novelraw Chapter 648 - 633: Legacy Trial [9,000-Word - ]
Chapter 648 - 633: Legacy Trial [9,000-Word - ]
(FD, check again in half an hour) The night was deep, and on Qingping Mountain, Zhouyang was as usual, lighting the lamp and reading at night the artifact refining insights written by the old clan leader when he was at the Tier Two Refiner stage, preparing for his future advancement to a Tier Two Refiner.
According to the records in the artifact refining insights of the elder clan leader Zhou Minghan, once a Tier One Refiner achieves a success rate of over 30% in refining Tier One High-grade Spiritual Artifacts, they can attempt to refine Tier Two Spiritual Artifacts.
An artifact refiner can only rely on artifact refining skills to earn spirit stones after reaching the second tier. Otherwise, if they continue to refine Tier One Artifacts, even with a success rate of 100%, they would at most break even.
Therefore, apart from those who took up refining halfway and are uninformed, normal clans and sects wait until a refiner has over a 30% success rate in refining Tier One Artifacts before they allow them to attempt becoming a Tier Two Refiner.
However, the value of spiritual objects needed for refining Tier Two Spiritual Artifacts is not low. Even a Foundation Establishment clan like the Zhou Family usually provides only thirty sets of materials for free when nurturing a Tier Two Refiner. If these thirty sets are used up without success, the refiner would have to pay out of their own pocket to improve their skills.
Zhouyang’s current success rate in refining Tier One High-grade Spiritual Artifacts is less than 20%, meaning he still has some time before attempting to become a Tier Two Refiner. Yet, when Elder Zhou Quan last brought him materials, he already brought the thirty sets of materials required for his attempt to become a Tier Two Refiner.
Perhaps because he failed fewer times when he became a Tier One Refiner, the elder clan leader Zhou Minghan thought his refining talent was quite good. Therefore, this time, the number of materials given to him was not given any special favor but was completely according to the family’s rules.
As he read by candlelight until the early hours, Zhouyang suddenly felt a movement, as if he heard some humming noise.
His heart moved, and he quickly walked out of the room to see where the humming came from, and then his face suddenly changed.
The source of the humming was the main array banner of the "Cloud Sea Light Splitting Array" planted outside the door, and now it seemed as if an invisible giant hand was shaking it, causing it to tremble violently.
"This is the spiritual mountain of the Yuquan Zhou Clan, who dares to trespass!"
He shouted loudly, hurriedly stepped forward to hold the array banner, input his magical power to stabilize the array, and used the array’s power to search for the intruder’s figure.
However, before he could find the intruder’s figure, he heard a "whoosh" sound, and a hand silently tapped his back.
"Don’t get excited, Xiao Jiu, this is just a small test from me."
Hearing this familiar voice, Zhouyang’s initially tense body relaxed, and then he turned to look at the newcomer, unable to help but smile bitterly, "Great Grandfather, do you have some grievances against your grandson? Your grandson has a weak heart and can’t take such scares from you!"
It turned out that the person who suddenly broke into the array at midnight was none other than the Zhou Family elder clan leader, Zhou Minghan, who was originally stationed at the Yuquan Lake Oasis.
"Hehehe, Xiao Jiu, are you blaming me? Do you know how shocked I was when I heard from Quan’er that you almost broke into the Poison Fire Scorpion’s lair?"
While elder clan leader Zhou Minghan spoke with laughter, his words made Zhouyang’s heart race in shock.
"Do you know how high my expectations are for you? Do you know how high the expectations of the dozens of cultivators in the Zhou family are for you? Carrying the expectations of so many of us, not cultivating well on the mountain is one thing, but you even concealed from me and the family that you ventured into the Desert Sea to chase after demon beasts. Do you know what a blow it would be to the Zhou family if something were to happen to you?"
"Does the Zhou family currently lack a mineral vein or a spirit mountain?"
"No! What the Zhou family lacks right now is a competent heir, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who can inherit and guard the Zhou family’s heritage after I sit in meditation!"
"You say you have a weak heart, but I think you are not only not timid but also recklessly daring, not afraid of death!"
The stern words from elder clan leader Zhou Minghan, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, struck directly at Zhouyang’s soul, just like when Zhouyang used Tier One Magic "Pure Sound Technique" on mortal miners, causing him to retreat continuously, his face ashen, unable to say a word in his defense.
"Great Grandfather, please calm down, your grandson knows he was wrong, your grandson knows he was wrong!"
With a pale face, he lowered his head, not daring to meet the elder clan leader’s stern and sharp gaze, repeatedly begging for forgiveness.
Ultimately, he was the most valued junior, and the elder clan leader Zhou Minghan’s anger gradually dissipated seeing Zhouyang like this.
With a relaxed expression, he spoke in a calm tone, "Stand up. If I really wanted to punish you, I would have had someone come to replace you and brought you back to the family by now. This time it’s just a lesson to let you know that as a family descendant, when you act, you must not only think about yourself but also think more about the family and your loved ones. Who do you think your parents work hard every day at the marketplace for? You surely know, right?"
"Your grandson knows, your grandson will definitely keep your teachings in mind and will never make the same mistakes again!" Zhouyang raised his head, his eyes faintly glistening with tears, yet his face was extremely determined, clearly having truly taken the elder clan leader’s words to heart.
The elder clan leader Zhou Minghan, seeing this, had a fleeting look of relief in his eyes, outwardly showed no sign as he waved his hand, saying, "Alright, enough idle talk, since I can’t leave the family for long, let me see your refining techniques now, refining an artifact in front of me. If there are any issues with your cultivation, you can also discuss them with me."
Great Grandfather still cares about me!
Zhouyang was overjoyed, knowing he had passed today’s test, and said no more, immediately taking out the artifact refining cauldron and materials, beginning the artifact refining on the spot.
This time, during the refining process, he was highly focused, adopting the same attitude as when being inspected by a leader in his past life, completing the entire process in one go and successfully refining a Tier One High-grade Spiritual Artifact [Profound Steel Shield].
"Please give me your guidance, Great Grandfather."
Once the artifact was finished, Zhouyang, disregarding the sweat on his brow, immediately presented it to the elder clan leader Zhou Minghan sitting nearby.
Unexpectedly, after receiving the artifact, elder clan leader Zhou Minghan didn’t even take a look. He immediately released a stream of sword qi, slicing the artifact into several pieces. Then he moved the fragments in front of Zhouyang, pointing out the lapses and mistakes he made during the refining process one by one.
"Look here, these broken lines are chaotic and disorderly, indicating that you didn’t sufficiently refine the impurities from the metal. Although these little impurities don’t appear to affect the artifact’s use, they actually lower the bearing capacity of the artifact, creating weak points here!"
"And also the techniques you used during refining..."
In the technical tasks of artifact refining and alchemy, having a master to instruct and not having one makes all the difference.
Before receiving hands-on guidance from Elder Zhou Minghan, the Tier Three Refiner, Zhouyang had read numerous artifact refining classics and gone over the insights that Elder Zhou Minghan shared with him countless times. Yet, during refining, there were still numerous mistakes and omissions he couldn’t identify.
This situation was such that, often after failing, he didn’t even know where he went wrong. To find the points of failure on his own, he could only rely on repeated failures to seek them slowly.
However, these mistakes and omissions, which he couldn’t know or detect at all, were as evident as the lice on a monk’s head to Elder Zhou Minghan, the Tier Three Refiner, clear and unhidden.
Thus, these mistakes and omissions which originally required countless failures to know were easily pointed out by Elder Zhou with a few words, who even explained the methods to resolve them.
After this face-to-face guidance, Zhouyang’s artifact refining skill underwent a leap in improvement. He felt that as long as he absorbed the knowledge taught by Elder Zhou Minghan today, he could soon challenge the Tier Two Refiner level.
Having guided Zhouyang in artifact refining, Elder Zhou Minghan also answered some cultivation questions he encountered before leaving quietly, just as he had arrived.
Though Elder Zhou did not mention where he was heading, Zhouyang knew it was certainly to the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein he and Elder Zhou Quan had discovered.
Sure enough, the next day after Elder Zhou left, Zhouyang received a Sound Transmission Talisman from Elder Zhou.
In the talisman, Elder Zhou informed him that indeed, there was a Tier Three Low-Grade Spiritual Vein and a Tier Three [Poison Fire Scorpion King] at the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein, advising him not to approach that area further, yet without specifying how to deal with the matter.
Elder Zhou Minghan did not elaborate, and Zhouyang didn’t ask further, as the matter involved Tier Three Demon Beasts, which was beyond the handling and decision-making capacity of Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators like them. Elder Zhou would surely know better how to handle it.
He felt a bit sorry for Elder Zhou Quan, for as long as the ore vein wasn’t officially mined, the dividend from finding the ore vein wouldn’t be received, and considering the elder’s age, it’s likely he wouldn’t last until the day of official mining.
Two years passed, and Zhouyang’s assignment to guard Cyan Ping Mountain came to an end.
Having guarded Cyan Ping Mountain for five years, he began to miss Yuquan Lake Oasis immensely, recalling the various sights on Jade Spring Peak, the sweetness of Yuquan Lake water, and longing for the family he hadn’t seen for seven or eight years.
Thus when the family elder, Seventeenth Uncle Zhou Xuanzhao, came to replace him, he didn’t want to stay a moment longer, hastily completing the handover, and despite the complaints from the youngest elder, he was eagerly on his way home.
His journey home was smooth.
A few days after leaving the Cyan Ping Mountain Oasis, Zhouyang returned smoothly to Jade Spring Peak, which he hadn’t seen in five years.
Five years ago when he descended, he was only a youth who had just broken through to Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation, full of youthful spirit.
Five years later upon his return, though still at Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation, he had grown from that spirited youth into a six-feet-tall, refined and handsome young man. (One foot = 33cm)
According to family rules, returning clan cultivators from assignments have to report to the Household Affairs Elder and submit a mission report.
The Household Affairs Elder of the Zhou Family is currently Seventh Elder Zhou Xuan Yu, the only female cultivator among the eight elders, also the highest-ranked female cultivator in the family.
Zhou Xuan Yu is ranked third in the "Xuan" generation, a direct descendant of Elder Zhou Minghan, possessing middle-grade spiritual root talent, and when her cultivation reached Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation, she was not yet sixty years old. If she had used a "Foundation Establishment Pill" to attempt foundation establishment then, her success rate would have been quite considerable.
Unfortunately, as a woman, she naturally received fewer family resources compared to men. Even as Elder Zhou Minghan’s direct descendant, she eventually couldn’t get all the family elders to agree to invest the whole clan’s resources to secure a "Foundation Establishment Pill" for her.
Upper-Grade Spiritual Root cultivators have a one-third chance of success in foundation establishment without a "Foundation Establishment Pill," while Middle-Grade Spiritual Root cultivators have less than a ten percent chance without consuming a "Foundation Establishment Pill."
"Foundation Establishment" is the first major obstacle in cultivation, without a protective spirit pill like the "Foundation Establishment Pill," upon failure, ninety percent of cultivators would have their meridians burst by rampaging magical power, leading to body explosion and death. Even if surviving by chance, they’d become powerless cripples.
From being a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivator esteemed above mortals to being a cripple, what cultivator could endure such a blow?
Therefore, even if someone survives escaping madness, they would not choose a pathetic existence but rather would sacrifice themselves for their Dao.
Such is the great risk of "Foundation Establishment," that within today’s cultivation realm, among one hundred Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivators who are not equipped with a "Foundation Establishment Pill," it’s hard to find a few willing to take the risk of attempting foundation establishment.
Cultivators who advance to Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation suffer countless hardships in their lives; no one wants to see their hard-earned cultivation lost in one blow.
Especially for a Foundation Establishment Clan like the Zhou Family, as long as one reaches Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation, they can enter the higher ranks of the clan and wield significant power. The risk simply isn’t worth it.
For these clan cultivators, it’s better to strive to earn spirit stones and foster one’s descendants rather than taking a life-threatening gamble on foundation establishment. This way, they might accumulate enough spirit stones over two or three generations to purchase a "Foundation Establishment Pill."
By then, although one might have passed away, the descendants could succeed in foundation establishment with the "Foundation Establishment Pill," making their death worthwhile.
Only those solo cultivators without attachments, driven by envy of the long lifespan and potent divine powers of Foundation Establishment cultivators, dare to try and force a foundation establishment.
If successful, their lifespan would increase to 240 years, allowing them to either seize an oasis spiritual vein to establish a cultivation clan or join a powerful cultivation clan as a Honored Guest Elder, which is far better than being a loose cultivator.
If they fail, at least they have lived the cultivation life, sacrificing themselves for their path.
Yet there’s a stark reality, solo cultivators lack resources and good techniques. Even with middle-grade spiritual roots, few reach Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation before sixty, without "Foundation Establishment Pill" assistance, attempting foundation establishment after sixty greatly decreases the success rate, nearly guaranteeing death.
Thus, although solo cultivators are numerous and more determined towards foundation establishment than clan cultivators, ultimately the number successfully establishing foundations is far lower than those in major cultivation clans who use "Foundation Establishment Pill."
As a Zhou family member and direct descendant of Elder Zhou Minghan, Zhou Xuan Yu, even if she wanted to take the risk of foundation establishment, Elder Zhou Minghan would stop her, let alone she grew up privileged and lacks the determination.
Although disappointed for not receiving a "Foundation Establishment Pill," she held no grudges against the clan. Instead, quickly marrying a young mid-stage Qi Cultivation loose cultivator into the Zhou Family, demonstrating her loyalty through action.
Because of this, all family leaders, including Elder Zhou Minghan, felt they owed her. Therefore, they appointed her as Household Affairs Elder, allowing her to remain in the family to care for her children and descendants.
Zhouyang’s mother, Lin Yuting, is very close to his Eighth Aunt, and he has been favored by his Eighth Aunt since childhood, thus he has no worries about the so-called mission report.
"Wow, it’s been years since we last met, our Xiao Jiu has become more handsome. I wonder which family’s daughter is lucky enough to marry our Zhou family’s Qilin’Er in the future."
In the Ministry Hall of the clan, Zhouyang just walked in and saw a middle-aged beautiful woman in a white lotus robe organizing documents. When she saw him enter, her beautiful eyes lit up immediately, putting down the documents in her hand, she looked at him with a teasing smile.
Even though Zhouyang was already mature in mind, facing such teasing made his face flush, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly and repeatedly clasp his hands in plea, "Third Aunt, don’t tease your nephew, your nephew is still young, it’s still very early to talk about marriage!"
Unless a cultivator has a low-grade spiritual root with no hope of Foundation Establishment, otherwise, anyone with some aspiration for Foundation Establishment wouldn’t lose their Primordial Yang and Yin before reaching it.
Because according to the experience summarized by predecessors, cultivators who maintain their Primordial Yang or Yin body not only have a faster cultivation speed usually, but their success rate in Foundation Establishment would also be significantly higher than those who have lost their Primordial Yang and Yin.
Therefore, even cultivators with a high success rate in Foundation Establishment with upper-grade spiritual roots wouldn’t prematurely lose their virginity before establishing their foundation.
The Zhou Family, as a cultivation clan, emphasizes bloodline inheritance, but in this aspect, they encourage talented clan offspring to marry and have children late, ideally after the age of sixty.
Zhouyang’s father Zhou Xuanhao and his Third Aunt Zhou Xuan Yu only married and gave birth after they were over sixty and had no hope of Foundation Establishment.
Fortunately, cultivators have strong physiques and can use healing magic to cure injuries; even giving birth after sixty doesn’t pose a life-threatening risk like it would for mortal women, just that having offspring will somewhat diminish one’s cultivation, slowing down future cultivation speed.
When Zhouyang’s mother Lin Yuting bore him, she had Seventh-Layer Qi Cultivation, and over twenty years later, she still had this cultivation, showing how much low-tier female cultivators are harmed by having children.
In contrast, Zhou Xuan Yu fared much better; she already had Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation before marriage and childbirth, depleting her cultivation was impossible unless she reached Foundation Establishment, so having children didn’t affect her cultivation much, though it might slightly reduce her lifespan.
Unfortunately for Zhouyang’s Third Aunt, her luck seemed consistently bad, even though both husband and wife had middle-grade spiritual root talent, among the two sons and one daughter they bore, only one daughter had a low-grade spiritual root.
Continuous childbirth, although not reducing Zhou Xuan Yu’s cultivation, accelerated her aging. While she didn’t care much for herself, the old clan leader Zhou Minghan feared she’d drastically shorten her lifespan and perish prematurely, and disregarding her protests and complaints, forcibly ruined her reproductive abilities with elixirs, forbidding her from further childbirth.
From understanding his Third Aunt’s endeavors, Zhouyang developed immense respect for her; she is a great woman worthy of the whole clan’s admiration.
"Indeed it’s true, with your talent, the chances of Foundation Establishment are high in the future. With the clan’s situation improving compared to the past and your parents’ personal savings, they should be able to prepare a Foundation Establishment Pill for you. If your Foundation Establishment succeeds, you’ll naturally have ample time to slowly find a suitable Dao companion!"
Zhou Xuan Yu gazed at the graceful and handsome nephew before her, her beautiful eyes somewhat lost, as if seeing herself at the same age back then; at that time, she was determined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator admired by all, never considering marriage.
Unfortunately, her luck was poor; when she was Zhouyang’s age, the Zhou Family had exhausted resources to purchase a "Foundation Establishment Pill" for the current Grand Elder Zhou Qian, consuming almost all of the family’s savings, which didn’t recover for decades.
Unexpectedly, the Grand Elder Zhou Qian, who was highly anticipated, failed to establish Foundation after consuming the "Foundation Establishment Pill," merely advancing his cultivation by one layer to become a Tenth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivator, commonly known as Great Perfection in Qi Cultivation.
Great Perfection Qi Cultivation cultivators are stronger than Ninth-Layer cultivators, but vastly inferior to Foundation Establishment cultivators, not to mention that Great Perfection in Qi Cultivation remains Qi Cultivation Stage with no increase in lifespan.
Zhou Qian thus wasted a Foundation Establishment Pill and carried a massive family debt, laboring for the clan to repay the debt while leaving no offspring.
Due to the depletion of family savings, Zhou Xuan Yu lost her chance to purchase a "Foundation Establishment Pill" for Foundation Establishment, leaving her with lifelong regret.
A small "Foundation Establishment Pill" directly influenced the fate of two generations of Zhou Family elders!
Zhouyang was cautioned by his parents to never mention the "Foundation Establishment Pill" in front of his Third Aunt, lest it hurt this elder.
Now hearing Zhou Xuan Yu mention the "Foundation Establishment Pill," his heart skipped a beat, his original thought of catching up with his Third Aunt vanished, and he quickly handed over his long-written performance report, then used visiting the old clan leader Zhou Minghan as an excuse to swiftly leave the Ministry Hall.
After leaving the Ministry Hall, Zhouyang headed straight to Jade Spring Peak’s summit.
The cultivator stationed at the summit was still Grandpa Qi Zhou Yun, who as always sat under the tall Dragon Scale Tree. Upon seeing Zhouyang arrive, he eagerly dragged him to sit down and taste his newly made herbal tea.
The elder’s warm invitation couldn’t be declined by Zhouyang, not to mention he indeed enjoyed the elder’s herbal tea.
While drinking tea with the elder this time, his gaze mostly stayed on the Dragon Scale Tree beside him.
The Dragon Scale Tree is a particularly rare Spirit Wood, named for the dragon-like scales growing on its trunk.
The scales of a hundred-year-old Dragon Scale Tree are black, as hard as refined iron, suitable for crafting Tier One Defensive Spiritual Artifacts, thus regarded as Tier One Spirit Wood.
Over five hundred years, the scales turn silvery-grey, surpassing Profound Iron in hardness, suitable for crafting Tier Two Defensive Spiritual Artifacts, thus regarded as Tier Two Spirit Wood.
Should the Dragon Scale Tree grow for over a thousand years, the scales turn silver, suitable for crafting Tier Three Defensive Spiritual Artifacts, thus regarded as Tier Three Spirit Wood.
Legend has it that if the Dragon Scale Tree’s age exceeds five thousand years, the scales turn truly dragon-like golden, used for crafting Tier Five Defensive Spiritual Artifacts, treasures sought after even by Golden Core Stage Ancestors.
The Zhou Family’s Dragon Scale Tree is about eight hundred years old, not far from becoming Tier Three Spirit Wood; when the clan’s ancestor Zhou Yuquan discovered Jade Spring Peak, this Spirit Wood was already growing on the mountain.
Every decade or so, the Zhou Family harvests a few scales from the Dragon Scale Tree to craft artifacts; Zhouyang’s Silver Gang Shield’s main material is a scale from this tree.
Previously, although Zhouyang knew of the tree’s origins, he’d seen many hundred-year and thousand-year-old large trees on the mountain, he had little regard for this pine-like Spirit Wood.
In his past view, the value of this Tier Two Spirit Wood was far inferior to the few Tier Two Spirit Fruit Trees "Fire Crystal Jujube Trees" in the mountain’s Spirit Fruit Garden.
At least the "Fire Crystal Jujube Trees" bear fruit every five years, a single jujube offers benefits to a cultivator practicing Yang Gang Technique in Late-stage Qi Cultivation and below, equal to ten days of hard training, not to mention the jujube’s taste surpasses any fruit he’d had in his past life.
But now, as an Artifact Refiner, the value of the Dragon Scale Tree in Zhouyang’s eyes has soared.
"Haha, Xiao Jiu, you want to fancy the Dragon Scale Tree too? It’s not that I look down on you, though you’re already a Tier Two Refiner, these scales aren’t yet for you to use, every scale in the old clan leader’s hands becomes a Tier Two High-Grade Spiritual Artifact, even if he greatly favors you, he won’t let you waste these treasures, wait till you become a Tier Two High-Grade Refiner!"
Seeing Zhouyang’s gaze fixated on the Dragon Scale Tree, Elder Zhou Yun chuckled, unhesitatingly teasing him.
For the elder, watching a promising junior like Zhouyang waver, also brought a sense of achievement.
Just as the smile on the elder’s face had blossomed for a few seconds, he was stunned by Zhouyang’s next words.
"Seventh Grandpa, you’re right. With my current strength as a Tier Two Middle-grade Refiner, it’s indeed insufficient to use the bark of the Dragon Scale Tree for artifact refining. Such treasures should be left for me to handle only after I have advanced my refining skills to Tier Two Top Grade and have enough confidence; there’s no rush."
"What? Your refining skills have already advanced to Tier Two Middle Grade!"
Elder Zhou Yun looked at Zhouyang with a face full of shock, his voice even going off-key.
Wasn’t it said that this kid only became a Tier Two Lower-grade Refiner last year?
How has he become a Tier Two Middle-grade Refiner in just one year?
Could it be that the old clan leader secretly went down the mountain to tutor him again?
The elder looked at this young junior in front of him in disbelief, feeling that his mind was somewhat overwhelmed.
Could this young junior not only be a cultivation genius but also have an even more astounding talent in artifact refining?
If not, how could one, in less than five years, evolve from a complete novice to a Tier Two Middle-grade Refiner?
If he remembered correctly, even the old clan leader, the most naturally gifted Tier Three High-grade Refiner in the clan’s history, spent a full twelve years advancing from a beginner in artifact refining to a Tier Two Middle-grade Refiner!
"Seventh Grandpa? Seventh Grandpa?"
Zhouyang looked at Elder Zhou Yun, who was stunned by the shock from his words, and it was hard to say that he wasn’t feeling proud.
After all, being a twenty-two-year-old Tier Two Middle-grade Refiner is indeed something worth bragging about. Not to mention the Zhou family, a Foundation Establishment Clan with only a little over two hundred years of history, even in the Yellow Sand Sect, which has a heritage of over two thousand years, such speed would rank among the top in history.
Even he himself never thought that his refining talent would be so exceptional.
Initially, when he was still a Tier One Refiner, he hadn’t shown any abnormality. But after advancing to a Tier Two Refiner, when it came to using various materials to refine artifacts, he found himself possessing extremely adept control in the crucial aspects of metal solution proportioning and heat temperature management.
Comparing with the accounts in the Artifact Refining Classics and the refining insights provided by the old clan leader, he discovered that his talent in this area surpassed most refiners of the same level by several folds.
Had it not been for his lack of advancement and the absence of materials for refining Tier Two High-Grade Spiritual Artifacts, he felt he could already attempt to craft one.
"Is Xiao Jiu here? Come inside the cave, I have something to discuss with you."
The call from the old clan leader, Zhou Minghan, came just in time, relieving the somewhat awkward Elder Zhou Yun. He, with a face initially tight with shock, instantly relaxed and said hurriedly and relievedly, "Xiao Jiu, did you hear? The old clan leader is calling you, go to him quickly, don’t keep him waiting."
Knowing when to see through without revealing, still a good grandson.
Of course, Zhouyang wouldn’t truly let the elder lose face for a moment’s heedlessness. Seeing the situation, he suppressed his laughter, saluted the elder, excused himself, and briskly walked towards the old clan leader Zhou Minghan’s cave.
"Ah, I’m getting old, can’t keep up with the pace of the young anymore!"
Under the Dragon Scale Tree, the elder watched Zhouyang’s leaving figure and couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
However, the sigh lasted only a few seconds before the elder’s expression changed dramatically, his face turning red with delight, laughing heartily: "Haha, young people are really something these days, a twenty-two-year-old Tier Two Middle-grade Refiner, tsk tsk tsk. Didn’t expect that in my lifetime, I could see such a genius appear in the Zhou family, truly heaven blesses our Zhou family, heaven blesses our Zhou family!"
For someone like Elder Zhou Yun, who has dedicated his entire life to the family, nothing seems to bring more joy than seeing the emergence of outstanding juniors in the family.
In some major families with Golden Core Stage ancestors or even Nascent Soul Stage Great Cultivators, there might be constant internal strife due to disputes over legitimacy and resource allocation.
But for a small family like the Zhou, only having a history of less than three hundred years and a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator supporting it, the only way is to unite, unite again, and concentrate all efforts and resources to cultivate the few family prodigies with Foundation Establishment potential.
Considering that buying a single Foundation Establishment Pill would exhaust the entire family’s savings, if internal conflicts occurred, leading to faction divisions, the outcome would undoubtedly be that no one would achieve Foundation Establishment, eventually causing the family’s entire legacy to cut off.
Cultivators, with lifespans far exceeding that of mortals and wisdom far beyond theirs, of course, would not make such foolish mistakes.
In such an environment, even if some individuals are driven by greed to engage in corruption, once discovered, they would be set upon by everyone and made an example of to uphold family rules.
Therefore, seeing such an outstanding junior as Zhouyang, even if not a direct descendant, elders like Zhou Yun can feel truly gratified and sincerely happy.
The stronger the family, the better their descendants can live, and the more resources they will obtain for cultivation in the future, increasing their chances for Foundation Establishment—the logic is straightforward.
Meanwhile, upon entering the mountaintop cave and meeting the old clan leader Zhou Minghan again, Zhouyang, before even having the chance to salute, was directly led to the refining chamber by the old clan leader.
"Everything you said outside, I heard. Now, refine a Tier Two Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact for me to see; if you need any materials, tell me, and I will supply you generously!"
Old clan leader Zhou Minghan, worthy of being the leader of the clan, spoke with confidence. In his eyes, even Tier Two Spiritual Objects, usually fought over fiercely by Qi cultivation stage cultivators, were like common commodities to be freely given.
What more could Zhouyang say?
Of course, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work immediately.
Thus, after consecutively wasting three sets of materials, he finally succeeded on the fourth attempt, refining a Tier Two Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact Flying Sword.
"Not bad, not bad, your artifact refining skills have indeed progressed significantly. This flying sword, even if placed in those marketplace shops, meets the standards; it seems your refining talent exceeds my initial expectations by a considerable margin."
After inspecting Zhouyang’s newly refined artifact flying sword, even old clan leader, who usually kept a stern face in front of other family juniors, couldn’t help but break into a joyous smile this time.