Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Capture a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator alive?

When Zhou Mingde heard Zhou Chun's words, he was also very startled.

He didn't know how strong the Ice Prison Gate assassin was, but he had recently participated in the encirclement and killing of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Therefore, he was still aware of just how strong a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator was.

Previously, in order to kill Yu Jinghua, this traitor, they had five Golden Core cultivators ganging up on him, and even then, he almost escaped.

Now that Zhou Chun actually said he wanted to capture a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator alive, how could Zhou Mingde not be surprised?

"This...can this really work? Masaharu, are you sure you can?"

He looked at Zhou Chun with a look of surprise and doubt, questioning Zhou Chun's strength for the first time.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Zhou Chun; it was just that the matter was too sensational.

After all, capturing a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator alive is something even late-stage Golden Core cultivators wouldn't dare to boast about.

In battles between Golden Core cultivators, defeating an opponent is relatively easy, killing them is extremely difficult, and capturing them alive is even more difficult.

Not to mention that Zhou Chun, with his early-stage Golden Core cultivation, was going to capture a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator alive!

If Zhou Chun hadn't brought it up, Zhou Mingde wouldn't have dared to even think about it.

If someone else said that to him, he would just think that person was crazy!

Faced with Zhou Mingde's doubts, Zhou Chun calmly replied, "To be honest, I wouldn't dare to boast, but with this secret talisman bestowed by a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Moon Wheel Sect protecting me, I think it's worth a try!"

"Oh, I see..."

Zhou Mingde suddenly realized, then frowned and said, "But even if we could capture them alive, what do you plan to do?"

"This is precisely where I am now troubled and hesitant."

A look of distress flashed across Zhou Chun's face, and he murmured, "Even if we manage to capture that assassin alive, and force him to swear an oath of inner demons promising not to reveal that I possess a spiritual treasure, and force the Ice Prison Sect to agree to abandon their assassination attempt on me, there's no guarantee that they won't find another way to harm me after we release them!"

Hearing this, Zhou Mingde nodded repeatedly and said, "That's true. Assassin sects like the Ice Prison Sect cannot be judged by ordinary standards. If they sacrifice a Golden Core stage assassin to complete the mission for the sake of their so-called reputation, capturing that assassin alive would only further enrage them!"

"Yes, these assassin sects are most likely more afraid of power than morality. Unless there's a real threat to their core strength, it's unlikely they'll respect or fear you!"

Zhou Chun sighed with emotion.

Then both of them fell silent for a moment.

After a period of silence, Zhou Mingde's eyes suddenly lit up, and he clapped his hands and shouted, "I've got it! I've come up with a solution!"

"Oh, what brilliant idea have you come up with?"

Zhou Chun's gaze sharpened, and she looked at him with a hint of surprise.

But Zhou Mingde looked at him with a smile and asked, "Zhengchun, think about it. Would any normal person believe that you, a cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, or several early-stage Golden Core cultivators from our Zhou family, could capture a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator alive?"

"This...it shouldn't be."

Zhou Chun thought for a moment, then shook her head slightly.

Then Zhou Mingde clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Isn't that right? Since that's the case, as long as Zheng Chun can really capture that mid-stage Golden Core assassin alive, and then seal him away so that the Ice Prison Sect can't find him, but still knows he's not dead, what do you think they'll think?"

"Will they believe that it was just a few of us who did it?"

"If they don't believe it was us who did it, then who was the powerful figure who helped our Zhou family capture that assassin alive?"

"Is it possible that our Zhou family has a Nascent Soul stage cultivator protecting us?"

At this point, Zhou Mingde couldn't help but laugh and say, "As long as they can't figure these things out and find the assassin who was captured alive, they definitely won't dare to easily accept Qinglian Temple's employees again and continue sending late-stage Golden Core assassins to deal with the Zhou family!"

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Chun's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded vigorously, replying, "That's right, your analysis makes sense, that's indeed the case, that's the truth!"

Then, as if struck by a thought, he frowned and said, "But where should we seal and imprison the person we captured? The Ice Prison Sect should have Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and that assassin must have left behind his life essence and soul tablet inside the Ice Prison Sect's mountain gate. If a Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the Ice Prison Sect comes to find that assassin in person, how can we ensure he leaves empty-handed?"

This question stumped Zhou Mingde, causing the smile on his face to quickly fade.

One of them had a furrowed brow, and the other had his head bowed; both were racking their brains for a solution.

After pondering for a long time, Zhou Chun slowly spoke, "If you want even a Nascent Soul cultivator to return empty-handed, you either need to use methods to block and isolate their search methods, so that if they can't find the person's exact location, they naturally won't be able to find them!"

"Either we place the target in a dangerous place that even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator wouldn't easily venture into, making them unwilling to risk their lives for a Golden Core stage junior!"

At this point, he shook his head and said, "The first method is basically impossible to implement; our Zhou family doesn't have that kind of resources!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Mingde instantly realized something and looked at him, saying, "So, Zheng Chun, you mean to send the person to Longyuanze?"

The only dangerous place Zhou Mingde could think of that would deter even a Nascent Soul cultivator from easily venturing was Longyuanze.

Sure enough, Zhou Chun quickly nodded in agreement, "At present, Longyuanze seems to be the most suitable place!"

"But how will you imprison him? He is, after all, a Golden Core cultivator. If you cripple his cultivation, he will soon die due to insufficient lifespan. If you don't cripple his cultivation, I'm afraid you won't be able to stop him from escaping!"

Zhou Mingde expressed his concerns with a worried expression.

"Among the demonic arts and secret techniques I obtained from those demonic cultivators, there is one called the 'Soul Sealing and Corpse Suppression Technique,' which is a secret technique used by the Corpse Demon Sect to suppress the consciousness of fourth-order spiritual zombies."

"I've seen this technique before. If it could be aided by a magical artifact like the Soul-Sealing Coffin, even a late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator would have a chance to suppress the consciousness of a fourth-tier psychic zombie!"

"With my divine sense and the Soul-Sealing Coffin, I believe it will be enough to suppress the consciousness of that mid-stage Golden Core assassin, plunging him into a deep slumber where he cannot move!"

Zhou Chun said with a hint of relief, "Fortunately, I still have one of those Soul-Sealing Coffin artifacts. I originally intended it to have another way to deal with powerful zombie demons in the future, but I never expected it to come in so handy now!"

He was a killing spree on the battlefield between immortals and demons, killing more than a dozen demonic cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage and seizing countless demonic artifacts.

The vast majority of these magical artifacts were handed over to the Heavenly Spirit Legion at the time, in exchange for battle merits.

The magical artifacts he chose to keep were either usable by cultivators or had special uses, like the Soul-Sealing Coffin.

However, Zhou Mingde was still somewhat uneasy after hearing his method and couldn't help but remind him, "Since it's a secret technique for suppressing zombies, are you sure it will also work on cultivators? Besides, the consciousness of a fourth-tier spiritual zombie is completely incomparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator, let alone that person being a mid-Golden Core cultivator with a strong will and temperament!"

"It should be fine. Besides, if it really doesn't work, we can inject corpse energy and corpse poison into his body to transform him into a half-corpse. That should definitely work!"

As Zhou Chun spoke, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

Since that assassin dared to be hired to assassinate him, then no matter how he is treated, it is not too much. He only regrets that he cannot kill the other party!

After hearing his analysis, Zhou Mingde had no more doubts and nodded, saying, "Yes, if that's the case, then the remaining thing to consider is how to avoid arousing suspicion that the assassin's disappearance is related to you, Zheng Chun!"

After saying that, he added, "Furthermore, after this matter is completed, Zheng Chun, you also need to leave the family to lay low for a while, lest the other party come knocking on your door!"

"I understand, and you'd better forget everything you remember today, lest someone use magic to trick you into revealing anything!"

Zhou Chun nodded solemnly and reminded Zhou Mingde of another point to note.

Once one's cultivation reaches the Golden Core stage, erasing one's short-term memories through certain secret methods is not a difficult task.

However, it's generally not necessary, and no one would willingly lose their memories.

After all, if memories are erased, even just a day or two's worth, it can cause discomfort, making one feel as if they have lost something.

However, the matter the two were discussing today was too important, and if it were leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Zhou Chun could only let Zhou Mingde suffer a little.

Zhou Mingde, naturally a man of principle, showed no displeasure upon hearing this. Instead, he immediately replied, "I understand. I will now use magic to erase today's memories!"

After saying that, he used magic to erase his memories of the past two days in front of Zhou Chun.

After he finished casting the spell, he opened his eyes, his gaze blank and unfocused for a moment, before he suddenly looked at Zhou Chun in surprise and exclaimed, "Hey, Zheng Chun, what are you doing in my cave? Weren't you supposed to be opening that treasure?"

His memory was indeed stuck on the day Zhou Chun left his family to go to Cheng Kingdom to open the treasure, and he didn't remember anything that happened after that.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately reminded him, "The junior has already activated the treasure; you just erased your memories of the past two days."

"Did I erase my memory of the past two days?"

Zhou Mingde's expression changed, and he instantly realized something.

His expression shifted several times before he nodded to Zhou Chun and said, "I understand. Then, Zhou Chun, please be careful!"

However, he understood that since he had erased his memories, it meant that the matter was of great importance, so he did not ask Zhou Chun for more details out of curiosity.

"Don't worry, I have a powerful protector; I'll be fine!"

Zhou Chun smiled slightly and said calmly.

A powerful person's protection?

Zhou Mingde was slightly taken aback at first, then nodded thoughtfully without asking any further questions about the so-called expert.

Next, Zhou Chun shared his gains from the secret treasure vault with him and explained his plans and arrangements. The two then discussed how to deal with the secret treasure vault.

After finalizing the disposal of the secret treasure, Zhou Chun returned to his cave to study and refine the secret technique of "Sealing Soul and Suppressing Corpse".

The assassin's natal flying sword was injured by the talisman bestowed upon him by the Heavenly Mirror Immortal. It would probably take at least two or three years to recover. He could take this time to study and practice the secret technique of "Sealing Soul and Suppressing Corpse".

As arranged by Zhou Chun, news of the Zhou family's discovery of a secret treasure trove was quietly spread over the following period.

Rumor has it that the Zhou family discovered a large amount of mineral and spiritual resources in that secret vault.

There are also rumors that the Zhou family obtained some rare medicinal herbs from a secret vault.

There are even rumors that the Zhou family discovered dozens of Foundation Establishment Pills that had been sealed away in a secret vault!

In short, there are all sorts of rumors.

Whether these rumors are true or false, they all seem to prove one thing: the Zhou family has indeed found a secret treasure trove.

Those powerful forces could easily find out with a little investigation that the Zhou family had indeed been searching for a treasure map, thus confirming the authenticity of the information.

Subsequently, the Zhou family began arranging for people to sell the ore everywhere, which completely confirmed some of the rumors.

This matter quickly spread like wildfire, making many people envious and jealous of the Zhou family's good fortune.

Some unscrupulous monks also seemed to see an opportunity and immediately began to produce and sell various fake treasure maps in order to make money.

Some individual bandits even use fake treasure maps to lure people in and then kill them!

This caused quite a stir in the cultivation world of Jingguo.

However, the life and death of these low-level cultivators were naturally not of concern to high-level cultivators and various forces.

The cultivation world is inherently cruel; greed that is disproportionate to one's own cultivation level is always the biggest cause of death for cultivators!

Zhou Chun only cared about how much profit the Zhou family made from selling off various resources and whether the family's financial situation had improved.

To his relief, the Zhou family's financial situation had finally improved after this large-scale sale of resource ores and various spiritual items, coupled with the spiritual coins they had received from Yu Jinghua's storage bag.

As long as nothing else happens that would cause a significant decrease in the family's income, the Zhou family, with this sum of money as a safety net, will be able to truly recover and completely overcome this financial crisis.

Of course, Zhou Chun had not forgotten the stone chamber deepest within that treasure vault, and had been keeping a close eye on the progress of Zhang Liang and his wife in breaking the self-destruction restriction.

He could roughly guess what was inside the stone chamber, and if he could obtain everything inside, both he and his family would definitely benefit greatly!

Time flies, and a year has passed since Zhou Chun was attacked.

After waiting for a year, he didn't receive any good news from the treasure vault, but he did receive another piece of good news.

After decades of waiting, the first of the three Core Formation spiritual items he had exchanged for finally came true: a bottle of [Extreme Yang Fire Spirit Liquid], as he had requested.

In addition, he also received the last of the three [Mysterious Heart Purple Rejuvenation Pills] he had exchanged for.

After acquiring these two items, Zhou Chun immediately gave the [Extreme Yang Fire Spirit Liquid] to Zhou Daoyi. Now, all that's needed is for Lin Hongyu to find a spiritual object that can help with the formation of the core, and Zhou Daoyi can then go into seclusion to form his core.

As for the [Mysterious Heart Purple Rejuvenation Pill], Zhou Chun also spread the news and set out the rules for competing for it.

According to the rules he set, over the next ten years, among all the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Zhou family, those with a lifespan of less than two hundred years, whoever accumulates the most merit through family missions or by donating certain treasures will be the one to take this elixir!

This rule will also include cultivators who have broken through to the late Foundation Establishment stage within the past ten years.

It is also worth mentioning that the donated treasures cannot be obtained by borrowing from other clansmen; they can only be items that one has acquired outside the clan or that one already owns. Anyone who violates this rule will be disqualified!

Meanwhile, to keep these people occupied, Zhou Chun launched more than twenty well-paid material collection tasks, allowing them to accumulate merit by completing these tasks.

As the news was released, the three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Zhou family who met the requirements, as well as the other four family members who were expected to break through to the late-stage Foundation Establishment within ten years, were all instantly excited.

Within almost seven days of the announcement, all the eligible Zhou family cultivators had taken on their respective missions and left the family to strive for their own Purple Mansion opportunities.

However, just as these Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Zhou family were all striving for the Purple Mansion opportunity, a Purple Mansion opportunity fell into the hands of Zhou Sihan, who had previously presented the treasure map.

To reward him for presenting the treasure map, Zhou Chun gave him the remaining [Spirit Opening Pill].

This matter will not be made public to avoid causing trouble for Zhou Sihan.

After obtaining the [Spirit Opening Pill], Zhou Sihan, who is currently only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, secretly began to take action, preparing to spend all his family wealth to buy pills and spiritual items that could improve his cultivation, so that he could break through to the late-Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible.

Another six months passed, and Zhang Liang and his wife finally made a breakthrough in their research on the self-destruction restriction inside the secret vault, proposing a solution.

According to Zhang Liang himself, it was simply impossible for him, with his current cultivation level and mastery of formations, to break the self-destruction restriction by simply studying it from outside.

Even if Zhou Chun found several more array masters to help him, it would still take at least ten or twenty years of research to achieve this.

Therefore, if the Zhou family does not want to wait for a long time, they can only resort to unconventional methods to break the deadlock.

Zhang Liang's method was to first completely dismantle the protective array outside the secret vault, and then set up an array that could absorb a large amount of spiritual energy, thus consuming most of the spiritual energy in the spiritual veins where the secret vault was located.

Once the spiritual energy there has been depleted to a certain extent, the formation suddenly increases the speed at which it absorbs spiritual energy, and Zhou Chun needs to forcefully break through the protection of the secret vault stone chamber as soon as possible.

Because of insufficient spiritual energy supply, the activation of the self-destruction restriction inside may be slower, giving Zhou Chun some time to collect the treasures inside!

This plan is undoubtedly very risky. If the plan goes wrong and the self-destruction restriction is activated, all the treasures in the secret vault will surely be lost.

However, after reading the proposal submitted by Zhang Liang, Zhou Chun agreed without much hesitation.

His thinking was simple: this secret treasure was a freebie for the Zhou family, and they had already made a lot of money.

Instead of taking all the risks of stationing people there, we might as well give it a try.

Even if they end up with nothing, they can simply assume that the Zhou family was destined to miss out on those treasures!

After agreeing to Zhang Liang's plan, Zhou Chun had his family collect and allocate materials for setting up the formation, and transport them to the secret vault for him to use in setting up the formation.

Only after the formation was fully set up would Zhou Chun go over to complete the final task of retrieving the treasure.

However, before Zhang Liang could set up the formation, a letter specifically addressed to Zhou Chun was forcibly handed to a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Zhou family who was away from home, and it ended up in his hands.

"Within half a month, a decisive battle will be fought at the Nine Ridges Snow Peak of Shen Kingdom! Anyone who dares to break this promise will be slaughtered, along with all the Zhou family cultivators who are away!"

Zhou Chun opened the letter in his hand and saw a line of murderous words.

His expression immediately turned gloomy and somber.

"What a madman!"

Zhou Chun suddenly let out a low growl, and the letter in his hand was instantly burned to ashes.

He anticipated that the Ice Prison Gate assassin would return and use methods to force him to leave.

But he never expected that the other party would be so arrogant as to send a challenge directly and even threaten him with the lives of all the cultivators in the Zhou family!

That's incredibly arrogant!

But this also seems to show that the Ice Prison Gate assassin was not worried about the Moon Wheel Church sending experts to deal with him, otherwise he certainly wouldn't have been so arrogant.

However, after a moment of anger, Zhou Chun quickly calmed down. "It seems I underestimated this person. In just over a year, he has already repaired and restored the damage to his natal flying sword. It's truly unexpected!"

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but raise his hand to take out a silver-white jade talisman and rub it.

This silver-white jade talisman was given to him by Master Baiyue for self-defense and life protection. It was a supernatural talisman made by a Nascent Soul stage master of the Moon Wheel Sect, sealing one of his defensive supernatural abilities.

In terms of value, this item is even more precious than a low-grade magic weapon.

Whether Zhou Chun can defeat the Ice Prison Gate assassin and avert the assassination crisis depends entirely on this treasure.

After pondering for a long time while touching the magical talisman, Zhou Chun quickly made a decision.

Seven days later, Zhou Chun informed Zhou Mingde that he was going to the Su family in Jiangzhou to visit his Daoist partner, Su Yuzhen.

Then he left the gate of Tuyunling Mountain alone.

After leaving the house, Zhou Chun didn't need to use his spirit pet for transportation. Instead, he directly rode the sword light of the [Taibai Dragon-Slaying Sword] towards the Nine Ridges Snow Mountain of Shen Kingdom.

But just as he stepped into the territory of Shen Kingdom, less than a hundred miles away, the [Moon Toad Pearl] within his body once again warned him.

This time, Zhou Chun did not hesitate at all. The moment he received the warning, he immediately activated the "Taiyin Protective Immortal Robe" divine power and also used his own innate divine power, "Qian Yuan Golden Glow".

Sure enough, right after he unleashed his two protective divine abilities, the invisible flying sword appeared silently, tearing through the golden light and striking the silver-white immortal robe before finally sending itself flying.

"This shouldn't be! How on earth did you discover my whereabouts?"

In the sky, the Ice Prison Gate assassins, whose sneak attack had failed, revealed themselves and glared at Zhou Chun with a low growl filled with shock and anger.

He couldn't understand how his stealth and ambush technique, which even mid-stage Golden Core cultivators had difficulty detecting, could be seen through twice in a row by Zhou Chun, an early-stage Golden Core cultivator.