The Stone Spirit Walnut Tree
Luo Minghui raised an eyebrow slightly, considered the pros and cons, and then made up his mind before speaking.
"Fellow Daoists, that spirit tree possesses a powerful aura. Judging from its aura, it should be a Second Rank Low Grade spirit tree. Years ago, when I was still a disciple of the Hundred Spirits Sect, I saw this tree in the Hundred Spirits Sect's spirit medicine garden. The leaves of this tree are oval to oblong, with blunt or sharply pointed, shortly acuminate tips, and a crooked, nearly round base. If I remember correctly, this tree should be Stone Spirit Walnut Tree. Ling Daoyou, am I mistaken?"
Upon hearing this, Ling Yunhong frowned and thought to himself, "This person does have some knowledge."
Like Luo Minghui, he intended to keep the tree for himself, but now that Luo Minghui had made the tree's origin clear, he no longer needed to hide it.
"That's right, it is the Stone Spirit Walnut Tree. It's currently the beginning of Start of Summer, and there are no fruits on the tree yet, so it's very difficult to identify."
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the other three families already had some guesses about the five-zhang-tall second-tier spirit tree, and now that they heard Ling Yunhong, a second-tier Spirit Planter, confirm it, their faces lit up with joy.
Luo Minghui spoke calmly. "You all understand the value of this tree. Let's discuss how to divide it. There's only one tree, but we have five families."
These words created a subtle atmosphere among the five Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Second Rank Low Grade spirit trees are even rarer than Foundation Establishment Cultivator, let alone Second Rank Low Grade spirit fruit trees.
The Stone Spirit Walnut produced by the Second Rank Low Grade Stone Spirit Walnut Tree deep in the valley can improve one's cultivation level after consumption. If a cultivator who mainly cultivates earth-type Cultivation Method consumes them, their effects are even more than 30% stronger than Pill Refining of the same grade.
Moreover, this tree is of the Second Rank Low Grade, and it only takes fifty years to produce Second Rank Low Grade Stone Spirit Walnut.
As Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the five of them understood how expensive second-tier Pill Refining were. If this tree existed, they could harvest a batch of Stone Spirit Walnut comparable to Second Rank Low Grade Pill Refining every fifty years.
Who would easily give up such a precious tree?
Among the hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators present, some of the older cultivators also noticed the subtle atmosphere between the five Foundation Establishment Cultivator at the front of the group. They exchanged signals to indicate that something was wrong with their Lineage and to prepare for battle, while also distancing themselves from the Qi Refining cultivators from other families.
Time passed second by second, and under the oppressive atmosphere, many Qi Refining cultivators broke out in a cold sweat.
Ten breaths passed before Ling Yunhong, the Spirit Planter, noticed the atmosphere. He glanced at Luo Minghui beside him, his expression full of apprehension. After thinking for a moment, he broke the silence and made a suggestion.
"Our five families have only been established in Huai River County for a little over eight years, and we had no prior dealings with each other. There's no need to make a scene over a Second Rank Low Grade spirit tree. I have an idea: I will take care of this Stone Spirit Walnut Tree. If you all agree, I can give each of you five Second Rank Low Grade Stone Spirit Walnut every fifty years. At the same time, we can also use this tree to strengthen our relationships, encourage intermarriage among the five clans, and work together against external threats. What do you think?"
Of the five people present, Luo Minghui, the only one who mainly cultivated earth-based Cultivation Method, showed a slight change in expression and asked.
"Is it true that each family received five Stone Spirit Walnut over fifty years?"
Under normal circumstances, the number of spiritual fruits produced is related to the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the area where the spiritual tree is planted, and the number of spiritual fruits will also increase according to the number of years the tree has been planted.
While the quantity of spiritual fruits is relatively easy to manage, it is extremely difficult to advance in terms of their grade. Under normal circumstances, if ten first-grade spiritual fruits are accumulated over fifty years and it is hoped that three out of ten will successfully advance to the second grade, that would be considered quite good.
That's why Luo Minghui said those things.
Ling Yunhong smiled and said, "Of course, if I fail to do so, I will use Second Rank Low Grade Pill Refining Spirit Gathering Pill, to replenish the missing Stone Spirit Walnut for everyone."
"Since Ling Daoyou is so confident, I agree to this. However, I contributed the most to conquering this mountain, so I should receive more Stone Spirit Walnut. Are five too few?"
"You can discuss it yourselves. I'll only guarantee you twenty Shilin walnuts for the four of you over fifty years," Ling Yunhong said calmly, having already anticipated this.
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Minghui turned his gaze to the two weakest Foundation Establishment cultivators in the area: Wang Changming, the patriarch of the Wang clan, and Wen Xianyun, the patriarch of the Yunwu Wen clan.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, Fellow Daoist Wen, would you mind giving me one of these Stone Spirit Walnut?"
Wang Changming and Wen Xianyun's faces darkened, but both of them were wary of Luo Minghui's strength, which Late-Stage Foundation Establishment. Even if the two of them combined their strength, they would not be able to defeat Luo Minghui, so they had no choice but to admit defeat and nod in agreement.
With the matter of the Second Rank Low Grade Stone Spirit Walnut Tree settled, the five Foundation Establishment Cultivator began to allocate the remaining dozen or so first-tier spirit fruit trees in the valley, as well as the small Rock Armor Ape in the caves on the valley cliffs.
Ultimately, the only two First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fruit trees in the valley were each claimed by the Lingxiao Ling Clan and the Falling Dusk Luo Clan, while the five First Rank Middle Grade spirit fruit trees and ten First Rank Low Grade spirit fruit trees were equally distributed among the five families.
There were a total of twenty-five Little Rock Armor Ape. The Luo family owned ten, the Ling Clan owned six, and the remaining nine were divided among the Wang, Liu, and Wen families.
Twenty-five unranked Rock Armor Ape were selected by each family according to their allocated numbers. Of course, the selection process began with the strongest family, the Falling Dusk Luo Clan, making their choices first, followed by the second strongest, the Lingxiao Ling Clan ...
As for the spirit tree in the valley, none of the Lineage transplanted it directly, but instead allowed it to grow within the valley.
For the time being, the five cultivators will have to remain here to defend against the horde of Demon Beast sent by the two Golden Core Flood Dragons of Demon Python Lake to reclaim the mountain, making it difficult for them to escape.
Their mission would only be complete once the main force of the Hundred Spirits Sect at the front line, relying on the Demon Serpent Dragon Lake Demon Python Mountain with its Second Rank High Grade Spirit Vein as a defensive line, completely repelled the counterattack of the Demon Beast in the Jiao Python Lake area. Only then could they escape and return to their Lineage.
This is an extremely long war, and the battle has only just begun.
After allocating the fruit trees and the little Rock Armor Ape, the five Foundation Establishment Cultivator divided the valley into different areas and organized their Lineage to build wooden houses in their respective areas using the trees that were already available outside the valley. After settling their Lineage in, they gathered together.
The five people each crushed a token inscribed with the words "Bai Ling" and used it in the market to convey the message to the main force of the Hundred Spirits Sect fighting in the Demon Rock Armor Ape Mountain Range Demon Python Mountain on the front line. The five Foundation Establishment Family of Huai River County had completed their mission and occupied the Rock Armor Ape Mountain.
The Spiritual Qi within this small valley is extremely rich, more than enough for the cultivation needs of the 140 Qi Refining cultivators and 5 Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Five Great Clans stationed here.
Therefore, the five cultivators were actually quite satisfied with their situation in this valley.
Therefore, the area surrounding the mountain ridge has not yet been seized by the Hundred Spirits Sect and still belongs to the territory of Serpent Dragon Lake.
To prevent hordes of Demon Beast from unknowingly attacking the mountain range, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator of the Five Great Clans dispatched Qi Refining cultivators from each Lineage to patrol the mountain range in rotation every three days.