on time."

Their previous application for a development permit will expire in seven days.

If the development is not completed by the deadline, the territory will become unclaimed again according to the principle of "first come, first served".

"At that time, as long as you apply first, the right to develop Shattered Star Lake will naturally be yours."

She paused, a resolute glint in her eyes, and lowered her voice even further: "I can process the change of registration for you as soon as the Expansion Order expires."

Upon hearing this, Lin Che immediately understood the implication.

It seems that the Zhao family has maintained the development rights of Shattered Star Lake through this kind of operation.

It's unclear why they haven't made a move yet. Is it because they can't do anything to those armored crocodile turtles, or because they lack the means to make the hidden spiritual veins manifest?

Setting aside his doubts for the moment, Lin Che smiled and stood up, cupping his hands in greeting, saying, "In that case, thank you for your kindness, fellow Daoist! May I ask your esteemed name? I'm sure I'll be troubling you quite a bit in the future."

The female cultivator smiled and rose to return the greeting: "Of course, of course. My name is Wang Miaoxue. If Fellow Daoist Lin needs anything in the future, I will do my best to help. Please come back in a week, and I will give you a satisfactory answer."

"Then I, Lin, will take my leave now and await good news."

After seeing Lin Che off, the two people in the room immediately beamed with joy.

"Sister Xue, this Fellow Daoist Lin is truly generous! He's more than ten times better than the stingy Zhao family!" The Qi Refining female cultivator played with the Sky-Piercing Pill in her hand, unable to put it down.

Wang Miaoxue stroked the jade bottle containing the Qi Condensation Pill, her face beaming with undisguised joy: "Yes, with this Qi Condensation Pill, I have a much better chance of breaking through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage!"

"Sister Xue, why do you think they're all eyeing that place with no visible spiritual veins?" the Qi-refining female cultivator asked, somewhat puzzled.

Wang Miaoxue rolled her eyes at her, her tone tinged with helplessness: "You, use your brain! That place can support a whole clan of Ironclad Alligator Turtles, including Foundation Establishment cultivators. How could there not be a spiritual vein underneath? I reckon there's a hidden spiritual vein there."

She paused, then continued to explain, "However, this hidden spirit vein isn't so easy to use. To make it manifest, you need to set up an extremely expensive Rising Dragon Array."

The cost of setting up this array would probably exceed the output of a second-tier spiritual vein for fifty years. Add to that the need to deal with those thick-skinned, armored crocodile turtles, and aside from the Zhao family, who specialize in array formations, other nearby families have little interest in Shattered Star Lake.

"I see..." The Qi-refining female cultivator suddenly understood, but then a new question arose, "Then Sister Xue, what makes this Fellow Daoist Lin so confident in taking that place?"

Wang Miaoxue waved her hand dismissively: "That's not something we should worry about. Maybe he has some special methods."

"Let them fight it out themselves. Who knows how many years this place will remain peaceful? We just need to take care of ourselves." Her tone was realistic and calm.

At this moment, the female cultivator seemed to remember something and asked with some worry, "What about Supervisor Li?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Miaoxue's face flashed with disdain. She weighed the jade bottle in her hand and said decisively, "Before, I only turned a blind eye because of him and the benefits the Zhao family offered. Now, all I care about is this Qi Condensation Pill; I don't care about Manager Li's reputation!"

……

On the other side, Lin Che, who had just walked out of the Spirit Vein Management Office, slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

He never expected that the process of obtaining the development order for Shattered Star Lake would encounter such a setback.

Recalling the stark contrast in Wang Miaoxue's attitude before and after, he sneered inwardly.

The other party's initial perfunctory attitude was clearly due to bribes from the Zhao family, or perhaps other considerations.

He chose to pay money to avoid further trouble rather than react on the spot, precisely because he considered the possible background of the other party.

These two must have extraordinary backgrounds to be able to work in such a lucrative department.

If I want to establish myself here, I still need to deal with them. Before I have enough strength to crush everything, it's best not to make some relationships too strained.

He took Su Wanwan to an inn to stay temporarily and began to wait patiently.

A week has passed in the blink of an eye.

Stepping into the Spirit Vein Management Office again, a slightly excited and puzzled voice rang out as soon as I entered:

"What?! The development order for Shattered Star Lake has been transferred to someone else? Manager Wang, you want me to hand over the land deed jade slip? Didn't we agree on this before?"

The speaker was Zhao Wenyuan, the Zhao family official in charge of the matter. His face was filled with astonishment and dissatisfaction.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, you can't just say things like that."

Wang Miaoxue's voice was cold and businesslike: "Who agreed with you? What did we agree on? Territory expansion orders are always first-come, first-served. This is an ironclad rule set by the higher-ups. I'm just following the rules."

As soon as she finished speaking, she sensed Lin Che's presence at the door and immediately put on a smiling face to greet him: "Fellow Daoist Lin, you've arrived. I've already processed the new development order for the Shattered Star Lake area for you. As long as the development is completed, you can establish a family here."

Then he looked at Zhao Wenyuan again: "Fellow Daoist Lin arrived a step earlier than you, and the development order for Shattered Star Lake has already been registered in his name. You'd better hand over the land deed jade slip for Shattered Star Lake quickly, or I'll have to ask the enforcement team to ask you for it."

These words infuriated Zhao Wenyuan. To ensure the family's plans went smoothly, he had clearly arrived early to wait for Lin Che, who had obviously just arrived. This was blatant lying!

He suppressed the surging anger in his chest, forced a stiff smile, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Lin Che and Wang Miaoxue:

"Hehe, it seems there's been some misunderstanding. Since Manager Wang has made his decision, I'll take my leave now."

His words seemed calm, but his eyes lingered on Lin Che for a moment, a hint of sinister intent flashing across them. Then he said nothing more, turned around, and quickly left.

Lin Che watched Zhao Wenyuan's departing figure, his brows furrowing slightly. He sensed a hint of trouble.

Seeing his expression, Wang Miaoxue smiled and reassured him, "Fellow Daoist Lin, rest assured, the procedures are all compliant and lawful, there won't be any problems. I guarantee that the development permit for this area will definitely be yours."

Lin Che nodded, about to speak.

Suddenly, the light and shadow at the doorway dimmed, and Zhao Wen returned. In front of him stood an elderly man in a green robe, full of vigor.

The old man's cultivation was clearly at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. He walked in slowly with a seemingly warm smile on his face.

His gaze fell directly on Wang Miaoxue, his tone carrying the familiarity and unquestionable authority of an elder towards a younger person:

"Miaoxue, this is my fault, it was my oversight. Actually, this morning, before you came to the government office, I had already completed the renewal procedures for Fellow Daoist Zhao's development order for Shattered Star Lake, but I was too busy to inform you in time."