Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 275 Traitors [Please Subscribe]

The Zhou family has gained another Purple Mansion cultivator.

When the news of Zhou Daoquan's successful opening of the Purple Mansion spread, it brought joy to some and sorrow to others as the Zhou family sent out invitations.

Families like the Wang family of Hongyao Valley and the Sun family of Jinfeng Ridge, who had very close ties with the Zhou family, were also very envious, but were mostly happy and pleased.

After all, the Zhou family has always been righteous, and the stronger the Zhou family is, the more secure their allied families feel.

However, those families who had little or no connection with the Zhou family, or even those who were enemies with them, were filled with worry and regret upon learning of this.

If they had known the Zhou family had such amazing potential, they would have at least tried to befriend them; they couldn't afford to become enemies!

But the reason why offering help in times of need is so precious is because very few people are willing to do it.

The Zhou family has now emerged from its predicament and ushered in a new era.

At this point, trying to befriend the Zhou family would be nothing more than adding icing on the cake.

Even so, many forces still decided to prepare generous gifts to add a touch of glamour to the Zhou family's grand event.

Adding icing on the cake may not necessarily make someone remember you, but it will at least leave an impression.

If we ever need anything from the Zhou family in the future, this will be considered a favor.

If one cannot even do this small favor, then one will have nowhere to turn when one needs help in the future.

On the day the celebration began, the Zhou family's gate was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and festive red ribbons fluttered from the trees, making it a very eye-catching and vibrant place.

The Zhou family hasn't been this lively in a long time.

To ensure that all members of the clan could enjoy the festivities together, Zhou Chun even used the clan's public assets to distribute twenty spirit coins as a red envelope to each member.

Thus, the ordinary Zhou family cultivators were naturally not unhappy that they had gained something for nothing because of Zhou Daoquan's Purple Mansion celebration.

When carrying out the celebratory tasks arranged by the family, everyone's face was full of smiles.

When Wang Zhixiong arrived at the Zhou family on behalf of the Wang family of Red Medicine Valley, he looked at the smiles on the faces of the Zhou family cultivators who were welcoming guests inside and outside the mountain gate, and he was secretly envious.

He hadn't seen such a genuine smile on the faces of his own people for a long time.

Since the Southern Expedition resulted in the loss of several Foundation Establishment elders and the subsequent loss of dozens of clansmen during the beast tide, none of the remaining members of the Wang family have been able to truly laugh happily again.

Although two members of the Wang family successfully established their foundations over the past few years thanks to the Foundation Establishment Pills obtained through battle merits, apart from those two, the rest of the Wang family members could hardly feel truly happy.

Wang Zhixiong originally thought that only time could heal those people and help them forget their pain and emerge from the shadows.

But now it seems there are other ways.

"Wang Zhixiong, the patriarch of the Wang family of Hongyao Valley, respectfully presents a ginseng on behalf of the Wang family to congratulate Elder Zhou Daoquan on the opening of his Purple Mansion and wish him long life and good fortune."

On the top of Pagoda Peak, Wang Zhixiong respectfully bowed to Zhou Daoquan to offer his congratulations and presented him with a gift.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, you are too kind. The Wang family and the Zhou family have a long-standing friendship that has gone through thick and thin together. Your presence alone is already an honor for me. There is no need to present such a lavish gift!"

Zhou Daoquan opened the gift box and glanced at it, then was slightly surprised. He quickly stood up politely and returned the gift with a cupped-hand salute.

It turns out that the ginseng that Wang Zhixiong presented was no ordinary plant; it was a very rare 600-year-old Crimson Blood Ginseng.

This Crimson Blood Ginseng is a highly potent tonic. A 600-year-old Crimson Blood Ginseng can greatly replenish vital energy when taken raw, making it an excellent medicine for healing injuries.

To be honest, given the relationship between the Wang and Zhou families, Wang Zhixiong really didn't need to offer such a generous gift.

However, since the gift had already been given, Zhou Daoquan certainly had no reason to return it, so he could only accept it with a smile.

Wang Zhixiong was certainly not the first person to send such a generous gift.

For this Purple Mansion celebration, the Zhou family sent invitations to most of the cultivation families in Lanzhou, and even sent a special invitation to the Su family in Jiangzhou.

With invitations being sent out so widely, many forces that received the Zhou family's invitation for the first time prepared generous gifts.

So when the celebration finally began, Zhou Chun counted and found that there were as many as seventeen immortal cultivation families who had come to the Zhou family to attend this Purple Mansion celebration.

He remembered that a total of twenty-one invitations were sent out.

In other words, only four companies did not send anyone to the event.

Zhou Chun silently kept in mind the four families that did not send anyone.

This perfectly illustrates the old saying: those who give gifts may not be remembered by the host, but those who don't give gifts will definitely be remembered.

When the time was almost right, Zhou Chun stepped forward, cupped his hands to the seated guests and clansmen, and began to give a speech: "Distinguished guests, fellow clansmen, we gather here today to celebrate the great progress of our Zhou family elder, Zhou Daoquan, in his cultivation and the opening of his Purple Mansion."

"Elder Zhou Daoquan is a meritorious elder of our Zhou family. He has made outstanding contributions to the family on many occasions. He is a man of noble character and is happy to mentor the younger generation. He has always been deeply respected and appreciated by us younger cultivators."

"Today is a joyous day for Elder Zhou Daoquan, and also a joyous day for my Zhou family. As the head of the Zhou family, I, on behalf of myself and the family, wish Elder Daoquan a smooth path in his cultivation and abundant blessings."

After speaking, he bowed to Zhou Daoquan, who was seated at the head of the table, and offered his congratulations.

With him taking the lead, the other guests also took turns standing up to give congratulatory speeches to Zhou Daoquan, making it quite a lively scene.

After this necessary set of rituals was completed, everyone relaxed and began to drink and eat, truly enjoying the celebration.

Many cultivators usually cultivate alone and often choose to eat and drink with fasting pills instead of grains, so they don't have many opportunities to eat and drink together.

Therefore, when participating in the celebration, people no longer hold themselves back and take advantage of this rare opportunity to let loose and reward themselves.

After a feast, the celebration came to a close in a joyful atmosphere.

But for the Zhou family, the end of the celebration was only the beginning of their rise to prominence.

With three members holding the Purple Mansion title, the Zhou family's meteoric rise is already evident.

Anyone who pays attention to the Zhou family knows that as long as they don't encounter any major setbacks or obstacles, they are bound to take off.

Seeing the Zhou family getting better and better, beyond what they could have imagined, some people began to have designs on them.

On this day, Zhou Jiahe, an elder of the Zhou family, suddenly approached Zhou Chun, saying that he wanted to take him to meet someone.

Trusting the family elder, Zhou Chun didn't ask any questions and soon left the family's mountain gate with him, arriving at a small town a hundred miles away where ordinary members of the Zhou family lived.

In a courtyard in this small town, Zhou Chun met another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

She was an old woman with a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation level. She had silver hair and wrinkles like fish tails on her face, and she looked quite old.

When Zhou Chun saw the old woman, he was also puzzled, not understanding why Zhou Jiahe had brought him to see this person.

Unexpectedly, after a brief glance at him, the old woman sighed softly, "Ah, youth is indeed a blessing! Decades have passed, but Xiao Chun'er still looks almost exactly the same as he did back then, still so young and handsome!"

Judging from her words, she clearly knows Zhou Chun.

But Zhou Chun looked at the old woman and couldn't remember when he had ever seen her before.

So he could only turn to Zhou Jiahe beside him and ask, "Thirteenth Aunt, who is this...?"

Hearing this, Zhou Jiahe was slightly taken aback. Instead of answering him immediately, she hurriedly explained to the old woman, who was feeling a bit embarrassed after being snubbed, "Aunt Yu, please don't take offense. When we parted ways, Zhengchun was still young and didn't see you very often."

He then transmitted his voice to Zhou Chun, saying, "This is Aunt Zhou Yu. She aged so quickly because she used a forbidden technique that shortens her lifespan."

Aunt Zhou Yu?

A look of realization flashed in Zhou Chun's eyes as he instantly remembered the old woman's origins.

It turns out that this silver-haired old woman was also a member of the Zhou family. However, when the Zhou family split up, she went to the Spirit Beast Manor with her Daoist partner.

According to seniority, this silver-haired old woman is from the same generation as Zhou Daoyi, and is a few years older than Zhou Daoquan.

Having recalled all this, Zhou Chun roughly understood the purpose behind the silver-haired old woman's invitation to meet him here through Zhou Jiahe.

He immediately bowed to the silver-haired old woman and said, "So it's my great-aunt. I was disrespectful just now, and I apologize to you."

Seeing this, the silver-haired old woman felt somewhat relieved and immediately replied with a smile, "Little Chun'er, you're too kind. Ignorance is no excuse. We haven't seen each other for decades, so it's normal that you can't remember for a moment."

"Thank you for your understanding, Great-Grandmother. But if Great-Grandmother wishes to see me, why not go inside the Zhou family's mountain gate? If the elders knew of Great-Grandmother's arrival, they would surely be happy to come out and meet me!"

Zhou Chun looked at the silver-haired old woman in front of him and asked the question knowingly.

Upon hearing his words, the silver-haired old woman's smile froze instantly, and her expression became very unnatural.

She couldn't help but look at Zhou Jiahe, only to see that Zhou Jiahe had already lowered his head slightly, avoiding her gaze.

Clearly, helping her invite Zhou Chun out was the best Zhou Jiahe could do.

This made her sigh inwardly.

Once upon a time, she was Zhou Jiahe's closest elder. But now, after only a few decades of no contact, the girl who used to follow her around and call her aunt is now avoiding her like the plague.

But despite her sighs, she knew that times had changed and she no longer had the right to act like an elder.

If they continue to act like elders, I'm afraid even this last bit of affection will dissipate.

Therefore, after adjusting her mindset slightly, she looked at Zhou Chun and said slowly, "Little Chun, you are a smart child. Otherwise, Dao Yi and the others would not have chosen you to be the patriarch of the Zhou family. I think you already know why I invited you here to meet."

"That's right. Now it seems we made a mistake when we divided the family property. Senior Yu's ideas were too wishful thinking and had no chance of coming true!"

"Now that Senior Yu is in seclusion to recuperate, the power of the Spirit Beast Manor has fallen into the hands of Xiao Lingyan and her people. The expenses of us old members of the Zhou family have been deliberately reduced and cut, and anyone who disagrees with them is suppressed and targeted. Life is getting worse every day, and we are suffering terribly!"

At this point, her face fell, and she couldn't help but laugh bitterly at herself, saying, "I know that if I say this now, Little Chun'er, you probably won't feel any sympathy; you'll just laugh at us for deserving it, for bringing this upon ourselves!"

"Of course, we have no one to blame but ourselves for the state we've become!"

"But no matter what, we Zhou family cultivators, including myself, all have the blood of the Zhou family flowing through our veins, and we have never forgotten our origins or our ancestors!"

At this point, her expression suddenly turned solemn, and she looked at Zhou Chun with a deep voice, saying, "We are willing to spend the rest of our lives making amends for past mistakes, but the things of my Zhou family must never be desecrated or destroyed by outsiders!"

"Now that you are the head of the Zhou family, Xiao Chun'er, you have the responsibility and obligation to protect what our ancestors left us, their descendants, and not let these treasures fall into the hands of outsiders and be wantonly ruined!"

In the end, the silver-haired old woman's words were resounding and filled with righteous indignation.

Clearly, for these former Zhou family cultivators, seeing those treasures that once belonged to the Zhou family being occupied by outsiders, while they themselves were unable to use them, was a very unpleasant feeling.

Now, they no longer have the strength to take back those things on their own, so they can only come to the Zhou family of Jiufengling for help, hoping that the Zhou family can help them take back those things.

But just as the silver-haired old woman had previously mocked herself, their current predicament is entirely of their own making.

History will remember everything. The betrayal of the Zhou family by the Zhou family members in Jiufeng Ridge will never be forgotten.

Zhou Chun will never forget it.

So even though she spoke very emotionally, Zhou Chun remained completely unmoved.

He simply looked at her calmly and said, "Grandmother, you must have misunderstood something. It is true that I am the patriarch of the Zhou family, but only the patriarch of the Zhou family of Nine Peaks Ridge. As for the matter of the Spirit Beast Manor, you should go to Senior Yu or Zhou Zhenkun. There is no reason for you to come to me!"

His words seemed to have touched a nerve, immediately causing the silver-haired old woman to angrily retort, "Zhou Zhenkun has forgotten his roots! He's been involved with that slut Xiao Lingyan for a long time, and now he's the one who bullies us the most! We all wish we could eat his flesh and drink his blood!"

After hurling insults, perhaps realizing it was completely useless, the silver-haired old woman quickly regained her composure.

Then, looking at Zhou Chun with a sincere expression, he said, "We were indeed wrong in the past, but now we have realized our mistakes and want to do something for the family to make up for them. Little Chun, please help us plead with Uncle Mingde, Daoyi, and Daoquan, and ask them to give us a chance to reform!"

I've developed post-COVID-19 recovery syndrome – excessive sleepiness! I need to sleep twelve hours a day just to feel energetic, and I have trouble concentrating when I sit in front of the computer. It's driving me crazy! I can't update twice today, I'll just write half a chapter more, but I'll definitely update twice tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)