Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 530 The Treasure of the Secret Vault: The Abandoned Child [Please Subscribe]

A secret treasure trove built by some force for a comeback is far more interesting to Zhou Chun than a cave dwelling of someone from the past.

Judging from the level of protection set up here, if it is a cave dwelling, it is at most the cave dwelling of a Golden Core stage cultivator, and it may not even be the dwelling of a powerful Golden Core stage cultivator.

Even in the cave dwelling of a Golden Core cultivator, one may not necessarily find magical treasures or other valuables.

It should be noted that many senior cultivators' cave dwellings actually contained no remains or personal belongings at all.

This is because its owner likely died while traveling, rather than passing away peacefully.

On the other hand, the secret treasure vault is unlikely to disappoint; it must contain a large amount of resources and treasures.

At this point, Zhou Chun continued his ascent, breaking open the doors of every stone chamber he encountered along the way.

After going halfway into the stone chamber, he was pleasantly surprised by what he found inside.

These stone chambers had been specially modified, with miniature arrays inside that could generate light and moisture to support the growth of the medicinal herbs within.

Indeed, these stone chambers are miniature gardens of medicinal herbs, with one or more rare medicinal herbs planted in each chamber.

Dendrobium nobile, Dendrobium chrysanthum, Dendrobium monnieri, Dendrobium chrysanthum, Dendrobium monnieri...

As Zhou Chun looked through the stone chambers, he saw that each chamber contained rare, thousand-year-old medicinal herbs.

Some of these miraculous herbs appear to be over two thousand years old!

Although they are only thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, their value is far greater than that of ordinary thousand-year-old medicinal herbs like thousand-year-old Polygonatum due to the rarity of these herbs.

Because these ancient medicinal herbs are the main ingredients and essential components for refining certain rare elixirs!

"I remember Fellow Daoist Luo mentioning before that the Thousand-Year Spirit-Boosting Grass is a main ingredient in certain pills that aid in opening the Purple Mansion? In that case, could these rare thousand-year-old spiritual herbs all be the spiritual herbs needed to refine pills that aid in opening the Purple Mansion?"

Upon thinking of this, Zhou Chun's gaze sharpened slightly, and a look of excitement immediately appeared in his eyes.

If it's really what he thinks, then he's really hit the jackpot this time!

His gaze no longer lingered on the stone chambers where medicinal herbs were planted, and he soon arrived at the stone chamber deepest in the area.

This stone chamber is clearly the most important place in the treasure vault. Not only is the stone door of the chamber made of a hard stone called "Black Prison Stone", but it is also equipped with a separate restriction. There is a keyhole on the stone door, which means that a special key is needed to open the stone door.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun did not rush to break down the door, but quickly turned around and left the treasure vault, bringing Zhang Liang to the door.

"Clan Chief, according to my research, the restriction on this stone door is a self-destructing restriction. A corresponding magical artifact must be inserted into the keyhole to temporarily disable the self-destructing restriction and thus open the stone door!"

"If we forcibly destroy the stone gate and the surrounding stone walls, it will trigger the self-destruction of the protective barrier, thus destroying everything inside!"

Zhang Liang lived up to his reputation as a genius of formations; after studying it for a while, he figured it out.

However, the outcome he described was a bad thing.

"Do you have a way to break the seal here?"

Zhou Chun frowned and asked in a deep voice what Zhang Liang had expected.

After thinking for a moment, he replied in a low voice, "I need time to study this carefully before I can give an answer, and even if there are some risky methods, I estimate the success rate is no more than 30%!"

"Then you may continue your studies here at your leisure. I will arrange for people to protect you here!"

Zhou Chun nodded and made a decision on the spot.

Zhang Liang naturally dared not have any objections, but he requested that his Daoist partner Zhou Xindie come over to help with the research.

Zhou Chun readily agreed to this small matter.

Zhou Chun then harvested all the medicinal herbs in the stone chambers, obtaining a total of forty-eight rare, thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, whose value was immeasurable.

As for the large quantity of ore, it was handed over to Zhou Xinlan and others to transport, so that they could carry it back to the family in batches.

Zhou Chun planned to reveal the news of the Zhou family's discovery of a secret treasure trove, so that he could openly sell some of the family's secrets that were difficult to expose.

That should greatly alleviate some of the family's financial pressure.

After making these general arrangements, Zhou Chun left Chengguo alone and headed straight for the Moon Wheel Sect's mountain gate.

The discovery of the secret treasure was certainly gratifying, but the pressure from the assassin kept Zhou Chun from relaxing at all.

He won't dare to go out easily again until this matter is resolved!

After a whirlwind journey, Zhou Chun arrived at the Moon Wheel Sect's mountain gate in less than half a day.

Now that Zhou Chun is a Golden Core cultivator, he no longer needs to wait for notification when he visits. He can simply send a message via flying sword to Master Baiyue and quickly obtain his personal permission to enter the mountain gate.

"Young friend Zhou, what brings you here today?"

Inside the main hall of the Moon Wheel Sect, after Zhou Chun paid his respects, Master Baiyue, with a look of doubt in his eyes, took the initiative to ask him the purpose of his visit.

"Master, please be aware that I have come here today to seek your help!"

Zhou Chun answered in a low voice with a bitter expression, and then recounted how he had been chased and attacked by assassins on the way.

"What?! This actually happened!"

After listening to Zhou Chun's account, Master Baiyue also showed a look of surprise and doubt.

He looked at Zhou Chun with surprise and suspicion, and immediately said, "Young friend Zhou, please tell me more details. Tell me about all the magical weapons and supernatural abilities that assassin used when he fought you."

"Yes, junior obeys."

Zhou Chun responded and then recounted the details of their fight once again.

After hearing his retelling, Master Baiyue's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He suddenly said to Zhou Chun, "I understand the situation. Young friend Zhou, please stay at our sect for now. I will consult some of our Nascent Soul elders to see if they know the assassin's origins!"

"This junior understands. I entrust everything to the Sect Leader."

Zhou Chun bowed solemnly to Baiyue Zhenren before stepping back to wait.

After waiting inside the Moon Wheel Sect's mountain gate for a day, Zhou Chun was finally summoned again by Master Baiyue to the sect leader's hall.

"I have consulted several elders, and according to their judgment, the assassin who tried to kill you, young friend Zhou, should be from the Eastern Ice Barbarian Kingdom, specifically from a sect called the Ice Prison Sect. This sect is an assassin organization that specializes in hiring people to assassinate high-level cultivators from other countries!"

Master Baiyue continued, his tone slightly grave, "According to our sect's patriarch, to maintain its reputation, the Ice Prison Sect's assassins will continue to assassinate their targets after a failed attempt, only ceasing their assassination efforts when they are certain they cannot defeat them!"

"But even if the assassins cease their operations, as long as the employer continues to increase the pay, the Ice Prison Sect will still send even higher-level assassins to kill the target!"

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Chun's expression changed drastically.

This was exactly what Zhou Chun was most worried about.

After a series of changes in his expression, he bowed deeply to Master Baiyue and said, "This junior dares to be so bold as to beg the Sect Leader to uphold justice for this junior and the Zhou family!"

If the situation is truly as dire as Master Baiyue described, then the only one who can currently extricate the Zhou family from this predicament is the Moon Wheel Sect.

Otherwise, even if Zhou Chun stayed hidden inside the family's mountain gate, the assassins from Qinglian Temple and Bingyu Sect would definitely try every means to force him out!

However, when faced with Zhou Chun's request, Master Baiyue said with a troubled expression, "Young friend Zhou, you probably don't know that the assassins of the Ice Prison Sect have a rule when accepting missions, which is that they will not attack cultivators from powerful forces who are protected by Nascent Soul stage cultivators."

"However, correspondingly, major powers will not easily offend this assassin organization, lest they become targets!"

"If our sect were to send people directly to deal with that assassin for you, I'm afraid that wouldn't work!"

At this point, Master Baiyue seemed to realize that the answer was too perfunctory, so he looked at Zhou Chun and said, "How about this, I will give you a secret talisman made by our sect's patriarch. With this talisman in hand, you can withstand a late-stage Golden Core cultivator for more than half an hour, giving you ample time to retreat back to your family's mountain gate or other places."

"Once that assassin fails again, and it's clear he's no longer capable of killing you on his own, he'll naturally back down!"

However, Zhou Chun showed no joy upon hearing these words. Instead, his face darkened as he said, "Sect Leader, you have already said that as long as the employer is willing to increase the pay, the Ice Prison Sect will continue to send even more powerful assassins to kill the targets."

"Even if I manage to repel this assassin with the secret talisman you bestowed upon me, what will I do when the Ice Prison Sect sends another assassin at the late Golden Core stage?"

Zhou Chun could barely handle a mid-stage Golden Core assassin.

However, if a late-stage Golden Core assassin were to come, even if he hid inside the family's mountain gate, he probably wouldn't be able to avoid being assassinated.

Such a professional assassin must possess extremely high infiltration and assassination skills, unlike amateurs like Dillon, the Black Dragon Hall Master of the Dragon Transformation Cult.

However, faced with Zhou Chun's lament, Master Baiyue chose to remain silent, only saying in a low voice, "Even an assassin organization like the Ice Prison Sect wouldn't have more than a handful of late-stage Golden Core assassins. The price to ask them to take action is extraordinary; I doubt that employer would be willing to pay such a high price!"

How could Zhou Chun be convinced by this answer? He simply looked directly at Master Baiyue and said, "Sect Leader, you and I both know who hired the Ice Prison Sect assassins. Can't we just ask them to withdraw their commission?"

He then said in a deep voice, "You said before that after the bet, regardless of the outcome, neither side could use any excuse to retaliate against the winner!"

Upon hearing this, Master Baiyue's expression darkened slightly, revealing displeasure. However, he shook his head and said, "Young friend Zhou, I understand your meaning. However, without evidence, even our sect cannot directly smear the reputation of a major sect, especially a highly reputable sect like Qinglian Temple!"

This answer completely disillusioned Zhou Chun with him and the Moon Wheel Sect.

Although Zhou Chun already knew that the Moon Wheel Sect was not a reliable support because of the gambling incident, he still thought he could use it to bluff his family's reputation.

However, this time he truly understood that when faced with a situation that could damage their reputation, these powerful forces would always prioritize their own reputation and would not care about the lives of their vassals!

Perhaps in Baiyue Zhenren's eyes, even if the Zhou family, as a vassal, is gone, there are still other Golden Core families willing to rely on them.

It's simply impossible to offend a killer organization like Ice Prison Gate for the sake of a dispensable vassal!

Despite his extreme disappointment, Zhou Chun replied in a low voice, "This junior understands. Then this junior will not disturb the Sect Leader any longer!"

With the wisdom of the Moon Worshiping Immortal, he naturally discerned the disappointment in Zhou Chun's words.

He didn't show anything unusual, but simply waved his sleeve and handed Zhou Chun a jade box and a jade slip, saying, "Take this secret talisman. Before using it, you need to refine it according to the incantation inside this jade slip!"

"Thank you very much, Master, for bestowing this treasure. This junior will take his leave!"

Zhou Chun thanked him politely, accepted the treasure, and left.

After Zhou Chun left, Master Baiyue lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

In fact, according to his wishes, he was still willing to protect Zhou Chun and wanted to warn the assassins of the Ice Prison Sect not to act recklessly in Jingguo.

However, his proposal was rejected by a Nascent Soul patriarch of the Moon Wheel Sect.

The reason the Moon Wheel Sect's Supreme Elder rejected the idea was simple: the Moon Wheel Sect did not have the strength to destroy the Ice Prison Sect, and the Ice Prison Sect, as an assassin sect, was very concerned about its reputation.

If the Moon Wheel Cult were to issue a direct warning, it would likely be seen as a provocation, leading to assassinations of Moon Wheel Cult members.

Even if they didn't take action against the Moon Wheel Sect, they certainly wouldn't heed the Moon Wheel Sect's warnings and would continue to assassinate Zhou Chun.

If they succeed in the assassination, the Moon Wheel Cult will really lose face!

Rather than doing that, it's better to ignore it and pretend we don't know anything about it.

This might displease the Zhou family, but in the land of Jingguo, what can a Golden Core family do even if they are dissatisfied with the Moon Wheel Sect? They still have to obediently continue to live at the beck and call of the Moon Wheel Sect!

However, although this was tantamount to abandoning Zhou Chun and the Zhou family, Qinglian Temple's actions once again angered several Supreme Elders of the Moon Wheel Sect.

After all, in the eyes of these Nascent Soul stage cultivators, no matter how much the internal forces of the Jing Kingdom fight, it is still a matter of their own country.

But hiring foreign assassins to kill our own Golden Core cultivators is going too far!

That is, they had promised Qingxiao Zhenren that they would protect Qinglian Temple for two hundred years. Otherwise, based on this incident alone, the several Grand Elders of the Moon Wheel Sect would have made Qinglian Temple pay a heavy price.

"Master Qingxiao, Master Qingxiao, have your disciples and their followers truly not appreciated your painstaking efforts?"

"If this continues, once the two-hundred-year protection period ends, I'm afraid the Qinglian Temple will cease to exist!"

Baiyue Zhenren muttered to himself, shaking his head repeatedly at Qinglian Temple's suicidal behavior.

Originally, out of admiration for Master Qingxiao's heroic sacrifice, he felt some sympathy and pity for Qinglian Temple. However, the series of actions taken by Qinglian Temple now made him feel that Qinglian Temple might really be facing its end.

In the future, no force will be able to directly replace them. It is likely that the Nascent Soul stage elders will dismantle their inheritance and devour what Qingxiao Zhenren left behind!

As for Zhou Chun, he could only hope that Zhou Chun would be lucky and that Qinglian Temple would choose to abandon the subsequent assassination plan because they were unwilling to pay the fee for hiring a late-stage Dan assassin.

After leaving the Moon Wheel Sect, Zhou Chun went straight back to his family's mountain gate.

Since the Moon Wheel Cult is no longer reliable, he has no choice but to find a way to deal with the assassins from the Ice Prison Gate himself.

Over the years, Zhou Chun has seen and overcome many storms. Killing him won't be that easy!

After returning to the Tu Yunling family's mountain gate, Zhou Chun did not hide the matter of the Ice Prison Gate assassins, and truthfully told Zhou Mingde about his experience on this trip.

As he expected, Zhou Mingde's expression changed drastically upon hearing about the matter, and he was both shocked and furious.

"How dare they! How dare they do this!"

Zhou Mingde roared angrily, his face filled with shock and fury, "Aren't they afraid that my Zhou family will follow suit and hire assassins to kill their disciples?"

But both he and Zhou Chun knew that these words were just empty talk.

In reality, even if they could find a way to contact the Ice Prison Sect assassins, the Zhou family simply couldn't afford the reward for assassinating Golden Core cultivators several times, and the other party might not be willing to accept the commission to assassinate Golden Core cultivators from a major sect like the Azure Lotus Sect!

As for assassinating some of the Purple Mansion stage and Foundation Establishment stage cultivators of Qinglian Temple, firstly, it would be of little use, and secondly, it would invite the same counterattack from Qinglian Temple, in which case the Zhou family would suffer even more!

Qinglian Temple was certain of this, which is why it dared to hire assassins from Bingyumen to kill Zhou Chun.

After Zhou Mingde vented his anger, Zhou Chun said in a deep voice, "We can only remember this grudge for now; we'll have a chance to settle it later!"

"The best course of action now is to find a way to get rid of those assassins from the Ice Prison Sect and avoid this calamity!"

Hearing this, Zhou Mingde quickly calmed down.

After a moment of contemplation with his head slightly lowered, he suddenly looked up at Zhou Chun and said, "Why don't you go to the Great Zhou Kingdom for refuge, Zheng Chun? No matter how powerful the Ice Prison Sect is, they wouldn't dare to assassinate you in Tianyuan Immortal City! As long as you cultivate in seclusion there for several decades, I don't believe they can keep lurking there forever!"

Zhou Chun had already considered the method he mentioned.

He quickly shook his head and replied, "This is not a good solution. If I were to seek refuge in the Great Zhou Kingdom, the Qinglian Temple would definitely target you and Elder Lin. At that time, in order to force you to leave the sect, or to arrange for someone to infiltrate and assassinate you, it would certainly cause great damage to the family and implicate many innocent clansmen!"

Zhou Mingde was well aware of this, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "Even so, it doesn't matter. As long as Zheng Chun is still here in our Zhou family, there is still a chance to rise again, and there will still be a day when we can avenge myself and the rest of our clansmen!"

He said this because he was clearly prepared to sacrifice himself.

Zhou Chun was deeply moved upon hearing this.

It should be noted that Zhou Mingde is not even five hundred years old yet. According to the lifespan of a Golden Core cultivator, which is a thousand years, he has at least another five hundred years to live.

If it were any other Golden Core cultivator, after going through countless hardships and near-death experiences to finally form their Golden Core, and then striving for another five hundred years, they would never be willing to sacrifice themselves to help others.

Only Zhou Mingde, who values ​​his family more than his own life and sees Zhou Chun as the hope of the Zhou family, would risk his life to protect this junior, Zhou Chun!

Despite being moved, Zhou Chun still shook his head with a serious expression and refused, saying, "It's meaningless, there's absolutely no point in doing this!"

After speaking, he looked directly at Zhou Mingde and said, "If you and the rest of the clan die because of me, I will definitely have a knot in my heart for the future. If I have the opportunity to form my core and nascent soul in the future, I will certainly not be able to escape the 'Heart Demon Tribulation'!"

"Therefore, even for the sake of my future path, I absolutely cannot shirk this responsibility!"

Sure enough, when he heard him use the future path as a reason, Zhou Mingde had nothing to say.

Both he and Zhou Chun knew that if they really wanted to take revenge on the Ice Prison Sect in the future, they would not be able to do so without the cultivation of the Nascent Soul stage.

If one cannot even overcome the "inner demon tribulation," how can one possess the cultivation level of the Nascent Soul stage?

"Then why don't we call Fellow Daoist Lin back? From now on, the three of us can go in and out together. That way, if we can hold out for a few decades, the assassins from the Ice Prison Sect won't have that much time to waste!"

After a moment of silence, Zhou Mingde came up with another idea and excitedly shared his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun's expression shifted, but he quickly seemed to realize something and said with a wry smile, "This method might work against that Ice Prison Sect assassin at the mid-stage Golden Core realm, but if an Ice Prison Sect assassin at the late-stage Golden Core realm comes, I'm afraid even the three of us tied together wouldn't be enough to kill him!"

He had been hunted down by a multi-winged archmage equivalent to a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, witnessed the formidable strength of Shen Jianxing, a late-stage Golden Core sword cultivator from the Nine Yuan Sword Sect, and even had a direct confrontation with Di Long, the Black Dragon Hall Master of the Dragon Transformation Sect, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Therefore, he still has the authority to speak on the strength of late-stage Golden Core cultivators.

If we take the mid-stage Golden Core assassin who tried to kill him as a reference, the late-stage Golden Core assassin from the Ice Prison Sect is definitely no weaker than Di Long, and may even be at the level of Shen Jianxing!

Such a powerful figure, skilled in assassination, could easily defeat three early-stage Golden Core cultivators by simply having them deliver a few more sword strikes!

But after Zhou Mingde's suggestion was rejected, he didn't give up his opinion. Instead, he looked at him seriously and said, "We have to try, otherwise, Zhengchun, do you have any other good ideas?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun nodded and said, "I do have a somewhat immature idea, but I don't know if it's feasible!"

"Oh, what exactly is the method? Masaharu, tell me quickly!"

Zhou Mingde's eyes lit up, and he immediately looked at Zhou Chun with anticipation.

Zhou Chun didn't keep him in suspense and immediately said, "Do you think that if I could capture that Ice Prison Sect assassin with mid-stage Golden Core cultivation alive, could I negotiate with the Ice Prison Sect to resolve this calamity?"

(End of this chapter)