Chapter 1349: Clan Members' Recent Situations (Written Slowly, Please Forgive)

In a secret chamber, Wang Qingshan sat cross-legged on a meditation mat, his eyes slightly closed. Nine glittering green flying swords hovered unsteadily above his head, emitting a loud ringing sound.

After a while, specks of green light appeared in the void. As Wang Qingshan inhaled and exhaled, all the green light seemed to be guided by something, gathering above his head and forming a verdant sun, over ten zhang in diameter. The verdant sun blurred and transformed into a glittering green lotus, spinning continuously.

Swishing sounds filled the air as a massive wave of menacing green sword energy shot out, streaking outwards in all directions.

Boom! The entire stone chamber shook violently. Wang Qingshan suddenly opened his eyes, a flicker of green light radiating from them. The nine green flying swords circled once and then plunged into the ground before Wang Qingshan, vibrating slightly and emitting a series of clear, resonant sword cries.

“Finally, I've successfully reformed my cultivation method,” Wang Qingshan murmured to himself, his eyes filled with delight. With a single gesture of his hand, the nine green flying swords disappeared into his sleeve.

He had spent sixty years cultivating the Azure Lotus Sword Scripture to its tenth level. Reforming a cultivation method was inherently a time-consuming process; the higher one's cultivation, the longer it took to reform their method. Otherwise, those Nascent Soul old monsters would have reformed their methods long ago, and Earth-grade cultivation methods would be commonplace, thus losing their value.

The reason it took him sixty years was partly due to the time required for the reform itself, and partly because the Azure Lotus Sword Scripture possessed immense power and was genuinely difficult to cultivate. The immortal cultivator who created the Azure Lotus Sword Scripture was most likely a Spirit Transformation cultivator.

Wang Qingshan had reformed two sets of cultivation methods. His process of reforming cultivation methods was also the process of the Wang family's rise. Now, new immortal cultivators in the Wang family no longer needed to reform their methods; they could choose one method and cultivate it all the way to the Nascent Soul stage. This was the true meaning of 'one generation plants the trees, another enjoys the shade.'

“So many years have passed,” Wang Qingshan murmured to himself, “I wonder if Tenth Sister and the others have cultivated to the ninth layer of Core Formation yet!”

Wang Qingshan mused to himself and walked out of his secluded chamber. Not long after, Wang Qingshan stood in his own courtyard. To his left was a large patch of green spirit bamboo, and the Three-Headed Fox was curled up in a corner, sound asleep.

It was already a mid-grade third-tier spirit beast. Wang Qingshan had been busy cultivating these past years and hadn't paid much attention to the Three-Headed Fox. However, he knew very well that advancing it to the fourth tier would not be easy. Even major powers found it difficult to cultivate a fourth-tier spirit beast, let alone Wang Qingshan.

Wang Qingshan took out a palm-sized green magic disk. He struck a spell formation into it, and soon, Wang Mengfen's voice sounded: “Ancestor Qingshan, several major powers in the Fire Pig Sea have broken out into war. Our in-laws are already involved, giving us an excuse to intervene. What do you think?”

After over a hundred years of development, the Wang family now possessed a strong military force. The outbreak of war in the Fire Pig Sea happened at a convenient time, giving the Wang family an excuse to participate. Over the years, the Wang family had frequently formed marriage alliances with various powers, gaining a large number of allies. When there was profit to be made, they naturally had to firmly defend their allies' interests and use this to intervene in the war.

The Wang family's current development could be said to have reached its ceiling. Their current territory was already struggling to support over ten thousand people. Unless they acquired a large new territory or a massive amount of wealth, they would be unable to support more immortal cultivators.

“Gather Eighth Sister and the others, and meet in the council hall. I will preside.”

Wang Qingshan quickly made his decision. If the Wang family didn't attack others, others would attack them once they grew stronger. The Wang family couldn't just passively endure attacks.

A quarter-hour later, Wang Qingshan arrived at the council hall. Wang Mengfen and the others had already been waiting for a long time.

Nineteen people—Wang Qingjing, Wang Qingqi, Wang Qingling, Ye Haitang, Wang Youwei, Ouyang Mingyue, Wang Jiyun, Wang Mengfen, Wang Tianmi, Chen Xudong, Wang Qiuming, Wang Rongting, Wang Rongxiang, Wang Rongfei, Wang Changjie, Wang Qiuxin, Wang Qiuli, Wang Huaxing, and Ye Zhongren—sat in their chairs. Their backs were straight, and their expressions were solemn.

Wang Rongting, Wang Rongxiang, and Wang Rongfei had failed their first Core Formation attempt. Fortunately, as three of the 'Eighteen Elites', they had priority in forming their cores. During their second attempt to break through to the Core Formation stage, they successfully advanced. Chen Xudong had dedicated himself to talismancy arts in recent years, living a reclusive life and slowly gaining Wang Mengfen's trust. With his dual spiritual root aptitude and the Wang family's assistance, forming a core was a normal occurrence for him.

Although Ye Zhongren was of a different surname, he had grown up in the Wang family, merely retaining the Ye surname. To encourage other cultivators of different surnames, and considering the merit points accumulated by his father, which Wang Mengfen valued greatly, Ye Zhongren was able to advance to the Core Formation stage.

Wang Qingjing, Wang Qingling, and Ye Haitang had all cultivated to the eighth layer of Core Formation. Wang Qingqi was at the sixth layer of Core Formation. After Wang Jiyu's death, Wang Qingqi became even more devoted to alchemy. Under his tutelage, Wang Changjie successfully became the family's second third-tier alchemist. He cultivated the Earth-grade method, the 'Blazing Fire Sword Art', and was at the second layer of Core Formation.

Wang Huaxing had already cultivated to the seventh layer of Core Formation. As a Wind Spirit Root cultivator, his cultivation speed was relatively fast.

There were already three Core Formation cultivators from the Cloud Sea Sect present. Wang Qiuxin had cultivated to the sixth layer of Core Formation; he was quite corpulent, resembling a giant ball of flesh.

Wang Qiuli was currently at the fifth layer of Core Formation. She had returned to Azure Lotus Island this time to report on her duties and was preparing to be transferred to the Central Plains Immortal Cultivation World to manage the Azure Lotus Chamber of Commerce. She was skilled in dealing with people, had started from the bottom, and possessed rich management experience.

“Oh? Eighth Sister, Tenth Sister, Cousin Haitang, why are you still at the eighth layer of Core Formation? Have you encountered a bottleneck?” Wang Qingshan asked, somewhat surprised. His spiritual sense had swept over Wang Qingjing and the other two.

Wang Qingjing and the other two exchanged bitter smiles and nodded, acknowledging it tacitly. Bottlenecks varied from person to person. Even with Heaven-grade cultivation methods, it could only be said that bottlenecks were relatively fewer, not that they didn't exist. Even if five immortal cultivators practiced the same method, it didn't mean they would encounter bottlenecks at the same time; it depended on the individual.

The fact that Ye Haitang cultivated a Heaven-grade cultivation method was unknown to others; only Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan knew. Her stagnation at the eighth layer of Core Formation was mainly due to the lack of Yellow Springs Pills. Heaven-grade cultivation methods required a vast amount of cultivation resources. For Ye Haitang to advance a single layer, the cultivation resources consumed were far greater than for other Core Formation cultivators, and it took a considerably longer time. By now, even without relying on Nascent Soul-stage ghost creatures, Wang Qingling might not be able to defeat Ye Haitang. Ye Haitang was not only a ghost cultivator but also a formation master. Strictly speaking, formations were her true strength.

“Patriarch,” Wang Qingshan said, taking his seat in the main chair, “please briefly explain the situation!”

Wang Mengfen assented, stood up, and briefly recounted the events. The Vice Sect Master of the Golden Blade Sect was suspected to have died at the hands of the Liu family on Red Cloud Island. A major war had erupted between the two sides. Several other powers had also engaged in fierce fighting to contend for a medium-sized spirit stone mine. Currently, the main combatants were Core Formation cultivators.

The Liu family of Red Cloud Island was related to the Wang family by marriage. The Liu family had two Nascent Soul cultivators presiding over them and was considered an established Nascent Soul power.