78: Chapter 78 Good News from the Lake and the Fifth Level of Qi Refining

The blueprint for the Mortal kingdom had been laid out, and the planning for the Family school was progressing steadily, but these were long-term System projects that could not be rushed.

After Lin Cangchen submitted the relevant Jade Slip and plans to the Family, he contentedly retreated back to his Emerald Chirp Lake territory, continuing his fulfilling and regular "shut-in" life.

His daily routine became extremely fixed, yet full of a sense of accomplishment.

In the morning, facing the rising Spiritual Qi from the lake surface, he would meditate and Cultivate for two hours, running the Thick Earth Art to its limit, feeling the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian growing bit by bit.

The morning was the unshakeable time for Alchemy.

He was becoming increasingly adept at using the first-rank middle-grade Red Copper Pill Furnace; the earth fire was stable, and the spirit charcoal was sufficient.

He mainly refined two types of Medicinal Pill: first, the qi gathering pill for himself and Family reserves, with a success rate already stabilized at over 40%, occasionally producing a few Medium Grade ones; second, the spirit nurturing pill specifically for the "precious darlings" in the lake.

After continuous "scientific feeding," the changes in the Silver Thread Carp were obvious.

Their bodies were generally a circle larger, they swam more nimbly and powerfully, and the signature silver line on their bodies became increasingly dazzling, shining brightly in the sunlight, almost dazzling to the eyes.

What surprised Lin Cangchen the most was that, more than a month after he returned to Emerald Chirp Lake, he discovered that those female Silver Thread Carp with slightly bloated bodies had actually laid clusters of crystal-clear fish eggs in the lush water plants at the bottom of the lake!

"Good fellow! Finally waited for this day!" Lin Cangchen lay by the lake, carefully observing the fish eggs with his Divine Sense, his mood even more excited than when he had achieved his own Breakthrough to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining.

"Whether we can artificially Cultivate the next generation of Silver Thread Carp depends on this one go!"

He immediately adjusted the "feeding" strategy, grinding the spirit nurturing pill into finer powder and sprinkling it evenly in the water area near the fish eggs, ensuring that both the mother and the future small fish could absorb the medicinal power.

At the same time, he quietly set up a miniature Small Spirit Gathering Array in the fish egg area, gathering the thin water and wood Spiritual Qi from the surroundings to create a better hatching environment.

Besides the good news of the spawning, the change in the largest male fish in the school—the one with the brightest silver line and usually quite majestic—was even more shocking.

It was now nearly two feet long, its scales were hard, and it could even stir up a small current when swimming.

The Spiritual Pressure it emitted had reached the Peak of a First Grade, Low Rank Yao Beast!

It often patrolled the periphery of the school, and the occasional glance at Lin Cangchen, the "feeding officer," carried a trace of scrutiny and... well, let's call it "Fish King's Disdain"?

"Fine, you're awesome, you call the shots, the Medicinal Pill will be enough."

Lin Cangchen didn't care about this at all, but rather was happy to see it.

The greater the potential of the Silver Thread Carp, the higher the benefits it could bring to the Family in the future.

He spent the afternoon mainly researching Formation.

Early last year, he began to study large-scale first-rank middle-grade Formations, with the goal of being able to cover the Thick Earth Bedrock Formation in an area of hundreds of miles.

This was much harder than setting up those palm-sized mobile Formation Plate or small-scale fixed Formations.

According to the Legacy knowledge he mastered, Formations were generally divided into several categories: the most common were mobile Formations, such as the Spirit Gathering Formation plate he refined, which was convenient to carry, but limited in power and range; followed by fixed Formations, arranged according to the terrain and Spiritual Vein, with stronger power and wider range, such as the defensive Formation arranged in Emerald Chirp Lake and Black Stone Valley.

Among fixed Formations, there were small common Formations (covering several feet to tens of feet) and large-scale Formations (up to a radius of five hundred miles, with a minimum requirement of first-rank middle-grade).

Being of the same first-rank middle-grade, the complexity, material consumption, and requirements for the Formation Master's Divine Sense and Qi control of large-scale Formations far exceeded small Formations, not on the same level at all.

As for the mountain-protecting/clan-protecting grand Formation, that was the top existence among Formations; it could only be a fixed Formation, requiring the Formation Master to spend painstaking effort, combining mountains, terrain, and Spiritual Vein trends to carefully design, like the first-tier high-grade grand Formation that the Old Ancestor invited someone to arrange at the Lin Clan Territory, which was the final barrier of the Family.

What Lin Cangchen was challenging now was the threshold of large-scale fixed Formations.

He used Spirit Stone powder to outline complex Formation patterns on the ground, his Divine Sense sinking into them, deducing the flow path of Spiritual Qi, the layout of the Formation base, the echo between different Formation eyes... He often sat for several hours at a time, stopping only when his Divine Sense was mostly consumed and he felt dizzy.

Although this high-intensity study was hard, the harvest was huge.

His understanding of the Dao of Formation became increasingly profound, and his Divine Sense became more condensed and sharp under this tempering.

In addition to Cultivating, raising fish, and studying Formations, he would return to the Clan Territory about every half month to fulfill his duty as a "guest professor," giving lectures on the most basic Formation knowledge to the Clan Members (mainly new Immortal Seedlings and a few young Clan Members of the "Cang" and ling generation) in the expanded "Family Comprehensive School."

Looking at the ignorant, curious, or focused eyes below the stage, Lin Cangchen found some fun in being a teacher (although most of the time was spent dealing with "one hundred thousand whys").

Fulfilling days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, two months passed.

On this day, Lin Cangchen was deducing the layout of the Formation base for the Thick Earth Bedrock Formation on the open space by the lake as usual.

Suddenly, he felt something, and the Thick Earth Art in his body accelerated automatically, the Spiritual Qi vortex in his Dantian rotating violently, reaching a critical point!

"When the water flows, the channel is formed; it is now!"

He immediately sat cross-legged, collected his mind, and fully guided the surging Spiritual Qi to impact that invisible barrier.

There were no big waves, as if he had just poked through a layer of window paper.

A Spiritual Pressure nearly half as strong as before radiated from his body, and the absorption speed of Spiritual Qi around his body increased significantly!

Qi Refining Fifth Layer, success!

He spent half a day consolidating his cultivation, feeling the fuller Spiritual Qi and tougher Meridians in his body, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The Bottleneck from the Middle Stage of Qi Refining to the Late Stage was a hurdle, but the Breakthrough of small stages was not too difficult for him, especially since his actual Spiritual Root efficiency was comparable to a Four-Element Spiritual Root, plus the assistance of Medicinal Pill and spiritual land, his cultivation speed was not slow.

After leaving seclusion, he was in a great mood and specially refined a few more furnaces of spirit nurturing pill, giving extra meals to the "heroes" in the lake, especially the "Fish King," which received a separate reward of a whole spirit nurturing pill, making it flip several somersaults in the water (perhaps expressing dissatisfaction? Lin Cangchen automatically understood it as happiness).

A few days later, when he returned to the Clan Territory to teach, he heard another good news.

The Family Genius, Lin Lingfeng of the Four-Element Spiritual Root, finally successfully broke through the Bottleneck in the Secret Realm, with the help of the rich Spiritual Qi far exceeding the Clan Territory and using a precious barrier breaking pill, stepping into the Qi Refining Seventh Layer and officially becoming a Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivator!

A twenty-year-old Qi Refining Late Stage was definitely a top Genius in the Qingshi Town area!

After the Breakthrough, Lin Lingfeng's temperament became much brighter, and the gloom caused by the Bottleneck between his brows was swept away.

And his relationship with Zhao Lingshan, the female Cultivator from the Zhao Family who was gentle but stubborn, seemed to have become closer because of this.

It was heard that Lin Lingfeng had officially applied to the Clan Chief, hoping that the Family could come forward to discuss with the Zhao Family to let him and Zhao Lingshan become Dao Companions.

The Clan Chief, LinYaozong, was naturally happy to see this.

Lin Lingfeng was one of the pillars of the Family's future, and marrying into the Zhao Family, which was declining but still had a foundation, to further consolidate the Alliance was a win-win good thing.

And the Zhao Family Ancestor was even happier when he heard about this; his granddaughter could marry the rising Genius of the Lin Family, and the binding between the Zhao Family and the Lin Family would be deeper, which was undoubtedly a timely help for the Zhao Family, who urgently needed a chance to breathe.

The Family was flourishing, his own cultivation was steadily improving, and the cultivation of spirit fish was beginning to show results.

Lin Cangchen lay on the rocking chair by Emerald Chirp Lake (which he wove himself using the Green Vine Art), basking in the warm sun, feeling that his life was quite comfortable.

"Well, going by this trend, when Clan Chief grandfather succeeds in Foundation Establishment, our Lin Family might really be able to carve out a new world in this Luoxia County, or even a wider region!"

"But for now, let's manage my one acre and three cents of land first, and by the way, think about how to trick... ah no, inspire those little guys to love the Dao of Formation when I go to class next time?"

He narrowed his eyes, enjoying this rare leisure time, and had already begun to calculate the "lesson plan" for the next lecture.