Heavenly Harem: Raising My Disciple With Infinite Dual Cultivation

Chapter 147: CH. 147 | Clan Technique

"Looks like you noticed it too, Junior."

While Lin Tian sat lost in thought, his attention drifted sideways.

A woman in a gold gown patterned with white swept into view, two men trailing a respectful step behind her.

He took stock of their cultivation at a glance. The two men lagged at Foundation Establishment, while the woman in gold, young and striking, had already crossed into Early Core Formation.

She was no ordinary cultivator either. Young as her face looked, she’d clawed her way to Core Formation ahead of her years.

Lin Tian responded with practiced ease, pressing his palms together and bowing his head. "Greetings, Senior Daoist. I only noticed something unnatural clinging to her qi."

The woman in gold turned toward the small mortal family, no husband in sight, no father to speak of.

"Where is your husband? Your father?"

"He passed away a week ago. The sickness took him fast," the middle aged woman said.

She sighed softly and waved the family back toward the queue. They bowed low, murmuring their thanks, and returned to the line.

"I watched you draw that black aura from her body like plucking a thorn. Some kind of secret art?" the woman in gold asked.

"No, Senior. Just a minor technique. The Foreign Aura Extraction Art."

"I’ve never once come across it," she said, "Would you part with it, for me?"

"Forgive my rudeness, but a technique isn’t something I hand over so easily," Lin Tian answered.

"You dare?!" one of her guards barked, jabbing a finger at Lin Tian with open contempt.

But the woman raised a hand before things could escalate, reining her guards in with a single gesture.

A cultivator’s technique is theirs to guard. No one, however proud of their lineage, has the right to demand it.

"Then let’s trade, technique for technique, if you’re willing," the woman offered.

"What would you offer?" Lin Tian asked.

She smiled faintly and extended her hand. A token bloomed with light, holding within it a Sect Grade technique, a rank above Profound, a rank below Earth Grade.

"The Golden Qilin Sword Art. Sect Grade. I think it suits you," she said.

"The Golden Qilin Sword Art? You’d really trade that for some no name clan technique?" one guard hissed.

"Reconsider this, Lady Xu Mei. We are forbidden from parting with—"

"His technique serves the clan just as well as this blade art does," Xu Mei cut in.

So my instinct was right. She’s Xu Clan blood, heir to the very house that rules this city.

"It’s an even exchange. No one walks away shorted," Xu Mei said, fixing both guards with a sharp look.

That silenced them at once, neither daring to press further. Her gaze settled back on Lin Tian, calm and expectant.

"Well? Do we have an accord?"

Nothing lost on my end. The extraction art was never anything precious to begin with.

Lin Tian inclined his head. He summoned a blank token and channeled spiritual qi into it, inscribing the Foreign Aura Extraction Art until the token pulsed a soft blue.

The exchange passed between them, his art for her blade technique. He tucked the Qilin token away into his bag of holding.

A small, satisfied smile touched her lips, pleased with what she’d claimed.

Before long, she took her leave, passing through the city gates via the private path reserved for Xu Clan blood.

Lin Tian, by contrast, joined the second queue like any wandering cultivator. Ten low grade spirit stones bought his entry, no deeper inspection required.

Once inside, the full splendor of Xu City opened before him.

The main road teemed with people, mortals and cultivators shoulder to shoulder, browsing stalls and shopfronts until the two blurred into one indistinguishable crowd.

He paused before a supply shop and stepped in, asking the same question he’d carried across two cities now. The Clone Technique.

The answer echoed what he’d already heard in Zhu City. They had nothing.

Still, he wouldn’t yield so easily. The day stretched long ahead of him, and he meant to knock on every remaining door before it ended.

The hours slipped by unnoticed. Five had passed by the time he’d combed through every shop selling technique scrolls in the city, and still, nothing to show for it.

His final stop wasn’t a shop or an auction hall, but a two story teahouse.

He hadn’t come to eat. He’d come to still his mind over a cup of warm tea and think through what path remained.

He settled on the ground floor and ordered nothing but green tea. Pouring it into a ceramic cup, he sipped slow, though no thirst drove him to it.

Do I swallow my pride and take the Zhu Clan’s offer after all? They’re the only ones I know who hold the clone technique.

But now that they know my name, trust won’t come easy between us.

Midway through his tea, five cultivators strode into the teahouse, gold clan robes marking their allegiance plainly.

Their eyes swept the room and locked onto Lin Tian, sitting alone with his cup of green tea.

The five approached, arrogance etched into every line of their faces. One barked out an order, his voice carrying to every corner of the room.

"Everyone out," the man commanded.

The other patrons, cultivator and mortal alike, abandoned their meals at once, bowing to the will of Xu Clan blood.

"Junior!"

"Word reached us that Lady Xu Mei handed you a signature Xu Clan technique," one said, his cultivation settled at Early Core Formation.

Two at Foundation Establishment. Three at Core Formation.

Those two in front... Xu Mei’s personal guards.

Lin Tian lifted his cup and drank, unmoved by their posturing.

"I earned it through fair trade. What’s mine is mine now, in full," Lin Tian said.

"Do you not understand? That art belongs to the Xu Clan, rulers of this very city!"

"You carry none of our blood. You have no claim to it!" they snapped.

"Return it now, before you learn the meaning of regret," one warned, voice edged with menace.

Lin Tian let out a slow breath. He summoned the golden token into his open palm, his eyes never leaving them.

They smiled, reaching to snatch it back. But in the space of a breath, Lin Tian poured a surge of spiritual qi into the token and shattered it right before their eyes.

BLAST!

A small burst of light tore the token apart, erasing the technique from existence for good. Shock flashed across their faces, quickly curdling into fury.

"That was our Sect Grade art!"

"Have you lost your mind, you bastard?!"

Lin Tian’s smile stayed faint, untroubled, "I have no use for your technique."

"You’re courting death!"