Chapter 28: Contracting Spirit Insect Eggs

Two days passed in a flash; Lin Zhangqing finished today's cultivation and began flying toward the Spirit Fields of Aoyun Peak.

Today the Affairs Hall would come to collect spirit medicines, and family members would also arrive to help harvest spirit rice, so Lin Zhangqing needed to come up first to check for any oversights.

Every previous visit had been met with Chuyi's enthusiastic welcome, but today, having matters to attend to, he merely smoothed the bird's feathers before letting it go play on its own.

He began patrolling the Spirit Fields; after making a full circuit, he found the spirit rice and spirit medicines all in excellent condition, with no problems.

It was all thanks to Chuyi, this little expert at catching insects; not only could it catch bugs, but it could also help watch over the Spirit Fields, so he decided to reward it with an Eight Treasures Chicken Leg, which he would deliver on his next visit.

After waiting a while, people arrived; it was his Eldest Uncle, Lin Maoqiang, who was already sixty-two this year and ranked first among the Mao Generation, having retired from the Demon Hunting Team last year.

His Eldest Uncle's Spirit Root aptitude was poor; having cultivated to Qi Refining Sixth Layer, he attempted to break through to Qi Refining Seventh Layer several times without success, even damaging a meridian in the process, so he had basically given up on cultivation.

Now he mainly earned Contribution Points for his second brother, Lin Changyuan, hoping his second brother could achieve Foundation Establishment and go further than he had; today, having accepted a mission from the Affairs Hall to inspect and inventory the spirit medicines, his Eldest Uncle, with decades of experience in the Demon Hunting Team frequently discovering spirit medicines in the wild, possessed rich expertise in collecting and transplanting them.

Collecting 480 spirit medicine plants from eight mu of Spirit Fields without damage required considerable effort; Lin Zhangqing carefully harvested the medicines his Eldest Uncle had already inspected, sorted them by category, and placed them into the Jade Boxes his Eldest Uncle had brought.

With two people working, progress was much faster, and they finished harvesting everything in just over an hour; after confirming the quantities with Lin Zhangqing, his Eldest Uncle left to turn in the mission, meaning Lin Zhangqing only needed to go to the Affairs Hall later to find the Fourth Elder and claim his Contribution Points.

Regarding the Spirit Fields, family members were already harvesting the spirit rice, and with his father and others helping, the work proceeded much faster, though after harvesting, the rice still needed to be dried and husked before it could be exchanged at the Affairs Hall, so Lin Zhangqing hurried to help as well.

Indeed, with family helping, the work was fast.

After the harvest, his grandfather estimated the yield would be around 4,200 jin, equivalent to 210 Contribution Points, which, added to the 480 points from the spirit medicines, meant Lin Zhangqing would have an income of 690 Contribution Points this year.

However, they would not exchange so much spirit rice this year; exactly how much to keep would be arranged by his mother.

With the end of the year approaching and his second uncle soon to return, having Chuliou this year should reduce the dangers somewhat.

There was also the matter of the Hundred-Year Vermilion Fruit in his Space, which could be harvested once every three months.

But Lin Zhangqing truly did not want his grandfather to work so hard, so he decided not to tell him yet, saving a portion aside, feeling it would surely be useful when the time came.

The Earth Soul Fruit Tree had been nurtured and accelerated by his grandfather for forty years; combined with the Space's bonus and Lin Zhangqing's own acceleration techniques, it should mature before his aunt departed for Jinzhou Prefecture next year, and consuming the Earth Soul Fruit then would strengthen his Divine Sense, making a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment easier to achieve.

A few days later, his second uncle and the others finally returned; this year, remarkably, no clan members had died or fallen in the Demon Hunting Team, with only a few injured, which could be considered good news; on the second day after his second uncle's return, his grandfather summoned him alone, likely to discuss the matter of the Superior Gold Spirit Stone, and since then, his second uncle had cultivated even more diligently.

Three days before the Lunar New Year, his grandfather finally prepared the Bloodline Contract Array and some spirit medicines to replenish Qi and Blood.

Lin Zhangqing decided not to wait any longer; inside the same Cultivation Room at his Grandfather's House used previously, he prepared to contract the Spirit Insect Eggs, hoping to hatch them sooner and see what kind of Spirit Insects they would be.

Taking out the Jade Box containing the Spirit Insect Eggs, which Lin Zhangqing had already carefully counted to total 124 eggs, he gently placed them in the center of the Bloodline Contract Array and activated the formation.

He began to perform the spell incantation for the Bloodline Contract from the Bug Cultivator Inheritance; after completing the complex set of incantations and injecting them into the array, Lin Zhangqing dripped two drops of Essence Blood onto the formation.

The Contract Array immediately began to fill with a layer of blood mist, which was smoothly absorbed by the insect eggs, indicating that the first Bloodline Contract had likely succeeded.

Having dripped only two drops of Essence Blood, which was just right for 124 insect eggs, knowing he would need to repeat the process in ten days, his face appeared slightly pale as he took out the Qi-and-Blood-replenishing spirit medicines his grandfather had prepared and began to consume them.

After refining the medicine, his complexion improved slightly; this pill would gradually restore some of the lost Essence Blood, though not quickly.

Lin Zhangqing could now vaguely sense a cluster of young consciousnesses; these must be the little fellows, yet they could not tell him what species they were, so he would have to wait until they broke out of their shells to know.

Having lost two drops of Essence Blood, his body still felt a bit fatigued.

Last time, when contracting the Heaven-Piercing Willow, he had lost three drops and originally needed a period of recuperation, but after the Heaven-Piercing Willow took root and sprouted, it directly fed back energy to Lin Zhangqing.

This had spared Lin Zhangqing the time needed for recuperation.

Sitting cross-legged in the Cultivation Room to rest, he pondered what to do next.

It had been nearly a year since he broke through to Qi Refining Fourth Layer; should he use the Vermilion Fruit to improve his cultivation base, or should he wait? Advancing too quickly might make his foundation unstable!

Moreover, after the New Year, his father would join the Demon Hunting Team again, and Chuwu had not yet consumed a Vermilion Fruit; currently, he held fifty Hundred-Year Vermilion Fruits, as the Zhu Fruit Tree in his Space had matured twice, yielding 48 fruits, plus the 2 saved from last time, totaling exactly 50.

In a moment, he would speak to his grandfather, asking him to intervene tomorrow so that Chuwu could also advance.

Leaving the Cultivation Room, he found his grandfather, explained the matter regarding Chuwu, and after his grandfather agreed, he kept one Vermilion Fruit for himself before heading to the Family Scripture Pavilion.

Ever since he started farming on Aoyun Peak, he had visited the Scripture Pavilion less frequently.

Now that the harvest was just completed, the Spirit Fields needed to rest for about a month, making this the perfect time to visit the Scripture Pavilion and read.

The quiet and peaceful environment, filled with the faint scent of ink from the books, felt somewhat similar to the library at his former school.

After reading all afternoon, he felt very good and had gained some insights, yet something still seemed missing; it would be even better if paired with a cup of clear tea.

It seemed the Qingyu Tea Tree Root in his Space had still not settled; could it be that it could not survive? He would try applying the Growth Technique a few more times, and if that truly failed, he would move it out of the Space; now that he had so many Spirit Insect Eggs, once they hatched, there would be another group of little fellows to raise, so he planned to plant two more Hundred-Year Vermilion Fruit trees inside the Space.

Previously he hadn't planted them because the Space was small, but now the Space was three mu and would grow even larger in the future, so he would plant two more.

By the time he walked out of the Scripture Pavilion, the sky had grown dark; it was time to go home for dinner.

Arriving home, he happened to find the Fourth Elder visiting; his father and second uncle were accompanying him in conversation, so Lin Zhangqing hurriedly bowed in greeting and then sat obediently aside to listen to what the Elders were discussing.

"Little Qing is back! Perfect, this concerns you too, so come listen; this time the Demon Hunting Team returned safely with a good harvest, and most importantly, no clan members died or fell, as Maobin and Chuliou made great contributions."

"I represent the clan this time to grant a reward of 500 Contribution Points," the Fourth Elder said with a smile.

His second uncle quickly stated that this was his duty and no reward was necessary.

The Fourth Elder shook his head and said, "This was decided jointly by the Clan Leader and several Elders; there is no need to decline."

Hearing the Fourth Elder speak thus, his second uncle could only take out his Identity Jade Token.

The Fourth Elder took his second uncle's Jade Token, swiped it once, and 500 Contribution Points appeared on the token.

After thanking the Fourth Elder, his second uncle put the Jade Token away safely.

The Fourth Elder spoke again: "Actually, there is another matter I wish to request this time, though I am unsure how to broach it!"

His father quickly said, "Just speak plainly, Elder; we are all family, so there is nothing that cannot be said."

His second uncle also nodded and said, "Big Brother is right; Fourth Uncle, please speak directly."

Only then did the Fourth Elder say, "During these last two demon hunts, with Chuwu and Chuliou watching from the sky, safety was much greater, at least preventing surprise attacks."

"Therefore, could the descendants of Chuyi and the others be designated by the clan in the future for the captain of the Demon Hunting Team to recognize as master and raise? This would greatly reduce clan casualties."

After hearing the Fourth Elder's words, his father and second uncle exchanged a glance, and his father looked at Lin Zhangqing as well.

Only then did his father speak: "Fourth Uncle, we understand your request; we agree that the descendants of Chuyi, Chuwu, and Chuliou will all be handed over to the clan to be raised by persons designated by the clan, with the sole requirement that they be treated well."

His second uncle and Lin Zhangqing quickly expressed their agreement with his father's decision, stating that contributing to the clan was their honor.

Hearing this, the Fourth Elder breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That is good; we will certainly treat them well, for they are the most excellent combat partners."

"Thank you for your selfless dedication; the clan cannot chill the hearts of its members, so from now on, the clan will provide a subsidy of 1,000 Contribution Points for each Spirit Beast Egg; I hope you do not find this amount too small!"

The three quickly expressed that they would not, they would not!

After chatting a while longer, seeing that mealtime had arrived, the family invited him to stay and dine together, but the Fourth Elder also declined, then took his leave and departed.

After the family finished their meal, they gathered together to discuss what had just happened, and everyone felt it should be done this way. Reducing casualties among the Clan Members could also be considered strengthening the clan.

(End of Chapter)