Chapter 1690
The Family Army
at the same time.
Cangxuan Realm.
The Northern Wilderness Continent, one of the several continents, was extremely chaotic two or three thousand years ago and was the territory of the demon race.
However, as the Ling family gradually rose to power, they gradually became the rulers of this continent, possessing absolute authority.
Although the original Northern Wilderness Continent had very few fifth-order spiritual veins and extremely limited resources, this indirectly led to Ling Pengyun having to leave his homeland with powerful figures like the Star Sea Ancestor after entering the early and middle stages of the Nascent Soul realm, and travel to the Heavenly River Realm to seek resources and attempt to advance further.
However, over the years, Ling Pengyun and other powerful figures such as the Star Sea Ancestor have never forgotten the Northern Wilderness Continent during their adventures in the Heavenly River Realm.
After all, he came from this continent.
He had a very deep affection for that place.
Moreover, the Cangxuan Realm, where the Northern Wilderness Continent is located, is not only extremely far from the Heavenly River Realm.
It also hides deep in the void, extremely secretive, and is impossible for ordinary people to find.
Furthermore, the Ling Clan and powerful forces in the Cangxuan Realm like the Star Sea Pavilion have become united and have an excellent relationship due to the events in the Tianhe Realm.
They have not had any friction in recent years, making the Cangxuan Realm extremely peaceful.
The Cangxuan Realm would be a decent stronghold.
Ling Pengyun therefore attached great importance to this place.
Even when he and the other powerful members of the Cangxuan lineage obtained various useless and ordinary resources in the Tianhe Realm, apart from leaving a portion to develop their forces in the Tianhe Realm, most of the rest would be brought back to the Northern Wilderness Continent of the Cangxuan Realm to develop this place and cultivate their own cultivators.
Indirectly, the number of Ling clan cultivators and the depth of their spiritual veins in the Northern Wilderness Continent have been growing at an extremely rapid pace.
Moreover, because the Cangxuan lineage was temporarily unable to establish a foothold in the Tianhe Realm, it was able to intimidate all sides.
Ling Pengyun never relied heavily on the help of his clansmen to deal with various troubles.
At most, after obtaining ghost land in the Heavenly River Realm or Ghost Domain, they would secretly dispatch some spirit planters or artisans from here to help.
Therefore, a large number of clansmen were idle in this area.
The same situation applies to most of the forces in the Cangxuan Realm, such as the Star Sea Pavilion.
Their return this time was precisely to gather that group of monks to help.
As for the Cangxuan lineage army that they led to attack the Purple Miasma Evil Ghost Clan, they were cultivators they had trained in the Heavenly River Realm over the years.
Strictly speaking, those cultivators were only considered outer disciples.
Only those from the Cangxuan Realm can be considered family.
……
And this moment.
Deep within a certain space of the Northern Wilderness Continent lies an exceptionally unique secret realm.
This place is the Ling clan's territory, the "Lingxiao Secret Realm".
At the same time, this place is also the most prosperous place for the Ling Clan in the Cangxuan Realm.
This place is full of spiritual veins, countless in number, and there are even more than a dozen fifth-order spiritual veins.
Within the core of that secret realm, Lingxiao Valley, there is also a fifth-grade superior spiritual vein.
The spiritual energy within the entire secret realm was extremely rich.
Moreover, because the Ling family was skilled in the art of cultivating spiritual plants, they planted a large number of spiritual plants on various spiritual veins.
Lingxiao Valley also has some extremely special fifth-order spiritual plants.
The most eye-catching feature is a large expanse of towering, crimson trees.
They are all Crimson Essence Trees, originating from the Blazing Sun Sparrow clan, containing the purest and strongest Crimson Essence power, making them excellent fire-attribute refining materials.
There was even a rare and exceptional fifth-grade Crimson Yuan Treasure Tree among them, which emitted an extremely powerful spiritual plant aura that suppressed the brilliance of all the surrounding spiritual plants.
Strangely enough, within the "Jia Wood Crystal Core" inside his body, which was comparable to a cultivator's dantian, lay a crimson wooden treasure sword and a wooden bronze bell.
Moreover, they all reached the fifth-grade superior level, and their aura was originally the same as that of the treasure tree, as if it were its natal treasure.
Furthermore, as the precious tree continuously refines them with spiritual energy, the essence of the two treasures is slowly increasing. It's possible that after countless years, they could reach the fifth-tier top-grade realm, which is truly mysterious.
In addition, a special fifth-grade superior green "Senluo Treasure Bamboo" also contains a spiritual treasure of the same origin as it, which is a sharp fifth-grade superior flying sword.
Moreover, the precious bamboo is also tempering its flying sword.
Its origin lies in the Senluo Immortal Sect of the Tianhe Realm, which takes spiritual plants as its foundation. Ling Pengyun acquired it through some special transactions in his early years.
"Fellow Daoist Senluo, Ancestor of the Crimson Origin Tree, your progress in refining those spiritual treasures is truly remarkable."
"I'm afraid that with their help, you two will be able to easily deal with some late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and even, with your combined strength, you might be able to put up a fight against a Perfected Nascent Soul cultivator."
"This matter is truly worthy of congratulations. I also know that you, Tree Ancestor, prefer fire-attribute precious iron, and you, Fellow Daoist Senluo, prefer wood-attribute precious iron. You intend to use this to speed up the tempering of those natal spiritual treasures. In addition, I recently obtained some of that kind of precious iron, which is now just right to present to you both as a congratulatory gift."
At this moment, Ling Pengyun's figure quietly appeared here, and as if he could see through the bodies of the fifth-grade top-quality Crimson Yuan Treasure Tree and the fifth-grade superior Senluo Spirit Bamboo, he observed their tempering of their natal spirit treasures, and smiled as he spoke to them.
During this time, he also took out some fifth-grade high-quality precious iron from his storage bag and handed it to the two of them.
"The quality of those precious iron pieces is excellent, and we are quite fond of them. Thank you for your help."
"However, Pengyun, let me make this clear beforehand. In recent years, you have cut off a lot of our fifth-order tree branches and bamboo branches, and our original essence has been lost. We really cannot afford for you to continue cutting off our tree branches and bamboo branches."
"I hope you can give me three or four years to restore my original state, otherwise we really can't take it."
The fifth-grade top-quality treasure tree and the fifth-grade superior-quality Senluo spirit bamboo, due to their higher intelligence, could speak human language and even complain bitterly.
The tree trunks and bamboo branches on them are, after all, excellent fifth-grade refining materials.
Ling Pengyun used to often cut some off their bodies to refine spiritual treasures.
However, this is not a good thing for those two spiritual plants. As the fifth-order branches and bamboo shoots they nurtured are gradually cut down, their essence is also lost, which may even affect their ability to refine spiritual treasures.
They were extremely troubled by this matter.
In addition, Ling Pengyun had used a method in his early years that could gradually enhance the comprehension of spiritual plants, which greatly improved their comprehension.
Even the ordinary fifth-grade Crimson Yuan Treasure Tree has transformed into a rare offensive spiritual plant, and has mastered many powerful techniques.
It also mastered a special method for refining natal spirit treasures.
The large sword and bronze bell inside its body were crafted using that method, along with some excellent tree trunks from its body as the main materials. Their power is extremely strong, far surpassing that of ordinary spiritual treasures.
Meanwhile, Senluo Lingzhu, who had already embarked on the path of conquest, comprehended some of the techniques of attack to a higher level, resulting in a significant increase in her strength.
Most importantly, although they were not originally raised by a family.
However, due to various benefits provided by the family, as well as other reasons, they all completely submitted to the family and were willing to board the family's fast ship.
"Tree Ancestor, Fellow Daoist Senluo, you are overthinking it."
Ling Pengyun smiled and briefly informed him of the situation in the Ghost Realm.
"This matter is somewhat tricky, but I have embarked on the path of attacking spiritual plants after all, and in recent years I have not found a suitable opportunity to train. Now, perhaps it is an opportunity."
A fighting spirit surged from the Crimson Origin Tree Ancestor.
Although it possesses many methods, its strength is somewhat lacking due to a lack of experience.
This is a huge flaw.
Moreover, combat is beneficial to this offensive spiritual plant, as it can accelerate its comprehension of various magical techniques.
"I am relieved to hear your words, Tree Ancestor."
Upon hearing this, Ling Pengyun smiled more.
He then sought out the other spiritual plants in the valley.
Most of them were cultivated by him and the other spiritual plant masters in his family through spiritual seeds conceived from attacking spiritual plants such as the Crimson Origin Tree Ancestor and the Senluo Spiritual Bamboo.
Moreover, they all have good potential, and the family is giving them special attention and training.
Their current strength is quite good, and some of them have even reached the fifth rank, which is enough to help the family a lot.
Immediately afterwards, Ling Pengyun put all the attacking spirit plants into his spirit plant bag and then went to find the family's Grand Elder, Ling Chengyuan.
"Cheng Yuan, quickly dispatch all available flying boats in the clan to summon all adult members of our clan throughout the entire secret realm and even the Northern Wilderness cultivation world to Lingxiao Valley."
"And all the high-level battle formations that the clan has been preparing for many years will be distributed."
"I will now lead them to conquer the Heavenly River Ghost Realm!"
Ling Pengyun said to Elder Ling Chengyuan.
Ling Chengyuan was a descendant of Ling Pengyun of the same generation, and could be considered his nephew.
Moreover, he is extremely skilled at managing family affairs, and has managed the family very well over the years, never causing Ling Pengyun and other senior family members any worry.
The only drawback might be that his qualifications are average.
However, because of his outstanding achievements, his family spent a lot of resources in his early years to help him break through to the Nascent Soul stage several times, and he finally succeeded.
However, since then, it has been difficult for him to make further progress in his cultivation. Even though he has been in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm for a thousand years, his cultivation level is still hovering around the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
Fortunately, he was already very content with this, so he didn't feel anything about it.
Moreover, his cultivation level of Nascent Soul also caused his lifespan to increase dramatically. Even though he had lived for two or three thousand years, he was only in middle age and his overall energy and spirit were extremely good.
In addition, although he held a high position and great power in the family due to his long-term management, he had an immeasurable amount of authority.
But the moment he saw Ling Pengyun, his imposing manner vanished, leaving only a face full of respect.
Ling Pengyun was his mentor, and even his ability to sit in the position of the family's Grand Elder with only the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm was largely due to Ling Pengyun's appreciation.
Therefore, Ling Pengyun was not only his elder, but also his benefactor.
Now, after hearing what Ling Pengyun said, even though he had experienced many storms, his expression changed.
"Uncle Pengyun, what happened during the recent Millennium Limitless Storm in the Heavenly River Ghost Domain?" "By the way, how are Aunt Siyi and Uncle Pengxing doing?"
Elder Ling Chengyuan asked with concern.
After all, he was the eldest elder of the family, with numerous connections and an extraordinary relationship with Ling Pengyun.
Therefore, even though he spends most of his time in the Cangxuan Realm, he is still very familiar with the situation in the Tianhe Realm.
He even knew that Yan Siyi and other high-ranking members of the family, including the Ghost Cultivator Ling Pengxing, were involved in the Millennium Limitless Storm opportunity in the Heavenly River Ghost Domain.
"The lady and the others are all unharmed."
"I gathered people because I have a bigger plan."
Ling Pengyun smiled, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. He then told him about the situation of the Purple Miasma Mountain Range, the ancestral home of the Purple Miasma Evil Ghost Clan in the Ghost Realm.
While the forces developed by the Cangxuan lineage in the Tianhe Realm alone were powerless to swallow that land.
However, if the true "main force" from the Cangxuan Realm were to help, the situation would be different.
"I see."
"Moreover, this plan does indeed have many feasibility aspects."
"I wish you success in your plan, Uncle Pengyun. By the way, I will arrange for flying boats to pick up our clansmen from various places and take them to our clan's territory."
Upon hearing the news, Elder Ling Chengyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
He immediately got to work.
In addition, although the family had previously arranged for a large number of flying boats to board the Cangxuan lineage cultivators from the Tianhe Realm to attack the Ghost Domain.
However, due to the family's strong foundation and the presence of a high-level weapon refiner like Ling Pengyun, the family possesses a relatively large number of high-level flying boats.
Moreover, a large number of clansmen with high cultivation levels are stationed in Lingxiao Valley, the clan's territory, year-round.
Their cultivation was quite advanced, more than enough to control those flying boats.
At the call of Elder Ling Chengyuan, the cultivators quickly steered the flying boats into streaks of light, leaving the Lingxiao Secret Realm and flying to various parts of the Northern Wilderness cultivation world to pick up the Ling clan members located in different places.
Those flying boats were of a higher grade, so their flight speed was relatively fast.
In addition, the cultivation world in the Northern Wilderness is not very large.
In just half a day, those flying boats transported all the adult members of the Ling clan to the vicinity of Lingxiao Valley.
In an instant, the number of cultivators near Lingxiao Valley surged.
Everywhere you looked were cultivators, densely packed together, an extremely terrifying sight; their numbers alone were probably in the hundreds of millions.
Moreover, since there were no young children among them, and with the Ling family's careful nurturing, the cultivation level of that group of Ling family members was quite good, with most of them reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining or above.
Only some clansmen with extremely poor aptitude are still hovering in the early stages of Qi Refining, but given enough time, they can definitely make further progress.
In addition, there are nearly thirty Nascent Soul experts among them. If we add the Nascent Soul experts from families like Yan Siyi who are still in the Ghost Domain, as well as a small number of Nascent Soul experts cultivated by families in the Heavenly River Realm.
The family has over forty Nascent Soul cultivators under its command, a strength comparable to that of established top-tier Nascent Soul forces in the Heavenly River Realm.
Most importantly, the Ling family knew that it would be difficult for a cultivator to establish himself solely on his cultivation level.
Therefore, the Ling clan often arranged for its members to go to the Wilderness Realm for training.
Indirectly, those clansmen all had good combat experience and could be easily turned into soldiers.
The Wilderness Realm is a small realm discovered in the early years of the Cangxuan Realm. Its foundation is similar to that of the Cangxuan Realm in the past, except for some fifth-order spiritual veins.
However, like the Heavenly River Ghost Domain, its laws of heaven and earth are quite unique, but they are slightly different.
The Ghost Realm contains a violent ghostly energy; living beings that absorb it will become violent in nature.
The Wilderness Realm contains chaotic and savage energy; once absorbed, one's intelligence will gradually be eroded, turning them into an idiot.
It was for this reason that a special group of creatures, the "Wilderness Demon Clan," appeared in the Wilderness Realm.
Although their intelligence is extremely low, their abilities are quite remarkable, allowing them to maximize the benefits of the wild energy.
Moreover, it is extremely powerful, and its growth rate is several times, or even more than ten times, faster than that of ordinary monsters.
With sufficient aptitude, one can reach the Nascent Soul stage in less than several hundred years.
The only drawback might be its short lifespan. Even a Nascent Soul Beast only has a lifespan of about a thousand years, which is only about one-tenth of that of a Nascent Soul Demon Beast.
However, this is also a good thing for the Ling Clan and even other powerful forces in the Cangxuan Realm, as it can be transformed into an excellent training ground.
Even if their cultivators slaughter the local beasts during their training, the number of beasts in that area will recover in no time.
In addition, the clan distributed some special battle formations to the hundreds of millions of clansmen present.
Those battle formations were acquired by the family through various opportunities in recent years, or were made from various materials, and their power was extremely good.
There are nearly twenty fifth-tier battle formations alone, which, once activated, can unleash power comparable to that of a Nascent Soul expert.
As for ordinary fourth-tier, third-tier, and other battle formations, there are countless examples.
Although the spiritual energy required to activate such a battle formation is quite large, due to the special nature of the formation, even if multiple cultivators simultaneously channel their spiritual energy into it, it can be quickly refined and used for their own purposes.
In addition, the family has a large number of members, and those members are quite skilled in cultivation.
There is absolutely no need to worry about this.
With the help of the battle formation, the overall strength of those tribesmen increased several levels.
If they were to come together, they would likely be comparable to the combined strength of nearly sixty or seventy Nascent Soul cultivators. They might even be able to escape unscathed if they encountered a Nascent Soul cultivator at the peak of their cultivation.
"With the help of these clansmen, my plan has a better chance of success."
Ling Pengyun hovered in the air, looking at the countless clansmen before him, his brows full of joy.
He then used amplification techniques to briefly inform everyone present of the situation, so as not to cause any commotion during the rest of the trip.
"An army is raised for a thousand days, but used for only one."
"I hope that all of you clansmen will work together to conquer that small mountain range in the Ghost Realm."
"By the way, everyone, please rest assured. This time, the family has taken out some high-level spiritual items, even Nascent Soul spiritual items, to establish a Hall of Battle Merit. As long as you kill the enemy and accumulate enough battle merits, you can exchange them. Those who perform exceptionally well will even receive additional rewards. You can even obtain spiritual items that lead to the late Nascent Soul stage."
"But all of this still requires your efforts."
"Furthermore, the family has always treated you all well. Now is a critical moment for the family's development. Anyone who dares to refuse to do things for the family will be executed. Our family has no need for parasites."
Ling Pengyun exuded an extraordinary aura of authority, so much so that everyone present dared not look him in the eye.
'Unexpectedly, the family's higher-ups have secretly planned so many opportunities over the years, even finding a vast realm like the Heavenly River Realm, thus enabling them to achieve even greater development.'
'No wonder the family has grown so rapidly in recent years; now I understand.'
"As for the journey to the Ghost Realm, although it is perilous, if it succeeds, the benefits the family will gain will be immense, and even our clansmen will benefit greatly."
'...'
Upon hearing this, many members of the clan who were devoted to their tribe and had lofty goals regarded the upcoming trip as an opportunity.
In the past, due to their ordinary status in the family, and the fact that powerful figures from the Cangxuan Realm like Ling Pengyun had concealed the situation in the Tianhe Realm from them.
Therefore, ordinary family cultivators like them, and even some other ordinary cultivators in the Cangxuan Realm, do not know much about the Tianhe Realm.
In addition, there are many cultivators in the family. Even after various reforms and the establishment of schools to cultivate the character of the family members, it is inevitable that some selfish individuals will emerge.
They were somewhat afraid of this matter and even intentionally refused.
But the family has indeed given them many benefits over the years, and all of them have done so without expecting anything in return.
In addition, they had all heard that Ling Pengyun was ruthless and that he had even executed at least tens of thousands of his clansmen who had done wrong.
Therefore, they were extremely afraid of Ling Pengyun, and had no reason to refuse the matter.
They dared not voice their thoughts, and could only sulk and pray that their journey would go smoothly.
"We will obey the orders of our ancestor."
"..."
Immediately afterwards, hundreds of millions of people present echoed this sentiment.
"good."
"Moreover, the fact that no one bothered us this time is a good thing, as it proves that the family has a good atmosphere."
Ling Pengyun was extremely satisfied with what he saw.
Then, he raised his hand and took out the spatial treasure, the Netherworld Blade, which tore open space and created a huge spatial passage that could reach the Cangxuan army's flying boat fleet in the Heavenly River Ghost Domain.
"Quickly board the family's flying boat and enter."
Ling Pengyun raised his hand and waved.
The next moment, hundreds of millions of family cultivators boarded numerous family flying boats, their expressions varied, and entered the area in a grand procession.
After they began to feel dizzy and lightheaded.
They then suddenly found that the scene before them was changing rapidly.
They had left the Lingxiao Secret Realm and appeared among the Cangxuan lineage's flying boat fleet.
Because the Cangxuan Flying Boat Group was protected by several powerful protective formations, they were not affected in any way, even though the Qi of heaven and earth in the Ghost Domain was special.
'Is this the Ghost Realm?'
'And the energy of heaven and earth here is indeed as strange as the ancestor said.'
'The large number of cultivators controlling flying boats nearby are probably from the Cangxuan lineage that my clan and other Cangxuan Realm forces established in the Tianhe Realm.'
'...'
The clan cultivators, arriving in the Ghost Realm for the first time, curiously surveyed their surroundings and the nearby Cangxuan lineage army of cultivators. (End of Chapter)