Clan Cultivation: Starting with Plundering Demonic Beast Talents

After helping Lin Qinggui settle down, Lin Qingyang returned to the Hundred Talismans Pavilion.

"Greetings, Steward Qingyang."

Supervisor Lin Qingyi, who was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, took the initiative to greet them, saying, "Sister Qingwan is still taking inventory of the goods. Ziyang Pavilion has been prepared, and you can move in at any time."

"Ziyang Pavilion? That's Elder Zongbai's residence. Who said I was going to move in?"

Lin Qingyang's expression was not good.

"Please don't misunderstand, this was requested personally by the elder."

Lin Qingyi quickly explained, "He stated in the letter that you are the foundation-building seed of the family."

"The concentration of spiritual energy in Ziyang Pavilion is among the top ten in the entire Nanhefang area, which is one of the few supports he can offer you."

Lin Qingyang's expression softened considerably, and he nodded, "I understand, you can go ahead and get back to work."

"Someone should come looking for me in a while. I can just bring him up then."

After giving his instructions, he went upstairs to the second floor.

He didn't have much to pack; he simply moved the first-tier mid-grade dust curtain array he had set up at his original residence to his new one.

As you step into the end of the corridor, a golden restriction appears, comparable to a top-grade first-tier array. It is estimated that even a second-tier spirit talisman could withstand two of them.

"Seclusion here is perfectly safe."

He glanced at it, then took out his steward's token, and after about three breaths, the restriction dissipated.

Stepping inside, the room was not large, even smaller than his original residence.

But the most direct feeling is the concentration of spiritual energy. The mist is swirling around, and it is already close to the second-level spiritual vein!

This is the advantage of Nanhefang, because it was established by the four major families in conjunction with Qingyuan Sect.

By using methods such as spirit-gathering arrays, some areas can be upgraded to the level of second-tier or even third-tier spirit veins, greatly increasing the efficiency of spiritual energy utilization.

Lin Qingyang tried circulating his cultivation technique, estimating that refining spiritual energy here would speed up his cultivation by about 10%.

"We can't waste time."

He immediately began cultivating and refining spiritual energy.

Because he lacked the materials to draw high-grade spirit talismans, and had used most of his spiritual items to exchange for second-tier water ape essence blood, he currently possessed less than a hundred spirit stones.

The Qi-Strengthening Pill, which is taken in the late stage of Qi Refining, requires spiritual herbs that are over fifty years old to refine, and its price is nearly three times that of the Qi Gathering Pill taken by mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

However, the late stage of Qi Refining, being the last stage before Foundation Establishment, requires accumulating a great deal of magical power.

Therefore, going from the seventh to the ninth level of Qi Refining, taking pills can speed up the process by half, but it will cost at least nearly a thousand spirit stones.

Even if Lin Qingyang is now a top-grade talisman master, if he gives up cultivation and spends all day refining talismans, he would be lucky to earn three hundred spirit stones a year after deducting costs.

However, he could not afford such a price, so he planned to exchange the pills for other items.

High-grade talismans can only be made from the hides of high-grade demon beasts like the Azure Spirit Deer, and their price is not much different from that of high-grade pills.

Judging from the Black Wind Stronghold thief he killed back then, even a thief of wealth would only have three first-grade high-level spirit talismans on him.

……

About half a month later, at noon.

Ziyang Pavilion.

Ripples spread through the golden array.

Lin Qingyang sensed something, made hand seals, stopped his cultivation, and slowly dispersed the spiritual energy gathered in his body.

He opened his eyes, somewhat helplessly. His spiritual root was quite good, and the Spirit Source Water Control Technique was also a decent cultivation method.

After half a month of dedicated seclusion and arduous cultivation, he was still less than one percent away from accumulating enough magical power to break through to the eighth level of Qi Refining.

"At this rate of cultivation, it would take at least five years of secluded and arduous training to reach the eighth level of Qi Refining."

Lin Qingyang sighed slightly. The further one progresses, the longer it takes to break through a cultivation level.

After five years of cultivation, one reaches the eighth level of Qi Refining; after another seven years, one reaches the ninth level of Qi Refining; and after another ten years, one reaches the ninth level of Qi Refining.

This is already a relatively fast scenario, but it will still take twenty-four years. By then, he will be close to the age of sixty and will have reached the limit of breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, in addition to enjoying such spiritual veins, he also had to undertake corresponding tasks, such as drawing a certain number of first-grade high-quality talismans every year to attract traffic to the Hundred Talisman Pavilion.

Secondly, the Qishui Tan omens mission occurs every few years.

Finally, he still needed to find the auxiliary ingredients for the Foundation Building Pill.

Based on this calculation, the time it takes for him to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining must be controlled within fifteen years.

No wonder there are only a handful of people in the family at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and most of them are already over a hundred years old.

"There are two ways. One is to collect three more drops of water ape blood essence, which should be enough to upgrade it to a superior spiritual root, and then the cultivation speed will double."

"The second method is to take the Qi-Strengthening Pill. Even if there is an interval between taking it due to the toxicity of the pill, it is estimated that it can increase the cultivation speed by 50%."

Lin Qingyang had already considered this, and his final decision was to take a two-pronged approach: upgrading to a superior-grade spiritual root would increase the probability of success during Foundation Establishment by 10%, and this was something that had to be done.

Unfortunately, the family only had two drops of essence blood left. Even if he exchanged them all for his own, he would still be one drop short of being able to plunder the talent of the Dark-Eyed Ape.

Given the preciousness of second-tier essence blood, he had no idea how long it would take to find an opportunity.

Therefore, exchanging high-grade talismans for Qi-stabilizing pills is currently the top priority.

……

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he opened the barrier, and a burly man with a scarred face walked in.

"Greetings, Master Lin. I heard the news of your advancement to the late stage of Qi Refining three months ago, and I was overjoyed."

Hong Yifei presented a jade box with a respectful expression, inside which was a transparent jade bead emitting a blue light. "This water spirit bead is a gift I prepared for you. I hope you won't find it offensive."

Although both of them were at the late stage of Qi Refining, Hong Yifei had been his peer when Lin Qingyang was still in the middle stage of Qi Refining. He would even give up some of his profits in every transaction to curry favor with him.

Unfortunately, since the common water-type monsters in the area had all been traded away, he had no chance to contact Lin Qingyang.

A few days ago, after returning from hunting demons, he received an invitation from Lin Qingyang, and he immediately took out this treasured item that he had kept.

He hoped to befriend Lin Qingyang, believing that Lin Qingyang intended to continue his previous business with water escape talismans.

You guessed half right.

Lin Qingyang poured him wine and accepted the jade bead, which was about the size of a fist.

"Fellow Daoist Hong, you're too kind."

This Water Spirit Pearl is the essence of the clam demon's entire being. For a cultivator with a water spirit root, it is equivalent to consuming three Qi-stabilizing pills without any poison.

If taken during battle, with his current cultivation level, he could quickly recover 50% of his mana, which would be equivalent to having an extra life in a critical moment.

Therefore, the value of this Water Spirit Orb is already close to a hundred spirit stones.

Hong Yifei then sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries.

After a few rounds of drinks, Lin Qingyang directly stated his purpose: "Similar to before, I will exchange talismans for demon beast materials with Fellow Daoist Hong."

"However, this time, I'm offering a first-tier high-grade talisman, and I'll only trade materials from monsters that can be used to draw high-grade talismans."

Hong Yifei paused in his act of raising his glass, his face stiffening. He hadn't expected Lin Qingyang to call him over to discuss this business deal.

As a rogue cultivator who makes a living by hunting demons, he knew very well that the demonic beasts he had helped Lin Qingyang hunt before, such as the saber-toothed fish and the water-controlling turtle, were generally only mid-grade demonic beasts.

Therefore, three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators working together, along with more than ten mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, combined with an array, were able to reliably defeat the monsters, which was also their main target for hunting demons.

The three most common types of demonic beasts capable of drawing high-grade talismans near the Nanlu River are the Miasma Toad, the Shadow Wolf, and the Bone-Shattering Bear.

The former two become high-grade demonic beasts upon reaching adulthood, and they often live in groups. Once they start fighting, they must deal with at least five or six high-grade demonic beasts at the same time.

Although the Bone-Crushing Bear hunts alone, its defensive capabilities are outstanding. It would take three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators working together half an hour to break through its defenses.

However, if they were to take a hit from its bear paw, even a mid-grade defensive magic weapon would only last for a dozen breaths.

Often, a single battle would result in the loss of a defensive magic artifact worth hundreds of spirit stones, a risk that independent cultivators would never dare to take lightly.

Generally speaking, the independent cultivators of Nanlu River rarely provoke such monsters.

Therefore, even though he had been hunting demons for decades, he had only handled a few Shadow Wolf pelts.