Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 145 Exchanging Protective Pills, The Zhou Family's Situation [Please Subscribe]

Lingzhou, Donglingfang Market.

At that time, Zhou Chun took out the precious incense of Xiangling musk.

Master Jiang's expression changed instantly.

"It truly is the ethereal fragrance of musk!"

He exclaimed in surprise and immediately took the jade bottle that Zhou Chun handed over to examine it.

He simply poured out a little of the incense powder, tasted it lightly, and nodded repeatedly, exclaiming, "It is indeed genuine spiritual incense, pure and authentic!"

Then he hurriedly covered the jade bottle to prevent the fragrance from dissipating.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately smiled and said, "How about it? With this one or two ounces of spiritual incense, it should be enough to exchange for the meridian-protecting pill in Master Jiang's hands!"

Upon hearing this, Master Jiang's eyes flashed with a strange light, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "That's enough, that's enough. With this one or two ounces of fragrant musk and these medicinal herbs, it's enough to exchange for the Meridian Protection Pill."

After speaking, he looked intently at Zhou Chun and said, "However, since Fellow Daoist Zhou was able to produce one or two ounces of spiritual incense, you must have even more, right? I wonder if you could exchange some more for me? I am willing to exchange other precious spiritual pills for it!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun's eyes flickered, and he couldn't help but ask, "Oh, does Master Jiang have any Nourishing Meridian Pills?"

Upon hearing this, Master Jiang knew that he must still have some spiritual incense in his possession.

He immediately replied, "I don't currently have any Nourishing Meridian Pills on hand, but if Fellow Daoist Zhou is willing to exchange them for spiritual incense, I can find other alchemists to exchange for them for you!"

"Then let's exchange it with Master Jiang after he obtains it!"

Zhou Chun nodded, which was taken as agreement.

"Okay, it's settled then!"

"This is the Meridian Protection Pill that Fellow Daoist Zhou requested. Please take a look."

As Master Jiang spoke, he took out a pill bottle from his storage bag and handed it to Zhou Chun.

Zhou Chun took the bottle, opened the stopper, and saw that it contained only a single greenish-brown pill the size of a longan.

Its fragrance and appearance are exactly the same as those recorded by the senior cultivators of the Zhou family, confirming that it is undoubtedly the genuine product.

He quickly put the stopper back on the bottle, nodded, and said, "That's right, it is indeed a meridian-protecting pill."

After both parties confirmed that everything was in order, they exchanged and put away the items they needed.

Then Master Jiang said, "It may take me one or two months to exchange for the Nourishing Meridian Pill. I wonder how I should find you two fellow Daoists at that time?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun pondered for a moment before replying in a deep voice, "Master Jiang, you only need to send a message to the Wang family of Red Medicine Valley, and the Wang family will naturally inform me."

Since Master Jiang needs something from the Wang family, he probably wouldn't hold a grudge against them for leaking information about the Protective Pulse Pill.

Master Jiang naturally saw this as well, and immediately nodded, saying, "Alright, I understand what Fellow Daoist Zhou means."

After saying that, he smiled slightly and said, "It's rare to be in such a good mood today. Please wait a moment, fellow Daoists. I will go and make you a pot of my homemade medicinal wine."

He was about to get up to make tea.

But at this moment, Zhou Daoquan, who had been silent beside Zhou Chun, suddenly said, "We appreciate Master Jiang's kindness, but there's no need for wine. We have important matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave now."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun was also moved and hurriedly added, "Yes, yes, let's skip the wine. Master Jiang, you don't need to be so polite. We've been out for a while now, and to avoid worrying our families, it's best to go back as soon as possible."

"Alright then, since you two are in such a hurry to go back, I won't keep you any longer. I'll see you off."

As Master Jiang spoke, he got up and saw Zhou Chun and the other person out of the pharmacy.

After leaving the pharmacy, Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoquan headed straight out of the market and soon rode Zhu Yanhe away from the market together.

Furthermore, the two of them did not rest for a moment on the journey. They had Zhu Yanhe expend his magic power to fly at high speed, and when he was exhausted, they took over the flight themselves. They returned to Jiufeng Ridge in less than a day.

"Is there another second-tier flying monster for transportation?"

Inside the Dongling Market, Master Jiang looked at the communication talisman in his hand, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Then he shook his head slightly, immediately left the pharmacy, and went around looking for friends to exchange for Nourishing Pulse Pills.

On the other side, after returning safely to their family, Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoquan also breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Zhou Chun thanked Zhou Daoquan for accompanying him, and the two returned to the mountain to attend to their own affairs.

Now that he had obtained the Pulse Protection Pill, and with a good chance of getting the Pulse Nourishing Pill as well, Zhou Chun was in a very good mood.

If everything goes smoothly, he won't need ten or eight years at all; within three to five years, he will be able to cultivate the "Golden Cauldron Mystic Art".

Of course, since he had promised Elder Zhou Mingde and Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi, he would try his best to wait until Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage before starting to cultivate new techniques.

By this time, after much preparation, some preliminary work regarding the reform of the Zhou family had been completed.

So he invited the clan leader Zhou Daoyi and the four elders of the Zhou family to the Zhongping Hall to prepare for his performance.

Inside the Zhongping Hall, Zhou Daoyi and the elders were seated in rows, and behind the tables on both sides of the hall, four ordinary scribes were also in their places.

At this moment, after checking several account books on the table in front of him, a scribe respectfully said to Zhou Chun, who was sitting on the ground, "Reporting to the Vice Clan Chief, I have checked the relevant data repeatedly and confirmed that there are no errors."

"Let's begin then."

Zhou Chun nodded slightly and gave instructions.

"Yes, Your Excellency obeys."

The scribe responded, took a deep breath to suppress his excitement, glanced at the Zhou family elders seated in attendance, and then respectfully said, "Clan leader, elders, as instructed by the deputy clan leader, I am now reporting to you all the verified information regarding the Zhou family."

"Currently, there are 157 cultivators in my Zhou family, including 126 members of the Zhou family clan, 31 members of the maternal relatives clan, 96 male cultivators, and 61 female cultivators."

"Besides the Supreme Elder, Clan Chief, Deputy Clan Chief, and all other Elders, including the relatives of the clan cultivators, the Zhou family has a total of eleven core members, thirty-two elite members, and one hundred and seven ordinary members."

"Among these clansmen, there are 38 late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, 86 mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, 8 early-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and 18 clansmen who are too young to have entered the Dao of cultivation yet."

At this point, the transcriber paused slightly and stopped reporting, at Zhou Chun's prompting.

"Fourth Elder, it seems you have something to say."

Zhou Chun looked at the Fourth Elder, Zhou Jiarui, and said with a smile.

"I'm just feeling a bit sentimental!"

Zhou Jiarui sighed softly, saying with a touch of melancholy, "I remember when our Zhou family first settled in Jiufeng Ridge, we already had over 140 people. I never imagined that in just over a decade, the number would only increase by a dozen or so, and many of them were people we married into the family from other families!"

Upon hearing his words, the other Zhou family elders couldn't help but show expressions of sadness.

At this opportune moment, Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi spoke up: "Actually, our Zhou family has added nearly forty cultivators in the past ten years or so. However, the problem is that over twenty of our Zhou family members have disappeared, died, or married out due to various circumstances. After adding and subtracting, the family has only gained a dozen or so members!"

Upon hearing this, Second Elder Zhou Chongshan shook his head and said, "That's still too few. I remember back in Feng Kingdom, our family discovered at least six or seven members with spiritual roots among ordinary clansmen every year, and sometimes, if we were lucky, we could even find more than ten!"

"What can we do?"

"The number of mortals in Jingguo is less than one-tenth of that in Fengguo. Even if these tens of thousands of people had children every year, they could only produce three or four children with spiritual roots at most."

"It will take at least another ten years or so for these children to grow up and enter the path of cultivation!"

As Zhou Daoyi spoke, a wry smile spread across his face.

They were all well aware of the importance of the number of cultivators to a family.

While a family certainly needs high-level power like Purple Mansion cultivators to hold the fort, it also cannot lack the number of Qi Refining stage cultivators at the lower level.

If the number of Qi Refining stage cultivators decreases, it will not only affect the number of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, but also have a significant impact on the daily operation of the family.

After all, many family chores are handled by cultivators in the Qi Refining stage.

Just as these Zhou family leaders were lamenting their stagnant family population, Zhou Chun delivered another ruthless blow to them.

Zhou Chun opened his mouth and said, "There is actually another important issue now. The number of cultivators with the character '家' in their names is the largest in the family. Among them, there are nearly twenty cultivators who are over eighty years old, and there are also several of their Daoist partners who are close to that age."

"In the next twenty or thirty years, even without considering the number of cultivators who leave home or die for other reasons, their passing will still significantly impact the population of their families!"

Sure enough, after hearing his words, the elders' faces darkened again, and their expressions became even more worried.

A strange light flashed in the eyes of the Third Elder, Zhou Daoquan, who immediately looked at Zhou Chun and said, "Zhengchun, since you've brought this up today, do you perhaps have some brilliant solution?"

Upon hearing this, the others also turned their gazes to Zhou Chun, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Faced with the elders' earnest expectations, Zhou Chun smiled faintly and said, "This junior does have some ideas, but let's wait until later. Elders, please listen to something else first!"

Upon hearing his words, the Zhou family's senior members had even greater expectations.

Zhou Daoyi immediately laughed and said, "Then let's see what you're really up to. Go on and tell me."

"Yes, go on, we're all listening!"

Zhou Daoquan smiled and calmed down to continue listening.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately said to the transcriber who had stopped, "Continue."

"Yes."

The scribe responded and continued, "The Zhou family's income in spirit coins over the past year was approximately 32,800. Of these, over 17,000 came from the Spirit Beast Shop in the market, over 7,000 from the rent of the family's cultivation area, over 2,000 from the share of the Crimson Iron Mine, and over 5,000 from trade with other forces."

"The Zhou family's expenditure of spirit coins in the past year was approximately 25,000 spirit coins. Apart from the expenditure on the independent cultivators who helped the family guard the Pure Spirit Pavilion, the vast majority of the expenditure was used to purchase various supplies."

"In addition, according to statistics, the Zhou family has distributed a total of more than 17,000 merit points in the past year. Of these, more than 7,300 merit points were distributed as normal welfare offerings, more than 5,000 merit points were distributed as task rewards, and more than 4,000 merit points were distributed for purchasing spiritual items from clan members."

"The Zhou family has accumulated over 9,000 merit points in the past year, mainly from the exchange of clan members for the clan's reserve treasures."

"At the same time, the total amount of merit points accumulated by all members of the Zhou family is currently over 58,000 points!"

As the transcriber finished speaking, he couldn't help but glance at Zhou Chun.

"Okay, that's enough for now."

Zhou Chun raised his hand and pressed pause.

Then, turning his gaze to the clan leader and the elders, he said in a deep voice, "Population and wealth are the two most important things for a power. I believe the elders will have no objections to this."

"Leaving aside the issue of population, the real problem now lies with money!"

"At first glance, the family's annual income in spirit coins is higher than its expenditure, but in reality, that's because the family used the spirit coins that should have been distributed to convert into good deeds."

"The remaining spirit coins are simply not enough to offset the amount of good deeds left after each year's verification!"

"And the amount of good deeds accumulated by the clansmen has been increasing year by year!"

"If they accumulate enough merit points but find that they can't exchange them for the cultivation materials they need, and the family can't provide enough spirit coins for the exchange, then a huge crisis of trust will erupt within the family!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the Zhou family elders changed.

Putting themselves in others' shoes, they asked themselves if they were in that situation, what if all the good deeds they had painstakingly accumulated over ten or twenty years could not be exchanged for spirit coins or for what they wanted?

Who knows how much resentment that might generate in the family!

"How many spirit coins are currently accumulated in the family account?"

Second Elder Zhou Chongshan's eyes flashed, and he immediately saw the key point.

"More than thirteen thousand spirit coins!"

Zhou Chun answered his question in a deep voice.

"This amount of spirit coins can barely supply enough for temporary exchanges; it's simply not enough for the clansmen to exchange in large quantities!"

Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi then interjected, pointing out the incisive point: "Moreover, once the channel for directly exchanging merit points for spirit coins is opened, I'm afraid many clansmen will choose to exchange their merit points for spirit coins!"

Good deeds are essentially spiritual coins issued internally by the Zhou family and can only be used by the Zhou family.

Spirit coins, however, are universally accepted throughout the entire cultivation world.

Once the exchange policy is lifted, it's obvious which option to choose!

Zhou Chun then said in a deep voice, "That's precisely why, compared to population issues, resolving the family's financial problems is truly the most urgent matter!"

"So, Masaharu, what are your thoughts?"

Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi spoke again, asking the question on behalf of the others.

I'm a few minutes late, but it shouldn't affect your reading. I recommend the author's completed novel of over 3.8 million words, "Cultivation Begins in the Desert." New readers who haven't read it yet should definitely check it out!

(End of this chapter)