Yang Lingrui also clapped his hands and said, "As expected of Sister Qing, your analysis is so thorough."

Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu watched Yang Lingqing speak with such eloquence, revealing looks of admiration and nodding frequently.

For a family to produce a junior like Yang Lingqing, who was both quick-witted and steady in temperament, was something many clans dreamed of but could never obtain.

"Lingqing speaks well. No wonder only you can communicate with that Spirit Stone."

After the battle with the Beast Tide, the Yang family had changed how they addressed Chen Yang.

If outsiders asked, they would still say it was a Strange Stone, but in private, they now called him the Spirit Stone.

Everyone's gaze once again fell upon the ancestral hall within the Restricted Grounds.

Yang Guanfeng led the other four inside. Chen Yang was currently lying quietly in the very center.

The five stood still, and Yang Guanfeng respectfully cupped his hands toward Chen Yang. "During this Beast Tide, we thank the Spirit Stone Senior for protecting our Yang family. For the grace of saving our lives, the Yang family is eternally grateful!"

Then, he led the other four in bowing to Chen Yang.

His words were sincere and heartfelt, without any pretense.

The facts were indeed so. If not for Chen Yang, they would not have even needed to wait for the fox demon to appear; that single Qi Gathering fourth-layer ape Demon Beast would have been enough to wipe out all three hundred-plus members of the Yang family.

After confirming that Chen Yang might possess intelligence, Yang Guanfeng and Elder Yu had thoroughly reviewed everything from beginning to end.

When they first met in the Earth-Treasure Minor Secret Realm, they discovered the Four-Leaf Spirit-Holding Grass. As they were leaving, because Elder Yu sensed a trace of Spiritual Qi fluctuation, they noticed Chen Yang in the corner.

Later, they brought him home. Wang Lie used a magnet to destroy the Formation, and Chen Yang once again released a fluctuation, awakening Yang Lingqing and preventing Wang Lie's sneak attack from succeeding.

After that, when the Beast Tide began, he continuously warned Lingqing and Linghu of the Demon Beasts' arrival. At the most critical moment, he killed the fox demon in one strike, saving the two children's lives.

Now, it seemed that everything that had happened was no coincidence.

In fact, perhaps from the very beginning, this Spirit Stone had already possessed intelligence!

In other words, it was not that they had brought the Spirit Stone out of the Secret Realm, but rather that this Spirit Stone had chosen their Yang family!

Elder Yu even imagined further scenarios, concluding that even their route after entering the Secret Realm might have been guided by the Spirit Stone!

Having confirmed this, the Yang family dared not be negligent. They quickly moved Chen Yang from the high platform in the courtyard to the ancestral hall, placing him in a position equal to that of their ancestors.

The other four also tried to communicate with Chen Yang, but unfortunately, only Yang Lingqing occasionally received a reaction when she spoke to him. When the others communicated with him, he remained like a lifeless object.

After analyzing the situation, everyone felt it must be because Lingqing communicated with the Spirit Stone so often that she had gained his recognition.

Now, within the ancestral hall, the Yang family cultivators decided to use a special method to repay Chen Yang for saving the entire Yang family.

As Yang Guanfeng's words fell, he took a Fire Talisman from his sleeve and placed it in his palm.

With a slight movement of his mind, the Fire Talisman blazed to life.

Then, he extended his other hand, gathering Spiritual Power to break the skin of his fingertip.

A drop of blood shimmering with spiritual light flew out.

Behind him, Elder Yu and the three children did the same, each extracting a drop of blood.

This was no ordinary blood. This was the unique Essence Blood from the Dantian, formed only after a cultivator condensed their Qi Mansion. It was extremely precious.

Every drop lost required a great deal of time to condense again.

Insufficient Essence Blood would render a cultivator unable to use techniques, and a severe depletion would even cause their cultivation realm to regress.

This was something as precious as life itself to cultivators. Now, each of the five Yang family cultivators took out one drop.

Everyone pushed their Spiritual Power, guiding the Essence Blood from their fingertips toward the flame in Yang Guanfeng's palm.

The moment the Essence Blood touched the fire, it erupted with an extremely dazzling orange light, illuminating the entire Restricted Grounds.

If not for the Formation isolating the light, the mortals at the foot of the mountain would have thought a second sun had appeared.

The five drops of Essence Blood fused and evaporated within the light. As they transformed into a wisp of crimson Spiritual Qi, the light dissipated.

Then, this strange wisp of Spiritual Qi slowly drifted toward Chen Yang.

"Hmm? This aura... it smells so good!"

The scent of the crimson Spiritual Qi made Chen Yang extremely eager. He immediately urged his Spiritual Power to draw it in, absorbing it into his body.

Seeing Chen Yang absorb the crimson Spiritual Qi, Elder Yu's face revealed extreme excitement. "It truly is a sentient object! Excellent! Excellent!"

This method was called the Blood-Burning Spirit Sacrifice Art.

Elder Yu had once been a Sect disciple and had learned of this technique in their Scripture Library.

It was a secret method for sacrificing and refining Spiritual Treasures, mostly used for great treasures that guarded a Wangchao or a Sect.

Cultivators would offer their Essence Blood to cleanse the Spiritual Treasure of impurities, while simultaneously establishing a blood-based connection between them.

Whenever a cultivator who had offered their Essence Blood broke through a realm, the Spiritual Treasure could receive a portion of their cultivation as feedback.

According to legend, if a Spiritual Treasure had nurtured intelligence, it would actively absorb the crimson Spiritual Qi generated by this technique.

Otherwise, the cultivators would need to guide and infuse it themselves.

The Yang family members could not hide their joy upon seeing this.

A Spiritual Treasure with self-born intelligence was something that only existed in legends!

Let alone Sects like the Myriad Transformations Sect or Lone Moon Mountain, even the Zhuhu Wangchao could not possibly possess such a thing.

And their Yang family, through a stroke of Fated Chance, had obtained such a supreme treasure.

Yang Guanfeng had just revealed a smile when his expression suddenly darkened.

"Obtaining such a treasure is our Yang family's fortune, but it may also bring about the calamity that destroys our family," he said in a low voice.

Hearing this, the three children looked terrified. Elder Yu nodded in realization. "The Patriarch is right. The Yang family's fate is now tied to a single stone. If a great cultivator discovers this treasure, not only will we die and our souls be extinguished, but the entire Yang family, along with the mortal villages at the foot of the mountain, will likely be reduced to ashes!"

Yang Lingrui and Yang Linghu both looked grave, as if facing a great enemy.

At this moment, Yang Lingqing spoke up. "Lingqing offers a humble opinion. The two elders need not worry so much. Times and fate are what they are. The elder once said that we cultivators are gamblers fighting against heaven for our lives. Since the Yang family has obtained this treasure, we naturally must fight for our chance!"

Lingqing's words slightly eased the expressions of the two elders, who nodded in approval.

"Correct. Since this Spirit Stone has chosen our family, there is absolutely no reason to hand it over to others. But from now on, this matter must be kept strictly confidential. It concerns the very survival of our Yang family!"

Yang Guanfeng immediately led the four in taking a Blood Oath, swearing upon their paths of cultivation to guard the secret of the Spirit Stone.

As they spoke, there was movement on Chen Yang's side.

With the crimson Spiritual Qi circulating within his body, Chen Yang was surprised to find that it felt like it was raining inside his white space, as drops of pure Spiritual Power sprinkled down.

In just a quarter of an hour, the Spiritual Power generated was equivalent to five years of his own breathing and refining!

This was enough to show just how precious a cultivator's Essence Blood was, and how profoundly effective the sacrifice was.

And this was only with five Qi Gathering cultivators. If the Yang family grew stronger in the future, with more cultivators and higher realms, the effects of the Spirit Sacrifice would multiply.

After a few more breaths, the crimson Spiritual Qi dissipated.

At that moment, Chen Yang felt an unprecedented wave of comfort, as if he had just enjoyed a full-body spa-like pampering. His entire body felt much lighter than before, and the flow of Spiritual Power within him was incredibly smooth.

Now, through internal inspection, Chen Yang discovered that five clusters of red Soul Flames had appeared within his body.

Two were large and three were small, each bearing subtle differences.

Of the two larger Soul Flames, one burned bright and vigorous, while the other flickered slightly and appeared somewhat dimmer.

Seeing this, Chen Yang immediately understood.

"The vigorous one is Old Yang. The old man, due to his advanced age, has a Soul Flame the same size as Old Yang's, but it's much dimmer in comparison."

"As for these three, the one with the fierce, leaping flame should be Linghu; the one with the steady, calm flame is Lingrui; and the one constantly throwing off sparks is this little girl, Lingqing."

Through careful aura identification, Chen Yang verified all of his guesses.

Thus, his connection with the five Yang family members became far more intimate. By observing the Soul Flames within his body, he could monitor their real-time status at any given moment.

Furthermore, through this connection, Chen Yang could use his consciousness to directly link with the Divine Sense of these five people and transmit information, no longer needing to emit Spiritual Power fluctuations as he did before.

"The Spirit Sacrifice is complete. Lingqing, quickly try the method I taught you!"