Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation-Chapter 75 - 71: Living Together?

The frigid seabed.

Beneath the Glazed Yellow Umbrella, which glowed with a faint golden light, Ling Qiyue and Tang Qiu Yao were on high alert, vigilantly watching the surrounding water for any disturbance.

At a depth of over four hundred zhang, the water pressure was terrifying, and deadly creatures were a common sight. Even ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators wouldn’t dare risk venturing here.

However, the two women’s strength was far greater than before, and with their junior brother present, they had little to fear.

Even Ling Changqing’s Cultivation had increased by a layer since last time. More importantly, his Destiny and Blessed Fortune had grown significantly, greatly increasing their safety.

He had already discovered a hidden benefit of his increased Cultivation: the rate at which his Luck and Fortune depleted had slowed, allowing him to stay on the seabed for longer periods.

At that moment, Ling Changqing was strolling through a dense forest of fleshy vines, weaving around terrifying tentacles covered in bone spikes as he carefully searched for Soul-Devouring Blood Soul Fruits of sufficient age. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

This area was home to a much older and larger colony of Deep Sea Spirit-Devouring Vines, so it naturally contained a greater number of aged Soul-Devouring Blood Soul Fruits.

They used the same method as last time: Ling Qiyue and Tang Qiu Yao hunted and collected a large number of sea fish and Sea Beasts, then fed the carcasses to this grove of Deep Sea Spirit-Devouring Vines.

Once the vines had eaten their fill and their reactions became sluggish, Ling Changqing would move in to harvest the fruits.

Vines as thick as water vats and fleshy tentacles covered in sharp bone spikes swayed aimlessly in the undercurrents. Faint, feral roars echoed intermittently, and a grim, terrifying killing intent lingered in the water.

Ling Changqing’s figure weaved nimbly between the numerous fleshy tentacles. With his previous experience, he was now completely used to it.

Before long, he had already found over ten Soul-Devouring Blood Soul Fruits that were more than three hundred years old. The oldest one was just over five hundred years old.

By the time Ling Changqing had collected the last fruit and left without incident, the grove of Deep Sea Spirit-Devouring Vines had still not fully recovered.

"...Mmm, not bad. Junior Brother is getting better and better!"

Tang Qiu Yao smiled charmingly as she hugged the handsome, purple-robed youth and gave him a kiss, ignoring the subtle look from Ling Qiyue beside them.

Ling Changqing wrapped his arm around the voluptuous beauty’s plump, smooth waist and nuzzled against her full, magnificent chest before speaking:

"Shouldn’t we mark the location of these Deep Sea Spirit-Devouring Vines? New fruits are bound to grow in the years to come, and we can come back to harvest them again."

"Of course. That’s a must!"

Ling Qiyue nodded. For every stretch of seabed they passed through, the terrain, topography, and the distribution of resources had to be recorded in detail to provide for the family’s future generations.

If these things were done well, they too could become part of the Ling Family’s foundation.

The three continued to explore the frigid seabed. With the current range of Ling Qiyue’s Divine Sense, the difficulty of finding resources was significantly reduced.

Of course, Ling Changqing was also highly efficient at searching. He primarily relied on his intuition, which was invisibly boosted by his Luck and Fortune. In practice, his effectiveness was surprisingly comparable to Ling Qiyue’s.

"Senior Sister, how many new Foundation Establishment Cultivators can we expect from this next batch of Foundation Establishment Pills?"

Ling Changqing asked softly as they traveled.

Tang Qiu Yao pondered for a moment. "We’ll certainly have a few more, but the success rate won’t be as high as last time. There will definitely be people who fail to break through."

There was always a risk of failure when a Cultivator attempted Foundation Establishment—and not a low one. This was true even with resources like the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Elders who attempted it last time all succeeded mainly because their own accumulation was sufficiently deep, and they had a bit of luck on their side, allowing them to achieve their goal.

This time, however, the overall quality of the remaining Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Cultivators in the family couldn’t compare to the previous batch. It was highly probable that some would fail.

Ling Changqing said, "That’s not a big deal. Our resources are much more abundant than before, so we can afford such failures."

For a small faction, typically overseen by only a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator, it might take decades of accumulation to barely scrape together the resources for a single Foundation Establishment Pill.

But even then, if the chosen Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Cultivator didn’t have what it took and failed their Foundation Establishment, it would be a complete loss of their investment.

Such examples were not rare. Some small factions were wiped out because their previous generation’s Foundation Establishment Cultivator died of old age, and a new one didn’t emerge in time to fill the gap in their combat strength. As a result, the entire family would naturally be swallowed up by other powers.

In the Cultivation Realm, an era of great conflict, the law of the jungle was taken to its extreme. Even the closest allies would backstab each other at a critical moment without a moment’s hesitation.

The current Ling Family’s foundation was much more substantial than those low-level factions, but they still weren’t at a point where they could squander their resources freely.

Tang Qiu Yao said, "The family’s growth and development won’t happen overnight. I estimate that in the next few years, the Ling Family’s public strength will only be slightly stronger than the Mu Family, right?"

Ling Changqing smiled. "That’s only temporary. In a few more years, I’m afraid the Mu Family themselves won’t be sure if they’ll even exist in the Feiyu Sea Region anymore!"

The Mu Family of the Wilderness Islands had twelve Foundation Establishment Cultivators and, supposedly, one Pseudo Core master. As for the territory, population, and other resources they controlled, they were far stronger than the current Ling Family.

After all, they were a major power that had existed for over a thousand years, not something the upstart Ling Family could compare to.

Of course, given the speed of the Ling Family’s growth, it wasn’t unimaginable that they would swallow up the Mu Family’s entire foundation in the near future.