Chapter 70: Cao Ying Becomes a Disciple
Cao Ying chattered on and on, telling Lin Jiang about her happy life in Zhonghang Sect. She was the most outstanding among the new disciples in the Shanxue School of Zhonghang Sect. She was far ahead of the second place and even caught the attention of the leaders in Zhonghang Sect. She felt like a little princess and her days were filled with happiness.
Lin Jiang originally wanted to educate her about not taking these things for granted, but then he thought about how Cao Ying was only thirteen years old this year, so he held back. Oh well, maybe she won't be this happy in the future, so let her enjoy each day.
They talked until it was dark. Lin Jiang was arranged to stay at the guest house of Zhonghang Sect, and the next morning, Cao Ying came early to find Lin Jiang, wanting to show him around Zhonghang Sect.
"What do you think about becoming a disciple?"
Lin Jiang brought up the topic of becoming a disciple. There shouldn't be anyone eavesdropping now, and even if those golden core ancestors were eavesdropping, Lin Jiang wouldn't be able to notice. So he didn't worry too much.
"I don't know either, the nicer they are to me, the more scared I become."
"Why are you scared?"
"Because they are not my relatives, Uncle treats me well because he is my uncle, but they are not."
"Makes sense, Xiao Dingsheng, Ouyang Qing, Qi Yunzhao, how well do you know them, and what is their reputation like?"
"I've only been here for a year, where would I know so much? I've only heard good things about them."
"Understood, this is for you."
Lin Jiang nodded and then took out the same spirit stone coin from before.
"Uncle, what do I do with this?"
"Just like when we chose our master in the sect, you toss this spirit stone. Out of the three people, you choose two first. Toss it three times, and whichever one appears twice, eliminate the other one. Then, the last one left is the chosen person. This is called the will of heaven that is hard to defy."
"You're so smart, Uncle. Let's do it this way."
Cao Ying laughed and said. How could she forget about this?
Meanwhile, Lin Xuzi and the other two watched in silence. They couldn't believe that something as important as finding a master could be treated so lightly. It seemed that Cao Ying, the uncle, wasn't a reliable person.
"Cao Ying, you should cultivate well at Zhonghang Sect. In a couple of years, I'll be going on a journey."
"Uncle, where are you going?"
"I don't know, but the world is so big. I want to see it for myself."
"Uncle, please don't wander around. It's dangerous outside. Once I have established a strong foundation, I'll take you along. I'll protect you then."
"Hahaha, alright. I'll wait for you to protect me."
Lin Jiang laughed, but deep down, he felt a little uneasy. This could actually happen, considering Cao Ying's talents, combined with the training at Zhonghang Sect. It was normal for him to establish a foundation before Lin Jiang, even though he had practiced for over a hundred years, which made him feel like his efforts had been in vain compared to a child of only about ten years old.
Lin Jiang didn't stay for a second night at Zhonghang Sect. It was almost time to leave. In the afternoon, he departed from Zhonghang Sect and returned to Yunzhong City.
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Time flew by, in the year when Lin Jiang turned one hundred and sixty-two, he finally broke through to the perfect state of Qi Refining. It had taken him a whole one hundred and fifty years of cultivation.
Lin Jiang couldn't help but sigh with regret about this. While others could achieve things in just a few years, he had spent one hundred and fifty years. If it wasn't for some special circumstances, he would have grown old and gray.
At Star Gathering Tower, Lin Jiang received a high-level reception. The store manager at the Foundation Building stage personally greeted him. This was because just over half a year ago, Cao Ying had become an apprentice to the thirteenth elder of Zhonghang Sect, Ouyang Qing.
Ouyang Qing was the lowest-ranked Nascent Soul Ancestor in Zhonghang Sect, but her strength was by no means weak. She had two outstanding characteristics that made her unparalleled in Zhonghang Sect.
The first was her young age. She was only in her early 300s, and according to the lifespan of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, as long as she didn't die prematurely, she could live for another 700 years. Having a long lifespan was an advantage, as she would have enough time to support her own people. The second characteristic was her partner named Chen Mingyang, who was the eighth elder of Zhonghang Sect. Chen Mingyang was also the Pill Hall Master of Zhonghang Sect and considered the best alchemist in recent years. If it weren't for Li Ruoxu's recent rise to fame, Chen Mingyang would have been known as the number one alchemist in Yunzhong City.
By becoming an apprentice to Ouyang Qing, Cao Ying had grabbed hold of the opportunity to be associated with two Nascent Soul stage cultivators. As long as Cao Ying didn't encounter any accidents, the probability of advancing to the golden core stage was very high. After all, Cao Ying had natural talent and resources.
Everyone knew that Cao Ying's future achievements would be great, so this indirectly brought glory to Lin Jiang once again.
"Is Taoist Friend Lin here for the Building Foundation Pill?"
"Yes, after many years of hard cultivation, finally reaching the complete Qi Refining stage, I must give it a try."
Lin Jiang said, after returning from Ruiyang Mountain, he changed his name again and now goes by Lin Sheng. He also changed his publicly announced age to thirty-five. Now, ten years have passed, so his public age is forty-five. It is completely reasonable for him to strive for the Building Foundation Period.
"Taoist Friend Lin, technically speaking, I cannot directly sell this Building Foundation Pill to you."
"I understand the rules, just let me know when the auction is."
Lin Jiang nodded. Building Foundation Pills in Yunzhong City are rarely sold directly. Most of them are sold through auctions.
At first, Lin Jiang didn't understand why. Later, some elders at the market explained to him. Firstly, auctions can earn more spirit stones. The normal auction price for a Building Foundation Pill is around twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones. However, there are often abnormal situations, such as intense bidding or multiple bidders urgently needing Building Foundation Pills, which can drive the price up to forty or fifty thousand spirit stones. Building Foundation Pills are meant to harvest wealth.
The second reason is to limit the independent cultivators' strength. There are a large number of independent cultivators with varying talents and abilities. Although there are capable individuals among them, the major sects don't want to see too many independent cultivators successfully reaching the Building Foundation stage. Therefore, the production of Building Foundation Pills is limited, gradually being released through auctions.
During the Golden Core Period, the major sects took even more extreme measures. They scoured the outside world for treasures that could enhance the Golden Core stage and monopolized items like the Five Elements Golden Fruit. They planted similar elixirs within their sects. It was almost a monopoly on Golden Core treasures.
However, every few decades or centuries, they would release a small amount of Golden Core treasures. For example, during the last grand celebration in Yunzhong City, there was an auction for the Five Elements Pill, with a remarkably high price. Those who reached the complete Building Foundation stage and wanted to obtain it had to either have backing from a powerful faction or resort to plundering other independent cultivators. This not only harvested the wealth of independent cultivators but also greatly weakened their numbers.
In those years when there were treasures of pill formation appearing, many cultivators at the independent stage of foundation building would disappear in large numbers. They were mostly killed by those at the building foundation stage who had completed the spirit stone robbery because they needed to gather enough spirit stones to buy treasures.
"My Taoist friend Lin is reasonable and understanding. I admire that. When there is an auction for the Building Foundation Pill, I will send someone to inform Taoist friend Lin."
"Thank you, senior."
Lin Jiang nodded. He didn't want to exhaust too much of Cao Ying's favor. If he could spend money to buy things, he would do so as much as possible. After all, there was no hurry.
However, the matter of Lin Jiang changing his identity had been delayed. Or, if he could reach the building foundation stage within the next fifteen years, he wouldn't need to change his identity. With his relationship with Cao Ying, the Dark Night Organization might not dare to lay a finger on him. In the past few years, the Dark Night Organization had been attacked by the Zhonghang Sect and Cloud Sword Sect, and they killed many people. They were forced to hide and couldn't even fight back.
After leaving the Star Gathering Tower, Lin Jiang went straight home. He didn't go to the Treasure Pavilion. The Star Gathering Tower had given him face because of Cao Ying, but the Treasure Pavilion wouldn't give him any face.
Back at home, Lin Jiang took out blank talisman paper and drew talismans, reaching the state of complete perfection in Qi Refining. His spiritual power and soul once again greatly increased. He could now draw up to twelve talismans every day.
Another point was that his expenses had significantly decreased. Now that his cultivation had reached the state of complete perfection in Qi Refining, he no longer needed to consume Spirit Gathering Pills or use Spirit Gathering Formations. He only needed to practice daily and stabilize his cultivation. After a period of time, when his cultivation completely stopped growing, he could start building his foundation.
"Including rent, my daily expenses don't exceed thirty spirit stones. I can save money every day. This feels amazing. My storage bag is starting to fill up again."
Lin Jiang checked his possessions. Previously, at Ruiyang Mountain, Lin Jiang obtained eighty thousand spirit stones. Combined with his previous savings, he had over one hundred and twenty thousand. In the past decade, he had managed to save over eighty thousand spirit stones. Additionally, he had various items worth tens of thousands of spirit stones.
Lin Jiang didn't plan to sell all these things, as he was also about to reach the Building Foundation stage. He would need them for himself. Only those that might expose his identity needed to be dealt with.
"Before reaching the Building Foundation stage, I need to find a way to enhance the strength of Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao."
Lin Jiang glanced at the Spirit Beast Bag again. Since reaching the mid-level of the second stage, the growth rate of Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao's strength had slowed down significantly. Despite consuming large amounts of spiritual meat every day, their cultivation hardly increased. It only slightly improved due to the remaining pieces of Demon Core. However, they hadn't reached the later stage of the second stage yet.
"I don't know the cultivation level of Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao's father, but their mother was in the mid-level of the second stage back then. It should have been entirely possible for them to reach the later stage of the second stage. Reaching the third stage may require some opportunities, but as long as one is willing to invest heavily, it is not impossible. The Aurora Falcon's lineage is quite high, and Yun State even had a fourth-stage later period Aurora Falcon in the past."
Lin Jiang remembered what he had learned about mythical creatures. The Aurora falcon had great potential for growth. In the Yun State, there was once a powerful Aurora falcon king at the fourth stage, who ruled over a territory. However, the king was ultimately killed by a cultivator.
In order to improve the strength of Aurora Falcon, it requires a lot of money. For over a hundred years, Lin Jiang has invested countless amounts of money into them. Even though he has reached the point of cutting losses, he still needs to continue investing money. If he can really train them to the third level, he will become unstoppable in the Building Foundation Period level in the future.
