Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Lin Haozhe spoke up at the right moment: "Brother Ran, you've misunderstood. Big Sister just doesn't want her hard work to be wasted, and she's not trying to protect herself from you."

"Moreover, my eldest sister also said that she has no objection to how many shares Ran-ge gets; she only needs management rights."

His words were impeccable, sounding like he was defending Lin Zhiwan, but the implication was still that Lin Ran coveted the group's shares.

He even said he didn't want his hard work to be wasted, so giving him the company is considered a waste of his hard work?

Lin Ran gave a playful smile: "Hmm, that sounds reasonable! I wonder how many shares you own?"

Since this nominal younger brother likes to be sarcastic and unpredictable, Lin Ran doesn't mind using magic to defeat magic.

Isn't it just a case of 'a needle hidden in cotton'?

Who can't do that?

Upon hearing this, Lin Haozhe paused slightly, his chopsticks hovering over the rim of his bowl for a moment.

After a long pause, he spoke again: "I've just come of age and haven't been allocated any shares yet... Besides, now that Brother Ran is back, those shares should all belong to Brother Ran."

"No way!" Lin Ran waved his hand. "I'm serious. If we don't consider cultivation resources, I'm actually not that interested in money."

"Haha! You finally admit it." Lin Zhiyao raised her head, a smug expression on her lips. "Cultivation requires resources, so you're still interested in the Lin family's businesses."

Lin Ran didn't seem to care, picked up a piece of green vegetable and put it in his bowl, casually asking, "How much cultivation resources do you think I actually need?"

"That doesn't seem like much." Lin Zhiyao put down her chopsticks and started calculating seriously.

"From the Body Tempering Realm to the Qi Opening Realm, a few tens of millions of Body Tempering Potions and Spiritual Energy Supplements should be enough."

"From the Qi Opening Realm to the Inner Breath Realm, it depends on talent. Even if you use resources to force it, it will only cost a hundred or two hundred million at most."

At this point, she glanced at Lin Ran: "As for progressing from the Inner Breath Realm to the Innate Realm, that's purely a matter of talent. If you lack talent, throwing money at it won't help!"

According to her calculation, a martial artist would only need a few hundred million cultivation resources to go from the Body Tempering Realm to the Inner Breath Realm by using medicine.

For the enormous Lin family, this amount of money is nothing.

As for those who have reached the Inner Breath Realm, the medicine may still have some auxiliary effect, but its effect will be minimal.

After all, martial artists are not cultivators; they cannot increase their cultivation simply by absorbing spiritual energy.

Moreover, martial artists who are forcibly cultivated with drugs have a weak foundation and will inevitably be inferior to those who improve through their own cultivation at the same level.

Lin Zhiyao was unaware of Lin Ran's identity as a cultivator.

In her opinion, Lin Ran only had F-level talent, and he could only reach the Inner Breath Realm at most by using drugs, which did not consume many resources.

However, Lin Ran's cultivation of the "Ten Thousand Treasures Spirit Forging Technique" is fundamentally different from that of ordinary martial artists.

He can keep absorbing and improving.

Correspondingly, the resources required for cultivation are also astronomical.

Even if the drug is replaced with crystal cores, reducing the price by a hundredfold, it is still an astronomical figure.

The spiritual energy required to go from the third to the fourth level of Qi Refining doubles, and the required spiritual energy to go from the sixth to the seventh level of Qi Refining doubles again.

Once I break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, who knows what it will be like?

Not to mention the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, and all the subsequent realms.

Not to mention that the Lin Group is only the largest conglomerate in Xinhai, even if all the cultivation resources in Xinhai were combined, they might not be able to support Lin Ran.

Ultimately, I will have to rely on myself for the road ahead.

Of course, it's too early to consider these things.

"Hehe, not bad at math." He didn't intend to explain anything to Lin Zhiyao.

After finishing the last bite of rice in his bowl, he put down his chopsticks and said, "I'm full."

After saying that, he got up from the dining table and went upstairs.

On Saturday, Lin Ran returned to the abandoned mine pit.

We're just one step away from reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining.

If we collect another batch of crystal cores today, we should be able to make a breakthrough smoothly.

He had just stood at the entrance of the mine pit when Zhang Jiafei emerged from the same spot.

"Senior, you've arrived!"

He greeted Lin Ran with a broad smile, quickly approaching him. His gaze swept over Lin Ran, and his smile deepened. "Going to the rat's nest again today?"

"Let's go check out the pond first."

Lin Ran paused, then added, "Just letting you know in advance, I probably won't be coming here again after today."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiafei's smile immediately froze on his face.

"Indeed, given your strength, this mine is no match for you."

As he spoke, he forced a smile again, but this time it looked somewhat strained.

Although he didn't know Lin Ran's true identity, he guessed the real reason.

The crystal cores of low-level mutated beasts could no longer meet Lin Ran's cultivation needs.

When you reach the third level of Qi Refining, the third-tier crystal core can still provide considerable spiritual power.

After reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining, the effect of the third-tier crystal core is no longer sufficient, and the first and second tiers are even less significant.

So, Lin Ran turned his gaze to the ocean.

According to information Zhang Jiafei had mentioned before, the mountains and forests within a radius of dozens of miles around Xinhai City are regularly cleared by the city's defense forces, and there are basically no high-level mutated beasts surviving in the mountains.

It's basically impossible for Lin Ran to go hunting in the mountains.

But the ocean is different.

The entire planet Earth underwent anomalies, and the ocean was no exception.

The city's defense forces regularly clear the mountains and forests, but they don't clear the sea areas.

It's likely that highly mutated creatures are quite common in the sea.

Xinhai is located right by the sea, so it would be a waste not to go and see it.

Of course, although he can now use the water-avoidance technique in the water, fighting in the water is a completely different matter from fighting on land.

Before he could encounter the mutated creatures in the sea, he had to practice in the water first.

The mineral crystal toad in the pool of water in the abandoned mine is the best sparring partner.

It can dive, spray poison, and is quite fast and aggressive underwater.

He needs crystal cores of level three or higher. If he is sure he can deal with level three mineral toads underwater, then it won't be too late to hunt mutated beasts in the sea.

The two arrived near the pool, and Zhang Jiafei stopped about fifty meters away.

Lin Ran walked to the edge of the pool alone, made a water-avoiding spell, and jumped into the water.

The water in the pool was icy cold, and the visibility was even lower than the last time I came.

After the previous massacre, the entire pool fell silent.

Third-tier mutated creatures may not be highly intelligent, but they still know the fear of death.

When Lin Ran found a mineral crystal toad in the crevice, the creature's first reaction was not to attack, but to shrink into the crevice.

It wasn't until Lin Ran raised his hand and made a hand seal, using a Rock Ridge Technique to force it out.

Bang!

The mineral toad burst out of the rock crevice, rolled twice in the water, and regained its balance.

"Giggle!"

A muffled cry was heard, followed by a gush of venom.

As the venom spread in the water, Lin Ran's heart tightened.

Just as he was about to make a move, he discovered that the venom had not broken through his water-repelling technique.

The mineral toad, having missed its first attack, stuck out its tongue at Lin Ran.

Lin Ran dodged to the side and slapped the bottom of the pool with his left hand.

The Rock Ridge Technique was activated, and stone spikes burst forth from the bottom of the pool, blocking the mineral crystal toad's retreat route.

Seeing that there was no way to escape, the mineral crystal toad rushed towards the water.

Lin Ran manipulated the water flow to slow down the mineral crystal toad, then lunged forward and stabbed it in the jaw with his knife.

The blood splattered in the water, and the mineral crystal toad twitched a few times before becoming still.

The first one was resolved smoothly.

Lin Ran pried open the skull to retrieve the crystal core and continued searching underwater.

Over the next two hours, he found five more mineral toads.

With the experience gained from the first battle, the subsequent battles went more and more smoothly.

Use the Water Control Technique to control your position, the Rock Ridge Technique to block your movement, and the longsword to finish off the enemies.

Although he couldn't use his fire control technique underwater, it didn't affect Lin Ran's ability to deal with these mineral crystal toads at all.

Six Tier 3 mineral crystal toads were killed at the bottom of the water, and none of them were able to escape.

Feeling that he had become familiar with the area, Lin Ran surfaced and shook off the water droplets from his knife.

Zhang Jiafei was squatting on a large rock not far away, with a blade of grass in his mouth, looking utterly bored.

Upon seeing Lin Ran come up, he immediately stood up and glanced at the backpack behind Lin Ran.

"Senior, how was it?"