Chapter 182: Extraordinary Effect

After the two sent Liu Yuntao away, they returned to the courtyard where Lin Zhangqing was staying.

Chen Zi Ya said: "Senior Brother, I always feel a bit sorry for fooling Fellow Daoist Liu like this. They are destined to be doing useless work this time!"

Lin Zhangqing nodded. "Yes, I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Liu and the others to be so persistent. Even though the people have already run off, they still insist on trying to recover those ores."

However, we can't exactly tell them, 'You don't need to look anymore, the ores from the Red Smelted Fire Copper Mine are all with us!' That would only make things more troublesome.

Besides, these are my spoils of war; I certainly wouldn't be willing to hand them over if asked.

The Liu family feels that since the mine vein is on their family's territory, if they don't get a share, they've suffered a huge loss, and they can't save face or reconcile with it internally. That is why they keep investigating without letting go.

So, this is the only way. If the Liu family ever truly has some matter they need to beg your grandmother for in the future, you can put in a few good words for them; consider it compensation for their losses this time."

Chen Zi Ya sighed softly, nodded, and said, "This is the only way for now! I hope they don't persist for too long and give up sooner rather than later!"

"Once they search for a period of time without results, they will naturally stop looking. Don't worry! If you were to stop them from searching now, they would only be more unwilling to let it go," Lin Zhangqing comforted her.

Chen Zi Ya understood this logic, so she said nothing more.

The two talked for a while longer, and seeing that the time was about right, Chen Zi Ya returned. The main reason was that Liu Yuntao's visit today had delayed them for quite some time.

Since Chen Zi Ya had returned, Lin Zhangqing activated the Illusion Array and prepared to begin practicing his spells.

This was something Lin Zhangqing had planned and arranged for himself; only through persistent cultivation and effort could one achieve the best results.

Thunder Control Technique, Water Control Technique, Five Elements Escape Technique—he didn't skip a single one. Soon, three or four hours had passed.

Lin Zhangqing noticed that it was already evening outside, so he stopped his cultivation.

Thinking back to last night, he had given Xu Meiniang and Zhao Liyu a bit of Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine. So much time had passed that the two should have finished absorbing it and woken up by now! It was time to enter the inner space to check on the situation.

With a thought, he quickly entered the inner space.

After dealing with the enthusiastic Lu Youqiang family, Xu Meiniang and Zhao Liyu were already waiting quietly to the side.

They had seen their master interacting and playing with the little deer earlier, so they hadn't made a sound to disturb them.

Now that they saw Lin Zhangqing had noticed them, the two bowed in unison and said, "Your humble servants greet you, Master. Many thanks to Master for bestowing the divine wine."

Seeing that both were already at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, Lin Zhangqing nodded. He wasn't surprised that Xu Meiniang could advance to the ninth layer; in fact, he felt it was a matter of course.

He hadn't expected that Zhao Liyu, who had only advanced to the eighth layer of Qi Refining at the beginning of the year, would be able to successfully advance to the ninth layer in just a few months. This made Lin Zhangqing have to marvel at the magical and powerful nature of the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine.

At the same time, this made Lin Zhangqing wonder if he had been too conservative. He could take this opportunity to ask Zhao Liyu how she felt after the advancement and whether she felt her foundation was unstable or anything of the sort.

After thinking it through, he first asked Xu Meiniang: "Has the injury to your soul healed? How do you feel after advancing to the ninth layer?"

Hearing Lin Zhangqing's words, Xu Meiniang replied happily: "Replying to Master, the injury to my soul has completely healed. That intermittent, throbbing pain in my head that would flare up every so often has disappeared."

"Moreover, since waking up until now, it hasn't happened once. Instead, I feel relaxed from the inside out, as if my body has become much lighter."

"And as soon as I woke up, I discovered I was already at the ninth layer of Qi Refining. I checked, and my foundation feels very solid; there isn't that sense of flimsiness one usually has right after an advancement."

"The wine Master gave is truly divine. Yesterday, I thought Master was exaggerating, but I didn't expect that yesterday's description was actually too modest."

Lin Zhangqing nodded and looked at Zhao Liyu, asking: "How do you feel? You just advanced to the eighth layer of Qi Refining at the beginning of this year, and now, only a few months later, you've advanced to the ninth layer."

"Do you feel your foundation is flimsy or unstable? Do you have the feeling that you might fall back to the eighth layer of Qi Refining at any moment?"

Seeing Lin Zhangqing questioning her, Zhao Liyu hurriedly replied: "Replying to Master, I was also given a huge fright after waking up. I didn't expect that I had truly advanced to the ninth layer of Qi Refining without realizing it. As for my foundation, although it isn't as solid as Meiniang's, I don't have that sense of flimsiness either. It feels like the effect one would have after practicing for a year or two following a normal advancement."

Hearing Zhao Liyu's words, Lin Zhangqing's heart stirred. Since that was the case, could he also raise the entire Purple Crystal Scorpion swarm to the late first stage, even though they had also only advanced a few months ago?

As soon as this thought emerged, it spread wildly in his mind and could no longer be stopped.

The Purple Crystal Scorpions were Lin Zhangqing's most important reliance, and back then, in order to help the one that had lost its giant pincer grow it back...

... he had indeed fed it spirit medicine, allowing it to advance to the late first stage and grow back the missing giant pincer.

Moreover, it was the only late first-stage Purple Crystal Scorpion in the swarm.

He decided that in a moment, he would feed the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine to the Purple Crystal Scorpion swarm to let them all advance to the late first stage.

He glanced at Zhao Liyu and said, "In a few days, I will set off to Fengtai County to take a look. I will let you out once I arrive, so don't disappoint me then!"

Zhao Liyu hurriedly said, "No, this humble servant would not dare to deceive Master."

Lin Zhangqing nodded, dropped the subject, and instructed the two: "You two can cultivate here with peace of mind. Remember to do what I told you yesterday."

Xu Meiniang and the other hurriedly agreed.

Afterwards, Lin Zhangqing exited the inner space and returned to his room.

He released all 123 mid-grade first-stage Purple Crystal Scorpions; he did not release the late first-stage one. He then divided them into teams of five, totaling twenty-five teams.

He cast a Spirit Light Shield on himself to avoid the fragrance getting on his body, then took out the Xuan Yuan Heavy Water Bottle and extracted five portions of the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine of appropriate size.

Unexpectedly, all the Purple Crystal Scorpions immediately became agitated. The twenty-five teams he had just arranged were all thrown into chaos, and all the scorpions swarmed toward Lin Zhangqing at once.

Lin Zhangqing was speechless; he had feared exactly this. He immediately used the contract to forcibly order them not to move, telling the little fellows that there was enough for everyone, which barely managed to pacify them.

Then, not daring to delay, he followed the principle of proximity, grabbing one, feeding it a bit of spirit wine, and returning it to the Spirit Beast Bag, repeating this process until all the Purple Crystal Scorpions had been fed the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine.

He checked again to confirm there were no omissions; all the mid-grade first-stage Purple Crystal Scorpions had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Finally finished, Lin Zhangqing breathed a sigh of relief. This process had taken over two hours, and toward the end, the little fellows had become quite pushy.

Lin Zhangqing had feared that some of the little fellows might be too excited and end up stinging him, but fortunately, since he had raised them from a young age, they were relatively restrained and no such blunders occurred.

From this, one could see just how great the attraction of the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine was. Even spirit pets like the Purple Crystal Scorpions, which he had raised since they were small, had almost lost control.

He believed that Chu Yi's wife would certainly not be able to resist this temptation either. When the time came, he would definitely be able to easily coax it into signing a master-servant contract.

With this commotion over, the time was about right, and Lin Zhangqing prepared to begin practicing the Thunder True Scripture.

It should be very soon—within these next few days, the seventh thunder aperture would be successfully opened.

Then he would consume a Vermilion Fruit to advance to the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and then set off to explore and hunt for treasures in Fengtai County and Baishan County of Qiyun Prefecture.

He activated the Spirit Gathering Array, sat down in position, and began to circulate his cultivation method. The familiar sensations assailed him once more. Two hours later, his energy was completely exhausted.

He closed the Spirit Gathering Array, went outside to clean his body, and then returned to his room to lie down and rest.

(End of chapter)