Chapter 26
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Chapter 26: Yang Linghu’s Breakthrough
The three members of the Yang Family were at a loss, unsure of what to say.
He Shenglai looked at the youthful face of Yang Lingrui.
"You must have drunk quite a lot of spirit liquid, right? One drop every three months?"
Yang Lingrui’s expression tightened as he glanced at his two elders, then nervously nodded.
"Alas, a small family in a remote area might act this way; even a single Gathering Qi spiritual plant can be treated as a family treasure."
He Shenglai continued, "Unfortunately, your family doesn’t have anyone who can refine pills. Drinking the spirit liquid directly causes most of its effects to dissipate. If you could refine it into a spirit pill, the effects would be even better."
With that, He Shenglai displayed a satisfied expression.
Now both his curiosity and sense of superiority over the Yang Family had been fully met, leaving him in a good mood.
"Alright, let’s call it a day. Mayor Gao and I won’t spread this around; you can rest easy."
He then slapped his waist and scattered a handful of spiritual crystals—thirty in total.
"I’m not trying to take advantage of your family; I’ll compensate you with these spiritual crystals on a personal basis."
Yang Guanfeng immediately showed joy, hurriedly bending down to pick up the crystals one by one.
With that matter settled, He Shenglai and Gao Hui left the Yang Family and headed towards Willow Leaf Town.
Once the two departed, the Yang Family’s Forbidden Area returned to tranquility.
Yang Lingrui wiped the tears from his face and eagerly asked,
"Two elders, did I perform well this time?"
Yang Guanfeng and Old Yu, no longer pretending, chuckled lightly.
"Hahaha, not just well, it was fantastic!" Old Yu praised.
Because they didn’t know when Lingrui would emerge from seclusion, initially, only he and Yang Guanfeng were supposed to perform.
Yet today, Yang Lingrui coincidentally emerged just in time, and they decided to include him at the last moment.
Who would have thought this child was so talented? He not only got into character quickly but even shed real tears for He Shenglai, without any doubt from start to finish.
"After this, in just half a year, Linghu and Lingqing won’t have to avoid people anymore," Yang Guanfeng said with a smile.
He was incredibly astute; upon hearing that Gao Hui said the dynasty would send someone to collect monster corpses, he formulated a rough plan in his mind.
He guessed that the dynasty cultivator arriving at the Yang Family would likely harbor suspicion.
Since they couldn’t avoid it, it was better to use their strategy against them and let them see the "secrets" hidden in the Yang Family’s Forbidden Area.
This way, not only could it explain the improvement in his and Yang Lingrui’s cultivation, but if the Yang Family produced two more practitioners in the future, it wouldn’t seem strange.
Although the four-leafed spirit-receiving grass was precious, as He Shenglai had said, it was just a single Gathering Qi spiritual plant and held significant meaning for the Yang Family, but only moderately so for slightly stronger forces; it hardly reached the level of "being punished for holding a treasure."
Thus, he had previously arranged for Yang Linghu and Yang Lingqing to hide with the spirit stones deep in Little Pine Mountain.
He, along with Old Yu and Yang Lingrui, created a good show that successfully deceived He Shenglai and Gao Hui.
Moreover, through this operation, they secured thirty spiritual crystals, which could be considered a delightful surprise.
As Linghu and Lingqing returned from the mountain, the five individuals discussed how to allocate the one hundred sixty spiritual crystals.
Yang Guanfeng did not treat the three children in a dictatorial manner but encouraged them to think and express their ideas.
This way, when he and Old Yu were no longer around, they could still support the Yang Family.
"Elders, I believe the guarding formation of the Forbidden Area should be our top priority; we should first set aside this amount of money," Yang Lingrui said first.
Following him, Yang Linghu spoke up, "Next should be storage bags! We have five cultivators in our family, yet not a single storage bag; it’s too inconvenient to go out."
He still remembered the issue of not being able to transport monster corpses earlier.
If the Yang Family had enough storage bags, he could take the monster corpses to the marketplace and earn even more spiritual crystals.
Finally, everyone looked at Yang Lingqing, waiting for her input.
The little girl pondered briefly before speaking, "Since the elders have already expanded the Forbidden Area, there will surely be outside cultivators. My suggestion is to use the remaining money to buy a set of basic cultivation methods and techniques—no need for high quality, just those suitable for the mid to late stages of Gathering Qi. We should also establish a library for the Yang Family, like those in the sects."
After she spoke, Yang Lingrui realized, "That’s indeed a great idea; Lingqing thinks things through well."
Outside cultivators certainly couldn’t enjoy the same privileges as the Yang Family’s own members.
With a library, the Yang Family could control the levels and strengths of outside cultivators and prevent scenarios where outsiders could overshadow their authority.
"Lingqing’s suggestion is excellent," Old Yu nodded in approval. "In the future, the family cultivators in the main courtyard will be treated as direct disciples, while the outside cultivators in the branch courtyard will seek cultivation methods from the library, like ordinary disciples."
Hearing the three children express their opinions, Yang Guanfeng nodded frequently.
"Then we will determine these three matters. Old Yu, you can set off in the next few days to invite Liu Zihao."
Yang Guanfeng stated, "You three should continue to follow the Spirit Stone Immortal in your training. The monster tide may have passed, but the family will still face many challenges ahead; you cannot be lax."
"We obey the Elder’s order, and we will remember it!"
The next morning, Old Yu set off to the Fish Ridge River market with one hundred spiritual crystals.
After several days of quiet cultivation, Chen Yang in the Forbidden Area sensed a wave of spiritual energy and emerged from a half-dreaming state.
"Finally, it’s that little brat Linghu’s turn."
The source of the spiritual energy wave was Yang Linghu.
He had been stuck at the peak of the first level of Gathering Qi for a while, but several perilous battles during the monster tide allowed him to grasp the opportunity for a breakthrough.
After a month of quiet reflection and digestion, he finally had an epiphany today and began to push against his bottleneck right where he stood.
In this aspect, Yang Linghu resembled Yang Guanfeng the most, as both succeeded through the method of using battle to gain experience.
The other two children, also meditating, sensed Yang Linghu’s change and exited their meditative state.
They understood how rare the opportunity for a breakthrough was, so they said nothing but quietly watched Yang Linghu’s progress.
Although Yang Linghu had slightly weaker aptitude and progressed slowly, he excelled in other talents.
For instance, in the training of techniques, he hadn’t even broken through to the second level of Gathering Qi, yet he had already cultivated the Force Technique to the second level.
His breakthrough was similar.
When Yang Lingrui and Yang Lingqing broke through to the second level, they had taken several days of closed-door cultivation, but he completed his in just two hours without any hesitation.
"Hu—"
After breaking through, Yang Linghu sighed with relief: "It’s been over a year, but I’ve finally reached the second level of Gathering Qi."
"Congratulations, Brother Hu!"
"Well done, Huzi!"
The two stepped forward to congratulate him, and Yang Linghu responded with a big laugh.
At the same time, a new Treasure Pearl appeared within Chen Yang, and he began to slowly absorb and digest it.
After fully digesting the Treasure Pearl returned from Yang Lingrui’s breakthrough, he gained a year’s worth of spiritual power.
This time, the Treasure Pearl from Yang Linghu’s breakthrough was smaller, and Chen Yang estimated it held about half a year’s worth of spiritual power.
After digesting all the spiritual power and insights, Chen Yang became even more certain of Linghu’s extraordinary talent in technique cultivation.
Initially thinking it was just first level cultivators striving for the second level, it now seemed that he had already brushed against the edge of the third level of the Force Technique, just a step away.
After a brief exchange, the three children resumed their meditation.
After experiencing the monster tide, they increasingly felt the difficulty of the family’s survival.
Although the Spirit Stone Immortal guarded them, one must still be strong themselves; they couldn’t rely solely on the powers of the Spirit Stone.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be long before their existence would be exposed.
At that point, the Yang Family would face great disaster.
Thus, the three children trained diligently every day, striving to attain the strength to stand on their own as soon as possible.
