Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 168 Changes in the Zhou Family, Rat Plague [Please Subscribe]

After a year and three months of seclusion, Zhou Chun emerged from his retreat.

Almost immediately after he stepped out of his secluded meditation chamber, the Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde in the mountain cave discovered the matter.

Before he could even return to his residence to see his two spirit pets whom he hadn't seen for a year, Zhou Mingde summoned him to the cave.

Then the clan chief, Zhou Daoyi, also arrived at the scene.

"Your aura is powerful and profound, as formidable as a Vajra. It seems your transition to the Golden Cauldron Mystic Art has been very successful!"

Inside the cave, Zhou Mingde stared intently at Zhou Chun, scrutinizing him from head to toe, and then noticed the tremendous changes that had taken place in him.

Upon hearing this, clan leader Zhou Daoyi looked directly at Zhou Chun and asked, "How do you feel? Can you explain exactly what makes a top-tier cultivation technique so powerful?"

"It feels amazing! All the hardships and preparations I endured were worth it!"

Zhou Chun smiled lightly and, without holding back, immediately recounted the benefits he had gained after switching to the "Golden Cauldron Mystic Art".

"Impressive! Just from your description, I can tell how strong you are now. No wonder it's a top-tier technique passed down from ancient times!"

After listening to Zhou Chun's account, Zhou Daoyi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, marveling at and envying his achievements.

"While top-tier martial arts techniques are difficult to cultivate and master, the rewards are indeed enormous once mastered!"

Zhou Mingde nodded, also quite moved.

Then he instructed Zhou Chun, "However, Zheng Chun, you still need to keep it a secret that you've cultivated a top-tier technique. Just say you've cultivated a combat method!"

Zhou Chun knew that he was worried that he was standing out too much and that being too prominent would make him a target of jealousy.

He immediately replied solemnly, "Yes, I understand."

Seeing that he understood his meaning, Zhou Mingde nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then you should stay home and cultivate diligently, so that Daoyi can focus on building the dragon's nest."

Then he let Zhou Chun go home first.

When Zhou Chun returned to his residence, the rock tortoise and the silver lightning python Bai Bai, whom he hadn't seen for over a year, came up to him affectionately.

These two spirit pets had always been fed by the clan leader Zhou Daoyi every now and then. Although they were never hungry, they were obviously not as well cared for as he had been.

"Don't worry, Stone. I have now completed the important task of switching cultivation techniques. Next, I will do my best to find spiritual objects to purify your bloodline and help you break through to the second level as soon as possible."

In the courtyard, Zhou Chun patted the rock tortoise's head and made a promise to it.

After switching to the Golden Cauldron Mystic Art, he had nothing else to do urgently.

Of course, you can focus your energy on raising spirit pets and other things.

Zhou Chun had already made up his mind. In addition to cultivating and handling clan affairs, he would focus on cultivating more secret techniques and some second-tier spells.

After you've mastered all the secret arts and spells, then try practicing a skill.

Anyway, after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, one's lifespan is more than 240 years. For him, who is only in his early forties now, there are still many days ahead of him!

Over the next few days, Zhou Chun reviewed the clan affairs records in the Zhongping Hall and communicated with others, learning that many things had happened within the clan during his more than one year of seclusion.

For example, the Zhang family from Tiantai Mountain sent someone to apologize.

There was also the matter of Zhou Daoquan, the third elder of the family, leaving home to travel far away after he had been in seclusion for more than a month, in search of the opportunity to open his Purple Mansion.

And the various businesses within the family that are thriving.

However, there was one thing that piqued Zhou Chun's curiosity.

During the year or so that he was in seclusion, the cultivator surnamed Hu, whom he had met in Cangzhou, sent three letters to the Spirit Beast Hall, all inviting him to Cangzhou for a chat, saying that he had important matters to ask for his help with.

The most recent letter, written more than ten days ago, was much more earnest than the previous two.

"Never mind, let's leave it for now. If there's an emergency, he'll definitely send someone to fetch us."

Shaking his head, Zhou Chun put the letter away, not paying much attention to the matter.

When I left my contact information, I was just hoping to make friends.

Whether or not I should become friends with this person is still uncertain!

After he resumed his duties in charge of family affairs, he also made some changes to the family personnel.

Zhou Jiasheng, who had been the manager of Ling Shou Zhai for many years, was transferred back to the family business, and Zhou Jiafei took over as the new manager.

Zhou Jiasheng was appointed by Zhou Chun as the financial steward, in charge of organizing and compiling the family's finances.

Zhou Zhengxun, the manager of the deer park, performed outstandingly and was promoted to steward of the Hall of Beasts.

Zhou Zhengyong, the former steward of the Hundred Beasts Hall, was transferred to the position of supervisory steward.

"Currently, there are 176 cultivators in my Zhou family, including 135 cultivators from the Zhou family clan and 41 cultivators from relatives outside the family."

"In the past year, the family's income was approximately 35,400 spirit coins, and the expenditure was approximately 23,000 spirit coins."

"At the same time, the family has distributed approximately 18,000 merit points in the past year, and the number of merit points that have been redeemed is approximately 11,000."

"Currently, the family's accumulated spirit coins are approximately 27,400."

Inside the Zhongping Hall, all the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the clan, including the clan leader Zhou Daoyi, gathered again at Zhou Chun's invitation to hear his report on the clan's current situation.

Compared to the last time, this time the elders present were missing the Third Elder Zhou Daoquan, but had the addition of the Sixth Elder Zhou Jiapeng.

After hearing his brief report, Second Elder Zhou Chongshan immediately relaxed and nodded slightly, saying, "It sounds pretty good. There has been a significant improvement compared to the last time."

"Yes, the clan has definitely become much more lively in the past few years. Not to mention anything else, I've attended the full moon celebrations for new members of the clan about seven or eight times, and the number of babies in the nursery is almost half a village!"

Fourth Elder Zhou Jiarui nodded in deep feeling and expressed his thoughts with a smile.

Then the Fifth Elder, Zhou Jiahe, added, "Not only has the number of clansmen increased, but their enthusiasm has also risen. The incentive measures set by the deputy clan leader, as well as the fact that one can become a Foundation Establishment Seed after accumulating five thousand clan merits, have made the clansmen more enthusiastic about doing things for the clan and accumulating merits than before."

At this point, he looked at the clan leader Zhou Daoyi and added, "Of course, the clan leader's transformation from a cloud python to a dragon has also greatly boosted the morale of the clan, making the clan members even more hopeful for the future of the clan."

Seeing this, Zhou Daoyi nodded with a smile and said, "What the elders have said makes a lot of sense. It seems that you are all satisfied with the reforms that Zheng Chun has made to the family, right?"

"I have no objection."

Second Elder Zhou Chongshan took the lead in answering the question.

"satisfy."

"satisfy."

"Very satisfied."

Elders Zhou Jiarui, Zhou Jiahe, and Zhou Jiapeng also expressed their support.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun quickly cupped his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you for your trust and support, elders. I will definitely continue to work hard to serve the family."

"Then let's talk about the other matter that has brought all the elders here today."

Zhou Daoyi took over the conversation, looking at the elders and saying, "Several years ago, Zheng Yuan of Baiyao Peak petitioned the family, hoping for their support to help him successfully establish his foundation. That way, he would have absolute confidence in refining the Demon Spirit Pill."

"At that time, I was in seclusion, and there were many things to do in my family. I was also short of money, so I only promised to provide support, but I did not implement it immediately."

"Now that everything has been settled, there is no reason to delay any longer."

"So, elders, do you think the family should use its savings to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for the purpose of foundation establishment?"

Is this even possible?

Several Zhou family elders who were hearing about this for the first time all showed surprise.

The Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, immediately frowned and said in a deep voice, "Isn't this a bit against the rules?"

He was a conservative in the family, and naturally disapproved of family members who were self-assured about their talents and actively sought support from the family's higher-ups.

In the eyes of an old man like him, the family elders are not blind; they would naturally know which clansmen are worth cultivating and supporting to build a foundation.

If no one actively comes out to support you, it means they don't think you're qualified.

Just like the classic saying goes: What I give you is yours; what I don't give you, you can't take away!

Zhou Zhengyuan's alchemy skills are indeed the best among the current alchemists in the Zhou family.

However, elders like Zhou Chongshan knew that his talent for alchemy was far from being enough for the family to support him in achieving Foundation Establishment.

Otherwise, the late Elder Zhou Mingshan would have already mentioned this matter in his last words.

"It's somewhat against the rules, but rules can't stay unchanged forever!"

"The family does indeed have a great need for demon spirit pills right now, and also needs someone with decent alchemy skills to serve the family."

"Since there's no better candidate, we have no choice but to trust him this once and make an exception for him!"

Zhou Daoyi's tone was somewhat helpless as he spoke.

After his Azure Cloud Python transformed into a Flood Dragon, the Zhou family's ancestral beast-taming skills reached their peak.

However, there is a lack of successors in other skills such as alchemy, artifact crafting, and talisman arrays.

The formation is currently being maintained entirely by the Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, and no suitable successor has been found yet.

Needless to say, there's little to say about weapon crafting. Only the Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde knows a little about it, but he hasn't put much effort into it.

As for talisman making, he could indeed make second-tier magic talismans, but it wouldn't be right to have a clan leader do nothing but be the clan's talisman maker.

In the field of alchemy, since the passing of the First Elder Zhou Mingshan, it has been difficult for any of the alchemists he trained for the family to take on the responsibility.

Zhou Zhengyuan is already the tallest among the short; compared to others, he's considered good.

Therefore, although he was slightly uncomfortable with Zhou Zhengyuan's coercive request, Zhou Daoyi felt it was necessary to help him out in order to strengthen the family's foundation.

After hearing his words, the Second Elder Zhou Chongshan fell silent.

"In fact, with Zheng Yuan's abilities, as long as he is diligent and hardworking, he can accumulate enough family merits to become a Foundation Establishment seed in another 10 or 20 years. At that time, he will only be in his early seventies and will still have a chance to successfully establish his foundation."

"The family is helping him out now; consider it an early investment!"

Fourth Elder Zhou Jiarui said a few words in a low voice, his words indicating his agreement with the matter.

Zhou Chun glanced at the Fourth Elder and understood his thoughts.

His newly contracted spirit pet, the Crimson Flame Dragon Python, has a great chance of advancing to the second tier in the future, given the existence of a third-tier dragon within the family. At that time, he will definitely need the Demon Spirit Pill.

Helping Zhou Zhengyuan at this time is tantamount to helping yourself.

Clearly, Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiapeng quickly grasped the crux of the matter and subsequently voiced their agreement.

Seeing this, Zhou Chongshan had no choice but to change his tune, saying, "Alright then, the family can support him in establishing his foundation, but if he fails to do so, or if he succeeds but fails to refine the Demon Spirit Pill as he claimed, he will no longer be entitled to family benefits!"

As soon as he backed down, Fourth Elder Zhou Jiarui immediately nodded in agreement, saying, "That's acceptable. I think this kind of punishment is necessary for Zheng Yuan's situation!"

"Then let's do as the Second Elder said. I don't think Zheng Yuan will have any objections to this."

Zhou Daoyi nodded slightly, agreeing to the matter.

And so the matter was settled.

The next step was to inquire about purchasing Foundation Building Pills.

However, as long as you are willing to spend spirit coins, it is not impossible to buy Foundation Establishment Pills.

More than a month later, Zhou Chun suddenly received a message from the market saying that a Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Hu had come to the shop and insisted on meeting him.

"They actually found it."

A look of surprise flashed in Zhou Chun's eyes. After thinking for a moment, he told the clan leader Zhou Daoyi about the situation and then went to Hongya Market.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou has finally agreed to come and see me!"

Inside the Spirit Beast Pavilion, Hu Changyou, who had reunited with Zhou Chun, looked at him with a face full of emotion and let out a long sigh.

Her words were full of resentment, like those of a wronged young wife.

It's not hard to tell from his words that he already knows Zhou Chun's true background.

This made Zhou Chun feel somewhat embarrassed.

He quickly bowed and said, "I'm so sorry. I was in seclusion at home for more than a year and only came out a month ago. Although I saw Fellow Daoist Hu's letter after I came out of seclusion, I was busy with family affairs and did not have time to ask someone to reply to you."

At this point, he gave a wry smile and said, "I never expected you to be in such a hurry, making a special trip to Lanzhou."

Hearing this, Hu Changyou smiled wryly and said, "It's not that I'm in a hurry, it's that the person who asked me to come is in a hurry. I really couldn't stand their urging, so I had no choice but to come and invite Fellow Daoist Zhou in person!"

"What is it that warrants Fellow Daoist Hu making such a special trip to find me, Zhou?"

A strange light flashed in Zhou Chun's eyes, and he inquired about the reason.

"It's a rat infestation!"

"A mutated second-tier gold-eating rat king has emerged from a gold-eating rat clan in Cangzhou. It has secretly integrated several rat clans and secretly bred a massive clan of tens of thousands underground. Now it has caused a rat plague in several mining areas, and many mining cultivators have been injured by them, resulting in a huge loss of minerals!"

Hu Changyou solemnly explained his purpose.

With this chapter finished, the book will be 600,000 words long. Wow, that's fast!

(End of this chapter)