Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 428 Returning to the Family, War Breaks Out [Please Subscribe]

After the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone successfully evolved, the Di Kingdom naturally lost its value for Zhou Chun to stay in.

He quickly rushed back to Tianyuan Immortal City, traveling day and night.

Because the evolution of the stone doesn't take long, his round trip took less than half a year.

Luo Qingni had just helped others refine two batches of pills to regain her skills.

However, Zhou Chun's "Dragon Spirit Pill" was of extremely high priority, as it had been agreed upon long ago.

Therefore, Luo Qingni quickly suspended other alchemy tasks and began to refine this kind of pill for Zhou Chun.

The "Dragon Spirit Pill" is much more difficult to refine than the "Energy Enhancement Pill," and since this was Luo Qingni's first time refining it, she was much more cautious than usual.

She spent a full forty-nine days refining the first batch of "Dragon Spirit Pills" before she was finally finished.

However, since it was her first time refining pills of this level, although she managed not to fail thanks to her master alchemy skills, the number of pills produced was terrible, with only three pills of normal quality.

This is undoubtedly a significant difference compared to the number of pills Master Ge Yun could produce at once, which Zhou Chun knew about.

So when he saw the result, his expression was rather unpleasant.

On the contrary, Luo Qingni did not show any disappointment on her face, as if the result was not too bad.

After waving her hand to dispel the protective array, she looked at Zhou Chun, whose expression was not good, and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, don't worry. No alchemy master can achieve the normal output standard when refining an unfamiliar high-level pill for the first time. With this experience, you will definitely not do so badly next time."

As she spoke, she handed the jade bottle containing the elixirs to Zhou Chun: "Fellow Daoist Zhang, please keep these three genuine 'Dragon Spirit Pills' safe. Next, Qingni will carefully review the alchemy process and study those failed pills. The next alchemy session will probably have to wait a few months."

"Alright, Zhang understands. Fellow Daoist Luo, you can study it carefully. Just call me next time you're refining pills!"

Zhou Chun sighed softly, nodded, accepted the pills, and turned to leave.

He really shouldn't have had such high expectations.

These two alchemy sessions can be considered as repaying the favor Luo Qingni did for helping her find the [Yellow Dragon Stone].

After returning to his cave, Zhou Chun checked the contents of his storage bag and decided to make one last purchase before returning to his family.

He immediately made a series of purchases at several well-known shops in the city, buying pills worth nearly 200,000 spirit coins, 80% of which were pills to improve the magical power of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The Zhou family now has quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the elixirs they consume are not so easy to buy in Jing Kingdom.

While prices are higher in the Great Zhou Kingdom, there is a much wider variety of goods available.

Besides elixirs, magic talismans were also among the items Zhou Chun purchased.

The invasion of the Yuanmo Realm into the Tianling Realm could very well trigger a war in the cultivation world. At that time, the Zhou family will certainly not be able to stay out of it, and many Zhou family disciples will have to go to the battlefield.

Although the Zhou family has Zhou Daoyi who can make second-tier magic talismans, firstly, the types of magic talismans Zhou Daoyi can make are limited, and secondly, he doesn't have that much time to make talismans. Also, second-tier talisman paper is not easy to obtain.

So you still have to buy what you need to buy.

Zhou Chun bought another two hundred second-tier magic talismans and more than a dozen third-tier magic talismans in one go.

In this way, most of the hundreds of thousands of spirit coins in his storage bag were gone.

After completing the purchase, Zhou Chun returned to his cave to cultivate in peace, and also began to ponder the cultivation method of the "God-Slaying Technique".

This "God-Slaying Technique" is naturally extremely powerful, with a total of four levels. Each time a level is successfully cultivated, one more "God-Slaying Sword" can be condensed, up to a maximum of four "God-Slaying Swords".

According to the description of this secret technique in the jade book, as long as one can cultivate to the fourth level, before the Nascent Soul stage, unless one encounters a cultivator with a powerful primordial spirit magic weapon, no cultivator of the same level can withstand the simultaneous attack of the four swords.

However, such a powerful secret technique is naturally extremely difficult to cultivate.

Murong Luo spent decades cultivating diligently before finally succeeding in the first level of cultivation, condensing a "God-Slaying Sword".

With just this "God-Slaying Sword," he earned a great fearsome reputation, killing many cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage.

Although Zhou Chun was very envious of the power of the "God-Slaying Technique", he also knew that the technique was difficult to cultivate and did not think that he could quickly master it.

If there's anything he lacks compared to other cultivators in the Purple Mansion stage, it's that he's too young.

Being young yet possessing high cultivation is naturally a good thing.

However, because of his young age and focus on improving his cultivation, he couldn't compare with older cultivators in the cultivation of various secret techniques.

Zhou Chun has cultivated quite a few secret techniques, but apart from the "Flowing Light Golden Rainbow" technique, which he has cultivated to the third level after hundreds of years of hard work, and the "Dragon Transformation Secret Technique" which has a quick way to master it, the rest of the secret techniques are only at the beginner level and he has not cultivated them too deeply.

In the realm of cultivating secret techniques, there are very few shortcuts; one can only rely on the cultivator's own comprehension, talent, and time to gradually improve.

Zhou Chun's comprehension and talent are not bad, but he is not a genius either. To master these secret techniques, he can only rely on time.

After several months of such contemplation, he could only say that he had gained some understanding, and was still far from mastering the basics.

Five months later, Luo Qingni called Zhou Chun over again to begin refining the second batch of "Dragon Spirit Pills".

This time, she still spent forty-nine days refining the product before opening the furnace.

The harvest from this furnace opening was four "Dragon Spirit Pills," a slight improvement over the previous ones. However, considering that she used a mid-grade third-tier demon beast inner core this time, her progress was actually not that significant.

Upon seeing this situation, Zhou Chun had already decided to stop there.

Zhou Chun no longer intended to waste the remaining Tier 3 High-Grade Silver Armored Dragonfish Demon Core.

Rather than letting Luo Qingni waste the demon core, he would rather give it to Lei Jiao to consume, which might allow Lei Jiao to break through to the third-tier mid-grade demon beast in one fell swoop.

After waiting for the results, Luo Qingni's expression was no longer as calm as it had been before.

She stared at the alchemy furnace with her brows furrowed, and did not open the protective array for a long time.

It was thanks to Zhou Chun's patience that she didn't urge her and waited quietly for most of the day before she opened the array's protective barrier.

After activating the protective array, she immediately bowed apologetically to Zhou Chun and said, "There have been some problems with this refining process again. Qingni has failed Fellow Daoist Zhang's trust, and I am truly sorry!"

Seeing her like this, Zhou Chun felt bad but quickly comforted her, saying, "Fellow Daoist Luo, you are too kind. Alchemy is a delicate craft, and it is normal for problems to arise sometimes. Besides, no matter what, this pill can be considered successfully refined, so it's not a complete loss."

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, there's no need to comfort Qingni. The fact that the number of pills produced twice in a row is below the normal level shows that Qingni's alchemy skills still need to be improved and there is still a lot of room for improvement."

Luo Qingni shook her head slightly, expressing her dissatisfaction with her two poor performances.

However, after saying this, she quickly looked at Zhou Chun and said, "Qing Ni said before that if the output of pills is lower than the normal level, she would compensate Fellow Daoist Zhang for the loss of materials. Now that only seven pills have been produced in two batches, Qing Ni should compensate Fellow Daoist Zhang for 30% of the materials."

"How about this? Fellow Daoist Zhang, don't you still have a mid-grade third-tier demon core? Fellow Daoist, take out some more materials, and Qingni will complete the rest for you. Furthermore, she will refine another batch of 'Essence-Boosting Pills' for you free of charge. What do you think of this, Fellow Daoist Zhang?"

Such a good thing!

Zhou Chun was overjoyed, and quickly nodded in agreement, saying, "That's excellent, that's excellent!"

After reaching an agreement, the two went their separate ways.

More than three months later, Luo Qingni, having gathered all the materials, once again called on Zhou Chun to start refining pills together.

This time, she was refining "Zengyuan Pill," a type of pill she was already very familiar with. She finally demonstrated her alchemy master skills and successfully produced eight pills in one go.

Furthermore, because it was made from the inner core of a mid-grade third-tier demon beast, the potency of this batch of "Energy Enhancement Pills" was stronger than the batch she had previously refined for Zhou Chun.

With eight "Escaling Pills" and seven "Dragon Spirit Pills," plus the few "Escaling Pills" left over, Zhou Chun had roughly enough pills to reach the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm.

Therefore, after thanking Luo Qingni, he announced his departure.

"This parting may be decades before we meet again, Fellow Daoist Luo, please take good care of yourself!"

Inside Qingni Residence, Zhou Chun solemnly bowed to Luo Qingni and took his leave.

Upon learning that he was leaving Tianyuan Immortal City to return to his family, Luo Qingni was slightly taken aback at first, then her expression turned solemn, and she returned his greeting with a respectful bow, saying, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, please take good care of yourself. I hope that when we meet again, you will have achieved the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage!"

"Haha, then I'll take Fellow Daoist Luo's auspicious words!"

Zhou Chun smiled, nodded to Luo Qingni again, and then left.

A few days later, Zhou Chun, who had no more ties to Tianyuan Immortal City, left the place and headed south back to Jing Kingdom.

……

Fengguo, Jinchangfang Market.

On this day, a blue-green ship, several tens of feet long, suddenly flew in from outside the Jinchang Market and landed directly outside the market entrance.

Immediately afterwards, streaks of light shot out from the blue ship and landed on the ground, transforming into cultivators with different appearances.

These were all Foundation Establishment and Purple Mansion cultivators, the first batch of reinforcements sent by the Qinglian Temple of Jingguo to support the Jingyang Sect of Fengguo.

Just as these cultivators appeared outside Jinchang Market, a beam of red fire suddenly shot out from inside Jinchang Market and landed in mid-air, revealing a burly man with a curly topknot dressed in a fiery red robe.

As soon as the burly man with a topknot appeared, he bowed respectfully to the blue-green ship and laughed loudly, "Hahaha, I wonder which fellow Daoist from the Qinglian Temple has led the group this time? Guo Shaokang of the Jingyang Sect greets you!"

"So it's Fellow Daoist Guo. I am Shanyangzi, the leader of this expedition. Twenty Purple Mansion cultivators and two hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators from my Qinglian Temple have been delivered. Please take a count, Fellow Daoist Guo!"

A flash of yellow light appeared inside the azure ship, and an elderly man with slightly white hair and a goatee appeared in mid-air. He was none other than Shan Yangzi, a Golden Core cultivator from the Qinglian Temple who had once visited the Zhou family.

The fact that the burly man with the curly hair could address him as a fellow Daoist clearly indicates that he was also a Golden Core cultivator.

As Shan Yangzi spoke, he also raised his hand and waved it, sending a jade slip containing relevant information and a recording bead flying toward Guo Shaokang, the burly man with a bushy topknot.

Upon hearing Shan Yangzi's words, Guo Shaokang, the burly man with a topknot, immediately scanned the Purple Mansion cultivators and Foundation Establishment cultivators lined up in mid-air with his divine sense, and then browsed the information in the jade slip. He quickly confirmed that the facts were exactly the same as the intelligence he had received.

His smile became even more genuine, and he immediately nodded with a smile, saying, "That's right, it does match the information your sect sent. Thank you for seeing me off all the way, Fellow Daoist Shanyangzi!"

Upon hearing this, Shan Yangzi nodded in agreement and said, "Since Fellow Daoist Guo has confirmed it, then I will return to my sect to report. I entrust these juniors to Fellow Daoist Guo and your esteemed sect's care!"

"No problem, no problem."

The burly man with the topknot readily agreed, but his tone betrayed a hint of perfunctoriness.

Shan Yangzi clearly understood this, but pretended not to hear it. He then spoke some high-sounding words to the cultivators he had brought, and boarded the ship to return to Jing Kingdom.

After witnessing Shan Yangzi's departure, Guo Shaokang, the burly man with a topknot who had been all smiles just moments before, suddenly turned grim.

He unleashed his Golden Core stage cultivator aura without reservation, causing the cultivators sent by Shan Yangzi to tremble and fall to the ground like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Then, with a hawk-like gaze, he looked down at the cultivators on the ground and roared, "You have all heard my name just now. Now I will announce three rules, and you all better listen carefully, or you will lose your lives. Don't blame me for not telling you beforehand!"

"The first rule is that, regardless of your previous status, now that you have come to Feng Kingdom and become members of the Heavenly Spirit Legion, you must strictly abide by the rules of the Heavenly Spirit Legion and act in accordance with military regulations. You must no longer act according to the rules of your original sect or family. Otherwise, you will be subject to military law!"

"The second rule is that within the legion, the capable rise and the weak fall. You will be temporarily assigned different military ranks based on your cultivation level. If you perform well in the future, your rank will be fixed or you will be promoted. If you perform poorly, even a Purple Mansion stage cultivator may have to obey the orders of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator!"

"The third rule is that once you join the legion and assume a military rank, you must obey the legion's command in all matters. Without the approval of your superiors, no one may leave their post, break away from their unit, or disclose legion mission information to unrelated individuals!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't care whether those people had heard him clearly or not, and waved his hand towards the market, saying, "Open the formation and let them in."

Then the formation of Jinchang Market opened a passage, and everyone quickly flew into the market under Guo Shaokang's watchful eye.

A few days later, these cultivators from Jing Kingdom received an identity token containing their basic information, which would serve as an important credential for their future travels throughout Feng Kingdom.

"I never imagined we would set foot on Feng Kingdom's soil again in this way!"

Inside a barracks, Zhou Daoquan looked at the silver identity token in his hand and couldn't help but sigh softly, his expression filled with emotion.

Beside him, the two elders of the Zhou family, Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiapeng, each held a dark blue identity token, their expressions equally complex.

With the establishment of the Heavenly Spirit Alliance and the Heavenly Spirit Legion, Jingguo, as a member of the alliance, also sent its elite troops to the front line to be incorporated into the Heavenly Spirit Legion in order to help Fengguo resist the invasion of the Yuanmo territory.

Naturally, cultivation families like the Zhou family were allocated a certain number of slots.

The cultivators sent by the Zhou family were Zhou Daoquan, Zhou Jiahe, and Zhou Jiapeng.

All three of them were elders of the Zhou family, and were more familiar with Fengguo than the younger generation. Moreover, in terms of lifespan and potential, they were younger and less capable than the others.

Most importantly, all three were willing to make sacrifices for their family at this time.

"I won't say anything more. From now on, you two just need to take care of yourselves and try your best to survive!"

After a long silence, Zhou Daoquan casually hung the token on his waist and gave his final instructions to the two juniors in a low voice.

Before coming to Fengguo, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi had said the words they needed to say several times, and all three of them had long been prepared to die on the battlefield.

Therefore, Zhou Daoquan really had nothing more to say at this point.

"I understand, Uncle. Please take care of yourself as well."

Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiapeng exchanged a glance, nodded together, and offered their blessings to Zhou Daoquan.

The two then bowed deeply to Zhou Daoquan and left, returning to their respective barracks.

To prevent collusion, the Heavenly Spirit Legion deliberately mixed up cultivators from different countries and forces, so Zhou Daoquan could no longer be assigned to the same brigade as his two juniors.

It is worth mentioning that the Heavenly Spirit Legion now has three organizational structures: battalion, company, and squad. A battalion has at least 5,000 soldiers, a company has at least 300 soldiers, and a squad has between 20 and 30 soldiers.

Battalion commanders and deputy commanders are generally Golden Core cultivators, brigade commanders and deputy commanders are generally Purple Mansion cultivators, and squad leaders and deputy leaders are generally Foundation Establishment cultivators.

In other words, under normal circumstances, a battalion of soldiers would definitely have two Golden Core cultivators, twenty or thirty Purple Mansion cultivators, and three or four hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators!

Jinchangfang Market is now a battalion-level garrison, and Guo Shaokang, that burly man with a topknot, is the battalion commander.

Zhou Daoquan, who is at the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm, is currently serving as the deputy commander of the brigade, while the two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Zhou family are the squad leaders.

Fortunately, since the establishment of the Heavenly Spirit Legion, it has been using Foundation Establishment Pills and Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects as bait to recruit soldiers on a large scale, attracting a large number of Qi Refining stage cultivators from various countries to join the army. For the time being, cultivation families such as the Zhou family have not yet reached the point of forcibly sharing the Qi Refining stage cultivators into the army.

At the same time, Zhou Chun, who was rushing back to his family, suddenly heard the news of the establishment of the Heavenly Spirit Alliance and the Heavenly Spirit Legion, and learned that several of his elders had been forced to join the army.

I've updated 200,000 words this month! It's really tiring! I took half a day off today to rest and relax!

(End of this chapter)