Clan Cultivation: Starting with Plundering Demonic Beast Talents

Qingchi Mountain, sunrise and sunset.

Because a new spirit pool needed to be built for the Crimson-tailed Spirit Fish, Lin Qingyang returned to his cave a little later today.

"But that's alright, everything is ready, we just need to see tonight."

His expression was a mixture of nervousness and anticipation. He glanced at the two blue fish on the table and opened the pill box he had just exchanged from the Internal Affairs Hall.

A pill the size of a longan, pure white in color, lay quietly inside, its spiritual energy slightly dissipating. Taking a gentle breath, one felt the flow of magical power within the body quicken.

"It was worth spending a third of my spirit stones."

Lin Qingyang nodded in satisfaction, then skillfully caught a bluefish. With a thought, a familiar golden light enveloped it, and the bluefish instantly turned belly up, devoid of any spiritual energy.

Unlike before, this time the golden light did not return to the jade talisman after being plundered; instead, it transformed into a pale blue light and entered Lin Qingyang's body.

Immediately, a sense of enlightenment arose in his mind, as if he had transformed into countless blue fish, struggling to survive in the wild land, being pinched in two by water crabs, and swallowed whole by black water crocodiles.

Generation after generation of bluefish struggled to survive. Over an unknown period of time, the ripples created by the movement of their blue tails perfectly matched the fluctuations of the water flow, and the fluctuations of spiritual energy were also largely concealed by their blue scales. As a result, their survival rate against monsters such as the black water crocodile was greatly improved.

About half an hour later, he opened his eyes and felt that his perception of the water-attribute spiritual energy around him was clearer.

He looked at the jade talisman and sure enough, the ink moved slightly, and then the characters changed.

[Talent: Basic Concealment (5/100)]

[Conceal Breath Talisman: Proficient (157/200)]

[Spiritual Root: Water (11/100)]

"Finally, I've advanced to a low-grade spiritual root!"

At that very moment, inspired by a sudden inspiration, Lin Qingyang activated his cultivation technique, and the surrounding water-attribute spiritual energy surged toward him at a speed more than twice as fast as the previous three times.

He understood that this would be the best opportunity for a breakthrough!

The pill pressed under the tongue was swallowed, and then a pure spiritual energy dissolved in the body. As the cultivation technique was activated, this spiritual energy circulated within the body, guiding and refining the spiritual energy from the outside world.

After about several cycles, an invisible bottleneck was broken through, and everything fell into place naturally!

Lin Qingyang opened his eyes, slowly got up, and activated a water blade technique. In the blink of an eye, a foot-long blue spirit blade appeared and then slashed towards a piece of blue stone.

boom!

The bluestone was blasted into dust.

"Not bad, both the power and casting speed have increased significantly."

He nodded slightly, then made a hand seal with one hand, creating a water mirror. His complexion in the mirror was much rosier than before, clearly indicating that the water-attribute spiritual energy had nourished his body and replenished the vital energy lost in his previous failed breakthrough.

"After 29 years of arduous cultivation, I have finally entered the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

A smile finally appeared on his face; the problem of his spiritual root aptitude that had troubled him for nearly thirty years was finally resolved.

"Next up is the basic technique of concealing one's breath."

Lin Qingyang was very interested in this talent. After all, in the pursuit of immortality, fighting is secondary. There will always be cultivators you can't defeat, and mastering the methods of escape and evasion is a good choice.

He glanced at the sky, which was still dim, pondered for a moment, and then left the cave.

Qingchi Mountain is quite large overall, with over a hundred cultivators in the family, nearly half of whom are serving the family in the outside world, so they won't run into many people at this time.

Of course, he has specific goals.

Walking along the mountain path, passing a spiritual lake, Lin Qingyang raised his hand and released a water blade technique, causing ripples to rise.

He then hid in the treetops, activated the jade talisman with his mind, and his spiritual power circulated spontaneously along his instincts. As a result, the spiritual aura on his entire body was almost completely hidden.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a sound of something breaking through the air rang out.

Three figures in green robes, each wielding a magic sword and wearing a "Patrol" token at their waist, appeared. Their cultivation levels were all at the fifth level of Qi Refining. They scanned the area around the spirit pool with their divine sense but found nothing.

"It seems the blue crab has gone mad. There's a forbidden spell, so it should be fine."

Of the three, the leader was quite old. He glanced at the water crabs waving their large blue claws by the lake, drew a conclusion, and left a quarter of an hour later.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a gray figure slowly emerged.

This was Lin Qingyang. He looked in the direction the three had left, lost in thought. "The family's night patrol team just now, led by Uncle Yaolan, was at the sixth level of Qi Refining. However, he was old and frail, and his spiritual sense was probably only at the fifth level of Qi Refining. So, he should be able to avoid detection by spiritual senses from those at a higher level by using the beginner-level concealment technique."

This isn't a particularly strong effect, since the Concealing Breath Talisman isn't expensive and can achieve the same result. However, it seems that he can improve his proficiency through practice.

On the jade talisman.

[Talent: Basic Concealment (7/100)]

Two points have been added, which is not bad. Reaching the next level might bring me quite a surprise.

Back in his cave, Lin Qingyang tried drawing talismans again, and sure enough, the success rate increased by 10%. He estimated that he could earn an extra one or two spirit stones per month, which would amount to more than ten spirit stones per year.

"At present, the improvement of the Concealing Breath Talisman is still the most helpful to me."

He glanced at the sky, estimating that there were still one or two hours left. He didn't plan to go to sleep, so he sat down cross-legged and meditated to recover his mind.

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Wangyue River.

Lin Qinggui looked at the bluefish in front of him with some suspicion, then clicked his tongue in amazement, "Lin Qingyang, this is not like you. Normally, you would never buy bluefish, and you would even use the quota that Uncle Thirteen gives you every year to exchange for spirit stones to buy pills. Why did you think of sending me bluefish today?"

"Brother Qinggui has taken good care of me. This bluefish is just a small token of my appreciation."

"You do have a conscience. I heard you've become a talisman-making apprentice, so you're using the spirit stones for yourself first. Once you become a resident talisman master, you can't just stand by and watch me invest in spirit food."

"Thank you for your kind words. Who knows, on that day, Steward Qinggui might not even look at my paltry sums."

"I like hearing that. Keep going, say more."

Lin Qingyang fed the red-tailed spirit fish while chatting with him, but a hint of disappointment was hidden between his brows.

Yesterday, he specially purchased two bluefish. After mastering the Concealing Breath talent, he tried again to plunder the talent of the remaining bluefish, but unfortunately, he failed.

Of course, he also knew that he was being greedy. Qingyu was at the bottom of the barbaric world, and his limit for the talent of the Concealing Breath bloodline was probably only at the entry level.

If we continue to plunder, how can we improve ourselves?

"I need to get a different water-type spirit beast."

Several demonic beasts flashed through Lin Qingyang's mind before his focus settled on the blue water crab that had been waving its large pincers under the moonlight the previous night.

Although there were a few more red-tailed spirit fish in the fishpond, it was mainly Uncle Thirteen who took care of them; they were just helping out. So it was soon time to go home.

He got up, greeted Lin Qinggui, and was about to go check out the crab farm next door.

"Oh, wait a minute, I think I forgot something."

Lin Qinggui called out to Lin Qingyang, shifting his gaze from the fish strips in the stove to look at him with a furrowed brow. After a long while, he slapped his forehead and said, "I remember now. The old man wrote a letter a while ago, saying he's coming back soon and bringing back the flesh and blood of a Jade Rhinoceros."

"Come to my house then; the flesh and blood of a top-grade demon beast of this rank are quite rare."

Then he went about his own business.

Lin Qingyang shook his head slightly. His cousin was truly obsessed with spiritual cuisine. He turned and walked towards the crab farm, feeling much more at ease.

Although Uncle Lin Zongyue was the second strongest in the family after the Foundation Establishment patriarch, it was extremely dangerous for him to lead the family's demon-hunting team into the wilderness to kill demons. He had become an orphan at a young age and was grateful for the care that Uncle Lin had given him along the way. He really didn't want to hear the news that Uncle Lin was seriously injured or had died.

This only strengthened her resolve to cultivate, and she began to look forward to his return. "I wonder if we can extract bloodline talent from the flesh and blood of the Azure Rhinoceros. It's a first-tier high-grade demon beast, and its talent is probably more than a level above that of the Azure Fish."

He was thinking about it, but soon arrived at the crab farm next door.

Under the afterglow of the setting sun, blue-clawed crabs, stretching out their huge pincers, floated on the spirit lake, breathing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

……