Chương 25: Blood on Green Bamboo

Over two years, Zhang Huaijin refined hundreds of tier 1, mid grade spirit artifacts for the Zhang family. With each artifact he forged, Huaijin earned a considerable number of merit points. The Zhang family's artifact forge also made a name for itself in Langya County Town. The Zhang family's tier 1 artifacts were a cut above those of other families. Most importantly, Zhang Huaijin's success rate was now nearly one hundred percent.

This single fact alone allowed Zhang Huaijin and the Zhang family to reap enormous profits. Thanks to the booming business at the artifact forge, the family's spirit wine shop also saw a boost in sales. The family's income began to rise. And Zhang Liliang, Huaijin's second uncle, now had ample resources to practice his craft. A month ago, he had become a tier 1, upper grade Talisman Master. They were flourishing. The strength of the family's cultivators was growing steadily.

Zhang Huaijin's elder brother, Zhang Hanren, had advanced to the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Hanren had a four spirit root aptitude. Back when the family was weaker than it is today, he had started working for the family early. His own cultivation progress was slow. But as the eldest of the Zhang family's third generation, he felt the responsibility deeply. For a family to develop, someone always has to make sacrifices. Zhang Linyi had also advanced, reaching the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Zhang Linyi and Zhang Hong were both already over sixty years old. They had lost any chance of reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. Their attitude was very relaxed. They would be satisfied if they could just reach the Perfection of the Qi Refining Realm in their lifetimes. As for Zhang Lixian, after more than two years of accumulation, he was not far from Perfection himself. Over those two plus years, the Zhang family's growth had been rapid, firmly suppressing the Hu family.

The Hu family felt deeply stifled by this. Before they knew it, their fortunes had completely reversed. —— Zhang Huaijin and his father, Zhang Lixian, sat facing each other. Lixian looked at his son, his expression complex. The talent Huaijin displayed in artifact forging was simply terrifying. Even Lixian himself, now a tier 1, upper grade forger, would occasionally fail when crafting tier 1, mid grade artifacts. He could only maintain a seventy percent success rate.

For tier 1, low grade artifacts, he could achieve ninety percent. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. But Huaijin's success rate was nearly one hundred percent. The difference this made was immense. It was precisely because of Zhang Huaijin that the Zhang family's artifact forge in Langya County Town could stay in business and even become a hit. An extreme success rate saved the Zhang family a huge amount of resources.

"You've now reached the peak of the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm. You're a tier 1, mid grade artifact forger. Given your talent, you should probably be ready to become a tier 1, upper grade forger by now, right?" Lixian spoke slowly. Huaijin nodded.

"That's right. I feel like I could start trying. I just haven't had the time to attempt it yet." Lixian fell silent. It was a bit stressful when your own son was too outstanding.

"Reaching the peak of the sixth level… have you hit a bottleneck?" Lixian continued. Generally speaking, there was a significant bottleneck between the sixth and seventh levels of the Qi Refining Realm. The gap between the mid stage and late stage was vast. Breaking through normally required a lot of time and resources. The effort needed was several times greater than before. But for Zhang Huaijin, who had the Realm-Breaking Pearl, none of this was an issue.

The Realm-Breaking Pearl had accumulated enough black and white energy long ago. As soon as Huaijin willed it, the power within would shatter the bottleneck and propel him into the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm. With the Realm-Breaking Pearl, he simply didn't have bottlenecks.

"I feel fine about it," Huaijin said calmly. Lixian's expression didn't change, but Huaijin could see the muscles in his father's jaw twitch slightly. Lixian didn't waste words. He directly took out a jade box.

"This is a Breakthrough Pill."

"After you've fully polished your current realm, take this pill to quickly enter the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm. Don't waste time." Huaijin was slightly surprised, a warmth spreading through his heart. He felt his father's care. The Breakthrough Pill was a tier 1, upper grade pill. It could assist mid stage Qi Refining Realm cultivators in breaking their bottleneck and entering the late stage. An ordinary tier 1, upper grade pill cost around two hundred spirit stones.

But a pill like the Breakthrough Pill, which could aid in breaking through a realm, cost at least three hundred spirit stones.

"Thank you, Father." Huaijin put it away. Even if he couldn't use it himself, he could save it for something else.

"Good. When you feel ready, break through."

"Don't waste time." Lixian gave one final instruction and prepared to leave. But at that moment, Zhang Liliang suddenly rushed in. His expression was grim, and there was even a hint of bloodlust in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Lixian frowned asked. Huaijin also looked at his second uncle. Liliang was in charge of the family's intelligence and usually stayed at Green Bamboo Mountain.

"Brother, news from Green Bamboo Town. Over a dozen of our clan members have been brutally killed." Liliang's words made Lixian's expression change drastically.

"Who did it? Was it demonic cultivators?" That was Lixian's first thought.

"No. Their bodies had normal amounts of blood. It wasn't demonic cultivators. It was definitely the work of other cultivators."

"Someone from Green Bamboo Town is already in the main hall. He knows the details," Liliang explained quickly.

"Let's go." Lixian rushed out with lightning speed. For a cultivation family, mortals were just as important as cultivators. Cultivators were the family's backbone, but mortals were its foundation. The more mortals a family had, the greater the chance of discovering spirit roots and producing more cultivators. Normally, cultivators didn't harm mortals. Demonic cultivators were the exception. Huaijin's expression was also grim. He rushed out right behind his father.

—— Inside the Family's Main Hall The atmosphere was incredibly heavy. The cultivators from Green Bamboo Mountain had all gathered. The family patriarch, Zhang Chongwen, was also there, his face dark and unpleasant. Such a grave situation hadn't occurred in a very long time. Fifteen or sixteen lives lost. This was a provocation against the Zhang family. The murderer had to be found, torn limb from limb, to comfort the spirits of the departed clan members.

Standing in the center of the main hall was a young man in his twenties. His clothes were stained with blood. His face was haggard, marked with wounds. His eyes were filled with pain and hatred. There was a ghastly sword cut across his chest. He was barely clinging to life, running on fumes.

"Patriarch, you have to avenge us." The moment the young man saw Zhang Lixian enter, he fell to his knees and wailed.

"What exactly happened?" Lixian's expression was extremely dark. Sixteen lives lost was no small matter. The other Zhang family cultivators also looked grim, their eyes fixed on the young man in the center.