Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Jiufengling.

After returning to Jingguo, Zhou Chun naturally went back to the Zhou family's mountain gate residence first.

However, the news he received upon his return dispelled his good mood after his long journey, and he frowned deeply.

According to Zhou Jiarui, Zhou Mingde, and others, the Heavenly Spirit Alliance and the Heavenly Spirit Legion were actually established as early as three years ago.

In other words, by that time at the latest, all the nations of the Heavenly Spirit Realm had reached a consensus that the Heavenly Spirit Realm had been invaded by the Yuan Demon Realm, which is why they took such a response.

However, Zhou Mingde and others did not send anyone to inform him of this news or ask him to return and take charge of the overall situation.

Of course, he also understood the thoughts of Zhou Mingde and others.

If a war breaks out between the Yuanmo Realm and the Tianling Realm, Zhou Chun's presence or absence will not make a difference. Keeping him outside might preserve some of the Zhou family's strength.

Furthermore, a war involving two major cultivation worlds is bound to be a protracted war, and it wouldn't be surprising if it lasted for decades.

Given the relatively low intensity of the war, the Zhou family indeed had no need to disturb his cultivation as a Golden Core seed.

So now that things have come to this point, Zhou Chun can't possibly blame these elders who are only thinking of him.

What truly made Zhou Chunzhen frown was the intruder from the Yuanmo Territory.

As the two major cultivation worlds openly waged war, a considerable amount of information about the Yuanmo Realm was intentionally or unintentionally released.

Based on the information gathered by the Zhou family, the Yuanmo Realm should be a vast and powerful cultivation world.

In terms of overall strength, they are definitely much stronger than the Heavenly Spirit Realm.

There are already five major forces that have appeared in Feng Kingdom: Corpse Demon Sect, Blood Bone Sect, Bewitching Valley, Yin Ghost Sect, and Beast Demon Palace.

These five forces are all no less powerful than the Moon Wheel Sect, the largest power in Jing Kingdom, and some are even stronger.

The disciples of the five major forces are generally stronger than cultivators of the same level from cultivation families and small and medium-sized sects. Even the disciples of major sects like Qinglian Temple, which are slightly weaker, are often inferior to them.

Moreover, because they rarely fight against these Yuanmo Realm cultivators, the Tianling Realm cultivators don't have a deep understanding of their various strange methods, and sometimes they might fall into their traps if they're not careful.

Prior to this, in the conflicts between the two sides, the cultivators of the Heavenly Spirit Realm generally suffered greater losses than their opponents, losing both face and substance.

However, this does not mean that the Heavenly Spirit Realm is bound to lose.

Because the Yuanmo Realm is separated from the Tianling Realm by the long and desolate Jue Ling Desert, it is not easy for troops and supplies to get over.

Secondly, even if the Heavenly Spirit Realm cannot defeat the invaders from the Primordial Demon Realm, it can still call for external assistance.

For example, cultivators from places like the Great Zhou Kingdom and the Yang Kingdom.

It should be noted that the Great Zhou Kingdom and the Yang Kingdom are not isolated from the countries of the Heavenly Spirit Realm by natural barriers such as the Absolute Spirit Desert.

If they allow the Heavenly Spirit Realm to be occupied by the Demon Realm, and enable those demonic sects to grow stronger and gain a base, then they are raising a tiger to cause trouble.

Moreover, once the countries of the Heavenly Spirit Realm find that they have no external support and are no match for the Yuanmo Realm, they will definitely choose to abandon their own country and migrate to other countries.

At that time, those countries that do not help will first have to fight against these migrating cultivators from the Heavenly Spirit Realm, which means they will still be drawn into war.

But as the saying goes, even a grain of sand in the era can weigh heavier than a mountain on an ordinary person!

Even if the war between the two cultivation worlds cannot be decided in a short time, many cultivators will surely die.

In this kind of war, a cultivation family like the Zhou family is just an ordinary person.

Even the slightest change in the war could lead to their destruction and the extermination of their entire clan!

As the head of the Zhou family, Zhou Chun cannot afford to ignore this!

"Before I returned, I had considered the possibility of a war in the cultivation world, so I specially purchased a lot of pills and talismans to bring back. Now, while the war is still relatively low-level, I will distribute these things to my clansmen for exchange!"

"Furthermore, I have gathered enough Yellow Dragon Stones. I would like to ask Elder You to make a trip to the You family and invite Elder You to complete the Nine Palaces Yellow Dragon Formation. After that, I would like to relocate all the important members of the family to Tu Yun Ridge for cultivation, to prevent them from being wiped out in the event of a crisis!"

"As for the Third Elder and the others who have already joined the army in Feng Kingdom, I will personally deliver some useful items to them in a while. We can't let them work for the family for nothing!"

After some contemplation, Zhou Chun looked at Zhou Mingde and Zhou Jiarui, who were waiting silently in the hall, and said in a deep voice his own arrangements.

Hearing this, Zhou Mingde was delighted and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Good lad, you really didn't waste that trip, collecting so many [Yellow Dragon Stones] so quickly!"

He nodded repeatedly and said, "Don't worry, leave this to me. I'll go to the You family and invite Old Man You to Tu Yun Ridge to perfect the grand formation. I imagine he really wants to personally set up the complete [Nine Palaces Yellow Dragon Grand Formation] before he's buried!"

"Then I'll have to trouble the Supreme Elder."

Zhou Chun bowed and, after watching Zhou Mingde leave, took out some pills and talismans from his storage bag and handed them to Zhou Jiarui, instructing him to use them to fill the family treasury and notify clansmen in various locations to come and exchange them.

Zhou Chun then began to carefully examine the various archives in Zhongping Hall from the past ten years to gain a detailed understanding of the changes in the Zhou family over the past decade.

Over the course of more than a decade, the Zhou family has undergone tremendous changes.

In particular, during this period, the Zhou family first obtained thirty-two "Foundation Building Fruits", and then obtained twenty-five "Foundation Building Pills".

Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi were both men of great courage and determination.

Having heard that the Yuanmo Realm might invade the Tianling Realm, they secretly arranged for the cultivators who had exchanged for the "Foundation Building Pills" to go to the wilderness to build their foundations after Lin Hongyu brought back twenty-five "Foundation Building Pills," and temporarily hide there to cultivate in seclusion.

So on the surface, the Zhou family only had three more Foundation Establishment cultivators in the past twelve years, but in reality, they had as many as seven more Foundation Establishment cultivators!

The seven people are Zhou Xinyi, Zhou Xinheng, Zhou Xintong, Zhou Xinchen, Zhou Sizhen, Zhou Siyu, and Zhou Simiao.

In this way, the Zhou family now has seventeen Foundation Establishment cultivators!

In the wilderness, there was also Liu Heng, a bodyguard trained by the Zhou family, who successfully established his foundation by exchanging for a "Foundation Building Fruit".

Therefore, if Lin Wan'er, Xu Fu, and Liu Heng are also included, the Zhou family can command as many as twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators!

If we also include Zhou Xinhe and Zhou Xinjian, who have joined the Qinglian Temple, then there are twenty-two people.

In addition, the Zhou family now has another relative cultivator with Foundation Establishment stage cultivation, namely Zhang Liang, who was previously left in the Zhou family by Zhou Chun.

This person somehow won the favor of Zhou Xindie, a Foundation Establishment female cultivator from the Zhou family, and they became Daoist partners, which led to him staying in the Zhou family permanently.

Originally, this matter should have required the approval of the clan chief, Zhou Chun, but because he was in the Great Zhou Kingdom at the time, Zhou Mingde took it upon himself to approve it.

Meanwhile, the older generation of Zhou family cultivators have also made progress in their cultivation.

Two years ago, Zhou Daoyi broke through to the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm, Zhou Jiarui's cultivation reached the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, and Zhou Zhengyong, Zhou Xinyan, Zhou Xinlan and others all broke through to the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.

However, the most impressive one is Xu Fu. As expected of someone with a superior spiritual root, he has already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

In addition, four years ago, the Zhou family welcomed a member with superior spiritual root and dual attributes of metal and water. She was a girl named Zhou Yuanyuan, a cultivator of the "Yuan" generation.

At this time, the number of registered cultivators in the Zhou family had reached 413, with an additional 69 relatives who were cultivators!

Furthermore, there are still as many as seventy-eight assassin servants and cultivators in the wilderness!

And that doesn't even include the Zhou family's powerful demonic beasts and spirit pets.

All of this data is only visible to the most core members of the Zhou family; even some Foundation Establishment stage elders are unaware of it.

Without a doubt, this is a force that, if spoken aloud, would shock many people.

If the Zhou family were to promote Lin Hongyu now, they could instantly establish a Golden Core family with that power!

"So, without us even realizing it, the Zhou family has grown to this extent?"

Looking at the various family data, Zhou Chun muttered to himself in a daze, and his mood improved considerably.

Looking back, when they first settled in Jiufeng Ridge, the entire clan had less than a hundred people. Apart from Zhou Mingde, who was at the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm, the clan only had four Foundation Establishment cultivators in total.

Now, only a little over a hundred years have passed, and the Zhou family, from top to bottom, has seen its number of cultivators and cultivators at all levels increase several times over. Even compared to before the family split, it is in no way inferior.

Such a change was something that not only Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi didn't dare to imagine when they divided the family property, but even Zhou Chun himself didn't dare to think about it back then.

But upon closer reflection, it all seems so logical and natural.

With a series of fortunate opportunities and the unity of the entire clan, and after more than a hundred years of development and refinement, it is not surprising that such a bountiful harvest has been achieved.

However, this means the Zhou family must be even more cautious in this war between the two great cultivation worlds.

We cannot allow this war to destroy the Zhou family, which has finally managed to rebuild its strength.

Just like the Wang family of Red Medicine Valley, everything was developing steadily, but a war with the Dragon Transformation Sect directly caused the family to suffer heavy losses. Now they have fallen out of the ranks of the great immortal cultivation families, and they have only managed to keep their family's mountain gate intact thanks to the goodwill and friendship they had built in the past.

Such examples are numerous; Zhou Chun has witnessed many such cases over the past century.

Over the next two weeks, Zhou Chun first sent the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone and the Wood Spirit back to Tu Yun Ridge for cultivation. Then, he met with each of the newly established Foundation Establishment family cultivators, offering them encouragement and rewards.

Then he was extremely busy receiving important members of various friendly families who came to visit after hearing the news.

After being busy for nearly two months, he finally had time to deal with some personal matters.

First and foremost, I must visit the Su family in Jiangzhou to see my Daoist partner, Su Yuzhen, and also pay my respects to my aunt, Su Yunniang, who has successfully formed her Core, and present her with a substantial congratulatory gift.

During this round of visiting relatives, both the Su family patriarch and Su Yunniang were somewhat surprised that Zhou Chun's cultivation had broken through to the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm so quickly.

Then, naturally, the mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, and the more she looks, the more satisfied she becomes.

After all, the higher Zhou Chun's cultivation level, the less likely he is to hold Su Yuzhen back.

However, neither of them expected that Zhou Chun would be able to successfully form his core.

After all, Zhou Chun has no advantage in terms of either spiritual root aptitude or family background when it comes to Core Formation.

However, as long as Zhou Chun can cultivate to the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm, in their eyes he would be barely worthy of Su Yuzhen and would not tarnish the reputation of their Su family.

Zhou Chun did not want to reveal the true strength of the Zhou family before he successfully formed his core, so he only performed well and did not go too far.

Because he had many things to do, he only spent less than half a month with his Daoist partner at the Su family in Jiangzhou before returning to his family.

Upon returning, Zhou Chun went straight to the wilderness.

Given the trouble he caused in the wilderness last time, Zhou Chun kept the Thunder Flood Dragon in his spirit beast pouch this time, and only traveled by water himself.

After expending considerable effort to reach the wilderness, he first went to the Caiyu Mountain outpost to visit Lin Hongyu.

"In your opinion, Elder Lin, what are the chances that Elder Lin Wan'er will successfully open her Purple Mansion during this seclusion?"

Inside the cave at Caiyu Mountain, after exchanging pleasantries, Zhou Chun directly asked Lin Hongyu about Lin Wan'er's seclusion.

Previously, Lin Hongyu went to the Great Zhou Kingdom to find a spiritual object to help her adopted daughter open her Purple Mansion, and she did find a pretty good one.

After some adjustments, Lin Wan'er went into seclusion at Caiyu Mountain a year ago.

Hearing his words, Lin Hongyu shook her head slightly, unsure, and said, "It's hard to say. Although Wan'er is well-prepared, opening the Purple Mansion is no easy task. It all depends on her own fate!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun remained silent.

When he opened up his Purple Mansion, due to his special circumstances, everything went smoothly and he didn't encounter too many difficulties.

But he also knew that others would not be able to open their Purple Mansion as smoothly as he had.

It's normal for Lin Wan'er to fail.

After a period of silence, Zhou Chun quickly composed himself and looked at Lin Hongyu again, saying, "Elder Lin, you should already know about the Yuanmo Realm's invasion of the Tianling Realm. This time, I have found enough Yellow Dragon Stones from the Great Zhou Kingdom, and the Nine Palaces Yellow Dragon Formation of Tuyun Ridge will soon be able to fully unleash the power of the forbidden formation."

"Therefore, after discussing with the Supreme Elder, we would like to invite Elder Lin to oversee the formation at Tu Yun Ridge once it is successfully set up. What do you think, Elder Lin?"

Upon hearing his words, Lin Hongyu fell silent for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face.

She certainly understood what Zhou Chun meant.

Once the war between the two cultivation worlds reaches a stalemate, sabotage and harassment behind enemy lines will inevitably occur.

Especially in the Yuanmo territory, they came from afar and were invaders, so they didn't care even if they destroyed the Tianling Kingdom.

They will definitely send cultivators to try every means to bypass the frontal defenses and wreak havoc behind enemy lines.

If such a thing were to happen, the Zhou family, which is now considered a prestigious clan in Jingguo, would certainly become a target.

Unfortunately, the Zhou family does not have a Golden Core stage cultivator in charge on the surface.

Such a cultivation family that is "not living up to its name" may very well be used as a "chicken" to scare the monkeys by those demonic cultivators.

"Going to Tuyunling is no problem for me, but aren't you afraid that my actions might cause trouble for the Zhou family?"

After much deliberation, Lin Hongyu finally voiced her concerns.

The reason she was sent to the Caiyushan stronghold was because the Zhou family was worried that her identity would be exposed and bring disaster.

If she were to go to Tuyunling to oversee things now, this matter would still be difficult to avoid.

"Times have changed. Now, the Yuanmo Realm is invading the Tianling Realm, and the two great cultivation worlds will engage in a massive war. In such a war, if a Golden Core cultivator like Elder Lin is willing to help the Tianling Realm, I think the Qinglian Temple would be happy to accept it."

"Moreover, when Elder Lin truly needs to intervene, it will undoubtedly be a time of great calamity for our Zhou family. At that time, the priority will be surviving the calamity; there will be no time to worry about what comes after!"

As Zhou Chun spoke, he couldn't help but reveal a wry smile.

If he had a choice, he certainly wouldn't want Lin Hongyu to be exposed so quickly.

Unfortunately, things in this world can't always go as planned.

The situation is complicated now. If Lin Hongyu remains in the wilderness, she may not be able to provide timely assistance when Zhou Jiazhen encounters danger.

So even if it means taking some risks, he can only choose the lesser of two evils.

"Alright, then after Wan'er comes out of seclusion, I will go to Tuyunling to take charge."

Lin Hongyu nodded and finally agreed to the matter.

"Elder, you are very generous. On behalf of the Zhou family, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to you!"

Zhou Chun's face lit up with joy, and he immediately bowed deeply to Lin Hongyu to express his gratitude.

The two then chatted for a while before Zhou Chun took his leave.

After leaving Lin Hongyu's cave, Zhou Chun called Xu Fu, his capable general, to his side.

"I've been away from the family these past few years, and I haven't been able to fulfill the promises I made to you. Do you have any grievances?"

At the top of a mountain, Zhou Chun stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the cultivators going about their business in the stronghold below, and asked in a calm tone.

About ten feet behind him, Xu Fu, who was already middle-aged, heard his words and quickly lowered his head, saying, "This subordinate dares not."

"It's not that you don't dare, but that you don't know how, right?"

Zhou Chun asked again.

These words terrified Xu Fu, who immediately knelt down and said in a deep voice, "Absolutely not! From beginning to end, I have never harbored the slightest resentment towards you, Chieftain. If I have lied in the slightest, may I be punished by..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Chun raised his hand to interrupt him: "Alright, you don't need to swear an oath."

Then Zhou Chun turned around, looking at him with deep eyes, and said, "It's normal for you to have some complaints, after all, the contributions you've made to the Zhou family over the years are unmatched by many of the Zhou family's descendants. Yet you've been confined to this desolate place, unable to truly enjoy the treatment and freedom you deserve!"

At this point, Zhou Chun's tone suddenly changed, and he said sternly, "However, Xu Fu, you should also remember this: your current level of cultivation is not only due to your outstanding talent and diligent practice, but also because you have benefited from the Zhou family's influence and received their care."

"Otherwise, not to mention the time I helped you resolve the turbid evil energy within your body, how could you, as a rogue cultivator, wandering alone without a fixed place to cultivate, have reached your current level of cultivation in less than a hundred years!"

These words, spoken by Zhou Chun, naturally carried a captivating power that made them impossible to ignore.

That was the imposing and murderous aura he had developed from years of holding high positions and engaging in countless battles.

Even Xu Fu, who had also experienced countless life-and-death situations, was genuinely terrified and filled with fear when he was overwhelmed by Xu Fu's imposing aura.

He hurriedly lowered his head and replied in a low voice, "Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I will certainly keep the clan chief's instructions in mind and would never dare to forget my roots!"

He felt genuine awe towards Zhou Chun.

Since he was only eleven or twelve years old, he had witnessed Zhou Chun displaying his great power, and then watched Zhou Chun's cultivation improve step by step, showing all sorts of skills.

In his heart, he may have once looked down on Zhou Zhengyong, Zhou Xinlan and other members of the Zhou family, thinking that they were just luckier than him and were born into the Zhou family, but their abilities were not as good as his at all.

But he felt nothing but awe towards Zhou Chun.

"Get up. I called you here today not just to reprimand you, but also to fulfill my promise to you and bring you back to the cultivation world of Jing Kingdom!"

As Zhou Chun spoke, he personally reached out and helped Xu Fu up from the ground.

This surprised and delighted Xu Fu, who, appearing overwhelmed with gratitude, quickly bowed and said, "Your subordinate is humbled, and thanks the clan leader for his kindness!"

Zhou Chun gently patted his shoulder and said, "You should explain things to Liu Heng about this matter first. After I finish my business and come back, I will take you back to Lanzhou."

"Yes, I understand."

Xu Fu nodded emphatically with a look of delight, his tone revealing an unprecedented lightness.

Zhou Chun smiled faintly and left the Caiyu Mountain stronghold.

Half a day later, Zhou Chun appeared inside the ice cave.

what!

Upon entering the ice cave, Zhou Chun couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

This was because when he entered the area, he discovered that the queen bee of the "Frosty Cold Bee" had laid eggs again.

The queen bee laid eighteen eggs this time, all of which were frozen inside a thousand-year-old jade and never hatched.

This was the instruction he gave to the queen bee: after laying eggs, they must not hatch immediately, but must wait until he comes and gives his permission before they can hatch.

He issued this order, naturally, to make it easier for him to contract these strange insects.

Looking at the bee eggs, he clapped his hands in delight and exclaimed, "Not bad, not bad! It seems that the reproduction of these ancient insects isn't as difficult as the ancient texts describe. Only a few decades have passed, and they've already laid eggs again?"

Although the number of bee eggs laid this time was rather small.

Immediately, Zhou Chun first put the "Heavenly Frost Bees" in the spirit beast bag back into the hive to rest, and then immediately contracted all the bee eggs.

In this way, the number of "Heavenly Frost Frost Bees" reached 212, and the number of mature demon bees also reached 20!

Next, Zhou Chun did the same thing again, taking ten mature "Frostbees" from the swarm and putting them into his spirit beast bag. He then fed the queen bee some ice-attribute pills to replenish her energy before leaving the ice cave.

Speaking of which, these "Frostbees" are definitely the most worry-free pets he raises. They never require him to worry about anything and can provide him with help at certain crucial moments.

Two days later, Zhou Chun brought Xu Fu back to the Zhou family mountain gate at Jiufeng Ridge, and then officially announced the appointment of Xu Fu as an honorary elder of the family.

According to public accounts, Xu Fu, like Zhang Liang, was a wandering cultivator from a foreign land who joined the Zhou family after Zhou Chun saved his life.

After temporarily settling Xu Fu at Jiufeng Ridge, Zhou Chun went to Tuyun Ridge to check on the upgrade progress of the [Nine Palaces Yellow Dragon Formation].

Upon arriving at Tuyun Ridge, Zhou Chun learned that Master You of the You family had gone to Tuyun Ridge to obtain the [Yellow Dragon Stone] and had been in seclusion there to refine an array plate, which would probably take some time to complete.

So he had no choice but to go to his own cave dwelling.

Inside the cave, Stone had already used the Earth Escape Technique to burrow underground, burying himself beneath Earth Cloud Ridge to absorb the earth's spiritual energy for cultivation.

It will be Zhou Chun's trump card. With it here to regulate and manage the earth's veins, the actual power of the [Nine Palaces Yellow Dragon Formation] will definitely be stronger than what Master You said.

Meanwhile, the Wood Spirit continued planting trees.

More than a decade later, the purple mulberry trees that sprouted from the roots of the "Ten Thousand Year Purple Mulberry Tree" have indeed successfully grown into second-tier spirit trees.

It is said that this tree bore mulberry fruit two years ago, which Zhou Mingde gave to some outstanding younger members of the clan to eat, and the response was very good.

Not only are the mulberries from the purple mulberry tree delicious, but they are also an excellent spiritual item for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, helping them to improve their cultivation and making them even better for breaking through to higher levels.

After checking on the two spirit pets, Zhou Chun discussed the matter with Zhou Mingde, who was stationed there, and then took the stone with him and headed to Feng Kingdom alone.

He was going to the front lines to deliver some life-saving supplies to Zhou Daoquan and the others. If he had the chance, he also wanted to see the methods of those demonic cultivators so that he could have a better understanding of their abilities.