Chapter 331: Regret Too Late

After thinking it through completely, Lin Zhangqing couldn't help but feel a chill of fear.

After all, no matter how you look at it, obsession is formless and shadowless, representing a massive trouble for any cultivator.

It is a stumbling block on everyone's path of cultivation; usually, it may not show itself, but at truly critical moments, it could drag you into an endless hell.

When advancing to the Purple Mansion stage, it was manageable; one only needed to withstand the One Nine Heaven Tribulation, which is just nine bolts of heavenly thunder, something that might truly mean nothing to Lin Zhangqing.

However, when advancing to the Golden Core Stage, normally one must first survive the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and then undergo a Heart Demon Tribulation.

At that time, if this obsession borrowed the power of the Heart Demon Tribulation, it would very likely become a Heart Demon that Lin Zhangqing could not defeat, in which case he would truly be dead.

Fortunately, today, by a stroke of luck, he had actually broken through and devoured that layer of obsession; it was truly incredibly fortunate.

Lin Zhangqing now understood in his heart: he would simply do his utmost to care for and help his family.

If there were still family members who ultimately could not accompany him to the end, he would no longer force the issue; anyway, he had already done his utmost! Freed from obsession and feeling light-hearted, Lin Zhangqing completed his corresponding Cultivation Task and then lay down to rest! Early the next morning, Lin Zhangqing circulated the Five Elements Chaos Sutra, continuing to refine the remaining energy from yesterday's Vermilion Fruit.

He only stopped after roughly two hours; today he wanted to visit his Second Grandfather at the Family Scripture Pavilion, since he hadn't been there in a long time! Since he rarely remembered to go today, he might as well head over directly! Leaving his own courtyard, he took Sword Flight straight to the Scripture Pavilion, and from far away he saw Second Grandfather lying on a recliner not far from the entrance, drinking tea and reading a book; out of the entire family, only Second Grandfather was so leisurely.

He landed nearby, then approached with a grin to pay respects and ask after him, "Hello, Second Grandfather! I've come to see you; how have you been lately?"

Second Grandfather had spotted him approaching long ago and said with feigned disdain, "It's good that you kid have some conscience and know to come see me! This old skeleton of mine is just as it is, but living a few more years is no problem; with good luck, I might even get to see your son and daughter come to the Scripture Pavilion to borrow books! But you kid are not being decent! It's been so long since you've visited, and you show up empty-handed! Do you have any shame?"

Lin Zhangqing continued to reply with a grin, "That won't do; you must take good care of your health and strive to live longer, at least until my grandchildren are born, and only then can you leave after seeing them."

"But Second Grandfather, you've wronged me; how could I possibly come to see you empty-handed? Isn't this it?"

Finishing his words, he took a box of Green Jade Tea out of his Storage Bag and respectfully handed it over.

Second Grandfather took it, opened it, and saw it was exactly the same Second-Stage Spirit Tea as before; he loved drinking tea the most.

Nodding, he said, "This tea is quite good; it shows you kid have a thoughtful heart, but next time you don't need to wait so long between visits."

"You also don't need to bring me Second-Stage Spirit Tea every time; if you just came more often to chat and drink tea with me, I wouldn't mind even First Tier Spirit Tea!"

Lin Zhangqing nodded with a grin and said, "Understood, understood; whenever I have free time, I'll come find you to chat and drink tea! By the way, Second Grandfather, are you not cultivating anymore now?"

Second Grandfather, Lin Fan Dong, shook his head and sighed, "The path ahead of me is cut off; there is no road left to walk, and besides, with this old skeleton, I don't have many years left to live."

"I won't toss and turn anymore; now I just cultivate a bit every morning, circulating my Cultivation Method for two or three Heavenly Circuits, just to keep my Cultivation Base from declining!"

"Moreover, I no longer have the spirit for cultivation, but you kid must absolutely not learn from me! While you are young and have that spirit, go fight and venture forth! Don't be like me and miss the best opportunity for Foundation Establishment."

"In the end, I'm just stuck guarding this wretched Scripture Pavilion for the family, eating and waiting to die; I truly regret it immensely!"

"Back then, when I was sixty-five, I finally cultivated to Qi Refining Great Perfection, but due to my age, plus the lack of a Foundation Establishment Pill, I simply didn't dare to go all out. As a result, I wasted my life away; if I could return to that time, even if there were only a one-in-ten chance, I would not let it slip."

"Or even if I could just be forty years younger again, that would be great! Even if I died, I would give it a try, but alas, I missed it all!"

"Back then, I hesitated, thinking of the pros and cons, lacking the determination to burn my bridges, so now, I can only wait here to die!"

Lin Zhangqing heard a thick emotion of regret too late to matter and couldn't help but sigh as well.

Actually, coming here today, he had originally intended to tell Second Grandfather that he had successfully achieved Spiritual Energy Transformation Success.

He hadn't expected to instead stir up Second Grandfather's sad past, so Lin Zhangqing decided that for today, he would hold off and not tell him, lest the old man be stimulated.

Thus, Lin Zhangqing quickly switched to a lighter topic; fortunately, Second Grandfather's emotions soon calmed down.

The two drank tea and chatted; relaxed and happy times always pass quickly, and just like that, a whole morning went by.

After bidding farewell to Second Grandfather, he flew directly to Aoyun Peak.

He had already agreed with his aunt that for these ten days, he would continue to take care of the Spirit Fields here himself.

Only when Lin Zhangqing and the others set out to visit the Qingyun Sect to propose marriage would his aunt take over the care.

Moreover, half of the spirit rice produced here at Aoyun Peak last time was kept for his own family, while the other half was sold to the Family Affairs Hall, and the proceeds were exchanged for the Spirit Seeds of Spirit Medicine planted this time.

As for the Main Medicine for the Qi Gathering Pills that he had planted himself, not a single plant had been sold; his aunt had kept them all for him.

Those were enough to assemble one hundred and fifty furnaces' worth of Main Medicine for Qi Gathering Pills; he only needed to go to the Affairs Hall to exchange for some Auxiliary Medicine.

However, doing so during this period was definitely not feasible; at the very least, they needed to wait until after returning from the marriage proposal to assess the situation before arranging the Alchemy matters.

It took him just over half an hour to complete tasks that previously required an hour and a half, which felt quite satisfactory.

Afterwards, he went to check on Chu Yi and the others; Chu Er was still the same, constantly sitting on her nest without moving, and of course, Chu Yi hadn't gone far, staying right beside Chu Er to guard her.

Thinking of yesterday's decision to feed Vermilion Fruits to all his Second-Stage Spirit Beasts, and since Chu Yi happened to be here, Lin Zhangqing directly took out a Vermilion Fruit and fed it to Chu Yi.

However, this action immediately made Chu Er anxious, and she kept acting coquettishly and calling out to Lin Zhangqing.

Seeing this made him unable to help laughing; finally, considering that she had given birth to three offspring, he fed her a Vermilion Fruit as well.

However, Chu Er's reaction also served as a reminder to Lin Zhangqing: he could not go directly to the territory of the Purple Crystal Scorpions to feed those ten Second-Stage Purple Crystal Scorpions.

(End of Chapter)