Three days later, Elder Yu and Formation Master Liu Zihao returned to the Yang Family together.
The moment Liu Zihao arrived, he praised the Yang Family's construction and the excellent location they had chosen.
"With rivers and farmland, pavilions and towers, lofty mountains and stone cliffs, and stretches of grass and trees—this Patriarch truly has a keen eye."
When they reached the Forbidden Ground by the cliff, Yang Guanfeng came out to receive them.
"Formation Master, you have traveled a long way. Thank you for your hard work."
"You are too courteous, Patriarch. It was nothing strenuous. I am merely doing a job for money."
"Then shall we begin?"
"Sure, no problem."
They were all straightforward people, so they did not continue exchanging pleasantries and went straight to business.
Liu Zihao circled the Yang Family Forbidden Ground several times, carefully observing the terrain and the flow of spiritual energy before presenting his plan.
"Use the Cloud Mountain Mist Array. Your Yang Family rests against mountains and waters, with sufficient elevation and moisture in the air, making it highly suitable. Besides its realm-level capabilities, this formation can also block outside sight."
"Very well. We will proceed as Formation Master Liu says."
For the following month, Liu Zihao remained with the Yang Family, setting up the formation in the Forbidden Ground.
Linghu and Lingqing had already been moved to the Yang Family residence at the foot of the mountain, and Liu Zihao knew nothing of their existence.
Only Yang Lingrui occasionally came out to lend him a hand.
A month later, the brand-new formation was complete.
The Qi Gathering Mid-stage Cloud Mountain Mist Array would not be disrupted by that magnetized stone, and the safety of the Yang Family Forbidden Ground was now somewhat assured.
"Yang Family Patriarch, if your Yang Family ever needs a defensive formation in the future, you can come find me. I always give old customers a discount."
"Certainly. Many thanks to Formation Master Liu this time."
After Liu Zihao departed, the three children returned to the Forbidden Ground and resumed their daily cultivation.
During this time, Yang Guanfeng also learned of the Exotic Stone from Elder Yu.
Chen Yang had been present as well, and after hearing it, he felt that it made some sense.
"An Exotic Stone... that does fit my situation rather well."
However, rare curiosities like Exotic Stones were scarce after all. Even the library at Yuling River Market had only a general introduction, with no detailed records.
Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu studied him for quite some time, yet still failed to make head or tail of it.
So they decided to wait a while longer and see what happened after Chen Yang's grade improved.
What remained was the matter of making contact with a sect.
Yang Guanfeng had wanted to contact a sect for a long time, but the timing had not been right then, and he had neither a direction nor any connections.
The information on the two sects Elder Yu had brought back this time was thus extremely important.
The circumstances of the two sects.
The Myriad Transformation Sect, located two thousand li northwest of Little Pine Mountain. Its sect master was at the Early-Spiritual Connection Realm, and it had nearly a thousand disciples. It recruited disciples publicly once every ten years, having just finished recruiting last year. Its cultivation methods were mild, its sect conduct upright, and it mainly practiced Five Elements Sorcery...
Solitary Moon Mountain, located two thousand two hundred li southeast of Little Pine Mountain. Its headmaster was at the Mid-Spiritual Connection Realm, and it had only around two hundred disciples. It had never openly recruited disciples. Its cultivation methods were domineering, its sect conduct unorthodox, and it encouraged disciples to compete against one another, mainly practicing fierce offensive sorcery...
After reviewing the information on these two sects, Yang Guanfeng asked, "Elder Yu, what do you think?"
"Reporting to the Patriarch, in this old man's view, we should forget about Solitary Moon Mountain. That sect has a wicked temperament. I fear our tiny Yang Family cannot bear it."
Elder Yu analyzed, "The Myriad Transformation Sect is worth striving for. In another ten years, the Yang Family will be able to cultivate another group of children of suitable age. If any among them possess outstanding talent, we can seek an opportunity for a recommendation and send them there to try."
"Yes, you and I think alike."
Yang Guanfeng nodded, and then the two fell silent at the same time.
That was easy to say, but how could an opportunity for a recommendation be obtained so lightly?
Usually, only influential clans such as the Nanshan Li Family had the chance to recommend disciples themselves, and even then, only one.
The Yang Family was still far from catching up to the Li Family, and no clan would possibly yield its own recommendation opportunity.
That left only Dynasty forces capable of making recommendations for the Li Family.
They could recommend disciples to sects, and this was also a provision stipulated in that agreement between the two sides.
After a moment, Elder Yu spoke again. "At present, there are only two towns we can strive for. Xu Guang values profit, and his appetite is surely enormous. Our Yang Family cannot satisfy him. As for the one in White Stone, he has an upright and rigid temperament and likely will not yield easily either."
"Then let us set this matter aside for now. We still have ten years ahead of us; we can make long-term plans."
"Yes, Patriarch."
In the days that followed, the Yang Family lived peacefully and harmoniously.
In the blink of an eye, winter passed and spring arrived. The Yang Family's farmland expanded considerably, and many servants were busy with the spring plowing.
Half a year of rest and recuperation had completely stabilized the Yang Family's position in this region.
During this period, many commoners were drawn here, and a small village had already formed beneath Little Pine Mountain, relying on the Yang Family of Little Pine Mountain for their livelihood.
This place had originally been wilderness, where wild beasts roamed. After the Yang Family arrived, those beasts were scared out of their wits and fled back into the deep mountains, creating the conditions for ordinary people to survive here.
Looking up at the cliff, the white mist that never dispersed throughout the year had become something like a totem in the hearts of the Yang Family.
The villagers below the mountain even declared that immortals lived within the white mist.
Yang Lingrui took another two drops of spiritual liquid, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Second Level of Qi Gathering. He was preparing to enter seclusion at an appropriate time.
Yang Lingqing had only recently broken through to the Second Level of Qi Gathering, while Yang Linghu was still preparing to break through to the Second Level.
There was another piece of good news: after half a year of recuperation following the relocation, Yang Guanfeng's own bottleneck had unexpectedly begun to loosen.
This was a major matter for the Yang Family, because if he made another breakthrough, he would reach the Sixth Level of Qi Gathering, only one minor realm away from Late Qi Gathering.
He was thirty-nine this year, leaving him another ten years to strive for it before turning fifty.
Time returned to this day. Within the Yang Family Forbidden Ground, the Lineage's five cultivators had gathered together.
Because a major event was about to take place here.
Lying on the elevated platform, Chen Yang looked at the five people around him, all wearing solemn expressions, and felt rather speechless.
"Seriously, do you have to be this nervous? I am just taking a nap."
At this moment, the spiritual energy within him was just a hair's breadth from being full, and he was about to undergo another advancement.
The first time, he remembered sleeping for ten days before waking up, after which he learned Spirit Gathering.
To him, advancements and breakthroughs were not dangerous at all.
But the five members of the Yang Family saw things differently. They did not know Chen Yang's true nature.
After consulting the records, they learned that spirit treasures had a chance of failing during advancement. To raise the odds, cultivators had to constantly nourish the spirit treasure with spiritual energy to maintain its stable state.
Aside from Elder Yu's formation disk, Chen Yang was the Yang Family's only spirit treasure.
More importantly, he was tied to the young cultivators' progress in cultivation.
Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu had calculated that without Chen Yang, the Yang Family's three children would only have just entered the First Level of Qi Gathering by now.
Chen Yang's Spirit Gathering effect did not merely gather spiritual energy. It also provided an exceptional environment suited for cultivators to meditate and enter tranquility. With the two complementing each other, Yang Lingrui and the other two had achieved what they had today.
Therefore, for the Yang Family, nothing could possibly happen to him.
At noon, the sky was bright and clear.
In weather Chen Yang loved most, the five members of the Yang Family began pouring spiritual energy into him at the same time.
In an instant, Chen Yang felt the spiritual energy within him fill to the brim. The next moment, drowsiness washed over him, and one second later, he fell directly asleep.
At the same time, in the eyes of the five Yang Family members, a faint blue glow appeared around Chen Yang.
"Alright, stop for now."
Everyone withdrew their hands and stood up. Elder Yu stepped forward to carefully inspect Chen Yang's condition, and a moment later, joy appeared on his face.
"His condition is stable, with no sign of collapse. This Exotic Stone truly is a fine thing. Our Yang Family has struck treasure!"
The other four were all overjoyed upon hearing this.
"Does that mean this Exotic Stone's advancement limit is not merely Qi Gathering Mid-stage?"
"Correct. In this old man's opinion, this Exotic Stone's limit may be Qi Gathering Perfection!"
Qi Gathering Perfection!
Hearing Elder Yu's judgment, the three young cultivators all revealed shocked expressions. This was a realm still far beyond their reach.
"Lingrui, Lingqing, Linghu."
"Disciples are here!"
"From now on, I will entrust the watch over the Exotic Stone to you three. Take shifts and continuously nourish it with spiritual energy every day until it completes its advancement."
"This disciple understands!"
Under normal circumstances, Chen Yang would need at least a month to awaken from this sleep.
But because the three of them continuously nourished him with spiritual energy around the clock, Chen Yang's consciousness had already awakened on the eighth day.
After waking, Chen Yang felt that the entire world had become clearer. His vision could reach farther, and when he stirred his spiritual energy now, he unexpectedly felt as though he could draw it out of the Spirit Storage Space!
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