The next day, Lin Tianming sat cross-legged on the stone bed.
His eyes closed, hands clasped together, he adeptly performed a Grand Circulation.
Specks of blue and red light gathered sporadically above Lin Tianming's head, slowly sinking into the Sky Spirit Cover, following through the seven meridians and eight channels of his body, and finally converging in the Seven Sea Dantian.
After a full circulation, his meridians flowed smoothly, and he took out a bottle of elixirs. Pouring one out, it was indeed a Lingshen Pill.
Without hesitation, Lin Tianming swallowed the pill.
Its rich fragrance and sweet taste were refreshing to the spirit.
Immediately, he began to refine the pill, transforming it into streams of violent spiritual power that surged into the Qi Sea Dantian, where he saw the Dantian slowly expanding at a minimal rate.
Lin Tianming's cultivation method was one of the family legacies, the Fire Origin Decision, a Fire Attribute Mysterious Grade technique with a very powerful attack but comparatively slow cultivation speed. It could be cultivated up to the late stage of Core Formation.
In the Cultivation World, techniques are divided into Heavenly, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow grades. Techniques of the Heavenly grade are the highest and can be cultivated up to the Divinity Transformation Stage, followed by Earth-grade techniques, which can reach the Nascent Soul Stage, while the lowest Yellow-grade techniques only allow cultivation up to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The Lin Family had a legacy of over eight hundred years with only five techniques: two of Mysterious Grade and three of Yellow Grade. They had collected techniques for all Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, but had no techniques for unusual attributes.
Spiritual Roots like the Wind Spirit Root, Ice Spirit Root, Thunder Spiritual Root, and other unusual attributes are exceedingly rare, and their corresponding techniques are even harder to collect. Even millennia-old cultivation families or top sects may not possess such unusual attribute techniques.
The Fire Origin Decision and Spring Wood Creation Classic are the only two Mysterious Grade techniques the family possesses, each one capable of being cultivated to the late stage of Core Formation.
The Spring Wood Creation Classic is relatively mild and easier to cultivate with fewer bottlenecks, making it the usual choice for those in the clan with the Wood Attribute Spiritual Root.
Besides that, there are three Yellow Grade techniques. The Metal Attribute technique, Golden Gang Classic, has extremely strong offensive power.
The Water Attribute technique, the Water Origin Sword Decision, is a sword technique that can at most control nine Flying Swords to form a Sword Array, useful for both offense and defense and quite extraordinary.
The Earth Attribute technique, Thick Earth Decision, can congeal an earth shield with excellent defensive power but slightly weaker offensive ability, so not many clanspeople cultivate this technique.
Time passed quietly, and it took Lin Tianming three days in seclusion to fully refine the first Lingshen Pill, his cultivation reaching the peak of the Fourth Level of Qi Refinement.
With one pill consumed and two remaining, Lin Tianming planned to continue taking Lingshen Pills, attempting to break through to the Fifth Level of Qi Refinement.
He continued to consume another Lingshen Pill and began the refinement process once more.
Lin Tianming controllingly harnessed the immense medicinal power, repeatedly assaulting his Dantian countless times.
Finally, two days later, the Qi Sea of his Dantian expanded several times over, allowing Lin Tianming to enter the Fifth Level of Qi Practice.
Feeling his power multiply, Lin Tianming was ecstatic with joy.
The original size of his Dantian was like a bucket, but now it was the size of a small pond, its capacity increased several times over and his spiritual power denser.
Having just made a breakthrough, Lin Tianming did not rush to leave seclusion; instead, he continued to meditate for five more days to further consolidate his cultivation.
After ten days of seclusion, the gains were tremendous for Lin Tianming. With two Lingshen Pills, he had smoothly advanced to the Fifth Level of Qi Refinement, with one pill still remaining—far better than expected.
Advancing to the Fifth Level of Qi Practice so swiftly was fortunate, thanks to the half-month retreat he had previously, during which he had concocted elixirs and used up a large amount of spiritual power, later replenishing through cultivation, allowing his strength to grow steadily.
Because of a solid foundation, he had managed to break through smoothly. Although he wanted to continue taking elixirs to further enhance his cultivation,
considering there was only one Lingshen Pill left, its effects might not be significant.
Excessive consumption of elixirs in succession might affect the foundation, so a gradual and methodical approach was safest.
Deciding it was time, Lin Tianming concluded his seclusion and pushed open the door to step out.
It was still early in the day, and, recalling the 300 merit points awarded by his grandfather, Lin Tianming summoned his Flying Sword, leaped onto it, and headed straight for the Family Merits Hall.
With his cultivation breakthrough, even the speed of Sword Flight had more than doubled, the wind whistling past his ears, fluttering his blue robe loudly.
Along the way, Lin Tianming passed by many important halls of the Lin Family, encountering numerous Lin Family members who were busily engaged in their tasks. After greeting each of them, Lin Tianming bid farewell and left.
Through long-term development, the Lin Family's rules were rather strict, with clear principles of respecting the elderly and loving the young and distinct rewards and punishments, forming a complete family system.
The Lin Family had ten departments, namely the Elders' Council, Enforcement Hall, Skill Transmission Hall, Hall of Merit, Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Scripture Pavilion, Alchemy Hall, Artifact Training Hall, Talisman Crafting Hall, and Formation Hall.
The Elders' Council was composed of the Clan Leader and the various Hall Masters. Minor decisions were made after deliberation among the members of the Elders' Council, while major resolutions needed to be referred to Foundation Establishment Stage supreme elders.
The Enforcement Hall was responsible for supervising all clan members, dealing with those who abused their power for personal gain, bullied men and women, committed fratricide, or defected from the clan, enforcing the family rules accordingly.
If a violation of the clan rules was verified, the offender might be detained on the lighter end or have their cultivation removed and be confined within the clan until death for more serious offenses.
Under the strict clan rules, Lin Family members did not dare to overstep the family law.
The Enforcement Hall was also responsible for tracking down murderers, leading clan members in experiential training, and assuming authority in external armed conflicts and battles.
The Skill Transmission Hall's duties involved propagating the deeds and development progress of the clan's ancestors, fostering a sense of belonging among the clan members, teaching cultivation methods and secret techniques to those newly embarked on the path of cultivation, and taking on the responsibility of introductory education for the clan members.
The Hall of Merit managed the Lin Family's treasury and all public properties possessed by the clan, such as the Spiritual Medicine Garden and the mines. It also dealt with resource exchange and proxy selling for the clan members.
The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was responsible for scheduling and executing various clan tasks. Once Lin Family members reached the Fifth Level of Qi Refinement, they were expected to contribute to the clan, completing at least one family task within their capabilities every three years and receiving rewards upon completion.
Family members under thirty years old who had not broken through to the fifth level could focus solely on cultivation and were exempt from tasks. Conversely, even those at the First Level of Qi Refining had to accept responsibilities after reaching thirty years of age, as the family would not support idlers.
The Scripture Pavilion safeguarded all kinds of cultivation methods, secret techniques, and ancient texts of the family, providing suitable secret cultivation texts for those newly initiated into the path of cultivation.
The Alchemy Hall, Artifact Training Hall, Talisman Crafting Hall, and Formation Hall were institutions established by the family to cultivate skilled talents. Upon reaching the Fourth Level of Qi Refinement, one could choose any specialty based on their innate gifts and preferences to pursue further training.
Naturally, choosing not to cultivate a skill or even cultivating multiple skills was also possible, as the family did not force any member.
After hundreds of years of optimization and reforms, the current system was formed, which has been in effect for three hundred years without any major changes.
Inside the Family Merits Hall, Lin Tianming appeared before Lin Shixin.
Lin Tianming clasped his hands and bowed respectfully, saying,
"Great-Nephew pays respects to Great-Uncle Ten."
Lin Shixin waved his hand, indicating that he need not be overly courteous.
"Great-Uncle Ten, I wish to sell thirty-eight Fasting Pills."
As he spoke, he took out the thirty-eight Fasting Pills he had concocted and handed them over to Lin Shixin for inspection.
Lin Shixin examined the elixirs closely for a moment before speaking,
"Thirty-eight Fasting Pills, one Spirit Stone each, calculating at a discount of twenty percent, that makes a total of thirty merits."
Lin Tianming took out his Family Token and said,
"I want to exchange for a Four Symbols Furnace, plus ten sets of Fasting Pill Spiritual Medicine, and five sets of Lingshen Pill Spiritual Medicine."
Lin Shixin quickly did the calculations: the Four Symbols Furnace cost 250 merits, each set of Fasting Pill Spiritual Medicine cost 3 merits, totaling 30 merits, and each set of Lingshen Pill Spiritual Medicine cost 8 merits, totaling 40 merits, adding up to a total expenditure of 320 merits.
Selling the concocted thirty-eight Fasting Pills, he earned thirty merits, which balanced out exactly.
Lin Tianming thought to himself that once the success rate and the number of pills produced in the later stages increased, he should be able to make a profit.
Lin Shixin deducted the merits from his token, leaving himself with only ten merits.
Gathering the Four Symbols Furnace along with ten sets of Fasting Pill Spiritual Medicine and five sets of Lingshen Pill Spiritual Medicine, Lin Tianming bowed and left the Hall of Merit.