"In this way, we can throw them off the scent. It explains Lingrui's realm while also making him appear greedy and reckless in his cultivation, reaping the consequences of his own impatience. With such an immature and impulsive temperament, the Li family's impression of him will naturally take a heavy hit, and the marriage proposal will most likely fizzle out."

Elder Yu pondered the matter carefully and found the plan feasible.

Yang Lingrui immediately agreed as well. He only wished to focus single-mindedly on cultivation and had no interest whatsoever in marriage or starting a family. Being able to cleverly avoid the betrothal was naturally for the best.

"This method is truly ingenious!"

Yang Linghu praised, then asked further, "But Sister Lingqing, I can understand Lingrui's resistance to the marriage. Why is your attitude so unyielding as well? Even if the Li family has some trouble, couldn't we use this to deepen our relationship with them and perhaps even hitch ourselves to their sect background?"

"This is absolutely out of the question!"

Yang Lingqing said with a serious expression. "Regardless of what problems are brewing within the Li family, that trouble is not something our Yang family has the ability to meddle in. If we get even slightly involved, it could very well bring about the calamity of our entire clan being wiped out. If a high-level expert schemes against us, we wouldn't even know how we died."

"Hiss-Is it really that dangerous?"

Hearing that the consequences were so severe, Yang Linghu's heart tightened, and he drew in a sharp breath.

"Others always envy the Li family's sect background, but is having such a backer necessarily a good thing? Do you know which sect the Li family has latched onto?"

"This... I truly don't know." Yang Linghu shook his head.

Yang Lingqing smiled. "Then guess why Wangyue City is called Wangyue City."

"Wangyue City... Wangyue City, Gazing at the Moon!"

At that thought, a name was on the tip of his tongue.

Lone Moon Mountain!

Regarding this sect, Yang Guanfeng had repeatedly warned them before he left-they must never get involved with them in any way.

Even if they encountered their members outside, they had to steer clear.

Understanding this, Yang Linghu felt a wave of lingering fear.

If the sect the Li family had latched onto was truly Lone Moon Mountain, then as for the matter between the two families... it was better to just forget it.

"The Wangchao, the Sects, and the noble families-the relationship between the three has always been one of the larger encompassing the smaller, one link interlocking with another. The complexity of their intertwined interests is far beyond what we can imagine. I believe that given our current situation at home, it is better to wait a few years. We can first send a child to the Myriad Transformations Sect to scout the situation, discern the lay of the land, and then make a decision. For now, it is best to avoid attracting too much attention."

Speaking to this point, Yang Lingqing's words revealed a hint of her inner anxiety.

It had been manageable before, but from now on, the Yang family would gradually step onto the grand stage and enter the field of vision of various forces. They would face far more complex circumstances and would need to think thrice before acting to avoid making mistakes.

"Sister Lingqing is right. Lingrui will remember this."

Chen Yang had been listening to their discussion the whole time.

He shared Yang Lingqing's view, believing that the Li family matter was not something to touch.

The Yang family's current situation was already quite good. Even if Lingrui gained nothing from this trip to the Golden Scale Dharma Assembly, they could still develop quietly for many more years. There was no urgent pressure to grow.

If they were to jump into muddy waters just for the sake of that so-called sect background, they would be gambling with the family foundation that Yang Guanfeng had painstakingly built over nearly twenty years. It was far too risky.

'There are still six months. I need to step up my efforts. Before Lingrui leaves, I'll prepare a fine-grade Mountain-Splitting Talisman for him to take along.'

Thinking this, Chen Yang once again immersed himself in the study of the Talisman Art Inheritance.

In the days that followed, everyone followed Yang Lingqing's arrangement. Elder Yu went to the market to sell talismans and deliberately let slip in casual conversations with acquaintances that he had purchased cultivation pills.

To cooperate with the act, Yang Lingrui also temporarily slowed down his cultivation of techniques during these six months, focusing his efforts on practicing magical arts instead.

This suited Yang Linghu perfectly. The two of them spent almost every day sparring and dueling, going at each other fiercely, often beating each other black and blue until they could barely walk.

The reason they dared to act so recklessly was naturally because Chen Yang was at home.

Such injuries only needed to be exposed to the healing light for a little over two hours to fully recover. After resting for one night, they could get up the next day and go at it again.

It had to be said that under this kind of almost insane training, the two had made great progress in their magical arts over the six months.

Yang Lingrui could now simultaneously control four wind blades, increasing his combat power by more than twenty percent.

Yang Linghu's progress was even more astonishing. This child had always possessed an extraordinary physique and was uniquely gifted in the cultivation of magical arts. His current achievements even left Elder Yu somewhat stunned.

Can you imagine? A cultivator at only the peak of the second level of Qi Gathering could actually train a magical art to the fourth layer!

Yang Linghu and Yang Guanfeng cultivated the same magical art, called the Brute Force Art.

After this art reached the fourth layer, one could gain tremendous killing power by expanding their physical body.

Earlier, in the secret realm, Yang Guanfeng had demonstrated the ferocity of this art, enlarging a single arm to slap the bald cultivator to death with a single palm strike.

And now, Yang Linghu could also achieve this!

Deep in Song Mountain, within the dense forest.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Roar!"

The sounds of beastly roars and fierce collisions rang out continuously.

Looking over, Yang Linghu had found a third-tier boar demon at the Qi Gathering stage and was engaged in a fierce battle with it.

The fight between man and beast was utterly unadorned, plain to the extreme-a pure, head-on clash of physical strength.

Thud!

Rip!

"Hahaha! Refreshing! This is the feeling! Again!"

After exchanging a blow with the boar demon, Yang Linghu laughed heartily and pounced on it once more.

Seeing this, the boar demon actually seemed a bit scared and began to dodge.

It didn't know what bad luck it had run into today, encountering such a mad human who relentlessly pursued and battered it.

Originally, seeing that the opponent's aura was weaker than its own, it thought it had found a lunch that had delivered itself.

How could it have known that this human would completely transform when fighting? Those fists pounding into its body were truly unbearable.

Perhaps sensing that the boar demon was thinking of retreating, Yang Linghu stopped holding back.

Brute Force Art, Fourth Layer! Right Arm Enlargement!

"Open!"

With a fierce shout, his raised arm crackled and popped, swelling to more than double its size in the blink of an eye. Then, he suddenly punched out.

"Take this!"

Boom!

The speed and power of this punch far exceeded the standard of the early Qi Gathering stage.

Elder Yu, observing from the side, felt that even a fourth-level Qi Gathering cultivator would have to avoid this punch's edge.

The boar demon naturally could not dodge it. Taking the punch squarely, its body flew sideways for several zhang before twitching a few times and going still.

Although there were no external injuries, the bones, flesh, and internal organs beneath its skin were already shattered into pieces. It was deader than dead.

And Yang Linghu, who had thrown this punch, swayed somewhat, his body slightly drained of strength.

His enlarged right arm returned to normal, but it was already purple all over, with skin and flesh torn and bones and sinews exposed-it was in a half-crippled state.

With his current second-level realm, forcibly executing a fourth-layer magical art allowed him to complete a cross-tier challenge, but the intensity was still a massive overload that his current physical body could barely withstand.

"Linghu, that's enough. Let's stop here for today."

Elder Yu appeared and said, "This technique has tremendous power. You need to use it cautiously in the future."

"I know, Elder Yu. With two arms, I have at most two chances. I'll treat it as a last-resort, life-or-death move," Yang Linghu replied.

The two then returned home. Chen Yang was already used to Yang Linghu's injuries of this kind and cast a beam of green light to heal him.

By now, he was very proficient in using his various divine abilities. Needless to say, his breathing and qi-gathering techniques were second nature. Now, he could even focus on drawing talismans while simultaneously casting the healing light.

Five months passed, and his understanding of the Talisman Art was growing deeper.

Take the Mountain-Splitting Talisman, for example. Chen Yang could now guarantee a success rate of about forty percent for inferior-grade talismans.

This probability might seem low, but only because there was no comparison.

To know, an ordinary talisman master at the same realm had a success rate of less than twenty percent for inferior-grade talismans.

Those with better talent could raise this probability to around thirty percent. Producing a fine-grade talisman was entirely a matter of luck-getting one out of twenty or thirty was considered good.

As for premium-grade talismans, that was a level only cultivators truly gifted in this path could touch.

The reason Chen Yang could continuously improve in this path was largely due to his advantage of being born a stone, naturally possessing a calm and settled mind.