Free Web NovelChapter 495: Chapter 274: Tribulation, Part 2
Liu Ying Meng Luan gave him a playful glare. "It seems you still have quite a few secrets, husband. Really... do you still not trust us after all this time?"
Then again, Ling Changqing was a Child of Destiny, so it was perfectly normal for him to have a few unknown skills. There was no real problem with it.
"Husband, once you advance to the Nascent Soul True Monarch Realm, will your skill in the Artifact Dao quickly reach Rank Four as well?" Su Qinglian asked. Her own Artifact Refining was already at Rank Five, making her one of the few Artifact Dao Grandmasters in Lu Hua Palace.
But this was the fruit of her long and arduous labor; she had poured countless efforts and resources into raising her skill little by little. There was simply no comparing her journey to his.
Ling Changqing nodded frankly. "It’s not just the Artifact Dao. My other Art Skills will also rise with the tide, keeping pace with my Cultivation Level."
Bai Qingyi mused, "So, husband, if you were willing to learn other Art Skills, could you reach the same level in all of them?"
"More or less," Ling Changqing confirmed with another nod.
The women all looked utterly shocked. This was far beyond what mere talent could accomplish; it was simply monstrous.
’Just how many more secrets was this Child of Destiny hiding?’
Even though he was their man, having his way with them day after day, the women still felt they couldn’t see through him.
"Alright, today’s session is over. What’s next?" Ling Changqing skillfully extinguished the Spirit Flame, deactivated the Array’s restrictions, and slowly stood up.
"Time to cultivate, of course! The other sisters are waiting!" Bai Qingyi’s lovely eyes narrowed, and she said with a radiant smile as she secretly exchanged a glance with Tang Qiu Yao and the others.
’This man is always so secretive about certain things. Should we sisters team up and "interrogate" him? Maybe we can get him to spill his secrets?’
Tang Qiu Yao smiled without a word. She and Ling Qiyue had tried the same thing in private more than once, but to no avail. That man stubbornly refused to give in, even when they had squeezed him completely dry.
Ling Changqing wrapped one arm around Bai Qingyi’s waist and the other around Su Qinglian’s, their skin smooth and firm. Surrounded by the group of women, he walked out the door.
「In the Patriarch’s Embroidery Tower.」
Dressed in a majestic, bright yellow palace gown embroidered with suns, moons, and phoenixes, her hair styled with a Cloud Hairpin Phoenix, the dignified and elegant Ling Qiyue was still handling family business. Also present were Mu Yunxiu, Yu Ruoshuang, Xue Qingtan, Meng Feiyu, and the Dragon Princess, Luo Qingxuan.
Now that they were all one family, the women helped manage many of the family’s affairs, such as opening new Spirit Fields, cultivating Spirit Wood in the Medicinal Gardens, performing Alchemy and Artifact Refining, constructing palaces and cave mansions, training new members, and building city-wide Arrays.
Luo Qingxuan, dressed in a pale gold Feathered Robe that highlighted her alluring and commanding figure, had just opened a Jade Scroll when her delicate body trembled. A deep blush spread across her beautiful, jade-like face.
’That bastard... he’s up to his tricks with Mother again...’ the Dragon Princess muttered to herself, a mix of shame and annoyance rising within her as she cursed under her breath.
From the main seat, Ling Qiyue naturally noticed the abnormality and asked with amusement, "Has our husband gone to cultivate with the other sisters?"
"What else could it be? When that man gets started, he’s simply endless..." Luo Qingxuan huffed, her beautiful face flushed like a sunset cloud.
Beside her, the gentle and poised Yu Ruoshuang smiled. "Our husband needs to advance to the Nascent Soul True Monarch Realm as soon as possible. Sister Bai’s cultivation is high enough, so it’s only right that she spends more time with him."
Dual Cultivation was mutually beneficial, but as the weaker party, Ling Changqing stood to gain more by cultivating with a woman two Great Realms above him.
While the woman would lose some of her cultivation, she would in turn be blessed by his Luck and Fortune. So it wasn’t a loss; in fact, it was a net gain.
That was why, recently, Su Qinglian and Bai Qingyi had cultivated with Ling Changqing the most often. The same was true for Liu Ying Ziyi and Qin Mengxuan, who would sneak over from time to time.
"Once our husband achieves the Nascent Soul True Monarch Dao Fruit, the destiny of all the sisters, and that of the family, will greatly increase, won’t it?" Luo Qingxuan said. All the women were now looking forward to it.
Even at just the Golden Core Master Realm, the benefits Ling Changqing provided them were already extraordinary. If he became a Nascent Soul True Monarch... just how heaven-defying would that be?
Yu Ruoshuang nodded slightly. "Of course. And this time, when our husband advances, it would be best for him not to enter seclusion at the family headquarters. It would be better to do as you did, Sister Yue, and rent a Cave Mansion Hall elsewhere."
Ling Qiyue looked taken aback. "Our husband has to go outside too? What if something happens?"
Yu Ruoshuang smiled. "It’s precisely *because* something might happen that we have to send him away! This is for the safety of our family’s foundation."
For a Cultivator to break through to the Nascent Soul True Monarch Realm, they must endure the trial of a heavenly tribulation. The resulting commotion would be anything but small.
And as the legendary Child of Destiny, how immense would Ling Changqing’s tribulation be? Would there be unusual phenomena far beyond the norm? Yu Ruoshuang had no idea what to expect.
If he truly caused an unprecedented disturbance, it would inevitably attract the attention of Great Powers from all sides, who might even come to investigate in person.
If Ling Changqing were to enter seclusion at the family headquarters, all the Great Powers would learn that the Child of Destiny was hiding here. In the ensuing fight to claim him, the entire Chixue Sea Region would likely be razed to the ground.
So, the best solution was to follow Ling Qiyue’s example: hide his identity, go to the Feiyun Sect, and rent a Cave Mansion Hall to break through in seclusion.
If any unusual tribulation phenomena appeared, Ling Changqing wouldn’t need to panic. He could simply wait for the tribulation to end, then use the Bian Wujian Gate to slip away, leaving those Great Powers empty-handed.
Even if they decided to vent their frustration on the Feiyun Sect afterward, it would have nothing to do with the Ling Family.
"Alright. That arrangement is suitable. It’s settled, then." Ling Qiyue agreed after a moment of consideration.
With that matter settled, Xue Qingtan unrolled a Jade Scroll and spoke.
"Sister, the end of the year is in a little over two months. We still have a rather large shortfall in the fifteen types of resources the Commerce Association specifically requested, including the Celestial Fire Blazing Copper, Deep Sea Nine-leaf Essence Mushroom, and Spirit-Devouring Vine Fruit. We need to gather the rest quickly!"
Ling Qiyue asked, not sounding overly concerned, "How much are we short?"
Xue Qingtan raised her hand slightly. The silver Jade Scroll before her traced a magnificent arc through the air and floated gracefully to Ling Qiyue.
She took the Jade Scroll, glanced over it, and said:
"It’s not too much. If our husband takes us out to sea one more time, we should be able to gather everything we need."
As their power increased, the volume of trade between the Ling Family and the Xingyun sun Commerce Association grew larger and larger, with resources from the Deep Sea accounting for the majority.
The women now frequently ventured into the Deep Sea to hunt sea fish and Sea Beasts, collect various rare minerals, and had even discovered dozens of large, high-grade, rich ore veins hidden within underwater mountain ranges.
The dangerous creatures on the seabed were no longer a concern. The women’s cultivation levels were steadily rising, allowing them to handle such threats with ease—especially with Ling Changqing accompanying them.
"Mm, that’s what I was thinking too," Xue Qingtan said with a smile. "This vast Deep Sea Region is practically our family’s exclusive treasure trove. There are so many good things here."
Not even counting the massive resources Ling Changqing brought back from his travels, the Ling Family’s annual surplus now amounted to several thousand Top grade Spirit Stones, and that was with them spending money like water to train new members.
In the future, the Ling Family’s resource foundation would only grow more formidable, eventually rivaling that of some ordinary Divinity Transformation powers.
After three days and three nights, an utterly exhausted Ling Changqing was finally allowed to leave the bedchamber to carry out the mission Ling Qiyue had given him: to go down to the sea.
Of course, he wasn’t going alone. Bai Qingyi, Luo Qingxuan, Su Qinglian, Liu Qianlan, and Mu Yunxiu would all be accompanying him.
Their method of entering the sea was simple and direct. Bai Qingyi enveloped Ling Changqing and the other women in her immensely powerful Magical Power, and they plunged straight down from the surface. In the span of a dozen breaths, they reached the seabed more than twenty thousand feet deep.
Only then did the women summon their individual Protective Treasures and, under Ling Changqing’s direction, begin to gather various resources, loading them into large-capacity Storage Magical Artifacts.
At such a depth, Third Grade resources were scarce. Most of what they found, whether flora, fauna, or minerals, was primarily Quasi Rank Four or Rank Four.
Luo Qingxuan spotted a large Celestial Fire Copper Vein nearby. She condensed her Magical Power into a colossal hand spanning several acres and, with a slight clench, RUMBLE! She easily tore away several chunks of high-purity Ore, each one hundreds of feet across.
Ling Changqing formed a hand seal for a Spirit Technique, collecting the massive chunks of Ore into his Era Star Palace Grotto Heaven Blessed Land.
