239: Third-tier top-level formation master, all-rounder

The Black Crystal Bees were publicly claimed to be peak Qi Refining spirit insects. Not many people knew they were actually Foundation Establishment spirit insects, but Daocheng was one of them.

"Mid-stage Foundation Establishment? Doesn't that mean I'm about to take off?!!!"

Within the territory of the Red Pine Sect, there were only a few dozen Foundation Establishment Ancestors in total. Among them, only a dozen or so were at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, and there were only four at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, one of whom was the Peak Foundation Establishment Wang Qiao.

The combat power of spirit insects like the Black Crystal Bees is generally one minor Realm higher than their queen. This meant that the Black Crystal Bee Swarm was not weaker than a Late Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator!

"Hiss~"

Daocheng's eyes were unfocused, and he was grinning foolishly. His mind was already conjuring images of himself showing off successfully and being worshipped by thousands.

"Smack!"

Liu Xuan slapped the back of his head again, snapping him out of it. "What are you thinking about? The Black Crystal Bee Queen is only assisting your cultivation for now. Don't get any other ideas!"

Liu Xuan knew the Fourth Son's personality very well. If he didn't keep him in check, there was no telling how much trouble he would cause.

"Also! You are not allowed to go around blabbing about the Black Crystal Bee Queen's true strength. Our Family is already prominent enough; we need to keep a low profile on many things."

Daocheng nodded. "I know, Dad. I'm aware of all this. Even if you didn't tell me, I certainly wouldn't have said anything!"

Although he couldn't take the Black Crystal Bees out to show off, using them to assist in his cultivation wasn't bad at all. A Mid-stage Foundation Establishment life-bound Yao Beast! According to the description in the Heavenly Scripture of Beast Taming, it could increase his cultivation speed by at least three to ten times before he reached the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

This auxiliary cultivation effect would weaken as the gap in cultivation between the two narrowed, but overall, it could at least halve the time it took to reach the Foundation Establishment Bottleneck.

"I'm going to go test out the cultivation effect now. Dad, wait for my good news!"

Daocheng couldn't wait to find out the Black Crystal Bee Queen's auxiliary effect on his cultivation.

Not long after Daocheng left, the Ninth Son, Daozhen, came running over. "Dad, I've mastered the entry level of the Heavenly Scripture of Beast Taming you told me to Cultivate."

Daozhen was also wearing a white dharma robe, but he didn't have a dharma sword at his waist, and his features were more refined than Daocheng's.

Liu Xuan took out two High-Grade Spirit Stones and tossed them to him. "Put the Heavenly Scripture of Beast Taming aside for now. I'll send someone to take you to the Sect in a few days."

There was only one Black Crystal Bee Queen, so it went to whoever mastered it first. The Ninth Son was just a little bit behind; it seemed he had his moments of bad luck too!

Liu Xuan currently had a total of four pets: the Black Crystal Bees, the Myriad Longevity Black Tortoise, the Azure Phoenix, and the Azure Flood Dragon.

Among them, the Myriad Longevity Black Tortoise grew slowly, known for taking a hundred years to reach Foundation Establishment and a thousand years to reach Core Formation. Over the years, Liu Xuan had forcefully urged it to Cultivate diligently, but even now, it was only at the Late Stage of Qi Refining.

By the time it became a Foundation Establishment Yao Beast, it would likely take at least another twenty years, making it a mediocre choice for a contract beast.

The Azure Flood Dragon and Azure Phoenix were fourth-order Bloodline Yao Beasts, and both were at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. They were actually suitable as contract beasts.

However, Liu Xuan intended to save them for the pair of Third-grade Spirit Root twins Zhang Kexin had given birth to; for the time being, the other children wouldn't have a share.

The Azure Flood Dragon and Azure Phoenix could grow rapidly while staying in the Star Space, which would allow them to better assist the children in their cultivation later on; keeping them wasn't a waste.

Besides that, there were ten Foundation Establishment worker bees among the Black Crystal Bees, but unfortunately, their Divine Souls were incomplete, so they couldn't be used as contract beasts.

"Thank you, Dad!" Daozhen happily accepted the Spirit Stones, completely unaware that by being just a little bit late, he had lost out on something.

...Half a year later.

During this time, Liu Xuan's Concubines at White Crane Lake had been returning to the Sect one after another, and children of all ages were also being sent to the Sect. By now, nearly half of the Liu Family's population was in the Sect, and the other half was at White Crane Lake.

Liu Xuan had returned to his previous routine of shuttling between the Sect and Yongning; it wasn't far anyway.

At White Crane Lake, he was the head of the Liu Family, and in the Sect, he could disguise himself as Xiao Changfeng. He could do whatever he wanted; life couldn't be more comfortable!

Impersonating True Person Xiao, he issued decrees and married several high-quality women from the Xiao Family, using this to win over a group of Xiao Family members who leaned towards him. There was no longer a single voice of opposition in the Sect.

Afterwards, he began to extend his reach toward the several Foundation Establishment families in the Sect.

Lin Qingyun's Lin Family, the Spell Hall's Zou Ming and his Zou Family, the Artifact Refining Hall's Qin Xuanmo and his Qin Family, the Spirit Plant Hall's Xia Yu and his Xia Family, the Pill Refining Hall's Jiang Yang and his Jiang Family, and the Formation Hall's Zhong Yunke and his Zhong Family.

The Lin Family went without saying; they had always been Liu Xuan's staunch supporters. The other families were relatively indifferent, mostly adopting a wait-and-see approach.

With True Person Xiao's life limit approaching, everyone was more concerned about their own escape routes. They wouldn't interfere with whatever Liu Xuan did in the Sect, as long as it didn't touch their core interests.

The children of the Liu Family still needed some time to grow, so for the time being, they wouldn't touch their core interests.

However, Liu Xuan wanted to take a shortcut and see if he could arrange marriages with them to turn the entire Sect into his own people as quickly as possible.

He hinted at this intention to the several Foundation Establishment Ancestors, but to his surprise, these people completely ignored him, pretending not to notice.

"Fine, fine, fine!"

"When you all come rushing to offer yourselves to me in the future, let's see if I don't handle you!"

For the time being, stability was the priority in the Sect, so Liu Xuan didn't take action against them over such a small matter.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for the birth of the 200th offspring. Seventh-grade Spirit Root. Obtained Top-Grade Spirit Stone * 10]

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for reaching a total of 200 offspring. Obtained Third-order Peak Formation Master experience.]

West Courtyard.

The Junior Sister from the previous generation, the Sect Beauty Lu Jing, had given birth. It was a boy, and a Seventh-grade Spirit Root was not bad.

"Father sees that you have remarkable bone structure; you will surely have a talent for Formations in the future. How about we call you Liu Daozhen!"

Liu Xuan didn't know if he had a talent for Formations; he chose the name purely because of the System reward...

Two hundred children in total! Now, the birth of an ordinary child seemed as simple as a daily routine in his eyes, and naming them was becoming increasingly casual.

Mountaintop. Red Pine Space.

Liu Xuan sat cross-legged in the spot where Xiao Changfeng used to Cultivate and used his Divine Soul to click on the Formation Master orb rewarded by the System.

"Hum~"

Countless profound knowledge of Formations flooded into his mind. His vision shifted, and he felt as if he were placed in a space filled only with Formation patterns.

"All things are Formations; Formations are the concrete manifestation of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. The foundation of mastering Formations is precisely the understanding of the rules of Heaven and Earth..."

This experience inheritance lasted longer than any previous one; it took a full day and night before he gradually regained consciousness.

'Mathematics? Physics? The rules of Heaven and Earth?'

According to Liu Xuan's understanding, the path of Formations was like the mathematics and physics of the Cultivation World. Compared to other cultivation skills, it pointed more directly to the Great Dao, but it was also more difficult.

Talismans, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Formations—in essence, they all utilized the rules of Heaven and Earth, and could even learn from and complement each other.

Liu Xuan was now a Second-order Peak Talisman Master, a Third-order Peak Alchemist, a Third-order Peak Artifact Refiner, and a Third-order Peak Formation Master!

Others struggled for hundreds of years and still found it difficult to master even one of these, but he had achieved them all.

Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Talismans, and Formations—master of all four, and not even forty years old yet. He wondered if there was any other Genius like him in the entire Cultivation World.