Chapter 142: Chapter 142 Bestowal of Treasures
The family competition lasted for three days, witnessing the vitality of the younger generation within the entire family.
In particular, were three battles involving the late-stage Qi Cultivators of the Lin Family.
Among the late-stage Qi Cultivators, it was Lin Houwei first up against Lin Shiyi.
Even though this unpredictable thirteenth uncle often drank, the gourd hanging at his waist was not really a wine bottle.
As soon as he opened the gourd, he threw it into the sky, where it transformed into a gigantic golden gourd.
Countless grains of Jin Sha flew out, turning into various mystical beasts that charged at Lin Shiyi.
As a practitioner of Body Cultivation, Lin Shiyi also displayed unparalleled strength and speed, closing the distance with a single step to arrive right in front of Lin Houwei, slamming a supreme-grade spirit stick down hard onto him.
Lin Houwei's spiritual sand suddenly formed a massive sand shield, enveloping him!
The tremendous noise burst forth like thunder, prompting the cultivators watching to step back a hundred meters.
In their hearts, they couldn't help but secretly wonder how they could possibly withstand such a strike themselves!
During the fight, the golden sand was several times smashed apart by the stick, which carried the force of a thousand jun, but more golden sand poured forth. At the critical moment, the sand formed into a colossal hand, grabbing the iron rod, and then Lin Houwei summoned two flying swords from the sand, piercing Lin Shiyi's shoulder when he was caught off guard.
Lin Houwei was victorious!
Lin Shiyi accepted his defeat graciously, knowing he wasn't a sore loser; he had never won in his spars with Lin Shijie and Lin Shiming. As a practitioner of Body Cultivation, he was always breaking his own limits.
The elders of the Lin Family nodded repeatedly, admiring the strength of both combatants.
But Lin Houwei was evidently more cunning and his cultivation far more profound. It was normal for Lin Shiyi to fail in breaking his defenses and suffer defeat!
"Second brother, if you can't break the defense, you should have switched your attacks between the thirteenth uncle and the Golden Gourd, his Jin Sha isn't actually that abundant!" Lin Shiming offered his critique and a hint to Lin Shiyi.
"Thank you, Family Head, for the reminder!"
"Thirteenth uncle wins!" Lin Shijie also announced Lin Houwei's victory!
With Lin Houwei's victory, the battle between Lin Shitao and Lin Houxuan commenced.
This battle didn't hold much expectation from the crowd, as both Lin Shitao and Lin Houxuan were alchemists and presumably not particularly skilled in combat.
Moreover, with Lin Houxuan at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Level—a solid cultivation level—the depth of his spiritual energy, the store of spells, and his magic artifacts were all clearly far superior to those of Lin Shitao.
However, contrary to expectations, Lin Shitao opened with his Lotus Sword rising into the air, followed by a surge of flames.
It was the Fire-returning Fire Sword Technique!
The Fire Sword poured down amidst the flames, instantly pressing towards Lin Houxuan!
Lin Shitao, worthy of being a Dual Spirit Root cultivator, executed the Fire-returning Fire Sword Technique with the power of Qi Cultivation Eighth Level, matching the force demonstrated by Lin Shijie previously. Ultimately, through a continuous set of Fire-returning Fire Sword techniques, he astonishingly defeated Lin Houxuan, who was at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Level.
This stunned many people, including Lin Shiming, who did not expect Lin Shitao to win.
However, in the subsequent matches, he was defeated by Lin Houwei, securing second place in the end.
The Golden Gourd's Jin Sha also countered Lin Shitao's Fire-returning Fire Sword Technique. Even after learning from the experience to counter the Golden Gourd, he did not anticipate Lin Houwei wielding yet another blue-coloured wine jar.
This jar released a massive stream of Profound Water which extinguished the Fire-returning Fire Sword Technique, leading to Lin Shitao's defeat.
The final rankings were set, with Lin Shiyi and Lin Shiyun placing fourth and fifth respectively.
Meanwhile, thirtieth uncle Lin Houyuan was in the sixth position.
Within the mid-stage Qi Cultivation arena, Lin Shizhong, Lin Shike, and Lin Shiyan took the top three spots.
Among them, Lin Shiyan at the last moment revealed a Spirit Beast he had been nurturing—a Sabretooth Tiger. Although not fully grown, the tiger already possessed the peak strength of an early-stage Qi Cultivator. At a critical moment, it blocked Lin Shike's Spirit Talisman for Lin Shiyan, securing the top spot.
The Qi Cultivation Early Stage competition ended with Lin Shilei coming in first, Lin Shiyong second, and Lin Shilin third.
The Lin Family did not reveal Lin Shilei's identity as a possessor of an exceptional Spirit Root, so everyone only knew he had the Third Spirit Root. Him capturing the first place in the Early Stage competition at the Second Layer of Qi Cultivation truly astonished many, especially the Great Elder, Lin Yuqing.
His face was brimming with smiles, his expression exceedingly cheerful!
This was his own grandson!
Further, they had not yet revealed his exceptional Spirit Root. Should the news of the Lin Family's first member with such a root spread, it would undoubtedly cause an even bigger sensation.
Right on the spot, Lin Yuqing dug deep into his own pockets and rewarded Lin Shilei with a bottle of Spirit Honey, which, incidentally, he had previously gifted to the Great Elder.
At this time, his Spirit Honey bees numbered around eight hundred, so the annual yield of Spirit Honey would be greater than before.
When it came time for the rewards, Lin Shiming promptly distributed them for both the Early and Mid Stage of Qi Cultivation.
Among them were superb magic artifacts that he had collected over the years, which he now aptly used as rewards.
It was also confirmed that the three prodigies of the family were Lin Shitao, Lin Houxuan, and Lin Houwei!
For the rewards for the later-stage cultivators, Lin Shiming called the top five to the Council Hall.
Of the five, everyone except Lin Shiyi was somewhat baffled.
"I know you're all confused, but our family has discovered a Yellow Grade Secret Realm, which only Qi Cultivators can enter. It's dangerous, but it also holds opportunities!" Lin Shiming said.
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the four other than Lin Shiyi nearly simultaneously lit up with an extraordinary glint.
A Yellow Grade Secret Realm symbolized an uncountable number of spiritual medicines as well as some rare Demonic Beast resources.
As for the dangers, they seemed insignificant in their eyes, especially for Lin Houwei and Lin Shiyi, who needed contribution points to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills. If the exploration of the Secret Realm went well, the spiritual medicines they could bring out might be enough for them to reach Foundation Establishment.
Lin Houxuan was also extremely tempted; as an alchemist, what he lacked the most was rare spiritual medicines. If he found some in the Secret Realm, it would greatly benefit the advancement of his alchemy.
"Uncle fifteen, you don't need to go. The family currently lacks alchemists, and the Secret Realm remains unexplored!" said Lin Shiming, noticing Lin Houxuan's keen interest.
"Family Head, how can I be at peace if none of us Qi Cultivation Ninth Level cultivators go, and instead let Shitao, with his Dual Spirit Root, go?" Lin Houxuan replied with a wry smile.
The Lin Family indeed needed to be cautious of the unknown dangers within.
But it's important to note that there were only nine cultivators at the Ninth Level of Qi Cultivation in the entire Lin Family. If they didn't send a few more, would they expect Lin Shitao, at the Qi Cultivation Seventh or Eighth Levels, to go?
Lin Shiming was momentarily stunned; according to his plan, he had intended to select the strongest in combat among the cultivators at the late stage of Qi Cultivation from the various Elders, leaving the precious cultivators like alchemists and artifact refiners safely back on Fangmu Mountain.
But now, contemplating the Secret Realm that had been unexplored for so many years, he feared that there might be quite a few Demonic Beasts at the late stage of Qi Cultivation.
If too few Ninth Level Qi Cultivators went, they might indeed harvest less and could potentially suffer casualties due to their lack of concentrated power, just like what happened in Peach Blossom Valley—had he not intervened at a critical moment with the Snake Vine Flower, they might not have taken it without damage.
"Family Head, we need to put all our efforts into this. The mysteries of the Secret Realm are not yet known!" Lin Houxuan insisted.
Lin Shiming fell silent, as no one backed away.
The Secret Realm was naturally an opportunity, but it also harbored numerous Demonic Beasts.
"I'll consult with Uncle Seven about this matter!" Lin Shiming hesitated, not coming to an immediate conclusion.
Instead, he took out the magic artifacts, which served as the rewards for this family competition, causing the cultivators to be overjoyed, even the thirteenth uncle, Lin Houwei, and the fifteenth uncle, Lin Houxuan, were tempted.
When Lin Shiming was at the Ninth Level of Qi Cultivation, he was said to have fought dozens of other cultivators at the same level.
In the end, Lin Shiming gave the Gold Thread and Silver Filament to Lin Houwei, the Five Elements Tower to Lin Houxuan, and the Heaven-Confining Bell to Lin Shitao.
He gave the Thousand Layer Mountain to Lin Shiyi and the Profound Soul Needle to Lin Shiyun.
To him, these artifacts were no longer of great use, but to Lin Houwei and others, they were akin to trump card artifacts.
With these artifacts, all five of them felt even more confident.