Divine Sense

The moment he entered the Qi Refining Fourth Layer,

some seals within Li Qianqing's memories were also undone.

What had been sealed were cultivation techniques, secret arts, and the like. At his current level of life, he could not even absorb many Core Formation stage techniques.

This was not something he could have accomplished through his own abilities. He knew that this outcome was entirely thanks to the shattered Mysterious Pearl.

Breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer had also brought Li Qianqing an enormous surprise.

Divine Sense!

I never thought I would possess Divine Sense at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Even in the Spirit Realm, the finest secret techniques of certain great powers can only allow Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivators to develop Divine Sense, and even then there are certain risks. This is the first time I have heard of someone possessing Divine Sense in Mid-Stage Qi Refining.

Li Qianqing was delighted, but little emotion showed on his face.

Divine Sense was something Qi Refining stage cultivators would only develop after passing the Divine Sense Barrier and breaking through into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Now that he possessed Divine Sense, its benefits went without saying.

Li Qianqing exerted his Divine Sense to its fullest and tested it.

Its maximum range is only one zhang, one-tenth that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. It is barely enough to cultivate Void God Needle.

Void God Needle was the worst Divine Sense Secret Technique he had obtained. Its sole advantage was its low learning threshold.

Not only could he not learn the other Divine Sense Secret Techniques at present, they were all sealed away. Even Void God Needle had only been unsealed after he broke through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Over the next month or so, Li Qianqing devoted more than half his time to cultivating the Divine Sense Secret Technique, Void God Needle.

Golden Autumn September.

Exactly three years had passed since the spiritual root test. After today, they would begin contributing to the Lineage in exchange for cultivation resources.

The Li Family was one of Xiangshui Prefecture's three great Foundation Establishment cultivation clans, founded by the Foundation Establishment Realm Ancestor, Li Songliang.

After more than three hundred years of development, the Li Family had weathered rises and falls. At its most flourishing, it had two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, while its number of Qi Refining stage cultivators had exceeded one hundred.

At present, the Li Family had one Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator and fifty-six Qi Refining stage cultivators, twelve of whom were in Late-Stage Qi Refining. Li Lilong was one of them. As for its ordinary mortal clansmen, their number remained steady at around one hundred fifty thousand. The cultivators' strength could only protect so many mortals.

Among mortals, roughly one person in ten thousand possessed spiritual roots.

As a cultivation family, because of bloodline, the chances of producing cultivators with spiritual roots were much greater. If cultivators united with cultivators, the probability rose even further.

Early in the morning, Li Qianqing left the house.

During this period, Li Qianyin had not come to see him.

The reason was obvious upon thought. It should have something to do with Li Lilong.

Li Qianyin, as his daughter, had been confined by her father. Otherwise, given her personality, she would not have gone two whole months without coming to see him even once.

Three years ago, aside from him and Li Qianyin, another clansman named Li Qianming had also tested positive for spiritual roots. However, his were the worst Five Spiritual Roots. It would be difficult for him to achieve anything in the future. Even if he became a cultivator, he would remain at the very bottom of the Lineage. By now, he likely had yet to break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer.

Under equal conditions, Five Spiritual Roots simply cultivated that slowly.

If he were in a major power and a direct descendant of the upper echelons of cultivators, someone with Five Spiritual Roots might still have hope. Unfortunately, the current Li Family was merely a Foundation Establishment Clan, and its strongest Patriarch was only at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

From Li Qianqing's perspective, a Foundation Establishment Clan was truly rather weak. But the clansmen did not see it that way. They were one of Xiangshui Prefecture's three great Foundation Establishment clans, a top power within Xiangshui Prefecture!

"Fourth Uncle."

When Li Qianqing reached the designated location, Li Lilong had just finished assigning Li Qianming's duties. Just as Li Qianqing had expected, Li Qianming had yet to reach the Qi Refining Second Layer and remained at the Qi Refining First Layer.

If he stayed here and cultivated for another year, he might be able to break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer.

Once they began working for the Lineage, their cultivation time would be greatly reduced, especially for disciples with poor talent. They were often assigned more tasks, leaving them with even less time to cultivate.

Li Qianyin had a Dual Spiritual Root, and her father was in charge of assignments. With conditions like hers, she would be assigned an easy job.

Managing the distribution of Lineage tasks was a position of pivotal importance within the Lineage, second only to the Patriarch.

Twenty-five years later, the Lineage would obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill for Li Lilong. His future position was aimed squarely at becoming Patriarch.

The Foundation Establishment Pill did not allow Li Lilong to successfully achieve Foundation Establishment, but he did not lose heart. Instead, five years later, he succeeded in achieving Foundation Establishment. Unfortunately, by then, the Lineage had also met its destruction.

"Mm, Qianqing, you're here."

Li Lilong looked Li Qianqing over from head to toe. The Qi Refining Fourth Layer was within his expectations.

What he wanted to know was when Li Qianqing had broken through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Ordinary clan disciples with the talent of Three Spiritual Roots who broke through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer within three years would wish for every cultivator in the entire Lineage to know of their breakthrough.

Yet during this period, Li Lilong had not heard the slightest news about Li Qianqing. That was enough to show that Li Qianqing could keep his composure.

From Li Qianqing's appearance, he could tell that this was not a recent breakthrough. He had broken through some time ago.

"When did you complete your breakthrough?"

"A month ago," Li Qianqing answered vaguely.

"Hahaha, very good." Delighted, Li Lilong glanced behind him and said, "Did you hear that, girl? You lost."

"Damn it."

Li Qianyin emerged from behind the house with her teeth clenched. Clearly, she had been hiding there from the very beginning.

Li Qianqing looked at Li Lilong with a baffled expression.

In a good mood, Li Lilong explained it to him.

"She bet me that she would enter the Qi Refining Fourth Layer before you did. Then she lost."

"I was..."

Li Qianqing had just wanted to explain something when Li Lilong directly cut him off.

"What?" As he spoke, Li Lilong gave him a meaningful look.

Li Qianqing understood instantly. "Mm, I won."

"That's not right, that's not right! Qianqing-ge, that definitely wasn't what you were going to say. Hurry up, say it! What were you going to say? Explain it clearly."

Li Qianyin's little ears twitched. Having caught the crucial information, she would not let this chance slip away.

"Besides, why do you believe Father just because Qianqing-ge said he broke through a month ago?"

"You mean your Qianqing-ge would dare lie about something like this? The time he broke through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer affects the Lineage's estimate of his potential, and it also affects his future assignments."

"This..."

The moment she heard that it would affect Qianqing-ge's potential evaluation, Li Qianyin began to stammer and could not speak. Clearly, the little girl naturally wanted her Qianqing-ge's potential evaluation to be as high as possible.

Li Qianqing did not know what agreement the father and daughter had made, but Li Qianyin's last remark had been seized by her father so tightly that she could not move.

"Alright. Next, I will assign your duties based on your performances over these past three years."