After gathering his thoughts, Lin Xiye carefully put away the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror. He then placed the thick book containing the first two volumes of the Scarlet Flame Dao Scripture in the secret underground chamber beneath his room.
The first volume of the Scarlet Flame Dao Scripture alone was enough for Lin Xiye to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
As for the second volume... it could take him all the way to the Core Formation Realm.
Yet even with a Cultivation Method and his Spirit Root aptitude raised to the profound grade, cultivating to the Foundation Establishment Realm in the Lin Household would still be somewhat difficult.
There was no Spirit Vein on the Lin Household's ancestral grounds in Qiao Town, so Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was especially thin there.
To cultivate in the Lin Household over the long term, he would need either vast quantities of Spirit Stones and precious medicines... or a Spirit Gathering Formation.
Even a Spirit Gathering Formation, however, needed Spirit Stones to sustain it.
The lowest-grade Spirit Gathering Formation consumed one Spirit Stone fragment every month.
At present, Lin Xiye was still far too short on Cultivation Resources.
But with the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror in hand, earning more Spirit Stone fragments, or even Spirit Stones themselves... would not be difficult for Lin Xiye.
There was a small cultivation marketplace two hundred li from Qiao Town.
As long as he had precious medicines or materials... he could trade them at the cultivation marketplace and earn Spirit Stones.
Lin Xiye decided to first use the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror to upgrade the quality of the two stalks of Spirit Tempering Grass he had on hand, then exchange them for some Spirit Stone fragments and use those fragments to buy things he needed for cultivation.
Spirit Tempering Grass... was one of the most widely grown and common precious medicines in the cultivation world! It could be consumed directly or used to refine Body Tempering Pills.
The two stalks of Spirit Tempering Grass in Lin Xiye's possession were both less than ten years old and worth very little. If sold as they were, they would fetch one Spirit Stone fragment at most.
This time, Lin Xiye took out every gold ingot he had and placed them all on the surface of the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror.
When the gold ingots had been completely "swallowed" by the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror, layer upon layer of immortal light burst forth across its surface! The instant the light shone on the two stalks of Spirit Tempering Grass, the ordinary plants suddenly gave off a rich medicinal fragrance.
The Spirit Tempering Grass, originally a little over two inches long, abruptly grew to half a foot in length.
The two stalks of Spirit Tempering Grass had gone from less than ten years old... to century-old great medicines.
If sold at the marketplace, each stalk would fetch at least three low-grade Spirit Stones.
Three low-grade Spirit Stones amounted to three hundred Spirit Stone fragments...
Perhaps a mere three low-grade Spirit Stones did not sound like much.
But back when Lin Xiye was in the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, even if he had spent an entire year carrying out sect missions, he would have struggled to save a single Spirit Stone fragment.
The value of Spirit Stones simply could not be measured in worldly gold and silver.
Never mind Body Tempering Realm cultivators-even some cultivators who had just broken through to the Spirit Nourishing Realm... would struggle to produce three low-grade Spirit Stones on a whim.
Looking at the two stalks of Spirit Tempering Grass, each comparable to a century-old great medicine, Lin Xiye was excited, but he could not help frowning slightly.
The two stalks were certainly valuable, but if Lin Xiye dared take them to the cultivation marketplace to sell, he would probably be killed and robbed of his treasures as soon as he stepped outside.
Among cultivators, the strong preyed on the weak; they paid no heed to worldly laws.
After pondering for a moment, an idea suddenly struck Lin Xiye. He took out a sharp short knife and, with great care, cut a leafy sprig from one of the stalks of Spirit Tempering Grass.
That sprig should fetch around twenty Spirit Stone fragments.
A sprig from a century-old great medicine was still quite valuable, but selling it was less conspicuous and safer than selling an entire century-old great medicine.
Even so, Lin Xiye did not think it was safe enough.
After much deliberation, Lin Xiye decided to swallow an entire stalk of century-old Spirit Tempering Grass and increase his strength once more.
Only strength was the greatest safeguard when traveling through the cultivation world.
Inside the secret chamber, Lin Xiye once again sat cross-legged on the ground, then swallowed a stalk of century-old Spirit Tempering Grass without hesitation.
Fortunately, Lin Xiye was now in the Body Tempering and Bone Refining Realm, so he could just barely withstand the medicine's potency.
Had he still been at the middle stage of body-tempering blood refining, swallowing that century-old great medicine would likely have made his body burst apart in an instant... killing him on the spot.
Compared with taking a Body Tempering Pill, consuming a precious medicine directly carried a certain amount of risk.
But Lin Xiye possessed an exceptionally profound Cultivation Method-the Scarlet Flame Dao Scripture.
With a sufficiently profound Cultivation Method and a profound-grade Spirit Root... refining a mere stalk of century-old Spirit Tempering Grass was far easier for Lin Xiye than for an ordinary cultivator.
Lin Xiye breathed and circulated his Qi according to the cultivation steps recorded in the Scarlet Flame Dao Scripture, while sensing the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth.
Gradually, Lin Xiye's presence began to grow.
While Lin Xiye was cultivating diligently in seclusion, a grand procession of carriages flying Zhao Household banners appeared outside Qiao Town.
More than two hundred armored guards escorted the procession.
Among them were dozens of worldly martial artists.
At the very front of the procession was a young man in a long black robe, with a somewhat chilly bearing.
The young man rode a giant ferocious tiger, looking down at Qiao Town from on high with an indifferent gaze.
The next moment, the young man spoke unhurriedly in a hoarse voice:
"I come as a representative of the Zhao Household. Patriarch of the Lin Household, why have you not hurried out to welcome me..."
Rumble!!
The young man's hoarse voice swept across the whole of Qiao Town, like a flood bursting forth and engulfing the sky and earth... making every building in town tremble slightly.
Clearly, the young man was a cultivator.
On the Lin Household's ancestral grounds, Lin Xiye, who was cultivating in the secret chamber, was startled awake by the young man's voice.
Though the young man's voice was hoarse, it contained vast Qi and Blood.
A voice alone possessed such might. The young man's cultivation was clearly not weak; he had reached at least the body-tempering blood refining stage.
He had only just returned from the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect... and a cultivator from the Zhao Household had suddenly descended on Qiao Town. The Zhao Household's wolfish ambitions were already plain for all to see.
The Zhao Household had definitely come to seize Qiao Town and force the Lin Household into submission.
By now, the many mortals living in Qiao Town, as well as the entire Lin Household... had also been alarmed.
At the entrance to Qiao Town, the Lin Household's numerous armored guards had formed ranks, plainly ready for battle.
On the Zhao Household's side, although there was no sign that they would attack immediately, every armored guard stood poised to strike.
They needed only a single order from the young cultivator to charge into Qiao Town and wash the Lin Household in blood.
For a time, the atmosphere inside and outside Qiao Town grew oppressive to the extreme...
"The entire Lin Household respectfully welcomes your arrival, Senior Envoy!"
"That you have come from afar, Envoy, is an honor for Qiao Town and for our Lin Household."
At the entrance to Qiao Town, Lin Changge slowly appeared, followed by numerous Lin Household elders and dozens of worldly martial artists.
Although Lin Changge kept his face as calm as he could, the pressure he felt in the presence of a cultivator from the Zhao Household would not leave him...
Even with their ancestor Lin Xiye holding the fort, Lin Changge still lacked confidence before a Zhao Household cultivator.
It would have been fine if this were merely an ordinary cultivator...
But the Zhao Household was the hegemon of Zichuan City.
Throughout the thousand li surrounding Zichuan City, even if every cultivation faction joined forces, they would not be qualified to contend with the Zhao Household.