Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 389 The Golden-Armored Rock Turtle's Advancement, the Methods of the Azure Lotus Temple [Please Subscribe]

As for how far Zhou Xinyan can go in cultivating the equally dangerous "Jia Mu Xuan Gong," it all depends on his own destiny.

Once a cultivator has established their foundation, their path in the Dao becomes largely fixed.

The Zhou family has many Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, but only a few choose to cultivate the same technique.

Everyone practices different techniques, and when they encounter difficulties in their cultivation, they usually have to find their own solutions.

It seems that Zhou Chun had never practiced the "Jia Mu Xuan Gong," and when Zhou Xinyan encountered difficulties in cultivation later, he could not offer much advice.

This is why one must be extremely careful when choosing a cultivation method after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Time flies, and two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past two years, apart from occasionally going to the wilderness to deliver supplies to the stronghold and visit the Frostbees, Zhou Chun has basically been cultivating in seclusion within the family's mountain gate. Zhou Daoquan has returned to the Caiyu Mountain stronghold to take charge in his place.

Although his cultivation level could not improve much in just two years, he did manage to cultivate the Golden Armored Rock Turtle to the second-tier superior grade.

The main reason is that half a year ago, a Qi Refining cultivator from the Zhou family was exploring the wilderness of Yunzhou when he was lucky enough to discover a stalactite cave, in which a pool of "Earth Element Spirit Milk" had already condensed.

"Earthly Spirit Milk" is a spiritual substance formed by the absorption of earth essence by stalactites that have been around for ten thousand years. It has a very good body-tempering effect and is also an important auxiliary material for refining many elixirs.

However, for Zhou Chun's Golden Armored Rock Turtle, it was the best spiritual object to enhance cultivation, even better than pills.

If a cultivator uses "Earthly Spirit Milk" to temper their body, they must first remove the turbid and evil energy from it, and then mix it with other spiritual medicines to avoid being poisoned by petrification.

However, the Golden-Armored Rock Turtle can directly consume this substance to enhance its cultivation level.

Therefore, Zhou Chun directly used 2,000 points of family merit to buy all of those "Earthly Spirit Milk" and fed them to the Golden Armored Rock Turtle.

Thus, the Golden Armored Rock Turtle, whose cultivation was not far from being promoted to a second-tier superior demon beast, easily broke through to the second-tier superior level.

As a demon beast renowned for its defensive capabilities, and after undergoing mutation, the Golden Armored Rock Turtle, having advanced to a second-tier superior demon beast, possesses defensive strength strong enough to withstand several attacks from a cultivator in the early Purple Mansion stage.

Even the Silver Lightning Python's white "Thunder Slash" could hardly tear its hard shell.

If Zhou Chun were to fight an ordinary early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator, he could release it and the Silver Lightning Python as helpers to put pressure on the enemy.

Now Zhou Chun is just waiting for news from Lin Hongyu that she has finished her seclusion, so he can then plot to obtain the Thousand-Year Dragon Transformation Grass.

On this day, Zhou Chun was meditating at home as usual when he suddenly heard that an envoy from Qinglian Temple had come to announce a decree.

This news surprised him greatly, and he hurriedly went to the mountain gate to greet them.

Upon arriving at the mountain gate, Zhou Chun discovered that the cultivator who had come to announce the decree was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Qinglian Temple.

This gave him a secret sigh of relief.

According to the unwritten rules of the cultivation world, the cultivation level of the cultivator who announces the decree is closely related to the importance level of the decree.

Given the Zhou family's current status, if they were to be mobilized for any important task, at least a cultivator at the Purple Mansion stage would be needed.

Although he felt relieved, Zhou Chun still greeted the people on the Pagoda Peak with a serious expression and summoned the elders to welcome the imperial decree together.

In the cultivation world, decrees are generally issued by Golden Core cultivators, so there's no such thing as "receiving the mandate of heaven," and it's even less likely that someone would kneel to receive the decree.

Zhou Chun and the others simply stood in rows according to their rank, tidying their appearance. Then, the Qinglian Temple cultivator took out a decree and loudly proclaimed: "Decree of the Abbot: The Zhou family of Lanzhou has a long and prosperous history. Since establishing themselves in Lanzhou, they have made numerous contributions and are worthy of being a model for all families. Therefore, they are hereby bestowed with one talisman, three inner disciple slots, and ten outer disciple slots!"

After the decree was read aloud, the envoy from Qinglian Temple rolled up the decree in his hand, bowed to Zhou Chun, and said, "Senior Zhou, I am only responsible for reading the decree. You will have to go to our sect to collect the rewards yourself."

"I understand, fellow Daoist. Thank you for your hard work."

Zhou Chun nodded calmly, took the decree from the man's hand, and then turned to Zhou Jiarui, saying, "Fourth Elder, please take this fellow Daoist to rest and be sure to treat him well."

After watching Zhou Jiarui lead the people to the guest quarters to rest, Zhou Chun turned around and looked at the elders behind him. He noticed that each of them had a different expression on their face; some were worried, while others had a hint of joy.

This made him sigh inwardly, as he was fully aware of what these people were thinking.

Throughout history, very few members of the Zhou family have joined the Qinglian Temple.

This is because Zhou Chun and other high-ranking members of the Zhou family intend to control this matter.

After all, the Zhou family had always been short of people. Given that they didn't even have enough manpower in their own family, why would they be willing to send their family members to Qinglian Temple?

But the situation is different now.

The Zhou family now has over three hundred cultivators. Although the family can support them, only a very small number of them have the opportunity to establish their foundation.

Now that Qinglian Temple is willing to offer three inner disciple slots to the Zhou family, it means that as long as the Zhou family sends someone to occupy these three slots, all three of them will receive Foundation Establishment Pills as a reward.

This kind of reward, which directly grants inner disciple slots, is a special privilege that a large sect like Qinglian Temple bestows upon its affiliated cultivation families. Generally, only families that have made great contributions can receive this privilege.

So those happy elders were naturally thinking that some of their younger generations could compete for this spot.

Zhou Chun knew in his heart that the reason why Qinglian Temple suddenly bestowed these benefits upon the Zhou family was not only because of the Zhou family's outstanding performance in the battle to destroy the Jiang family, but also because they probably had some reservations about the Zhou family.

By awarding discipleship quotas to allow Zhou family cultivators to join the Qinglian Temple, firstly, it can indeed motivate other families; secondly, it can also strengthen the bond between the Zhou family and the Qinglian Temple; and thirdly, if a conflict were to occur between the two sides in the future, these Zhou family members who have joined the sect could play a special role.

In fact, Zhou Chun, Zhou Mingde, and others had long been mentally prepared for this day to come.

However, at this crucial juncture, the sudden issuance of such a decree by Qinglian Temple is quite intriguing.

"Elders, please return to your quarters. I will send the decree to the Supreme Elder for his perusal!"

Despite having a thousand thoughts in his mind, Zhou Chun remained outwardly calm. After waving for the elders to disperse, he went to the cave at the top of the mountain.

In the mountain cave, Zhou Chun handed the decree of Qinglian Temple to Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi, who had arrived at the scene.

After the two finished reading, Zhou Mingde sighed softly, "It still happened!"

"Yes, although I knew this day would come, I didn't expect it to actually happen!"

Zhou Daoyi also sighed, feeling quite emotional.

After sighing, Zhou Mingde looked at Zhou Chun and asked, "The decree from Qinglian Temple has been issued; there is no room for shirking responsibility. Zheng Chun, what do you think the family should do about this?"

Previously, Qinglian Temple only granted the Zhou family the Ascension Order, or some people would imply that the Zhou family could send someone to join Qinglian Temple.

The Zhou family could pretend not to know about these things and keep them sealed away.

But now Qinglian Temple is issuing a direct decree; it's a notification, not a discussion.

The Zhou family didn't want to be accused of being ungrateful and disobeying imperial orders, so they had no choice but to obediently comply.

Therefore, upon hearing Zhou Mingde's question, Zhou Chun immediately replied, "In my opinion, the three inner disciple slots should naturally be selected from those late-stage Qi Refining cultivators in the family who have the potential to break through to Foundation Establishment. As for the ten outer disciple slots, let's choose some younger family members with slightly weaker aptitudes!"

"Hmm, this arrangement is reasonable, but in my opinion, it would be better to send as many female tribespeople as possible."

Zhou Mingde nodded slightly and offered his own opinion.

Female cultivators in cultivation families do not all have to get married. Many female cultivators are devoted to the Dao and never marry.

However, for cultivation families, under the same spiritual root aptitude, male cultivators are definitely more useful than female cultivators.

Putting aside the fact that male cultivators are more efficient at perpetuating their family bloodline, they are also generally stronger than female cultivators in combat.

Moreover, sending female cultivators to sects serves several purposes. First, there's no need to worry about them branching out and establishing a new Zhou family. Second, if they form Daoist couples with cultivators within the sect, it's equivalent to bringing another useful person to the family. It's a win-win situation.

Therefore, Zhou Chun was not surprised that Zhou Mingde would make such a suggestion.

He actually agreed with this approach, because for those female cultivators, going to a sect would be better than staying in their families, except for the separation from their loved ones.

At least once they join a sect, they'll not only receive sect benefits, but their families will also provide them with subsidies to maintain their emotional connection to the family.

He quickly nodded in agreement, saying, "I understand. Then I'll arrange for nine female cultivators and four male cultivators."

"Then let's do it this way. Zheng Chun, you can personally lead people to deliver it to the Qinglian Temple gate and collect the talisman that Qinglian Temple is rewarding you with. Consider it an extra protective item for you."

Zhou Mingde waved his hand, making the final determination.

By the time Zhou Chun returned from his mountain cave, news of the Qinglian Temple's decree had already begun to spread among the Qi Refining stage cultivators of the Zhou family.

Many of the Qi Refining stage cultivators from the Zhou family who originally thought they had little hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage felt that their opportunity had come. As long as they didn't have any missions to perform, they all came to Pagoda Peak, hoping to make Zhou Chun, the clan leader, notice their presence.

They all knew in their hearts that the family would never send those with exceptional talent to Qinglian Temple; if they were going to send them, they would have done so long ago.

Therefore, this is a once-in-a-century opportunity for them, and they all want to seize it.

The issue of assigning the three inner disciples was indeed giving Zhou Chun a headache.

The reason is simple: there are too many qualified cultivators in the Zhou family now, and he can't just appoint three at will, as that would be difficult to convince the public.

So he could only address the clansmen loitering outside in a stern voice: "I know all your thoughts. Those with late-stage Qi Refining cultivation, under sixty years old, who wish to compete for the three inner disciple spots, come and register. Let me see how many of you there are!"

As soon as the words were spoken, within half a day, as many as twenty-three people signed up, and these were only those inside the family's mountain gate.

Zhou Chun treated all family cultivators who went out on missions or travels equally, ordering the intelligence department to contact them as much as possible and explain the matter.

A month later, the final number of applicants had reached forty-two, eight of whom were at the twelfth level of the Qi Refining stage!

Zhou Chun wasn't surprised by this situation, but sighed helplessly in a low voice, "As expected, faced with the allure of Foundation Establishment, even decades of family education and blood ties couldn't make someone choose to stay!"

To say that all those who signed up were disloyal to their families would be an overstatement.

However, it's clear that they weren't loyal enough to give up their own future for the sake of their family.

Cultivators are selfish; blood ties and kinship can only bind them when there is little hope left.

Once given a tangible hope, few of them would give up the opportunity to improve themselves because of blood ties.

Zhou Chun asked himself, what if one day he was stuck in the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm for hundreds of years, with no hope of forming the Golden Core?

If a major sect suddenly offers to provide a set of spiritual items to aid in Core Formation and invites me to join them, I might not necessarily stay for the sake of the Zhou family.

After all, the Zhou family wouldn't be unable to survive without him.

Without those spiritual items to aid in Core Formation, he might truly have no hope of ever achieving Core Formation in his lifetime!

All the Zhou family cultivators who have signed up now share this idea.

Moreover, many people believe that even if they join a sect, they can still help their family.

They might even be thinking that if they successfully established their foundation at Qinglian Temple and became a Foundation Establishment cultivator there, they could better help the Zhou family.

Under this psychological influence, they will not have any hesitation in signing up.

"Well, to convince them all, let's settle this with a magical duel!"

Zhou Chun's eyes flickered, and after some hesitation, he decided to use the most common method in the cultivation world to decide on the candidate.

In addition, methods such as drawing lots for the baby's first birthday celebration can easily make people feel that there is something fishy going on and can easily cause dissatisfaction.

Of course, there are bound to be underhanded dealings in the competition. At least Zhou Chun, adhering to the principle of more women than men, has decided to provide treasures to several female clansmen who have signed up.

Having decided on the method, Zhou Chun didn't delay and immediately gathered everyone together to announce his decision.

Two days later, on the arena that the Zhou family often used for magical duels, Zhou Chun personally presided over the magical duel.

"This competition will determine three winners through a contest of martial arts. Aside from the prohibition of using secret techniques that damage one's own vital energy, all other methods are unrestricted. I will personally preside over the competition, so you can confidently display your skills!"

On the arena, Zhou Chun calmly looked at the dozens of registered cultivators, announced the rules, and then asked them to come up and fight one by one according to the draw.

With the clan leader personally presiding, the Zhou family cultivators who had signed up were indeed relieved of their anxiety. Soon, one Zhou family cultivator after another went up on the stage, giving their all to compete for this hard-won opportunity to establish their foundation.

Then, during the battle, some Zhou family cultivators were dismayed to find that several female members of their clan who had not performed particularly well in the past had become rich women today, throwing away rare magic talismans as if they were free, and defeating them with a money offensive.

According to their subsequent inquiries, these female cultivators who suddenly became wealthy all borrowed money from their clan leaders to purchase magic talismans, promising to marry a Foundation Establishment stage Qinglian Temple disciple after passing the preliminary examination.

Regarding this matter, the defeated Zhou family cultivators, although they harbored some resentment towards the patriarch Zhou Chun for his favoritism, could only lament that they were not female cultivators and could not get married.

After all, it's much easier for a female cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage to marry a male cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage than for a male cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage to marry a female cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The final result of the martial arts competition was that two female cultivators and one male cultivator won the top three places.

First update. There are still three and a half hours left. Let's see if we can repeat yesterday's miracle!

(End of this chapter)