Clan Cultivation: Starting with Plundering Demonic Beast Talents

"Qingyang Talisman Master is quite lucky; I still have a few Protective Meridian Pills left from the last time I refined them."

With a wave of her hand, Liu Yuxuan conjured a jade bottle containing the Meridian Protection Pill on the table. "However, the Lin family's 'Fine-Quality' Water Escape Talismans are renowned throughout the market. Would you be so kind as to offer me a few to demonstrate their power?"

Lin Qingyang frowned slightly. Using the Water Escape Talisman for exchange wouldn't be a loss in terms of value, but it was a unique business of the Hundred Talisman Pavilion, and he couldn't frequently sell it privately. However, the woman in front of him was a direct descendant of the Foundation Establishment lineage, and there was no need to offend her.

"You flatter me, fairy. Qingyang is merely a mid-grade talisman master. How about the Six Paths Water Escape Talisman?"

Since he had decided to make the deal, he might as well give the other party some face. A bottle of Pulse Protection Pills was worth fifty spirit stones, and six "premium" Water Escape Talismans were worth more than sixty spirit stones. It could be said that he was very sincere.

Liu Yuxuan naturally understood the implied meaning. She accepted the talisman, her beautiful eyes flickering slightly as she glanced at the person before her who was rumored to have no hope of cultivation after taking the Explosive Spirit Pill, and she was somewhat surprised.

She had seen many talisman masters or weapon refiners who, after realizing their path to immortality was hopeless, either indulged in extravagant pleasures or desperately accumulated spirit stones for their descendants. In short, when making a transaction, they would often haggle for half a day over just one or two spirit stones.

In these situations, she would delegate the task to her subordinates' supervisors.

"Since Fellow Daoist Lin is so sincere, I cannot remain unreciprocated. Well then, I heard that Fellow Daoist Qingyang intends to purchase Qi Gathering Pills later."

As she spoke, she took out a square token from her storage bag. The words "Hundred Treasures" were engraved on its surface, and the character "Willow" was on the back.

"The VIP token of the Treasure Pavilion offers a 20% discount on all goods. Normally, you would only receive this token if you made a transaction of more than 800 spirit stones."

Lin Qingyang had also heard of this item. His Lin family had declined over the past century, and only two or three elders and the clan leader himself possessed it, so its value was self-evident.

He was in dire need of purchasing large quantities of elixirs, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Thank you, Fairy Liu."

"No need for such formalities."

Liu Yuxuan waved her hand and said, "This VIP token is for personal use only."

"Furthermore, with this decree, you may come to me every three months to participate in an exchange meeting."

"Fellow Daoist Lin, if you need anything, you may come here and find what you're looking for."

Lin Qingyang nodded slightly. The VIP token had a spending limit of at least 800 spirit stones, so it was estimated that the person should be a craftsman of the highest level in the various arts of cultivation, or an elder of a Foundation Establishment family.

These cultivators are already considered upper-middle level cultivators within a thousand miles of Nanhefang. They possess top-tier materials, and joining such a circle is indeed very beneficial for collecting spiritual items.

From this, he could tell that Liu Yuxuan seemed to have some tricks up her sleeve, because he had never heard of such an exchange meeting from the elders before. He guessed that this was a private exchange meeting established by this woman after she was transferred here, taking advantage of the family's influence.

Having such a channel, even if one steps down from the position of Pavilion Master, one's influence within the Liu family would likely remain considerable.

……

I spent over a hundred spirit stones from the Treasure Pavilion to purchase a bottle of Pulse Protection Pill and three bottles of Qi Gathering Pills suitable for the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Lin Qingyang immediately began to switch to cultivating his martial arts.

The "Water-Drawing Technique" he originally practiced was a common technique in the cultivation world, similar to the wood-attribute "Evergreen Technique." Its cultivation speed was average, and it did not provide any benefit to combat or defense. Its only advantage was that it used fewer meridians, allowing for faster cultivation and making it easier to switch to another technique later.

It is precisely because of this that most of the dozens of meridians he opened at the fourth level of Qi Refining overlapped with those in the "Spiritual Source Water Control Technique".

As Lin Qingyang circulated his cultivation technique, his thoughts entered his body, and he quickly found a few meridians that did not match. He had already swallowed the meridian-protecting pills, which transformed into streaks of white spiritual light and attached themselves around these meridians.

Thus, Lin Qingyang hardened his heart, transformed his spiritual power into a sword, and slashed fiercely.

With a muffled groan, Lin Qingyang suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Fortunately, the meridians were protected by a meridian-protecting pill, which merely obstructed the flow of magical power.

This continued for several days until, after the last bottle of Protective Meridian Pills was used up, Lin Qingyang eliminated all the magical power paths that did not conform to the "Spiritual Source Water Control Technique".

At this moment, the fluctuations of his magical power had dropped to the third level of Qi Refining.

However, this is not a big problem. Once the "Spirit Source Water Control Technique" is successfully transferred, it will be easy to recover to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

With the aid of the Qi Gathering Pill and his mid-grade spiritual root, he completed the re-cultivation of this technique in just half a month.

His cultivation level even improved, breaking through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

"Water Bloom Curtain"

Lin Qingyang made a hand seal, and a deep blue barrier, about half a person's height, appeared in front of him.

This is precisely the accompanying spell of the Spirit Source Water Control Technique.

With his Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation, combined with his [Water Armor] talent and Heavy Water Shield, the three elements working together are equivalent to using at least three defensive magical artifacts.

In normal cultivators' duels, due to the limitations of their divine sense, using two magical artifacts simultaneously is already the limit; usually, one is for defense and the other for offense.

He didn't need much divine sense to use his Water Armor talent and Water Curtain.

Therefore, as long as his magical power increases, it is estimated that no one in the Qi Refining stage can break through his defenses, and he might even be able to block a second-tier spirit talisman.

"It was worth spending hundreds of spirit stones to plunder talent."

Lin Qingyang nodded slightly, quite satisfied with his defense.

"However, we've run out of Qi Gathering Pills, so we'll have to go to the Treasure Pavilion to buy some more."

He glanced at the empty pill bottle, feeling somewhat helpless. Normally, it would take at least half a year to complete a cultivation transformation. He used pills to shorten the time, but it still cost him nearly a hundred spirit stones.

The gains and losses involved vary from person to person. Because Lin Qingyang was focused on pursuing the Dao, he saved several months, which made his future path much smoother.

The time limit for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage is within one Jiazi cycle, while the time limit for breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage is within three Jiazi cycles.

Breakthroughs to higher realms are rarely achieved overnight. Often, those who cultivate faster in the early stages can recover from injuries sooner and have another chance to break through.

The transition to cultivation went smoothly, the only regret being the accompanying "Heavenly One Water Condensation Technique," a method for refining innate spiritual water that was obscure and difficult to understand, making it impossible to find any direction for comprehension.

No wonder that no one in the Lin family has succeeded in cultivating it over the centuries.

Lin Qingyang was at the stage of his transformation in strength, so naturally he wouldn't spend too much time on it.

After several days of seclusion, when he emerged from his residence, he saw Lin Qingwan looking at him with a resentful expression. "Brother Qingyang, you took half a month off. Without the Water Escape Talisman, the family's shop revenue has dropped by 20%."

"Please convey my apologies to Uncle Zongbai. I estimate that we will only be able to release thirty Water Escape Talismans each month from now on."

Lin Qingyang didn't have any good solutions to this either. The reason why the talismans he drew were effective was simply because they had the corresponding monster talent bonuses. It had nothing to do with the spirit ink and talisman paper, and he couldn't teach them to others.

His most important task now is to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining. His monthly salary is enough for him to exchange for pills to support his cultivation.

Lin Qingwan could only express his understanding, "My younger brother has an inferior spiritual root, yet he hasn't given up on the path of cultivation. As someone with a mid-grade spiritual root, perhaps I should also put more effort into my cultivation?"

Her ability to break through to the top-grade talisman master before the age of thirty is largely due to her talent, but also to the fact that she greatly reduced her cultivation time.

……