"Do you dare strike a disciple of the Xuanming Sect's inner disciple?"
Just as the sneer "What can a mere Foundation Establishment do?" faded, a crisp, angry female voice rang out, cutting through the air.
Lin Daochang glanced to the side and saw a graceful female cultivator standing atop a jade-green spiritual sword, her cold eyes fixed on him. Her eyes were slightly reddened, as if emotions suppressed for a long time were finally breaking free.
Chen Qiaozhen's robes fluttered, stirred by sword energy. She looked like a celestial being, poised to strike at any moment.
"Chen Qiaozhen, inner disciple of Xuanming Sect—ready to fight!"
Her voice, brimming with fury, brought intense pressure to the surrounding cultivators, who had all been stunned into silence. It was a shiver born of primal fear.
Lin Daochang's face immediately darkened. The reason he'd dared act before was that the Chen family had no proof of their connection to a Xuanming Sect disciple—and the disciple wasn't present. If he exterminated the family, no one could retaliate.
But if he were to attack a present inner disciple of the Xuanming Sect, and left behind any evidence, he would surely be punished once the sect investigated. It could even impact the cultivation path of the Lin clan's young genius.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, you jest. I was merely playing a little joke on the Chen family earlier!" Lin Daochang forced a smile, trying to smooth things over.
Fortunately, their allied families hadn't yet broken the Chen family's protective formation. Otherwise, this wouldn't end so easily. Of course, what he truly regretted was not eliminating the Chen family before Chen Qiaozhen arrived.
Though she was an inner disciple, her status couldn't compare to a direct disciple of a Golden Core cultivator. Even if she was angry, she wouldn't dare attack the Lin family—at least not before she grew more powerful. As long as they supported their family genius, they could eliminate her before she matured.
"You call this a joke? You destroyed our protective array, and you still won't withdraw your people?" Chen Qiaozhen's expression was grim, her tone icy.
"All Lin family members, retreat to the spiritual vessel! Allied families, let us each withdraw," Lin Daochang commanded, waving to the other clan leaders.
"The Chen family's resources—return them in full," Chen Qiaozhen's sharp gaze swept across the Lin family's heads.
"Of course, of course," Lin Daochang said with a forced smile. But inside, he was full of resentment. Those resources had been carefully seized through long planning.
The Lin family had schemed for ages to take down the Chens, hoping a political marriage would weaken their power. But now, with Chen Qiaozhen's appearance, everything fell apart. His frustration was immeasurable.
Once the Lin family's ships finally withdrew, the Chen family erupted in joyous cheers.
"We thank our Foundation Establishment Ancestor for saving us!" the cultivators below that realm bowed to Chen Qiaozhen in gratitude.
"No need to thank me, uncles and elders. This is what I should do," Chen Qiaozhen replied sincerely.
"Amazing! The Great Elder's line has truly birthed a dragon!"
"Indeed! Without Ancestor Qiaozhen's timely help, our family would've been annihilated!"
"Uncles and elders, the person you should thank isn't me—my breakthrough was only possible thanks to my seventh sister, Chen Jinshu!" Qiaozhen quickly corrected them upon hearing the praises.
"Jinshu? She's capable of that?"
"Though she hasn't formed her foundation yet, she performed admirably in the sect's tournament and earned several Foundation Establishment pills. That's how I was able to break through. She is the true hero."
"Her?!" Clan leader Chen Zhixing looked bitter. Recalling how he pressured Jinshu with his cultivation when she refused the arranged marriage, he wished he could crawl into a hole.
Around him, other Chen elders exchanged uneasy glances.
A month later, at Ink Plum Courtyard.
A brilliant red glow bloomed across the sky. At some unknown time, thick cyan mist began to surge toward the courtyard, glowing faintly. Hundreds of spiritual birds chirped overhead, as if celebrating something joyous. Outside the courtyard, protector Zheng Shaosi and others lit up with joy at the signs.
"Junior Sister is about to succeed!"
At the center of the courtyard, beside an ancient plum tree, Chen Jinshu sat cross-legged, her black hair nearly dyed green by the rich wood-element spiritual energy surrounding her.
Flora around her, nurtured by the overwhelming energy, bloomed wildly. In the blink of an eye, the courtyard looked like a carefully tended garden in full bloom.
The black plum tree bloomed out of season, petals dancing in the energy-charged wind.
Jinshu floated in the center of the vortex of spirit energy and petals, her dark pupils now veined with golden rings like tree rings through time.
Massive amounts of spiritual essence surged from the lotus petal birthmark on her forehead, flowing through her meridians and converging in her dantian. There, the wood-element energy condensed into jade-colored spiritual dew, slowly growing in quantity.
The process of forming one's foundation was compressing spiritual energy into droplets of liquid. Each drop was equivalent to over thirty strands of energy.
Within moments, Jinshu's dantian expanded severalfold, gathering a small cluster of jade-like spirit dew at its center.
Her spiritual senses also expanded instantly, extending over a hundred zhang, outpacing the average early-stage Foundation cultivator by 20–30 zhang.
"A month of secluded training, and I've finally reached Foundation Establishment!"
She could've broken through in half a month, but she'd also refined her body, tempered her spiritual senses, and stabilized her cultivation. That's why it had taken a full month. Even so, her speed ranked above average among Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"A normal Foundation Establishment cultivator lives around 250 years. My life span just increased by another 20 or 30. It must be the cultivation method!"
If this continued, by the time she reached mid-stage Foundation, she might live to 300 years.
She looked around at the sea of flowers in her courtyard and felt joy in her heart. As a wood-element root cultivator, her senior brothers and sisters had advised her to train near a spiritual tree for better connection to wood energy—hence, the ink plum tree.
With a wave of her hand, the surrounding flowers and grasses faded into nothingness. She deactivated the formation and opened the door—only to find several of her senior brothers and sisters smiling at her.
"Congratulations on your Foundation Establishment breakthrough, Junior Sister!" the seven said in unison.
"Come in, please!" Jinshu beamed and quickly welcomed them into the courtyard.
They'd stood guard for her for a whole month. Her heart swelled with gratitude.
"The spiritual energy in the entire courtyard rose noticeably after your breakthrough!"