Chapter 7

At dawn, the gate of the Wang Family Courtyard opened a small slit.

Wang Zhitao led Wang Zhiche and Wang Zhihai out.

Each of the three carried an ordinary cloth bag full of things on their shoulders, inside were the spirit herbs the Chen family had gathered.

That very valuable Qiankun Bag, Wang Shan kept it carefully for himself.

Such good things must not be casually shown to others.

"Be careful on the road, pay attention to everything," Wang Shan stood at the gate.

His voice was still a bit weak, but his eyes were firm.

"Yes, father!" the three sons answered together, their expressions solemn and resolute.

They understood, this trip was not just for exchanging goods, it also concerned the future of the Wang Family.

Wang Shan watched his sons walk away, disappear at the alley entrance, then slowly closed the courtyard gate.

He returned to the courtyard and took a deep breath.

The spiritual energy in the courtyard seemed a bit thicker than usual; this was the effect of the Misty Spirit Gathering Array.

He was badly injured last night, but he had no time to rest.

Wang Shan sat cross-legged and immediately practiced the Duant Body Art.

He guided the spiritual energy gathered by the array to repair his injured meridians and bones.

The spiritual energy moved slowly through his meridians, causing waves of pain.

But he gritted his teeth and endured.

To recover from his injuries and increase his strength, he had to do it quickly.

He was not idle either.

He called his eldest son Wang Zhize over and taught him some simple uses of the Misty Spirit Gathering Array.

"Watch these array flags; if outsiders force their way in, follow my method to let the array sound an alarm."

Wang Shan's voice was not loud, but it was strong and left no room for objection.

Wang Zhize nodded vigorously, keeping his father's words in mind.

He began leading the household servants to reinforce the courtyard walls and doors and windows.

Although he knew these were of little use to experts at the eighth layer of Body Refining, doing more preparation always brought greater peace of mind.

After arranging these, Wang Shan's gaze turned to the newly acquired Shi Mu Ling Tian outside the courtyard.

This is the foundation of the Wang Family's future!

He carefully took out a small Jade Bottle containing Jade Spirit Liquid from his bosom.

This is a precious treasure given by the system's newbie gift pack.

He did not use it directly; he poured out a few drops and diluted them with plenty of clear water.

Even so, when he evenly poured the diluted Jade Spirit Liquid over the Shi Mu Ling Tian, a miracle still occurred.

One could see that the originally ordinary good land's soil quickly turned dark and glossy.

A faint spiritual energy rose from the soil and floated over the field.

Although it was originally a Lower Grade spirit field, after being doused with Jade Spirit Liquid, its quality obviously improved considerably.

Although it was not yet medium-grade, it was much better than ordinary Lower Grade spirit fields—more fertile, with denser spiritual energy!

"Good! Really good stuff!"

Wang Shan felt happy inside; the effect of the Jade Spirit Liquid was better than he had thought.

He then took out the seeds of the Spirit Blood Branch, without hesitation.

This Spirit Plant can quickly replenish qi and blood, aids cultivation, and is what he needs most now.

In the Shi Mu Ling Tian, he carefully chose a spot with the most abundant spiritual energy and first planted the seeds of the Spirit Blood Branch.

With the good land improved by Jade Spirit Liquid nourishing it, he believed these Spirit Blood Branches would definitely grow faster.

As soon as the seeds were planted, a cold, mechanical system voice sounded in his mind.

【System Prompt: Detected that the host possesses superior Shi Mu Ling Tian, the Spirit Plant System's operational efficiency has increased.】

【The acquisition speed of Spirit Plant Points has slightly increased.】

【Unlocked the Batch Planting and Batch Ripening (initial) functions. Note: batch functions will consume more Spirit Plant Points.】

Wang Shan listened, first stunned, then especially happy!

The system has upgraded!

Although the batch functions consume more, the increased efficiency is most important!

This means he can obtain Spirit Plant Points more quickly and exchange them for life-saving and counterattack items more quickly!

He suppressed his excitement and immediately spoke to the system.

"Try Batch Planting and Batch Ripening on that small patch of Spirit Blood Branch!"

He wanted to quickly see whether the new functions were usable.

【Batch Planting consumes 100 Spirit Plant Points, Batch Ripening consumes 400 Spirit Plant Points; confirm?】

"Confirm!"

Wang Shan agreed without even thinking.

He had previously used some Spirit Blood Branch for healing his wounds; plus the slight increase from the system's efficiency boost, his Spirit Plant Points were just enough for this expenditure.

Hum!

An invisible surge of energy swept over the land where the seeds had just been sown.

Only see the soil tremble slightly; sprouts shot up at visible speed, rapidly growing taller and sprouting leaves, then bearing tiny blood-red fruits.

The whole process took just a few hours; the Spirit Plant Branch, which originally would have taken several days or even longer to quickly mature, now hung heavy with lush fruits emitting an alluring blood-red glow!

This speed is astonishing, filling Wang Shan's heart with hope.

Quickly accumulating Spirit Plant Points is no longer a daydream!

He restrained himself from harvesting them immediately, knowing they needed a little more time to fully mature.

While waiting for the Spirit Blood Branches to mature, Wang Shan didn't idle.

He continued to cultivate to heal his injuries while calming his mind, repeatedly rehearsing the Pishan Palm in his thoughts.

Since his wounds hadn't healed, he couldn't truly practice, but mentally visualizing it was just as important.

He repeatedly thought about how to exert force with the Pishan Palm, feeling the path of spiritual energy running through the meridians of his right arm.

He pondered how to combine the strengthened bodily power from the Duant Body Art with the palm technique to unleash the most powerful strike.

He discovered that the Duant Body Art not only made the body more resistant to blows and recover faster,

more importantly, it fortified the meridians, enabling them to withstand fiercer impacts of spiritual energy.

This meant that when he used the Pishan Palm, he could mobilize more spiritual energy, allowing him to unleash power surpassing that of cultivators of the same level.

The two complemented each other, as if they were tailor-made for him.

"Pishan... Pishan..."

He thought of it, his eyes filled with fierce determination.

Knowing just one martial technique isn't enough; he must unleash its power to the fullest!

Besides enhancing his strength, Wang Shan also began considering the Misty Spirit Gathering Array at home.

Could this array only be used for defense and aiding cultivation?

He closed his eyes, used his mental power to enter the array's core, and sensed how the array operated.

Spiritual energy flowed in specific places, forming a circulation. At the same time, it emitted a hallucinatory scent outward to prevent others from probing.

"Gather qi... obscure trail..."

Wang Shan pondered.

"What if we don't use the gathered spiritual energy for cultivation, but instead guide it to a single point to burst forth instantly?"

A bold idea emerged.

The array diagram had no attack method, but we can try!

Perhaps this array could become a trap for him to counterattack the black-robed person?

He began carefully guiding the spiritual energy within the array, gathering it at several nodes near the gate.

This process required very careful control; a slight lapse could disrupt or even ruin the array.

Wang Shan was very serious, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

Time slowly passed, the sun set, and the sky turned red.

In the evening, hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard.

Wang Zhitao, Wang Zhiche, and Wang Zhihai returned.

Their faces were a little tired, but their eyes were full of excitement.

"Father!" Wang Zhitao hurried forward, took out a money pouch from his person, and handed it to Wang Shan, "No problems! Most of the spiritual medicines have been sold, exchanged for thirty pieces of lower-grade spirit stones! There's also some rice, cloth, and other necessities for the family."

Thirty pieces of lower-grade spirit stones!

Wang Shan took the money pouch, feeling pure spiritual energy emanating from within, his heart greatly excited.

For the Wang family, who used to not even have enough to eat, this was definitely a huge sum!

With these spirit stones, he felt much more confident!

"Good! Good! Well done!" Wang Shan rarely smiled, patting his second son on the shoulder.

Seeing their father smile, the sons also became happy, and all their worries along the way disappeared.

Wang Shan didn't waste time, immediately taking out ten lower-grade spirit stones from the money pouch.

These spirit stones were beautiful, emitting a soft light, and the spiritual energy inside was much purer than that in the air.

Following the records on the Misty Spirit Gathering Array's diagram, he carefully walked to several important array nodes in the courtyard. He dug out the ordinary stones previously used, which had lost their energy, and then placed the ten lower-grade spirit stones inside.

Hum!

As the final spirit stone was placed in, the entire Wang Family Courtyard seemed to tremble slightly.

A layer of light suddenly appeared over the Misty Spirit Gathering Array covering the whole residence, then quickly vanished.

However, the Wang family members within the array all felt the change!

The array operated more smoothly and stably!

The effect of gathering heavenly and earthly spiritual energy nearly doubled!

Originally just slightly thick spiritual energy, it now became almost visible, very viscous. Taking a deep breath felt very comfortable, and the spirit was refreshed.

At the same time, the outside mist seemed thicker, and its effect of blocking detection improved as well.

"This... this array!" Wang Zhize and the others felt the changes around them, their faces filled with surprise and joy.

Father isn't just strong in strength; even the array is this formidable!

The Wang family is truly going to get better!

At this moment, Wang Shan looked toward the backyard where the Spirit Blood Branches had just matured.

The opportunity has arrived!

His heart stirred, and he communicated with the system again.

"Batch harvest the Spirit Blood Branches!"

【System Prompt: Batch harvest of Spirit Blood Branches completed, gained 1000 Spirit Plant Points!】

One thousand points!

Upon hearing this number, Wang Shan's heartbeat quickened!

Indeed, after having the spirit field and unlocking the batch function, the 【Spirit Plant Points】 came faster!

He immediately entered the system Mall.

Target is very clear——【Thick Earth Talisman】!

【Exchange【Thick Earth Talisman】, consume 1000【Spirit Plant Points】, confirm?】

"Confirm!"

【Exchange successful!】

In the next moment, a yellow-brown talisman appeared, looking very sturdy. It appeared in Wang Shan's system backpack.

Wang Shan took out the 【Thick Earth Talisman】, held it in his hand, feeling that it contained strong defensive power, and his mind eased a little.

With this talisman, at least when facing the full-force attack of a Body Refining eighth-layer cultivator, he has a chance to save his life!

But, it's still not enough!

Only defense cannot truly resolve the danger.

His gaze then turned to the more expensive talisman in the mall, that was shining with golden light—the 【Sharp Metal Talisman】.

"Still lacking one thousand five hundred points……"

Wang Shan clenched his fists.

He must have the power to counterattack! Otherwise, he can only passively take hits and will eventually be worn to death!

He looked again at the ten mu spirit field, and also at the land where the 【Spirit Blood Branches】 had just been harvested, waiting to be planted.

Continue! Batch planting! Batch ripening!

He must seize the time, before the two Heipao Ren come again, to also get his hands on an offensive talisman!

【Spirit Plant Points】, come quickly!

As the night grew deeper, the upgraded 【Misty Spirit Gathering Array】 ran silently, enveloping the entire Wang Family Courtyard in a richer, safer atmosphere.

Wang Shan was accumulating strength in preparation for the impending danger, readying his final resort.