Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 286 Fame Spreads Throughout Qingyun Immortal City
Five days passed in a flash.

As Zhou Lingqing celebrated his inauguration, the entire Zhou family was filled with excitement.

Throughout Qingyun Immortal City, numerous forces, families, chambers of commerce, sects, and other organizations sent representatives to offer their congratulations.

After all, Zhou Ling, at such a young age, has already forged a top-grade third-tier sword and become the Chief Craftsman of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

Their future is limitless.

His Daoist partner, Wang Xin, was a woman from the Wang family, a prestigious family of cultivators specializing in the Void Refinement Realm.

Moreover, Zhou Ling is also an instructor at Xuan Yuan Dao Academy and Jiu Tian Sword Academy.

Any one of these identities would be enough to shock the powerful families in Qingyun Immortal City.

It should be noted that even a Golden Core Peak cultivator may not be able to forge a third-tier top-grade sword.

However, Zhou Ling is only at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Such terrifying talent and strength are truly astonishing.

Now that he has rightfully become the Chief of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau, his prestige in Qingyun Immortal City is at its zenith.

Keep in mind that he is only sixteen years old at the moment.

"The head of the Song family has arrived!"

"The Li family patriarch has arrived!"

"The Bai family patriarch has arrived!"

On this day, Zhou Ling's grand ceremony to celebrate his inauguration officially began.

Outside the Zhou family gate, Zhou Shan, along with Song Yue, Bai Ji, and others, welcomed the guests who came to celebrate.

The He siblings and others also came to help.

For ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, Song Yue and her group are responsible for receiving them.

Zhou Shan personally led the cultivators from the Golden Core and Nascent Soul families into the main hall and arranged for them to sit down.

"Dean Zhong of Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, here!"

"Zhang Daojian, Supervisor of Xuanyuan Dao Academy, has arrived!"

"Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, Instructor Chu, here!"

As the people from Xuan Yuan Dao Academy arrived, Zhou Ling personally greeted them.

"Greetings, Dean, Supervisor, and fellow colleagues!"

Zhou Ling bowed to everyone and led them to their seats.

The Taoist academy sent about ten people this time, almost all of whom were fourth-level magicians from the academy. This was the greatest support they could give him.

This lineup is not something an ordinary person can hire.

Inside the main hall, many guests looked on with envy when they saw the guests from Xuan Yuan Dao Academy.

Any one of these Taoist instructors is capable of handling things independently.

Everyone came to congratulate Zhou Ling, which shows that Zhou Ling's status in the academy is not low!

"Dean Gong of the Nine Heavens Sword Academy congratulates Zhou Zhizheng!"

At this moment, a loud voice came from outside the gate, and many cultivators in the hall looked towards the gate.

Among the four major academies, Dean Gong has the highest reputation in Qingyun Immortal City.

Moreover, he is quite arrogant and is known as Dean Lengyue in Qingyun Immortal City. He is not someone that an ordinary family can invite.

She also came in person to congratulate Zhou Ling.

"I've lived in Qingyun Immortal City for so many years, and I've never heard of Dean Gong attending any family's celebration!"

"It seems that Zhou Zhizheng and Dean Gong have an extraordinary relationship!"

"You've had too much to drink, you can't just say things like that!"

Hearing that Dean Gong had come in person, many cultivators were shocked. Who said Zhou Ling was born a rogue cultivator?

This isn't blindness.

Dean Zhong, Dean Gong, and Qin Zhizheng—any one of these powerful backers is someone many people cannot reach.

Even a slight connection is enough to make a living in Qingyun Immortal City.

"Dean Gong!"

Zhou Ling also went to greet them personally.

"You're quite something, kid!"

Dean Gong, dressed in a moon-white gown, resembled a fairy from the moon, exuding nobility and a touch of serene elegance.

"Greetings, Dean Gong!"

Many cultivators stood up and bowed when they saw Dean Gong.

Dean Gong remained calm and nodded slightly.

Zhou Ling led him to sit in the main seat.

"Qin Zhizheng of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau, here!"

"Deacon Luo of the Heavenly Crafts Department, here!"

"Deacon Zheng of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau has arrived!"

"Slay the evil king, Xuanwei, here!"

Then many people from the Heavenly Crafts Bureau arrived.

People from the Demon Slayer Clan also came over.

Zhou Ling welcomed them into the hall.

Soon, the entire hall was filled with dozens of tables.

The number of people who came to celebrate was much larger than Zhou Ling had expected.

The hall, which can accommodate two or three hundred people, felt somewhat crowded.

Song Yue then arranged for some of Zhou Ling's disciples to be placed in the side hall.

Seeing that the guests had almost all arrived, Zhou Ling stood up, picked up his wine glass, and said, "Thank you all for coming to my celebration of my newfound official position."

"Here, I would like to thank Qin Zhizheng and his colleagues from the Heavenly Crafts Bureau and the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy for their help."

"That's why I have achieved what I have today!"

"Congratulations to Zhou Ling on becoming the new Chief Engineer of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau!"

"Congratulations to Zhou Ling on becoming the new Chief Engineer of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau!"

Qin Zhizheng and Dean Zhong stood up to offer their congratulations.

Then, the other guests also raised their glasses to congratulate Zhou Ling.

Zhou Ling drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

"Qin Zhizheng would like to ask you to say a few words!"

Zhou Ling smiled at Qin Zhizheng.

In half a month, he will take office as the Chief Justice, while Chief Justice Qin will be leaving.

Qin Zhizheng shook his head and smiled, "From now on, you are Zhizheng, and everything should be based on you! Say whatever you want without worrying too much."

In his view, Zhou Ling was, after all, a disciple of a rogue cultivator, and was too cautious in his personality.

They lack a bit of courage.

As the head of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau in Qingyun Immortal City, this kind of decisiveness is indispensable.

Such celebrations are attended by all prominent figures.

Everyone is watching Zhou Ling's every move.

Zhou Ling nodded, then stood up and said loudly, "Fellow Daoists, I, Zhou Ling, hereby promise that the Heavenly Crafts Bureau will definitely provide you with more satisfactory magical artifacts in the future."

"To safeguard the peace and prosperity of Qingyun Immortal City, and to assist everyone in expanding their domains and enhancing their strength!"

The main task of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau is to provide the government with various magical artifacts, elixirs, magic arrays, runes, and other treasures.

In addition to ensuring stable official use, it also caters to the needs of powerful families and other factions.

"Furthermore, our Zhou family is willing to cooperate with all the major families and sects in Qingyun Immortal City to provide you with magical artifacts to support your boundary expansion!"

Zhou Ling continued speaking.

Although it was a celebration, he also wanted to use the occasion to find more partner families for the workshop.

After all, his own identity is the best advertisement.

Moreover, the number of members of the Qinghe family who came this time was much larger than he had expected.

"From now on, all the crafting of precious artifacts for my Song family will be undertaken by the Zhou family workshop!"

The head of the Song family immediately replied.

"My Li family is also willing to cooperate with the Zhou family!"

"My Bai family will also cooperate with the Zhou family!"

Upon hearing Zhou Ling's words, many prominent families immediately expressed their opinions.

"With someone taking the lead, things are definitely different!"

Seeing that the Song family head expressed his support immediately, Zhou Ling also showed a happy expression.

Of course, given the Zhou family's current strength, they are indeed worthy of people's trust.

After all, Zhou Ling has the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy and the Tian Gong Si behind him.

This is an advantage that other workshops cannot match.

Then, Zhou Ling stood up and, along with Song Yue and Bai Ji, toasted the guests to express their gratitude. Li Ru, Wang Xin, and Wang Yu, who were seated at the next table, also looked delighted.

Seeing my son and husband's achievements, I feel proud as well!
These cultivators who came to offer their congratulations were all from prominent families in Qingyun Immortal City.

This is an achievement that Li Ru and Zhou Shan could never have imagined.

My son accomplished it in just a few years.

Originally, I thought it would be great if my son could establish a Foundation Establishment family.

But now, their status is no less than that of a Nascent Soul family!
Wang Yu was all smiles; her son-in-law's achievement was a complete surprise to her.

Originally, she had quite a few complaints about Zhou Ling's unwillingness to marry into the Wang family.

After all, with his and Xin'er's talents, once they enter the Wang family and utilize its resources, they will definitely be able to achieve the Nascent Soul stage in the future.

It is even possible that they could become a Nascent Soul cultivator.

But it's unclear why Zhou Ling is unwilling to accept it.

After all, for cultivators, cultivation level is the most fundamental thing.

It is the most important thing to establish oneself in this world.

However, given their current cultivation progress, she couldn't say anything more.

After all, even with the support of the Wang family's resources, they might not have been able to make such rapid progress.

In addition, her daughter is pregnant.

She no longer requires Zhou Ling to go to the Wang family.

All he needs to do is have the ability to take care of Xin'er!

Afterwards, Zhou Ling drank and chatted with the other cultivators.

At the main table sat Dean Zhong, Supervisor Zhang, Qin Zhizheng, Courtyard Master Gong, and others, so Zhou Ling was still somewhat reserved.

He doesn't talk much.

Quite a few heads of prominent families came to discuss cooperation.

After a brief chat, Zhou Ling asked Yuan Hu and Song Yue to take charge of the hospitality.

However, there were quite a few families and forces that wanted to cooperate, and the two of them clearly couldn't entertain them all.

We can only exchange a few words for now, and we'll discuss the cooperation in more detail later.

The banquet lasted for more than an hour before it ended.

As the celebration ended, Zhou Ling's reputation in Qingyun Immortal City soared to unprecedented heights.

Everyone was discussing with great interest this rogue cultivator who came from a small town on the outskirts of Lingxia Immortal City.

How did we get to this point so quickly?
Keep in mind that Zhou Ling is only sixteen years old.

But none of his achievements were easily attained.

For someone with late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, it's possible to achieve this if they are from a prominent family, possess strong talent, and have ample family resources to support them.

However, Zhou Ling was a typical rogue cultivator, and he came from Lingxia Immortal City, a place with extremely thin spiritual energy.

As for sword cultivators at the third realm and top-grade weapon refiners at the third rank, there's no need to even mention them.

Without exceptional talent and resources, it would be impossible to achieve this.

For a time, legends about Zhou Ling spread throughout the entire Qingyun Immortal City.

Some say he has a powerful master behind him who provides him with ample resources.

Some say that Zhou Ling's cultivation resources came from the Wang family behind his wife, because Zhou Ling and Wang Xin were childhood sweethearts and had been betrothed since childhood, which is why he had a sufficient supply of resources.

Even more remarkably, Zhou Ling had a great opportunity when he was young, obtaining the inheritance of a Nascent Soul cultivator's cave.

Thus, one's spiritual practice progresses rapidly.

There are all kinds of rumors.

Zhou Ling naturally paid no attention to these rumors.

After the celebration ended, the Zhou family home became even more lively.

This time alone, we received dozens of orders.

With the current manpower in the workshop, it may take two or three months to complete these orders.

There are simply not enough people.

Zhou Ling also immediately began publicly recruiting workshop weapon refiners from the inner disciples of the Dao Academy.

Unexpectedly, on the very first day after the news was released, dozens of weapon refiners came to apply.

This situation caught Zhou Ling somewhat off guard.

Of course, he figured it out quickly.

This is the effect of his becoming the Chief of the Imperial Workshop.

After all, entering the Heavenly Crafts Bureau is now the best choice for Daoist disciples after graduation.

And he was also the Chief Engineer of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

I think that by entering the Zhou family workshop, I can build a good relationship with Zhou Ling.

If I can gain Zhou Ling's approval in the future, I will undoubtedly have a great advantage in entering the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

With such a sufficient source of weapon refiners, Zhou Ling naturally made a careful selection.

It requires both high-level weapon crafting skills and a good reputation within the Taoist academy.

Finally, two weapon refiners at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage were selected.

They were named Lu Chang and Cai Jindao respectively.

In addition, considering that there are quite a few cultivators in the family now, there is a need for a supply of elixirs.

Although both he and Xin'er were capable of refining pills.

However, I don't have that much time. Xin'er is pregnant, so it's not suitable for me to refine pills for the time being.

Furthermore, the expansion of our territory will require a considerable number of elixirs.

So they took the opportunity to recruit an alchemist.

Also from Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, named Yuan Yu, he was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

As for the specific treatment, Zhou Ling formulated it according to the situation of other aristocratic families.

Based on a certain supply of spirit stones and elixirs, a distribution system of "more work, more pay" will be adopted.

For each item such as a magical artifact or elixir that is crafted, a certain amount of spirit stones will be awarded as a bonus.

This will also better inspire everyone's enthusiasm for refining.

With the addition of the three individuals and Luo Qin, the Zhou family's power has greatly increased.

On paper, the Zhou family's strongest cultivator was Zhou Ling, who was in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

All things considered, they are Foundation Establishment families.

However, as he became the head of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau, his strength is now no less than that of a Golden Core family.

Even in terms of reputation, they are superior to ordinary Golden Core families.

That day, Wang Xin told Zhou Ling that the fourth-order spirit gathering array had finally been set up after ten days.

Hearing this, Zhou Ling smiled.

This speed is much faster than Deacon Luo originally predicted.

However, setting up the spirit-gathering array this time also consumed a huge amount of resources.

Not to mention the Spirit Gathering Pearls and the fourth-order Spirit Gathering Array obtained from the Heavenly Crafts Bureau, Wang Xin's three Water Spirit Pearls alone are quite valuable.

In addition, there are other auxiliary materials, among which the materials with spatial attributes alone cost tens of thousands of spirit stones.

Moreover, activating the Spirit Gathering Array requires a sum of spirit stones.

Fortunately, he had already made all the necessary preparations.

Although last time I spent a lot of spirit stones to buy materials to participate in the Song family's expansion of the territory.

However, the workshop received a surge in orders during this period.

In addition to the numerous gifts he received at the celebration, he now has more spirit stones than ever before.

The spirit stones consumed in condensing a fourth-order spirit gathering array are entirely within our means.

What he cared more about was how effective this fourth-order spirit-gathering array would be.
Will it be possible to integrate with other spiritual veins in the future?

After all, the spiritual vein is the foundation of a family.

It is the key to the long-term development of the family.

The Zhou family will definitely need to have its own spiritual vein in the future.

Moreover, spiritual veins can also enhance attributes.

He had high expectations for this fourth-order spirit-gathering array.

Zhou Lingxuan immediately walked out of the hall and came to the front of the Spirit Lake.

Luo Qin and Wang Xin were waiting by the lake. When they saw Zhou Ling, they cupped their hands and said, "Zhou Zhizheng, the fourth-order spirit gathering array has been set up and is waiting for your inspection!"

"Thank you, Guest Elder Luo!"

Zhou Ling cupped his hands and smiled.

Wang Xin had been cooperating with the setup of the spirit-gathering array, so he had nothing to worry about.

However, given the availability of [Intermediate Observation] and [Intermediate Analysis], he still wants to see how effective it is.

(End of this chapter)