Chapter 312: Chapter 202: Qin Mengxuan: ...Isn’t This a Little Too Unreserved?

Qin Mengxuan said, "The Grand Array will need nearly three months to finish accumulating power. By then, we’ll be able to find his location."

Su Qinglian frowned. "I’m just afraid he’ll sense something ahead of time and run. In that case, wouldn’t our people be making a wasted trip?"

It would definitely take some time from the moment they discovered Ling Changqing’s location to when the high-level female cultivators from the two families could be dispatched to bring him back.

If the distance was too great, by the time they arrived, Ling Changqing might have already fled to the ends of the earth.

After all, Ling Changqing still refused to appear and was even less willing to proactively seek out the female cultivators of the Liuying Family, all because he didn’t trust them.

"That’s not a problem,"

Qin Mengxuan said with a smile, "As long as the Grand Array is running, we can continuously calculate Ling Changqing’s latest position. He’ll have nowhere to hide, whether he takes to the skies or burrows deep into the earth."

In other words, as long as Ling Changqing was still in this realm, he couldn’t possibly escape their pursuit.

Once they found him, they would figure out a way to earn his trust and make him willingly accept the female cultivators from their two families.

Liu Ying Ziyi nodded. "In that case, we must now arrange for a sufficiently elite force, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice to retrieve Ling Changqing."

The female cultivators sent to meet him must not only have sufficiently high Cultivation, but most importantly, they must be loyal. There absolutely cannot be any spies or informants from other powers mixed in, lest the information leaks.

Qin Mengxuan said, "I’ll have Su Qinglian lead the team. All personnel accompanying her will be strictly vetted by the Supreme Elders to ensure there are no issues."

Liu Ying Ziyi replied, "We will do the same. And should we have Bingchan and the others go with them?"

Qin Mengxuan chided playfully, "Don’t tell me you intend to have them... with Ling Changqing, right on the spot after you find him? Isn’t that a little too forward?"

"There’s no other way. Delays breed trouble!"

Liu Ying Ziyi’s expression was unflustered. "The stakes surrounding him are too high. As long as there is even a sliver of a chance, the other powers out there will never give up."

"I suppose that’s true."

Qin Mengxuan shot her a look, but inwardly she was already wondering, ’Should I have our Sect’s Saintesses go along as well? I can’t let the Liuying Family’s female cultivators get a head start.’

At that very moment, in a bustling, prosperous city on the plains at the foot of Lu Hua Palace’s main peak.

In a century-old tavern in the city’s southern district, the plump proprietress wore an eager smile as she attended to her guests.

Glancing up, her eyes caught a sudden, strange atmospheric phenomenon appearing in the sky above the distant, colossal main peak that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

’...What are those women from Lu Hua Palace up to now?’

The proprietress’s expression remained unchanged as she silently mulled it over.

After waiting on a few more guests, she temporarily handed her duties over to a couple of waiters and slipped out to the back courtyard.

Meanwhile, in the mortal cities surrounding the Lu Hua Palace’s main peak, many hidden eyes had also noticed the strange atmospheric phenomenon.

Although they didn’t know the specific reason for the event, that didn’t stop them from secretly sending word to the powers they served.

As for whether it would have any effect, that would depend on what the leaders of those powers decided to do.

...

「Changqing Continent.」

The first thing Ling Changqing did after leaving his Cultivation Chamber was to check on his female students.

He checked their schoolwork, urged them not to slack off, and played a few... indescribable games with them.

Ling Qiyue and the other women were naturally delighted by this; they would never object to any activity that helped improve the family’s strength.

After comforting his female students, Ling Changqing went to the Pill Hall to practice Alchemy; the Shuoyue Qingyang Furnace, a Top Grade Magical Treasure, could not be left idle.

Logically, a Golden Core power shouldn’t possess a Top-grade Treasure Level Pill Furnace to anchor its destiny. However, thanks to the Haoyue Sect playing the part of a Treasure Delivery Boy, the Ling Family was able to obtain this long-coveted Heavy Artifact.

Time flowed by quietly, and in the blink of an eye, several months had passed.

In the Pill Hall.

With a low rumble from within the Pill Furnace, the heavy lid slowly rose. Billowing Spiritual Qi gushed out, converging into a Lingzhi-shaped cloud of mist against the dome overhead. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Within the dazzling Spiritual Light, over a hundred finger-sized Elixir Pills, shimmering with a clear glow, materialized. Tang Qiu Yao, who stood nearby, expertly retrieved them and sealed them inside a Pill Bottle.

"...Another successful batch. Darling, your Alchemy skills are getting more and more incredible!"

Ling Qiyue remarked with a radiant smile.

’The speed of his progress in the Alchemy Dao is simply unbelievable,’ she thought. ’He’s already not far behind me.’

Of course, she didn’t know that Ling Changqing had a Heavy Artifact like the Era Star Palace, which allowed him to improve his skill in the Alchemy Dao by sacrificing large amounts of his Lifespan.

Ling Changqing gradually deactivated the Array beneath the Pill Furnace, then rose and said,

"These Purifying Spirit Blood Essence Pills are quite effective. We’ll need to prepare another batch in the future. They’re useful for everyone in the family."

"Mm, that won’t be a problem."

Ling Qiyue nodded.

The Purifying Spirit Blood Essence Pill was a Second Rank High-grade Elixir. It didn’t increase one’s Cultivation; its main purpose was to cleanse the Dan Poison and other various impurities accumulated within a Cultivator’s body, thereby purifying their blood and Physique.

As Cultivators, they inevitably consumed all sorts of Elixirs over the years. Over time, the accumulated Dan Poison would increase, eventually hindering their Cultivation progress.

Therefore, the Pill Masters within the major powers all researched various methods for clearing Dan Poison, and most had at least a few unique techniques of their own.

The formula for the Purifying Spirit Blood Essence Pill came from the Haoyue Sect—specifically, from the memories of that half-crippled Nascent Soul Ancestor, which Gong Ling had organized and given to Ling Changqing.

With Ling Changqing’s current skill in the Alchemy Dao and the aid of the Shuoyue Qingyang Furnace, a Top Grade Magical Treasure, he could produce no fewer than a hundred pills in a single batch.

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator only needed to take one Purifying Spirit Blood Essence Pill per year to clear sixty percent of the Dan Poison from their body. Taking three could clear about ninety percent.

With such a Pill Formula, over the years, the average strength of the Ling Family’s Cultivators would surpass that of neighboring powers of a similar scale by an entire level.

As Ling Changqing was speaking with the women, Tang Qiu Yao stepped out for a moment. She returned and said, "I just received a report. Two more family disciples have successfully reached Foundation Establishment."

Ling Changqing nodded. "That’s good news. The family is growing stronger."

The Ling Family of today was a far cry from its former self. In total, they had seven Golden Core Masters: Ling Qiyue, Fu Yin Xue, Tang Qiu Yao, Xue Qingtan, Meng Feiyu, Ling Changqing, and Liu Chengbin.

Of course, in the eyes of the outside world, Meng Feiyu and Xue Qingtan were not considered part of the Ling Family, and Fu Yin Xue’s identity had to be kept secret for now.

Even so, with four Golden Core Masters watching over it, the Ling Family was no longer a target that the surrounding sea regions could easily make a move on.

The two family elders, Ling Tianhe and Ling Tianque, now both had the Cultivation of Pseudo Core masters.

The number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Ling Family had surpassed sixty. Furthermore, the smaller powers in the Feiyu Sea Region that had submitted to them accounted for another twenty-some Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Furthermore, among the Honored Guest Elders employed by the Ling Family, there were six Pseudo Core masters and over thirty more Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

This level of power was more than enough for the Ling Family to protect itself, but it was still insufficient for further expansion.

Ling Changqing’s goal was to wait until the Ling Family had no fewer than fifteen Core Formation Cultivators and at least two hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators before continuing to expand outward and bring the surrounding sea regions into their sphere of influence.

"Just think, thirty years ago, our Ling Family only had three Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and our territory was just the single Zenxin Island. Who would have thought we’d now be the masters of the entire Feiyu Sea Region!"

Tang Qiu Yao sighed with emotion. Speaking of which, most of the credit for this belonged to Ling Changqing.

’If not for him,’ Tang Qiu Yao mused, ’with only Ling Qiyue holding things together, it’s hard to say what the Ling Family’s situation would be now. Perhaps we would still just be an insignificant little power, our territory limited to Zenxin Island and Longhuan Island?’

Just as Ling Changqing was about to speak, a sudden premonition of immense danger rose in his heart.

At the level of his Divine Soul, the faint, heart-pounding echo of thunder resounded. It was as if some peerless, ferocious beast was prowling the depths of the River of Time, searching for him. The moment it found his trail, it would pounce without a moment’s hesitation.

’What’s going on?’

Ling Changqing’s expression remained unchanged as he asked this inwardly.

"Master, someone is using a Secret Technique of Celestial Secret Calculation to try and track and lock onto your position!"

Gong Ling’s voice rang out in his sea of consciousness.

’Of course,’ Ling Changqing thought, ’I knew it...’

Ling Changqing frowned slightly. ’Those major powers haven’t given up, after all. No matter the cost, they’re determined to hunt me down to the very end.’