Cultivation begins in the endless sea.

Chapter 2: The Summit of Tingyun Mountain

Lin Qing bid farewell to Lin Shengyuan, lightly touched the ground, and quickly traveled up a stone path from Guanyun Rock on the mountainside.

The entire Tingyun Mountain is covered with a second-tier mid-grade formation called the "Mysterious Water Sea-Suppressing Formation".

This formation can draw upon the earth and wood spiritual energy of Tingyun Mountain, and also absorb the water spiritual energy from the surrounding sea to increase its power. Therefore, Tingyun Mountain is always shrouded in clouds, making it a magnificent sight.

The mountains are rich in spiritual energy, which becomes more active the higher you go.

In the Lin family, only cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage are allowed to stay at the top of Tingyun Mountain.

The top of Tingyun Mountain is arranged in a triangular shape, with the central position being the hall for sacrifices and important matters, and the sides being divided into fields of spiritual herbs, alchemy rooms, and other areas.

Several cave dwellings have been carved out on the mountain peaks behind the council hall.

The place with the richest spiritual energy is the current linchpin of the Lin family, the cultivation place of Lin Canglan, a fifth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator.

As soon as Lin Qingfang reached the top of Tingyun Mountain, a mixture of various medicinal fragrances and rich spiritual energy wafted towards him. With a slight sense of it, the flow of his magical power increased several times.

It is conceivable that if one could cultivate here year-round, the speed of cultivation would definitely be much faster than living in a place halfway up the mountain.

But that's simply impossible.

This is because this place is the Lin clan's most important and fundamental territory. The rare varieties in the spiritual herb field were cultivated by Lin Canglan, a second-level alchemist, with painstaking effort over a hundred years. Losing even a single leaf would be enough to cause the clan leader great heartache.

Therefore, apart from one of the clan's spiritual plant masters, even a little genius like Lin Qing, who is highly favored by the clan, is strictly forbidden from stepping into the mountaintop without being summoned by the clan leader.

The mountaintop is the core area of ​​the "Mysterious Water Sea-Suppressing Formation". Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would likely have to return empty-handed without the permission of the formation's guardian.

"Junior Lin Qing has come to pay his respects to the clan leader on orders."

He stood outside the mountaintop formation, respectfully bowing towards the area shrouded in mist.

"Is this Xiao Liu? Come in."

As a slightly aged voice came from the formation, the clouds in front of Lin Qing surged, revealing a safe passage for one person to walk through.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qing recognized the voice and quickly thanked him, saying, "Nephew thanks you, Uncle."

After saying that, he followed the path deeper and deeper until he finally came to a silver-haired old man sitting in front of a stone table.

The silver-haired elder's name was Lin Shengqian. He was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, the eldest elder of the Lin family, and the cousin of Lin Qing's father, Lin Shenghong. He was the only first-grade high-quality spiritual plant cultivator in the family.

This elder is over a hundred years old, very close to the lifespan limit of one hundred and twenty years for Qi Refining cultivators.

Upon seeing Lin Qing approaching, the old man beamed and waved his hand, laying a chessboard on the stone table: "The clan leader is finishing up. Little Six, it's been a long time since you've been here. Hurry up and play a game of chess with this old man."

It's said that the elderly are like children; they rarely see ordinary younger generations, and their own peers are quite boring. So, seeing such an outstanding younger member of the family that they find very appealing makes them very happy.

Having lived two lives, Lin Qing understood the old man's mentality very well, and he also enjoyed listening to their casual conversations about various strange tales and unofficial histories of the cultivation world.

A young man from some family found a fragment of a mirror in the shallow sea, which turned out to be an ancient magic treasure. From then on, he led his family to great heights.

What? A little black boy raided an eagle's nest on a cliff, stole a bird's egg, and miraculously, it gave birth to an endless blessed land, leading him to the pinnacle of life.

"Haha, it just so happens that Xiao Liu has accumulated quite a few ingenious tricks to ask his uncle for advice."

After saying that, he sat down with a smile, and without any affectation, picked up a chess piece and began to make his move.

"My nephew has shamelessly made his move first."

Lin Shengqian rubbed his hands together and waved them casually: "It's alright, it's alright, watch carefully."

The two exchanged moves, placing their pieces swiftly.

Although Lin Shengqian was advanced in years, his thinking was still sharp, and every move he made was steady and methodical. Lin Qing, with his experience from two lifetimes, came up with many unexpected tricks and managed to hold his own.

The old man played with increasing gusto, his silver-gray beard trembling slightly, and he would occasionally point at the chessboard and chuckle as he scolded:

"Good lad, you're so clever for your age. I don't know how my honest and kind-hearted second brother and his wife raised such a cunning person like you."

Lin Qing chuckled:

"Uncle's chess skills are profound. If I don't use some clever tricks, I'm afraid I'll be defeated in the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea."

Beside the stone table stood a clump of spirit bamboo, rustling in the mountain breeze. An old man and a young man sat facing each other, playing chess and chatting about recent anecdotes. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a soft cough came from the ancestral cave on the mountaintop where the clan chief was cultivating.

The two people who were talking stopped talking at the same time, and then Lin Qing immediately stood up, cupped his hands in greeting to Lin Shengqian, and said:

"Uncle, I'm going to pay my respects to the clan chief now."

"Go ahead, go ahead, let's play three more rounds if we get the chance."

After bidding farewell to Lin Shengqian, Lin Qing followed the path into the clan leader's cultivation cave.

Lin Canglan is over 150 years old this year, but he looks much younger than Lin Shengqian from before. His complexion is rosy and his black hair has only a few strands of silver.

This is quite normal; under normal circumstances, Foundation Establishment cultivators can live for over two hundred years. Given Lin Canglan's high cultivation level, it's reasonable that he looks younger than Lin Shengqian.

When Lin Qing saw Lin Canglan, the clan leader was sitting cross-legged on a white jade futon. Not daring to look at him for long, Lin Qing first bowed deeply and said solemnly:

"Grandson pays respects to Grandpa Lan."

As the only remaining cultivator of the "Cang" generation in the Lin family, Lin Canglan is undoubtedly the pillar of strength, both in terms of seniority and cultivation.

Lin Canglan slowly opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in them. He looked at Lin Qing, who was respectfully bowing below, and a rare, gentle smile appeared on his face:

"Shengyuan has already informed me of what happened to you in Suoyun Cave."

"Little Six did a good job. Even when I was your age, I didn't have the same vision as you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qing was naturally overjoyed. To receive the clan chief's praise of "being inferior back then" would surely astound the elders of the Lin family if word got out.

However, despite his joy, he did not become complacent and quickly said respectfully:

"Grandpa Lan, you flatter me. I was just doing my duty as a member of the Lin family."

"What a fine example of the Lin family's sense of duty!"

Lin Canglan couldn't stop smiling. He reached out and lifted his hand, and an invisible force helped Lin Qing up from his bowed position.

"No need for such formalities, Xiao Liu."

The Lin family of Wanling has been able to grow to its current size in more than two hundred years not because they know how to fish and farm, but because of the protection of two generations of Foundation Establishment cultivators!

However, it seems that the Wanling Lin Clan has lost its good fortune, as no new Foundation Establishment cultivators have been produced for over a hundred years.

This is extremely dangerous for the family!

With a shortage of Foundation Establishment cultivators, it's unlikely that we can even protect this ancestral land, let alone continue to expand and develop it!

He had made several preparations beforehand. One was to secretly slow down the development of the Wanling Lin family, in order to avoid attracting the covetousness of those with ulterior motives.

Second, we should focus on cultivating potential talents.

He even had a worst-case scenario plan: if things really came to that, he would offer most of the benefits of Wanling Island to the Xingxiu Sect for protection, which would be better than the annihilation of his clan!

But now, he has new plans.