Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 153 Harvest and the Approaching Start of School (Please Subscribe)
"flutter!"

Li Yan's body fell to the ground, his eyes wide open, his face filled with disbelief.

Although Zhou Ling and He Zijian successfully killed him, they were also greatly weakened.

He Zijian was pale, and his spiritual power was less than 10%. After taking the Qi-Harmony Pill, he sat cross-legged to recover.

Zhou Ling used the beast flames to unleash the Five Elements Sword, but the backlash was also enormous.

At this moment, the beast flame within his body was only the size of a little finger, and its light was extremely weak. It would take a long time to recover.

Then, Zhou Ling scanned Li Yan's corpse with his divine sense and saw a silver-gray ring on the fingers of his right hand.

With a thought, the ring flew from Li Yan's hand and landed in Zhou Ling's hand.

Zhou Ling put it into his arms.

This is a storage ring worn by Foundation Establishment cultivators; its internal space far exceeds that of a storage bag.

After doing all this, Zhou Ling glanced around.

Although the medicine seekers were outnumbered, they used the Thunderfire Balls to bombard the area simultaneously, killing three Li family cultivators and severely injuring two others.

Combat power dropped sharply.

Now that they saw that the family head Li Yan had been killed, the others had no will to fight and only thought about breaking through the encirclement and escaping this place as soon as possible.

Li Mu was covered in dust and looked disheveled, completely overwhelmed by Chu Xing's fierce attacks.

His Black Fiend Fist was quite powerful, but it had no advantage against Chu Xing's fire-attribute magic attacks.

Seeing Li Yan killed, he was terrified and rushed to escape.

In a moment of panic, he was caught off guard by the experienced Chu Xing, who seized the opportunity and struck him hard, leaving him severely injured.

What followed was a one-sided battle.

All nine Li family cultivators, including Li Mu, were killed.

The herbalist searches for herbs in the mountains every day, constantly facing the threat of monsters, so he naturally knows that he must never be soft-hearted towards his enemies.

Otherwise, you'll be the one who dies next time.

Of course, all six medicine seekers were seriously injured, even though Chu Xing and Zhou Shan were wearing black robes.

But they were facing the strongest opponents, so they were the most seriously injured at that moment.

Fortunately, none of them were in life-threatening danger.

Li Yan, who was at the second level of Foundation Establishment, was actually killed by two late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Chu Xing and the others looked at the scene before them, their faces filled with disbelief.

In Lingxia Immortal City, Foundation Establishment cultivators are considered to be extremely powerful and respected.

Zhou Ling and He Zijian were just two teenagers around ten years old.

If they hadn't witnessed it themselves, or if someone had mentioned it to them, probably no one would have believed it.

Zhou Shan, in particular, is now truly realizing that his son's strength has long surpassed his own.

He was overjoyed and excited. It was now certain that the Zhou family would produce Foundation Establishment cultivators in the future!

As for the storage bags obtained from defeating opponents, each person collects them individually.

Of course, what excites them the most is that now that they have wiped out the Li family, the spirit mine will be theirs from now on.

Therefore, despite their serious injuries, all the healers' faces were filled with excitement and joy.

"Ling-ge'er, what do you think we should do next?"

Chu Xing, pale-faced and hoarse, asked Zhou Ling.

In the world of immortality, the strong are respected.

Although Zhou Ling is young, he is quite capable and acts decisively and shrewdly.

Their future achievements will definitely be significant.

You have to understand how difficult it is for these rogue cultivators to survive in their search for medicine masters.
With limited resources at hand, it is already extremely difficult to reach the late stage of Qi Refining.

Now, Zhou Ling is already in the late stage of Qi Refining, and he is very likely to enter the Foundation Establishment stage in the future.

Zhou Ling thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Chu, please tell everyone not to publicize the matter of killing the Li family cultivator."

"We'll keep a low profile and mine here from now on!"

Having resolved the crisis for the Li family, he felt much more at ease.

As for the spirit mine, there was a magic array set up outside by He Zijian, plus He Zijian's reputation.

In Lingxia Immortal City, no one will dare to easily covet this spirit mine in the future.

Chu Xing nodded with a complicated expression. This kid, so young, already knows how to make a fortune quietly!

Of course, with this spirit mine, as long as we can mine it for a month, the brothers will be able to live a good life for a while.

Afterwards, everyone began to recuperate and recover from their injuries.

······.

The following day, Zhou Ling and He Zijian returned to Lingxia Immortal City, travel-worn and weary.

"Zhou Ling, after you refine these spirit ores, I'll send the spirit stones over to you!"

He Zijian's eyes were bright, his posture was upright, and his complexion had recovered.

Clearly, this battle also brought him considerable gains.

The He family has its own workshop for refining spirit ore.

Therefore, Zhou Ling entrusted all the raw spirit ore mined this time to He Zijian, so that he could take it back to the workshop for refining.

"Brother He can decide this matter himself!"

Zhou Ling said with a smile.

This time, they killed Li Yan and Li Mu, two major threats, and also took Li Yan's storage ring.

The harvest was already considerable, so he didn't care too much about how much or how little of the spirit mine he received.

Of course, they also agreed that the matter of annihilating the Li family must not be leaked.

Although it's a dispute over mineral veins, the Xuan Ting Division won't interfere, but it will still cause other troubles.

He Zijian nodded. This battle gave him a deeper understanding of Zhou Ling. This kid had the ruthlessness of a rogue cultivator.

He's adventurous, has guts, and is quite capable.

Now his opinion of Zhou Ling has changed again. He originally thought that Zhou Ling could help him expand his territory in the future.

After all, he wasn't content with just the small territory of Lingxia Immortal City.

But now it seems that Zhou Ling is a guy with his own ideas.

However, he also knew in his heart that entering the Taoist academy would be their real stage.

Lingxia Immortal City is only a second-grade immortal city with limited resources.

Then, the two waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd.

······.

Seeing his son return home, Li Rucai breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly asked, "Why didn't your father come back?"

"Uncle Chu and Uncle Liu were injured this time, so Dad will have to stay in the mountains for a few more days!"

Zhou Ling replied with a smile.

With the [Restore to Original State] and the [Spiritual Flame Nourishment], his recovery was rapid, and his internal mana has now recovered to 80%.

Under the [Spiritual Flame Nourishment], the meridian damage caused by fully activating the beast flame is rapidly recovering.

Hearing her son's words, Li Ru finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Li family is a Foundation Establishment family, how could they be easily dealt with by rogue cultivators?
Fortunately, my husband and son are both safe!

She didn't ask about the specifics, and she was aware of the risks involved.

"Mother, you don't need to worry about the mine this time!"

Zhou Ling looked relaxed, but seeing the bloodshot eyes in her mother's eyes, she knew that her mother must have been worried these past few days.

Fearing that Li Ru might overthink things, she changed the subject, asking, "Mother, what good food do you have at home?"

"I'll make it for you right away!"

Li Ru walked lightly toward the kitchen.

Before long, four dishes and a soup were served, including meat soup, scrambled eggs with spirit meat, and green vegetables, all steaming hot.

Zhou Ling enjoyed a delicious spiritual meal.

After finishing my meal, I took a shower before returning to my room.

He poured himself another cup of spiritual tea, sat comfortably on the wooden chair, and sipped it slowly.

On a scorching summer afternoon, the sun was blazing.

The room, shrouded in a magic array, was unusually cool, with a gentle breeze blowing through it.

Zhou Ling took a sip of the spiritual tea and felt completely relaxed.

These past few days have been the most stressful days he's ever had since he was born.

He has self-awareness in his heart.

He was only a Qi Refining Stage 7 cultivator. Despite having the aid of beast flames and other means, he was still far behind Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The reason we were able to successfully kill Li Yan this time was thanks to He Zijian's help.

His sword formation and giant sword attacks restrained at least 40% of Li Yan's combat power.

Two fiery lightning bolts wiped out 30% of the opponent's fighting force.

What remains is the power of his own Fire Qi Sword combined with the sword formation and beast flames.

Of course, there are also many other factors, such as the opponent's cultivation method being unsuitable for long-range attacks.

Therefore, in terms of true strength, he alone is definitely no match for his opponent.

While sipping tea, Zhou Ling carefully summarized the gains and losses of this battle.

"If I had a few more spirit swords, the power of this personal sword formation could be increased by another level!"

Zhou Ling murmured to himself.

However, he also knew that with his current spiritual cultivation, if he didn't rely on the [Sword Control] talent, he could only control one spirit sword at most.

With the [Sword Control] talent, one should be able to control two or three spirit swords simultaneously.

However, finding the spirit sword is not easy.

"Let's see if we can forge the Five Elements Spirit Sword ourselves. That way, if we encounter a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Li Yan in the future, even if we can't defeat him, it won't be too dangerous!"

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

However, finding ores with second-order five-element attributes is also a considerable problem.

Perhaps we can only wait until we reach the Taoist temple to find a solution.

After all, Qingyun Immortal City is a fourth-grade immortal city, and its resources far exceed those of Lingxia Immortal City.

Moreover, since Xuan Yuan Dao Academy focuses on techniques, it will definitely have materials with various different attributes.

Now that the threat from the Li family has been eliminated, there's no need to be too anxious.

Next, the other techniques and skills can be practiced step by step.

Thinking of this, he took out an antique silver ring from his pocket.

It was Li Yan's storage ring.

"Hopefully, the contents of this place are worthy of Li Yan's status!"

Zhou Ling chuckled.

Of course, the price of this storage ring alone is already worth over a thousand spirit stones.

As a weapon refiner.

Through his [Intermediate Observation] ability, he could see that the storage ring was made from second-tier ore, Xuanjing Stone, and fused with second-tier spatial attribute inscriptions.

Mystic Crystal contains spatial power and is extremely expensive, so the price of storage rings is naturally not cheap either.

With a thought, Zhou Ling's storage ring floated in the air, radiating a faint silver glow.

However, storage rings are different from storage bags; they are spiritual objects used by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

It bears the divine imprint of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, which needs to be removed before it can be opened.

Although Zhou Ling's divine sense is not weak, it has not yet reached the level of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The reason he is able to condense a divine soul attack is mainly due to his talent of "Divine Soul Like a Blade".

However, he possesses the Spirit Flame.

The spiritual flame can also remove these divine imprints.

Then, with a thought, a leaping azure spiritual flame appeared in his hand.

Then, a flash of spiritual flame enveloped the storage ring.

He then slowly refined it, removing the divine soul imprint on it.

night.

With a muffled thud, the divine soul imprint on the storage ring was completely erased.

Zhou Ling's face lit up with joy. With the Spirit Flame, he successfully opened the storage ring without expending much energy.

His divine sense immediately entered and slowly scanned the space within the spiritual ring.

The space was indeed vast, probably half an acre in diameter. "We've really struck it rich!"

Looking at the dazzling array of items displayed in the space, Zhou Ling swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming.

The spacious area was filled with pills, elixirs, ores, magical artifacts, runes, cultivation manuals, jade slips, and other items, all arranged in an orderly fashion.

There were eight pill bottles, including Qi Harmony Pills, Blood Essence Pills, and a bottle of Yuan Harmony Pills for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

In the southern corner, there is a small pile of spirit stones.

Zhou Ling carefully examined the area with his divine sense.

Among them were more than a thousand low-grade spirit stones and four mid-grade spirit stones.

"More than five thousand spirit stones!"

Zhou Ling was overjoyed; this was a huge fortune.

Moreover, these mid-grade spirit stones are rarely seen on the market.

It circulated among powerful families and sects.

Because of its pure spiritual energy, it is suitable for rapid absorption.

Its effects are several times better than those of other pills of the same grade.

Therefore, it is very difficult for independent cultivators to obtain mid-grade spirit stones.

After calming herself down, Zhou Ling continued counting.

First glance revealed that the small pile of medicinal herbs must have contained at least two or three hundred plants.

Moreover, they all looked very fresh and were in good condition.

"Could these medicinal herbs have been stolen from other herb seekers these past few days?!"

Looking at the elixir, Zhou Ling made his own guesses.

Otherwise, where would all these miraculous herbs come from?

Zhou Ling then continued counting; not far away were some ores and crystals.

There are four Tier 2 ores, such as black gold stone, and the other six Tier 1 ores.

Not far from the ore were some magical artifacts.

There are nine items in total, seven of which are high-grade ritual implements.

There are also two magical artifacts.

One of them was a yellow jade ring, which had already lost its luster.

The other item is the Blood Jade Cauldron.

[You are currently observing the Yellow Jade Ring and the Blood Jade Cauldron; Intermediate Observation Level +1]

[You are analyzing the Yellow Jade Ring and the Blood Jade Cauldron. Intermediate Analysis +1]

The Yellow Jade Ring is made by fusing second-tier Yellow Jade with Xuan Iron, and then engraving a second-tier low-grade earth-attribute earth ring imprint.

The inscription inside has been damaged, but it can still be used after some repairs.

Zhou Ling had witnessed its defensive capabilities firsthand; it had blocked several attacks from the lightning sword, demonstrating considerable power.

The Blood Jade Cauldron was even more unexpected for him.

This Blood Jade Cauldron is a mid-grade second-tier spiritual treasure, primarily used to assist in cultivation and body refinement.

It can be used to refine the medicinal power of spiritual herbs and temper the physical body.

Zhou Ling guessed that this was an aid for Li Yan in practicing the Black Fiend Fist.

He could use both of the magical artifacts.

These two magical artifacts alone are quite expensive, probably costing several thousand spirit stones.

There were also two first-tier superior-grade robes, which looked extremely finely crafted.

Then, Zhou Ling scanned the jade slips containing cultivation techniques with his divine sense.

The most important of these is the Black Fiend Fist, a high-grade Yellow Rank technique primarily practiced by the Li family.

Similar to the Great Yang Technique, it is also a method of cultivating skills through practicing fist techniques.

However, now that he has the "Three Yang Technique," Zhou Ling doesn't take the Black Fiend Fist seriously.

The other cultivation techniques were even more ordinary, all being mid-grade Yellow Rank.

Of course, a mid-grade Yellow Rank cultivation technique is extremely rare for a rogue cultivator.

Besides these, there were other miscellaneous items, such as account books and sound transmission jade.

"Ling'er, dinner's ready!"

Just then, her mother's voice came from outside.

"Ok!"

Zhou Ling responded and then withdrew his divine sense from the storage ring.

My excitement lingered for a long time; this harvest alone was worth tens of thousands of spirit stones.

You should know that my mother was calculating every day to save a few pieces of spirit essence.

These tens of thousands of spirit stones were undoubtedly an astronomical figure for him.

After drinking the now-cooled spiritual tea in one gulp, Zhou Ling left the room.

Night had already fallen outside.

The main room was brightly lit under the soft glow of the crystal chandelier.

On the wooden table, steaming hot food was laid out in abundance.

"Mother, from now on, don't skimp on spiritual food. Just buy mid-stage first-tier demon beast meat!"

Zhou Ling further explained, "The spirit mine we discovered this time contains a considerable amount of ore, enough to cover our monthly expenses."

Although we now have spiritual food at home for all three meals a day, it is mostly ordinary spiritual food and does not contain much spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy contained in spiritual food is easier to absorb and refine.

My mother is currently at the fifth level of Qi Refining, and she's in her early thirties. If she doesn't advance to the later stages of Qi Refining in the next few years...

Building a foundation later will be very difficult.

"Ling'er, our spiritual food is already quite good!"

Li Ru placed a large chicken leg on Zhou Ling's plate.

Nowadays, the daily cost of food alone is more than one spirit stone, something that would have been unthinkable in the past.

Moreover, his son will be going to a Taoist temple in the future, which will definitely be quite expensive.

In addition, you need to save up enough spirit stones to buy Foundation Establishment Pills, which are all big expenses.

Although her life is much better now, she never spends money recklessly.

I need to save up more spirit stones to buy Foundation Establishment Pills for my son so he can get married and have children.

Moreover, his son is going to Qingyun Immortal City, and he will definitely develop his career there in the future.

Qingyun Immortal City is rich in spiritual energy, and it is said that every inch of land there is worth its weight in gold. Just to buy a property there, you need tens of thousands of spirit stones.

The spirit stones I have on hand right now aren't even a fraction of what I need.

Therefore, she was very frugal with the few spirit stones she had.

Zhou Ling knew her mother's habits and figured she wouldn't be able to change them anytime soon.

Life is much better now than before, but she still wears the same two simple dresses every day, alternating between them.

I didn't even think about buying a few new clothes.

He then took out about two hundred low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, placed them on the wooden chair, and said with a smile, "I'll cover the expenses for spirit stones. You can save the spirit stones earned from the winery to buy pills and other cultivation resources!"

"You and your father need to improve your cultivation as soon as possible, otherwise it will be troublesome to reach the Foundation Establishment stage after you turn forty."

Seeing the spirit stones, Li Ru knew her son possessed mid-grade spirit stones, so she wasn't surprised. Instead, she asked, "Ling'er, do you think your mother can also establish a foundation?"

Li Ruke had never considered the matter of establishing her foundation.

After all, since the child was born, she only thought about raising the child to be successful, and she never gave much thought to her own cultivation.

Foundation Establishment was something they wouldn't even dare to dream of, since for independent cultivators, Foundation Establishment was an extremely distant prospect.

"Mother, don't worry."

“You will definitely be able to establish your foundation in the future, and my father will also be able to enter the second level of body refinement.”

Zhou Ling said confidently while munching on a chicken leg.

Qi Refining cultivators only live twenty or thirty years longer than ordinary people, but Foundation Establishment cultivators are different.

Once the foundation is successfully established, lifespan will exceed two hundred years.

Therefore, Zhou Ling was also planning in his heart that no matter what, he would make his mother establish a foundation and his father enter the second stage of body refinement to increase their lifespan!
"I'm content that you have this intention."

Li Ru looked pleased and served Zhou Ling another bowl of meat soup, saying with a smile, "My greatest wish in this life is to see you get married and have children."

"As for whether or not one establishes a foundation, that doesn't matter!"

Then, he put away the spirit stones on the chair.

Zhou Ling didn't say anything more. After finishing his meal, he returned to his room and continued to take stock of his spoils.

······.

In the days that followed, Zhou Ling's life returned to normal.

Every day, I would go to Maple Leaf Mountain to cultivate, following the prescribed routine.

We will go to the Tiangong Division in about ten days.

Life was exceptionally busy.

As for the news of the Li family's annihilation, it did not cause much of a stir in Lingxia Immortal City.

After all, those who cultivate at the bottom level are more concerned with matters related to their own survival.

They generally don't get involved in the affairs of Foundation Establishment families.

The mining of spirit ore is also going very smoothly!

However, Zhou Ling didn't pay much attention to it. Given Chu Xing's and his father's personalities, they wouldn't do something so treacherous.

When it's mined, he'll get his share.

However, since it was only a small vein, by late August, the spirit ore had been completely mined out.

As originally agreed, Zhou Ling received a total of more than three thousand low-grade spirit stones, in addition to the spirit stones he already had.

Now, his net worth in spirit stones alone is 12,000.

······.

Time quickly passed and it was already late September.

During this period, Zhou Ling activated two more acupoints, bringing his total number of acupoints in his body to sixty-four.

However, the progress of the "Five Elements Qianyang True Secret" was only so-so.

It wasn't that I encountered any difficulties in my cultivation.

With guidance from a master, plus the support of the two talents of "the more setbacks, the stronger they become" and "I was born with talent".

He had no problem with comprehension, but his progress was slow due to the lack of sufficient spiritual energy in cultivating the three meridians of metal, earth, and water.

However, there is no way around this.

After all, each spiritual vein has different attributes and contains different concentrations of spiritual energy.

"In less than a year, the progress of the Five Elements Qianyang True Technique is already quite good."

"Next, head to Xuan Yuan Dao Academy. The spiritual energy there is much richer than that of Lingxia Immortal City. As long as you cultivate step by step and fill the spiritual energy circulating in your five meridians, you will have almost mastered the first level of the Five Elements Qianyang True Technique!"

That day, in the small courtyard of Maple Leaf Mountain, Zi Ling took a sip of wine from her gourd and spoke to Zhou Ling.

"Master, will you stay here or come with us to Xuan Yuan Dao Academy?"

Zhou Ling got up from the meditation cushion under the Fire Essence Maple Tree and asked his master.

"At the time, I only promised Wang Yu that I would teach you and help you pass the competition and assessment of the six major academies."

"Now that it's finished, you'll have to rely on yourselves for the rest of your training!"

Zi Ling took another big gulp of wine and said calmly.

"Disciple thanks Master for your guidance!"

Zhou Ling bowed respectfully to his master.

Putting everything else aside, the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame, the Five Elements Qianyang True Technique, and the Pure and Elegant Nourishing Spirit Technique are all priceless treasures.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master!"

Wang Xin also bowed with her hands clasped in greeting.

Zi Ling waved her hand dismissively, continued drinking, and said nothing more.

"Master, will we be able to meet again in the future?"

Zhou Ling asked with concern.

"up to you!"

Zi Ling smiled and said.

(End of this chapter)