Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 1786: Chapter 1084: Spiritual Artifact Divine General Chessboard

After discussing the Dao for quite a while, Xuanzhen finally took his leave.

Once he left, Yang Zhenshan went to the rear hall, where Yu Qingyi had been waiting for him for a long time.

This time, his seclusion lasted for five years, and he hadn’t had a proper conversation with Yu Qingyi in quite a while.

In the warm pavilion, Yang Zhenshan held Yu Qingyi’s soft waist, listening to her gentle, detailed recounting of the events in the Life Realm Immortal Palace over the past five years.

In truth, not much had happened; the Life Realm Immortal Palace had been orderly in recent years, with the biggest event being Xuanzhen’s Core Formation, followed by various breakthroughs.

”Ming Hao has also made a breakthrough. I expect Yunxue, Yun Qiao, and Lin Zhan won’t take much longer to achieve theirs.”

”Chengye, Mingzhe, and Ming Zhao are also on the verge of breakthroughs. In two or three years, they can go into seclusion!”

”Only Chengmao is still lagging behind. Chengmao has been busy with affairs, causing his cultivation to stagnate.”

Yu Qingyi said softly.

Leaning on the soft couch, Yang Zhenshan pulled her closer into his arms, ”Let Ming Cheng take Chengmao’s place temporarily so Chengmao can focus on improving his cultivation.”

These years, Yang Chengmao had been in charge of managing Ziwei Tower. The larger the Spirit Origin Land, the more tasks he had, inevitably affecting his cultivation.

”Hmm, I’ll take care of that!” Yu Qingyi smiled brightly, ”The family has three new children with spiritual apertures! Haha.”

Yang Zhenshan’s eyes brightened, ”Three?”

”Yes, all tested last year. Zongping, Qingyu, and a girl, Yu Qiao.”

The Yang family has a generational trend, with males named in the order of Ming, Cheng, Qin, Ji, Zong, Qing, Shang, and females named in the order of Yun, Wan, Ruo, Qing, Yu, Chu, Xiao.

This naming sequence was set by Yang Zhenshan, but he didn’t establish further ones as descendants became too numerous, making naming difficult.

Especially since the Spirit Origin Land doesn’t only contain the Yang Zhenshan branch of the Yang family; there’s also Yang Mingwu, Yang Mingzhen, Yang Chengze, Yang Chengxu, among others. Even the former Lingxi Yang family now follows the Yang family.

With too many peers, naming became a hassle, so Yang Zhenshan no longer set any generational trends.

Of course, even if Yang Zhenshan doesn’t set them, others naturally will.

With the family growing large and branching out, the Yang family has split numerous times, so adhering to those irrelevant traditions isn’t necessary.

In recent years, the number of children with spiritual apertures emerging from the Yang family has significantly increased. To date, the Yang family has over twenty Immortal Cultivators, with Yang Jizhen naturally being the most advanced, followed by Yang Zongyuan and Yang Qingyu. The late-stage Qi Refinement practitioners include Yang Zongcai, Yang Qingtao, among others. For the younger generations, there are even more.

The three Yu Qingyi mentioned are all six-year-old children who get tested for spiritual apertures at that age in the Spirit Origin Land. Those with spiritual apertures are sent to Wuzhen Taoist Palace for cultivation.

Despite only being in seclusion for five years, Yang Zhenshan’s family has gained three children with spiritual apertures, indicating the current high occurrence rate in the Spirit Origin Land far exceeds previous levels.

”Take a day to bring them over so I can meet them; these children don’t know their ancestor anymore!” Yang Zhenshan said in vexation.

Yu Qingyi rolled her eyes at him, ”You’re constantly in seclusion; it’s no wonder they don’t know you!”

”It’s unavoidable!” Yang Zhenshan shook his head.

His seclusion lasts three to five years each time, and he has many tasks to accomplish, leaving him with no time to care for the Yang family’s descendants.

Children grow quickly; in the blink of an eye, several years pass, and they’ve grown up.

Plus, with so many descendants now, Yang Zhenshan is disinclined to organize family feasts, resulting in many being in their twenties or thirties without ever having met him.

”You should pay more attention to family affairs, but don’t neglect your cultivation. I still hope you’ll achieve the Golden Core Path!” Yang Zhenshan gently said, curling her hair.

Only by forming the core can Yu Qingyi truly be with him for the long haul. A few hundred years of lifespan seem too short to him; he hopes Yu Qingyi can live for thousands of years, or even accompany him until his end.

Longevity isn’t merely about oneself but also about having a companion.

Without one, living alone for thousands or tens of thousands of years, what does it amount to? Isn’t it still like a lone soul wandering?

”Yes, I’ll work hard!” Yu Qingyi leaned tightly against his chest, full of reluctance.

Their future journey is still long, but the disparity in their lifespans causes her some unease.

They shared warmth for quite some time, living as a couple for half a month afterward.

Yang Zhenshan loved accompanying Yu Qingyi on excursions, the two wandering through the wilderness, admiring mountains, water, flowers, trees, watching clouds roll and scatter, the wind blow, and sunsets descend.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the time for leisure; external disputes remain ongoing. Although the Spirit Origin Land stands apart from the turmoil, this can’t last forever. The Spirit Origin Land will eventually need to step out.

Currently, relying on its accumulated reserves, the Spirit Origin Land can still meet various resource demands, but soon it will face shortages.

Not of high-grade resources, but of the most commonly used ones.

Like Spirit Stones!

This most common and widely used resource is nearing depletion in the Spirit Origin Land.

Of course, high-grade resources are scarce as well. The Immortal Palace recently gained one more Golden Core Cultivator, along with numerous Divine Soul Realm Martial Artists and Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

These many people each require vast amounts of resources.

No matter how wealthy Yang Zhenshan is, it’s impossible to supply everyone’s cultivation needs.

Thus, after spending half a month with Yu Qingyi, Yang Zhenshan started planning to go out.

Just as he was preparing to take a look outside, Yang Jizhen approached.

”Ancestor, the Divine General Chessboard has been refined!”

Inside Longevity Hall, Yang Jizhen held a chessboard entirely black before Yang Zhenshan, his face full of proud demeanor.

This Divine General Chessboard is naturally not an ordinary magical treasure, but a spiritual artifact-grade Divine General Chessboard.

Over the years, Yang Jizhen has refined many Divine General Chessboards, all of which were given to the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of Wuzhen Taoist Palace. It is precisely because he refined the Divine General Chessboard many times that he is now able to refine this spiritual artifact-grade Divine General Chessboard.

This is the first spiritual artifact he has refined; although the Thunder Fire Spear was also refined by him, it was only modified from other spiritual artifacts.

This Divine General Chessboard, however, was completed entirely by him from start to finish.

Yang Zhenshan took the chessboard, examined it for a moment, and smiled, ”Not bad, it seems your artifact refining technique has improved a lot!”

”Haha, this is all thanks to the nurturing from our ancestors!” Yang Jizhen said somewhat spiritedly.

At this moment, Yang Jizhen has reasons to be proud.

He is now only one hundred and forty years old, and his cultivation is merely mid-stage Foundation Establishment, but he can refine spiritual artifacts.

Just based on his refining skills, he can be considered a genius anywhere.

Speaking of his cultivation talent, Yang Jizhen is not highly gifted; even with Spiritual Spring Water enhancing his potential, his cultivation talent is at best above average, far inferior to those favored by heaven.

However, Yang Jizhen shows outstanding talent in artifact refining; he can design large flying boats and refine various magical treasures, and now he can even refine spiritual artifacts.

Among artifact refiners like him, it is estimated that even the Ten Thousand Treasures Store can’t find many like him.

”Come, introduce this spiritual artifact to me!” Yang Zhenshan laughed.

Yang Jizhen laughed and said, ”This chessboard is a low-grade spiritual artifact and has three hundred and sixty-one Spiritual Eyes. Each Spiritual Eye has a Luminous Soul Domain, which can be used by three hundred and sixty Divine Generals to cultivate and nurture!”

”Which means this chessboard can nurture a hundred and twenty-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty Divine Generals!”

”However, to nurture so many Divine Generals requires a large amount of spiritual energy and golden light. Considering the difficulty of nurturing Divine Generals, I have also designed an array for this chessboard!”

”The Divine General Nurturing Array uses the chessboard as an array hub, with the spirit vein as the foundation. It allows other cultivators to recite the Golden Light Divine Spell together to nurture the Divine Generals!”

”Hehe, ancestor, I thought this through thoroughly, didn’t I!”

He looked with a seeking approval expression, his smug appearance somewhat infuriating.

However, at this time, Yang Zhenshan didn’t want to beat him at all; instead, he wanted to praise him.

”Very good, haha~~” Yang Zhenshan praised.

The biggest issue in nurturing Divine Generals is the nurturing itself; even though Yang Zhenshan is a Golden Core Cultivator, it’s impossible for him to nurture twelve thousand Divine Generals; he couldn’t possibly nurture that many even if it killed him.

Hence it requires help from others. Generally, spiritual artifacts can only be used by their owners; others can only drive them with the owner’s consent, but that’s merely driving, not mastering.

The biggest advantage of the Divine General Chessboard refined by Yang Jizhen is that it can work with arrays to allow others to help Yang Zhenshan with nurturing.

Spiritual energy nurturing can rely on the spirit vein, but nurturing using the Golden Light Divine Spell requires the disciples of Wuzhen Taoist Palace.

If the nurturing of twelve thousand Divine Generals is truly possible, then Yang Zhenshan would effectively have twelve thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators at his disposal, and these Foundation Establishment Cultivators are unafraid of death; just thinking about it reveals how terrifying it would be.

However, nurturing twelve thousand Divine Generals is not a simple task.

Yang Zhenshan lavishly praised him, then had Yang Jizhen build a Divine General Nurturing Array in the Wuzhen Taoist Palace, where all disciples of Wuzhen Taoist Palace would have to also cultivate the Golden Light Divine Spell, reciting it several times a day.

Although those disciples have low cultivation, they are numerous; if they can recite the Golden Light Divine Spell consistently over a long period, the nurturing effect for Divine Generals wouldn’t be too far off than if Yang Zhenshan did it himself.

Additionally, Yang Zhenshan found Xuanzhen to help with nurturing the Divine Generals.

Xuanzhen had completed Core Formation, and his Divine General Chessboard also upgraded to a spiritual artifact, although its advancement direction differs from this one.

His Divine General Chessboard can still only nurture three hundred and sixty-one Divine Generals, and there’s the advantage of fewer numbers—it allows for a more elite path.

Yang Zhenshan was not asking Xuanzhen to help him recite the Golden Light Divine Spell—Xuanzhen had his own Divine General Chessboard and could not abandon it to help Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan needed Xuanzhen’s help to transform those Yin Souls into Divine Generals, which was also a large workload not achievable in a short time.

Currently, Yang Zhenshan has only two hundred Ghost Generals in hand, meaning he currently needs Xuanzhen to convert these two hundred Ghost Generals into Divine Generals.

Besides, he had previously converted about a dozen, so now he can only gather about two hundred and thirty.

As for the Divine Soul Hall, it’s not too late to convert the Yin Souls into Ghost Generals and later transform them; converting them now would instead slow their growth.

The Divine Soul Hall has the Yin Vein; the Yin Souls within can be nourished by the Yin Vein and utilize the Yin energy released by the Yin Vein for cultivation.

Although once entering the Divine General Chessboard, they can also absorb spiritual energy, and utilize the Golden Light Divine Spell to enhance their strength, it’s far slower than their self-improvement within the Divine Soul Hall.

With Xuanzhen’s help, Yang Zhenshan could then be free to manage other matters.

For the past several decades, the Spirit Source Land has been in a state of closure, with little understanding of external circumstances and changes.

Yang Zhenshan needs to step out to comprehend some situational changes and also needs to undertake certain tasks.

After arranging matters at White Jade City, Yang Zhenshan stepped out of the Life Realm Immortal Palace and first visited the Yang Family Blessed Land, which was once the Ancient Relic Array.

The Yang Family Blessed Land remains in the old state; Yang Zhenshan had not closed the Pocket World Gate of Yang Family Blessed Land but merely sealed off its array and prohibited anyone from leaving.

The repaired Molten Rock Divine General still stood guard within the Yang Family Blessed Land. This fellow sat upon the mountaintop motionless, making the good mountaintop resemble a volcano.

The Molten Rock Divine General belongs to the puppet category—its energy core automatically absorbs external spiritual energy, but the spiritual energy stored in its energy core is limited. Once the energy core is filled, it stops absorbing.

It does not need to cultivate, nor perform other activities, so it remains in a dormant state daily.

Dormancy and the monotonous state are habitual for it, so it does not feel repulsed, especially considering it was dormant within Sun Cave Heaven for tens of thousands of years in the past.

Yang Zhenshan merely took a glance at the Molten Rock Divine General, then left the Yang Family Blessed Land and entered the Void, heading swiftly towards the direction of the Wanhua Mountain Range.