Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 368 The Art of Tension and Relaxation [Please Subscribe]

The Golden Sword Bamboo was indeed very tough. Even with Zhou Chun's early Purple Mansion cultivation and a third-grade mid-level magic weapon, it took him seven strikes to cut it down by the roots.

This plant thrives naturally in the soil; once removed from the soil, it will lose all vitality and can never be transplanted again.

This is why Zhou Chun, after discovering it, chose to brutally cut it down.

After cutting down the entire spirit bamboo by the roots, Zhou Chun didn't prune the branches and simply put it into his storage bag.

Having accomplished this, he immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and practiced the Golden Cauldron Mystic Art for a short while.

He quickly shook his head, stood up, and left the place.

He originally thought that since the golden bamboo grew here, there might be some kind of spiritual gold vein underground.

However, when he was cultivating just now, he did not absorb any particularly rich and pure golden energy from this place, which is enough to show that there is no spiritual gold vein underground.

Speaking of which, Zhou Chun now misses the days when he was an undercover agent in the Dragon Transformation Sect, cultivating inside the Golden Dragon Branch Mountain Gate.

The Golden Cauldron Mystic Art he was cultivating required absorbing golden energy to promote his practice, but there was no place with abundant golden energy within the Zhou family's Nine Peaks Ridge mountain gate.

Therefore, Zhou Chun has always relied on purchasing gold energy to aid his cultivation.

However, now that his cultivation has reached the Purple Mansion stage, the amount of golden energy he consumes during his daily cultivation has increased significantly compared to before. It is estimated that he spends over a thousand spirit coins every year just to purchase golden energy.

This extra expense always pained Zhou Chun whenever he thought about it.

He may have felt that the Zhou family's mountain gate was too small in other aspects before, but after opening his Purple Mansion, he realized that the Zhou family's mountain gate, Nine Peaks Ridge, was indeed too small, so small that it could no longer meet the cultivation needs of these high-level cultivators of the family.

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Leaving aside behemoths like Qinglian Temple, even the Jiangzhou Su family mountain gate, which Zhou Chun was most familiar with besides the Zhou family, was several levels better than Jiufeng Ridge.

The interior of the Su Family Mountain Gate is as large as two and a half Zhou Family Mountain Gates, with several places particularly suitable for cultivators practicing corresponding techniques.

Just like the location of his Daoist partner Su Yuzhen's cave, there is a natural spiritual spring. The spiritual energy overflowing from that spring has a significant effect on Su Yuzhen's cultivation.

This is one of the reasons why Su Yuzhen spends most of her time cultivating at the Su family home.

These are the foundations of a Golden Core family, but the Zhou family, which has fallen from its former status as a Golden Core family, is now far inferior in these aspects.

The next step for the Zhou family should be to focus on both cultivating a Golden Core cultivator for the family and recovering their lost resources.

After obtaining a Golden Sword Bamboo, Zhou Chun was not greedy and immediately took the Wood Spirit to the forest that had been promised to it.

The wilderness is not lacking in ancient forests like the Thousand Leaf Forest. The place Zhou Chun took the Wood Spirit to was an ancient forest he had discovered when he was infiltrating the Dragon Transformation Sect.

This primeval forest is filled with towering ancient trees, much like the tropical rainforest Zhou Chun lived in his previous life.

Yo yo yo!

The clear and ethereal cry of the deer echoed through the forest. Just as Zhou Chun had predicted, the wood spirit had taken a liking to the environment as soon as it arrived.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun instructed the blue deer that was about to frolic in the forest: "You can stay here for two months. I will come to visit you again after two months. Remember not to just play, but also keep an eye out for the places where those spiritual herbs grow."

He is now at the Purple Mansion stage, while the Wood Demon is only at the second level.

Such a difference in their levels was enough for him to have no worries about the wood spirit breaking free of the contract and leaving him.

He had personally witnessed the Wood Spirit's ability to survive in the forest, and he didn't think there were any monsters in the forest that could harm it.

In this situation, giving the Wood Sprite a free space to live and let it run wild for a while can also help enhance the relationship between master and servant, making the Wood Sprite feel that being his spirit pet is not a bad thing at all.

Of course, there has to be a limit to this. Zhou Chun will strictly control the degree and will not let the Wood Spirit live alone in the wilderness for a long time.

In short, after letting the Wood Spirit roam freely in the forest, Zhou Chun returned to his family with his harvest.

Upon returning to his family, Zhou Chun first recounted to Zhou Mingde his initial meeting with the Scaled Frog alien sorcerer, Ukuru, and his thoughts on cooperating with and suppressing the Scaled Frog alien race.

Zhou Mingde also strongly agreed with his views and ideas.

After all, when it comes to ruthlessness, Zhou Chun is far inferior to Zhou Mingde.

Then Zhou Chun, as if presenting a treasure, took out the golden bamboo he had cut down.

"What a treasure! This thousand-year-old golden sword bamboo is a rare and precious item, extremely useful whether you auction it off or keep it to exchange for other rare spiritual items of the same level in the future!"

Zhou Mingde's eyes lit up as he looked at the entire Golden Sword Bamboo in front of him, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "It seems that Zhengchun, you'll need to venture into the wilderness more often in the future. Who knows, your chance to form your core might just depend on this Spirit-Seeking Wood Spirit!"

Hearing this, Zhou Chun smiled and replied, "That's what I think too. Once the family situation is completely stable, I must travel around more and not waste the Wood Spirit's talent for finding spirits!"

After leaving Zhou Mingde's cave, Zhou Chun summoned Zhou Xintie, the current head of the Hundred Arts Hall of the Zhou family. He was also the best weapon refiner in the Zhou family and was already able to refine first-grade high-quality magic weapons.

"This junior greets the clan chief. I wonder what instructions the clan chief has for me?"

Inside the Zhongping Hall, Zhou Xintie, having been summoned, bowed to Zhou Chun and then curiously inquired about the purpose of his summons.

He also knew that Zhou Chun had rarely attended to affairs since opening up the Purple Mansion, and he didn't know why he had suddenly been summoned to the Zhongping Palace.

Zhou Chun looked at the younger generation who appeared to be older than himself, and after a moment of silence, he spoke up: "Xin Tie, the client was very satisfied with the cold iron trident you forged earlier. For now, put aside your other weapon-forging tasks and focus on forging this type of magical weapon. Forge fifty similar spear, lance, and fork-type magical weapons first."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xintie's slightly dark and rugged face froze for a moment, and a look of deep surprise appeared in his eyes.

Zhou Xintie certainly remembered that cold iron trident. He didn't understand why Zhou Chun wanted him to forge such a magical artifact, wasting good materials.

It should be noted that in order to achieve the freezing effect of the Cold Iron Trident as required by Zhou Chun, the entire magical artifact was made entirely of refined cold iron.

The cost of materials alone is nearly two hundred spirit coins.

However, the cold iron trident could not even be refined, let alone controlled with divine sense to attack.

Such a magical artifact would not have been crafted by Zhou Xintie unless Zhou Chun specifically requested it. Even a novice apprentice who had just learned the art of artifact crafting would not have wasted such materials in the process.

When he suddenly heard Zhou Chun say that he needed to refine fifty more of these magical artifacts, how could he not be extremely surprised?

His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

But remembering the teachings of an elder, he forcibly suppressed the words that were about to come out, and only said in a low voice, "This junior understands, but I wonder if the clan leader has any requirements regarding the delivery time?"

"Just deliver twenty items every six months, that's the pace you need to keep."

After a moment's thought, Zhou Chun gave his answer.

Upon hearing his answer, Zhou Xintie immediately replied, "If that's the case, this junior guarantees to complete the mission."

"Do a good job, and I'll give you a big gift after you complete this task!"

As Zhou Chun spoke, he waved the other party away.

After that, he summoned Zhou Xinlan, the head of the Hundred Medicines Hall, and asked him to refine more pills that could improve one's magical power and cultivation with moderate and balanced effects.

Although the scaled frog alien sorcerers cannot cultivate human techniques, they have their own unique methods of breathing and refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Some pills made by cultivators can also be used to improve their magical power.

Previously, the Zhou family had many concerns and dared not refine too many of these elixirs for trade. In addition, the pleasure items that Lu Ran used at that time accounted for half of the trade share, so there was no need to use these elixirs to attract the Scaled Frog alien race.

However, Lu Ran is about to pass away. Once he dies, the demand for those pleasure-seeking items will definitely decrease significantly for alien sorcerers like Wukuru.

At that time, in order to exchange those rare aquatic treasures from Ukuru, we will have to rely on these magic-enhancing pills and specially made magic artifacts.

After arranging these two crucial matters for trade, Zhou Chun summoned Zhou Zhengqing, who was currently in charge of the intelligence department.

Although Zhou Zhengqing and Zhou Chun are of the same generation, Zhou Chun was actually born before he was born when Zhou Chun came into this world, and he was ranked twenty-ninth among his peers.

Because the Intelligence Hall is an important branch of the Zhou family, it must be managed by someone of high status and position.

After examining several Foundation Establishment cultivators from different families, Zhou Chun ultimately chose this younger cousin to take charge.

Upon seeing Zhou Zhengqing enter, he immediately asked, "Twenty-ninth brother, how's the intelligence gathering about the bandit cultivators that I asked you to collect coming along?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengqing pondered for a moment before respectfully replying, "Reporting to the clan leader, after receiving the task assigned by you, the Intelligence Hall arranged for clan members to gather relevant intelligence in various markets and towns of Jing, Shen, and Feng. Currently, eleven areas where bandits are relatively active have been identified."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun nodded and said, "Yes, well done."

Then he suddenly asked, "How many intelligence stations has the family established so far?"

"Seven have been established, six of which are in various prefectures of Jingguo and one in Fengguo."

Zhou Zhengqing answered without hesitation.

Then Zhou Chun asked again, "If we want to contact the intelligence station in Feng Kingdom, how many days can it take at the fastest?"

"If the eagle message is sent as quickly as possible, and relayed through the Yunzhou intelligence station, it can be delivered to the Fengguo intelligence station within ten hours."

Zhou Zhengqing quickly calculated and gave a detailed answer.

A day consists of twelve two-hour periods, and the distance from Jiufeng Ridge to the intelligence station in Fengguo is at least three thousand li.

This message transmission speed is already faster than a Foundation Establishment cultivator traveling to send a message.

After all, Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot fly three thousand miles in one go; they must stop and rest to recover their mana.

Therefore, Zhou Chun was very satisfied with the result and immediately nodded and said, "Very good. The number of intelligence stations can continue to increase. The funds and personnel needed can be applied for by ourselves or found from within the clan. The clan will definitely give its full support."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

Zhou Zhengqing responded respectfully, his face revealing a look of joy.

After handling some important clan affairs, Zhou Chun returned to his residence to meditate.

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

When Zhou Chun returned to the ancient forest in the wilderness to search for the Wood Spirit, he obtained many high-grade spiritual herbs under the Wood Spirit's guidance.

The Wood Spirit itself also seemed to have gained a lot, with its aura noticeably increasing.

The way that spirits like Wood Spirits grow their cultivation is completely different from that of ordinary demonic beasts.

Their cultivation increases by absorbing the wood spirit power condensed from the ancient trees, spirit woods, and spirit herbs in the forest.

This kind of absorption must be done on the premise of not harming the life of ancient trees and spirit trees. Furthermore, ancient trees and spirit trees that have had their wood spirit power absorbed will recover that wood spirit power very slowly, usually taking tens or hundreds of years.

Therefore, when a wood spirit resides in a forest, its cultivation level will increase rapidly over time, but then it will grow very slowly thereafter.

However, if one can continuously migrate to other forests to cultivate, the cultivation level of a Wood Spirit will increase very quickly.

However, just like how Zhou Chun had to improve the quality of the metal energy required to reforge the shattered cauldron after each breakthrough to a higher realm.

The higher the grade of a wood spirit, the less effective lower-level wood spirit power is at increasing its cultivation.

At the same time, if they want to break through to a higher level, they also need to absorb higher-level wood spirit power to promote their own evolution.

For a wood spirit like the one Zhou Chun tamed to absorb power from ordinary trees, it would need to be from ancient trees that are thousands of years old to be effective.

However, if you want it to break through to the third tier, the quality of the wood spirit power condensed by an ordinary ancient tree is simply not enough. It must be a spirit tree that can absorb and release spiritual energy to strengthen itself, and it must be a spirit tree of good quality.

In fact, Zhou Chun already has a way to help the Wood Spirit break through to the third tier.

But he didn't do that.

After all, he hadn't subdued the Wood Spirit for very long, and he had forcibly subdued it using violent means.

If the Wood Spirit is allowed to break through to the third tier so quickly, it might cause it to turn against you.

Furthermore, he also had to consider the feelings of the other three spirit pets.

Even ordinary people's cats and dogs can be jealous, let alone more intelligent monsters.

Of Zhou Chun's other three spirit pets, apart from the Golden Armored Rock Turtle, which has a rather laid-back personality and doesn't compete for favor much, both the Silver Lightning Python Bai Bai and the Golden-Winged Tiger are fond of vying for attention.

If he were to allow the Wood Sprite, his later spirit pet, to break through to the third tier so quickly and ride on the heads of the three of them, those two lovebirds who like to compete for attention would probably cause quite a commotion.

Even now, knowing full well that the Wood Spirit's cultivation could still improve if it remained in this primeval forest, Zhou Chun still ignored its protests and forcibly took it away.

You can't spoil a spirit pet that you've forcibly subdued like you would a spirit pet that's been raised from a young age. You have to be firm and lenient with it, and make it always remember who its master is.

This time, Zhou Chun forcibly took the Wood Spirit away, and it will indeed be unhappy.

However, if Zhou Chun asks it to do something next time and promises it that it can come out to play for a while after it does it, it will definitely do its best.

(End of this chapter)