Chương 22: The Yin Map Fragment

The Zhang family had established a merit system, and it had done exactly what it was meant to, ignited the clan members' drive to work harder. For Zhang Huaijin, however, it changed nothing. Right now, he was only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Realm. In the current Zhang family, he was nowhere near the one calling the shots. With his father and grandfather shielding him from the wind and rain ahead, Zhang Huaijin found things quite comfortable, actually. All he needed to do now was focus on his cultivation.

A month passed, and the spirit vein beneath Heavenly Yang Mountain was officially promoted to tier 1, low grade. It could now provide enough spiritual energy for mid stage Qi Refining cultivators. The Zhang family also saw another member break through to the mid stage: Zhang Zhewu, the third-ranked among the family's third generation. Zhang Zhewu was also sixteen this year, about a month younger than Zhang Huaijin. A cultivator's age is calculated by bone age. Zhang Zhewu's parents were from Green Bamboo Town.

They, too, were descendants of Zhang Chongwen, but only family members with spiritual roots could be brought up to the Green Bamboo Mountain. —— Mortal born children still have a certain chance of possessing spiritual roots. Likewise, the offspring of cultivators aren't guaranteed to have them either. But legend has it that once a cultivator reaches the Golden Core Realm, their children will definitely possess spiritual roots. Yet in the vast Tang Kingdom, there are only a few dozen Golden Core Realm cultivators.

The Eastern Region Great Wilderness (I'll be using this instead of 'eastern wasteland' from now on) is vast and boundless, with many kingdoms standing side by side. The environment of the Eastern Region Great Wilderness is harsh beyond measure, teeming with demons and monsters. Demonic cultivators emerge in an endless stream, not to mention the powerful and prosperous demon race. Hundreds of nations exist within the Eastern Region Great Wilderness, and the Tang Kingdom is one of them.

In the Eastern Region Great Wilderness, only a family or a Sect with a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator at its helm is permitted to establish a kingdom and bear a share of fate's fortune. Without a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, a nation's fortune cannot sustain itself and will crumble. —— Zhang Zhewu was a four spirit root cultivator. Truth be told, given his cultivation speed, breaking through to the mid stage at his age should have been impossible.

The main reason it happened was that the current Zhang family had quite a few late stage Qi Refining cultivators but not many at the mid stage. So, with Zhang Zhewu's agreement, the family purchased a Spirit Vitality Pill for him. It was a tier 1, low grade pill. Although the Essence Vitality Pill Zhang Huaijin had obtained earlier was also tier 1, low grade the value of a Spirit Vitality Pill was four times that of an Essence Vitality Pill. Stolen story; please report.

The Spirit Vitality Pill could assist a cultivator in breaking through a bottleneck. Generally, as long as one had reached the peak of the third level of Qi Refining Realm, taking a Spirit Vitality Pill could shatter the bottleneck and allow them to step directly into the mid stage. The price Zhang Zhewu paid for the pill was a promise to guard the spirit mountain for the family for five years, free of charge. After breaking through to the mid stage, Zhang Zhewu left to guard the Azure Gale Mountain.

He would have to hold out for at least two years. Now that the Zhang family had switched to the merit system, the number of spirit stones they accumulated each year was more than ten times what it had been before. In a single year, they could save enough spirit stones to upgrade the spirit vein of their own mountain. That way, their own cultivation wouldn't suffer. Right now, the Zhang family was stockpiling large quantities of ores and Spirit beast materials.

Zhang Lixian himself had already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining Realm. He just needed to continuously refine his cultivation to reach the Perfection stage. So, he had plenty of free time. He was a tier 1, low grade artifact refiner/forger. With this free time, he could focus on forging spirit artifacts. And spirit artifact forging, mind you, was a very profitable endeavor. Of course, the premise was that your success rate in refining had to be high.

—— The spiritual rice in the three hundred acres of spiritual fields had matured again. This would bring several thousand spirit stones into the family's coffers. Zhang Huaijin continued to refine his cultivation, his foundation growing deeper and deeper. And now, he had a feeling. Within a matter of days, he would break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining Realm. The spiritual energy on Green Bamboo Mountain was several times richer than on the Heavenly Yang Mountain.

That wouldn't affect Zhang Huaijin's cultivation speed. And at this moment, Zhang Huaijin sat in his cave dwelling, holding a fragment of a map. The map fragment was black, and it was hard to tell what material it was made of. To the touch, it felt relatively smooth. Dense black lines crisscrossed its surface, outlining a blurry scene. He couldn't make it out clearly. But in the very center of the fragment was a single character: "Yin", shadow. Besides that, there was nothing else.

Zhang Huaijin probed it channeling his own spiritual power and the energies of the five elements into it. But the map fragment had no reaction at all.

"Judging by the frayed edges," he mused, examining it carefully, "this map fragment probably has four parts?" Still, he had no clue. He had also tried touching it with his soul force, but it made no ripples. Zhang Huaijin decided not to dwell on it and put it away. He would wait until his strength grew before exploring it further. Within his Sea of Consciousness, inside the Primordial Tai Chi Visualization Diagram, the black and white divine millstone slowly revolved, grinding and tempering his soul.

Imperceptibly, his soul had already reached the peak of the Qi Refining Realm. The energy within the Realm-Breaking Pearl had also become fully saturated. Three Yin Yang Divine Needles shimmered with a cold, chilling light, striking fear into the heart. This soul technique was incredibly important to Zhang Huaijin. Combined with his powerful soul, it had proven unstoppable. Even a late stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator, if caught off guard, could be killed by him. Soul techniques were very rare.

Even Foundation Establishment and Purple Mansion Realm cultivators might not possess them. As his soul continued to transform, the Yin Yang Divine Needles would also undergo changes, making his soul attacks even stronger. Zhang Huaijin was full of anticipation. The Zhang family, as things stood, was thriving and progressing. But for the neighboring Hu family, things were grim. Having lost two late stage Qi Refining Realm cultivators, their strength had withered.

Although they still had more mid stage Qi Refining cultivators than the Zhang family, in terms of high end combat power, the Zhang clan had surpassed them. The changes occurring in the Zhang family made the Hu family cast their suspicious gaze upon them once again. But no matter how the Hu family searched, they could find no trace of evidence linking the Zhang family to anything. The Hu family had long coveted the Zhang family's spirit artifact forging and winemaking inheritance.

The constant conflicts between the two families had originally stemmed from this very greed. Those conflicts only somewhat subsided after Zhang Xue married into the Wu family, deterred by the Wu family's power. Back then, the Zhang family had been at a disadvantage. But now, with the Zhang family's strength increasing, Zhang Lixian was not going to sit idly. Moreover, the sudden fall of two cultivators from the Hu family was a golden opportunity for them.

Conflicts between the cultivators of the two families reignited along their shared borders. All the grievances the Zhang family had suffered before, this time, they would make the Hu family pay back in full. Of course, both sides were still relatively restrained for now. Zhang Lixian was steadily advancing, constantly forging spirit artifacts for the family. Each spirit artifact he forged earned him merit points commensurate with its value. That was the case for all family members with a craft or skill.