Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 281 Foundation Establishment Level 5, Rise and Fall

When are you leaving this time?

Lin Qianfan and Lin Qianxue strolled along the city wall of the Immortal City, while in the distance, fish leaped and frolicked on the sea, a scene of peace and tranquility.

"It's late spring, let's set off into the storm."

"Be careful! Making money isn't actually that important."

"If you don't work hard to earn money now, how will you support your family in the future?"

"You're such a chatterbox, you deserve a beating!"

……

Time flies, and seven years have passed in the blink of an eye.
In spring, Yanglong Bay is bursting with life and vitality.

But today, the area is draped in white mourning clothes for miles around, as a solemn and grand funeral is being held.
Grandma Ju Wenjing, the former second elder of Yanglong Bay, passed away peacefully at an old age!
She was a wife who married into the Lin family more than two hundred years ago. Her husband had died long ago, but she still worked diligently for the Lin family and was one of the most respected elders in Yanglong Bay.

She used to be in charge of the docks and finances. In her later years, she became a teacher at the Lin Family Academy, influencing generations of Lin family descendants. Now, people come to attend her funeral and offer incense to her.

Many of them had benefited from her kindness and guidance, and the influence on them varied greatly, but everyone genuinely respected and loved her.

Although she was not surnamed Lin and belonged to the Lin family as a naturalized cultivator, she set a good example and made many contributions to the Lin family. After her death, she was also solemnly buried in the Lin family ancestral tomb, and her memorial tablet was also enshrined in the Lin family ancestral hall, where she will forever enjoy the incense offerings of the Lin family descendants.

The grand funeral lasted for more than a day, but a month in total, coinciding with the eighth return voyage of the Tianji ship.

Toot~
The Tianji ship docks.
Many of the people in the welcoming crowd were dressed in plain clothes.

Lin Qianfan also personally attended and offered three incense sticks to Granny Ju. Although the two didn't interact much—when Lin Qianfan was captain, Granny Ju was already close to retirement—

However, Lin Qianfan also acknowledged her contributions. It was precisely because of people like Granny Ju, who devoted their lives to the Lin family, that such a powerful Golden Core clan was able to grow stronger.

Relying on a few people? That's utter nonsense!

While Golden Core cultivators and Golden Core seeds are important, those who gave up their cultivation path early on and devoted themselves to their families should also be respected, and their contributions should be remembered.

Granny Ju also had direct descendants, but unfortunately, several generations of them had mediocre talent and failed to produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator in their lineage.

However, given the family's current upward trend, if someone with three spiritual roots were to emerge in the future and prove themselves even more, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage wouldn't be too difficult.

"When did you reach the fifth level of Foundation Establishment?"

"I had a sudden inspiration a few days ago, and I made a breakthrough on the way."

"It's quite impressive that you can maintain such efficient cultivation while traveling and trading. How long do you plan to continue?"

"I'll do it for now. When Qianxue takes over the Tianji Wheel, I'll go and take over the White Whale. After all, I'm not young anymore."

The Moby-Dick was also a merchant ship.
However, its operating model is completely different from that of the Tianji Wheel. The White Whale makes several long-distance trips a year and does not cater to individual passengers. Instead, it only connects with major corporations and engages in bulk commodity trading.

Lin Qianfan plans to take over the White Whale after reaching the late stage of Foundation Establishment, to do cross-industry business, and to make a living in Chaochun City.

“Indeed, it’s time for you to take a break, but I have to go ahead of you on this matter. Li Feng has already mastered the ability to build a second-tier spirit ship independently. I’m going to be the shipwright on the White Whale. This matter has been settled.”

"Congratulations! You've trained a fine apprentice. You can start enjoying a comfortable life ahead of time!"

"Hehe~ My dream used to be to be a shipwright, to travel all over the world on a ship, but the conditions back then didn't allow it. Now the younger generation is doing really well, it's my turn to enjoy life!"

The Eighth Elder (one of the former ten elders) remained at the third level of the Foundation Establishment stage, seemingly stuck there. However, with the generally good performance of the newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Lin family over the years, his mindset had subtly changed, making him much more relaxed.
This allowed his shipbuilding skills, which were originally difficult to improve, to make a significant breakthrough. Now he even goes out with the White Whale to try to learn more about third-tier spirit ships in order to help him further improve.

These seven years,
Although Lin Qianfan has always been engaged in trading, he has made great progress.
The Black Fang Demon King's corpse, which he had obtained from the Demon King's cave in the Northwest Region, had long since been dismembered. Over the years, he had been consuming the Demon King's flesh and blood in moderation to aid in body refinement. Now, Lin Qianfan's body refinement cultivation had also advanced to the late stage of the second tier ahead of schedule.
Despite Lin Qianfan's apparent cultivation level of only the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, even ordinary Foundation Establishment level nine cultivators are no match for him.

Silver Scales was also gradually absorbing the flesh and blood of the Black Fang Demon King, and had also reached the late stage of the second tier a few years ago.
Silver Scales are now much larger, matching the size record of all second-tier carp dragon demons in the Lin family's history, and are now about the same size as the Blood Shark during its first attempt to break through to the Demon King realm.
Every bit of growth Silver Scale grows in the future will break records and limits. At the same time, Lin Qianfan also received definite news from the family that the third-tier demon core left by the second-generation Carp Dragon Demon King is still there, and the family can provide free support when Silver Scale attempts to break through to the Demon King realm in the future.

However, over the years, Silver Scale has broadened its horizons and become accustomed to all kinds of geniuses by following Lin Qianfan. Its ambitions have long since shifted, and it is no longer satisfied with being an ordinary demon king. In the past, transforming into a dragon was just a beautiful expectation for it, but now it has become a real and detailed goal.

Under Xinglan's planning, it will evolve into a sea-overturning dragon!

Therefore, Silver Scale is now very cautious about eating. Just like Lin Qianfan wouldn't easily use cultivation pills to accelerate his progress, it won't touch anything that isn't a suitable demon core or flesh. It would rather spend nine to ten hours every day on arduous natural breathing exercises.

Therefore, as its bloodline continues to purify, Silverscale is becoming more and more like a dragon, even resembling a miniature wild dragon. It is now significantly different from ordinary carp dragon demons, and every time it returns to the Carp Dragon Fishing Grounds, female carp dragon demons court it. Xinglan, on the other hand, has hardly changed at all. Seven or eight years is but a blink of an eye for a third-tier longevity species.

Moreover, because she absorbed a huge blessing from heaven and earth, she rushed to the third level of the chief priest in one go. As a result, she still has many methods to supplement. She will not blindly pursue the realm in the short term, and may even be stuck here for a long time until she is fully replenished!
Besides his cultivation, Lin Qianfan also made rapid progress in his immortal arts. He had mastered the entire Tianji Wheel, except for the core third-tier part. He dared not say that he had reached the peak of the second-tier shipwright, but he was not far off.

Furthermore, he has made a significant breakthrough in puppetry, having advanced to the second-tier puppeteer several years ago.

We can craft ordinary second-tier functional puppets, second-tier combat puppets, and humanoid and beast-shaped puppets. We have even designed and delivered mining puppets specifically for mining third-tier sea marrow crystals.

With Lin Qianfan's help, the mining of third-order sea marrow crystals has now begun in an orderly manner. However, there is no rush. The Zhentao Ship will only be able to mine it when it has free time, so the efficiency is not high.

For the Lin family, second-tier puppeteers currently only have economic value, but the path holds great promise. Once they reach third tier, the value of third-tier combat puppets will be astronomical.

An ordinary Golden Core cultivator might not be considered a particularly powerful figure within the Thousand Star City, but if he could control several powerful Tier 3 puppets, then his abilities would be considerable.

Therefore, third-tier puppeteers are highly sought after! After all, third-tier puppets are a means to directly increase the combat ability of Golden Core cultivators!
However, the Lin family's heritage in this area is relatively weak. Although they have a third-tier puppetry skill and a third-tier shipwright skill,
However, both approaches are relatively outdated and simplistic. Furthermore, no one in the Lin family's history has successfully explored these two paths and developed them into the most suitable lineage for the Lin family. Therefore, it is quite difficult for later generations of the Lin family to successfully navigate these paths and make breakthrough progress.

Fortunately, Lin Qianfan has largely integrated his memories from his previous life over the years. Although he still cannot fully comprehend the Golden Core stage, its assistance is significant, allowing him to progress in immortal arts far beyond that of ordinary people.

In the future, one only needs to first form the Golden Core, then strive to become a third-tier shipwright, and then a third-tier puppeteer. After that, one can compile a unique inheritance belonging to the Lin family based on the basic situation of the Lin family, so as to point out the way for future generations of Lin family members.

This path is difficult for others, no less difficult than the process of a Foundation Establishment power upgrading to a Golden Core power, but it is not difficult for Lin Qianfan, including the huge expenses involved.

During his years as a merchant, Lin Qianfan secretly mined a large amount of minerals along the routes he had become familiar with, and he only mined valuable minerals. In terms of wealth alone, Lin Qianfan was probably richer than most ordinary Golden Core cultivators.

During these seven years,

The expansion into overseas territories was also in full swing.
According to the latest news, the actual area controlled by the human race in the outer sea has reached its largest extent before the millennium beast tide. However, this outer sea expansion plan will last for ten years, which means that the next three years will be spent exploring areas that have never been set foot in before.

This smooth progress naturally exceeded initial expectations. It seems the demon race of the Storm Ocean is facing some crisis, reportedly an ice and snow crisis from the Eternal Glacier further north of the Storm Ocean.
However, that place is too far away from the human race; in fact, most Nascent Soul True Monarchs have never been to such a distant place. What happens there really has little to do with the Thousand Star Human Race.

If it really comes to that, even the City of a Thousand Stars can't solve it!
"A rare guest indeed, it's been quite a few years since I've seen you, hasn't it?"

"It's been five years since we last met, Qianyu-ge."

"The older I get, the lonelier I become, and the less time we spend together. I still miss the days in the Wind Spirit Secret Realm when we were together every day."

Lin Qianfan spends only one month a year at home, and the other eleven months he is away on business. Lin Qianyu is in a similar situation; he is currently traveling with the White Whale, so the two rarely meet.

"Has the matter of your Golden Core seed been settled yet?"

"It will be soon. Once I reach the fourth level of Foundation Establishment, I will be able to make a decision."

"Congratulations in advance!"

"Thank you! But the gap between us is widening! You calling me 'brother' is making me feel insecure!"

"He's still my brother, no matter what. Even when I become a Nascent Soul cultivator, I'll still have to call you Brother Qianyu."

"So arrogant? Then I'd better live a good life and make sure I reach the Golden Core stage, lest I pass away before I hear this."

"Of course you have to live well, you all have to live well!"

Although the Lin family has not expanded aggressively in the past seven years and has become much more restrained, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators has increased significantly, and they are more at ease sending them out to cultivate their comprehensive abilities. In the past, they rarely sent their cultivators out, but now they are not worried about certain issues and are actively sending them out to cultivate their comprehensive abilities.

"Qianfan? When did you get back?"

"Myna! We just arrived today! Where's your wife?"

"She has a lot of pill refining tasks and is very busy, so she will come later."

"Aren't there quite a few second-tier alchemists in the archipelago? Is it really necessary to push ourselves so hard?"

"Sigh~ I can't persuade her. Your sister-in-law wants me to compete for the Golden Core Seed. She's desperately trying to make money."

"Fight for it! Why not? The family has the resources now, and you have a certain foundation. I believe you can do it!"

My Brother and Sister Qianling got married a few years ago. My Brother, who was originally quite radical, has become more family-oriented and lost his passion. However, Lin Qianfan supports him in competing for the Golden Core Seed.

(End of this chapter)