The family heads clearly felt envious looking at the thousand-year-old medicinal herbs before them.
"The Lin family is truly lucky this time, to have obtained so many good things."
"Speaking of which, were these things obtained from Black Mountain?"
The old lady nodded, "Besides Black Mountain, where else could they be?"
"Heh heh, I wonder if we'll have such good luck."
The old lady smiled slightly, "If the other families are willing to go, they can certainly try."
The old lady spoke with utmost composure.
She was not worried at all about these people obtaining the thousand-year-old medicinal herbs.
She knew how dangerous Black Mountain was better than anyone.
For many years, the Lin family had never given up on exploring Black Mountain, but the furthest their exploration teams had ever gone was only ten kilometers. Beyond that, it was essentially a one-way trip.
And this time, Lin Xiao Tian and his group had ventured into Black Mountain, far beyond ten kilometers.
If these people wanted to go in, they would have to go just as deep.
But they were not like her Lin Xiao Tian, who could go in and out seven times. They might not even survive one trip.
The old lady wished for them to go to their deaths.
Thinking this, the old lady’s admiration for her grandson, Lin Xiao Tian, grew even stronger. He was truly of Lin family blood. With Lin Xiao Tian, the Lin family might become the strongest family in the future!
However, the others had no idea what the old lady was thinking. Seeing so many thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, they were genuinely tempted.
The head of the Yang family looked at the old lady and said sarcastically, "I think we should just stay out of this. We don't have anyone as capable as Lin Xiao Tian. Going into Black Mountain casually is no different than suicide."
The head of the Yang family was being remarkably clear-headed. He had witnessed the terror of these forbidden lands during the incident at Kunlun Valley. Without someone as omnipotent as Lin Xiao Tian, ordinary people venturing into such places were simply courting death.
Upon hearing Lin Xiao Tian's name, the people present began to murmur.
They were certainly not unfamiliar with Lin Xiao Tian; each family had its own intelligence network.
"I heard Lin Xiao Tian entered Kunlun Valley with two people from your Yang family and came out alive. He must have brought back quite a lot of good stuff, right?" asked one family head.
"Patriarch Xiao, you don't need to beat around the bush with me. Don't you already know? We brought back a monster." The head of the Yang family replied unceremoniously.
The mutual intelligence infiltration between the families had been going on for a long time.
"That stone, that's a good thing, isn't it?" Patriarch Xiao stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table.
Speaking of the stone, the head of the Yang family became furious.
"The research institute reported that it's just an ordinary stone, completely useless."
But when the head of the Yang family said this, the old lady let out a surprised exclamation.
"Oh? Useless? Xiao Tian said it was a good thing! It was taken from those monsters, how could it be useless? Perhaps your Yang family just doesn't know how to use it?"
Since they were all of equal status and age, they spoke to each other without much reservation.
The head of the Yang family was also annoyed, "What are you so smug about? If I hadn't let you enter Kunlun Valley back then, would you have obtained these things?"
"Your Yang family has sent people in quite a few times over the years, yet you never got anything. Why is it that only when our people went in did they get something?"
The head of the Yang family was extremely angry, but the old lady's words left him unable to refute.
Matters of treasure acquisition were always about who had the ability to get them. Failing to obtain them simply meant one was not skilled enough.
The appraisal meeting soon concluded. The old lady happily ended the meeting, while the faces of the other family heads were grim.
This was not due to jealousy of the Lin family obtaining a few herbs, but rather because the Lin family was sending a signal to the outside world: they might have discovered the secret to controlling forbidden lands.
The rise of each family was inseparable from the forbidden lands under their jurisdiction. In essence, whoever could control a forbidden land had the opportunity for a qualitative leap in their family's standing.
And this time, the Lin family might have that chance!
While they allied with each other, they also kept each other in check. If this continued, the Lin family would far outstrip them.
...
Over the next few days, Lin Xiao Tian traveled back and forth between Black Mountain and Kunlun Valley.
In Kunlun Valley, Lin Xiao Tian collected demon cores, and on Black Mountain, he gathered medicinal herbs. He refined the Breaking Calamity Pills and various pills to enhance his strength. Relying on the limitless spiritual energy absorption of the Divine Farmer's Heart Technique, Lin Xiao Tian grew stronger with every passing moment.
Gradually, Lin Xiao Tian found himself with an excess of Qi Refining stage demon cores. To save trouble, he began absorbing the demon cores of Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts.
As for the Qi Refining stage demon cores, Lin Xiao Tian planned to use them to concoct medicines.
Different types of demon cores, when combined with medicinal herbs, could create potent drugs, such as cancer medications.
In the past, treating cancer relied on methods like chemotherapy, which was a form of torment for patients.
Furthermore, anti-cancer drugs were generally very expensive.
One reagent developed in the market was selling for a million yuan!
However, the anti-cancer drugs refined by Lin Xiao Tian using demon cores were not only more effective than existing market drugs but also relatively low in cost.
In reality, the biggest cost was the demon cores themselves. The other medicinal ingredients were relatively common traditional Chinese herbs.
Lin Xiao Tian discussed this matter with the Lin family's old lady. The old lady was no longer surprised by anything Lin Xiao Tian said and did not question him. She immediately instructed family members to cooperate with Lin Xiao Tian.
The Lin family also had a branch family specializing in pharmaceutical research. The patriarch of this branch family, named Lin Xiao, was assigned to assist Lin Xiao Tian.
"Mr. Lin, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Lin Xiao." Lin Xiao, though in his fifties, appeared to be in his thirties, indicating excellent health preservation practices.
Lin Xiao was very courteous upon meeting Lin Xiao Tian. As a fellow researcher in the field of medicine, Lin Xiao held Lin Xiao Tian in high regard.
Unlike the other Lin family heads who harbored hostility towards Lin Xiao Tian, Lin Xiao appeared exceptionally amiable.
Following behind Lin Xiao were a man and a woman, Lin Lu and Lin Qi, who were the future heirs of the branch family.