12: snake vine seeds

Inside the empty Treasure Pavilion, Lin Shiming was alone.

Lin Houyuan had already left; launching a military campaign was, of course, no small matter.

As the Clan Chief, he had to coordinate everything, and this also signaled that the Family's decision-making power was beginning to shift from the Yu Generation to the Hou Generation.

Lin Houshou walked in from outside and patted Lin Shiming on the shoulder.

"Good lad, you did a great job!"

"Second Uncle, you flatter me. Shiming still has much to learn from you!" Lin Shiming replied humbly.

After chatting briefly, Lin Shiming followed Lin Houyuan to the third floor of the Treasure Pavilion.

Compared to his familiarity with the first and second floors, this was Lin Shiming's first time on the third floor.

He couldn't help but think about a question he had harbored since he was a child.

Whether that 150-year-old Clan Leader was really healing on the third floor—though clearly, he was not.

The room on the third floor was smaller and constructed entirely from an unknown spiritual wood, but it featured more intricate carvings and patterns. All these patterns followed a specific order, and some even exuded Spiritual Qi.

It was clearly a complex Formation that Lin Shiming did not understand!

"You lad, make sure to follow me closely and don't touch anything randomly. All the patterns here are part of a Formation, even the ones without Spiritual Qi!" Lin Houshou turned his head and reminded Lin Shiming.

Lin Shiming nodded.

After entering the wooden room, rows of ancient display racks came into view. These racks were made from high-quality nanmu wood and had been nourished by spiritual Formations, making them appear even more vibrant with Spiritual Qi.

However, the display racks looked somewhat empty, with not many items on display.

"Shiming, don't look at these nanmu racks and think they're empty. At the Peak of our Lin Family, this place was filled with Third Rank treasures!" Lin Houshou seemed to notice Lin Shiming's confusion and explained proudly.

Lin Shiming also understood that the Family had gone through a series of changes. It began when the Ming Generation lost their Purple Mansion Cultivator, consuming most of the Lin Family's foundation just to exchange for the Purple Heart Spiritual Fruit to attempt a Breakthrough to the Purple Mansion Realm.

Unexpectedly, they fell short of success, and in the end, the foundation was almost completely depleted. That Old Ancestor of the Ming Generation also passed away from depression not long after.

By the time of the Xian Generation, in order to produce a Foundation Establishment Cultivator for the Family, all remaining resources were used to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill. Fortunately, Old Ancestor Lin Xianzhi succeeded in his advancement, allowing the Lin Family to retain its title as a Foundation Establishment Family.

Lin Shiming followed Lin Houyuan to the wooden racks.

The wooden racks were divided into two rows. One row contained the Foundation Establishment Stage portion of the Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique, and the latter half of Lin Shiming's Green Wood Art was also here.

The other row displayed the Lin Family's spiritual weapons, Magical Artifacts, and spirit talismans.

Lin Shiming had also come here this time to select a spiritual weapon or Magical Artifact.

All the spiritual weapons and Magical Artifacts were covered by a specific spiritual power light barrier to prevent the loss of Spiritual Qi from the artifacts, which would affect their power.

Lin Houyuan was at the very front, beginning to introduce them to Lin Shiming one by one.

"Shiming, this is the Qingque Sword, absolutely a masterpiece among Second Rank High Grade Magical Artifacts. It is forged from Qingque Black Iron, making it incredibly sturdy. Furthermore, for Wood-attribute Cultivators and Water-attribute Cultivators, it can amplify Spiritual Qi several times over. A single strike is enough to make even a Late Stage Cultivator avoid its edge!"

"This is the Li Fire Sword, also a masterpiece, but it is not suitable for you!"

"This is the Profound Water Heavy Mountain. It has immense power; once released, it transforms into a giant mountain that few enemies can withstand. However, the downside of this Heavy Mountain is that it consumes too much Spiritual Qi! But for you, it can still serve as a trump card."

...

Lin Houyuan introduced them one by one, and Lin Shiming considered each one. Although there weren't many Magical Artifacts, they were all offensive.

However, just at this moment, the System prompt appeared again.

"Please select the pile of seemingly useless seeds, and you will obtain the highly toxic Serpent Vine Flower seeds, which are comparable to Top Grade Magical Artifacts!"

Lin Shiming had already been prepared to choose the Profound Water Heavy Mountain, but upon this prompt from the System, he immediately stopped.

He started searching the wooden racks again, circling once, then twice.

This made Lin Houyuan somewhat unsettled.

Was this glancing over everything supposed to be selecting treasures?

Just as Lin Houyuan was about to reprimand Lin Shiming, he saw Lin Shiming stop beside a small box in the corner as if he had found a treasure.

The small box had no lid and not even a spiritual power light barrier. Inside were a dozen or so black, unremarkable pellets, looking like discarded pills.

"Second Uncle, I choose this!" Lin Shiming picked up the box, overjoyed.

This was something comparable to a Top Grade Magical Artifact; it could serve as his trump card.

"Shiming, are you sure?" Lin Houshou looked puzzled.

"These are just useless pellets that generations of Elders guarding the pavilion have already identified!"

"It's this one, Second Uncle. I feel that this seed artifact is a perfect match for me." Lin Shiming replied firmly, clutching the box with great joy.

"Are these seeds?" Lin Houshou asked, puzzled, then waved his hand and said generously:

"You lad, although I don't know what you're planning, I won't let you lose out. How about this: you choose one High Grade Magical Artifact, and then use fifty contribution points to exchange for these seeds!"

"As these are treasures on the third floor, I cannot arbitrarily set the price too low."

"Thank you, Second Uncle!" Lin Shiming quickly thanked him. Never mind fifty contribution points, he would be willing to pay five hundred.

Then, Lin Shiming chose that Profound Water Heavy Mountain, a great lethal weapon.

As a trump card, it naturally needed to have great power. When it came to a critical moment, one battle would decide the outcome. He had the Wood Vine Technique, so choosing the Profound Water Heavy Mountain was the most appropriate choice.

Lin Shiming took the Profound Water Heavy Mountain out from the spiritual power light barrier.

He saw that the entire Heavy Mountain was bronze-colored, not large, only the size of a palm.

Then, placing it in his hand, he felt a terrifying weight descend upon his hand.

It almost dropped to the ground, which greatly shocked Lin Shiming.

With this kind of weight, it was no wonder this Magical Artifact made Lin Houshou praise it so much.

One must know that this was without inputting any Spiritual Qi; once Spiritual Qi was inputted, its weight would increase a hundredfold.

If this were smashed down, even a powerful Second Rank Late Stage Yao Beast probably couldn't withstand it!

If it were smashed onto a Cultivator, Lin Shiming couldn't imagine how that Cultivator could survive.

"Thank you, Second Uncle, for letting me find such a treasure!" Lin Shiming bowed in thanks, then took out a small wine flask and handed it to Lin Houshou.

"Second Uncle, this is the monkey wine that Shiming captured. Most of it was handed over, but I saved this for you!" Lin Shiming hadn't given it to him at first to avoid embarrassing Lin Houshou, which would create a situation where the Clan Chief's son was bribing the pavilion guard.

But giving it after Lin Shiming had finished taking the treasures made it a gesture of filial respect to an Elder.

"Good!" Lin Houshou did not hesitate and accepted it with relief.

The way he looked at Lin Shiming became increasingly favorable.

Lin Shiming gained two treasures and then exchanged for several spirit talismans from the Treasure Pavilion, especially a Second Rank High Grade Water Shield Talisman, for which he spent another two hundred and fifty contribution points to purchase.