Family Cultivation: I can see the prompts

166: QingmingtieNear Cloud Mirror Mountain in Tianhe Province, Lin Xianzhi did not immediately return to Tianhe City; instead, he began searching meticulously in the vicinity.

He didn’t believe Lin Shiming would appear, yet at the same time, he was extremely afraid that Lin Shiming had met with an accident.

The internal conflict and anxiety made his face appear increasingly aged.

The side effects of the Ren Water Geng Metal Art were growing stronger; he estimated he only had about twenty years of life left. One must know that he was only a little over 160 years old at this point, while the lifespan limit for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator is 250 years.

In a cave, Lin Xianzhi found Lin Houyuan.

Along with Lin Houyuan were a group of Qi Refining Cultivators.

For Cultivators of the Heavenly Demon Sect and Corpse Refinement Sect, Qi Refining Cultivators were undoubtedly not worth pursuing. Their whereabouts would naturally be exposed after the Foundation Establishment Cultivators fled. Instead, killing higher-level Cultivators was more likely to yield more spiritual treasures.

”Seventh Grand Uncle!” Lin Houyuan looked up at Lin Xianzhi, also extremely excited.

But seeing Lin Xianzhi’s increasingly aged face, it was as if he had seen Lin Yuqi that day, shrouded in twilight.

The excitement in his heart cooled by another three points.

And thinking of the Cultivators the Family had lost this time, his expression grew even more somber.

He had no face to speak to Seventh Grand Uncle, and at the same time, he thought of Lin Shiming.

”Seventh Grand Uncle, didn’t Shiming come with you?” Lin Houyuan’s voice grew softer and softer as he asked the question.

He naturally saw Lin Xianzhi’s dejected face. One should know that before, whenever Lin Shiming was present, Lin Xianzhi would always have a slightly contented expression.

That kind of pride and relaxation was completely absent from Lin Xianzhi’s face now.

”Shiming broke through alone, I’m still looking!” Lin Xianzhi replied somberly.

Lin Xianzhi roughly scanned the surviving Lin Family members and then sighed helplessly again. This defensive battle was definitely the Lin Family’s greatest loss in history; almost half of the Family’s Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivators had perished.

And they were the pillars of the Family’s Hou Generation.

Fortunately, key Family members like Lin Shiyi, Lin Houwei, Lin Yuqing, and Lei Xuan were still alive, though they had all sustained injuries to varying degrees.

”Houyuan, take the Family members back to Tianhe City. I’ll continue searching for three more days!” Lin Xianzhi spoke again, then exited the Immortal Cave and resolutely embarked on his search once more.

Since the chaotic battle at Cloud Mirror Mountain, he hadn’t even begun to treat his injuries, nor had he properly stopped to recover his true essence or suppress his internal injuries... Deep underground, after an unknown period, Lin Shiming opened his eyes. The true essence in his body could now circulate, unlike at first when he could only rely on the physical body of a Body Cultivator to perform breathing exercises and recover from injuries. Moreover, the Azure Lotus Seed had begun to take effect, slowly repairing the injuries within his body.

However, he still felt an excruciating headache.

The self-detonation of the Purple Wood Mysterious Sky Sword Formation had almost damaged even his Divine Sense.

Fortunately, he had the Spirit Splitting Art to Cultivate and recover, otherwise, at this moment, he wouldn’t even be able to use his Divine Sense to explore his surroundings.

The Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis was still lying beside him, its golden insect body covered with six thin golden wings, and two golden sickle-like forelegs extended forward, motionless.

After seeing Lin Shiming finally open his eyes, the Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis began to chirp, with a hint of joy in its calls.

Its triangular head wanted to rub against Lin Shiming.

Lin Shiming reached out and stroked the Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis’s head.

This time, he owed a great deal to the Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis. At that moment, he was truly at his wit’s end. If not for the terrifying speed and attack of the Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis, coupled with the concealment effect of the Azure Lotus Daoist Robe,

even if Lu Changming’s true essence was less than one-tenth and his Divine Sense was suppressed by the Spirit Shocking Drum, he still wouldn’t have been able to kill Lu Changming in the end.

And the consequence of Lu Changming not dying would have been his own certain death.

Lin Shiming still couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear at the thought.

The battle that day was truly too perilous.

Especially after the great battle, he had no combat power left. Fortunately, the Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis guarded him, and only the Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis could he trust the most. Its strength, loyalty, and never causing trouble were incomparable to the Red-haired Demon Monkey, which is why he put away the Red-haired Demon Monkey.

The Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis was, after all, hatched by him from an insect egg, whereas he couldn’t help but be somewhat wary of the Red-haired Demon Monkey.

Lin Shiming took out some Beast Nurturing Pills and spirit beast meat to feed the Jin Chi (Golden Wings) Mantis, then took out a Formation to cover the surrounding hundred meters and opened up three or four stone chambers.

After everything was properly arranged, Lin Shiming continued to Cultivate and recover.

After a long time again, Lin Shiming had long forgotten the concept of time—one month, two months, or even longer.

As a mouthful of turbid Qi was exhaled, the true essence Qi contained in the Purple Wood Heart Sutra filled his entire body, and Lin Shiming’s previous injuries finally healed.

At this moment, he once again felt the power of Wood attribute Cultivation Technique, which had miraculous effects on injuries and recovery.

His Divine Sense also fully recovered under the Cultivation of the Spirit Splitting Art; he even felt his Divine Sense further improve.

The surprise didn’t stop there. Lin Shiming’s Divine Sense looked inward and found that the true essence in his body had become even more condensed.

After breaking through to Foundation Establishment, his true essence was inevitably somewhat unstable, but this battle unexpectedly caused his true essence to solidify.

One must know that generally, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator would take at least ten or even twenty years.

Just like Lin Shiming’s father, Lin Houyuan, who had broken through to Foundation Establishment over ten years ago, but his true essence had still not been completely condensed, preventing him from Cultivating to the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, let alone breaking through the Foundation Establishment Early Stage to reach the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Realm.

And at this moment, he had only just broken through to Foundation Establishment less than six years ago.

This also meant that as long as he was willing to immediately Cultivate diligently, he would be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage within the next few years.

However, Lin Shiming did not immediately break through. Not to mention that the Qingxuan Sect would be suspicious, and Family elders like Lin Xianzhi would be worried; just his rapid Breakthrough alone would require him to come up with an explanation for the Qingxuan Sect.

Leaving the mine, with a corpse in his Storage Pouch, and clearly having broken through using High-Grade Spirit Stones, at that time, in severe cases, his soul would be searched, or at best, a Soul Questioning Talisman would be used. But neither of these was what he wanted to see.

After Lin Shiming finished Cultivating, he finally had time to examine his spoils of war.

One must know that this time, 90% of his Spirit Devouring Ants had perished, leaving only eighty-one. The Purple Wood Mysterious Sky Sword Formation was destroyed, the Tiangang Sword Formation was also destroyed, and all of his Bloodfiend Thunders were used up, resulting in extremely severe losses.

Lin Shiming first took out the Storage Pouches of the four Demonic Path Cultivators.

Inside the four Storage Pouches, he found 500,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and over a hundred catties of qingming iron.

The over one hundred catties of qingming iron were clearly from the Heavenly Demon Sect Cultivators who had previously plundered the spiritual iron mines in Tianhe Province. One must know that qingming iron is a third-tier Materials, and a high-quality one at that. These hundred catties of qingming iron alone were worth at least 700,000 spiritual stones.

In other words, the income from spiritual Materials and Spirit Stones alone amounted to one million Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

In addition, Lin Shiming also obtained five Medium Grade third-tier Magical Artifacts, two High Grade third-tier Magical Artifacts, and a third-tier life-substituting straw figure.

Medium Grade Magical Artifacts were naturally not enough for Lin Shiming at this moment, while the High Grade Magical Artifacts were the contaminated gourd Magical Artifact and another demonic blade Magical Artifact. Unfortunately, both of these Magical Artifacts required Cultivating Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques.