Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 503 A Triumphant Return [Please Subscribe]

The desolate desert.

After stepping into the Desolate Spirit Desert again with his Golden Core cultivation, Zhou Chun's discomfort became even stronger.

The spiritual energy here is too thin, and the higher the cultivation level of a cultivator, the more uncomfortable they will feel here.

The higher a cultivator's level of cultivation, the greater their dependence on the spiritual energy environment.

The saying "Shallow waters cannot nurture dragons" illustrates this point.

Fortunately, Zhou Chun doesn't need to stay here permanently.

After determining the direction, he flew straight towards the abyss canyon containing the [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] ore.

With his current cultivation level, he arrived at the outside of that abyss canyon in less than half a day.

"Stone, it's up to you now. Do a good job and find all the [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] ore underground. When the [Ancient Dust Pill] is refined, I'll let you be the first to taste it!"

Above the canyon, after Zhou Chun released the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone, he immediately gave it a speech of encouragement and promises, urging it to work hard at mining.

Although these spirit pets obey his commands 100%, sometimes giving them appropriate rewards and promises can also increase their enthusiasm for working.

A typical example is the Wood Spirit.

The Wood Spirit is currently sleeping and evolving inside the Purple Mulberry Tree in Zhou Chun's cave. When it awakens, it will definitely be a high-grade third-tier demon beast.

When it first followed Zhou Chun, it was only a second-tier high-grade demon beast.

In just a hundred years, its cultivation level rose three levels. At this moment, its loyalty to Zhou Chun was no less than that of a spirit pet like the Golden-Winged Tiger, which had been raised from a young age.

Even if Zhou Chun were to set it free now, it might not be willing to do so!

Sure enough, having received the stone promised by Zhou Chun, he was instantly filled with enthusiasm.

It had now advanced to a mid-grade third-tier demon beast, and its strength had increased compared to before. So it immediately went underground to search for the [Earth Mother Profound Gold] ore.

After half a day, Stone found Zhou Chun more than a dozen pieces of [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] ore of various sizes.

After bringing up all the [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] ore he could within his strength, Stone used earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique that allows one to escape) to take Zhou Chun to those gold-hiding places that he couldn't access on his own.

Compared to Zhou Chun's current Golden Core stage cultivation level, its strength as a mid-grade third-tier demon beast is indeed much weaker.

Zhou Chun easily entered those dangerous places that it couldn't enter, and brought out the Earth Mother Mystic Gold ore after using the Moon Toad Pearl to cast the "Taiyin Protective Immortal Robe".

In addition to the [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] ore, Zhou Chun also discovered some extremely high-quality refined gold ore, which he also mined and took away.

You should know that the magical material, Golden Essence, is refined from refined gold.

If Zhou Chun's natal magic weapon, the Myriad Transformations Golden Cauldron, is successfully crafted, it can be enhanced with a large amount of gold essence in the future.

Therefore, he would never have too much of a magical material like gold essence.

Realistically speaking, Lin Hongyu has no hope of reaching the Nascent Soul stage in the future. However, she is a fire-attribute cultivator, and the condensed alchemical fire is most suitable for refining magical materials such as gold essence and iron essence.

Once Zhou Chun has collected enough refined gold ore, he can ask her to use some of her spare time during his cultivation to help him refine the gold essence.

Even if Zhou Mingde succeeds in forming his core in the future, he can do this kind of thing!

After spending nearly seven days in the Desolate Spirit Desert, Zhou Chun finally collected all the [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] and high-quality refined gold ore that the Golden Armor Mountain Turtle Stone could find, and then returned to Tu Yun Ridge with satisfaction.

The amount of [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] ore collected this time was extremely large. The amount of [Earth Mother Mystic Gold] obtained after smelting was more than enough for Zhou Chun to refine his natal magic weapon [Myriad Transformations Golden Cauldron], and there would even be a lot left over.

He could then use this item to exchange for top-tier spiritual metals such as [Gengjin] and [Tianyi Xuanjin] to enhance the power of his natal magic weapon.

However, refining [Earth Mother Profound Gold] requires a Golden Core stage cultivation level, and this matter involves some aspects of weapon crafting.

Therefore, Zhou Chun began to take some time to practice weapon crafting.

Later, when he was refining his natal magic weapon, he also needed to improve his weapon-refining skills to the point where he could at least refine second-tier magic weapons. At this point, it was a case of using one thing for two purposes.

With his Golden Core stage cultivation level, Zhou Chun practiced weapon crafting techniques, and with materials readily available, so his progress was naturally very rapid.

In just two short years, he was already able to refine mid-grade second-tier magic weapons.

Having reached this point, refining the [Earth Mother Profound Gold] was no longer difficult for him, and he immediately began refining this top-grade spiritual gold.

At the same time, after more than two years of seclusion, Zhou Xinlan successfully opened her Purple Mansion and broke through to the Purple Mansion stage.

The fact that both father and son possessed the Purple Mansion (a rare astrological configuration) was a remarkable story in both the Zhou family and the Jing Kingdom, drawing envy from many members of the clan.

Zhou Chun was naturally not stingy with this junior he was close to. After Zhou Xinlan came out of seclusion, he summoned him and bestowed upon him the third-tier high-grade defensive magic weapon, the Xuan Gang Pearl, which he had used before.

After Zhou Xinlan broke through to the Purple Mansion stage, her alchemy skills also improved with the breakthrough, reaching the level of Zhou Mingshan, the former Grand Elder of the Zhou family.

This can be considered as making up for the losses caused by Zhou Zhengyuan's failure to open up the Purple Mansion.

……

Yunzhou, Thousand Snake Ridge.

Thousand Snake Ridge is located on the border of Yunzhou, and was formerly the boundary between the wilderness and the Jingguo Kingdom.

After the Yasukuni Kingdom's victory in its southern campaign against the Hualong Sect, it expanded its territory by a thousand miles, and this area was finally incorporated into the Yasukuni Kingdom.

However, because the Thousand Snake Ridge is teeming with venomous snakes and the area below the ridge is riddled with snake dens, few families or forces dare to establish branch strongholds here.

Therefore, this place became an adventure destination for some independent cultivators.

After all, snake demons are treasures from head to toe. Their scales, eyes, gallbladders, blood, and other materials, as well as their eggs, are all very marketable items.

In such a place where demonic beasts gather, it is natural that Zhou family cultivators would be present.

On this day, Zhou Xinyan and Zhou Xinchen, both Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Zhou family, personally led a team of twenty or thirty people into Thousand Serpent Ridge.

They came for a snake nest, where two second-tier fire-scaled pythons and a large patch of fire snake grass were discovered.

Zhou Xinyan contracted two demonic beasts: one was the mid-level demonic beast Blue Feather Fire Kite, which his family had bestowed upon him, and the other was Crimson Flame Dragon Python.

Among them, the Blue Feather Fire Kite, having hatched during his Qi Refining stage and possessing a strong foundation, has now been cultivated into a mid-grade second-tier demon beast.

However, the Crimson Flame Dragon Python was a spirit pet that he hatched after successfully establishing his foundation. It also had a low-level demon beast bloodline and was still at the first-tier high-grade demon beast level.

Given Zhou Xinyan's potential and cultivation level, he certainly couldn't tolerate his Crimson Flame Dragon Python remaining at the first level. Over the years, he had been planning to help it break through and advance.

The two second-tier fire-scaled pythons discovered this time were the breakthrough opportunities for his spirit pets.

Once the Fire Scale Python reaches the second tier, a trace of Fire Dragon bloodline will awaken within its body. If its gallbladder can be mixed with a 300-year-old Dragon Transformation Grass and given to the Crimson Flame Dragon Python to swallow, there is a 60-70% chance that the Crimson Flame Dragon Python will evolve and break through to the second tier.

However, the two second-tier fire-scaled pythons were quite powerful, and they were also the kings of a fire-scaled python clan. Although Zhou Xinyan's cultivation was only one step away from the late Foundation Establishment stage, he was not confident that he could take them down on his own.

Therefore, after thinking it over, he reported his needs to his family and asked for their help.

After consulting with Zhou Chun, Zhou Xinyi arranged this Thousand Serpent Ridge training mission, having Zhou Xinchen lead a group of young cultivators from the Zhou family to assist Zhou Xinyan in completing the mission of eradicating the serpent cave.

"Most of the Thousand Serpents' demonic snakes are highly venomous. Although we are well-prepared this time, and our niece Xiaolian can help with the antidote, you must not be careless and lest you fall into their trap!"

"You should know that when you go out to train on your own from now on, there will be no one to help you detoxify!"

Upon entering the Thousand Serpents Cave, Zhou Xinyan solemnly gave instructions to her entourage.

This operation was mainly to help him, so he absolutely couldn't let anyone get hurt.

Otherwise, let alone whether he can live with himself, he'll have to pay for the compensation out of his own pocket.

Although he possessed a superior spiritual root aptitude and received considerable preferential treatment within his family, he did not actually have the support of blood relatives like Zhou Zhengyong and others. After successfully establishing his foundation, he had to rely entirely on his own hard work and struggle.

At least in terms of spiritual items that assist in opening the Purple Mansion, the family can no longer give them to him for free like the Foundation Establishment Pill; he will have to exchange them for his own good deeds.

Fortunately, these Zhou family cultivators were all educated in academies from a young age, and they were very obedient. Zhou Xinyan's cultivation level and status could also intimidate them. At this time, they were all very obedient, and no one dared to do anything reckless.

On their way to the Fire Scale Python's nest, Zhou Xinyan and Zhou Xinyi would specifically seek out some first-tier demonic snakes for these younger generation members to practice on, allowing them to get used to the life-or-death struggle with demonic snakes.

However, after observing for a while, Zhou Xinyan frowned and couldn't help but transmit his voice to Zhou Xinchen, saying, "Although our family is famous for its beast taming techniques, how can these juniors hone their fighting spirit by simply using contracted demonic beasts to fight these demonic snakes? Shouldn't we let them face demonic beasts directly?"

He personally participated in the previous war against the invasion of demonic cultivators, and personally killed many demonic cultivators on the battlefield, including three Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivators. He can be considered a person with rich combat experience.

So when he saw that the younger generation of the Zhou family only dared to hide behind their contracted monsters and fight the demon snake, while he was just a bystander, he couldn't stand it anymore.

Upon hearing his mention, Zhou Xinchen also realized the problem. After some thought, he nodded slightly and said, "Yes, Brother Yan, what you said makes sense. With the two of us looking after them, I don't think there will be any problems."

After the two reached an agreement, they followed Zhou Xinyan's instructions and had the younger generation keep the contracted demon beasts by their side while they faced the demon snake directly.

As a result, these younger generation cultivators who were previously able to overwhelm the demonic snakes of the same level were suddenly overwhelmed by the demonic snakes and most of them had to be rescued by the two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Several people even accidentally contracted snake venom and had to take antidote pills to remove the poison, which caused them a lot of suffering.

But there are also outstanding individuals among them.

That person was none other than the poison cultivator Zhou Yuanlian!

It must be said that the "Ten Thousand Poisons Scripture" is a powerful technique.

Zhou Yuanlian's spiritual root aptitude barely reached the threshold of a mid-grade spiritual root, but after switching to this cultivation method, only a little over ten years have passed, and her cultivation level has already reached the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage, making her a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

At this rate, even though she wasted ten years of cultivation, achieving Foundation Establishment before the age of forty shouldn't be a problem.

As Zhou Chun's test subject, she would definitely receive the Foundation Establishment Pills that Zhou Chun needed for her Foundation Establishment.

With her current late-stage Qi Refining cultivation and poison skills, the venom of those demonic snakes not only cannot harm her in the slightest, but will also be directly refined by her to enhance the power of her poison skills!

She made a hand seal, and a bluish-gray water arrow shot towards a first-tier high-grade demon snake.

This water arrow, which looks like a "water arrow technique," is actually a "poison arrow technique" with much greater power.

The moment the arrow struck the serpent, it immediately transformed into poisonous water that corroded its scales and skin, the toxins instantly flooding its body.

Just a few breaths later, the already highly venomous serpent died directly from Zhou Yuanlian's mixed toxins!

Seeing this, Zhou Xinchen's expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help but transmit his voice to Zhou Xinyan, saying, "No wonder the clan leader values ​​Xiaolian so much. The power of the 'Ten Thousand Poisons True Scripture' is indeed bizarre and formidable. Once she successfully establishes her foundation, even with our cultivation level advantage, we might not be her match!"

His words contained a hint of envy.

But Zhou Xinyan replied calmly, "She deserves all of this. Think about the suffering she endured during her cultivation; who among us could bear that?"

He was also someone who had cultivated the top-level technique "Jia Mu Xuan Gong" and knew that these powerful techniques required equal effort and reward.

As for himself, when he broke through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, he almost died from qi deviation.

Because of that experience, he is not in such a hurry to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment. He wants to hone his mana first and prepare some auxiliary spiritual items to reduce the probability of going into qi deviation before breaking through.

In terms of danger, the "Ten Thousand Poisons True Scripture" is no less dangerous than the "Jia Mu Xuan Gong" he cultivates!

There's a reason why true poison cultivation lineages are so rare in the cultivation world.

Although Zhou Xinchen did not cultivate a top-tier technique, he understood this principle and knew the general process of Zhou Yuanlian's cultivation of the "Ten Thousand Poisons True Scripture".

Therefore, upon hearing Zhou Xinyan's words, he stopped envying anything and accepted reality with a clear conscience.

And so, they traveled on and on, through the Thousand Snakes for several days, before finally arriving near the nests of the Fire Scale Pythons.

After several days of training, the younger generation of the Zhou family showed a completely different demeanor.

This is one of the advantages of being a family cultivator.

They can receive systematic education and training from a young age, avoiding detours.

After growing up and achieving mastery of their skills, they can be taken out by their family elders to gain experience, learn how to conduct themselves in society, and master the art of combat.

In contrast, those independent cultivators, regardless of whether they have a master to guide them, certainly do not receive the same treatment as those from family-based cultivators.

Unlike many snake nests, the Firescale Python's nest is not located deep underground, but in a rocky valley.

This rocky valley is overgrown with weeds and littered with jagged rocks. Where the rocks meet, they form many crevices and caves where snakes can hide.

Fire-scaled pythons usually hide in the valley during the day and only come out to hunt at night.

Zhou Xinyan had already devised a plan to deal with the Fire Scale Python.

He first released his spirit pet, the Blue Feather Fire Kite, and had it act as a predator, circling above the Chaotic Stone Valley to hunt down the Fire Scale Pythons in the valley, thus forcing the two second-tier Fire Scale Pythons out.

A blue-black feathered fire kite circled and danced above the rocky valley. After a short while, it let out a fierce swoop and swooped down, instantly flying into the rocks and snatching up a three-zhang-long fiery red python.

The python's head was gripped by the blue-feathered fire kite, and its body was pierced and hung by the sharp eagle claws. The snake twisted and turned incessantly, trying to break free of its restraints.

However, the Blue Feather Fire Kite firmly controlled its serpentine body, and its eagle claws had even gripped its spine, rendering its struggles futile.

Not long after, the Blue Feather Fire Kite flew down in front of Zhou Xinyan, carrying the Fire Scale Python.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Xinyan immediately chopped off the snake's head with his sword, took out the snake's gall, and fed it to the snake.

After consuming the gallbladder containing the essence of the Fire Scale Python, the Blue Feather Fire Kite let out a satisfied hiss, then flapped its wings and took flight again, continuing to circle above the Chaotic Stone Valley.

As the saying goes, once is enough, twice is enough, but a third time is not.

Previously, the Blue Feather Fire Kite captured one Fire Scale Python, or rather, it could be said that two second-tier Fire Scale Pythons didn't notice it and were successfully ambushed by it.

When it came back again in a short time, it clearly didn't take the entire Firescale Python swarm seriously.

This infuriated the two second-tier fire-scaled pythons, who had already begun to develop intelligence.

So when the Blue Feather Fire Kite swooped down again, two second-tier Fire Scale Pythons burst out from their hiding place and spit fireballs at it.

What a magnificent blue-feathered fire kite!

At that moment, facing the attack of two second-tier fire-scaled pythons, it quickly rose in a "U" shape and dodged the bombardment of the two fireballs in the blink of an eye.

Boom! Boom!

The two fireballs, having missed their target, exploded in mid-air, turning into fiery red fireworks.

Meanwhile, the Blue Feather Fire Kite flapped its wings, and more than a dozen blue and white flaming arrows shot towards one of the smaller second-tier fire-scaled pythons.

Seeing this, the fire-scaled python hurriedly gathered its power, unleashing a fiery red spiritual light that formed a protective aura.

However, as the blue-white flame arrow struck it and exploded, the powerful force instantly tore through the protective aura, leaving numerous charred scars on its body.

Although it is also a fire-attribute demon beast, it is clearly unable to resist the Blue Feather Fire Kite's natal demon fire, which is a small realm higher than its own.

This injury thoroughly enraged it and the other fire-scaled python. The two demonic pythons immediately took to the air and pounced straight at the Blue Feather Fire Kite like two fire dragons.

On the other side, seeing that the two fire-scaled pythons had been lured out of their den by the blue-feathered fire kite, Zhou Xinyan and Zhou Xinchen immediately took off and sped towards the battlefield.

Zhou Xinyan, with her high cultivation level, strong strength, and even faster speed, transformed into a streak of cyan-green light and flew to the battlefield first.

He raised his hand and patted the storage bag at his waist, and a dark blue sword light shot towards a fire-scaled python.

At the same time, a small blue flag quickly appeared in his hand, and with a wave of his hand, he released a series of blue-green wooden swords that slashed towards another fire-scaled python.

Upon seeing its master arrive, the Blue Feather Fire Kite no longer held back. It opened its mouth and spat out a ball of pale blue flame that transformed into a fireball and blasted towards the giant fire-scaled python.

The master and servant working together had an immediate and remarkable effect.

The two second-tier fire-scaled pythons were seriously injured by the combined attack of their master and servant, and each let out a painful hiss.

However, the monsters were resilient, and although the two fire-scaled pythons were seriously injured, they did not lose their fighting ability on the spot.

They opened their mouths and spat out a stream of fiery red poisonous mist that surged toward Zhou Xinyan and Lan Yu Huoyuan. Then, the two demonic pythons immediately plummeted toward the ground, trying to hide in their snake nest.

But Zhou Xinyan had already anticipated this move, and she was determined not to let them succeed!

He let out a low shout, and a green light surged from his body, forming a green shield that protected him, allowing him to withstand the attack of the fiery red poisonous mist.

At the same time, he waved his hand and sent out a purple-black rope magic weapon. The rope immediately arrived before the large fire-scaled python and bound it.

Zhou Xinchen, who had fallen behind earlier, arrived at the battlefield. Seeing the Fire Scale Python trying to escape, he immediately waved his hand and unleashed a short, earth-yellow magic staff, striking the small Fire Scale Python and sending it flying.

After their escape attempt failed, the two second-tier fire-scaled pythons immediately hissed and called for help from their clan.

Soon, the figures of fire-scaled pythons appeared on the ground below, and then fireballs were spewed from their mouths, bombarding Zhou Xinyan and the other person.

Looking down from the sky, one could see countless fiery red pythons slithering around the chaotic rock valley; there were probably no fewer than a hundred of them!

However, the attacks of the first-tier fire-scaled python were of no consequence to the two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

They easily dodged the fireballs while attacking the two second-tier fire-scaled pythons with all their might.

About fifteen minutes later, the Blue Feather Fire Kite swooped down and pecked at the vital spot of the giant fire-scaled python. Zhou Xinyan then seized the opportunity to pierce the python's neck with his sword. The master and servant joined forces to achieve the first victory.

After the more powerful Fire Scale Python fell, the remaining second-tier Fire Scale Python was also quickly beheaded.

After killing two second-tier fire-scaled pythons, Zhou Xinyan and the other two let Zhou Yuanlian and other younger generation members enter the battlefield to use the remaining first-tier fire-scaled pythons as whetstones to hone their skills.

With two Foundation Establishment stage elders watching over them, the younger members of the Zhou family were all in high spirits, driving their spirit pets toward their target.

For them, this was a rare opportunity to gain experience in life-or-death combat with little danger, and to reap the rewards of the monsters they had killed.

Therefore, the right thing for them to do is to take advantage of the fact that they have elders to look after them while they are participating in training missions, and kill as many monsters as possible to earn merit points and spirit coins, so as to build up their foundation for future solo training missions.

(End of this chapter)