Chapter 27: Bloodline Contract Array

The next day, after completing his cultivation, Lin Zhangqing recalled that two days ago he had thrown eight thousand Spirit Stones into the Deep Pit and had not yet gone to check the results.

With a thought, he entered the Space, and after patrolling it, he discovered it had indeed grown larger, now approximately three mu in size!

No wonder he felt that today's cultivation was slightly more effective than before; he then cast the Spirit Rain Technique and the Nourishing Origin Catalysis Technique on several Spirit Plants within the Space, including the Qingyu Tea Tree Root.

After observing for a while and confirming there were no issues, he left the Space.

He picked up the Second Stage Insect Cultivator inheritance to study it, discovering that the Origin Insect Contract was quite similar to the Origin Spirit Plant Contract he had already learned.

Lin Zhangqing mainly researched the Contract Arrays for mass-contracting Spirit Insects, along with the inherited Secret Arts of Insect Control and Insect Fusion, realizing that Insect Cultivation was also a profound and extensive field of study, encompassing a series of disciplines such as Insect Selection, Insect Breeding, Insect Pairing, Insect Cultivation, Insect Evolution, and Insect Training.

Attached within the inheritance was also a self-compiled Strange Insect List, which collected data on a thousand powerful and unusual insects from ancient times to the present.

Examples included the Temporal Illusion Butterfly capable of traversing the three realms, the Reincarnation Butterfly able to carry its host's soul through reincarnation, the Substitute Life Golden Cicada that could withstand one fatal attack for its host, the Metal-Consuming Insect adept at devouring the five metals and Spiritual Energy, the Soul-Consuming Insect specialized in devouring souls, the Mystic Fire Silkworm that fed on flames, and so on... it was truly an eye-opening experience!

Lin Zhangqing felt a surge of excitement as he read, eagerly anticipating what surprises those Spirit Insect Eggs might bring him, after all, the Aura Halo had never disappointed him.

He began to focus his research on the Contract Arrays for mass-contracting Spirit Insects; after carefully studying the section on contracting Spirit Insects, he found there were two types of such arrays: the Blood Refining Contract Array and the Bloodline Contract Array.

The Blood Refining Contract Array was a method known to virtually all Insect Cultivators; its characteristic was using Essence Blood to contract the Spirit Insects before they were born, so that upon hatching, the insects would naturally recognize the contracting Cultivator as their master.

Essentially, this was just an improved version of the Master-Servant Contract; however, since Spirit Insect eggs were small in volume, a single drop of Essence Blood, under the effect of the array, could contract dozens or even hundreds of Spirit Insect eggs.

The Bloodline Contract Array, also known as the Blood Inheritance Contract Array, was characterized by using Essence Blood to contract the Spirit Insects before birth, and then repeating the Essence Blood contracting process every ten days, with a minimum of three repetitions.

The more times this was done, the stronger the bloodline connection with the master became.

The master's bloodline aura would penetrate deep into the soul; even if the insects later produced offspring, their souls would innately carry the master's bloodline inheritance information, equivalent to automatically recognizing the master from the moment of birth.

Furthermore, Spirit Insects bound by a Bloodline Contract were more affectionate toward their master, easier to control and command, and even if stolen by others in the future, they would be unable to recognize a new master.

If the master was on the verge of falling, they could designate one or more of their descendants to inherit the Spirit Insects; with the master's cooperation, performing the Bloodline Contract Array once more would allow for a complete transfer of allegiance.

If the master died instantly in battle, the Spirit Insects would, according to the master's last wishes, either self-destruct to take the enemy down with them or recognize the nearest bloodline descendant as their new master.

Because it allowed the master's bloodline descendants to re-establish the contract and inherit the insects, it was also called the Blood Inheritance Contract Array.

This truly expanded Lin Zhangqing's horizons; after some consideration and comparing the two Contract Arrays, he decided to use the Bloodline Contract Array, though the drawback of this method was its heavy consumption of Essence Blood, so it was best to prepare some Spirit Medicine to replenish Qi and Blood.

Having made up his mind, he carefully studied the materials required for the array, recorded them, and planned to hand the list to his grandfather shortly, knowing his grandfather must be waiting for him; after tidying up, he headed toward Grandfather's House.

Inside the Spiritual Sense Enhancement Success Location at Grandfather's House, the grandfather and grandson were conversing.

With a smile on his face, Grandfather said, "Qing'er, those insect eggs are not simple, are they!"

"Grandfather, your eyes are as sharp as torches!" Lin Zhangqing said with a playful grin.

"Explain the details of what happened!"

"That day, I saw at the Market Stall that those insect eggs had a circle of purple light around them, while the other eggs did not, so I knew I had to buy them."

After listening carefully, Grandfather nodded and said, "Then no amount of caution is excessive; did the stall owner notice anything?" "No, I even asked the stall owner what kind of insect eggs they were, and he said they were Purple Cloud Scorpion eggs."

Grandfather thought for a moment and said, "That is just as well; the stall owner must have been ignorant of the goods!"

Lin Zhangqing handed Grandfather the record concerning the Bloodline Contract Array and the required materials.

He also explained the details of the two Contract Arrays to Grandfather, who fully supported Lin Zhangqing's choice and promised to prepare both the array and the materials for him.

Next, he recounted seeing the golden Aura Halo at the Gambling Stone Workshop and the events that followed, wishing to discuss with Grandfather whether they could use Spirit Stone Gambling to make some wealth.

Grandfather considered it for a moment, then shook his head: "It would be fine if you could identify Middle Grade Raw Stones, but since you can only see Upper Grade Spirit Stones, you cannot expect to cut out High-Grade Spirit Stone Ore every time! How would you ever be allowed to leave the Market gates?"

Lin Zhangqing felt a bit disappointed, but that was fine too; if he really didn't know how to handle them in the future, he could simply throw them into the Deep Pit for Lin Zhangliu, and with the Space now larger, he could plant more Spirit Medicine and Spirit Plants.

Leaving his grandfather's presence, Lin Zhangqing rode his Purple Bamboo Sword and headed toward Aoyun Feng Ling Tian.

From afar, Chu Yi spotted Lin Zhangqing and happily flew over immediately, startling Lin Zhangqing into hastily stopping him, for if Chu Yi got too excited and knocked Lin Zhangqing down, it would be a tragedy.

Fortunately, Chu Yi was smart and obedient enough to understand the intent, so he simply flew around Lin Zhangqing, accompanying him above, below, left, and right.

Upon arriving at the Spirit Field, Lin Zhangqing played with Chu Yi for a while and smoothed his feathers; Chu Yi particularly enjoyed having his feathers smoothed by Lin Zhangqing, viewing this action as a reward.

This was something Lin Zhangqing vaguely sensed through their Master-Servant Contract; as Chu Yi grew, he would become smarter, and it would not be surprising if he could even speak after refining his tongue bone in the future.

Lin Zhangqing patted his Storage Bag, took out a Spirit Nurturing Pill, and threw it forcefully into the sky; Chu Yi reacted immediately, catching the Spirit Nurturing Pill the next second, and only swallowed it after Lin Zhangqing gave a signal.

This was a game between Lin Zhangqing and Chu Yi, as well as training for his reaction speed.

After patrolling the area, he saw that the First-Class Spirit Rice was growing well and would soon be ready for harvest; at that time, they would keep enough for the family's food supply and exchange the surplus with the Affairs Hall.

The Spirit Medicine was also nearly ready; at harvest time, they would simply let the Affairs Hall come to the site to collect and exchange it directly, since Spirit Medicine was best stored in Jade Boxes after collection, and Lin Zhangqing did not have so many Jade Boxes, so it was simpler to let them come to the site themselves.

It was a pity that no one in the family knew Alchemy, so everything was exchanged with the clan.

Sometimes Lin Zhangqing considered whether he should learn Alchemy himself; after all, with the Space supporting him, it should be no problem, but whenever he thought of his Five Spirit Roots, he dared not distract himself too much, so Alchemy would have to wait until after Foundation Establishment; he began today's work, otherwise it would drag on late again, casting the Spirit Rain Technique on the Spirit Rice and Spirit Medicine, and selecting suitable Spirit Medicine to apply the Growth Technique.

Although he was already at the middle stage of Qi Refining, he still had to sit in meditation to recover two or three times in between, but finally completed today's tasks.

Taking advantage of the remaining time, he quickly tidied up and flew toward the Affairs Hall.

Fortunately, the Fourth Elder had not yet left, so he arranged with him to go to Aoyun Peak in two days to exchange the Spirit Medicine on-site.

The Fourth Elder readily agreed, stating he would arrange for people to arrive on time to collect; after thanking the Fourth Elder, Lin Zhangqing returned home.

Since the whole family was present, he told them that the Spirit Rice and Spirit Medicine were ready for harvest.

As this was the first formal harvest and held significant meaning, everyone expressed their intention to go out together to harvest the Spirit Rice at that time.

In the past, the family had always eaten Spirit Rice grown by Grandfather or Aunt; this year, eating the Spirit Rice they had grown themselves gave them quite a sense of accomplishment! (End of Chapter)