Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 149 Rewards and a New Talent [Spiritual Flame Cultivation] (Please Subscribe)
The Zhou family's lively atmosphere lasted for several days, with visitors coming every day, both acquaintances and strangers.

Some came to visit and try to build a relationship, some went to Zhou Ling's house to arrange marriages, and some used the pretext of buying spirit wine to ask Li Ru for advice on how to raise children...

Li Ru was initially delighted and received everyone, but the sheer number of visitors each day severely impacted the efficiency of brewing, causing the distillery's business to fall behind.

Li Ru gradually became annoyed and could only go to the winery early in the morning, no longer receiving visitors.

Zhou Ling also went to Maple Leaf Mountain to cultivate early in the morning. After another seven or eight days, the Zhou family gradually returned to peace.

On this morning, a gentle breeze was blowing and the air was fresh.

Last night's sudden downpour swept away the sweltering heat of Lingxia Immortal City these past few days.

There is still a lot of standing water on the streets.

Zhou Ling walked briskly and arrived at the entrance of the Tiangong Division early in the morning.

Zhou Ling arrived at the side hall's miscellaneous affairs office with ease, only to find Steward Qin standing there waiting for him, a warm smile on his face.

He walked over, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Greetings, Steward."

Deacon Qin waved his hand and said gently, "No need for such formalities, sit down and talk."

After Zhou Ling sat down, an assistant brought him some spiritual tea.

After taking a sip of spiritual tea, Deacon Qin took out an exquisite jade box from his storage ring and said with a smile, "Brother Ling, this is your reward for getting first place in this assessment!"

"Thank you, Deacon!"

Zhou Ling accepted the jade box and thanked him with a joyful expression.

This is the reward for the winner of this magical contest!

Zhou Ling felt a sense of anticipation.

However, he didn't rush to open the jade box, after all, he still wanted to leave a composed impression on Steward Qin.

"In addition to the rewards in the jade box, there is also a Foundation Establishment seed quota for the Dao Academy."

"This is extremely rare, especially given your current situation."

Deacon Qin said with a hint of concern.

Taking a sip of spiritual tea, he continued, "Although your spiritual root aptitude is not outstanding, your comprehension and talent for cultivation are very high. You are one of the best disciples I have encountered over the years."

"However, for cultivators, spiritual root aptitude is an extremely important factor."

"This is related to future achievements."

"Moreover, you are cultivating a five-element attribute technique. When you reach the foundation stage, you will need even more auxiliary spiritual objects. Therefore, you need to make more preparations after entering the Dao Academy."

"Thank you for the reminder, Deacon!" Zhou Ling said, bowing in thanks.

Master also said that if he could gather five different types of spiritual flames with the Five Elements Qianyang True Technique in the future, he could achieve Foundation Establishment, and possibly even Heaven-grade Foundation Establishment.

However, it is very difficult.

Fortunately, I already have Beast Flame and Azure Lotus Spirit Flame. As for the other three types of spirit flames, I'll have to find them slowly.

After all, spiritual flames are rare and precious treasures that are hard to come by.

Sometimes you also need luck!
Moreover, he has only just entered the seventh level of Qi Refining. It will take at least two or three years to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"In addition, Inspector Lu has agreed to give you a recommendation for a first-rank official position in the Heavenly Crafts Bureau."

"There will be an assessment opportunity in October, so you should seize it."

"These kinds of opportunities are rare. If you miss one, it will be very difficult to get another one in the future!"

"Moreover, it involves the assessment for first-rank professional titles, and the difficulty of this assessment is no less than that of the second-rank inscription."

"As for the refining of second-grade inscriptions, not only is sufficient spiritual power required, but also the assistance of divine soul power in tempering."

"If you have any questions about inscription techniques before you go to Xuan Yuan Dao Academy to register, feel free to come and ask me!"

After saying this, Steward Qin picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea.

Zhou Ling bowed again to express his gratitude, and then took the opportunity to ask Steward Qin some questions about the inscription.

Although there are talents such as "The More You Frustrate, the Stronger You Become" and "Intermediate Analysis" to assist you, inscriptions and engravings are tedious and complex, involving inscriptions and engravings with various different attributes.

Many factors are involved, including materials, the development of spiritual ink, drawing techniques, and the combination of inscriptions.

Even if he successfully draws the inscription, there are still many aspects that he has not fully grasped or mastered.

Therefore, many doubts accumulated in my mind.

With a senior second-grade inscription master like Steward Qin providing guidance, not everyone in Lingxia Immortal City has this kind of opportunity.

It was only after these past six months that I had left a good impression on Deacon Qin, and in addition, I had become good friends with He Zijian. If it were anyone else, Deacon Qin wouldn't care so much!
After the spiritual tea in the teacup was refilled twice, Zhou Ling still had many questions, but other people came to visit from time to time.

Deacon Qin could only send Zhou Ling back for now, and inquire about him later when there was time.

After Zhou Ling bowed and thanked him, he left the miscellaneous affairs hall.

With his innate talent, he often understood these problems that troubled him very quickly, without needing much explanation from Steward Qin.

After leaving the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau, Zhou Ling returned home.

Along the way, people he knew and people he didn't all greeted him with smiles.

Zhou Ling politely returned the greetings one by one.

Zhou Ling's parents had already gone to the winery. After taking a sip of water, he took out the crystal jade box that he had been rewarded with.

Upon opening, one finds a finely crafted magic pen inside the jade box. The pen handle is made of crystal jade, and the bristles are both tough and soft.

"A second-tier, low-grade spirit brush."

Zhou Ling's eyes lit up.

The spirit brush he is currently using is a first-grade superior quality, which is sufficient for his needs for the time being.

However, this spirit brush will come in handy if I need to refine second-tier inscriptions in the future.

There was also a bottle of Grade 1 High-Quality Qi-Harmony Pill and three shiny spirit stones.

The spiritual energy contained in these three spirit stones is far more concentrated and pure than that of low-grade spirit stones.

"This should be a mid-grade spirit stone!"

Zhou Ling took out a mid-grade spirit stone, his face beaming with joy.

The reward for the champion was indeed generous.

Even a second-tier low-grade spirit brush is worth several hundred spirit stones.

A bottle of top-grade first-tier Qi-unifying pills with one-dan pattern, containing three pills, would cost at least two or three hundred spirit stones.

This reward, when calculated, will amount to close to four thousand low-grade spirit stones.

This is a huge profit.

It should be noted that for an average Qi Refining cultivator, earning ten low-grade spirit stones a month is already considered quite good.

Zhou Ling was in a great mood after putting away the spirit stones.

Now that I have three mid-grade spirit stones and over three hundred low-grade spirit stones, I can start preparing to move to a more spacious house with more abundant spiritual energy.

After packing my things, I headed to Maple Leaf Mountain.

In the evening, when I returned home, my mother had already prepared four dishes and a soup, including spirit beast meat, steamed spirit fish meat, and stewed chicken soup, all of which were spirit foods.

"Oh, Aunt Chu is really something, coming over every day to arrange marriages for Ling'er!"

"I clearly refused, but she still insisted on bringing the girl over so I could see her!"

Li Ru shook her head helplessly as she untied her apron.

Zhou Shan also smiled and said, "They meant well!"

"Father, Mother, these are the three mid-grade spirit stones and Qi-Harmony Pills I received as the champion's reward this time!"

Zhou Ling was most afraid of marriage proposals, so he quickly interrupted the conversation, took out the jade box, and smiled at his parents.

"A mid-grade spirit stone!"

Looking at the dazzling spirit stone in the jade box, which was even brighter than a crystal lamp, Li Ru and his wife were full of surprise.

"Father, Mother, now that we have spirit stones, I'm wondering if we should move to a place near the Taoist temple, where the spiritual energy is more abundant."

Zhou Ling spoke up.

“Ling’er, our house has enough spiritual energy right now, and the winery also serves the neighborhood. Moving now wouldn’t be very appropriate!”

Li Ru took out a mid-grade spirit stone, examined it carefully for a while, then put it back. After thinking for a moment, she said to Zhou Ling.

Seeing that his parents seemed reluctant to leave, Zhou Ling didn't say anything.

Nowadays, the winery can earn quite a few spirit stones every month just from the business of He Family Restaurant.

The neighbors around me mostly buy ordinary spirit wine, and they don't make much profit.

Zhou Ling respected her parents' decision and didn't say anything more.

He shoveled down large mouthfuls of spiritual rice and then ate a big chicken leg.

"Ling'er, you have now reached the late stage of Qi Refining and will be going to Qingyun Immortal City the following month."

"It's said that the spiritual energy there is much richer than in Lingxia Immortal City, and prices are also higher. You should keep these mid-grade spirit stones and Qi-union pills; they'll definitely be quite expensive once you get to the Dao Academy!"

Li Ru closed the jade box and smiled at Zhou Ling.

Zhou Ling thought for a moment, took out the pill bottle, handed it to his mother, and said with a smile, "Mother, you can take this pill, I'll keep the spirit stones."

The winery is doing quite well now, and the spirit stones it earns are enough to cover my parents' daily cultivation expenses.

I'll keep this mid-grade spirit stone for myself; it'll be useful later!

Li Ru wanted to say something, but seeing that her son had already placed the elixir bottle in his hand, she didn't say anything more.

The family then enjoyed a happy meal together.

Bang bang bang!
"Brother Zhou, open the door quickly! Xu Jiu is injured!"

I had just finished eating when there was a rapid knocking on the door.

Upon hearing it, Zhou Ling recognized it as Chu Xing's voice.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shan, without even putting on shoes, hurriedly walked out of the main room and opened the door for Chu Xing.

Zhou Ling also got up and followed him out.

Li Ru, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, also came out.

"Brother Chu, what's wrong?"

Upon opening the door, Zhou Shan hurriedly asked.

Under the dim light of the red lanterns at the entrance, Zhou Ling saw that Chu Xing's robes had many tears.

There were still some dried bloodstains on his cheeks.

"Let's talk inside!"

Chu Xing glanced around the street, then hurriedly walked in and closed the door.

Seeing Chu Xing's actions, Zhou Shan's family was taken aback. Wasn't Xu Jiu supposed to be injured?
Upon entering the main room, Zhou Shan hurriedly poured Chu Xing a bowl of wine.

Chu Xing took a big gulp.

"Brother Chu, what happened to Lao Jiu?"

Zhou Shan asked hurriedly, his expression full of concern.

Although it has been some time since they last went into the mountains, the bond of life and death forged among the members of the medicine-hunting team will never change.

Chu Xing exhaled, his expression solemn, and lowered his voice, saying, "Today, when Lao Jiu and I were searching for spiritual herbs on the south side of Black Cloud Mountain, we unexpectedly discovered a small spiritual mine in a valley."

"We are also extremely excited. With this spirit mine, our lives will be much better from now on!"

"But who knew that we would encounter several Li family cultivators soon after leaving the valley."

“Li Mu went directly to us. We were short-handed and had no choice but to flee in haste.”

"Fortunately, we were familiar with the terrain and eventually managed to shake off their pursuit."

"However, Xu Jiu was still hit by Li Mu's Black Fiend Fist and is now suffering from the fiend poison. His condition is not optimistic."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shan frowned. "It's actually the Li family!"

Zhou Ling then turned his gaze and asked, "Uncle Chu, did the Li family also discover a spirit mine? Is that why they targeted you?"

He studied basic theoretical knowledge at the Taoist academy for many years, which included some knowledge of spirit ore.

Spirit ore is a crystal formed by the solidification of rich spiritual energy.

These crystals, after being mined and processed, can become the spiritual stones that circulate in the market today.

Even a small, first-tier mineral vein can contain a considerable amount of spirit stones.

Zhou Ling recalled that Xu Jiu and the others had mentioned a while ago that the Li family cultivators had been frequently appearing in the mountains these days, perhaps in search of this spirit mine.
Even a small spirit mine would cause two Foundation Establishment families to fight fiercely.

Obtaining a spirit mine would greatly increase the family's wealth and resources.

Moreover, Xu Jiu and Chu Xing were just independent cultivators.

Chu Xing pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "They don't seem to have discovered the location of the spirit mine yet; they haven't mentioned it in their conversation."

"They only dared to attack us because they saw that Xu Jiu and I were alone!"

"Brother Ling, this time I'll have to trouble you to find Doctor Wang."

"Uncle Chu, Uncle Xu was only injured by the Black Fiend Fist!" Zhou Ling asked in a deep voice as his gaze shifted.

If they're not after the spirit mine, then the Li family is deliberately targeting the medicine-hunting team. And who knows, their goal might even be to eliminate us.

Zhou Ling was thinking rapidly.

After all, in this assessment, he directly crippled Li Yinfeng, the pride of the Li family, who possessed the Blood Spirit Vein!
It's unlikely they'll easily swallow this insult.

However, having fought against the Black Fiend Fist multiple times in the [Illusion Simulation], he already knew the evil poison contained within it.

As long as these evil toxins haven't invaded the Qi Sea and Heart Meridian, I can use the Spirit Flame to burn them away.

But once it enters the Qi Sea or Heart Meridian, it becomes dangerous.

Chu Xing nodded.

Zhou Lingxuan immediately said, "Mother, go find Aunt Wang. I'll go with Uncle Chu to see Uncle Xu first."

“Okay, I’ll go right away!” Li Ru nodded hurriedly.

He then hurriedly left the house.

With Zhou Ling winning first place in the assessment of the four major academies, no one treats him like a child anymore.

In addition, he was steady and reliable in his work, so the three adults subconsciously followed his instructions at this moment.

Afterwards, Zhou Ling and his son, along with Chu Xing, went to Xu Jiu's house, which was not far away.

The layout of Xu Jiu's house was similar to that of Zhou Ling's house, only smaller.

The faint light of the candle flickered and swayed.

Xu Jiu, who was seriously injured and unconscious, was lying in the main room.

Aunt Xu, her face streaked with tears, took a clean rag and wiped the blood from the corner of Xu Jiu's mouth.

Two children, only four or five years old, stood sensibly beside their mother without saying a word.

"Brother Chu, Brother Zhou, what should we do?"

Seeing Chu Xing and the others walk in, Aunt Xu could no longer hold back her sobs.

"Dr. Wang will be here soon, everything will be alright!"

Chu Xing said in a deep voice.

Aunt Xu nodded, her voice choked with emotion.

"Auntie, let me take a look!"

Zhou Ling walked to Xu Jiu's side and took his hand.

"Ling-ge'er, what are you doing?" Aunt Xu asked.

"I cultivate a fire-attribute technique, which has a restraining effect on the evil poison of this Black Fiend Fist."

"I want to use my spiritual power to help Uncle Xu remove the evil poison from his body. I think it will be effective."

Zhou Ling explained.

A chill ran through Xu Jiu's hand.

Keep in mind that it's June now, the hottest time of the year in Lingxia Immortal City.

"Will this work?" Aunt Xu asked, wiping away her tears.

"We can only try it for now; at least we can suppress the spread of the evil poison!"

Zhou Ling didn't dare to make any definitive statements.

After all, although he could control the spiritual flame, it would be difficult to deal with if Xu Jiu's meridians could not withstand the heat of the spiritual flame.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Ling!" Aunt Xu nodded and said.

Zhou Ling now enjoys a high status among his neighbors, and people trust him.

Zhou Ling nodded, then activated the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame, condensing a faint wisp of azure spirit flame in his palm.

Then, controlling the spiritual flames, he carefully channeled them into Xu Jiu's meridians along his arm.

During this process, Zhou Ling simultaneously circulated the wood-attribute spiritual energy within his body to protect Xu Jiu's meridians.

[You are currently controlling the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame. Precision +1, Azure Lotus Spirit Flame Control Proficiency +1]

[Growth Talent, Spiritual Flame Nourishment: Spiritual flames can be used to nourish meridians, heal wounds, detoxify, and accelerate spiritual energy recovery. Requirement: Perform ten meridian nourishment sessions.]

At this point, a prompt appears on the panel.

Zhou Ling focused his mind on controlling the spiritual flame and didn't pay attention to the control panel.

As the spiritual flame slowly flowed through one meridian cycle in Xu Jiu's body.

Zhou Ling finally let out a breath.

He then reabsorbed the spiritual flame back into his body.

At this moment, Xu Jiu's originally cold skin gradually turned red, wisps of black energy seeped out, and the solidified spiritual power in his body gradually began to flow. After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

"woke up!"

"Ling-ge'er is really amazing!"

Chu Xing praised him with a delighted expression.

"I!"

As soon as Xu Jiu spoke, he coughed up a mouthful of black blood and then fainted again.

"father!"

"father!"

Aunt Xu and her two children were so frightened that they burst into tears.

Zhou Ling was also startled, as there had been no problems with the detoxification process just now.

Moreover, fearing damage to his meridians, he used wood-attribute spiritual energy to envelop the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame.

With the strength of Xu Jiu's meridians at the seventh level of Qi Refining, there shouldn't be any damage.

I was at a loss for what to do!
Fortunately, footsteps could be heard outside at that moment.

Li Ru led Wang Yu in hurriedly.

"Dr. Wang!"

"Aunt Wang!"

Everyone greeted Wang Yu.

Wang Yu nodded, then stepped forward and briefly examined Xu Jiu's meridians. After a moment, she smiled and said, "Most of the poison in his body has been removed, and there is no great danger!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Wang Yu wrote out a prescription and said to Aunt Xu, "This is a prescription to nourish the meridians and remove evil toxins. Go to the pharmacy tomorrow to buy it, and take it for about ten days, and you should be fine!"

"Thank you, Dr. Wang!"

Aunt Xu took the prescription and hurriedly thanked Wang Yu.

"We still have to thank Brother Ling. It was he who removed the evil poison; otherwise, things wouldn't have been so easy to handle!"

Wang Yu smiled.

With her medical skills, she naturally recognized Xu Jiu's condition at a glance.

Moreover, there is also the aura of spiritual flame within Xu Jiu's meridians.

And the only one who possesses the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame is Zhou Ling.

"Thank you, Brother Ling!"

Aunt Xu also thanked Zhou Ling.

"Aunt Xu, you're too kind!"

Zhou Ling replied.

He then asked Wang Yu, "Aunt Wang, will my spiritual flame be more effective in helping Uncle Xu remove the evil poison?"

"No need. His condition has stabilized, and there isn't much residual poison left. As long as he takes medicine, it can be completely removed."

"If we use the spiritual flame, the effect will be much better, but it is easy to damage the meridians!"

Wang Yu shook her head.

Zhou Ling nodded.

Zhou Shan then carried the unconscious Xu Jiu to the inner room.

Then everyone bid farewell to Aunt Xu and left the Xu family.

Wang Yu also took his leave and went back.

Chu Xing then followed Zhou Shan and the others to the Chu family home.

He looked much more relaxed.

"Brother Chu, what do you suggest we do about this?"

Zhou Shan poured Chu Xing a bowl of spirit wine and said somewhat indignantly.

No wonder he was furious. If it weren't for the timely medical treatment, Xu Jiu would have lost his life!

"This matter cannot simply be left unresolved."

"However, the Li family has two early Foundation Establishment cultivators, and Li Mu is also at the ninth level of Qi Refining."

"With the current strength of our medicine-finding team, we are definitely no match for them, so we need to plan this matter carefully!"

Chu Xing said with a solemn expression.

Then, he took another big gulp of spirit wine, looked at Zhou Ling, and asked, "Brother Ling, what do you think we should do about this?"

Now, he also highly regards Zhou Ling.

In his view, Zhou Ling is now a member of the Heavenly Crafts Guard and has entered the Dao Academy, so his future achievements will definitely far surpass theirs.

Zhou Ling thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "The Li family cultivators entered the mountain, most likely for this spirit mine. In any case, we certainly cannot let them find the spirit mine."

"Now, it all depends on whether we have the strength to seize the spirit mine!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xing frowned and said, "With our current strength, even if we occupy the spirit mine, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold onto it."

"How about we cooperate with other medicine-hunting teams?" Zhou Shan suggested.

In his view, the most important thing now is to prevent the Li family from discovering the spirit mine.

Chu Xing shook his head directly, "The other medicine-hunting teams will never be of the same mind as us, and they will never join us in dealing with the Li family!"

Zhou Ling scratched his head and began to think.

The medicine-finding team currently consists of seven independent cultivators. Among them, Chu Xing is at the ninth level of Qi Refining, while the others are: his father at the late stage of Body Refining, Xu Jiu at the seventh level of Qi Refining, Liu Shi at the seventh level of Qi Refining, and the rest at the middle stage of Qi Refining.

Against the Li family, they have absolutely no chance of winning.

"Why don't we discuss this with He Zijian?"

At this moment, Li Ru poured wine for Chu Xing and Zhou Shan from a wine jar. Seeing the solemn expressions on their faces, she couldn't help but speak up.

"Uncle Chu, what do you think of cooperating with He Zijian?"

Zhou Ling also spoke up.

Of course, he was referring to He Zijian, not the He family, which naturally reflects his own calculations.

Based on his understanding of He Zijian, he would most likely help with this matter.

But he didn't know anything about the He family.

Moreover, the relationships between aristocratic families are complex; the spirit wine that the He family's Four Seasons Pavilion used to serve was originally supplied by the Li family.

It's good that it proves the relationship between the two families.

Once these powerful families are involved, the matter will likely end up like last time, at most involving an apology and nothing more.

But now, Zhou Ling absolutely does not want this outcome.

Li Mu's attack on Chu Xing and his group this time was clearly intended to kill them.

If it's a family member, then it's equally unavoidable.

Moreover, he was going to Xuanyuan Dao Academy in September, and his parents were obviously not safe in Lingxia Immortal City.

Therefore, he absolutely does not want to take this kind of risk.

Moreover, and most importantly, if he crippled Li Yinfeng, they would definitely retaliate.

How could I just sit idly by and wait to die?

Now that the Li family has gone into the mountains to search for spirit minerals, this is also my opportunity.

"He Zijian!"

Chu Xing murmured a sentence.

He then nodded decisively and said, "No matter who it is, as long as they can help us deal with the Li family and avenge Lao Jiu, we don't care if we don't want this spirit mine!"

"Alright, I'm relieved to hear Uncle Chu's words. I'll have a proper discussion with He Zijian tomorrow!"

Zhou Ling said seriously.

The three then continued their discussion about the situation in the mountains and the spirit mine.

(End of this chapter)