Ten days later, a Spirit Boat flew out from Fangmu Mountain, soaring through the skies!
Almost simultaneously as the Spirit Boat departed, a great amount of dense fog billowed from within Fangmu Mountain, quickly turning everything into a vast expanse of white. The entire Fangmu Mountain was shrouded within it, and from a distance, it was impossible to discern the whereabouts of the mountain anymore.
On the Spirit Boat, which was now fully activated to its largest size with several rooms appearing, sat Lin Xianzhi at the very front, his black hair fluttering in the wind. The rest of the passengers were quietly cultivating in the rooms.
Lin Shiming was no exception, sitting quietly in meditation inside one of the rooms on the Spirit Boat. Before him were a Jade Box and the Inheritance Stone he had obtained from Peach Blossom Valley.
Upon learning of the trip to Qingxuan City, Lin Shiming had started preparing to cultivate the Heavenly Wood Spirit Cultivation Secret Technique, a secret technique that he had learned from the Inheritance Stone, which could finally be put to use.
The most fundamental aspect of this secret technique, the cultivation of the spirit, was divided into two parts: refining the Heart of Heavenly Wood and then assimilating it to cultivate the spirit.
To refine the Heart of Heavenly Wood, one must harvest the core of a century-old spiritual wood and then, aided by secret techniques and copious spiritual materials, inscribe Spirit Patterns to forge it.
When he was at the Lin Family, Lin Shiming had spent one thousand Contribution Points to exchange for the Mu Xin of a hundred-year Qingmu tree, and another five hundred Contribution Points to gather all the other necessary spiritual materials.
Unfortunately, the Qingmu tree was only an Intermediate Grade material of the Second Rank, and the Lin Family's Treasure Pavilion did not have any Superior Grade material of the Second Rank, otherwise the power could have been increased by another fifty percent.
The secret technique and the inscription of the Spirit Patterns were not complex, and with continuous effort day and night, Lin Shiming had finished refining it in nine days.
Now, he was just waiting for his cultivation level to recover to its peak state and his essence, qi, and spirit to stabilize before he could begin the process of cultivating the spirit.
In order to avoid any mistakes, Lin Shiming burned some Huangyun grass once again and checked the Inheritance Stone, memorizing the secret technique over and over until he knew it by heart.
A quarter of an hour later, Lin Shiming took a deep breath and finally adjusted his state to optimal condition.
He took out the shining Heart of Heavenly Wood and dropped his Essence Blood onto it. Then, in one go, he executed over a hundred Spirit Arts.
Suddenly, a great number of Spirit Patterns appeared on the Heart of Heavenly Wood, beginning to resonate with his spiritual power.
Eventually, following a surge of Spirit Light, the Heart of Heavenly Wood transformed into Spirit Light and directly entered Lin Shiming's body through his mouth.
As soon as the Heart of Heavenly Wood entered his body, Lin Shiming felt the spiritual energy inside uncontrollably rushing toward the Heart of Heavenly Wood.
This startles Lin Shiming; he quickly took out Monkey Wine and Spirit Stones to recover his spiritual energy.
The terrifying degree of absorption lasted for a full half-hour.
Finally, as the storage of spiritual energy within the Heart of Heavenly Wood was filled, it ceased to draw in any more spiritual energy from his body.
The stalls that used to be inside the city had now appeared at the city gates, where many Loose Cultivators were setting up shop.
"Those Loose Cultivators can't afford the city entry fee but still want to earn some Spirit Stones through this grand event," Lin Yuqing explained to Lin Shiming and Lin Shijie on the side.
Clearly, the Great Elder had been here before.
When they entered the city following Lin Xianzhi, the eight people of the Lin Family paid a total of 80 Spirit Stones.
Just the cost of entering the city was ten Spirit Stones per person; Lin Shiming finally understood why the street stalls had moved here.
Upon entering Qingxuan City, the city's interior was even more bustling.
"Let's find an inn first!" Lin Xianzhi spoke indifferently, then took the lead in choosing a direction to walk.
"Lin Xianzhi!" Suddenly, an angry voice rose, and the group couldn't help but stop.
"It really is you!"
The person who came forward turned out to be from the Huang Family, with Huangyun Qi leading the way. Upon seeing Lin Xianzhi's head of black hair and the Spirit Might emanating from his whole body,
it was clear to them that Lin Shiming had taken the opportunity meant for the Huang Family and had killed dozens of their cultivators.
Instantly livid with rage, Huangyun Qi's face turned purple as he glared at Lin Xianzhi, teeth clenched, wishing he could execute Lin Xianzhi on the spot!
Lin Xianzhi did not look at Huangyun Qi first. Instead, he turned his gaze to a middle-aged man in blue robes standing behind Huangyun Qi.
The middle-aged cultivator's blue robes were particularly eye-catching, embroidered with various centipedes and poisonous insects.
As Lin Xianzhi set his eyes on the other, the middle-aged man also looked towards Lin Xianzhi.
Neither of them spoke, but their silence was filled with an even greater tension.
For the first time, Lin Shiming saw his Seventh Great-Uncle's hand trembling ever so slightly, as if holding an unparalleled sword!
The identity of the person before them also dawned on Lin Shiming.
From the Li Family, Li Chengzhi, a Poison Cultivator.
At the same time, he held another identity.
The man who gravely wounded Lin Xianzhi thirty years ago!