Chapter 148 There Is News

When Qin Ming was practicing just now, the Profound Water Crocodile had wandered over from somewhere and sprawled beside him, absorbing the drifting vitality of flora and fauna.

It squinted its eyes, its large mouth twitching in a state of utter ecstasy, and the aura around its body grew significantly stronger, bringing it not far from breaking through to become a Tier 2 mid-grade great demon.

Finishing his cultivation session, Qin Ming收功 and looked up at the Longevity Vine.

He discovered that it had once again blossomed with hundreds of skull-shaped purple flower buds.

Moreover, three golden attributes had refreshed:

[Name]: Longevity Vine [Attribute]: Faint Lifespan X5 (Maturity 1%)

[Name]: Longevity Vine [Attribute]: Leaf of Time and Space X5 (Maturity 1%)

[Name]: Longevity Vine [Attribute]: Spirit Plant Enlivenment (Maturity 1%)

[Spirit Plant Enlivenment]: Upon use, it grants a certain degree of sentience to spirit plants.

"It can actually impart sentience to spirit plants!"

"Another fifty years of lifespan." Qin Ming gazed at the attributes on the Longevity Vine and revealed a faint smile.

One must know that even among miraculous pills designed to prolong life, the amount of longevity they could grant was extremely limited, and once consumed excessively, the life-extending effects would progressively diminish.

However, the lifespan attribute on his Longevity Vine did not suffer from this issue; as long as it was used, it would indefinitely increase his lifespan.

"Immortal longevity is within reach!"

"In terms of lifespan, I must similarly crush other immortal cultivators."

Qin Ming was in quite a pleasant mood today and fed each of his spirit pets another Dragon Blood Divine Fruit.

随后他收敛起修为气息，朝着岛下走去。 (Translating paragraph context smoothly into the ongoing narrative without literal phrasing: Suppressing his cultivation aura, he walked down toward the foot of the island.)

Upon arriving below, he found the couple Wu Jiang and his wife tending to the spirit fields. The Beast-Tooth Rice in the fields had already sprouted verdant, lush green shoots, covering a sprawling area of more than ten mu.

It seemed that Wu Jiang had made great progress in cultivating spirit rice once again.

"Not bad, not bad!"

This also meant that in two years' time, Qin Ming would be able to collect a larger rent in Beast-Tooth Rice.

Seeing Qin Ming approach, Wu Jiang set down his work, walked up to him, and smiled, "Fellow Daoist Qin, look, is my cultivation method passable?"

"Mm, quite good. For you to cultivate the Beast-Tooth Rice to this state is already commendable." Qin Ming nodded in appreciation.

Then, turning his gaze around, he asked with a hint of confusion, "Where are your two children?"

"How come they aren't following behind you to help out today?"

At these words, Wu Jiang's face brimmed with pride and complacency, and he replied with glowing enthusiasm: "A few days ago, I sent them to the Thunder Origin Sect to cultivate."

"Wangfeng was accepted as the closed-door disciple of the Thunder Origin Sect's Grand Elder, and Wangyue was also taken in as a disciple by the Third Elder."

Initially, Wu Jiang's intention had been to have his two children enter Qin Ming's sect as disciples, but unfortunately, Qin Ming had no inclination to take on apprentices.

Watching his children grow day by day, Wu Jiang, as a parent, naturally hoped his offspring would soar like dragons and phoenixes, finding a good master and a smooth path in the immortal realm.

Given the spirit root aptitudes of Wu Wangfeng and Wu Wangyue, they would be fiercely contested, prime planting material for immortality anywhere they went. After much deliberation, the couple decided to send the two children to the Thunder Origin Sect.

Hearing Wu Jiang's words, however, Qin Ming furrowed his brows slightly. In peaceful and stable times, having the two children enter a dominant, nation-ruling sect like the Thunder Origin Sect naturally presented no problem.

Yet presently, the couple was unaware that the conflict between the Spirit Feather Sect and the Thunder Origin Sect was on the verge of escalating, and peace would likely elude the region for some time to come.

Sending the children into the Thunder Origin Sect at this juncture was by no means a wise move.

It would be fine if the Thunder Origin Sect won the conflict; as disciples of the elders, the two children would receive priority allocation for cultivation resources and environments.

However, should they suffer defeat, given the Spirit Feather Sect's thorough and merciless style of eradication, they would spare no one associated with an enemy faction.

Nevertheless, seeing Wu Jiang's joyful expression, Qin Ming lacked the heart to reveal the truth to him.

Since they had already entered the sect and acknowledged their masters, it was already too late to say anything.

*I just hope it isn't what I fear.*

If the Thunder Origin Sect could stabilize the overarching situation in the State of Wei's immortal cultivation world, then with the innate talents of his two children, becoming prominent prodigies would merely be a matter of time.

Over these years, by farming on Qin Ming's Moon-Gazing Island, Wu Jiang had reaped substantial rewards, and his cultivation had gradually climbed to the ninth layer of Qi Condensation.

His Dao companion, Mu Ruyin, had also advanced to the late stage of the seventh layer of Qi Condensation.

This was something they would never have dared to imagine back when they crestfallenly took the Mirror Snow Pavilion's Dharma boat back to the Spirit Roost Archipelagos, yet they had actually achieved it now.

Some time ago, following the conclusion of the turmoil on Thousand Leaf Spirit Island, the patriarch of the Wu family, Wu Hanyuan, had led a faction of clansmen to migrate back to White Rock Island.

After all, White Rock Island remained their foundation, and they inevitably had to return to rebuild it.

Qin Ming had originally agreed to let them temporarily shelter from the storm here solely out of regard for Wu Jiang having followed him for many years.

Now, leaving behind a portion of spirit farmers to till the fields was quite sufficient.

...

Qin Ming returned to the main peak.

"Ah, celebrating such a joyful breakthrough today calls for draining a massive bowl of wine!" A smile surfaced on his face.

He then proceeded into the purple-golden bamboo grove and, following the location where he had buried the "Spirit Fire Wine" he brewed previously, retrieved his spirit hoe and began digging.

A short while later, two jars of Spirit Fire Wine were unearthed, while the remainder stayed buried to grow richer and more fragrant with time.

"Hopefully, this batch of brewing was a success!"

One had to realize that this Spirit Fire Wine had been brewed using the very raw materials he had consumed for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

Qin Ming patted the side of the jar and snapped open the seal.

Instantly, a hazy, mist-like spiritual essence drifted forth from within the vessel.

A rich aroma of spirit wine assailed his senses, causing Qin Ming's spirits to instantly perk up.

Merely taking a whiff left one intoxicated and entranced.

"It brewed successfully!"

A look of delight crossed Qin Ming's face, and he immediately cradled the jar and drank straight from it.

"Truly fine wine!" A brilliant gleam flashed in Qin Ming's eyes.

The moment it went down, a uniquely rich and mellow fragrance lingered in his throat, followed by a warm current coursing through his entire body, which even managed to slightly advance his magical power.

However, this Spirit Fire Wine was meant to enhance magical power and cultivation at the early stage of Foundation Establishment; for Qin Ming, who was now at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, its effect on increasing magical power was virtually negligible.

Even so, the distinctive flavor and taste of this Spirit Fire Wine would undoubtedly be regarded as a sacred treasure in the eyes of connoisseurs devoted to the path of wine.

Qin Ming sat alone within the purple-golden grove, leisurely sipping the spirit wine for a moment before hauling out the manual *Divine Recipes of the Wine Immortal* to study it.

His gaze lingered upon a wine recipe named "Jade Kirin Wine." This type of spirit wine possessed a certain efficacy in augmenting cultivation at both the mid-stage and late stage of Foundation Establishment.

What made it even more precious was that, according to the descriptions left by the senior Wine Immortal who created this divine manual, Jade Kirin Wine was an peerless celestial nectar within the immortal cultivation world.

Even the creator himself held it in the highest esteem.

Coincidentally, Qin Ming already possessed a large portion of the spirit ingredients required to brew Jade Kirin Wine; he merely needed to gather the remaining few components.

After all, he had previously plundered the storage bags of so many Foundation Establishment cultivators, which naturally contained some reserve stocks here and there.

"My magical power and cultivation have now broken through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment."

"As for the second transformation of the Foundation Establishment stage in the *Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture*, all I lack is high-grade demonic beast blood. I am rather reluctant to use inferior demonic beast blood, so I must find a solution."

Having experienced the might brought by the first transformation of True Essence Materialization, Qin Ming understood that the higher the grade of the demonic beast blood refined, the greater the might of the cultivation method once mastered.

Just as he was pondering this,

The communication talisman on his person transmitted a message.

Qin Ming opened it to find it was sent by Aunt Long from the Mirror Snow Pavilion.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, the high-grade demonic beast blood and Tier 3 spirit plant seeds that you previously entrusted our Pavilion Master to keep an eye out for have finally yielded news."