Final Radiance?

He tottered over to a Purple Nether Grass plant, carefully caressing its thick leaves.

It was like stroking a lover's skin.

"These veins... this color... this is an Eight-Hundred-Year Purple Nether Grass!"

"Heavens above! One of these is worth a fortune! And here... here there are hundreds?!"

"And this Heavenly Spirit Fruit... also a five-hundred-year-old top-grade!"

Another alchemist hugged a tree trunk, refusing to let go, drool nearly spilling out: "Using this fruit to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, the success rate will increase by at least thirty percent! No, fifty percent!"

Although Zhang Yunshan was a Golden Core cultivator with slightly stronger composure, even he felt his head buzzing.

He turned to look at Zhang Chen, who stood to the side with an expression of utter "calm."

"Chen'er... this... what's going on?"

Zhang Yunshan's finger, pointing at the medicinal garden, was trembling.

Zhang Chen had long since prepared his explanation.

He smiled faintly, pointed toward Dao Seeking Peak, and said with utmost reverence: "Father, there's no need to think about it. This must be the work of the Old Ancestor himself."

"The Old Ancestor?"

Everyone's gaze instantly turned puzzled.

"That's right."

Zhang Chen spoke nonsense with a straight face: "I came here last night to clear my mind and happened to encounter the Old Ancestor emerging from seclusion for an inspection."

"The Old Ancestor saw that this garden lacked Spiritual Energy and feared it would hinder the clan's important matters, so he spared no expense in consuming his own origin power to cast a forbidden technique passed down from ancient times—Withered Wood Meets Spring."

"The Old Ancestor said that the spiritual herbs in this garden are enough to support us in winning this Arena Competition."

"Though he never says it out loud, he has always been silently giving for the clan behind the scenes."

As he spoke with emotion, Zhang Chen even let a hint of moved expression show at the right moment.

"So it was the Old Ancestor!"

Zhang Yunshan's eyes brimmed with tears as he bowed deeply toward Dao Seeking Peak: "Old Ancestor! You have poured your heart and soul for the Zhang Family! This Grandson is unfilial, this Grandson is unfilial!"

The other elders also fell to their knees, weeping bitterly.

If they had harbored any doubt about the Old Ancestor's recovery before, now, faced with this tangible miracle, they were completely convinced.

Aside from that unfathomable Old Ancestor, who else possessed such heaven-defying means to turn fate around?

"Hurry! Don't just stand there stunned!"

Zhang Yunshan suddenly stood up, wiped away his tears, and a blazing fighting spirit ignited in his eyes: "Pass down the order! Seal off the Back Mountain! Gather all the clan's alchemists and start the furnaces to refine Pills immediately!"

"With these spiritual herbs, let alone breaking through a minor realm for those ten lads, even forcibly stacking a few Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivators isn't impossible!"

"The Wang Family wants to compete with us in foundation? I'll drown them in Pills!"

Watching the elders instantly spring into action, as if injected with stimulants, Zhang Chen stood in the morning light, concealing his merit and fame.

This burden, the Old Ancestor bore steadily, and everyone was happy.

As that batch of spiritual herbs, spurred by "Withered Wood Meets Spring," was continuously sent into the pill room.

The entire Zhang Family Courtyard began to operate at an unprecedented, frantic pace.

The furnaces in the pill room burned day and night without cease, and a rich Medicinal Fragrance hung over the clan, lingering for a long time.

If not for the Clan Protection Array sealing off the aura, this Medicinal Fragrance might have attracted all the Sea Beasts from the surrounding waters.

Originally, if stewards and disciples in the clan wanted to apply for a second-grade Pill, they had to save up enough clan contribution points and wait in line for a long time.

But now, as long as one's cultivation had hit a bottleneck, they only needed to report to the elders, and those previously scarce items like "Qi Gathering Pills," "Core Condensing Pills," or even the second-grade low-rank "Foundation Strengthening and Origin Nurturing Liquid" were in ample supply!

This nearly extravagant cultivation condition made all the Zhang clan members wide-eyed with envy. Each one acted like they'd been injected with stimulants, wishing they could split a day into two. Aside from necessary eating, drinking, and relieving themselves, the rest of their time was spent entirely in the training rooms.

Outside the Zhang family training rooms, breakthroughs could be heard every day.

"Hahaha! The bottleneck that has plagued me for five years has finally been broken today!"

"Tenth Layer of Qi Cultivation! I've also touched the threshold of Foundation Establishment!"

A clan steward, over fifty years old, rushed out of the room with tears in his eyes, and bowed deeply toward Dao Seeking Peak.

"Me too! Eating second-grade Pills like candy—if I still couldn't break through, I'd want to smash my head against the wall!"

Similar scenes played out in every corner of the Zhang Family.

In just one month, the number of Late Qi Cultivation cultivators in the clan surged by thirty percent. Even two elders who had been hovering on the edge of Foundation Establishment used this wave of medicinal power to push their cultivation forward a small step.

Though they hadn't directly broken through a major realm, their combat strength had genuinely improved.

Outside, everyone was saying the Zhang Family's current state was nothing but a Final Radiance, a desperate struggle before death.

Little did they know, within these high walls and deep courtyards, a terrifying force was brewing—one capable of overturning the entire East Mountain Islands.

And Zhang Chen, the hidden hand behind it all, was living a life both busy and comfortable.

By day, he had to oversee the big picture, check the cultivation progress of the clan members about to enter battle, and put on an act with the elders, occasionally making an appearance in the market district.

He played the part of a profligate scion squandering the family fortune, all to mislead the Wang Family's spies.