Cultivating immortality begins with discerning the secrets of heaven.

Broken Cloud Ridge, in a certain ordinary town.

Lin Jing led a group of family cultivators, disguised as a merchant caravan, and hid in this city.

"Uncle Jing, the family has sent an urgent letter. Only you can open it."

Lin Jing took the spiritual letter, used his own spiritual power to break the seal on it, and then quickly scanned its contents with his divine sense.

The next moment, his expression changed slightly, and a look of seriousness flashed in his eyes.

"Uncle Jing, has something urgent happened in the family?"

Upon hearing the junior's question, Lin Jing shook his head without answering, and said, "Go and call Nakagawa back. We have important matters to discuss tonight."

Now that we've arrived at Duanyun Ridge, it's natural that someone should go and gather information about the Liu family.

Lin Zhongchuan was in charge of this matter. He led several Lin family cultivators to gather intelligence on the Liu family both openly and secretly, while also actively maintaining contact with the Xiong family.

Seeing the solemn expression on Lin Jing's face as a clan elder, the cultivators of the Zhong lineage dared not delay any longer.

That evening, Lin Zhongchuan led several Lin family cultivators back.

"Uncle Jing, what happened? Why did you suddenly call me back?" Lin Zhongchuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Lin Jing handed over the spiritual letter he had received during the day, telling him to look it up himself.

Before long, after reading the contents of the envelope, Lin Zhongchuan's expression turned to shock.

"How is this possible? Who provided this sequel?"

  

Lin Zhongchuan didn't finish his sentence, but the expression on his face was enough to convey how important the contents of this spiritual letter were.

"Uncle Jing, is this intelligence source reliable?"

Lin Jing nodded and said, "It's pretty much confirmed. It seems we have to stop this opportunistic act."

Lin Zhongchuan was somewhat reluctant to leave, but if the Liu family patriarch had indeed obtained a longevity pill, then staying here would be unwise.

"Then we can only return to the family. If the Liu family patriarch really succeeds in breaking through and takes it a step further, then we'll be in big trouble."

Lin Jing nodded and said, "Alright, pack up and leave as soon as possible to return to the family."

...

Taiyuan Sect, Hundred Refinements Peak.

After completing this month's weapon-refining task, Lin Yun set his sights on the scales of the Xuan Tu Lizard.

"If we use this as the main material, there shouldn't be too much of a problem in refining a mid-grade magic weapon."

"If we divide it into smaller pieces, it will be enough to forge two defensive magical artifacts."

However, he had never refined a mid-grade magic weapon before, so he was somewhat unsure of himself.

"So what if we fail? We can just take it as a learning experience."

With that in mind, Lin Yun began to dissect the Xuan Tu Lizard.

Although it's not a monster with any special bloodline, it's still at the mid-stage of the first tier, so it could fetch a good price if sold.

And so, Lin Yun began to deal with the Xuan Tu Lizard.

He first peeled off its entire skin. The skin of the Xuan Tu Lizard was covered with scales and was very hard. Even just wearing it would provide considerable defensive capabilities.

In addition, Lin Yun used his own magic power to refine the essence blood of the beast, obtaining more than half a bottle of demon beast essence blood.

After all this was done, the flesh and blood of the black earth lizard became very shriveled.

"The flesh and blood of a mid-stage first-tier demon beast are of little use to me; only when refined into its essence blood does it have any value."

As for his internal organs, they were completely charred black by the fire crow arrow he had previously shot into his body.

Lin Yun peeled away the flesh and blood, and finally removed a complete spine, which was also an excellent material for refining magic weapons and could be used as the main material for a mid-grade magic weapon.

In this way, he used the entire Xuan Tu Lizard thoroughly, leaving nothing behind that was essentially worthless.

"The Xuan Tu Lizard is an earth-attribute demon beast, and its hide contains abundant and rich earth-elemental spiritual energy."

"It would be perfect for crafting a piece of Xuan Earth inner armor."

"In addition, I have a lot of materials left over from helping the sect with weapon forging during this period, so I will take some as embellishments."

Gradually, a specific idea emerged in Lin Yun's mind.

He planned to use some leftover silver sand from the sect's weapon-refining process to infuse the leather armor, and then smelt purple-patterned copper into liquid and quench it into the armor to enhance its spirituality.

With this in mind, Lin Yun began to take action.

He split the inner shell of a Xuan Tu Lizard in two, then took out spiritual materials from his storage bag and began refining it according to his previous idea.

With his current skill in weapon crafting, he completed the prototypes of two pieces of Xuan Tu inner armor in about two days.

The purple molten copper solidified, filling all the gaps between the scales on the leather armor. In addition, there were glittering grains of silver sand inside the armor.

After Lin Yun completed the tempering process, the Xuan Earth Inner Armor was able to easily withstand attacks from many low-grade first-tier magic weapons.

"Just as I suspected, the silver sand and purple-veined copper are a perfect match for this Xuan Earth inner armor!"

Lin Yun's eyes lit up, and he examined the two inner armors that reflected purple light with great satisfaction.

"As for spirit patterns, earth-based spirit patterns are naturally the best choice. Mountain armor patterns and solidified stone patterns are the most suitable. However, in order to activate the spirituality of silver sand and purple copper, we also need to consider spirit patterns of other attributes."

Ultimately, Lin Yun planned to use the guiding pattern to connect the pangolin pattern and the solidified stone pattern, and then use the fire spirit pattern to mobilize the spirituality of the purple-patterned copper.

As for the Silver Sand, he inscribed a spirit-locking pattern separately to activate its spirituality, thereby resisting spiritual attacks.

One external, one internal; one primary, one secondary!

Twelve days passed in the blink of an eye, and a fluctuation of spiritual energy rippled through Lin Yun's courtyard.

During those twelve days, he meditated and rested several times to restore his spiritual power.

Refining mid-grade magic artifacts requires even more magic power. My cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining is still too shallow, making it impossible for me to refine two mid-grade magic artifacts in one go.

"Finally finished!"

Lin Yun looked at the two Xuan Tu inner armors in front of him with great satisfaction, one of which, strictly speaking, should be considered a failed refining.

Because too many accidents occurred during the process of inscribing the spirit runes, the inner armor lost too much of its spiritual essence.

Even after it is finally refined, its power is only equivalent to that of a low-grade magic weapon.

However, he succeeded in inscribing the second piece of Xuan Tu inner armor with only three spirit patterns, and a mid-grade magic weapon was born from his hands.

"Indeed, with this armor for close protection, coupled with my body refining cultivation, I should be able to put up a fight against those late-stage Qi Refining cultivators who do not possess high-grade magic weapons."

After all, a high-grade magic weapon costs eight or nine hundred spirit stones, which is not something that ordinary rogue cultivators can afford.

It should be noted that even within the Lin family, only a few elders possess high-grade magic artifacts, which are considered family heirlooms.

"Hmm? When did an invitation appear outside the door?"

After donning the Xuan Tu Inner Armor, before he could even test its power, he discovered an invitation outside the door, imprinted with a red leaf pattern.

Lin Yun picked up the invitation, opened it, and a look of joy appeared on his face.

"Sister Hongye has successfully established her Foundation Establishment? The clan has gained another Foundation Establishment cultivator; this is truly a joyous occasion!"

"Looks like I'll have a powerful backer to rely on within the sect from now on!"

This invitation was naturally for Lin Hongye's Foundation Establishment celebration. In the cultivation world, a celebration can be held to commemorate each breakthrough to a major realm.

However, a Foundation Establishment celebration like Lin Hongye's would not be a grand affair, since it takes place within the sect and an overly extravagant display would inevitably attract gossip.

Therefore, she only invited three or five close friends from within the sect, as well as a few family members who cultivated within the sect.

"Oh no, the Foundation Establishment Ceremony is today?"

...