Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 1229: Chapter 809: Orderly Transport Work (Part 2)

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Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, three months had gone by. The task of emptying the Ancient Relic Array proceeded in an orderly manner, no longer requiring Yang Zhenshan’s personal attention.

He only needed to leave the Pocket World Gate in the Ancient Array, with the rest of the responsibilities handled by the Clan Hall.

Without the bind of petty matters, Yang Zhenshan could finally focus on cultivation.

By the lakeside of the Spiritual Spring Mountain Plateau.

Yang Zhenshan sat cross-legged in a pavilion, eyes slightly closed, slowly inhaling and exhaling the surrounding nature’s spiritual energy.

The Spiritual Spring Mountain Plateau itself was a place rich in spiritual energy, and now the concentration had increased significantly. More importantly, thanks to the Miracle Water, Yang Zhenshan’s cultivation efficiency here was boosted by thirty percent.

Thus, in just a few months, Yang Zhenshan sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough.

As the mana within him circulated, a vast amount of nature’s spiritual energy entered his body, absorbed, devoured, and refined, becoming part of his mana.

But that wasn’t enough; Yang Zhenshan took out a top-grade Jade Marrow Pill and swallowed it.

In an instant, the abundant medicinal power surged through his meridians, flowed through the spiritual aperture, and merged into his Dantian Qi Sea.

Then, suddenly, like a silver bottle breaking, the mana within him exploded, and the tremendous force impacted his Dantian, causing Yang Zhenshan intense pain.

However, the pain didn’t last long, and soon, a powerful aura spread from his body.

Qi Refining Ninth Layer!

Just one step away from Foundation Establishment.

At the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, the next step in cultivation was to refine the mana within, making it more pure until reaching the Perfect Realm, which is the Qi Refining Great Perfection.

This process was a slow and meticulous one, requiring constant refinement of the mana within.

But the advantage was that Yang Zhenshan no longer needed to be bound by sitting meditation; he could use other methods to refine his mana, such as combat, alchemy, talisman making, etc.

As long as he could quickly consume mana and continuously recover it, his mana would consistently be purified until reaching the Perfect Realm.

Yang Zhenshan slowly opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth slightly tilted.

"It’s time to study the Foundation Establishment Pill!"

According to his estimates, reaching Qi Refining Great Perfection was not difficult, for his mana was already very pure.

The Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace had the effect of purifying mana. Previously, Yang Zhenshan had used the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace to purify his mana, and later, frequently used the furnace in alchemy, also achieving the effect of purifying mana.

So now, for him, purifying mana was not a difficult task; he just needed to use the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace for alchemy.

It was the perfect time for him to prepare for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

However, he did not rush to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill but returned to his study, took out the elixir recipe, and began to study it.

Although he had already studied this recipe countless times and knew it by heart, he still wanted to go over it several more times because he only had four batches of materials for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Ancient Relic Array did indeed provide him with the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill, but the three main ingredients were only found in four batches within the Ancient Relic Array.

That means he only had four chances. If all four attempts failed, it would be difficult for Yang Zhenshan to gather the necessary materials for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill again in the short term.

Four batches of materials might seem a lot, but they were, in fact, pathetically few.

One should know that back when Yang Zhenshan was refining Jade Marrow Pills, he failed more than a hundred times in a row, wasting over a thousand batches of materials.

Of course, back then, it was his first time genuinely refining an Immortal Dao Elixir, so the failure rate was higher. However, now he had made considerable progress in alchemy, and with the help of the Golden Crow, four batches of materials still gave him a chance to produce a Foundation Establishment Pill.

After meticulously reviewing the elixir recipe several times, Yang Zhenshan took out a talisman pen, talisman paper, and cinnabar to start drawing talismans.

In the department of Pill and Artifact Formations, Yang Zhenshan definitely focused on alchemy. When it came to artifact refining and array formations, he only had a basic understanding and did not delve deep.

Especially in the way of arrays, after studying for a few days, Yang Zhenshan felt like his brain was a mush, confused, and utterly unable to comprehend it.

The way of array formations was like advanced mathematics in his past life, with various complex rune combinations and intricate talismanic restrictions that were far beyond the understanding of ordinary people.

However, Yang Chengze seemed to have a natural gift in this area, along with Jiang Miao, Yang Qinnian, and Yang Ruoshi. They were now the backbone of the Array Formation Department, capable of skillfully setting up beginner-level Protective Arrays, Maze Arrays, and several other formations.

Compared to the way of arrays, the way of talismans was undoubtedly much easier, and the materials needed for drawing talismans could be sourced from the Spirit Source Land.

Talisman paper could be made from the bark and leaves of the Phoenix Tree, transplanted a decade ago from the Ancient Relic Array.

The talisman pen was considered a kind of Magic Artifact. Yang Zhenshan, in collaboration with the Artifact Refining Workshop’s Artifact Refiners, made three talisman pens, albeit of First-order low-grade, but enough for his current use.

Lastly, there was cinnabar. As Yang Zhenshan had thought, the cinnabar used for drawing talismans wasn’t ordinary Cinnabar but was made from various minerals, Mutant Beast Blood, or Spirit Tree sap.

Different talismans required different cinnabar. For example, the Spring Breeze Rain Talisman required water-attributed minerals and demon beast blood or the sap of some aquatic Spirit Grass.

In short, the Spirit Source Land could now assemble the various raw materials needed for drawing First-order talismans.

Yang Zhenshan studied talismans not to cultivate the talisman making skill or become a Talisman Master but simply to cultivate his mind and nurture his spirit.

The way of talismans was broad and profound. While not as complex as array formations, as vast as alchemy, or as mysterious as artifact refining, the way of talismans pointed directly to the Heaven and Earth Great Dao, being the most straightforward expression of runes.

In the study, Yang Zhenshan stood in front of the bookcase, holding a talisman pen, writing smoothly and elegantly while drawing talismans.

He was drawing a simple explosive talisman, the same kind used by Duan Qiaofeng.

Explosive talismans were First-order Spirit Talismans, the lowest tier of Spirit Talismans, but Duan Qiaofeng was quite skillful, as the explosive talismans he drew were all First Rank Top Grade and could threaten Martial Artists at the Heavenly Gang Stage.

Of course, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t compare to Duan Qiaofeng; he wasn’t even initiated yet and had been drawing for over ten days without successfully creating a single explosive talisman.

The continuous failures didn’t discourage Yang Zhenshan, as drawing talismans was just an aside; his primary goal was still to cultivate his mind and purify his mana.

While Yang Zhenshan was drawing talismans, in a courtyard within the Lian family residence, Lian Shengqian was listening to a report from his subordinate.

"Yang Zhenshan, Ancestor of the Lingxi Yang Family in Ancient County, cultivation at the Heavenly Gang Stage, approximately one hundred and ten years old this year."

"Lingxi Yang Family, a third-tier Martial Arts Family, with a population of less than a hundred. Besides Yang Zhenshan, there are no other Martial Artists at the Heavenly Gang Stage."

"However, this Yang family has good relations with the Lu family. Yang Zhenshan and Lan Peng are close friends, and he also has a deep friendship with Lu Youning, the Second Young Master of the Lu family."

The subordinate reported all the intelligence gathered over the period to Lian Shengqian.

Upon hearing this, a cruel smile appeared in Lian Shengqian’s eyes.

"A third-tier Martial Arts Family dares to challenge me! Do they really think I’m just a clay statue?"

Lian Shengqian harbored a deep hatred against Yang Zhenshan. Although they had only had a verbal dispute in Green Jade City back then, Lian Shengqian had never forgotten Yang Zhenshan, yearned to tear him to pieces even in his dreams.

Because that dispute had become an indelible humiliation for him.

Although Yang Zhenshan had left then, the people present had ruthlessly mocked Lian Shengqian, and many still talked about it over meals as a topic of entertainment.

Some even regarded it as evidence of the Lian family’s decline, causing Lian Shengqian to face severe criticism from his family’s elders.

The events that unfolded afterward were unrelated to Yang Zhenshan, but Lian Shengqian placed all the blame on Yang Zhenshan.

Thus, Yang Zhenshan became a thorn in Lian Shengqian’s side.

Two years later, he still hadn’t given up on tracking down Yang Zhenshan’s whereabouts and identity.

And through his relentless efforts, he finally found Yang Zhenshan’s identity from within the Xuanqing Sect.

Of course, the relationship between Yang Qinting and Yang Zhenshan was also unearthed by him.