SWDnovel Chapter 47 Returning to Homeland
Chapter 47 Returning to Homeland
A moment later.
Lin Changqing then tapped his storage bag, and a small bag of spirit stones shot out.
"Consider these three hundred spirit stones as payment for your spirit stone blocks." Lin Changqing's words were cold and direct, but to the old man surnamed Song, they sounded like heavenly music.
The elderly man surnamed Song lowered his body, his eyes filled with deep shock, his whole body trembled slightly, and tears streamed down his cloudy eyes.
After a short while, the old man surnamed Song was about to prostrate himself on the ground to express his gratitude when Lin Changqing gently lifted him up, stopping him from saying thank you. He then personally placed the spirit stone bag into the old man's arms to prevent others from peeping at it.
After doing all this, Lin Changqing put away the spirit stone containing the leaf on the table, threw spirit stones on the table to pay for the spiritual food at the restaurant, lifted the restriction, and turned to leave.
Only the young servant who went forward to collect the spirit stones and the old man surnamed Song who was savoring the spiritual food and wine on the table remained.
After finishing his meal, the old man left the place and never returned.
......
Back at the Misty Rain Pavilion, Lin Changqing entered his secluded courtyard and began studying the spirit stone blocks, activating the restrictions he had set up.
When this spirit stone containing the leaf absorbed his magical power, he sensed its extraordinary nature, and it must be an extremely precious, rare, or even extinct item.
Lin Changqing looked at the spirit stone in his hand, no longer probing, but directly injected his Foundation Establishment stage mana to find out what it was all about.
The powerful magic slowly flowed from his palm into the spirit stone, where it was absorbed by the withered leaves. After being nourished by the magic, the leaves began to glow with more and more light spots, and even regained a hint of indigo blue.
However, this situation ended in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, leaving Lin Changqing deeply shocked, as this was the first time he had ever faced such a situation.
"So fast?"
The leaves inside were very peculiar, unlike the elixirs of the past. They were extremely picky, and stopped absorbing magical power after only a short while, which aroused his curiosity even more.
"Let's try using lifespan to see how much he can absorb!"
Lin Changqing was filled with heroic spirit. His internal essence was mobilized by the technique, flowing from his Shenque point to his palm. It continuously transformed into fine threads containing life force, which entangled the spirit stone and slowly entered the leaf.
Nourished by the longevity essence, the leaves began to frantically recover their vitality. A faint, azure flame bloomed at the base of the leaves, and under the burning flame, the leaves miraculously regained their life force, which slowly spread upwards.
Even the spirit stone that wrapped the leaves began to melt, absorbed by the azure flames, turning into wisps of life-restoring power that dispelled the withered parts of the leaves.
Meanwhile, as the blue leaves recovered by nearly half, Lin Changqing's own lifespan was also greatly diminished.
Lifespan: 945 --> 811
It took over a hundred years of lifespan! And only half of it has been restored.
Lin Changqing's face turned cold. This was the first time he had encountered such a troublesome treasure, and it was also the one that had consumed the most energy he had ever had. However, since things had come to this, he could only do his best to recover.
Pure vitality surged in like a tide, enveloping the entire leaf. Even the azure flames, sensing such immense vitality, began to burst into even larger flames, dispelling the withered spots at the leaf tips.
"Buzz!"
A mysterious sound vibrated subtly in the air, creating ripples. The leaf was enveloped in a ball of azure flame, its body devoid of any blackness, entirely a vibrant azure, even the veins on the leaf were concealed within, no longer jarring.
The azure leaves seemed to possess a spirit, hovering in the air for a while before entering Lin Changqing's body.
Lifespan: 811 --> 661
Lin Changqing felt his lifespan draining away, and a strange emptiness filled his heart, which in turn caused his body to feel a sense of illusory emptiness.
However, Lin Changqing didn't have much time to feel it before he began to study the azure leaves inside his body.
It took him nearly three hundred years of his lifespan to save this azure leaf, so it must not be anything ordinary.
If he is properly nurtured, there will be no need to search for materials to refine his natal magic weapon in the future. Moreover, with his nurturing and the addition of lifespan from time to time, it will definitely become a powerful magic weapon.
Long ago, he realized his own shortcomings, namely that he had too few means of attack and only had the advantage of cultivating both body and magic.
In most cases, he relied on talismans and magical artifacts to win. When all else failed, he could only consume his lifespan to unleash even stronger physical power to kill his opponents.
He had no other means.
Although relatively speaking, he was certainly not inferior to others at the same level, he was far from meeting his requirements. Therefore, as soon as he successfully established his foundation, he began to study the prototype of his natal magic weapon.
Magic treasures are items crafted during the Core Formation stage, which Lin Changqing naturally cannot craft. However, this does not mean that a magic treasure crafted during the Core Formation stage is necessarily stronger than some rudimentary magic treasures.
Core Formation cultivators who lack cultivation resources naturally have weaker natal magic treasures. Even after hundreds of years of nurturing, the strength of their magic treasures is still limited, not as good as the natal magic treasures made by some newly-entered Core Formation cultivators using rare materials.
The same principle applies here; a prototype of a magical artifact crafted from rare materials is no weaker than an ordinary magical artifact.
"This azure leaf is truly extraordinary! The flames it releases not only don't burn him, but they also continuously repair the hidden injuries on his body," Lin Changqing exclaimed in delight.
Although he didn't have any hidden injuries, only some very minor wounds, even precious spiritual medicines couldn't take care of them.
But now, under the warm glow of the azure fire, it is slowly recovering, as if a new life force has been added to its body, nourishing its magical body together with its own magical power, making its already nearly flawless magical body even purer.
After studying the Azure Leaf, Lin Changqing began refining Spirit Gathering Pills, and as usual, he took one or two Spirit Gathering Pills every day to aid his cultivation.
Half a month later, Lin Changqing took the two hundredth Spirit Gathering Pill and used the secret technique, Annual Ring, again.
Lifespan: 661 --> 646
As his lifespan diminished, Lin Changqing continued his alchemy and cultivation practices until another three months passed.
Inside the cave, Lin Changqing consumed his three hundredth Spirit Gathering Pill.
The Gathering Spirit Pill is not the most potent among Foundation Establishment stage pills, but it still cannot withstand large doses, especially if it is fully absorbed without developing drug resistance.
In addition, his spiritual root aptitude has now surpassed that of three spiritual roots, so his cultivation speed will naturally be faster.
The medicinal power of the Spirit Gathering Pill transformed into a pure spiritual energy, flowing from the dantian into the entire body and spreading throughout the body.
Lin Changqing maintained this cultivation rhythm every day. Originally, the liquid mana in his body was just a little bit, but with persistence, it slowly condensed little by little, as if it were gathering into a river, until it completely filled the entire channel and flowed into the sea.
"Buzz!"
Lin Changqing's aura changed drastically, and his internal magic power became increasingly stronger, successfully reaching the peak of the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
After breaking through, he stopped circulating his cultivation technique and focused all his attention on controlling the fluctuations of his internal magical power, no longer allowing himself to emit pressure without restraint.
"Even at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, taking elixirs is the fastest way to improve cultivation!"
In the two years after Lin Changqing broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he spent most of his time refining weapons, alchemy, setting up formations, brewing spirit wine, and learning other skills to earn spirit stones. He had less time for cultivation and his progress was not significant.
It has only been a little over half a year, and only through dedicated cultivation and daily consumption of Spirit Gathering Pills has my strength improved so rapidly.
......
Sunset at the Misty Rain Pavilion.
Li Zhijing followed the caravan, using talismans and magical artifacts for protection, and returned safely. She also brought back good news: a jade slip with the exact location of the great formation written on it.
The location of the great formation is quite far from Yan Family Fortress, on a vast wasteland.
The next day!
At Li Zhijing's suggestion, Lin Changqing took Li Zhijing to Manxiang Restaurant to eat spiritual food.
Lin Changqing didn't mind, since the cost of these spiritual foods was less than the amount of spirit stones he spent on the ingredients for a Spirit Gathering Pill. If there really was an ancient cultivator's formation this time, eating them a few more times wouldn't be a big deal.
At the Manxiang Restaurant, Li Zhijing ordered a lot of spiritual food, just like before.
For some reason, Lin Changqing felt something was missing, so he beckoned to ask the young servant.
"Where has that old man who used to frequent Manxianglou gone?" Lin Changqing asked the young servant curiously.
When the young servant heard someone ask, he replied enthusiastically, "Old Man Song! He's gone. I heard he went back to Xi Kingdom!"
"Xi Kingdom? Why?" Lin Changqing was also curious about the old man surnamed Song, after all, it was the old man who exchanged the spirit stone containing the leaf with him, which allowed him to obtain such a magical azure leaf.
Although he knew Ye Zi was extraordinary when he touched the spirit stone, he never expected him to be this extraordinary.
To this day, he still hasn't figured out where the leaf came from; all he knows is that this azure leaf consumed a large amount of his lifespan.
"Old Man Song was not originally from Yue. He was captured by evil cultivators when he was young and was rescued by cultivators from the Yan family. However, the Yan family cultivators made people repay their debt of gratitude, so these rescued cultivators could only mine in the Yan family's mines for the rest of their lives."
"Those with family resources will naturally come to rescue people; those without family resources can only stay in the Yan family to mine spirit ore."
"More than ten years ago, Old Man Song, like those other elderly people who were nearing the end of their lives, was released."
The young servant spoke softly, not daring to make a sound.
"Then why didn't you go back directly after being released?" Li Zhijing, who was eating a medicinal bun, asked with interest.
The young servant smiled obsequiously and said, "The journey to Xi Kingdom is too far. A Qi Refining cultivator traveling such a distance without a powerful protector would most likely die on the way or be captured by evil cultivators. How could we dare to wander off recklessly?"
"Moreover, staying in the Yan family's market area will allow you to survive well. At least you've mined spirit ore your whole life. Although you may not have the skills, you have a lot of experience. If you dig up any treasures, you can exchange them for them, and there will be benefits."
"Then why did he go back now?" Li Zhijing continued to ask.
"I heard that a spirit stone took a transnational flying boat and left. Now, three months have passed, so it should have flown to Xi Kingdom and returned home!" The young servant sighed at the old man's experience.
After listening to the young servant's words, Lin Changqing also drank the Drunken Immortal Wine on the table. He wanted to say something, but felt a little uneasy, and could only mutter to himself, "It's just so-so, not as good as the wine I brew myself!"