Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 510 Sacrifice is Necessary [Please Subscribe]

Whether you agree or disagree, that's not the point.

Within the Zhou family, Zhou Chun's prestige is now arguably much higher than Zhou Mingde's.

Perhaps in the hearts of older generation cultivators such as Zhou Daoquan and Zhou Zhengyong, there is still a deep respect for Zhou Mingde, the highly respected patriarch of the family, and they are deeply influenced by him.

However, in the hearts of those younger generation Zhou family cultivators, they only recognized Zhou Chun, the patriarch, as the head of the Zhou family!

They grew up listening to the legends and stories of Zhou Chun, and as they grew up, they witnessed firsthand how Zhou Chun, the clan leader, led the Zhou family step by step to become bigger and stronger, until it became the number one Golden Core family in Jing Kingdom!

Yes, the number one Golden Core family in Jingguo!

After Zhou Mingde successfully formed his Golden Core, the Zhou family, which now had three Golden Core cultivators in the family, could be considered the number one Golden Core family in the Jing Kingdom, according to the common calculation method in the cultivation world.

After all, apart from the Zhou family, no other Golden Core family could have three Golden Core cultivators stationed in the family at the same time!

The importance of a Golden Core cultivator is greater than that of ten Purple Mansion cultivators, let alone a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Therefore, even though the Zhou family may not have completely surpassed some established Golden Core families in terms of the number of Purple Mansion stage cultivators and Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, it can still be called the number one Golden Core family in Jing Kingdom.

Under these circumstances, it is easy to imagine how profound Zhou Chun's prestige was within the family, having single-handedly brought the Zhou family to this level.

So at this point, although he said that opinions could be raised, none of the Zhou family cultivators actually dared to voice their opinions.

Everyone knows that if we really needed to get their opinions on this matter, we wouldn't just present them with a pre-prepared plan; we would discuss it with them first.

If we just tell them the finalized plan now and ask them for their opinions, who would dare to offer any?

This is no way to court death!

"This junior has no objections. The clan leader's plan is very practical and suitable for the current state of the clan. This junior fully agrees with this plan!"

Soon, Zhou Xinyi, the trusted acting clan leader, spoke first to express his agreement, his words full of praise for Zhou Chun.

Damn it, he beat me to it! That sycophant!

Some Zhou family cultivators secretly regretted being beaten to it, and then they all followed suit, praising Zhou Chun's suggestion.

Compared to the quarter of welfare benefits that were cut, they cared more about the opinion of Zhou Chun, the pillar of the family.

No one wants to leave a bad impression on this pillar of the family.

After all, if they want to open up their Purple Mansion in the future, they will still have to find a way through their family.

Zhou Chun had expected this result, so it was not surprising at all.

As a Golden Core cultivator, sometimes he doesn't need to explain his actions to others at all!

So be it, it's a dictatorship!

He simply nodded slightly and said, "Very good. Since everyone has no objections, let's proceed with this plan. We'll discuss the criteria for evaluating elite clansmen later!"

Then they started talking about revising the family rules.

The revision of the clan rules mainly addresses some previous restrictions on Zhou family cultivators going on adventures, as well as related restrictions on family cultivators' marriage and joining sects.

When the Zhou family first arrived and established themselves in Jiufengling, they formulated some strict rules to avoid trouble and prevent the loss of their clan members.

The current rules are doing more harm than good to the Zhou family, and it's time to change them.

Therefore, at this family meeting, Zhou Chun, on behalf of the family, proposed abolishing and revising these relevant rules, and discussed with other senior members of the family to formulate new rules.

After some discussion, the new clan rules were finally agreed upon and finalized.

According to the new clan rules, ordinary and elite members of the Zhou family no longer need to report to the clan leader when going out during holidays. Only when going out for more than three days during non-personal holidays do they need to report to the clan leader.

As for core clan members with cultivation levels above Foundation Establishment, they still need to submit a special report and application before they can go out.

Regarding marriages among clan members, the clan has completely loosened its control over marriages, allowing all clan members to freely decide their own marriages, whether it's marrying out of the clan or marrying into another family, the clan does not interfere.

However, it is worth noting that marriages not approved by the family will no longer be eligible for special family dowry and bride price subsidies.

In other words, the practice of marrying into another family and receiving a generous dowry from that family is now very rare.

After all, the Zhou family is now a Golden Core clan, and they no longer need to build a network of relationships through marriage alliances between ordinary clan members.

Regarding joining a sect, apart from being prohibited from joining the Qinglian Temple, members of the Zhou family are free to choose whether or not to join any other sect that exists normally in the Heavenly Spirit Realm.

However, if you join a sect, you can forget about the family's resources unless you can demonstrate value that makes the family willing to invest in you!

Of course, if one joins the Moon Wheel Cult, the family will still provide some assistance, since the Zhou family is now a vassal family of the Moon Wheel Cult, and even if it's just for show, they have to do it properly.

Finally, the subsidy measures that the Zhou family had implemented to encourage family members to have children have now been officially abolished.

The Zhou family now has a large number of cultivators, and the number of mortals in the family has also increased significantly over the past two hundred years.

Nowadays, every year, as many as seven or eight children with spiritual roots are detected among ordinary children, and sometimes even more than ten!

There is absolutely no need to continue the birth subsidy system.

The modification and abolition of these rules not only granted Zhou family cultivators some freedom of choice in certain aspects, but also saved the family some expenses.

It can be said that this approach won over the hearts of the people while also saving money.

Therefore, when these new clan rules were revised, the Zhou family cultivators present, especially the younger generation, were very supportive.

After the rules were set, Zhou Chun had everyone discuss the criteria for judging elite clansmen.

According to Zhou Chun's opinion, the number of elite clansmen should ideally not exceed one-fifth of the total number of Qi Refining stage cultivators in the clan, which is about one hundred people.

This number is not small; many Zhou family cultivators have a chance to compete for it.

After unanimous discussion, it was decided that a dual system of recommendation and assessment would be implemented for the elite clansmen.

If a member of the clan reaches the late stage of Qi Refining, and his or her character and achievements are highly praised and recognized by the elders of the clan, and five core members or one elder are willing to recommend him to become an elite member, then he can become an elite member.

Each core clan member and elder can only use the power to recommend someone else to become a core clan member once every three years.

The assessment system is simple. Any Zhou family cultivator who feels qualified to become an elite member of the clan can apply to the clan for an assessment. The assessment is divided into a practical assessment and a skills assessment. Passing the assessment will allow you to become an elite member of the clan!

Once the number of elite members reaches its limit, other ordinary members can challenge elite members to seize their elite status.

Compared to ordinary clansmen, elite clansmen have the right to exchange for Foundation Establishment spiritual items first, the right to cultivate various precious secret techniques, and more holidays. Their treatment is also better than that of ordinary clansmen!

It is foreseeable that the Qi Refining stage cultivators of the Zhou family will be fighting tooth and nail for the status of elite clan members.

After discussing all the important matters, Zhou Chun adjourned the meeting.

Subsequently, the revision of clan rules and the rules for determining the status and position of clan members were quickly announced to clan members located in various parts of the clan in the form of an official announcement.

In less than a month, even Zhou family cultivators who were adventuring and traveling outside, as long as they were still in Jing Kingdom, knew about these things.

As Zhou Chun had expected, these revised clan rules quickly gained the support of the clan members, who praised his wisdom.

As for the subsequent re-ranking of family members, although some cultivators who had originally been designated as elite members secretly complained, on the surface everyone supported this fair and just selection method.

However, the actual recommendation and assessment cannot be carried out yet, because Zhou Mingde's Golden Elixir Ceremony is just around the corner.

As soon as it was dawn, twenty-four bells rang out in succession within Tuyun Ridge.

Having already experienced this once before, the Zhou family cultivators immediately took their positions after the bell rang and began to greet the guests who had come to offer their congratulations.

Within a mere ten years, two Golden Core Ceremony ceremonies were held in succession, which delighted many low-level rogue cultivators in Lingzhou, Lanzhou, Yunzhou, Cangzhou and other places.

Because the Dragon Fish Banquet at the last Golden Core Ceremony was so famous, the number of rogue cultivators who came to freeload this time was much greater than last time.

Fortunately, the Zhou family had prepared for this time with ample time and made sufficient preparations for the food, drink and supplies of the lower-level cultivators, so they did not care about the expenses they incurred.

Moreover, it's unclear whether it's because the Zhou family's influence expanded further after Zhou Mingde achieved Core Formation, or because they knew they didn't need to offer generous gifts this time, or simply because they were curious about this Golden Core cultivator who only achieved Core Formation at the age of 450 or 460.

The number of Golden Core cultivators attending Zhou Mingde's Golden Core Ceremony this time was as high as sixteen, and several of them came uninvited!

Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde were both delighted with this situation and welcomed it wholeheartedly.

They did not disappoint the Golden Core cultivators who came. Although they could not provide the Azure Wave Cleansing Tea, they still served the meat of the Five-Colored Dragonfish to these distinguished guests.

The Golden Elixir Ceremony lasted for several days before finally ending with everyone enjoying themselves.

After the Golden Elixir Ceremony concluded, Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde had an in-depth conversation in Zhou Chun's cave.

"I have already achieved a fulfilling life by successfully forming my core. My personal cultivation is no longer important. Therefore, I plan to spend the rest of my life studying the art of weapon crafting. Whether it is to leave more magical artifacts for the family as a foundation or to use the Golden Core True Fire to cultivate materials such as gold essence and iron essence for magical treasures, I can provide some help to you, Zheng Chun, and other Golden Core cultivators in the future."

"As for family affairs, if you are too busy to take care of them in the future, I can manage them for you, so you won't have to expend any more energy on them."

"In short, even if the family can no longer provide any support on your cultivation path, it absolutely cannot become a burden that hinders your cultivation!"

Inside Zhou Chun's cave, Zhou Mingde stared at him with a serious expression and spoke his thoughts after much consideration.

As the founder of the Zhou family, Zhou Mingde deeply understands that for a family to continue to grow and develop, someone must sacrifice their own path.

Because he understood this, he never dared to fantasize about forming his core before. He was single-mindedly focused on how to strengthen his family, even at the cost of delaying his own cultivation time.

Because of this, he won the respect and admiration of his descendants, such as Zhou Daoyi, Zhou Daoquan, and Zhou Chun, and the love and affection of his clan.

However, he also knew in his heart that not everyone could be so willing to sacrifice themselves for the development and growth of the family.

This is especially true for cultivators who have a long road ahead and hope to advance further.

Zhou Chun, who successfully formed his core at just over two hundred years old, was undoubtedly a cultivator with a promising future and the potential to reach the Nascent Soul stage!

If Zhou Chun continues to be distracted by family affairs and devotes his energy to supporting the family's development, it will certainly be of great help to the family, and I believe he himself will not particularly care about this.

However, after two or three hundred years, Zhou Chun discovered that because he was distracted by taking care of his family, his cultivation progress was not as expected, and he might even lose hope of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Even if Zhou Chun has deep feelings for his family, he will likely feel resentment and may even sever ties with the family to focus on pursuing the Nascent Soul Dao!

If that were to happen, the Zhou family's losses would far outweigh what they have gained so far.

Such examples are not uncommon in the cultivation world; in fact, they are quite common!

Even if Zhou Mingde had realized this, there wouldn't have been any good solutions if he hadn't successfully formed his core.

After all, as the only Golden Core cultivator in the Zhou family at that time, Zhou Chun inevitably had to devote his energy to caring about family affairs, including teaching the Dao to the younger generation of cultivators and answering their questions about cultivation.

But now that he has successfully formed his core, his lifespan has been greatly extended, and he can live for at least another five hundred years.

In this way, he can completely take over the tasks that would otherwise distract Zhou Chun.

In any case, given his situation, there is absolutely no possibility of him reaching the Nascent Soul stage, so sacrificing some cultivation time is not a problem at all.

So after much deliberation, he chose this moment to talk to Zhou Chun about these things.

Zhou Chun never expected that Zhou Mingde's request to discuss something with him would be about this.

He was stunned after Zhou Mingde finished speaking.

Then she looked at Zhou Mingde with a complicated expression, her throat tightening, unsure of what to say, deeply moved.

After a long pause, he spoke with deep emotion, "I have never felt that my family is a burden to me!"

"I have always been grateful to you and the family for taking care of and helping me when my cultivation was low. I have always loved the atmosphere of mutual help among the family members, and I have always been proud to be a member of the Zhou family!"

"Although the family can no longer provide me with much support in terms of cultivation resources, they still help me in other ways. I have never thought about leaving the family."

This wasn't just him being modest; it was what he truly felt.

Just as he said, although the Zhou family can no longer provide him with any cultivation resources, he doesn't have to pay rent for his cave dwelling within the family, and he can still receive a large amount of welfare and offerings from the Zhou family every year.

Furthermore, whatever materials he needs to gather or whatever information he needs to investigate, hundreds of cultivators from the entire Zhou family will serve him.

Even the food for his several spirit pets was provided by the Zhou family.

These are conveniences that are difficult for a rogue cultivator to possess.

If you join a sect, you can enjoy these benefits, but once you enjoy these benefits, don't you have to do things for those sects?

Since that's the case, it would be better to stay in the Zhou family and become the respected ancestor!

Zhou Mingde could naturally tell whether Zhou Chun's words were true or false, and he nodded with a look of satisfaction, saying, "Yes, I believe that with your feelings for the family, Zheng Chun, you would never do anything to leave the family."

After saying that, he changed the subject again and said, "But families and clansmen should naturally help each other succeed."

"You have now brought the family to unprecedented prosperity, but the family's help to you is becoming less and less. Whether for the sake of your own path or for the long-term interests of the family, you should no longer devote more energy to trivial family matters!"

He's already been so blunt; if Zhou Chun were to make excuses again, she would be acting rather rudely.

He immediately bowed respectfully to him and said, "I have learned a great deal. No matter what I achieve in the future, you will always be the elder I respect most, and the Zhou family will always be my home!"

"Very well, very well, with those words from you, I am content!"

Zhou Mingde repeatedly praised him and helped him up with a joyful expression.

After their respective tasks were determined, Zhou Mingde began to take over the family affairs from Zhou Chun.

However, Zhou Chun still retains the title of clan leader and has not relinquished it.

Three months after the completion of Zhou Mingde's Golden Elixir Ceremony, Zhou Zhengyuan, the most senior cultivator in the "Zheng" generation of the Zhou family, passed away.

Although Zhou Zhengyuan never fought on the battlefield for his family, he devoted his life to serving the family in alchemy, which can be considered a great achievement.

Therefore, his funeral arrangements were treated in the same manner as those for Zhou Jiapeng, who had passed away peacefully. The entire clan observed three days of mourning to commemorate this deceased elder statesman.

"With Sixth Brother gone, among our generation in the family, only Thirteenth Brother and I are left!"

At the Zhou family cemetery, Zhou Zhengyong and Zhou Chun stood together in front of the newly buried tomb of Zhou Zhengyuan. Looking at the newly built grave, both of them felt somewhat melancholy.

Then Zhou Zhengyong murmured, "Among so many of our generation, Thirteenth Brother, neither you nor I were the most talented. Yet now, we're the two who have gone the furthest and survived to the end!"

The "fellow clansmen" he mentioned clearly referred only to the group of people born before the Zhou family came to Jiufeng Ridge.

Although Zhou Zhengqing is of the same generation as them, he is actually twenty or thirty years older than them, so he cannot be considered a true member of the same generation!

After hearing Zhou Zhengyong's words, Zhou Chun sighed with emotion, "Yes, who could have imagined that in the end, the most successful among our peers would be you and me, Brother Yong!"

As he spoke, names and faces flashed through Zhou Chun's mind.

Zhou Zhengkang, Zhou Zhengtao, Zhou Zhengjie...

Back then, Zhou Chun and his peers competed with each other, all hoping to gain the family's support and successfully establish their foundation.

In the end, Zhou Chun had the last laugh and became the one who received unanimous approval and support from the elders.

Zhou Chun did not disappoint the elders' expectations and successfully brought the Zhou family to an unprecedented height, which can be considered as living up to the elders' efforts and expectations!

"That's different. Thirteenth Brother, you were able to form your Golden Core entirely through your own abilities. I've only survived to this day because of your good fortune!"

Zhou Zhengyong shook his head slightly, and spoke his mind with a look of deep emotion.

He knew very well that his talent was not outstanding among his peers, and that he had been able to get to where he was today because he had established a good relationship with Zhou Chun before Zhou Chun became successful, and had received Zhou Chun's help and care.

Otherwise, he would probably have died young like his deceased peers, unable to successfully establish his foundation.

"Luck is also a form of ability. Yong-ge, the fact that you've come this far speaks volumes, so why belittle yourself?"

Zhou Chun shook her head slightly and gently comforted Zhou Zhengyong.

Zhou Zhengyong's lips moved, but in the end he only sighed softly and said nothing more.

After paying their respects at Zhou Zhengyuan's grave, the two left together.

Just one month after Zhou Jiapeng passed away, the second [Mysterious Heart Purple Rejuvenation Pill] that the Zhou family had exchanged for was also distributed.

Since this elixir had been promised to Zhou Zhengqing long ago, Zhou Chun personally handed it to him after it was distributed.

Zhou Zhengqing, who was already quite old, also went into seclusion soon after receiving the elixir.

However, Zhou Chun did not stay in the family to wait for the results of Zhou Zhengqing's seclusion. Instead, after making arrangements with Zhou Mingde, he quietly went to the Great Zhou Kingdom.

On this trip to the Great Zhou Kingdom, Zhou Chun is determined to find Luo Qingni to refine the [Ancient Dust Pill] and the Foundation Establishment Pill. At the same time, he also wants to urge Sun Yuanjing to speed up the collection of [Taiyi Profound Gold Qi], even if it means paying more money!

In addition, he also needs to purchase materials for Zhou Mingde to exchange for refining his own natal magic weapon, and he needs to collect the remaining materials for his own natal magic weapon.

To achieve these goals, Zhou Chun brought all the precious spiritual items he and his family had collected with him, as well as a large amount of spiritual coins.

He had made ample preparations and was determined to complete the "reforging of the shattered cauldron" and the refining of his natal magic weapon in one go in the Great Zhou Kingdom, and then return to the Jing Kingdom in his strongest state to face the changes in the Qinglian Temple.

(End of this chapter)