Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 337 The End of an Era [Please Subscribe]

Zhou Daoyi's return soon alerted Zhou Daoquan, who was in seclusion in Longxing Valley recovering his strength.

After hearing about Zhou Daoyi's situation, he hurriedly left the pass and went to visit Zhou Daoyi at his resting place.

"Daoyi, where have you been all this time? How did you get so badly injured!"

Inside the room, Zhou Daoquan's expression changed the moment he saw Zhou Daoyi, and he immediately realized that Zhou Daoyi was seriously injured.

"Bad luck! I was attacked and besieged by powerful demonic beasts one after another, and barely escaped with my life!"

Zhou Daoyi shook his head with a wry smile and began to recount his experiences in a low voice.

It turns out that after he and Zhou Chun and the others split up to escape that day, he also used the "Blood Shadow Escape" secret technique to speed up his escape.

Although he didn't know at the time that the fourth-order demonic beast chasing him was actually a fourth-order thunder dragon, he rationally realized that if he continued to ride the green dragon to escape, he would easily be tracked down.

After all, the Azure Dragon was too conspicuous, and its aura was much stronger than that of a human cultivator, making it easier for it to be tracked.

However, he was still unlucky and was chosen as a target by a fourth-order thunder dragon!

Perhaps this is also related to the fact that he was the master of the Azure Dragon and that he was imbued with a strong aura of the Azure Dragon.

Fortunately, the "Blood Shadow Escape" is extremely fast, and its residual aura is much weaker than that of normal flight, making it difficult to be tracked.

In short, Zhou Daoyi successfully shook off the fourth-tier Thunder Dragon using "Blood Shadow Escape" and never encountered it.

Unfortunately, after the "Blood Shadow Escape" ended, Zhou Daoyi was attacked by a powerful monster in an unfamiliar body of water because his whereabouts were exposed.

The monster that attacked him was a third-tier high-grade monster called "Dragon Scale Golden Shark," a type of aquatic fish with dragon blood.

This monster was ferocious and powerful, and Zhou Daoyi was no match for it. He could only summon the Azure Dragon to help him fight while fleeing.

Even with the help of the Azure Dragon, the "Dragon Scale Golden Shark" relentlessly pursued the master and servant.

Not long after, their battle was so loud that it attracted the attention of a mid-grade third-tier demon beast called "Poison-Eyed Water Demon".

It was probably all because of the water demons of Longyuanze that the "Dragon Scale Golden Shark" and the "Poisonous Eye Water Demon" quickly joined forces to launch a siege against Master Zhou Daoyi.

In a two-on-two situation, with his cultivation suppressed and his own essence and blood greatly depleted, Zhou Daoyi, even with the help of the Azure Dragon, quickly fell into an absolute disadvantage.

Thanks to the Azure Dragon's desperate fight, he managed to escape the pursuit of the two demonic beasts.

However, Zhou Daoyi's bad luck did not end with escaping the pursuit.

After finally escaping to the shore with the help of the Azure Dragon, he found a place to rest and recuperate, but unexpectedly ran into two "Wind and Thunder Sables" with their cubs.

The "Wind and Thunder Sable" is also a type of high-level demonic beast. One of these two "Wind and Thunder Sables" is a mid-grade third-tier demonic beast, and the other is a low-grade third-tier demonic beast.

The intrusion of Zhou Daoyi and Qingjiao caused a great stress reaction in the two "Wind and Thunder Sables" with their cubs, who immediately launched a frenzied attack on their master and servants.

Zhou Daoyi, who was already exhausted, was no match for the two third-tier demonic beasts who were eager to protect their offspring!

After a fierce battle, both master and servant were severely injured by the "Wind and Thunder Sables'" attacks. In the end, the Azure Dragon even spat out its demon core to join the battle, which finally intimidated the two crazed "Wind and Thunder Sables" and allowed them to successfully escape their territory.

These successive battles, coupled with the consumption of vital energy and blood when using "Blood Shadow Escape," have made Zhou Daoyi's injuries extremely severe, to the point that he can no longer even travel long distances by plane.

Meanwhile, Qingjiao was also seriously injured in the bloody battle with the two "Wind and Thunder Sables" and urgently needed to recuperate.

In this situation, Zhou Daoyi could only find a random place in the wilderness to take medicine and recover from his injuries.

The rest was simple. After his injuries improved slightly, he quickly set off on his journey home.

"I see, no wonder it took you so long to come back, Dao Yi!"

After listening to Zhou Daoyi's story, Zhou Daoquan was deeply moved by his arduous experiences.

He then nodded repeatedly, saying, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. Uncle and Zhengchun will be very happy to hear that you're back!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoyi immediately said, "My injuries have not yet healed, and I am afraid I will be unable to return to the clan alone. I will need your help, cousin, to escort me back."

"No problem, that's the right thing to do. After I give Zhengyong a few instructions, I'll escort you back."

Zhou Daoquan readily agreed, made some arrangements, and then escorted Zhou Daoyi to the family.

When the two arrived at Jiufeng Ridge and saw Zhou Daoyi return, Zhou Chun, who hadn't smiled much for months, finally showed a genuine smile.

"It's truly a blessing from our ancestors that you, Grand Elder, have returned safely. It's wonderful!"

He was overjoyed at Zhou Daoyi's return, and at that moment all his worries vanished.

He was just as happy as all the other members of the Zhou family.

Zhou Daoyi's injuries were too severe, and he only had time to meet with Zhou Chun and other important members of the Zhou family before he hurriedly returned to his cave to recuperate.

His injuries this time were too severe; it would probably take three to five years of recuperation for him to fully recover.

However, as long as the others can return alive, these are minor issues for the Zhou family.

After putting aside his worries, Zhou Chun regained his spirits and began to handle various family affairs, no longer bothering to study the white jade bead inside his body.

For the next five years, the situation in Jingguo and the Zhou family remained relatively stable.

The Tianjing Sect probably needed to digest and integrate the forces of those who had defected to them, and hadn't made any surprising moves since.

Of course, Zhou Chun was more inclined to believe that the Heavenly Mirror True Person needed more time to mature and become familiar with the power of the Nascent Soul stage.

The war in Feng Kingdom did not turn into a full-scale war as Zhou Chun had initially thought.

Zhengyang Palace seems to have used the Corpse Demon Sect as a training ground for its disciples, sending many of its disciples to Feng Kingdom to participate in the war, but not for the purpose of conquering cities and territories, but simply to seek out and fight against the Corpse Demon Sect cultivators.

The Jingyang Sect also seems to have other plans. They are not in a hurry to conquer cities and territories. On the contrary, they are said to be recruiting disciples on a large scale, and the number of sect members has increased a lot.

In short, in Zhou Chun's view, the two forces chose to be enemies of the Corpse Demon Sect not because they had any desire to eliminate evil and protect the righteous, but entirely for their own interests!

Perhaps realizing this as well, the Li family, who had been eager to make moves, and the You family, who were previously eager to make moves, became quiet and obedient again.

Meanwhile, on the Zhou family's side, in the past five years, the family has gained two more Foundation Establishment cultivators, namely Zhou Xindie and Xu Fu.

Both of them successfully established their foundations by consuming the Foundation Establishment Fruit. Xu Fu's fruit was a special gift from Zhou Chun and did not count towards the Zhou family's exchange quota.

There are successes and failures.

Of the four Foundation Establishment Fruits that Zhou Chun offered for exchange by the Zhou family members, three were exchanged within five years. However, apart from Zhou Xindie who succeeded, the other two failed.

The two who failed were extremely unlucky; neither of them managed to save their lives and they died in the secluded chamber.

This situation truly shocked many of the Zhou family cultivators.

Over the years, because the Zhou family has always been able to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills, most of the Zhou family cultivators have not taken the risks of Foundation Establishment seriously, thinking that as long as they exchange for Foundation Establishment aids, they can save their lives even if they fail.

However, the fact that two people died in the Foundation Establishment stage made them realize the difficulty of Foundation Establishment, and they no longer dared to be as optimistic as before.

At the same time, the number of Zhou family cultivators who dared to lend their merits to others in exchange for Foundation Establishment spiritual items also decreased rapidly.

After all, no one can guarantee whether the person who borrows their good deeds will survive to walk out of the secret chamber, or whether they will succeed.

As a result, with fewer cultivators willing to lend their merits, it became much more difficult for other Zhou family cultivators to exchange for Foundation Establishment Fruits and Foundation Establishment Pills, which in turn alleviated the difficulty in supplying these foundation-building aids.

On the other hand, things turned out just as Zhou Chun had predicted.

Xu Fu's successful foundation building greatly inspired the Zhou family's loyal followers. From then on, they were completely devoted to staying in Longxing Valley, all wanting to make a future for themselves like Xu Fu.

Meanwhile, Zhou Chun restarted the training of his family's elite warriors and began searching for mortals with spiritual roots.

The difference this time is that these people will be sent directly to Longxing Valley for training.

During these five years, Xu Fu and his group in Longxing Valley had already drawn up a map of the surrounding area within a radius of 1,500 li.

Without considering the migrating and roaming demonic beasts, as long as one follows the map, even a few Qi Refining stage cultivators can survive in the wilderness for several days.

This progress is not much slower than the efficiency of the pioneering bases in Yunzhou.

Meanwhile, during this period, Xu Fu and his group also found a jade mine.

That spirit jade mine can yield several types of spirit jade with different uses, and its value is quite high.

Unfortunately, the mine is located too far from Dragon Rising Valley, more than 800 miles away as the crow flies, and there are also dangerous areas inhabited by third-tier demonic beasts in the surrounding area.

This made Zhou Chun and the Zhou family hesitant to have any ideas about it for the time being, so they could only remember its location and plan their next move slowly.

However, Zhou Chun still gave Xu Fu and the others some instructions, telling them to look for a new base in the direction of the spirit jade mine.

Longxing Valley is still too small, and the surrounding resources are not particularly abundant, and have already been almost completely plundered.

Therefore, finding a better location to establish a base is now imperative.

Just as Zhou Xindie successfully established her foundation, her skills in formations also improved significantly. Not to mention being able to independently set up a forbidden formation like the "Five Directions Miro Formation," ordinary formations were no challenge for her, and were already sufficient to play a role in establishing strongholds.

In addition, thanks to the abundant resources collected from the wilderness, the Zhou family's alchemy, weaponry, talismans, and beasts have also developed rapidly.

Not to mention low-level pills like Beast Spirit Pills, several batches of Demon Spirit Pills, which can enhance the cultivation of second-tier demon beasts, have been refined, allowing cultivators like Zhou Chun who possess second-tier demon beasts to experience this firsthand.

Zhou Chun also received seven or eight demon spirit pills, which he then used on the Silver Lightning Python Bai Bai.

Now, his own cultivation level is very close to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, but the Silver Lightning Python is still far from being promoted to a second-tier high-grade demon beast. Zhou Chun must focus on cultivating it.

Besides Zhou Chun, the other elders of the Zhou family also benefited from the improvement of the Zhou family's foundation, and each gained a considerable amount.

Zhou Jiarui, who was the first to successfully establish his foundation, has already raised his cultivation to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, and Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiapeng will be close to doing so as well.

Furthermore, the Blue Feather Fire Kite Egg that Zhou Jiahe exchanged back then has now grown into a first-tier high-grade demon beast. With the supply of demon spirit pills, it's only a matter of time before it advances to a second-tier demon beast.

As for those Qi Refining stage cultivators, they were even more comfortable.

The variety of demonic beasts that the Zhou family now provides to these clansmen for contracts is incomparable to what it used to be, and the variety of pills and magical artifacts they can exchange with the family is also much richer than before.

It may be difficult to find someone among them who is as outstanding as Zhou Chun was back then, but their general strength is much stronger than that of the Qi Refining stage cultivators of the Zhou family at that time.

With ample resources for cultivation, most Zhou family cultivators with mid-grade spiritual roots can now reach the twelfth level of the Qi Refining stage before the age of fifty, provided they are diligent and hardworking.

Some people who have the support and care of their elders may even reach this level by the age of forty.

Unbeknownst to them, the pillars of the Zhou family had been taken up by cultivators of the "Zheng" and "Xin" generations.

Most of the older generation of cultivators with the character "家" in their names have passed away, while the new generation with the character "思" in their names is growing vigorously.

On this day, an invitation arrived, leaving Zhou Chun deeply moved after reading it.

The letter was delivered by a messenger from the Wang family of Hongyao Valley, who were on good terms with the Zhou family. The letter said that the previous patriarch of the Wang family, Wang Zhixiong, had passed away peacefully.

This reminded Zhou Chun of the first time he met this person.

The first time he met Wang Zhixiong was shortly after the Zhou family settled in Jiufengling. He tried every means to squeeze into the Wang family's circle and was able to participate in the joint martial arts competition of the five major cultivation families.

At that time, even Zhou Daoyi, the head of the Zhou family, had to be extremely humble in front of Wang Zhixiong.

However, times have changed. Sixty or seventy years have passed. Zhou Daoyi has long since become a cultivator in the Purple Mansion stage, and Zhou Chun has also successfully established his foundation. The Zhou family's strength has surpassed that of the Wang family by several times.

Wang Zhixiong, the once spirited patriarch of the Wang family, has now passed away after his lifespan had run out.

"With Fellow Daoist Wang's departure, the Wang family has lost another capable member. I've also heard that Senior Wang Guangping's lifespan is not long. Is the Wang family, which has been passed down for nearly a thousand years, destined to decline?"

Zhou Chun sighed softly, deeply moved.

Perhaps this is the inescapable fate of every power.

If no capable successor emerges, the decline of a power is inevitable once the incumbents pass away.

The difference may lie in the fact that some major powers have a chance to rise again after a normal decline, while smaller powers may simply disappear after a decline.

First update

(End of this chapter)