Approved

"Yes!"

Yang Lingqing stepped forward in response. She looked at Chen Yang and took two deep breaths to calm her mind.

She opened her mouth and recited the method Elder Yu had taught her, her hands constantly forming seals.

Then, she clasped her hands together and raised them above her head.

"Yang Family disciple Yang Lingqing pays respects to the Supreme Immortal Venerable of the Spirit Stone!"

With that, she bowed.

This bow was different from ancestral worship; it involved her hands, forehead, knees, and toes all forming a straight line, a gesture of utmost reverence.

"Lingqing is dull-witted. Relying on the Immortal Venerable's power, I have been fortunate enough to find the path of cultivation. My gratitude is boundless, and I will never forget it!"

"Today, with the Blood Burning Spirit Sacrifice, I offer this to repay the Immortal Venerable's kindness, though it is less than one-ten-thousandth of what I owe. I am truly ashamed. From now on, the Yang Family, year after year, generation after generation, shall do the same, only then can we find peace of mind!"

At this point, Yang Lingqing stood up. In the depths of his mind, Chen Yang felt something invisible and intangible enter his consciousness.

It was a consciousness that did not belong to him, yet it had entered this place through a connection of their minds.

This consciousness was ethereal, containing no information or images, only in its most primal state.

Chen Yang approached and swallowed it in one gulp. Suddenly, he felt his range of consciousness expand by a circle.

Yang Lingqing's bow had sought a power to enhance his divine soul.

Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu watched Chen Yang with some tension.

Yang Lingqing was the only Yang Family member who had interacted with the Spirit Stone. If even she couldn't make the Spirit Stone acknowledge her, then the others stood no chance.

Buzz--

A low hum sounded, and the two Yang Family elders broke into wide smiles. They quickly said to the other two children, "She succeeded! You two, hurry up and join Lingqing!"

Lingrui and Linghu immediately stepped forward and, mimicking Yang Lingqing's actions, began their bows.

"Yang Family disciple Yang Lingrui pays respects to the Supreme Immortal Venerable of the Spirit Stone!"

"Lingrui is dull-witted. Relying on the Immortal Venerable's power, I have been fortunate enough to find the path of cultivation..."

"Yang Family disciple Yang Linghu pays respects to the Supreme Immortal Venerable of the Spirit Stone!"

"..."

After the two of them bowed, two more powers of the divine soul descended from the void, shooting into Chen Yang's sea of consciousness.

His range of perception expanded again. Now fully unfurled, it could cover more than half of the southern side of Little Pine Mountain, as well as the Yang Family compound below and the nearby villages.

Such a range of perception far surpassed that of a Qi Gathering Mid-stage cultivator, being comparable to a peak Qi Gathering Late-stage cultivator, only a sliver away from Qi Gathering Perfection.

This is good. In the future, when I'm breathing and absorbing for cultivation, I can look around and listen, so it won't be too boring, Chen Yang thought.

The bowing ceremony concluded. Chen Yang gave a slight glow, indicating his feedback.

Then, the three children stood in a line, cupped their hands towards Chen Yang, and said in unison, "Yang Family disciples cultivate according to the Immortal Venerable's decree. We boldly request the Immortal Venerable to bestow divine abilities!"

The Yang Family's Blood Burning Spirit Sacrifice today had cost them dearly. It was a display of utmost sincerity, and Chen Yang had gained immensely.

At this moment, he naturally wouldn't be stingy.

"No problem, granted!"

Whoosh--

The next moment, a gentle breeze surged, and the spiritual energy wandering around rapidly converged towards the Yang Family Ancestral Hall.

In just a few blinks of an eye, the spiritual energy environment here changed. A spiritual energy concentration five times higher than normal made Yang Guanfeng sigh with emotion.

He recalled his own past. When he and Elder Yu were adventuring together, finding a place with spiritual energy concentration just a few percent higher than ordinary areas was already a cause for great gratitude.

Now, within the Yang Family's forbidden area, they possessed such a dense spiritual energy environment. How could he remain calm?

Urging the three children to cultivate quickly, Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu withdrew from the ancestral hall.

They began to discuss and plan the renovation of the Yang Family's forbidden area.

Now that Little Pine Mountain had been thoroughly cleared, they intended to expand the forbidden area, dividing it into a main courtyard and a branch courtyard. The ancestral hall and spirit fields would be moved into the main courtyard, accessible only to cultivators of the Yang Family bloodline.

In the future, if the family had cultivators of other surnames or hired experts, they would be arranged to cultivate in the branch courtyard.

"After this, we'll still need to build a few isolation and defense formations."

"Yes, once we sell these demonic beast corpses to the Dynasty and the family has spirit crystals, we'll have to trouble Elder Yu to go to the market again and invite Liu Zihao."

Having settled on a plan, the two immediately sprang into action, beginning to implement it.

In the following days, the three children would come to the ancestral hall every day to request divine abilities from Chen Yang.

Chen Yang would spend eight hours each day on spirit gathering, after which the three children would take turns in having their spiritual power nurtured.

Ten days later, Yang Lingrui felt that the time was ripe and returned to his residence to enter seclusion and break through to the third level.

With Chen Yang's presence in the forbidden area, Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu no longer needed to personally guard it. Yang Lingqing and Yang Linghu only needed to stand guard outside.

Half a month later, with a surge of intense spiritual energy, Yang Lingrui successfully broke through his cultivation and pushed open the door.

Spiritual energy flowed around him ceaselessly, and the spiritual power within his body became even more condensed and substantial.

"Congratulations on exiting seclusion, Lingrui! Your cultivation has advanced greatly!"

Lingqing and Linghu congratulated him.

"Lingrui thanks brother and sister for looking after me," Yang Lingrui cupped his hands. "I didn't miss the date, did I?"

He was referring to the day the Dynasty cultivators were coming to collect the demonic beast corpses. Gao Hui had previously said it would take at most a month, and now over twenty days had passed.

"You haven't missed it at all, the timing is perfect. Those Dynasty cultivators just arrived in White Stone Town last night and are on their way here now."

"The two Old Ancestors are already waiting in the discussion hall. You should go over."

Yang Lingrui nodded and left the forbidden area in a few flashes.

Watching his agile movements, Yang Linghu sighed, "Lingrui's talent is exceptional. I really can't compare..."

"Stop fooling around here. Let's hurry into the mountain. Don't forget what the Old Ancestors told us."

"Yes, yes, yes, Little Qing, you're right."

Chen Yang was lying in Yang Lingqing's waist pouch. When Yang Lingrui broke through just now, he also received a milky white treasure bead that was crystal clear all over.

This was the feedback from the cultivators using the Blood Burning Spirit Sacrifice Technique. Chen Yang had been prepared, but as he began to digest the treasure bead, he was even more surprised and delighted.

The treasure bead contained more than just a year's worth of spiritual power; it also included various cultivation memories and insights left behind by Yang Lingrui throughout his practice.

Understood, this is an inheritance! Chen Yang thought.

With this ability, he could, in the future, preserve the cultivation inheritances of the Yang Family's cultivators within himself. This way, even if they died suddenly outside, their inheritance would not be broken.

Yang Lingrui landed in the courtyard, startling everyone in the Yang Family.

After seeing his face clearly, they all knelt and shouted, "Greetings, Immortal Master."

Yang Lingrui nodded gently and walked into the discussion hall in the backyard.

"Lingrui greets the two Old Ancestors and the two clan uncles."

The four people in the discussion hall all stood up. Yang Feiyun and Yang Xiaolei repeatedly said they dared not, and welcomed Yang Lingrui in.

Although the Yang Family was mostly managed by these two for most of the time, they did not dare to be presumptuous when facing cultivators within the clan.

They knew very well that the fundamental reason for the Yang Family's current prosperity was not their great ability in managing the family, but the strong support from Yang Guanfeng and others behind them. Otherwise, if they were placed in other families, they might not even be able to get out of Willow Leaf Town by the time they died of old age.

"Then we two will leave first. After Big Brother is done with his matters, we will discuss clan affairs."

After the two left, Yang Guanfeng looked at Yang Lingrui and nodded with great satisfaction.

"Achieving the Third Level of Qi Gathering in one year, Lingrui, you've done exceptionally well!"

"It's all thanks to the family's support. Without it, Lingrui personally could never have achieved this."

"Hahaha, Lingrui, you are too humble." Elder Yu said, taking out a magical disk and stepping forward. He cast a concealment spell on Yang Lingrui. In the eyes of others, Yang Lingrui's cultivation immediately became the Second Level of Qi Gathering, and even Yang Guanfeng could not see through it.

"Although it's just a deceptive illusion, I am confident that Qi Gathering cultivators below Essence Condensation will not be able to see any flaws." Elder Yu's tone was very confident; this was one of his signature skills for escaping and hiding in the past.

At this moment, two figures landed in front of the Yang Family's great courtyard.

The Old Steward was very observant. Seeing the aura of the two, he knew they were not ordinary people and immediately went to the backyard to report.

"This Yang Family has some skill to have held onto their property during the beast tide. I remember you said they only moved from Willow Leaf Town last year."

The speaker was dressed in a black robe, with a hint of arrogance befitting a superior in his eyes. His name was He Shenglai. He was the same age as Gao Hui and was at the late stage of the Seventh Level of Qi Gathering. He was the cultivator sent by the Dynasty to purchase demonic beast corpses this time.