Zhao Kingdom, Yunzhou, Xing County.
Within the expanse of Xing County, where the population was sparse, there lay numerous mountains and hills.
Among these mountains, Fangmu Mountain stood supreme, shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, its height known to all but its peak unseen.
...
At this time, inside a small building within the peak.
A youth clad in a white robe was intently staring at a glowing Spirit Method Array.
In the center of the array lay an insect egg the size of a bowl, clearly at the moment of hatching, its surface already covered in cracks.
Amidst a flash of Spirit Light, with a crack, two scythe-like golden legs burst from the shell.
Then, a pale golden mantis head emerged.
"It's finally hatched!" Lin Shiming was overjoyed.
What others couldn't see was a line of text in Lin Shiming's eyes.
A benefit exclusive to him as a transmigrator, a prompt he saw daily.
"Please feed it with First Rank Spirit Water, and you will acquire a Spirit Beast that can grow into a Third Rank, a variant of the Green Winged Mantis, the Golden Winged Mantis."
Lin Shiming was a transmigrator, a calamitous IT homebody from his previous life, now reborn as the son of Lin Houyuan, the Family Head of the Lin Family in Fangmu Mountain, bearing the seventh rank within his generation's characters.
With this transmigration, Lin Shiming was quite satisfied. Aside from his lineage and status, just being able to see the system prompts made him believe that Immortal Cultivation was within reach.
And it was precisely because he could see these prompts that he had purchased this half-dead egg from a stall in the market, spending ten Spirit Stones on it.
It should be known that the Lin Family of Fangmu Mountain, as one of Yunzhou's Foundation Establishment families, currently only had one Foundation Establishment great cultivator.
An egg capable of nurturing a Third Rank Demonic Insect, even if put up at Yunzhou's grand auction, would fetch a sky-high price beyond the Lin Family's wildest dreams.
Normally, aside from their wings bearing a thin layer of pale golden color, Green Winged Mantises appeared mostly in a regular green hue.
But the Golden Winged Mantis before him had not only its wings fully covered in gold, its entire body too was resplendent with golden color.
Especially those forelegs, as dazzling as gold, with exceptionally large sickle teeth, looking extremely sharp.
The mantis was also about twice the size of a normal Green Winged Mantis, having just hatched and already the size of a baby.
"Squeak!" The Golden Winged Mantis flapped its wings and flew onto Lin Shiming's shoulder, rubbing his pale golden triangular head against Lin Shiming incessantly.
Before the egg had hatched, Lin Shiming had used his own essence blood to lay down a Blood Covenant Array secret technique, also nurturing the Spirit Insect with Spiritual Energy.
The Golden Winged Mantis naturally regarded Lin Shiming as its parent.
Suppressing his elation, Lin Shiming took out a Jade Bowl from his Storage Bag, then cautiously extracted a Jade Bottle and painfully poured a full bowl of First Rank Spirit Water into it.
This First Rank Spirit Water came from the Green Lotus Spirit Spring behind Fangmu Mountain. As the son of the Family Head, Lin Shiming could only obtain one jin of Spirit Water every six months.
Yet, this single jin of Spirit Water could be sold for over ten Spirit Stones. Ingesting a bowl's worth could substitute for half a month of arduous cultivation for an Immortal Cultivator.
The Spirit Stones surrounding the Spirit Method Array dimmed at this moment, having exhausted their potency.
"Grow quickly!" Lin Shiming couldn't resist rubbing the mantis's head, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Squeak squeak!" In the blink of an eye, the Jade Bowl was empty, and the Golden Winged Mantis smacked its lips, looking up at Lin Shiming.
Clearly, one bowl of Spirit Water wasn't enough!
Lin Shiming once again took out the Jade Bottle from his Storage Bag with pained reluctance, refilling the Jade Bowl.
After three times, almost consuming a full jin, the Golden Winged Mantis finally lay content on Lin Shiming's shoulder, closing its eyes, resting peacefully.
Lin Shiming took out a Spirit Beast Bag and placed the mantis inside.
After his excitement had passed, he couldn't help but start contemplating his future path of cultivation.
The Golden Winged Mantis consumed so much, needing even more cultivation resources than he did himself, which troubled him greatly.
His own Spirit Root was a Third Spirit Root with the attributes of metal, wood, and fire, which was not considered good among Immortal Cultivation aptitudes, and required tremendous resources.
The Lin Family was just a Foundation Establishment family, and with his Qi Cultivation at the fifth level, he could only receive 2 Spirit Stones per month. Including the Spirit Water every six months and three jin of Spirit Rice monthly, that totaled to roughly forty Spirit Stones in half a year.
The reason he had been living so comfortably until now was due to being able to see prompts, which made cultivating Spirit Plants quite effortless, apart from occasional rewards from his father as well.
The system prompts weren't miracle workers; the ones he saw every day mostly dealt with how to solve issues with spirit plants or cultivation techniques.
A minority of the prompts indicated that a third-rank spirit plant had matured in the mountain's herb garden, suggesting he could harvest a third-rank Lingzhi mushroom if he went there.
Or that there was a third-rank treasure on the mountain, which could be obtained by breaking an array at night.
Lin Shiming, faced with such prompts, could only respond with speechlessness and resignation.
The best prompt was when he followed a family elder to the market to deliver spirit materials and bought the egg of a Golden Winged Mantis.
As for other times, Fangmu Mountain forbade Lin Family disciples under the age of twenty from descending the mountain, so there were no prompts about the mountain's base.
After securing the egg, Lin Shiming resumed his cultivation in his room. The pursuit of immortality was all about persistence, and his talents didn't allow for the slightest slackness.
Lin Shiming cultivated the Lin Family's inherited cultivation technique, the Yellow Grade Superior Rank Qing Mu Art, associated with the wood attribute and capable of being cultivated up to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The Qing Mu Art wasn't a fast cultivation method and didn't offer much advantage in combat, but its steady progression and solid foundation often led to surprising effects during major breakthroughs.
After each cycle of the Minor and Grand Circulations, Lin Shiming felt refreshed and spirited, as if all the magical power in his body was leaping with joy!
It was then that a red streak shot across the sky, and a Sound Transmission Talisman came whizzing through the air.
"Shiming, come to the council hall immediately!"
…
The council hall was located halfway up Fangmu Mountain, facing south from the north, with an excellent view.
As a place for the Lin Family to discuss matters, assign tasks, and entertain guests from outside, the entire hall was constructed from marble. Skilled craftsmen were employed in its creation, giving the hall an imposing and grand atmosphere.
Entering the hall, two middle-aged men were in conversation, their brows showing a touch of solemnity.
The younger-looking of the two was Lin Shiming's father, Lin Hou Yuan, while the other robust man was Lin Shiming's great-grandfather and the Lin Family's Great Elder, a powerhouse in body cultivation, Lin Yu Qing.
Yes, despite resembling Lin Hou Yuan with middle-aged features, Lin Yu Qing was actually in his nineties.
For cultivators in the Qi Refinement Realm, it was common to live around 120 years and maintain a youthful appearance with just a bit of spiritual power.
If desired, one could even retain the appearance of a child. Of course, most elders in the Lin Family also chose a middle-aged appearance to maintain their dignity without seeming too old.
"Greetings, Father, Great Grandfather!" Lin Shiming hurriedly stepped forward and paid his respects, holding considerable admiration for these two elders.
"Shiming, you've arrived. Good, good, the fifth level of Qi Cultivation at only seventeen years of age!" Lin Yu Qing clearly didn't expect that with a Third Spirit Root talent, Lin Shiming would reach the fifth level of Qi Cultivation in just nine years; this pace was on par with dual-spirit-root geniuses.
Beyond his surprise, a hint of skepticism also crossed his face.
"Great Grandfather jests, it's all thanks to the family's support that your nephew has reached his current level of cultivation."
"Excellent, humble and polite, and diligent in cultivation, Family Head, what a fine son you have!" Lin Yu Qing couldn't stop praising, bringing great joy to Lin Hou Yuan.
"Family Head, since Shiming's cultivation progress is comparable to Shijie's, about that matter of guarding Qingtao Mountain..." Lin Yu Qing spoke again.
At that, Lin Hou Yuan hesitated. Qingtao Mountain backed onto the Qingyun mountain range, which was infested with fierce wild beasts, and there were even cases when demonic beasts roamed out from the Qingyun range.
Especially now, with the second-rank, inferior-grade Spirit Peach Tree on Qingtao Mountain nearing maturity, it was highly likely to attract birds and demonic beasts.
Lin Hou Yuan originally didn't want his son to descend the mountain prematurely and guard such a dangerous place. However, Lin Shiming had taken the initiative to ask him several times about taking up guard duty earlier.
The latter's conviction to contribute to the family had touched him, and indeed, the family did lack sufficient manpower.
But now it seemed his son was talented enough, diligently focusing on cultivation without being mired in worldly matters was the greatest contribution he could make to the family.
"Father, Great Grandfather, Shiming is willing to take up the guard duty!" Lin Shiming, hearing about the task of guarding Qingtao Mountain, immediately became excited.
This was precisely what he wanted. Merely possessing a hint-giving system while confined to Fangmu Mountain, unable to access those clearly untouchable resources, had long made him dissatisfied.
He had seen all the treasures of the old clan head in the system's hints, but what good was that? He couldn't possibly steal them.
Now that he had an opportunity to venture outside, he naturally wanted to seize it; Qingtao Mountain might be dangerous, but with the hints, he could anticipate hazards in advance.
"Father, my recent cultivation has also reached a bottleneck, and I need to gain experience in the outside world!" Urging his hesitant elders, Lin Shiming added eagerly.
"Very well, but before you go to Qingtao Mountain, head to the family vault to collect a second-rank superior-grade attack talisman and a superior-grade defense talisman! This is the family's advance on your contribution value." Seeing Lin Shiming's firmness, Lin Hou Yuan didn't want to say much, but as the Family Head, he could still secure some benefits for his son who was about to undertake guard duty.
"Additionally, fetch ten jin of Spirit Water and fifty jin of Spirit Rice. Put it on my account!" Lin Yu Qing also chimed in, increasingly pleased with Lin Shiming.
If the family members were all like Shiming in their mindset, why wouldn't the Lin Family thrive?