Chapter 142 Five Years Have Passed

White clouds drifted leisurely as five years flashed by in an instant.

Thick fallen leaves lay beneath the spirit jujube tree; this season marked the annual time for Spiritual Root testing once again.

"Greetings to the Immortal Master of the Chen Family!"

Led by a highly respected elder, seventy or eighty ten-year-old children cupped their hands and shouted in unison.

At this moment, a young woman was seen flying out from within the mountain.

She had her long hair tied back and wore brocade clothes that were primarily white, looking very neat and efficient.

Five years had passed, and Chen Songmei was now seventeen or eighteen. Her once-childish face had long since faded; she descended slowly and spoke a single sentence to the crowd below with a cold expression.

"All of you may rise. According to past custom, come forward one by one!"

Over these years, Chen Songmei had cultivated from the Qi Refining Fifth Layer to the Eighth Level of Qi Refining. Her Dual Spiritual Root Aptitude meant she basically didn't need to enter secluded cultivation during the Qi Refinement Stage.

Quickly, in less than half an hour, all the children had been inspected.

Chen Songmei said to the crowd, "Same old rules: those detected with Spiritual Roots follow me into the mountain, the rest return to your homes!"

"Thank you, Immortal Master!"

Chen Songmei led six children into the mountain, while the remaining people left Black Magpie Mountain under the elder's lead.

The Chen Family's annual Spiritual Root testing assembly ended once more; again, some were joyful while others were grieved!

Inside the mountain, at the Formation Comprehensive Building, Meng Chong had been waiting for a long time.

"Greetings, Fifth Young Miss," he said softly in a respectful tone.

In recent years, Meng Chong had been promoted by Chen Songxuan to be the deputy steward for those outside the Chen Family, and his cultivation had already reached the Third Level of Qi Refining.

Chen Songmei personally distributed the entry benefits: dozens of catties of spirit rice, a bottle of grain dispelling pills, and several sets of clothes.

After the distribution, she said to Meng Chong, "There are six people this year. Take them back to Qingfeng Mountain!"

"Understood."

After waiting for Meng Chong to leave, Chen Songmei stretched, changed into casual clothes, and went to the fish pond. She pulled over a lounge chair to lie down at will, lazily took out Chen Li's fishing rod and began to fish, completely losing the air of a high-and-mighty Chen Family Immortal Master!

Inside the Immortal Learning Tower, Chen Baizhao had been detected with a Spiritual Root at the age of six. She didn't use a Crimson Sun Spirit Fruit; her Spiritual Root Aptitude was a Three Spiritual Roots, the same as Chen Songyan's. Her personality was quite quiet, and she liked to discuss Formation issues with Chen Songli.

Her talent for Formations manifested as soon as she reached the Qi Refining First Layer. The Chen Family's Formation talent was once again embodied in Chen Baizhao; it seemed this talent was passed to daughters but not to sons.

At this time, Chen Baizhao sat on a flying carpet and flew down from the Immortal Learning Tower to the fish pond.

"Little Aunt!" Chen Baizhao greeted softly.

Seeing Chen Baizhao approach, Chen Songmei also brought out a chair. "Sit. You stay in the Immortal Learning Tower all day; it's time you came down!"

Chen Baizhao sat on the chair, took out a Cultivation Technique book, and began to read.

"Stop reading and fish with me for a bit."

Chen Songmei asked with a smile. Chen Baizhao replied with a smile, "No need, Little Aunt. Basking in the sun is quite warm, and reading is also comfortable."

"Fine then. Is there anything you want to eat? Little Aunt will make it for you."

Chen Baizhao pulled out a bottle of grain dispelling pills. "I have these."

Chen Songmei pressed her hand to her forehead and said with a wry smile, "You're so rigid, just like Fourth Uncle."

Chen Baizhao gave a faint smile. She also liked staying with her Fourth Uncle; both of them were very quiet.

At this point, Chen Baizhao asked, "Has Grandma and the others not returned yet?"

"Not yet. They've been hunting beasts in the Boundless Forest together for two months; they should be back soon."

"Oh, I see."

"Has Grandpa still not come out of seclusion?"

"Not yet either."

At the fish pond, one fished while the other read, chatting as they went.

Two years ago, Chen Songxuan got married. He married into the Foundation Establishment Lu Family of the county. The Lu and Chen families were officially allied through marriage, bringing the relations between the three families even closer. Seeing the three families united, other counties basically didn't dare to come looking for trouble.

Chen Songmei said, "Aren't you going back to see your mother and two younger brothers?"

"My mother said I should learn more skills in the mountain and don't need to return so frequently. Besides, they often come to Black Magpie Mountain anyway!"

"Alright then!"

...

...

On this day, inside the Great Sun Seed Cultivation Cave Mansion, Chen Li finally refined his Lifebound Treasure, the golden thunder bamboo flying sword.

That thunder bamboo had been ripened to a ten-thousand-year age three years ago, possessing golden lightning!

Chen Li used the ripened bamboo to refine ten Flying Swords. The other new shoots would still need some time. This golden lightning specifically countered shadows and evil; its lightning power was incomparable to ordinary thunder ore.

These ten golden thunder bamboo flying swords merged into his body and moved according to his will, though he lacked a corresponding sword art.

Chen Li thought that since those inherited sword arts were also created by Cultivators, he could also create a sword art that suited himself.

Everyone was a Cultivator, and he had plenty of time, so why couldn't he create a sword art that suited him?

Over these five years, except for the few days he went out for Chen Songxuan's grand wedding, he spent the rest of his time in secluded cultivation.

He spent three years reaching Minor Achievement in 'Severed Limb Calamity Transformation' and Major Achievement in 'Blood Shadow Clone'.

He now possessed several Golden Core techniques: Burial Fire, golden thunder bamboo flying swords, Blood Shadow Clone, Severed Limb Calamity Transformation, and Wind Shadow Evasion Technique. While he wasn't exactly a 'multi-treasure Cultivator', these were enough for self-preservation.

He integrated the lightning power of the golden thunder bamboo into Burial Fire and refined seven or eight burial fire thunder blast beads to serve as trump cards for Chen Songli, Zhu Lingyue, and the others.

Each of these beads had the power of a Golden Core strike, equivalent to that talisman treasure used by Luo Sheng when he was possessed by a demonic Cultivator.

The burial fire thunder blast beads contained Burial Fire and ten-thousand-year lightning power; he believed they were much more powerful than that talisman treasure.

After refining his Lifebound Treasure, Chen Li planned to leave seclusion for a while.

Over these five years, Zhu Lingyue had advanced to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, Chen Songli to Early Foundation Establishment Stage, Chen Songyan to Early Foundation Establishment Stage, and Chen SongHowl to Early Foundation Establishment Stage. Chen Songxuan was at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, and Chen Songmei was at the Eighth Level of Qi Refining.

Brother Ox was at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, and the Three-Flower Cat had advanced again; its breath-tracking ability could now reach two hundred li away, equivalent to the Divine Sense of a Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator.

The overall strength of the Family had leaped up a level. Within the house, both Chen Songxuan and Chen Songyan were married, and Family descendants were slowly appearing.

He looked back at the chiyang spirit fruit tree; the flower buds were growing larger, and nine flowers were about to bloom. He still had four Crimson Sun Spirit Fruits in his hand. Chen Baizhao was born with a Spiritual Root and didn't need support from his side.

In these years, the cultivation environment in the Nanwu Kingdom had been generally stable, with no major disasters occurring.

However, he heard that True Person Lu of the Beast Hunting Sect had encountered an attack by a Golden Core Demonic Path Cultivator while escorting Cultivators. But to many people's surprise, True Person Lu forcefully defeated the opponent's Golden Core Demonic Path Cultivator and saved most of the people.

After this, True Person Lu continued to handle the escorts without being replaced, and that Golden Core Demonic Path Cultivator never attacked again.

It was also through this battle that the Beast Hunting Sect's Golden Core Cultivator True Person Lu's fame spread throughout the territory under the Beast Hunting Sect's jurisdiction. No one expected that he could defeat such an opponent only twenty years after advancing to become a Golden Core Cultivator.

...

Over these years, the war between the Alliance Cultivators of the southern border's eastern Sects and the East Sea Islands had grown increasingly fierce. The rewards for infiltration missions grew larger, and more Cultivators signed up, but casualties also increased. Less than thirty percent of the Cultivators who participated in infiltrations returned successfully.

The danger level of infiltration missions had become higher and higher over the years, but the rewards were also increasing, leaving many people in a state of hesitation and conflict.

The intensity of Demonic Path Cultivators infiltrating the southern border was also increasing. Small-scale activities of Demonic Path Cultivators had reappeared in the Nanwu Kingdom, and Cultivator families that had just recovered some vitality were once again being destroyed.

Both sides were locked in a struggle, and it was unknown how much longer it would last. There were even rumors of Nascent Soul Cultivators from the East Sea Islands and Nascent Soul Cultivators from the southern border's eastern Sects engaging in battle!

What Chen Li was thinking about at this moment was how the Myriad Valley Sect was faring, and how his good friend was doing.