Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 1033 The Spirit of the Treasure Cauldron, the Thunderfire Spear
About half an hour later, the True Lord of Calamity returned to the Jade Palace.

“Senior brother, none of our fellow Daoists have had any contact with Junior Brother Changming!” said Jiechen Zhenjun.

Hua Gai nodded, not surprised by the result.

"Fellow Daoist Baiyun must have attended the Immortal Fate Trade Fair!" he asked True Monarch Baiyun.

True Monarch Baiyun nodded slightly, "I participated. I went with Junior Brother Yang, but we got separated on the way back!"

Yang Zhengshan looked towards Huagai and their eyes met.

"Has Fellow Daoist Yang encountered any trouble?"

Yang Zhengshan calmly replied, "I encountered many things. I was targeted as soon as I came out of the trade fair. It took me three days to escape. During the escape, I also encountered many Golden Core cultivators fighting. Once, I almost accidentally entered someone else's battlefield and lost my life."

He naturally wouldn't mention the water halberd; this matter had to remain a secret.

Hua Gai nodded and then asked Baiyun Zhenjun and Yang Zhengshan a few more questions. He asked very detailed questions, especially about the situation at the trade fair.

Yang Zhengshan naturally spoke frankly and openly, and he did not hide anything except for the matter of the water halberd.

The interrogation by Hua Gai did not end until the Foundation Establishment cultivators returned.

They naturally found nothing. The matter of the Longevity True Lord had nothing to do with the Heavenly Cloud Sword Sect. To put it bluntly, the Heavenly Cloud Sword Sect was simply no match for the Longevity True Lord.

Hua Gai then took his leave, and Baiyun Zhenjun led everyone in respectfully seeing them off from Tianyun Sword Sect.

Outside Baiyun Immortal City, True Monarch Baiyun watched the figures disappear into the air and let out a long breath.

"Is that all?" Jian Changhe asked.

"It should end now!" said True Monarch Baiyun.

Jian Changhe gazed into the distance, his eyes gleaming. "I thought they were going to make things difficult for us!"

Que Lingyu chuckled, "Although the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is strong, it doesn't dare to offend the masses. Now they have already aroused widespread resentment. If they don't restrain themselves, they may have nowhere to hide in the Wanhua Mountain Range in the future!"

What she said wasn't wrong. The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion was powerful, but it wasn't strong enough to suppress dozens of Golden Core cultivators and demon kings.

If the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion truly incurs public wrath, its branch pavilions in the Wanhua Mountains will likely disappear before long.

“It’s none of our business, so let’s not get involved. Fellow senior brothers, I’m currently refining pills, so I won’t stay here any longer!” Yang Zhengshan said.

"I'm going back to seclusion too!" Yunxiao said.

"Alright, everyone go back!" said True Monarch Baiyun. The crowd dispersed and returned to their respective homes.

Yang Zhengshan returned to the Spirit Source Land and continued to study alchemy with Feng Ling. He was like a sponge, frantically absorbing the ancient alchemy experience from Feng Ling.

Yang Zhengshan paid little attention to the storms and turmoil in the outside world; he was completely immersed in his cultivation.

Three years passed, then another three years, and in the blink of an eye, twelve years had gone by.

Since Yang Zhengshan formed his core, time seemed to have accelerated. Yang Zhengshan felt that his concept of time was becoming increasingly blurred. Often, after a simple cultivation session, he would not know what year or month it was.

In the quiet room of the Hall of Longevity.

Yang Zhengshan sat on a cushion, looking at the leaping divine wooden cauldron in front of him.

At this moment, the Divine Wood Cauldron was only the size of a fist, radiating a blue halo and exuding a rich life force.

The Divine Wood Cauldron, as his natal spiritual weapon, is even more important to him than the Azure Wood Purple Lightning Sword.

Although the Azure Wood Purple Lightning Sword is also his natal spiritual weapon, it is actually just a spiritual weapon and means for him to fight. The Divine Wood Cauldron is his original core. It can be said that the Divine Wood Cauldron is the continuation of the Azure Wood Longevity Scripture.

Therefore, the most valued spiritual artifact was the Divine Wood Cauldron.

After more than ten years of nurturing and cultivation, the Divine Wood Cauldron has not advanced to become a mid-grade spiritual artifact, but the spirituality of the cauldron's spirit has increased significantly.

Previously, the spirit of the Divine Wood Cauldron was like a newborn child, ignorant and clueless, and did not know how to cooperate with Yang Zhengshan. Now, the spirit of the cauldron has grown into a seven or eight-year-old child, has its own thoughts, and knows how to cooperate with Yang Zhengshan.

"Master, have some!"

His childish words were halting and stuttering, like those of a toddler learning to speak.

"We can't eat any more, it would be a waste!" Yang Zhengshan reached out and lightly tapped the cauldron.

Bao Ding held it close to Yang Zhengshan's hand, saying, "My master said that the more you eat, the faster you grow!"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan was speechless for a moment, "You have a good memory!"

"Master~~"

This guy can even act cute.

Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment, then took out a bottle of Dao Spirit Elixir and poured it onto the treasure cauldron.

This is what Bao Ding wants to eat. He probably knows that Dao Spirit Elixir is good for his growth, so he asks Yang Zhengshan for Dao Spirit Elixir from time to time.

Having obtained the Dao Spirit Elixir, the treasure cauldron immediately became more active, circling around Yang Zhengshan incessantly.

"Alright, I'm going out now, you can go back first!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Upon hearing this, the precious cauldron obediently burrowed into his dantian and began to gently revolve around his golden core.

Its rotation is regular, constantly circling along the trajectory of the Tai Chi diagram of withering and flourishing within the dantian.

Because Yang Zhengshan comprehended the Divine Power of Withering and Flourishing, the Divine Wood Cauldron also acquired some of the Dao of Withering and Flourishing, gaining some new abilities, such as storing the power of life and the energy of death.

It can be said that the Divine Wood Cauldron is now Yang Zhengshan's power bank, capable of storing a portion of his life force and death energy.

However, its energy storage capacity is still somewhat low, only equivalent to the life force and death energy of a hundred-year lifespan.

After putting away the Divine Wood Cauldron, Yang Zhengshan got up and left the meditation room, going to the back hall of the Longevity Hall. He used his spiritual sense to scan the inner chamber of the back hall and saw that Yu Qingyi was very stable inside, which put his mind at ease.

A year ago, Yu Qingyi went into seclusion to break through her cultivation barrier. If she can break through, then she will be a Divine Soul Realm martial artist.

Currently, Ding Qiu is still the only Soul Realm martial artist in the Spirit Source Land, and he is far ahead of the others in martial arts.

Besides Ding Qiu, there was Yu Qingyi, followed by Yang Mingcheng, Yang Mingzhi, Song Dashan, Yang Chengze, Yang Mingwu, and others—all people who had once followed Yang Zhengshan.

As for An Yuxing, Liang Shengze, Qu Changkong, and others, their cultivation has stagnated, their potential has been exhausted, and it is difficult for them to make further progress.

The reason for this is quite simple: their potential is limited, and they are already very fortunate to have reached this point.

Yang Mingcheng, Yang Mingzhi, Song Dashan, and Yang Chengze, among others, had followed Yang Zhengshan long ago and had drunk the spiritual spring water, which greatly enhanced their potential compared to An Yuxing and others. The spiritual spring water has the effect of enhancing potential, and the younger one is when drinking it, the better the effect.

Therefore, Yang Mingcheng and his peers have far greater potential than the older generation, such as An Yuxing.

Of course, the most promising are the younger generation who have lived in the land of spiritual energy since childhood, especially those born in the land of spiritual energy, who grew up drinking spiritual spring water.

Their cultivation progresses in a very regular pattern. They reach the Innate Realm around the age of forty, and the peak of the Innate Realm at the age of eighty. Their cultivation is suppressed until the age of one hundred before breaking through to the Golden Body Realm.

Today marks more than a hundred years since Yang Zhengshan began his large-scale migration to Lingyuan, meaning that the earliest children born in Lingyuan are now around a hundred years old.

Therefore, in recent years, many people in the Spirit Source Land have been in seclusion to break through their limits, and the number of Golden Body Realm warriors is increasing at an extremely exaggerated rate.

However, the process of forging a golden body and establishing a spiritual foundation is somewhat dangerous, and some martial artists have died due to failed breakthroughs.

Such things are unavoidable. Even though Yang Zhengshan is now a Golden Core cultivator, he cannot guarantee that the process of forming a golden body and building a spiritual foundation will be 100% safe.

Of course, for Yang Zhengshan, Golden Body Realm warriors were nothing special; no matter how many there were, they wouldn't be of any help to him.

However, the increase in the number of Golden Body Realm warriors is still beneficial to the Spirit Source Land. There are still large areas of the Spirit Source Land that need to be opened up, and these Golden Body Realm warriors can serve as the backbone of the Spirit Source Land to build it up.

Besides Golden Body Realm warriors, several Foundation Establishment cultivators have also emerged in the Spirit Source Land in recent years.

For example, Xia Yunshu, whom Yang Zhengshan picked up from Lianxin Valley, Chang Ming and Chang Liang, Xuanzhen's disciples, and Yang Qinghua and Lin Pingyang, who were about the same age as Yang Qingyu.

In just twenty years, the Spirit Source Land has added eight Foundation Establishment cultivators, which can be regarded as a result of the Spirit Source Land's accumulated strength.

From Yang Jizhen to the present, Yang Zhengshan's strategy of cultivating immortal cultivators has been implemented for more than 80 years. From the initial few people to the current abundance of talents, the Spirit Source Land has the confidence to become a force to be reckoned with.

"Master!" Hongyun rushed to greet Yang Zhengshan as he emerged from seclusion.

Behind her followed a small tail, a foot-long foal, also known as Red Soul.

"Okay, you stay here and keep watch, I'm going to check on the Flaming Mountains!"

Yang Zhengshan casually remarked and then prepared to go to Flaming Mountain to see Yang Jizhen.

But before he could use his teleportation ability, the red soul pounced on him.

Hehehe~~
The screech was so familiar that it brought a happy smile to Yang Zhengshan's face.

"What are you trying to do, kid?"

Black mist emanated from Hong Hun's body, and in the next moment, he grew to about the size of a normal horse—no, it should be about the size of a Crimson Cloud Horse.

Hehehe~~
It swung its tail and nuzzled Yang Zhengshan with its head.

Yang Zhengshan immediately understood its meaning, mounted his horse, and said, "Let's go to the Immortal Artifact Pavilion at Flaming Mountain!"

Honghun is now a Ghost General, which is equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Ghost cultivators have their advantages; they can change their form at will.

However, Red Soul is different from other ghost generals. Ghost cultivators are already a minority in the Wanhua Domain, and among the ghost cultivators in the Wanhua Domain, Ancestor Huangquan is already considered the strongest.

The vast majority of ghost cultivators are evolved from human souls, either through a fortuitous encounter after death or by immortal cultivators who voluntarily become ghost cultivators to plan their own afterlife.

Only a small fraction of those who transform from beast souls into ghost cultivators are special because the red soul is a ghost cultivator trained by Yang Zhengshan.

Although Red Soul doesn't have Red Cloud's memories, it shares many of the same habits as Red Cloud.

It likes to be close to Yang Zhengshan and has a very lively and active personality.

As for its strength, although it is already a Ghost General, its strength should be at the bottom among Ghost Generals, after all, it is still too young compared with other Ghost Cultivators.

The red soul carried Yang Zhengshan out of the Hall of Longevity and out of the Nine Heavens Gate.

"Hey, you've actually learned the art of cloud flight!" Yang Zhengshan exclaimed in surprise as he sat on his horse.

Red Soul is a ghost cultivator, so it is entirely black, exuding a sinister ghostly aura, and does not have Red Cloud's signature red mane.

Red Soul used to be able to fly, but its flight speed was very slow, at least in Yang Zhengshan's eyes.

Now that Hong Hun has actually learned the Cloud Leap Technique, his flight speed has increased significantly.

Of course, in Yang Zhengshan's eyes, it was still very slow.

Hehehe~~
Hongyun cried out joyfully, seemingly proud of having learned the art of cloud-riding.

"Good, good, keep up the good work!" Yang Zhengshan encouraged.

At this moment, he truly felt as if he had returned to the past, when he also rode the Red Cloud in the same way, although the Red Cloud was slower back then.

Yang Zhengshan's remembrance did not last long, and soon they arrived at the Immortal Artifact Pavilion of Flaming Mountain.

The red soul shrank back to a foot in size and followed Yang Zhengshan into the Immortal Artifact Pavilion.

"Ancestor, I have not failed you!"

Yang Jizhen excitedly handed a long spear to Yang Zhengshan.

This long spear was modified from the trident of the water halberd.

The trident of the Water Halberd is of the water attribute, while the spear in front of him has become of the dual attributes of lightning and fire. Yang Jizhen spent a full twelve years modifying this spear.

However, Yang Jizhen did not feel that this was a waste of time; on the contrary, he was very excited and proud of it.

Because this was the first spiritual artifact he had ever crafted, a true spiritual artifact.

Yang Zhengshan stroked the gun barrel, feeling the weapon spirit within it. The weapon spirit of the trident had dissipated, and now there was only a newly born weapon spirit within the gun barrel.

The gun body is dark black, and the surface is covered with spider web-like silver patterns, which are formed by the interweaving of the Yi Wood Divine Thunder Pattern and the Sun True Fire Pattern. When heated, the silver patterns will emit a reddish-brown light, and when exposed to strong electricity, they will burst out with blue and white electric sparks.

The spearhead is a three-sided, armor-piercing cone with a bluish-gold tip. There are three flame-shaped blood grooves on each side of the cone, with thin copper plates embedded in the grooves. When the spear moves, it reflects flickering flames, as if there are tiny flames burning inside the grooves.

The spear is adorned with a fist-sized bronze bell with thunder patterns. The bell tongue is made of meteorite iron and does not ring when the spear is swung. It only emits a muffled thunderous sound when spiritual power is activated. The words "Suppress Thunder" are engraved on the bell.

“Ancestor, this spear weighs 6,600 catties, can reach a length of 12 zhang at its longest, and can be as short as 3 cun at its smallest. It is very convenient for you to carry it with you!” Yang Jizhen said.

Ordinary spiritual artifacts cannot be stored in a storage bag, nor can they be stored in the dantian or sea of ​​consciousness. They can only be carried with one's person. Therefore, almost all spiritual artifacts have a magic array that can change their size.

Yang Zhengshan couldn't possibly carry a spear around everywhere, so the Ruyi Formation was an indispensable formation for this Thunderfire Spear.

"I've set up a Heavenly Thunder Array and a Mystic Fire Array on it, which can summon thunder and mystic fire. During battle, our ancestor can infuse it with Divine Thunder of the Wood and True Fire of the Sun, thus allowing this spear to unleash a powerful attack," Yang Jizhen continued.

(End of this chapter)