Family Cultivation: I can see the prompts

641: Talents emerge in large numbers (two-in-one has been updated)In the square, as the Mortals exited, Lin Yanjiao looked at Lin Shiming, and with his nod, Lin Yanjiao raised her hand.

As a Spirit Art was cast, countless high platforms instantly appeared in the square.

Each of these platforms was three zhang high and a hundred zhang wide.

They were all Fourth-Order Magic Treasures refined by the Lin Family’s Fourth-Order Artifact Refiners, specifically for the Lin Family’s Grand Competition.

These arenas were made from Yuntie Island’s Rhinoceros Cloud Iron, which was not only sturdy but also capable of having numerous Formations inscribed on it.

With these Formations, they could compete without interference, achieving the true effect of a Grand Competition.

Lin Shiming looked at the twenty arenas before him, extremely satisfied. The construction of this square on Qinglian Peak had also been painstaking.

”Let’s proceed directly according to what we discussed earlier!” Lin Shiming waved his hand.

Lin Yanjiao also nodded repeatedly.

”Given that this is the first Sword Trial Assembly, the competition will still be for Cultivators below the Purple Mansion Realm. During the competition, higher-Realm Cultivators will seal their Realm to match the lower-Realm Cultivators, and the outcome will depend entirely on their Sword Dao cultivation!”

”During this period, all Magical Artifacts used will be the Lin Family’s Golden Iron Swords. The top five who have comprehended Sword Intent will be selected, and the top two who have not comprehended Sword Intent!”

”These seven individuals will receive one session of guidance from Seventh Grand Uncle and the Family will customize a Magical Artifact for them!” As Lin Yanjiao spoke, all the Lin Family’s Sword Hall Cultivators below the Purple Mansion Realm were overjoyed.

Their biggest concern had been Lin Zeli and Lin Yanxing, whose Sword Dao Realms had already reached Sword Qi Coagulation, and perhaps even surpassed it.

They believed they stood no chance against these two.

But if all were Foundation Establishment Cultivators, with their Realms suppressed, then no Cultivator would back down.

Having all Cultivated in the Sword Pavilion, they believed they were not far behind.

This rule was extremely friendly to both those with and without Sword Intent.

Even after so many years, the Lin Family still only had twenty-eight individuals who had comprehended Sword Intent, less than thirty.

If Lin Shiming, Lin Xianzhi, Lin Shijie, Lin Zeli, Lin Yanxing, and others were excluded, the number would be even smaller.

It was almost five out of twenty.

As for those who hadn’t comprehended Sword Intent, there were many more. The Lin Family’s Sword Hall Cultivators numbered over three hundred eighty.

Out of so many people, only two would be chosen.

This showed the strictness of the Lin Family’s Sword Trial Assembly.

And the rewards were extremely generous for them.

A customized Magical Artifact from the Family’s Artifact Refiners, and even guidance from Lin Shiming.

One must know that even for the Lin Family’s Cultivators with special Spiritual Roots, opportunities to receive guidance from Lin Shiming were rare.

”If there are no problems, the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall will begin drawing lots!” Lin Yanjiao said.

The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was also a newly established department in the Lin Family.

Unlike other departments, which were filled with young, vibrant, and aggressive Cultivators, this department consisted of older individuals. What made Lin Shiming cover his face was that the head of this department was his own father.

He hadn’t managed the Family’s miscellaneous affairs and departmental appointments for a long time.

However, even after seeing it, Lin Shiming didn’t say anything.

Lin Houyuan had evidently reached the Purple Mansion Realm, and his cultivation progress had slowed to an extreme.

His Three Spiritual Roots talent, coupled with slow cultivation progress in his youth, made it extremely difficult for him to catch up now.

He was now almost half-retired, beginning to guide the Family.

Such situations were common in the Lin Family. Most of the members in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall were from the Shi Generation, whose lifespans were nearing their end, and a few from the Ze Generation.

Lin Shiming didn’t stop him, but secretly made a mental note to send Lin Houyuan more resources.

He couldn’t ensure that all the Lin Family’s Cultivators could continue on the path of Immortal Cultivation, but he could allow his closest relatives to accompany him longer on the Immortal Path.

”The drawing of lots is complete. Five arenas for those with Sword Intent, fifteen for those without. Numbers will be randomly matched for trial combat. If a sword falls or a combatant leaves the arena, it counts as a loss!” Lin Houyuan announced loudly.

Soon, twenty people walked out and simultaneously began their trial by sword.

Lin Shiming, on the high platform, was now thoughtfully observing the group without Sword Intent. Two hundred people participated in this Sword Trial Assembly, a considerable number, including Lin Zeying and Lin Changjian.

The former was his son, and surprisingly, he hadn’t spoken to him upon his return, seemingly wanting to avoid gossip.

Lin Shiming naturally didn’t care about this; seeing the confident look in his son’s eyes, Lin Shiming was greatly pleased.

As for Lin Changjian, there was even less need to say; he was almost one of the top two candidates.

His Sword Intent was different from the unowned Sword Intent of others, which was self-honed. His Sword Intent almost followed the Sword Intent of the Yan Yang Sword.

Lin Shiming didn’t know if this was good or bad.

After all, owned Sword Intent had form, while unowned Sword Intent was formless.

But it was still a type of Sword Dao, and Lin Shiming was happy to see the Lin Family’s diverse talents flourish.

Only then could there be outstanding individuals in every generation.

Among the Sword Intent Cultivators, Lin Shiming also saw many familiar faces.

The competition quickly began, with twenty arenas activating simultaneously.

Ten types of Sword Intent, forty Golden Iron Swords, displayed in the sky, were truly exhilarating.

All the Cultivators of the Sword Hall were incredibly excited at this moment.

After all, this was the first Sword Trial Assembly.

Ren Water Sword Intent, Autumn Wind Sword Intent, Blazing Fire Sword Intent... a full ten distinct Sword Intents surged on the arenas.

Lin Shiming scanned the arenas; those without Sword Intent didn’t particularly impress him.

However, among those with Sword Intent, one person caught his attention.

It was the Sky-Supporting Sword Intent.

That Sword Intent was like a towering sword-tree, breaking through the void.

This kind of Sword Intent was somewhat similar to his Grass Sword Intent, yet also different.

The Grass Sword Intent focused on multiplicity, while this Sky-Supporting Sword Intent was more akin to True Lord Sky Sword’s Sword Intent of the Qingxuan Sect, focusing on breaking through.

Lin Shiming had once comprehended the plaque of True Lord Sky Sword, but at that time, True Lord Sky Sword was still a Golden Core Cultivator.

The reappearance of this similar Sword Intent touched him.

His opponent wielded Blazing Fire Sword Intent.

Originally, Wood Sword Intent should have been suppressed, but this Family member, seizing the moment when the Blazing Fire Sword Intent was exhausted, unleashed a move that broke the intent, revealing its sharp edge.

”This is Yan Chu, with the Sky-Supporting Sword Intent. He is currently sixty-eight years old, at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and close to Sword Qi Coagulation. Even Yanxing praises his Sword Dao talent endlessly.” Lin Yanjiao introduced him to Lin Shiming.

The Yan Generation member, sixty-eight years old, was clearly a descendant of the Ze Generation.

Lin Shiming nodded.

This Lin Yanchu was indeed capable.

And with this surging Sword Intent, the other members of the Sword Hall also began to compete.

The Sword Intent arena was a bit slower, but the battles on the no-Sword Intent side were fast-paced.

Because only Golden Iron Swords could be used, the competition was about the level of Sword Intent comprehension.

Almost whoever had more Sword Intent would win.

Lin Changjian indeed won all his matches.

Lin Zeying, on the other hand, found it quite difficult.

However, relying on his abundant fire-attribute spiritual power, he managed to keep winning.

By midday, the five victors with Sword Intent had been decided: Lin Yanchu, Lin Yanyi, Lin Changsheng, Lin Zeqing, and Lin Yanhu.

For those without Sword Intent, it took two more days to determine the winners.

Lin Changjian was one of them, and the other was Lin Changfeng, also a Cultivator with special Spiritual Roots. Lin Zeying only made it into the top ten.

After the Sword Trial Assembly, there were also various skill competitions, such as the Artifact Refining Assembly and the Alchemy Assembly.

These skill assemblies didn’t produce any dazzling newcomers, which Lin Shiming was accustomed to. Cultivators like Lin Zehong were, after all, a minority.

However, during the Formation Dao competition, a young man with thick eyebrows, Lin Changzhen, displayed exceptionally outstanding talent, even earning the highest praise from Lin Zelu.

Despite being at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, he could deploy Peak Third-Order Formations, and with assistance, could even set up simpler Fourth-Order Formations.

His Formation talent surpassed even Lin Zelu’s, and he directly claimed the top spot in the Formation Dao.

”Ze Lu, I’m entrusting Changzhen to you. Make sure you guide him to become thoroughly familiar with all the Family’s Formations!” Lin Shiming also highly praised such an outstanding Family member.

Soon, it was time for another of the Lin Family’s reform initiatives: the Spirit Beast Assembly.

Due to the Ten Thousand Snake Cave, many Lin Family members had Spirit Snakes as their Spirit Beasts.

Moreover, these Spirit Beasts had given birth to many offspring, and there were already differences compared to the previous ones.

That’s why Lin Shiming decided to hold this Spirit Beast Assembly, to allow the truly talented Spirit Snakes of the Lin Family to advance to Jiaolong ahead of time.

Instead of having the spots occupied by the Spirit Beasts of the Lin Family’s Purple Mansion Cultivators and Golden Core Cultivators.

Although the Jiaolong Nest was powerful, it could only accommodate five or six Jiaolong at a time, and the cycle was once every twenty to thirty years.

If some Cultivators in the Lin Family couldn’t participate in the previous skill assemblies.

Then for the Spirit Beast Assembly, far too many participated.

This time, Lin Shiming directly instructed Lin Yanjiao to initiate a challenge-arena mode.

Once this mode was announced, all Spirit Snakes or Half-Jiaolong who considered themselves powerful would ascend the arena.

If they defended the arena twenty times, or remained in the arena until the very end, they could also enter the top thirty.

As Spirit Snakes and venomous giant pythons appeared one after another on the arena.

The entire arena’s style was distinctly different from before.

And now, without the Lin Family’s Cultivators, the fighting became even more fierce.

Sometimes, the Spirit Beasts couldn’t control their attacks and directly devoured the opponent’s Spirit Snake, which was entirely possible.

The scene became increasingly brutal.

And Lin Shiming’s System prompt suddenly appeared: [Please pay attention to the small crimson snake; it possesses a trace of the Crimson Flame True Dragon Bloodline!]

Lin Shiming was momentarily stunned when he heard this.

Then came the ecstasy.

The last individual in the Lin Family to possess a True Spirit Bloodline was Lin Zeying’s Phoenix Bird.

Now, another Crimson Flame True Dragon True Spirit Bloodline had appeared. For the Lin Family, as long as it was properly cultivated, it could potentially become the second Sixth-Order Jiao Emperor in the future.

Perhaps even Seventh-Order.

With the System prompt, Lin Shiming’s interest in other Spirit Beasts greatly diminished at this point. After all, other Spirit Beasts, at most, had Jiaolong Bloodline. With the Bloodline Ancestral Return Secret Method, they could at most become Jiaolong, reaching Fifth-Order, but Sixth-Order was extremely difficult.

However, what troubled Lin Shiming was that the small crimson snake had not yet appeared.

As time passed, on the third arena, a thunder snake had already won twelve times.

It was already not far from twenty wins.

This thunder snake was not large, and its owner was a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator from the Lin Family’s Yan Generation.

Just then, a small crimson snake suddenly crawled onto the arena.

The small crimson snake was only at the Third-Order Early Stage, a bit weaker than the thunder snake.

Everyone almost believed that the thunder snake would successfully defend the arena again.

Only a young girl with two braids stood in front of the arena, constantly cheering on the small crimson snake.

”Crimson Dragon, go! Beat the thunder bug, you’re the strongest!” The girl was only at the Qi Refining Stage Ninth Level.

This also surprised Lin Shiming. Although the Lin Family had the Soul Restraining Seal, it was rare for a Qi Refining Stage Ninth Level Cultivator to control a Third-Order Foundation Establishment Yao Beast.

Under normal circumstances, it would easily backfire.

However, the small crimson snake seemed to greatly appreciate the girl’s encouragement, even nodding its snake head towards her.

”Begin!” As the law enforcement officers announced the start.

The thunder snake appeared somewhat calm. It flicked its tongue, not intending to get close, but rather to use its thunder strike technique to directly defeat the small crimson snake.

Arcs of lightning arrows flew out, but a scale on the small crimson snake suddenly lit up, greatly increasing its speed, easily dodging the lightning arrows.

And it spat out a fire arrow.

It was even faster than the lightning arrows.

Boom!

It struck the thunder snake.

The thunder snake was instantly blasted off the arena.

Everyone was in disbelief.

It was simply too fast.

The one-sided situation that was expected did indeed occur, but the outcome was completely opposite.

”Who is this girl?” Lin Shiming asked.

”Let me ask!” Lin Yanjiao was also stunned at this moment.

The girl was just an ordinary Three Spiritual Roots Cultivator; to be honest, Lin Yanjiao hadn’t paid attention to her.

After a pause, she asked for a while before speaking:

”This girl’s name is Lin Changyu, a Three Spiritual Roots Cultivator. She has been proficient in beast language since childhood and is exceptionally skilled at cultivating Spirit Beasts. She was previously in the Eastern Domain.”

”Transfer her to Shuangmu Island. Also, regardless of whether she successfully defends the arena, she will be placed in the top five!” Lin Shiming said.

This small crimson snake was only at the Third-Order Early Stage and might not be a match for a Peak Third-Order Spirit Beast.

However, its cultivation value was the highest.

Making an exception for her was also an excellent decision.

The Beast Taming Assembly proceeded in an orderly fashion. The small crimson snake, initially underestimated, became an ace, eventually defending the arena twenty times.

It seemed as if Lin Shiming didn’t even need to make an exception for him.

And three other Spirit Snakes appeared that Lin Shiming was quite optimistic about.

One was a Sky Blue Python, another a Five-Colored Lizard, and a Silver-Ringed Snake.

And he felt that this Spirit Beast Assembly was indeed necessary.

These three all had excellent talent. As long as the Bloodline Ancestral Return Secret Method was used well, their potential would not be much lower than that of Wang Jiao before he consumed the golden dragon fruit.

And if there hadn’t been a Spirit Beast Assembly, these Spirit Beasts might never have appeared before Lin Shiming’s eyes.

After all, their owners were all Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

They were not qualified enough to know about the Jiaolong Nest and the Jiaolong Transformation Secret Method.

”Next, let’s prepare to announce the Family Head candidate and the upcoming Secret Method.” Lin Shiming said.

Having resolved the conflicts between the Lin Family’s branch and main lines through all the major competitions, the tension was now almost at its lowest. Lin Shiming naturally wouldn’t forget the most important factor of this Grand Competition.

Lin Yanjiao also nodded solemnly.

The Lin Family had gone to great lengths precisely for this moment.

”Fellow Lin Family members, Yan Jiao has served as the Lin Family Head for sixty-five years!”

”And today, it is time for another selection of the Family Head!”

”Please, Grand Elder Seventh Grand Uncle, announce the new Family Head candidate!” Lin Yanjiao spoke first, then looked at Lin Shiming.

The Family Head candidate was predetermined and agreed upon.

In the past, Lin Xianzhi would announce it, but today Lin Xianzhi was still in the midst of his Golden Core Breakthrough.

Naturally, only Lin Shiming could make the announcement.

”The new Lin Family Head will be Lin Yanqing, and the Deputy Family Head will be Lin Changxing. It will also be an assessment System, assessed for ten years. After ten years, they can be replaced at any time.” Lin Shiming also announced.

As these words were spoken, Lin Yanqing and Lin Zewen instantly became extremely excited.

They had actually already prepared for not being selected.