Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 369 The Dust Has Settled [Please Subscribe]

As the sun rose and set, three years passed in the blink of an eye after Zhou Chun opened his Purple Mansion and emerged from seclusion.

After three years of cultivation, Lin Hongyu, who had been in seclusion in the Great Zhou Kingdom to consolidate her cultivation, finally returned to the Zhou family with Zhou Daoyi.

At this point, Lin Hongyu had stabilized her cultivation and could conceal her aura as a Golden Core cultivator, disguising herself as an ordinary cultivator as she walked through the cultivation world.

Therefore, under Zhou Chun's arrangement, she easily entered the Zhou family's mountain gate and met with the Zhou family's senior members in Zhou Mingde's cave on Pagoda Peak.

This time, in order to welcome Lin Hongyu, the newly promoted Golden Core cultivator, even Zhou Daoquan, who was far away in the wilderness, was specially brought back to the family by Zhou Chun.

Including Zhou Daoyi, all four Purple Mansion stage cultivators from the Zhou family gathered inside the cave.

This is the first time since Zhou Daoquan went to Longxing Valley to take charge that all four Purple Mansion stage cultivators of the Zhou family have sat together.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Lin (Senior Lin), on achieving the Golden Core stage! May you live to be a thousand years old!"

Outside Zhou Mingde's cave, when Zhou Daoyi arrived with Lin Hongyu, Zhou Mingde, Zhou Daoquan, and Zhou Chun all bowed deeply to him with solemn expressions, offering their congratulations.

"Thank you for your congratulations, fellow Daoists. May you all achieve the Golden Core stage in the future."

Lin Hongyu smiled slightly, accepting the three people's congratulations with composure, and also politely returned the greetings.

After exchanging pleasantries outside, the five of them entered the cave together.

Once inside the cave, the five of them sat down. As the junior, Zhou Chun took the initiative to brew and serve tea to the four of them.

Then Zhou Mingde picked up the spirit tea, took a sip, and suddenly looked at Lin Hongyu, asking, "Now that Fellow Daoist Lin has achieved the Golden Core stage, you can go anywhere in the world. What are your plans for the future?"

Upon hearing his question, Lin Hongyu immediately replied without hesitation, "My success in forming my core is largely due to the great assistance of the fellow Daoists of the Zhou family. Now that I have achieved this, I will naturally fulfill my promise and dedicate myself to helping the Zhou family rise to prominence in the future!"

This answer immediately made Zhou Mingde beam with joy, and he couldn't help but exclaim repeatedly, "Excellent! With Fellow Daoist Lin's words, I am completely relieved!"

Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoquan, who were standing to the side, also looked relieved, and smiles appeared on their faces.

Before this, their biggest worry was that after Lin Hongyu successfully formed her core, she would abandon the Zhou family and run away.

In that case, the Zhou family would really have no way to deal with her, and their previous huge investment of spirit coins would be wasted.

Now that they have received Lin Hongyu's personal promise, they can finally put their minds at ease.

After laughing for a while, Zhou Mingde looked at Lin Hongyu again and asked, "Daoyi should have informed Fellow Daoist Lin of the plan we discussed earlier, right? I wonder if Fellow Daoist Lin has any opinions on it?"

"I don't have any major complaints, but although I have successfully formed my core, I haven't made any progress in refining the most important natal magic weapon. In the future, I may have to travel around a lot to find suitable spiritual materials for refining magic weapons, and I won't be able to stay in the stronghold in the wilderness."

Lin Hongyu didn't hide anything and directly told the truth about her thoughts.

Now that she is a Golden Core cultivator, there is really no need for her to play any rhetoric in front of Zhou Mingde and the others; she can simply act as she pleases.

I believe that none of Zhou Mingde or the others would give her a hard time just because she told the truth.

This is the confidence and strength that comes with ability.

Sure enough, after hearing her words, Zhou Mingde quickly said, "Refining one's natal magic weapon is indeed the most important thing for a newly promoted Golden Core cultivator. However, if it is just about collecting magic weapon materials, Fellow Daoist Lin does not need to do everything personally. Just tell us the relevant materials needed, and the family will naturally arrange for cultivators to inquire about information for you everywhere."

"If the family can help in the search, that would be a great thing, and I would be honored to accept."

Lin Hongyu nodded slightly and readily agreed without hesitation.

At this moment, Zhou Daoyi interjected, "Before we came back, we went to the Yang Kingdom's stronghold. Hongyu has already demonstrated her identity as a Golden Core cultivator there. From now on, no one should dare to make any moves against that stronghold."

"Hongyu has decided to give all of her income from that base, as well as her share of the remaining output from the [Earth Element Crystal Jade] mine, to Zhengchun to repay his previous generosity!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun quickly bowed to Lin Hongyu and thanked her, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Lin."

He did not refuse Lin Hongyu's offer of repayment.

Because he knew very well that since Lin Hongyu had become a Golden Core cultivator, she would definitely not owe him a favor as a Purple Mansion cultivator.

It's like if Zhou Chun owed another Foundation Establishment cultivator a favor, he would definitely repay it if he could.

If he were to refuse Lin Hongyu's repayment at this point, it would be a very foolish thing to do, and it would easily lead people to misunderstand that he had ulterior motives.

Sure enough, seeing him accept the reward so readily, Lin Hongyu smiled and said to him, "I should be thanking you, Zhengchun. You have saved both me and Wan'er's lives."

Judging from her words, she had obviously already learned about Zhou Chun's rescue from Lin Wan'er.

After chatting for a while, Lin Hongyu went back to Zhou Daoyi's cave to rest.

After she left, the four Purple Mansion stage cultivators from the Zhou family discussed another matter.

Zhou Mingde glanced at the three juniors and said in a low voice, "What do you think? Should the family hand over the magic weapon I obtained from Yang Kingdom to Fellow Daoist Lin for refinement?"

He obtained two magic treasures from the storage bag of Han Yuan, a Golden Core cultivator. He gave one of them to Zhou Chun as a betrothal gift to the Su family patriarch in exchange for the Su family patriarch's protection of the Zhou family and his ability to stop the Qi Kingdom Golden Core cultivators who came to the Zhou family to seek revenge.

The other magical treasure, however, has always been sealed in the Zhou family's secret vault, never to be shown to anyone. Only a few of the Zhou family's most core cultivators know of its existence.

The Zhou family's main branch cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage are still far from forming their cores, so they have no need for that magic weapon.

Unfortunately, Lin Hongyu, a newly promoted Golden Core cultivator, had no magic treasures available.

No wonder Zhou Mingde brought this up now.

Upon hearing him mention this matter, Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun were still pondering and contemplating. Zhou Daoquan, who was usually quiet, spoke first: "I think it's not impossible to hand over that magic weapon to Fellow Daoist Lin for refinement, but we should at least wait until she has truly been in charge of the family for several decades, or has made contributions to the family."

After these words were spoken, Zhou Daoyi, who was still deep in thought, quickly nodded and replied, "What Brother Daoquan said is not without reason. One should not accept a reward without merit. Hongyu has already received great kindness from the family when she formed her core. Now that she has not made any contribution, how can she accept such a treasure?"

"What about you, Masazumi? What's your take on this?"

Zhou Mingde's gaze suddenly fell on Zhou Chun, and he asked for his opinion.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun immediately replied, "I think both elders are right. Even if we are to entrust the magic weapon to Senior Lin for refinement, we should wait until she has been overseeing the family for a while before making any decisions."

"Since all three of you think so, then let's do it this way."

Zhou Mingde ended the conversation at this point.

A few days later, Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Daoquan accompanied Lin Hongyu through the underground waterway to the wilderness.

When Zhou Daoyi returned from the wilderness, he brought Zhou Zhengyong and Xu Fu back with him.

Zhou Zhengyong returned to visit relatives. His Daoist partner, Sun Yujiao, was nearing the end of her life, and Zhou Chun specially asked him to come back to accompany his Daoist partner on her final journey.

Xu Fu was recalled because Zhou Chun wanted him to take charge of the work of capturing bandits and rebels.

With Lin Hongyu's return after achieving the Core Formation stage, the expansion of the Caiyu Mountain stronghold could no longer be delayed.

The problem with the formation has been solved; all that's missing is a sufficient number of cultivators to maintain the base's operation.

Therefore, the capture of the bandits must be carried out immediately.

Inside the Zhongping Hall, Zhou Chun summoned Xu Fu, Zhou Zhengbo, and Zhou Xinlan, three Foundation Establishment cultivators, and said to them, "I have summoned you here today to give you a very important task."

After saying that, he told the three of them about the mission to capture the bandits.

Of the three, only Xu Fu had been informed by Zhou Chun beforehand and understood his own identity, so he did not express any questions about the task assigned by Zhou Chun.

However, Zhou Zhengbo and Zhou Xinlan, both Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Zhou family, were quite surprised when they heard Zhou Chun's task assignment and immediately expressed their doubts.

In response to the questions from the two fellow cultivators, Zhou Chun simply nodded and said, "It's normal for you to have doubts, but I hope you can remember one thing: the reason I don't let you know some things is not because I don't trust you, but to protect you."

He then emphasized, "The reason I've assigned this task to you today is precisely because I trust you will keep it a secret!"

"Yes, we understand what to do."

Zhou Zhengbo and Zhou Xinlan exchanged a glance and immediately agreed respectfully, asking no further questions.

Afterwards, the two left the Zhou family's mountain gate with Xu Fu, carrying relevant intelligence information provided by the Zhou family's intelligence hall, and went to various places in Jingguo and neighboring countries to lure and capture bandits and cultivators.

Things are different now. In the past, the Zhou family was afraid of exposing their relationship with Lin Hongyu, the protector of the Hualong Sect, so they had to rely on the Qingmu Spirit Ape, a demonic beast, to capture bandit cultivators.

The capture of bandits and cultivators is for the purpose of the family's own development. Even if it is discovered, it is not a big deal. At most, it will only make some rogue cultivators hostile to the Zhou family.

That's why Zhou Chun dared to boldly appoint a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Zhou family to handle this matter.

After assigning the tasks, Zhou Chun pondered for a moment, then set off for the Zhou family's Hundred Arts Hall headquarters.

The Zhou family's Hundred Arts Hall is located on Zhenxuan Peak, where most of the Zhou family cultivators who practice refining weapons, making talismans, and setting up arrays conduct their training.

After arriving at the Hundred Arts Hall, Zhou Chun went directly to the "Firework Institute," which is the weapon-refining area.

Major sects like Qinglian Temple would open up underground fire veins to draw in the earth fire located thousands of feet underground for their cultivators to refine pills and weapons.

However, achieving this is not easy; most families with a long history of mastering the Golden Core technique do not possess this ability.

In the beginning, the Three Absolutes Sect had to rely on the combined efforts of a Golden Core cultivator from the Li family (known for its pills) and a formation master from the You family (known for its formations) to barely manage to create three Earth Fire Chambers.

Without the power of the Earth Fire Chamber, those who wish to refine pills and forge weapons must resort to other methods.

Taking the cultivators of the Zhou family as an example, when the cultivators of the Zhou family in the Qi Refining stage are refining weapons and pills, they generally have three methods to obtain fire.

The first method is to burn something called Yanghuo Stone. This thing is similar to the coal in Zhou Chun's previous life. It is brownish-red in color and has a very high ignition point. It can only be ignited with magical flames. Once ignited, it can continuously release high-temperature flames comparable to magical flames.

The second method is to use a magical artifact that can release fire. As long as magical power is steadily injected into this artifact, it can release high-temperature flames.

The third method is to use the demonic fire of monsters, such as the flames spewed by monsters like the Crimson Flame Wolf, Flame Pig, and Fire Pheasant.

Of these three methods, the first and third are the ones most frequently used by the Zhou family cultivators.

Choosing these two methods means they can fully devote themselves to the process of refining weapons and pills, without having to be distracted by activating the magical artifacts to set them ablaze.

Once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, you have another option because you can transform your own magical power into Foundation Establishment True Fire.

After entering the pyrotechnics compound, Zhou Chun quickly found the person he was looking for.

Beside a well, Zhou Xintie, the current head of the Zhou Family's Hundred Arts Hall, was washing the fur of a huge red-haired wild boar. This red-haired wild boar was his good helper in refining weapons; it was a first-grade high-quality demonic beast, the Flame Boar.

At this moment, as if sensing something, Zhou Xintie suddenly turned his head to look behind him, and immediately saw Zhou Chun staring at him.

"Ah, Chieftain, what brings you here!"

He looked startled, exclaimed in surprise, and hurriedly turned around to greet Zhou Chun.

"Did you just finish forging this weapon?"

Zhou Chun waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for formalities, and then casually asked a question.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xintie flattered him, saying, "Clan leader, you have keen insight. This junior has indeed just completed a weapon forging not long ago."

After saying that, he gave an awkward laugh and said, "This beast always needs to take a cold shower after refining weapons to feel comfortable, otherwise it won't cooperate fully next time. I can't do anything about it, so I can only satisfy it!"

"This shows it's very intelligent; no wonder your weapon-forging success rate is far superior to others."

Zhou Chun smiled slightly and also praised the junior.

Then he revealed the purpose of his visit: "Do I need to tell you what I told you before? After you complete the weapon-refining task I assigned you, I will give you a big gift."

With that, he patted his storage pouch at his waist, took out a jade bottle, and handed it to Zhou Xintie. "This is my gift to you. Please accept it!"

Upon seeing this, Zhou Xintie reached out and took the jade bottle, then glanced at Zhou Chun and, with his encouraging gaze, removed the stopper.

"This is, this is..."

Zhou Xintie glanced at the contents of the jade bottle, then looked at Zhou Chun with a shocked expression, his eyes filled with excitement and disbelief.

Facing his shocked and excited gaze, Zhou Chun said calmly, "This Foundation Establishment Pill was obtained by me outside, without using any family's wealth or connections, so it should be at my disposal."

"Xin Tie, although your aptitude is average, your talent in weapon crafting is exceptional. The Zhou family needs someone like you to help the family make up for its shortcomings and deficiencies. That is why I am willing to give you this Foundation Establishment Pill."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xintie still didn't know how to respond.

He immediately gripped the jade bottle tightly and nodded emphatically, saying, "This junior understands. This junior will certainly live up to the clan leader's high expectations and deep affection!"

(End of this chapter)