Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 257 An Unprecedented windfall [Please subscribe]

The Zhou family reaped enormous rewards from this campaign against the Dragon Transformation Sect.

So much so that when the harvest was roughly tallied up, Zhou Chun, Zhou Mingde, and the other two were all somewhat incredulous.

In Zhou Daoyi's words, "When has the Zhou family ever been this wealthy?"

Of course, the Zhou family during the Three Absolutes Sect era was indeed a truly wealthy and powerful family, a Golden Core clan.

However, ever since they arrived at Jiufeng Ridge, the Zhou family has been living a very frugal life. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they wish they could stretch every single spirit coin to two.

When they were most short of money, they even had to change the spirit coins that were originally intended to be distributed as welfare for the family cultivators to family merits to distribute to the clan members.

At that time, Zhou Daoyi could never have imagined that in just twenty or thirty years, the Zhou family would have developed to this extent again.

At this point, after the three of them were happy with the compiled list for a long time, they followed Zhou Chun's advice and quickly summoned all the elders of the family together to hold a family meeting to discuss the disposal of these items and to report on the current situation of the family.

Inside the Zhongping Hall, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi sat at the head of the table, with Zhou Chun, Zhou Chongshan, and Zhou Daoquan to their left and Zhou Jiarui, Zhou Jiahe, Zhou Jiapeng, and Zhou Zhengyuan to their right.

After glancing around, Zhou Mingde spoke first.

"I have summoned all the elders here today because there are some things I need to tell you."

"However, before we get to the main point, I have a decision to make to inform you elders."

He then turned his gaze to Zhou Chun and said, "Since Zheng Chun successfully established his foundation and took over as the deputy patriarch of the Zhou family, everyone has witnessed his achievements for the family, so I won't go into details."

"Therefore, after discussion between me and Daoyi, we decided to formally appoint him as the patriarch of my Zhou family, with full authority to manage all family members and handle all family affairs."

"At the same time, after stepping down as clan leader, Dao Yi will assume the position of Supreme Elder of my Zhou family."

A somewhat unexpected yet reasonable decision was thus made by Zhou Mingde.

It seems he only discussed this decision with Zhou Daoyi, and even Zhou Chun was unaware of it.

Therefore, Zhou Chun also showed a look of surprise at this moment.

After their initial surprise, the six Zhou family elders revealed faint smiles.

The second elder, Zhou Chongshan, was the first to speak up, saying, "I fully support Zheng Chun becoming the clan leader."

"I also agree that Zheng Chun should serve as the clan leader."

Zhou Daoquan responded immediately.

"I fully agree with the Supreme Elder's decision."

I agree.

"I support Zheng Chun to become the clan leader."

Zhou Jiarui, Zhou Jiahe, Zhou Jiapeng, and others all expressed their agreement and support, unanimously approving Zhou Mingde's decision.

Zhou Chun, who is usually quite modest, was anything but modest this time.

After all the elders expressed their approval, he stood up and bowed to Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi at the head of the table, saying, "Thank you for your trust and support, Elders. I will do my utmost to manage the family well and bring glory to the Zhou family once again!"

After speaking, he stood up and bowed to the elders on both sides, saying, "I would also like to thank you all for your trust and support. From now on, as the clan leader, I ask that you continue to support me and believe in me. I will certainly not let you down!"

Both statements reveal his strong self-confidence, a confidence that comes from within.

In times like these, he must also be confident.

If everyone has faith in him and believes in him, how can he succeed if he lacks confidence in himself?

"Then it's settled. After the various families have recovered, we will hold a celebration and invite the heads of the families with which we have good relations to come and witness this event."

Zhou Mingde spoke again, definitively confirming the matter.

Then he glanced at the crowd below and slowly said, "Now let Zheng Chun tell you about the gains and losses of our family in this war."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Chun stood up again, this time with an account book in his hand.

"Let me start by talking about what I've gained."

"The family's gains in this war were enormous, shockingly so!"

"According to current statistics, the family has acquired a total of five third-tier magic artifacts in this war, including two mid-grade third-tier magic artifacts and three low-grade third-tier magic artifacts, as well as four third-tier magic talismans."

"At the same time, the family also acquired a total of thirty-seven second-tier magic artifacts, including seven high-grade second-tier magic artifacts, twelve mid-grade second-tier magic artifacts, eighteen low-grade second-tier magic artifacts, and thirty-two second-tier magic talismans."

"As for first-tier magic artifacts, a total of 146 items were collected, including 68 high-grade first-tier magic artifacts, 78 mid-grade first-tier magic artifacts, and 436 first-tier magic talismans."

"In terms of pills, the family has collected a total of 1,356 pills of 17 different kinds, of which 8 are suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"In terms of formations, the family has acquired five sets of formation tools."

"Regarding medicinal herbs, the family has harvested two thousand-year-old herbs this time: a thousand-year-old Water Jade Lingzhi and a thousand-year-old Earth Scrophularia. In addition, there are five eight-hundred-year-old medicinal herbs, seven seven-hundred-year-old medicinal herbs, twenty-eight six-hundred-year-old medicinal herbs, thirty-nine five-hundred-year-old medicinal herbs, and sixty-eight four-hundred-year-old medicinal herbs!"

"The remaining 354 medicinal herbs are between 100 and 400 years old!"

"As for the demonic beasts, the family has acquired nine Crimson-Eyed Dragon Vultures, fifteen Dragon Claw Giant Lizards, thirty-three Dragon Scale Horses, one mid-level demonic beast Bloodflame Dragon Python egg, and twenty-six low-level demonic beast eggs."

"The remaining harvested spirit gold ores totaled eighteen types, including precious items such as iron essence and third-tier demon cores."

"In addition, the family has acquired a total of twenty-three cultivation techniques, fourteen secret cultivation methods, five weapon-refining manuals, three alchemy manuals, six talisman-making manuals, two array manuals, six pill formulas, and three array diagrams."

"In addition, the family also acquired more than 37,500 spirit coins that can be used in the cultivation world of Jingguo."

"Finally, the family has collected a total of more than 3,200 pieces of various monster materials and more than 2,300 monster corpses this time."

"These gains are only what the family has so far. As for the merits made by the family's cultivators during the war, the rewards will be distributed after the three major sects have completed their tallies."

Zhou Chun held the account book in his hands and read out the records of the harvest section by section.

With each passage he read, apart from Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi, who had read the account books beforehand, the other Zhou family elders would widen their eyes a little more.

After he finished recounting all his gains, the Zhou family elders present stared wide-eyed at the account book in his hand, their faces filled with shock.

Although the Zhou family elders who participated in the southern campaign all knew that the Zhou family's gains this time would not be small.

But they could never have imagined that the harvest would be this great!

They were all Foundation Establishment cultivators. Even if they weren't very clear about market prices, they roughly knew how much the magical artifacts, talismans, and pills Zhou Chun mentioned could sell for.

That's an absolutely enormous sum that would make even Golden Core cultivators drool!

"Is all of this true? Are the gains really that great?"

Zhou Zhengyuan, who had always stayed within the family and had never participated in the Southern Expedition or been on the front lines against the beast tide, murmured in shock and disbelief.

He did see all the demonic beasts and spiritual herbs.

Although with his alchemy skills, he wouldn't use spiritual herbs that were over 500 years old much, he did know that the Zhou family had obtained this large batch of spiritual herbs.

However, the magical artifacts and other gains that Zhou Chun mentioned were things he didn't know about.

"Of course it's true. Everything here was personally checked by me and the two elders. There's nothing false about it."

Zhou Chun responded to Zhou Zhengyuan's question with a calm expression.

Then he said, "Of course, the family has gained a lot, but the losses are also considerable. Now let me talk about the losses."

"In total, the family lost twenty-seven cultivators during this war, including twenty-three from within the family and four from relatives outside the family!"

"At the same time, the family lost as many as thirty-eight demonic beasts and spirit pets, including the Third Elder's Earth Armor Bear!"

"The family also suffered enormous losses in terms of resources. Most of the magic talismans and pills stored before the battle were used up, totaling thirty-five second-tier magic talismans, more than 1,600 first-tier magic talismans, and more than five hundred pills. The mountain-protecting formation was also severely damaged in the war!"

"At the same time, the family spent a total of 32,000 spirit coins to compensate the fallen clansmen, and more than 9,600 spirit coins to recruit rogue cultivators!"

"This doesn't even include the Second Elder, Fourth Elder, and the others who were injured."

Upon hearing this, the elders, who had been all smiles, lost their smiles considerably.

Victory in war is indeed something to celebrate, and the great gains are something to be happy about, but those who died in battle deserve to be remembered and mourned even more.

How could these elders still laugh when Zhou Chun spoke of the clansmen who had died in battle?

At this moment, Zhou Mingde slowly spoke, "The deceased are gone. Those clansmen who died for the family were all heroes of the Zhou family. The Zhou family will remember their sacrifices and contributions, and we cannot let their sacrifices be in vain!"

"Alright, now let me personally explain the arrangements for these harvests!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the faces of each elder, and then said in a deep voice, "Since the spoils of this battle were mostly obtained by the high-ranking cultivators of the participating families through their own strength, they should be given priority in the distribution!"

"Therefore, I believe that, based on each person's previous performance and gains, 70% of their battlefield gains should belong to them, another 10% should be used to reward the cultivators who remain in the family, and the remaining 20% ​​should be deposited into the family treasury!"

"Do you have any objections to this allocation method?"

Upon hearing this, the elders, including Zhou Jiarui, exchanged glances, and then Zhou Chongshan took the lead in responding, "The capable will receive more. We have no objection to the Supreme Elder's method of distribution."

"I have no objections!"

"We will follow the Elder's arrangements!"

"This junior agrees with this distribution method."

The remaining Zhou family elders all voiced their agreement, and no one had any objections.

In fact, apart from Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Zhengyuan, who stayed at home, everyone else had participated in the Southern Expedition. According to this distribution method, their gains would not be low.

Neither of them had any great ambitions. They were quite satisfied with their current level of cultivation and status, so naturally they wouldn't go against the majority in this matter.

Seeing this, Zhou Mingde nodded in satisfaction and said, "Alright, since none of you have any objections, we'll calculate your share later and then let you choose how to settle the accounts based on the actual situation."

After saying that, he turned to Zhou Chun and said, "Now, Zheng Chun, tell everyone about the current situation of the family."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun stood up again, then, holding the account book, said, "The family currently has 177 members of the main clan and 21 members of the maternal relatives. Among them, there are two cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage, seven cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, 33 cultivators at the late Qi Refining stage, 74 cultivators at the mid-Qi Refining stage, 53 cultivators at the early Qi Refining stage, and 17 members who have not yet entered the Daoist path."

"In addition, the family has now adopted twenty-six servant assassins, eighteen of whom have already entered the early stage of Qi Refining."

Thanks to the Zhou family's pro-natalist policies over the years, the number of cultivators in the Zhou family has increased significantly in the past decade.

If it weren't for the loss of more than twenty clansmen in the war, the number of cultivators in the Zhou family would now exceed two hundred.

However, to be honest, compared to the Zhou family's current number of mid-to-high-level cultivators—two Purple Mansion stage cultivators and seven Foundation Establishment stage cultivators—this number of Qi Refining stage cultivators is far from enough.

However, increasing the number of cultivators in the clan is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Zhou Chun didn't have a good solution for this matter. He could only wait until he took office as the clan leader and then try to see if he could introduce birth subsidy measures to encourage the Zhou family cultivators to have children.

When he heard him mention the number of cultivators in his family, Zhou Mingde took the opportunity to ask him a question.

"Although the number of cultivators in the family has increased in recent years, it is undoubtedly lagging behind the family's development. The family's shortage of manpower was exposed in this war, and there will be many places in the future where the family will need to use manpower on a large scale. Zheng Chun, do you have any thoughts?"

Zhou Mingde had not discussed this issue with Zhou Chun beforehand, so this was a surprise attack.

Therefore, Zhou Chun was slightly taken aback after hearing his words.

However, Zhou Chun quickly understood what Zhou Mingde was trying to say.

After a moment's thought, he said, "The growth of the number of cultivators in the family cannot be improved in one or two years. It takes at least thirty years for a generation to grow. Even if the family adds a hundred newborns with spiritual root aptitude now, it will still be thirty to fifty years before they grow up and can be used by the family!"

"Therefore, I believe that if we need to hire a large number of people outside the family in the future, we will have no choice but to hire outsiders!"

Argentina almost shattered my dreams last night! It was fucking thrilling! First, Brazil went home, even Ma's solo effort couldn't save them. Then Messi scored and assisted, but they still equalized. Thank goodness I don't have a heart condition, or I'd definitely need nitroglycerin! But staying up all night is so painful. I haven't stayed up this late in ages. I didn't sleep until 6 AM and didn't wake up until after 2 PM. And to make matters worse, Ronaldo has a match tonight—I absolutely have to watch it! So that's all for today. I'll try to add more tomorrow and the day after to make up for it! I'll only watch one match today, no more after that!

(End of this chapter)