Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 507 Zhou Mingde Forms His Core [Please Subscribe]

Zhou Jiapeng's passing marks the end of another generation in the Zhou family.

In recognition of his contributions to the family during his lifetime, Zhou Chun, the patriarch with the cultivation level of Golden Core, personally presided over the reading of the eulogy and ordered all the cultivators of the clan to wear mourning clothes for three days to pay tribute to the old man.

As for Zhou Jiapeng's descendants, Zhou Chun did not give them any special treatment or preferential treatment.

As the clan leader, he should treat everyone fairly in this regard; otherwise, given the current number of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Zhou family, how could he possibly take care of them all in the future?

Moreover, Zhou Jiapeng, as a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, had participated in numerous wars, and his accumulated wealth was not much less than that of an ordinary rogue cultivator in the Purple Mansion stage.

The wealth he left behind is enough for his descendants to build foundations multiple times.

If even this fails to cultivate a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it is enough to show that his descendants are not capable of being cultivated, and Zhou Chun has no need to waste the family's resources on them.

The only thing Zhou Chun could do for Zhou Jiapeng was to have the family support his Golden-Winged Iron-Feathered Eagle so that he could live a peaceful retirement in the Zhou family!

Of course, given the bird's lifespan, it's not yet time for it to truly retire.

Its next task is to leave behind as many of its excellent bloodlines as possible, so as to give birth to more outstanding demonic birds and spirit pets for the Zhou family.

It just so happens that the golden-feathered eagle that Zhou Chun had Golden-Winged Tiger train was a female eagle!

If these two types of bird-like demonic beasts can successfully breed, they might be able to add another mid-level demonic beast species to the Zhou family!

Coincidentally.

Just six months after Zhou Jiapeng's death, the Golden Feathered Eagle, after years of training by the Golden-Winged Tiger, finally yielded and was willing to sign another contract with the human cultivators.

Zhou Chun then had Zhou Zhengyong adopt it as a spirit pet and mount.

To be honest, Zhou Zhengyong was quite unlucky.

His original spirit pet, the red-tailed monkey, had already died because it couldn't break through to the second tier and its lifespan had run out.

Later, he also contracted a Crimson Flame Vajra Monkey and a Crimson-Eyed Dragon Vulture.

As a result, both of these spirit pets perished in the war!

This was a huge blow to him, and he eventually stopped making contracts with spirit pets altogether!

As a cultivator in the Purple Mansion stage of the Zhou family, if he couldn't even produce a second-tier demonic beast to show off, wouldn't he become a laughing stock?

Therefore, Zhou Chun directly gave him the Golden Feathered Eagle, which had the cultivation of a second-tier high-grade demon beast, to form a contract, which was a way to save face for him.

Time passed day by day.

On this day, many cultivators who were practicing in Tu Yun Ridge suddenly discovered that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that they had gathered by circulating their cultivation techniques was suddenly flowing uncontrollably to another place, and no matter how hard they tried, they could not gather it back.

This situation immediately caused many people's expressions to change slightly. They hurriedly stopped their practice and left the cultivation room to check the situation and try to find out the reason for the loss of spiritual energy.

Then a majestic and powerful voice resounded in the ears of all cultivators throughout Tu Yunling.

"Our clan's Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde is currently forming his Core. All cultivators must immediately cease absorbing spiritual energy and leave Huanglong Peak!"

It's the clan leader's voice!

Many Zhou family cultivators recognized the owner of the voice and then consciously and quickly left the vicinity of Huanglong Peak.

Some rogue cultivators who came to cultivate at Tuyun Ridge were also quickly arranged by the Zhou family cultivators to reach the edge of the mountain gate exit.

In the past, these people might have been asked to leave the family's mountain gate directly to avoid any accidents.

However, with two Golden Core cultivators now stationed at Tu Yunling, we don't need to worry about that. Leaving them to observe the Core Formation celestial phenomenon will actually bring good reputation to the Zhou family.

Dark clouds began to gather in the sky, and a large amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth surged towards Zhou Mingde's secluded cultivation place.

"Tsk tsk tsk, the Zhou family is truly remarkable! First, their patriarch Zhou Zhengchun returned from forming his core, and now their venerable elder has triggered a celestial omen of forming his core. This is truly a blessing from heaven and earth!"

"Isn't that right? I heard that the Core Formation cultivator from the Su family in Jiangzhou a few years ago was also the dual cultivation partner of the Zhou family patriarch. If you count that, that makes three people who have reached Core Formation!"

"People used to say that the Zhou family patriarch was a man blessed with great fortune, and I thought they were just flattering him. But now it seems that might not be true!"

"If this Supreme Elder of the Zhou family successfully forms his Golden Core, wouldn't the Zhou family have three Golden Core cultivators? Does any other family in our Jing Kingdom currently possess three Golden Core cultivators?"

……

Even inside the Zhou family's mountain gate, with many Zhou family cultivators nearby, it couldn't stop the wandering cultivators from gossiping about Zhou Mingde's Core Formation.

At this moment, all the Zhou family cultivators' attention was focused on Huanglong Peak. Even if some people heard some disrespectful remarks about the family, they didn't have time to pursue the matter.

Everyone knows that being able to trigger the Heavenly Sign of Core Formation only means that the Core Formation is half successful.

Only when the signs of Core Formation dissipate on their own and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth returns to calm can Core Formation be considered successful.

This level is a one-way street; failure means exploding and dying. There is no third option!

Therefore, even Zhou Chun was somewhat apprehensive at this moment.

The [Holy Spirit Blood Pill] can restore the blood and qi of an old person to their peak. However, this is only a record in the pill formula. Zhou Chun cannot guarantee whether it is really that miraculous.

If the effect is not as good as described in the prescription, then this hurdle will be very dangerous for Zhou Mingde!

Fortunately, Zhou Chun's fears did not come true.

After a considerable period of time, the dark clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, and the unusual agitation of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gradually subsided.

All of this demonstrates that Zhou Mingde has successfully overcome the difficulties and has successfully formed his core!

However, Zhou Chun knew that with Zhou Mingde's cultivation method, even if he successfully formed his core, the time required to stabilize his foundation and cultivation would be much longer than that of Su Yuzhen. It was impossible to expect him to emerge from seclusion and meet people in the short term.

Therefore, once the result was confirmed, he quickly issued another statement: "Huanglong Peak is temporarily designated as a forbidden area for the family. Summoning is prohibited, and family members are strictly forbidden from entering. All cave dwellings in Tuyun Ridge that are available for rent are to be suspended!"

This order was naturally given so that Zhou Mingde could cultivate in peace and consolidate his cultivation.

Moreover, after issuing this order, Zhou Chun quickly went to visit Lin Hongyu.

The reason for this visit was simple: to ask Lin Hongyu to leave Tuyunling under the pretext of traveling and go to the desolate Jade Mountain to cultivate.

Tu Yunling is such a small place that it can't possibly accommodate three Golden Core cultivators.

Even two Golden Core cultivators seemed crowded!

It's also because Zhou Chun didn't switch cultivation techniques and basically didn't meditate or cultivate much, otherwise he wouldn't have let Zhou Mingde form his core here!

Lin Hongyu understood this very well, but she had no intention of going to Caiyu Mountain to cultivate; instead, she wanted to travel for a while.

Speaking of which, since she successfully formed her core, apart from going out for a period of time to collect materials for refining her natal magic weapon, she has spent the rest of her time in the wilderness, overseeing things with the Zhou family, and fighting on the front lines.

As a cultivator who had been at the Core Formation stage for over a hundred years, she had never truly traveled out and explored the world properly.

Now that the situation has stabilized and the Zhou family has produced two Golden Core cultivators, Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde, there is no longer any need for her to be stationed at the mountain gate to protect the Zhou family.

She naturally wanted to travel and explore.

Not only her, but even Zhou Daoyi, who had already broken through to the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm, had this idea.

Zhou Chun was not an unreasonable person. After learning about the situation, he immediately agreed to let the couple go on a trip.

However, he also made an agreement with Lin Hongyu that his travels should not exceed ten years.

Because by then, Daoist Qingchen's Nascent Soul formation at Qinglian Temple should be about to be completed, which may cause some changes in the situation in Jingguo. Lin Hongyu must return to face this together.

Lin Hongyu and Zhou Daoyi readily agreed.

After making some arrangements, Lin Hongyu and her husband rode the Azure Dragon away from Tuyun Ridge, watched by Zhou Chun.

After seeing off Lin Hongyu and her husband, Zhou Chun returned to his cave to rest and recuperate.

In the following period, congratulatory letters poured into the Zhou family like snowflakes.

Just as that rogue cultivator said that day, a family with three Golden Core cultivators is the first case in Jing Kingdom!

A typical mid-level sect, such as the former Three Absolutes Sect, would only have a few Golden Core cultivators.

More importantly, upon closer examination, it was discovered that the three Golden Core cultivators of the Zhou family had all successfully formed their cores within a span of over a hundred years.

The time between Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde's successful formation of the Golden Core was less than twenty years!

This situation is truly astonishing!

It should be noted that even for a major sect like the Moon Wheel Sect, it is extremely rare in history for two Golden Core cultivators to appear in succession within twenty years.

If we can produce one every fifty years, that would be truly remarkable!

This inevitably made many cultivators wonder if the Zhou family had obtained some heaven-defying spiritual treasure that could greatly increase the success rate of Core Formation.

Such rumors were deliberately spread, whether to test something or simply to incite hatred against the Zhou family.

However, these monks who spread rumors may be disappointed.

Because the higher-ups of major powers like the Moon Wheel Sect knew that Zhou Chun had obtained many Core Formation spiritual items during the previous war.

Therefore, although the fact that the Zhou family was able to produce two Golden Core cultivators in succession surprised them and made them marvel at the good fortune of the two Zhou family members, they did not really believe that the Zhou family had obtained some heaven-defying spiritual object that could help people successfully form their Golden Core.

Leaving aside whether such heaven-defying spiritual treasures exist in the cultivation world, even if they did, it would be highly unlikely that Zhou Chun, before reaching the Core Formation stage, would obtain them.

Of course, this is on the premise that no one in the Zhou family successfully forms a core in the near future.

Otherwise, even a powerful figure like Master Baiyue would probably suspect that the Zhou family had obtained spiritual objects such as the Five Elements Spiritual Fruit Tree.

In fact, after learning that Zhou Mingde had successfully formed his core at the age of over 450, Master Baiyue had already sent someone to inquire about the details.

Zhou Chun had long anticipated that this matter would pique people's curiosity, so he generously offered the recipe for the Holy Spirit Blood Pill to Baiyue Zhenren, thus explaining why Zhou Mingde was able to form a Golden Core at such an advanced age, and incidentally demonstrating his loyalty.

As for whether the Moon Wheel Sect can find the "Holy Spirit Blood Leech" again and refine the "Holy Spirit Blood Pill" to cultivate Golden Core cultivators, that is none of his business.

In any case, the Zhou family and the Moon Wheel Sect are not competitors. The fact that the Moon Wheel Sect has a few more Golden Core cultivators has little to do with the Zhou family.

Zhou Chun even hoped that the Moon Wheel Sect could successfully refine this elixir.

In that case, those Golden Core cultivators who successfully formed their cores thanks to the [Holy Spirit Blood Pill] would definitely have a great deal of goodwill towards the Zhou family who offered the pill formula.

In short, given the Zhou family's current strength, as long as they don't attract the suspicion and distrust of major sects like the Moon Wheel Sect, a few rumors simply won't affect them in the slightest.

Zhou Chun ignored the rumors and simply instructed Zhou Xinyi to begin preparations for the second Golden Core Ceremony, which could be held once Zhou Mingde emerged from seclusion.

Holding two Golden Core Ceremony in quick succession is actually quite difficult for the invited families and cultivators, as they will inevitably have to offer a substantial gift.

However, the Golden Elixir Ceremony could not be cancelled.

Therefore, Zhou Chun planned to discuss with Zhou Mingde after he came out of seclusion that the families and cultivators who came to attend the Golden Core Ceremony no longer needed to bring generous gifts. They only needed to bring a small gift to participate, so as to create a good atmosphere.

He believed that with Zhou Mingde's magnanimity, he would not oppose his proposal.

For the other cultivators in the Zhou family, Zhou Mingde's successful Core Formation had an even greater inspirational and confidence-boosting effect.

After all, Zhou Chun and Lin Hongyu both successfully formed their cores outside, and none of them were Zhou family cultivators who witnessed or experienced it firsthand, so they lacked a sense of participation.

In addition, Zhou Chun's personal experience is so legendary that it is impossible to imitate or replicate. Although many members of the Zhou family regard him as an idol and are full of respect and admiration for him, they dare not think that they can become the second him.

But Zhou Mingde was different.

He successfully formed his core within the Zhou family's mountain gate, and the signs of his core formation were witnessed by many Zhou family cultivators. Many Zhou family cultivators witnessed his successful core formation process.

This sense of participation was incredibly fulfilling and left a very deep impression.

Furthermore, Zhou Mingde was never a genius.

He was over two hundred years old when he finally opened his Purple Mansion, and he didn't cultivate any top-tier techniques. He was basically a template for an ordinary cultivator, only with better luck than the average cultivator.

But he was able to successfully form his core at the age of over 450!

This has a great motivating effect on the vast majority of Zhou family cultivators.

Because many of them are no worse off than Zhou Mingde in terms of qualifications, and some are even better off than Zhou Mingde!

In this situation, if Zhou Mingde can successfully form his core, why can't they?

Once this idea was conceived, it lingered in the minds of many Zhou family cultivators, planting a seed of ambition in their hearts.

Driven by this seed of ambition, many of them worked even harder in their cultivation and tried every means to earn cultivation resources for themselves.

An atmosphere of infighting had unknowingly begun to grow within the Zhou family.

When Zhou Chun learned of this situation, he felt very gratified.

As someone who has been through it all, he knows how positive the atmosphere of involution can be for the family.

In fact, the thing a large family fears most is that its members become complacent and stop striving for progress.

A family that lacks ambition, no matter how glorious it was in the past, will inevitably be eliminated by the passage of time.

Therefore, in order to keep these clansmen motivated, Zhou Chun specially established the "Breakthrough Award".

Depending on one's spiritual root aptitude and the cultivation technique one practices, being able to break through to a certain realm before a certain age will earn one a substantial reward of merit from the family.

This idea originated from the scholarship system of his previous life, and was modified to be more suitable for this world.

They all serve a similar purpose: to help cultivators from humble backgrounds who are hardworking enough to go further!

But at that moment, Zhou Xinyi gave him some bad news.

That means the Zhou family's finances are in trouble again!

"Nowadays, the markets in neighboring countries are shrinking and consumption has decreased significantly. Business is generally not good for the Zhou family's shops, and income is much lower than before."

"However, the number of cultivators in the clan continues to grow rapidly, and the amount of merit points distributed to clan members increases year by year, leading to a widening gap between income and expenditure."

"Furthermore, the family's previous scramble for strategic resources emptied most of their stockpile of spiritual items, and the Golden Core Ceremony also consumed a large amount of spiritual coins. Now, the remaining spiritual coins in the account are less than 200,000!"

"If we can't find a way to increase the family's income, the family accounts will be in the red within five years at most!"

Inside Zhou Chun's cave, Zhou Xinyi arrived with a series of account books and solemnly reported the family's financial situation to Zhou Chun.

He is currently acting as Zhou Chun's housekeeper, and he doesn't usually come to report on things unless they are particularly important.

Because Zhou Chun would personally go to Zhongping Hall every now and then to inquire about and handle clan affairs.

However, financial matters are of great importance. After discovering the tight financial situation in the new round of statistics, Zhou Xinyi dared not delay for a moment and immediately came to visit Zhou Chun in person with the organized account books and materials.

After listening to his explanation, Zhou Chun calmly said, "Don't rush, let me take a look at the account books first."

After saying that, he raised his hand and waved it open, flipping through all the account books at the same time, and his powerful divine sense read through multiple account books simultaneously.

The Zhou family's account books are very detailed, recording exactly where every penny was spent. When checking the accounts, every single item must match up.

Zhou Chun would frequently conduct spot checks on the account books to ensure that no one dared to embezzle family assets directly from this source.

As for certain profit-making activities using personal authority, Zhou Chun knew that it was impossible to completely eliminate them. As long as they weren't done too excessively or too conspicuously, he could only choose to ignore them.

After flipping through all the ledgers, Zhou Chun closed his eyes and processed the numerous numbers he had just seen in his mind. With the powerful mental calculation ability of a Golden Core cultivator, he quickly checked each account.

The reconciliation results were, of course, exactly the same!

If he can make mistakes in this area, then Zhou Xinyi is simply not qualified to manage the family in his place.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Xinyi, saying, "I've checked, and the family accounts currently hold over 270,000 jin of [Water Essence Jade] ore, over 60,000 jin of Crimson Blood Jade ore, over 70,000 jin of Ink Pattern Jade ore, over 120,000 jin of Flawless White Jade ore, over 160,000 jin of Black Corundum ore, over 50,000 jin of Amethyst Jade ore, and over 570,000 jin of Mysterious Iron ore!"

"If these ores were sold at pre-war market prices, approximately how many spirit coins would they be worth?"

The ores Zhou Chun mentioned were all obtained by the Zhou family from mining in the wilderness over the years.

Because they were not affected by the war, even when the Yuanmo Legion and the Tianling Legion were fighting fiercely, the Zhou family's mines in the wilderness did not stop mining.

However, due to the impact of the war, these mined ores could no longer be sold and could only be stored in warehouses.

While the Zhou family could process and consume some ore, this consumption was insignificant compared to the enormous amount mined.

So, after decades of accumulation, we have this much stock now.

Upon hearing Zhou Chun's words, Zhou Xinyi quickly began to estimate the value of the minerals he had mentioned.

After this estimation, he replied softly, "I've estimated that, based on pre-war market prices and considering price fluctuations caused by large-scale trade, these ores are worth approximately 280,000 spirit coins!"

"Then let's say 280,000 spirit coins!"

Zhou Chun nodded and then said, "I will buy all the ore at this price, but the ore will remain temporarily stored in the family treasury."

"this……"

Zhou Xinyi looked at Zhou Chun with surprise, not expecting him to say that.

"What? You think it's inappropriate?"

Zhou Chun glanced at him and asked casually.

"No, this junior dares not. Clan Chief, your noble character and integrity are truly admirable!"

Zhou Xinyi shook his head repeatedly, then looked at Zhou Chun with reverence to express his respect.

How could he not know that Zhou Chun was intentionally providing financial support to the family to help them overcome their difficulties?

This act of subsidizing his family out of his own pocket fully demonstrates how deep Zhou Chun's feelings for his family are.

You absolutely couldn't do something like this if you didn't deeply love your family!

Zhou Chun waved his hand and said, "I am personally subsidizing the family's finances, but this can only provide temporary relief. To truly resolve the family's financial crisis, we must address the root cause."

"Later, please inform all cultivators in the family who are at least at the Foundation Establishment stage, and ask them to return to the family when they have time so that everyone can brainstorm and discuss how to make money."

"Furthermore, some of the family rules may be outdated and should be revised in a timely manner to adapt to the current changes in the family!"

At this point, Zhou Chun shook his head slightly and said, "Forget it, let's tell those people what we need to discuss first, so they have time to think it over carefully. As for the timing of the discussion, let's wait until the Supreme Elder comes out of seclusion before deciding!"

"Yes, junior obeys."

Zhou Xinyi respectfully acknowledged the order and then withdrew.

Time passed quickly, and three years had gone by since Su Yuzhen successfully formed her core.

After three years of secluded cultivation, she had stabilized her cultivation level and voluntarily emerged from seclusion.

As she emerged from seclusion, the Golden Core Ceremony held by the Su family for her was soon convened.

(End of this chapter)