Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 276 Big Harvest

A sacred site of the Blackwater Sect.

"Sect Master, this is the Blackfire Tree, the guardian tree of the Blackwater Sect."

Under a huge black tree that would take four or five people to encircle, Ye Shan introduced it to Zhou Ling.

This black tree looks quite old, with some mottled black bark.

The branches are winding and vigorous, and strangely, all the leaves are red.

There aren't many films yet.

Zhou Ling couldn't help but feel puzzled, since water-attribute spiritual creatures should have the advantage on Blackwater Island.

But this fire-attribute black fire tree was able to grow to the third tier.

[You are observing the Blackfire Tree, Intermediate Observation +1]

[You are analyzing the Blackfire Tree, Intermediate Analysis +1]

With the emergence of his two talents, he made an unexpected gain.

This black fire tree actually contains a black fire spirit flame.

The black fire tree in front of us is definitely of a high grade.

The Blackwater Sect didn't know where they got it from.

However, Master said that apart from the lower spiritual energy, the Ancient Cloud Realm has many other good things.

Just like his Azure Lotus Flame, which his master obtained in this very realm.

This black fire spirit flame possesses fire and wood attributes. If Zhou Ling absorbs it, it will undoubtedly greatly enhance his Azure Lotus Spirit Flame and Qianyang True Fire.

However, Zhou Ling had no such intention.

Xin'er is a Dark Fire Spirit Body, and also has Fire and Wood attribute spiritual roots, so this Black Fire Spirit Flame will undoubtedly be more effective for her.

Therefore, he decided to take the black fire spirit flame and leave it for Xin'er.

Zhou Ling observed carefully.

On the tree trunk and leaves, black light flickered continuously; these were tiny flames.

It's usually hard to spot without careful observation.

"Ye Shan, I'll take the spiritual fire contained within this black fire tree!"

Zhou Ling said something to Ye Shan, and then didn't wait for his reply.

With a flick of his wrist, the True Fire of Qianyang appeared in his hand.

Then, with a flick of his finger, the True Fire of Qianyang was directly injected into the Black Fire Tree.

Ye Shan looked surprised as he saw the flame in Zhou Ling's hand.

Originally, I thought that Zhou Ling having five third-tier swords was already amazing enough.

I never expected that I would have such a powerful flame in my hand.

He could sense from the pressure emanating from the flames that it was a fourth-tier flame.

The black flames that emerge from the black flame tree are only at the third rank.

However, even at the third level, he was unable to collect it.

Otherwise, they would have already taken action.

Now that Zhou Ling has accepted it this way, he has nothing to say.

Then, the True Fire of Qianyang was poured into the Black Fire Tree, and the entire Black Fire Tree immediately burst into flames.

The black flames within the Blackfire Tree condensed into a single black flame, which was gradually forced out by the Qianyang True Fire.

The black flames released intense heat.

Seemingly aware that it was no match for the Qianyang True Fire, it was fleeing in all directions, trying to break free from its suppression.

Under the influence of the Qianyang True Fire, the entire Blackfire Tree, which was originally black, turned crimson.

Then, the Qianyang True Fire began to suppress the Black Fire.

The black flames began to dim gradually.

Feeling that it was about time, Zhou Ling took out the Purple Gold Cauldron.

With a thought, the True Yang Fire, along with the black fire, fell into the furnace.

Zhou Ling then placed a seal on it.

With the suppression of the Qianyang True Fire, it won't be long before this flame submits.

We'll take it back then and let Xin'er refine it.

But Zhou Ling did not stop there.

Instead, with a flick of his wrist, a blue flame appeared in his hand.

The azure light burned fiercely, but the aura it gave off was completely different from the Qianyang True Fire from before.

It appears much softer.

This is the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame.

But Ye Shan swallowed hard, his face filled with horror.

He was dumbfounded by Zhou Lingyi's method of collecting the spirit flames.

A spiritual flame powerful enough to destroy the entire Blackwater Island failed to cause the slightest disturbance in Zhou Ling's hands, and the entire process proceeded extremely smoothly.

It is evident that Zhou Ling's methods are astonishing.

And there was another spiritual flame on his body.

Looking at Ling Yan, he couldn't help but shiver. If he hadn't sensed something was wrong and decisively chosen to submit to Zhou Ling, he would have been in trouble.

If they had held onto any hope of escaping unscathed, they would probably have already been reduced to ashes by those two spiritual flames.

Thinking about this made me break out in a cold sweat.

Zhou Ling naturally ignored all that and directly injected a wisp of Azure Lotus Spirit Flame into the Black Fire Tree.

The cyan flame instantly condensed into a faint beam of light.

Although the flames were faint, they could eventually condense into new Azure Lotus Flames by continuously absorbing the flames gathered by the Black Flame Tree.

Ye Shan watched this with envy and admiration.

From now on, Blackwater Island will be within his sphere of influence.

This Blackfire Tree is of a high grade, but with his current methods, he cannot guarantee that he can transplant it to the Zhou family.

And it will not cause any harm to it.

So we need to go back and ask Xin'er to see if there's any way.
Moreover, since Blackwater Island possesses such a spiritual object as the Blackfire Tree, there might be other spiritual trees as well.

He then smiled at Ye Shan and said, "Ye Shan, take me to see the Spirit Herb Garden!"

Seeing Zhou Ling put away the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame, Ye Shan composed himself and said respectfully, "Sect Master, please follow me."

He still harbored some resentment towards Zhou Ling.

At this moment, that feeling has completely vanished.

He had fully realized that although Zhou Ling's cultivation level appeared to be only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, his actual combat strength could easily crush him.

I have no idea where this monster came from.

They then took Zhou Ling with them and headed towards the herb garden.

······.

After waiting for two days at Ziyun Mountain, Ye Shan delivered the sect's ores and some spiritual herbs.

From now on, the entire Blackwater Sect will be a subordinate force of the Purple Cloud Sect.

As for the ores and spiritual herbs that Zhou Ling needed, they naturally had nothing to say and dared not disobey, so they could only give him whatever they had.

However, Zhou Ling did not go too far; he only accepted the ore and the spiritual herbs.

The Blackwater Sect has not touched any other resources such as spirit stones or spirit veins.

In addition, he promised Ye Shan that he would find him some experience and insights on the Core Formation of cultivators.

Such insights into Core Formation are extremely rare in the Ancient Cloud Realm.

Although there are some Golden Core cultivators in the Ancient Cloud Realm, this Golden Core experience is a closely guarded secret for them and is impossible to pass on to other cultivators.

However, Qingyun Immortal City is different. Within the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, these Golden Core Formation experiences can be obtained by spending some points.

And his identity as a Taoist academy instructor could be branded for free.

Subsequently, Zhou Ling also instructed that the monthly tribute paid by the Blackwater Sect should be given to Liu Yue'er.

"Blackwater Island is about 36 li long and 28 li wide."

"There is a second-tier top-grade spiritual vein on the island."

"After years of management by the Blackwater Sect, there are more than 60 acres of second-tier spiritual land and more than 100 acres of first-tier spiritual land on the island."

"There are six mineral veins, one of which is a third-tier vein, two of which are second-tier, and three of which are first-tier."

"There is also a spirit lake on the island, which is home to many spirit fish!"

"The Blackwater Sect's resources are more than ten times greater than the Purple Cloud Sect's!" Zhou Ling thought to himself with delight as he looked at the resources tallied in Ye Shan's jade slip.

The family's spiritual veins now come from a branch of the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, and their spiritual energy is much richer than that of the Blackwater Sect's spiritual veins.

Otherwise, they would take over the Blackwater Sect's spiritual vein and replant it in the Zhou family's spiritual land.

Of course, collecting and implanting spiritual veins are major projects that require a formation master to complete.

Fortunately, the Zhou family currently has enough spiritual energy, so there's no need to rush to upgrade their spiritual veins.

Now that we have the Blackwater Sect's batch of ore, it's enough to forge the magical artifacts the Song family needs for their expansion into new territories.

As long as this expansion of territory goes smoothly.

The Zhou family should be able to be allocated a third-tier spiritual vein.

Of course, there will definitely be other resources.

"Sect Master, is the Blackwater Sect going to be outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant?"

Liu Yue'er, dressed in a long blue dress, with a delicate face and a somewhat worried expression, said...

She never expected that Zhou Ling would manage to subdue the Blackwater Sect so easily after just one trip.

You should know that Ye Shan, who just left, was about to achieve the Golden Core stage.

The sect leader, at best, was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

However, the sect leader not only defeated them, but also made the entire Blackwater Sect a subordinate sect of the Purple Cloud Sect.

This strength truly shocked her.

"Don't worry, they won't dare to do anything reckless."

"From now on, you can just wait to collect your monthly payments!"

Zhou Ling smiled upon hearing this, his expression confident. He put down the jade slip in his hand and said, "I have other things to attend to in the coming period of time."

"It may not be able to provide you with foundational protection."

"However, I will leave the Golden Fire Crow at Purple Cloud Mountain. With it there, along with a few puppets, I don't think there will be any problems."

Golden Fire Crow is already in the late stage of the second tier, and is only one step away from the peak of the second tier.

In addition, his bloodline grade is not low, and his strength is no less than that of a Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator.

With it protecting Liu Yue'er during her foundation building, Zhou Ling felt completely at ease.

"Thank you, Sect Master!"

Liu Yue'er's bright eyes revealed gratitude.

Zhou Ling nodded and then entered the cultivation room.

After activating the Five Elements Formation, he did not rush to teleport.

Instead, he took out the storage ring that Ye Shan had given him, and used his divine sense to examine it.

"One hundred and ninety-three pieces of Tier 3 ore."

"There are more than 3,300 pieces of Tier 2 ore and several thousand pieces of Tier 1 ore."

“One hundred and twenty-five third-tier spiritual herbs and three hundred and thirty second-tier spiritual herbs.”

"There are still quite a few spiritual herbs and seeds!"

Looking at the ores and spiritual herbs inside the storage ring, Zhou Ling had a satisfied expression on his face.

In particular, many of the third-tier ores and third-tier spiritual herbs are spiritual items that can help his physical cultivation.

Zhou Ling felt that with these spiritual herbs, reaching the sixth level of Foundation Establishment would be no problem at all.

They might even directly enter the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

After all, the medicinal power contained in the spiritual herbs of the Ancient Cloud Realm is extremely abundant. In addition, his [Spiritual Herb Stress] talent has reached the fourth level. The effect of absorbing one spiritual herb is equivalent to that of others absorbing three or four.

The medicine is incredibly effective!

Moreover, there were two Black Flame Fruits among them, which were third-tier spiritual fruits containing extremely abundant medicinal power.

Then, with a thought, Zhou Ling took out two Black Flame Fruits from his storage ring.

Looking at the two black fruits in his hand, Zhou Ling couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

Ye Shan sent these two spiritual fruits as a sign of his absolute loyalty.

After all, he didn't know the specifics of the Blackwater Sect, so it wouldn't matter if the two Black Flame Fruits weren't delivered.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that there are other Black Flame Fruits within the Blackwater Sect.

However, Zhou Ling felt that the chances were slim.

After all, the spiritual veins of Blackwater Island are only of the second-tier top quality, and the number of third-tier spiritual fruits that can be nurtured is limited.

"The spiritual power contained in this one spiritual fruit is enough to allow me to enter the fifth level of Foundation Establishment!"

As Zhou Ling carefully examined the Black Flame Fruit and felt the immense spiritual power it contained, he was filled with excitement.

I can't wait to return to Qingyun Immortal City.

However, he wasn't in a hurry, since the spiritual energy in Ziyun Mountain was a bit thin.

We still need to return to Qingyun Immortal City. Once there, absorbing the medicinal power of the spiritual fruit will make it much easier to break through the bottleneck if we have the chance.

Moreover, this Black Flame Fruit is a third-tier spiritual fruit, and absorbing it directly seems a bit wasteful.

Although I have the talent of [Spiritual Herb Stress], if I can refine it into a pill, the absorption effect will definitely be better.

However, he knew only a limited amount about the pill formula.

So I still plan to go back and ask Xin'er. If not, then I'll just absorb and refine it directly.

It would be a bit troublesome to hand it over to someone else to refine.

After all, his sword intent has now reached the third level, and with the help of sword energy, he is capable of refining third-level pills.

Moreover, with the aid of talent, as long as there is a pill formula and materials, refining a third-tier pill is really not a big problem.

"However, it's been a while since I've refined any pills. I wonder how things are going?"

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

During this period, although he had reached the third realm of swordsmanship, he had not refined any third-tier pills.

On the one hand, I don't have time; I have a lot of things to do and I'm too busy to keep up.

In addition, I don't have many third-tier spiritual herbs on hand.

He didn't specifically buy third-tier spiritual herbs or refine third-tier pills.

Now that we have this opportunity, we might as well give it a try.

After all, with his current third-realm sword intent and the [Six Transformations] talent, he felt that taking ordinary third-tier pills wouldn't be a problem.

After putting the two Black Flame Fruits away, he checked the other medicinal herbs.

With his intermediate observation and intermediate analysis skills, he also knew the properties and uses of these elixirs.

However, he did not have a third-tier pill formula, nor did he know which spiritual herbs were suitable for refining which pills.

After memorizing the properties of the elixir, Zhou Ling activated the Realm Teleportation Jade and left the Ancient Cloud Realm.

This trip to the Ancient Cloud Realm was also very rewarding for him.

Not to mention the thousands of ores, there are also many medicinal herbs.

The biggest gain was undoubtedly the Blackfire Spirit Flame.

If Xin'er successfully fuses with a third-tier spiritual flame, her cultivation will at least reach the third level of Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, Xin'er has also cultivated the Spirit Flame Co-cultivation Technique. With this black fire spirit flame, her cultivation speed will definitely increase significantly.

Achieving the Golden Core stage within the next nine years will be no problem at all.

Of course, besides these gains...

Even more importantly, they subdued the Blackwater Sect.

Currently, the Blackwater Sect's power in the Ancient Cloud Realm can only be considered at a medium level.

But this force should not be underestimated.

Next, all we need to do is rearm and equip ourselves with the best magical artifacts.

Their overall strength will be significantly improved.

This will also be a force for me to conquer the Ancient Cloud Realm in the future.

However, he also knew that with his current strength, there was no need to rush to expand.

First, improve your magical cultivation and strive to win the assessment in Qingyun Immortal City.

Becoming the Chief Executor of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau completely changes one's status.

Qin Zhizheng is one of the powerful figures in Qingyun Immortal City.

Originally, Zhou Ling had no desire for this, but now that he had to think about his family, he naturally had to do his best to win it over.

Besides, there are children involved!

(End of this chapter)