Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation

Chapter 248 - 175: Ling Qiyue: Can You Take On 10?

"What a pity."

Ling Changqing shook his head helplessly, but didn’t dwell on it for too long.

Qin Yun covered her mouth and chuckled softly. "You’ve made some progress this time, my husband. Try again!"

No Talisman Master ever starts out without wasting a huge pile of materials.

The same was true for Pill Masters. Crafting useless Poison Pills or even having their Spirit Flame go out of control and blow up the cauldron were commonplace occurrences.

To a certain extent, proficiency in these Supporting Art Skills was built up with Spirit Stone resources. The greater the investment, the faster and higher one’s skill would improve.

Ling Changqing agreed and took another sheet of blank talisman paper, beginning his third attempt.

With the experience from his two previous failures, this attempt went much more smoothly. After waiting for about half an hour, the two women finally saw Ling Changqing successfully draw the last stroke.

A faint Spiritual Light began to flicker between the Restriction patterns on the talisman paper, indicating that this Early Grade Water Repelling Talisman was now usable. It only needed a slight injection of Spiritual Power to be activated.

"Finally, a success!"

Ling Changqing let out a slight sigh of relief and put down the Talisman Pen in his hand.

"You’re amazing, my husband!"

Ling Bingyun said with a smile in her beautiful eyes, her voice soft and smooth.

This was no empty compliment. To succeed at drawing a Talisman for the first time after only two failures, regardless of whether luck was involved, was an achievement that surpassed the vast majority of Talisman Master apprentices.

Qin Yun moved her curvaceous and graceful body behind Ling Changqing, placed her slender, soft hands on his shoulders, and began to massage them.

"If you keep practicing, my husband, it won’t be long before you become a true Talisman Master. Even becoming a Second Rank Talisman Master is a certainty!"

the elegant, beautiful woman said with a radiant smile.

Ling Changqing himself felt quite satisfied. He picked up the Bronze Wine Jar beside him, took a sip, and said,

"Let’s stop here for today. I’m feeling a bit hungry. Why don’t we get something to eat first, and then..."

He had come over this time and accompanied the two women in their Cultivation for a day and a night, then spent the better part of a day learning Talisman Making. His Essence, Qi, and Spirit were indeed quite drained.

Ling Bingyun gave him a seductive look. "Alright. I’ll have them make the arrangements."

While the Maids were preparing the banquet, Ling Changqing pulled the two women along for a soak in the hot spring.

Under their intentional and unintentional teasing, the flames of passion were rekindled. He then defeated them so thoroughly that they had to beg for mercy before he would temporarily let them go.

By the time the three of them had cleaned up and gotten dressed again, a lavish banquet had already been laid out.

Ling Changqing sat in the main seat with the two women beside him. Ling Bingyun first filled his cup with Spirit Wine, and then the three of them began to feast heartily.

"...My husband, should we start thinking about having a child?"

Qin Yun hesitated for a moment before putting down her ivory chopsticks and speaking softly.

Ling Changqing’s expression faltered slightly. He pondered for a few breaths before saying,

"There’s no need to rush, is there? Shouldn’t we at least wait until you’ve reached the Golden Core Master Realm?"

Qin Yun’s beautiful face flushed red as she explained in a low voice,

"It was Sister Yue’s idea. She said that your identity is too special, my husband. If possible, it would be best to have an heir or two as soon as possible to ensure the family has a successor..."

From the Patriarch’s standpoint, Ling Qiyue’s consideration was perfectly reasonable. In her view, only a blood descendant of Ling Changqing would be qualified to bear the heavy responsibility of carrying on the family’s legacy.

Ling Changqing was silent for a longer time now, finding it difficult to explain things to them.

’As a special existence like a Child of Destiny, an anomaly in the River of Time, can I even have blood descendants like a normal person?’ He had no idea.

"Alright," Ling Changqing said. "Since you all want a child, we’ll just let nature take its course!"

Hearing this, joy overflowed in Qin Yun’s bright, beautiful eyes. "In that case, you’ll have to work hard on us from now on, my husband. All the sisters are waiting!"

Ling Changqing nodded, though deep down, he didn’t think they would get their wish so quickly.

’In truth, raising a child would inevitably delay their Cultivation progress, and the gain might not be worth the loss.’

’So, logically and emotionally, it would be best for them to reach the Golden Core Master Realm first. Only then would they have ample time to raise the next generation without delaying their own training.’

’But they clearly didn’t see it that way. Perhaps they felt that having his child was the only way to secure their position in his heart?’

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Ling Changqing went to the Inner Study to continue practicing drawing Talismans.

With the experience of his previous success, the process was a bit easier this time, and it took less time as well.

After successfully drawing two more Talismans in a row, a message silently appeared in his sea of consciousness, emanating waves of Dao Rhyme:

[Master of the Era Star Palace: Ling Changqing]

[Bone Age: 37/385]

[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Peak]

[Talisman Dao: 12/20000 (Rank One Low Grade)]

This meant Ling Changqing’s skill in Talismans had reached the entry-level. To improve further, he just needed to accumulate experience step by step.

With his Luck and Fortune, it shouldn’t take him too long to catch up to Qin Yun’s progress.

"Master, if you want to rapidly increase your Art Skills proficiency, you can also do so by consuming Lifespan..."

Gong Ling’s voice rang out in his sea of consciousness.

According to her, by spending twenty years of Lifespan, he could raise his Talisman Dao proficiency to Rank One Middle Grade.

If he was willing to spend another fifty years of Lifespan, he could reach the level of a Rank One High Grade Talisman Master.

Ling Changqing’s eyes brightened for a moment. He weighed the pros and cons, but ultimately shook his head.

The reason was simple: the cost was just too high.

Besides, Ling Changqing wasn’t facing a life-or-death crisis. He wasn’t at a point where he needed to risk everything to improve his Art Skills just to survive.

’Let’s save that for when it’s actually needed,’ Ling Changqing thought. ’For now, improving slowly like this is fine. Lifespan is a Cultivator’s most precious resource and can’t be squandered casually.’

"Understood, Master."

Gong Ling didn’t insist. No matter what, she would never make a decision in her master’s place.

"My husband, shall we continue our Cultivation?"

Ling Bingyun sidled up to him and said, her large, clear eyes fixed on him, their meaning self-evident.

Since Ling Changqing had relented, they naturally wanted to strike while the iron was hot and try a few more times to see if they could get some good news.

Ling Changqing didn’t refuse. He stood up and followed them into the inner chamber of their boudoir.

...

「In the Patriarch’s Embroidery Tower.」

Tang Qiu Yao took out the newly drafted monthly allowance distribution list and handed it to Ling Qiyue and the other women to look over.

Ling Yuzhu, Ling Yulu, Ling Xueyu, and Ling Zhiqing were all present, as was Mu Yu Xin, who had just arrived. After all, this matter was very important to all of them.

"Regarding this matter, I have already discussed it with our husband beforehand..."

the gorgeous, demure, and elegant Tang Qiu Yao explained unhurriedly.

"From now on, in addition to the resource quota distributed by the family, all sisters can receive five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones from me each month, as well as ten Nourishing Spirit Pills, some Spirit Wine Nectar, and a certain amount of Second Grade Ingredients..."

"Sisters who are cultivating Supporting Art Skills will receive an additional subsidy of three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones per month and will have access to specialized Scriptures for study..."

"At the end of each year, every sister will receive a lump sum of three thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, and there will be a fixed allowance for expenses such as clothing, jewelry, Talismanic Elixirs, and so on..."

The above terms applied only to the Dao Companions in the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Since Ling Qiyue was already a Golden Core Master and Xue Qingtan was close, their monthly allowance was on another level.

As for Ling Changqing’s two personal Maids, Song Xuelan and Ling Menghuan, they also received an extra monthly allowance.

The pure and radiant Ling Zhiqing, whose shapely legs were strikingly long, blinked her beautiful, glistening eyes, her expression quite surprised.

"Our husband is truly generous! With the help of these extra resources, our Cultivation progress should at least double, right?"

Ling Qiyue nodded slightly. "As long as you don’t slack off, that is a certainty.

Besides, our husband’s Cultivation will only get higher and higher in the future. So-called bottlenecks don’t exist for him!

If you want to keep up with his pace, you’ll have to work hard, won’t you?"

"You’re right, sister!"

the women all agreed.

Tang Qiu Yao smiled. "These resources aren’t from the family’s public assets, but from our husband’s own pocket. So, sisters, don’t let his efforts go to waste!"

"How could we? There’s no way!"

the women said in unison.

Ling Yulu blinked her beautiful eyes and asked doubtfully, "Sister, from the way our husband talks, does this mean there will be new sisters joining us in the future?"

"Definitely,"

Ling Qiyue huffed. "You all know what kind of man he is, don’t you?

Frankly, I’m curious to see if he can actually handle ten at once."

"..."