In the Yue Kingdom, within the Teng Family, Teng Long walked with a calm expression toward a majestic complex of buildings, stopping in the middle of a circular plaza.
Five spiritual mountains stood like satellites around the complex, shielding it. The central main hall and this vast surrounding area were where the direct bloodline of the Teng Family resided. The spiritual Qi here was dense, and vitality teemed everywhere.
As the preeminent immortal-cultivating family in the Yue Kingdom, the Teng Family had successively seized some of the finest spiritual veins in the kingdom. Later, their ancestor used powerful grand-master methods to relocate those spiritual veins here, creating the current terrain surrounded by five stars. Naturally, the direct bloodline of the Teng Family lived in the central zone where the spiritual Qi was most concentrated.
As a direct descendant, although Teng Long's cultivation was pathetic, he and his mother were naturally allotted a small courtyard in a secluded spot to make a living and settle down.
His father, Teng Yuanshan, was originally full brothers with Teng Li's father, Teng Yuanlin, but his father later died in a vendetta, leaving behind three-year-old Teng Long and his mother to depend on each other for survival. If Teng Long had been blessed with exceptional talent, his and his mother's status within the family would have been somewhat higher.
Unfortunately, he was good for nothing. And his mother was not good to him either; ever since his father's death, she had harbored utter aversion toward him and got herself entangled with an aging scoundrel of a collateral branch outside the family. Later on, she simply remarried, leaving behind only an old servant for him to depend on.
Therefore, over these past ten years, the life he led was truly not pleasant. Other members of the family paid him no mind, and even the servants lost the barest minimum of respect toward him.
Right on cue, the moment he landed, someone began pointing fingers at him. Further away, a family profligate looked over at him with eyes that lit up, clearly preparing to come and make trouble for him.
Teng Long turned away with a cold expression, leaving everyone staring at the back of his head.
"Tch, tch, consider yourself lucky you run fast, kid."
Seeing that Teng Long had already walked away, the profligate lost interest in bullying him. In truth, there had been quite a few people bullying Teng Long over the years, and everyone had long since grown accustomed to it.
In fact, the entire Teng Family worshipped the law of the jungle—whoever was stronger held a higher position. The people in charge of the Teng Family had always turned a blind eye to conflicts among the younger generation; as long as no lives were lost, it was no big deal. They even mistakenly believed that such a law of the survival of the fittest was the only way to keep the family prosperous and enduring for generations to come.
"Young Master, you're back?"
Inside the courtyard, the old servant was sweeping up fallen leaves, while Teng Long nearby acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. He walked back into his room on his own, activated the protective array, and assumed a posture of entering seclusion where he would see no one.
Inside the room, Teng Long sat cross-legged and took out the Immortal Seed emitting a soft green glow, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
"Just you wait. It won't be long before I tread all of you beneath my feet."
With that, he swallowed the green seed into his mouth.
Accompanied by a wisp of clear Qi entering his lower abdomen, a massive surge of vitality and surging spiritual power immediately poured out from the Immortal Seed. It condensed all the cultivation of the slain Wu Ye at the Qi Refining 5th Layer, transforming it into pure spiritual power that began to course through his body.
A searing agony tore at his flesh and blood, making it feel as though he would burst apart and die at any moment from the sudden surge of spiritual power. Fortunately, he circulated the Grand Aether Immortal Scripture in time, suppressing the riotous spiritual power. Under the effect of the immortal scripture, the spiritual power acted like a millstone crushing grain, slowly fusing pure spiritual power into his entire body.
Time slowly passed, and Teng Long's cultivation began to grow at a rate visible to the naked eye.
At the back mountain of the Hengyue Sword Sect, Lu Ming had moved to a new valley and was currently setting up the protective array for his new immortal cave.
This immortal cave was much more secluded, and the concentration of spiritual power was quite average. The cave he had excavated was very large, and the spiritual field he cultivated within it was three times the size of his original cave. It was just a pity that the spiritual field was completely barren, without even a single weed in sight.
"The Hengyue Sword Sect's medicinal herbs have been practically plucked bare by me; for now, I can only have my disciple slowly collect more. The Heaven-Swallowing Spiritual Art still needs to be refined, so I must keep a low profile during this period and not leave the mountain unless necessary."
He stretched out two green leaves and tapped them together.
"Another stretch of peaceful and quiet time."
With anthropomorphic applause, he subsequently retracted all his green leaves, bathed his entire body in the setting sun, and fell soundly asleep.
However, no sooner had he entered a dream than he was abruptly awakened by a feedback of pure spiritual power.
Following that, an image appeared in his mind.
In the image, Teng Long had finished his cultivation. In just a few short hours, his cultivation had jumped from the Qi Refining 3rd Layer to the Qi Refining 7th Layer.
This made him appear somewhat excited, and he thought to himself: "As expected of an immortal scripture. It actually allows even a good-for-nothing like me to possess such terrifying cultivation speed. According to the scripture's explanation, as long as I can reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, the mixed spiritual roots in my body will completely melt away and become nourishment for the Immortal Seed. By then, I, Teng Long, will exist on par with an ultimate wood spiritual root that surpasses the heavenly spiritual roots. Next, I need to collect various medicinal herbs, raise my cultivation as quickly as possible, and strive for early Foundation Establishment."
Teng Long did not know that at this very moment, every move he made was already under Lu Ming's surveillance, and even his inner thoughts could not be concealed. He was unaware that at the edge of his divine soul, a wisp of green blemish had quietly appeared.
Silently sensing the growth of spiritual power within his body and the faint connection transmitting from Teng Long, Lu Ming felt quite satisfied.
"The fish has taken the bait, with a reversal degree of 10%. Not bad at all. That being the case, I can rest easy for a period of time. From the Qi Refining 5th Layer to the early 6th Layer, a twenty-percent feedback is not particularly obvious. Sure enough, growing stronger still relies on oneself."
Another day passed. In the Hengyue Sword Sect outer disciple quarters, Wang Ran inside the secret chamber was examining the newly crafted grass puppet. Perhaps because his weaving technique had improved considerably, this new grass puppet already bore a strong resemblance to Wang Ran himself.
The palm-sized grass puppet was moving nimbly across the ground, looking cautious and rather comical.
"The new puppet clone can hold up to sixty percent of the main body's spiritual power, and its flexibility and controllability have also increased quite a bit. Moreover, once it loses connection with the main body, the second-generation grass seed inside will self-destruct, so I'll never have to worry about a situation like last time happening again. Besides, Master also improved the puppet transformation technique; the puppet now has two additional transformations: turning into the appearance of the main body and turning into a weed. Quite reliable."
He blew a puff of breath at the grass puppet, then took out the butterfly hair clip and handed it to the puppet.
"Next, aside from practicing your cultivation technique, your task is to study this hair clip."
His cousin Wang Hao's grand wedding was approaching, and he needed to rush back to the Wang Family as soon as possible. This time, he needed to accept disciples on behalf of his master, so it wouldn't be appropriate for him to go using a puppet.
He had already made up his mind: once his cousin and younger sister completed their initiation into the Profound Heaven Induction Chapter, he would immediately return to the Sword Sect. As for how to strengthen the family and screen initiation disciples for the sect, he would leave those matters to his fourth uncle, Wang Tianhai.
He would not stay a moment longer, but honestly return to the sect to farm in a low-key manner, so he could spend more time by his master's side listening to teachings.
Ah, days without the ability to contact Master truly lacked even a shred of a sense of security.