Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 1078: Chapter 738: Five Years, Breakthrough (Part 2)

Yang Zhenshan smiled, "Just come directly to find me when you need it!"

The young man looked quite decent. Although his cultivation wasn’t very high, just around the latter stages of the third or fourth layer, he managed to travel two hundred miles to Nanxia County to sell these scraps, showing that he possessed some skills.

Afterward, Yang Zhenshan swapped a few fragments with runes at other stalls, hoping to find some hidden treasures, but soon realized he was overthinking it.

There were simply no treasures to be found here!

They were merely some very ordinary scraps.

Or perhaps his eyesight wasn’t sharp enough, as he simply couldn’t find anything special.

After selling a bunch of scraps, Yang Zhenshan returned to Lingxi Mountain, then went back to Spirit Source Land to hand over the fragments with runes to Yang Chengmao, instructing him to organize a team to research these runes.

Regardless of the usefulness of these runes, and whether they can be used, he decided to record their patterns first.

In fact, Yang Zhenshan wasn’t completely devoid of anything related to rune legacy, don’t forget he had the "Six Chapters of Alchemy and Rune," passed down from the Lingxi Yang Family.

However, the "Six Chapters of Alchemy and Rune" were incomplete, lacking the beginning and the end, rendering them unusable for cultivation, but at the very least, they could provide Yang Zhenshan with some basic knowledge about runes.

What Yang Zhenshan truly lacked right now wasn’t the profound rune secret skills, but rather the most foundational ones. Unfortunately, even for the basics, he had no means of acquiring them, leaving him quite helpless.

...

Just as Lan Peng said, he and the Red Flame Army had indeed camped under Nanqing Mountain, and the spirit fields left by the Xiang family of Nanqing had also fallen into Lan Peng’s hands.

In the days that followed, Lan Peng often brought Jin Yu and Feiyun along to drink with Yang Zhenshan.

His character was actually very similar to Yang Zhenshan’s: bold and generous, yet ruthless. When he acted, rivers of blood would flow.

Perhaps because of their aligned personalities, Lan Peng enjoyed visiting Yang Zhenshan at Lingxi Mountain, and Yang Zhenshan sought to strengthen their friendship, thus they gradually became good friends.

A month later, Geng Zhuang sent Yang Zhenshan a hundred fragments with runes. This young man was quite clever; instead of excavating the fragments himself at Ancient Field Mountain, he became a middleman, purchasing the fragments in Nanxia County.

Yang Zhenshan naturally didn’t mind, instead, he was happy to have him help collect the fragments.

Three months later, Yang Zhenshan retrieved the armor crafted by Qiu Jin.

Five sets of blue-black scale armor, five sets of white soft armor.

Yang Zhenshan kept one set of scale armor and soft armor for himself. He gave one set of soft armor to Chen Zhongshu, Lv Hua, and Yang Chengxian; they were out in the field, so soft armor was more convenient than scale armor.

He also gave a set of scale armor to Wang Lei and Li Chang; they were military officers, accustomed to wearing combat armor.

As for the remaining sets, Yang Zhenshan held onto them for the time being, planning to distribute them later.

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, five years had gone by, reaching Spirit Source Year Thirty-four.

In Spirit Source Land, gentle morning sunlight scattered over the verdant Three Yellow Li Trees, casting delicate patterns on the ground through the leaves.

Under the tree, Yang Zhenshan sat cross-legged, completely focused on practicing the Energy Introduction Skill.

Not far away, Yu Qingyi was coolly wielding a long sword, its verdant blade dancing gracefully, occasionally releasing bursts of green light.

Soon after, Yang Zhenshan exhaled deeply, opened his eyes, and smiled at Yu Qingyi.

Time seemed especially kind to Yu Qingyi, as decades went by, leaving her face still graceful, her eyes still bright and clear, her figure still vigorous and spirited, looking as though she was around thirty years old.

Of course, this was thanks to the Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill and Ice Attribute Soul-attaching Pill, likely due to their special anti-aging effect, making Yu Qingyi appear even younger.

Yu Qingyi wasn’t an astonishing beauty, but her oval face was very pleasant to look at. Yang Zhenshan had gazed upon her for fifty years and never grew tired.

Yu Qingyi completed a set of "Green Shadow Flying Flower Sword," sheathed her sword, and with a gentle and charming smile, looked at Yang Zhenshan.

"How is it, have you made a breakthrough?"

Green Shadow Flying Flower Sword is a Wood Attribute sword technique, where during execution, the sword emits green light akin to blossoming flowers. Amidst the dancing sword flowers lies powerful destructive force.

This sword technique is nimble and elegant, emphasizing the fluidity and rhythm of sword moves. One move follows another, each stronger than the last. Though it might not be as forceful as Yang Zhenshan’s spear techniques, the sword movements are light, targeting the opponent’s vital parts like flowers chasing the moon, with swift and unpredictable sword speeds, and the sparkling sword flowers can confuse the opponent’s vision, ideal for duels.

Yang Zhenshan stood up, dusting off leaves and dirt, stroked his beard with a smile and said, "I’ve made a breakthrough!"

It took him over five years—five long years—to finally refine his cultivation to the Heavenly Gang Stage.

This speed sounded fast, but it was far slower than Yang Zhenshan had anticipated.

In Spirit Source Land, cultivating using the Clear Wood Energy Introduction Skill was exceptionally advantageous, as the land had numerous Spiritual Fruit Trees, and many plants were watered with Spiritual Spring Water, with Clear Wood Energy densely pervasive to an extraordinary degree.

Cultivating Clear Wood Energy Introduction Skill in Spirit Source Land was undoubtedly twice the result with half the effort.

Yet despite this advantage, Yang Zhenshan still consumed a vast amount of cultivation resources.

Spiritual Spring Water and Spirit Fruits need not be mentioned. Although Wood Spirit Fruit and Jade Spirit Peach, two Wood Attribute spirit fruits, were now starting to be planted in large quantities, not yet allowing Yang Zhenshan to use them freely, other Spirit Fruits were a daily staple for him.

Consuming so many Spirit Fruits, even if their effect wasn’t targeted at enhancing cultivation, they still provided great support to his practice.

Furthermore, the Taoist Intent Sacred Lotus, which enhances comprehension of Natural Attribute. Previously, Yang Zhenshan focused heavily on Thunder Attribute, using all its seeds for this purpose. But after he began cultivating Green Wood Longevity Skill, he started to comprehend Wood Attribute Dao Intent.

Yang Zhenshan didn’t quite understand the difference between attribute Dao Intent and attribute Spiritual Energy before. He once thought that the seeds enhanced his Spiritual Energy, thus enabling him to wield the power of thunder.

However, after the Taoist Intent Sacred Lotus matured again, and upon repeatedly using the lotus petals and seeds, Yang Zhenshan discovered that the Taoist Intent Sacred Lotus enhanced not Spiritual Energy but true attribute Dao Intent, essentially known as Natural Dao Intent.

Improving Dao Intent allows for better control over one’s Spiritual Power, and also enables eliciting Spiritual Energy from between heaven and earth.

Though it cannot directly enhance cultivation, it can speed up Yang Zhenshan’s training progress.

Even with the assistance of Taoist Intent Sacred Lotus, Yang Zhenshan still spent five years, and ultimately had to use the Evergreen Nourishing Pill gifted by Lan Peng to achieve a breakthrough, stepping into the threshold of the Heavenly Gang Stage.

"How do you feel?" Yu Qingyi asked curiously.

Yang Zhenshan laughed heartily, waved his hand, and a vine burst forth from the ground, quickly stretching over a meter, but soon withered.

Yu Qingyi was startled, and her eyes brightened.

"Yin Yang, flourishing and withering?"

"Correct, after entering the Heavenly Gang Stage, the True Yuan in one’s body evolves into Yin and Yang, with prosperity leading to decline, and vice versa, harmonizing the body’s Yin and Yang to achieve a more perfect state," Yang Zhenshan contemplated a moment, then said, "It can extend one’s lifespan, but the increase is not evident, probably prolonging life by about ten years."

Lifespan had always been a lingering issue for Yang Zhenshan, as the lifespans of Zhou Tianci, An Yuxing, Liang Shengze, and others were nearing an end.

Xuanzhen Taoist, due to his unique cultivation technique, could live to around a hundred seventy to eighty years, but Zhou Tianci had increasingly shown signs of aging over the past couple of years; without any extension methods, it was likely he’d pass away in a few more years.

Now knowing that reaching the Heavenly Gang Stage could extend lifespan provided Zhou Tianci with a ray of hope.