Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 177 Refusing to compromise has led to serious trouble! [Please subscribe]

Master Jiang had far more wealth than Zhou Chun had anticipated.

Not to mention the more than 24,000 spirit coins, the pills they refined were also not ordinary goods.

Among them are three types of pills that can improve the magical power of Foundation Establishment cultivators, totaling four bottles, which are worth tens of thousands of spirit coins.

In addition, there are several highly effective healing pills.

Furthermore, his storage bag contained many rare alchemy materials, each of which was extremely valuable.

But the truly important things were a pill-refining furnace and several commonly used second-grade high-quality magic artifacts in his storage bag.

That alchemy furnace was a mid-grade second-tier magic artifact; its value alone was comparable to a low-grade third-tier magic artifact.

The other few second-tier high-grade magic artifacts are also rare and exquisite items.

Unfortunately, the Zhou family was unable to keep any of these magical artifacts.

Since these are all items that Master Jiang frequently uses, the Jiang family must have them on file.

If these things are not handed over, the Jiang family will certainly not easily agree to Zhou Chun's proposed "life-or-death struggle" solution.

Fortunately, apart from these easily known items, the Zhou family should be able to retain most of the pills and spirit coins.

In addition, some alchemy classics and his own alchemy insights found in Master Jiang's storage bag can be copied and kept for future use.

So Zhou Mingde made a sweeping decision and confiscated 18,000 spirit coins, making them public property of the Zhou family.

As for the pills, Zhou Chun was given two bottles of pills for improving his cultivation and some pills for healing.

The remainder will be kept by Zhou Mingde for the time being, and will be given as a reward to the Foundation Establishment Elders who have made contributions to the family at an opportune time.

As for the wolf-faced cultivator, Zhou Chun was only willing to offer the curved sword magic weapon as compensation.

After all, he himself paid a considerable price in that battle, and it was impossible for him to give away all the spoils of war.

After making the division, Zhou Chun immediately took his things and headed to Qinglian Temple before the truth about the matter in Lingzhou was investigated.

Speaking of which, Zhou Chun hasn't been to Qinglian Temple for quite some time.

Over the years, although he maintained correspondence with Liu Shiyun of Qinglian Temple and often sent her some Zhou family specialties and spiritual items as gifts, he had never seen her again.

The last time the two sides contacted each other was half a year ago, when Liu Shiyun had just broken through to the twelfth level of the Qi Refining stage. She was quite happy and mentioned that her master had prepared Foundation Establishment Pills for her.

Zhou Chun even wrote back to congratulate her.

At this time, after arriving outside Qinglian Temple, Zhou Chun went to the welcoming Taoist temple first, as usual.

However, unlike before, this time he didn't need to give any benefits to the monks inside. He simply brought up the name of Daoist Mingxia and expressed his desire to pay his respects to Daoist Mingxia.

Faced with a visit of this caliber, the receiving cultivator dared not be negligent in the slightest. He immediately and warmly invited him to have tea and rest in the upper room, and promptly arranged for someone to go to Qing Shuang Cave to deliver a message.

Zhou Chun waited in the room for most of the day before Liu Shiyun arrived.

"It's been many years. How have you been, Fellow Daoist Liu?"

Looking at the female cultivator in green robes whose face was still veiled by a light veil, Zhou Chun smiled slightly and greeted her.

When Liu Shiyun heard his words and looked at his young and handsome face, which seemed just like the first time the two of them met, and then thought of his current status as the deputy patriarch of the Zhou family and a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she was filled with emotion.

She couldn't help but whisper, "It's been many years since we last met. Fellow Daoist Zhou, you're still as dashing as ever. I'm truly envious."

Without waiting for Zhou Chun's response, he continued, "When Master learned of Fellow Daoist Zhou's visit, he specially sent Shi Yun to welcome you. To avoid keeping her waiting, let's talk as we walk."

"Fellow Daoist Liu is right. We can talk about catching up later. Let's get down to business first."

Zhou Chun nodded slightly and immediately followed Liu Shiyun out of the room.

Once outside, they saw a magnificent white fox idly grooming its fur.

Upon seeing the two emerge, the white fox merely glanced at Zhou Chun before cawing at Liu Shiyun.

Zhou Chun knew that this white fox was the mount and beloved pet of Daoist Mingxia, and had been trained into a mid-grade second-tier demon beast.

Liu Shiyun was able to arrive so quickly because the white fox must have brought her here.

Sure enough, after hearing the white fox's cry, Liu Shiyun immediately went forward and sat on its back.

Immediately, the white fox leaped forward, its body instantly taking off into the air and soaring into the sky.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately took to the air and followed.

After flying for about an hour, the two arrived at the cave dwelling of Daoist Mingxia.

"Junior Zhou Zhengchun pays respects to Senior Mingxia."

Inside the cave, Zhou Chun saw Daoist Mingxia again after many years and immediately stepped forward to pay his respects.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, there's no need for formalities. Please sit down and let's talk."

Master Mingxia waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down to the side.

After Zhou Chun thanked her and took his seat, she looked at him and said, "I have read Fellow Daoist Mingde's letter, but many details were not mentioned. Could Fellow Daoist Zhou please explain them to me in detail?"

"Yes, junior obeys."

Zhou Chun responded and immediately began to recount in detail the reasons for his feud with Master Jiang, and how he later killed Master Jiang.

Of course, he would never admit that he bought the eight-hundred-year-old Crimson Essence Ganoderma to lure Master Jiang to attack him; he would only say that he bought it to gain benefits from the Li family.

In fact, that was indeed his original intention before he discovered Master Jiang.

After hearing what he said, Daoist Mingxia stared at him for a moment, lost in thought and remained silent.

After pondering for a while, she nodded slightly to him and said, "If what you say is true, then you are indeed in the right in this matter."

"However, the Jiang family of Lingzhou is no ordinary family. Their family has been rooted in Lingzhou for over a thousand years, and there are members of their family in our sect. Master Jiang is an important member of their family."

"If they insist on refusing mediation and are determined to avenge Master Jiang, then I cannot force them!"

Her relationship with the Zhou family was purely mutually beneficial, based entirely on mutual interests.

If it's just this kind of relationship, of course she won't go all out to do something for the Zhou family unless the Zhou family gives her a lot!

Zhou Chun was well aware of this.

Therefore, he immediately said, "Senior, just do your best. Whether it succeeds or not, the junior and the Zhou family will remember your kindness."

But then, Daoist Mingxia suddenly looked at him and asked, "If I may be so bold as to ask, if it were to truly be a life-or-death duel, how confident are you, Fellow Daoist Zhou, of your certainty of victory?"

Zhou Chun didn't know why she asked that, but he still replied, "This junior cultivates combat techniques, and my spirit pet is a second-tier demon beast. If it were a life-or-death battle, this junior should have a 70% chance of winning!"

"A 70% chance of success is actually quite high!"

Master Mingxia nodded slightly, then fell silent again.

After an unknown amount of time, she looked at Zhou Chun and said, "Then I will personally go to the Jiang family in Lingzhou to see if they are willing to accept the life-or-death duel. Don't rush home yet; wait for me in this cave!"

"This junior obeys. I'll leave everything to you, senior."

After Zhou Chun finished speaking, he immediately stood up and bowed deeply.

Next, Daoist Mingxia gave a few instructions to his disciples and then left the cave.

Zhou Chun also received a warm welcome from Liu Shiyun and her father.

"To be honest, everything is fine with cultivating here at Qinglian Temple. It's just that sometimes when I'm idle, I feel restless. It's not easy to even go out for a short while, and there aren't many like-minded fellow practitioners with whom I can drink and have fun!"

"Once Shiyun successfully completes her Foundation Establishment, I, Old Liu, plan to find a safe place to live alone and enjoy the remaining decades of my life!"

At the dinner table, after several rounds of dishes, Liu Qingshan, whose hair had already turned white, suddenly looked at Zhou Chun with a face full of emotion and began to lament about his current life.

Although relatives of Qinglian Temple's inner disciples are allowed to cultivate within the temple grounds...

However, in order to enter and exit the mountain gate, one must be accompanied by a relative.

This alone made it very inconvenient for them to come and go, so they tried to minimize their comings and goings.

If it were cultivators who were in pairs, they might have each other's company and could stay alone in a cave for a long time.

But Liu Qingshan was all alone, and it was clear that he had grown tired of it after staying there for more than ten years.

Of course, the most important thing is that his cultivation level has already reached the twelfth level of the Qi Refining stage, so even if he meditates and cultivates, it will have no effect, and it is impossible for him to obtain a Foundation Establishment spiritual object to help him establish his foundation.

His daughter's future is bright, and she will not need his care or help anymore.

It can be said that the rest of his life has lost its meaning for continuing his spiritual practice.

So Zhou Chun wasn't surprised that he had these feelings.

He immediately smiled and said, "Brother Liu, if you really feel that Qinglian Temple is too boring and you want to go out and have some fun, you can come to our Zhou family residence."

"I don't need you to do any guarding or maintenance work for the Zhou family. I just want you to be an instructor for the younger generation of cultivators in my Zhou family in your spare time, and teach them how to survive in the cultivation world."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingshan's eyes lit up, and he immediately replied, "Then it's settled. After Shiyun successfully establishes her foundation, I will go to the Zhou family to seek refuge with you, Fellow Daoist Zhou."

"Haha, then I, Zhou, will be waiting for Brother Liu at the Zhou family home."

Zhou Chun laughed heartily, immediately raised his glass and clinked it with his again, then tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

After the meal was finished, as Liu Shiyun brewed some tea for the two of them to help them sober up, Zhou Chun looked at her and said, "Speaking of which, I have a small favor to ask of Fellow Daoist Liu."

"What is it? Fellow Daoist Zhou, please speak freely."

Liu Shiyun was slightly taken aback, but then readily agreed.

"It is like this. I had heard from Fellow Daoist Liu that your third senior sister is a skilled craftswoman who is good at making ceremonial robes. I happened to have recently acquired a piece of fine leather and would like to ask Fellow Daoist Liu to help me ask my senior sister to make ceremonial robes for me."

As Zhou Chun spoke, he took out the pelt of the mutated Gold-Eating Rat King that he had collected.

"This is the pelt of a second-tier demonic beast!"

Liu Qingshan, who was standing to the side, only glanced at the fur in Zhou Chun's hand a few times before speaking in surprise.

"It is the pelt of the second-tier demonic beast, the mutated Gold-Eating Rat King."

Zhou Chun nodded, then looked at Liu Shiyun.

Under his gaze, Liu Shiyun replied without hesitation, "It's a small matter. My senior sister is currently cultivating in her cave. I'll deliver the items to her for you. She'll definitely be happy to help."

"Then thank you very much, Fellow Daoist Liu."

A smile flashed across Zhou Chun's face, and he immediately handed the pelt of the mutated Gold-Eating Rat King to Liu Shiyun.

And Liu Shiyun did indeed go to find her senior sister very quickly.

Less than an hour later, she returned to her residence and said with a smile to Zhou Chun, who was waiting there, "Third Senior Sister said that the materials this time are very good. She needs to think carefully about how to make them. Fellow Daoist Zhou may have to wait two or three months to receive the robes."

"I understand. Thank you again for your help, Fellow Daoist Liu."

Zhou Chun nodded and thanked him again.

After staying at Qing Shuang Cave for two days, Daoist Mingxia, who had gone to Lingzhou, returned.

However, when Zhou Chun saw her in the cave of Daoist Mingxia, his heart sank.

Because of her furrowed brows, she didn't look like she had succeeded at all.

As expected, before Zhou Chun could even bow and inquire about the situation, Daoist Mingxia shook her head at him and said, "I am truly sorry, I have done my best, but the Jiang family does not wish to accept a life-or-death struggle as a solution and has stated that they will definitely investigate to the end!"

"Furthermore, I also learned from the Jiang family about the other late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator you killed, Fellow Daoist Zhou. That person was no less impressive; he was from the Tianjing Manor, a rogue cultivator organization in Lingzhou, and his master was a disciple of the Tianjing Hermit. I'm afraid he'll be in even more trouble than the Jiang family!"

What? The wolf-faced masked cultivator has such a background?

Zhou Chun's expression changed in surprise, and a hint of panic appeared in his eyes.

Tianjing Sanren is a famous rogue cultivator in the Golden Core stage throughout the entire Jing Kingdom, and he is also a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Such an existence is something the Zhou family absolutely cannot afford to provoke.

Moreover, Zhou Chun had not forgotten that the "Qiyun Alliance," the loose cultivator organization in Lanzhou that the five major immortal cultivation families had defeated together, was founded by Tang Yuan, a disciple of the Heavenly Mirror Hermit.

If the master of that wolf-faced masked cultivator were to trace it back to the Zhou family, the Zhou family would be in real danger, given the combination of old and new grudges!

"How could this be? How could this be!"

Zhou Chun muttered to himself, already somewhat losing his composure.

The Jiang family's refusal to give up is nothing; the Zhou family, with Zhou Daoyi's Azure Dragon, has nothing to fear from them.

However, if Tianjing Manor also attacks the Zhou family, even if Tianjing Sanren, a Golden Core cultivator, doesn't intervene, the Zhou family will still be far beyond their ability to resist.

If it really comes to that, he will truly become a sinner against the Zhou family!

How could he not be panicked?

Just as Zhou Chun was terrified and at a loss after hearing the news revealed by Daoist Mingxia, Daoist Mingxia looked at him and spoke again.

"If Fellow Daoist Zhou has no other way to resolve this calamity, I happen to have a method here that can help you and the Zhou family safely overcome this tribulation, and guarantee that the Jiang family and Tianjing Manor will not dare to pursue this matter again in the future!"

Does she have a solution?

Zhou Chun was jolted awake, as if a drowning person had grasped at a straw. He hurriedly bowed to Daoist Mingxia and said, "Please teach me, senior!"

Unexpectedly, Daoist Mingxia waved her hand and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, don't be so happy yet. Although my method can help you and the Zhou family safely overcome this calamity, it is extremely dangerous for you. You should think carefully before deciding whether or not to follow this method!"

Even though she said that, Zhou Chun couldn't hide his joy and hurriedly replied, "Yes, this junior is all ears to listen to your teachings, senior. Please enlighten me."

"This matter is a closely guarded secret of our sect. Fellow Daoist Zhou, you have heard it today, but do not speak of it carelessly after you leave, lest you bring annihilation upon yourself and your Zhou family."

Master Mingxia first warned Zhou Chun before slowly revealing his solution.

The second update is here!

(End of this chapter)