Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 533 A Delightful Harvest [Please Subscribe]

The Scaled Frog alien high priest, Ukuru, was also an old friend of Zhou Chun.

Since Lu Ran's passing, the two have been cooperating for over a hundred years.

Moreover, thanks to the long-term trade between the two sides, Ukuru has now become a mid-tier third-level sorcerer.

More importantly, after the previous massacre of the Scaled Frog alien tribes by the demonic cultivators, Ukuru, on the advice of the Zhou family, successfully integrated most of the Scaled Frog alien tribes, established a tribal alliance, and took on the role of the alliance's leader without hesitation.

He now has three third-tier warlocks under his command, and can control as many as two or three hundred second-tier warlocks, making him a formidable force.

The stronger the power controlled by Ukuru's subordinates, the more and better the quantity and quality of treasures they can obtain from Dragon Abyss, and the Zhou family will naturally benefit from this.

Since successfully forming his core, Zhou Chun has rarely dealt with Ukuru in person.

Upon learning that he had come in person, Ukuru rushed over to meet him.

"Ukuru greets Senior Zhou. May I ask what instructions you have for summoning Ukuru here?"

On a lakeside reef, Ukuru emerged from the water and bowed respectfully to Zhou Chun.

Zhou Chun knew that such alien beings feared power but not virtue, so he didn't suggest that the two continue to discuss things as equals.

He stared intently at Ukuru with a serious expression and said, "Ukuru, you have cooperated with me for over a hundred years. How have I or the Zhou family treated you? Have they ever wronged you?"

Upon hearing this, Ukuru's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly replied, "Senior Zhou and the Zhou family have always been extremely kind to me. Without their help, I wouldn't have achieved my current status, and our Scaled Frog Clan wouldn't be as united and prosperous as we are today!"

"Alright, since you're fully aware of this, I now want you to do something dangerous, but it's necessary. Are you willing to do it?"

As Zhou Chun spoke, his gaze was fixed on Ukuru's eyes, taking in the details of the other man's heartbeat and blood flow.

Ukuru's heartbeat noticeably quickened, and a look of tension and trepidation appeared in his eyes.

But not long after, he seemed to have figured something out, and suddenly nodded vigorously to Zhou Chun, saying, "This junior is willing, please give your instructions, Senior Zhou!"

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun suddenly chuckled and said, "Hehehe, don't be nervous. I don't want you to fight any powerful enemies; I just want you to make a trip deep into Dragon Abyss Swamp!"

Sure enough, upon hearing his words, Ukuru breathed a sigh of relief.

For the Scaled Frog race, although venturing into the depths of Dragon Abyss is also a relatively dangerous undertaking, compared to directly fighting some powerful demonic beasts, at least they have a lot of room for maneuver.

He immediately looked at Zhou Chun and said, "This junior understands. I wonder what this junior should do?"

"Your task is simple: deliver this body bag to the Dragon Abyss deep within the Dragon Abyss Swamp, then find a cave to retrieve the coffin inside and store it there. When you return, remember to block the cave entrance and leave a clear mark for easy retrieval!"

"If this matter is accomplished, Zhou will certainly reward you handsomely!"

As Zhou Chun spoke, he reached out and took down a black body bag hanging from his waist, handing it to Ukuru.

"What? We're going to Longyuan!"

Ukuru's expression changed, and he looked at Zhou Chun with shock, but Zhou Chun remained calm.

She simply looked at him and asked calmly, "What? You're afraid?"

"I...yes, Ukuru obeys!"

Gritting his teeth, Ukuru still reached out and took the black body bag, accepting the task.

"Very well, then I, Zhou, will wait here for your good news, Fellow Daoist Ukuru!"

Zhou Chun nodded in satisfaction, seemingly pleased with his performance.

Ukuru, however, was filled with bitterness and speechless. He could only quickly bid farewell to Zhou Chun and return to his tribe to make arrangements for his funeral.

Longyuan is not a good place; it is the place from which the name Longyuanze (Dragon Abyss Marsh) originates.

The waters where the Scaled Frog aliens live now are indeed called Dragon Abyss Marsh, but in reality, they are only the outermost area of ​​the true Dragon Abyss Marsh.

After traveling thousands of miles from this outer area into the depths of Dragon Abyss Marsh, the water depth will drop dramatically, reaching depths of several thousand or even tens of thousands of feet!

That place is Longyuan, the main base of the Jiaolong clan.

Normally, the scaled frog race would never go there; their range of activity would not even extend more than three thousand miles into the Dragon Abyss Marsh.

Ordinary scaled frog aliens are not capable of going to such places; only third-tier sorcerers like Ukuru can barely manage to go.

As the main base of the Jiaolong clan, the Longyuan region is a place where human cultivators are strictly prohibited from entering.

Even human Nascent Soul stage cultivators dare not easily set foot in such forbidden areas, lest they be besieged and killed by those fifth-order dragons.

You should know that for these fifth-order flood dragons, the nascent soul of a human cultivator is a great tonic. Eating one is more effective than them cultivating for a hundred years!

Therefore, as long as Ukuru really hides the Soul-Sealing Coffin containing the Ice Prison Sect's assassins inside Dragon Abyss, it's practically impossible for any Ice Prison Sect cultivator to dare go there to search for him.

In the following days, Zhou Chun was able to sense, through the marks left on the Soul-Sealing Coffin, that the object was moving deeper into the Dragon Abyss Marsh, clearly indicating that Ukuru had begun to carry out the task he had assigned.

The third-tier scaled frog alien sorcerer is not much weaker than an ordinary third-tier demon beast in the water. As long as Ukuru brings some helpers and is careful, he still has a good chance of completing this mission.

After more than ten days, a weakened Ukuru finally came to Zhou Chun's side again.

"Senior Zhou, I have successfully placed the coffin into Dragon Abyss as you instructed, and left identification marks as you suggested!"

He spoke listlessly about the progress of his task, his voice weak, as if even speaking was a struggle.

But Zhou Chun could actually tell that although he was indeed severely injured, he was not injured to such an extent.

They're doing this simply to ask for a reward.

Zhou Chun didn't have any particular opinion about this, after all, the other party had indeed risked his life to complete the task he assigned.

The emperor doesn't need starving soldiers!

Zhou Chun naturally wouldn't let Ukuru take the risk for nothing.

He immediately raised his hand and patted the storage bag at his waist, and a jade slip appeared in his hand.

He then tossed it to Ukuru, saying, "This jade slip contains an improved weapon-refining technique. I know you, Ukuru, have long wanted to train weapon refiners for your own clan. Take this and have someone study it carefully; perhaps in the future, your Scaled Frog clan will be able to produce some low-level magical artifacts!"

Upon hearing his words, Ukuru was first startled, then delighted.

He hurriedly accepted the jade slip, then repeatedly bowed to Zhou Chun in gratitude, "Thank you for your generous gift, Senior Zhou. I assure you that even if the Scaled Frog Clan is able to produce low-level magic artifacts themselves in the future, it will absolutely not affect our trade with the Zhou family!"

He was quite clever; he knew what the Zhou family might be worried about, and at that moment he directly stated his position.

But what he didn't know was that Zhou Chun wasn't afraid that the Scaled Frog aliens would sever trade with the Zhou family once they mastered the skill of refining low-level magic weapons.

Zhou Chun didn't want to explain further, but simply nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, Ukuru, you are a wise high priest. The Scaled Frog Clan needs the guidance of a high priest with such foresight to thrive in this Dragon Abyss Swamp!"

Then they let Ukuru leave.

"I hope these scaled frog aliens won't disappoint me and that they can produce their own low-level magical artifacts as soon as possible!"

Zhou Chun looked in the direction Ukuru had gone, and a look of worry appeared in his eyes.

If possible, he certainly wouldn't want the Scaled Frog alien race to produce low-level magical artifacts on their own.

However, the reality is that, after a century of trade with the Zhou family, the Scaled Frog alien race now possesses a considerable number of low-level magical artifacts.

This certainly increased their strength, but it also sowed the seeds of future problems.

What if the people from the Dragon Transformation Sect come one day and notice that the Scaled Frog alien sorcerer is using a magical artifact? Wouldn't that very likely expose the existence of the Zhou family?

Therefore, Zhou Chun now wants the Scaled Frog alien race to produce their own low-level magic weapons, so that if the Dragon Transformation Sect really investigates, it can cover up the existence of the Zhou family.

Fortunately, although many Scaled Frog alien sorcerers know that High Priest Ukuru has trade relations with humans, not many Scaled Frog alien sorcerers actually know about the Zhou family's existence.

Every time trade took place, it was Ukuru and a few of his trusted men who liaised with the Zhou family cultivators. The Zhou family cultivators never appeared openly in front of ordinary scaled frog alien sorcerers.

In this way, as long as Ukuru and his close associates don't cause any problems, the Zhou family should be able to remain hidden.

After dealing with the Ice Prison Gate assassins, Zhou Chun didn't linger in the wilderness and quickly headed to the location of the secret treasure trove in Cheng Kingdom.

He needed to finish up this secret treasure before the Ice Prison Gate could react, and then go to the Great Zhou Kingdom to hide for a while.

……

In the Ice Kingdom, there is a cold ice chamber somewhere.

This place is located somewhere underground, and the four walls are all solid ice with a blue sheen.

Inside the ice chamber were enshrined soul tablets that emitted a purplish-black spiritual light, each with the name of its owner affixed to its front.

At a cursory glance, there were at least a hundred soul tablets!

After the assassin who tried to kill Zhou Chun was sealed by him using the "Soul Sealing and Corpse Suppression Technique," a soul tablet bearing the name "Chi Qinghan" suddenly shook slightly, and the purplish-black spiritual light emanating from it dimmed considerably.

This scene immediately caught the attention of an elderly man meditating in a corner of the ice room.

The old man had a completely white head and wore an ice sculpture mask on his face.

He opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the soul tablet that had started to move.

"The soul tablet is shaking and the soul light is dim. It seems that Junior Brother Chi has encountered a dangerous situation while on a mission. Let's observe for a while longer."

The old man muttered to himself, then focused some of his attention on the soul tablet.

After observing for another half day, seeing that the soul tablet remained still and the soul light gradually stabilized, the old man frowned and muttered to himself, "Judging from the reaction of this soul tablet, Junior Brother Chi should be out of danger, but is he injured and needs recuperation, or has his primordial spirit been sealed?"

After a moment's thought, the old man took out a communication talisman and notified the sect leader of the Ice Prison Sect of his discovery.

Not long after, he received a reply.

"Continue to observe for half a month. If there is no change after half a month, then return."

Muttering the sect leader's reply to himself, the old man immediately closed his eyes and continued meditating.

Two weeks passed quickly.

After half a month, seeing no change in the soul tablet, the old man sent another message talisman to the sect leader, along with the results of his observations over the past half month.

Then, a Golden Core cultivator from the Ice Prison Sect left the sect and traveled to Jing Kingdom to investigate the situation.

At this moment, Zhou Chun had already appeared in the secret vault of Cheng Kingdom.

While waiting for Zhang Liang to complete the formation, he also took stock of the spoils from capturing the Ice Prison Sect assassins.

After capturing his opponent, Zhou Chun coveted the uses of the magic treasures on his opponent's body, especially the natal flying sword made of [Ten Thousand Year Ice Crystal].

However, precisely because that flying sword was the other party's natal flying sword, once it was carried on their person, it might be found by the experts of the Ice Prison Sect using secret techniques. Therefore, Zhou Chun had no choice but to painfully seal it inside the Soul Sealing Coffin.

The only treasures he truly kept were the white mirror and another white shield.

Although the white mirror was only a low-grade magic weapon, the ice light magic it released was extremely powerful, and its value was much greater than the other low-grade magic weapons that Zhou Chun had handled before.

The white shield magic weapon was a mid-grade defensive magic weapon, but unfortunately, its spirituality was damaged by the talisman bestowed upon it by the Heavenly Mirror True Man, and it was attacked by him many times in the previous battle. Now its spirituality is greatly damaged, and it shows signs of falling back to a low-grade magic weapon.

Neither of these two magical artifacts were the assassin's natal artifacts. Zhou Chun only needed to erase the marks and aura left by the assassin to avoid being tracked down by his aura.

However, since it was stolen goods, and to avoid attracting the assassins of the Ice Prison Gate if it were exposed in the future, he planned to take it back to the Great Zhou Kingdom and exchange it with someone.

After examining the two magical artifacts, Zhou Chun took out the assassin's storage bag and opened it.

As he expected, the other party's storage bag didn't contain many good items.

As assassins, they could die at any moment during a mission, so these Ice Prison Gate assassins couldn't possibly carry much with them when they went out on missions.

Aside from a spirit crystal used to replenish mana, some healing pills and talismans, there wasn't anything of importance inside.

Zhou Chun did not find any evidence to implicate Qinglian Temple. He only found two intelligence documents about himself and the Zhou family. It seemed that one document was provided by Qinglian Temple and the other was collected by Bingyumen.

He didn't even find any identification tokens or anything related to the Ice Prison Gate!

However, it wouldn't be accurate to say that this person didn't have anything good on him. At least the white robe he was wearing was quite impressive; it was a magical artifact that could conceal one's aura.

Unfortunately, its style was too unique, and Zhou Chun dared not keep it on his body, so it could only remain inside the Soul-Sealing Coffin.

"It is said that the Ice Barbarian Kingdom is rich in various ice-attribute spiritual objects, and the monsters there are mostly of the ice, wind, and water attributes. Perhaps there are monsters there that possess the bloodline of the [Taiyin Moon Toad]?"

Zhou Chun looked at the treasures he had obtained from the assassins, his eyes gleaming, as if he had some idea.

But he quickly put everything away, cleared his mind of distractions, and sat down to meditate quietly.

"Chieftain, the formation is complete. Now we only need to deplete the spiritual energy here according to plan. Once the spiritual energy has decreased to a certain level, we can break down the gate!"

At the foot of the cliff, Zhang Liang strode up to Zhou Chun, who was sitting cross-legged, and respectfully reported on his work achievements.

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Chun immediately said, "Now that everything is set up, let's begin!"

After saying that, he raised his hand and patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist, releasing the three spirit pets: the Golden-Armored Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone, the Golden-Winged Tiger, and the Wood Spirit Wood Mulberry. He then had them attack the formation together, consuming the spiritual energy of the mountain.

The concentration of spiritual energy in this place is similar to that of Zhou Family's Nine Peaks Ridge. With the attack strength of the three spirit pets, it would be enough to reduce the spiritual energy here to the required level in a day.

That's why doing this makes a lot of noise and is likely to attract the attention of other cultivators and demon beasts in the vicinity.

Fortunately, Zhou Chun had made arrangements in advance, and as long as no Golden Core cultivator suddenly arrived, keeping the news a secret for a day or two should not be a problem.

The day passed quickly.

When Zhang Liang, who was constantly observing the changes in the spiritual energy on the mountain, gave a reminder, Zhou Chun immediately ordered the three spirit pets to stop their attack.

He then arrived at the stone door made of "Black Prison Stone" and immediately summoned the [Moon Toad Pearl] without saying a word.

In terms of pure offensive power, "Taiyin Extinction Divine Light" is undoubtedly the strongest technique that Zhou Chun currently possesses.

Moreover, this supernatural power that freezes everything might also have a positive effect on the self-destruction restriction inside.

Sure enough, even the "Black Prison Stone," a hard stone that even a Golden Core cultivator couldn't easily break, paled in comparison to the extreme freezing power of the "Taiyin Extinction Divine Light."

The white, icy light fell on the stone gate, and in just a moment or two, the stone gate cracked open.

Zhou Chun unleashed the [Taibai Dragon-Slaying Sword] and slashed out, shattering the cracked stone gate with a loud crash.

However, at the same time, the self-destruction restriction on the stone gate was also directly triggered due to the heavy blow, and blinding flames suddenly surged into the stone chamber.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun disregarded everything else and rushed into the fire to salvage the contents.

Just as Zhou Chun had expected, the stone chamber contained numerous paper and leather books, as well as treasure chests and jade boxes.

But at that moment, as soon as the flames rose, many books burst into flames, and intense explosions erupted near the treasure chests and jade boxes.

Some jade boxes were blown open, and the magical talismans sealed inside were detonated, generating even more powerful destructive force.

In this situation, these runes are like ammunition exploding in an armory, only amplifying the destruction.

After Zhou Chun activated his innate divine power, Qian Yuan Jin Xia, he exerted all his strength to salvage what was inside.

His priority in rescuing those ancient books was naturally to do so.

For the Zhou family, these ancient books were far more useful than the other treasures stored in the stone chamber.

No matter how precious other treasures are, the Zhou family will be able to buy them with money or exchange them for other items in the future.

However, some precious traditional books are things that money can't buy.

Unfortunately, although Zhou Chun acted quickly, he couldn't stop the destructive power inside from spreading even faster.

He only managed to salvage less than half of the books and some treasure chests and jade boxes along the way; the rest of the contents were destroyed in the violent explosion.

Moreover, as the boxes filled with magical talismans were detonated one after another, the violent explosive force quickly collapsed the mountain, preventing Zhou Chun from collecting any more treasures.

"Come on, everyone come up, we're leaving right away!"

Within the collapsed mountain peak, a sword light suddenly burst forth from the ground, followed by Zhou Chun's voice spreading through the air.

Instantly, Zhang Liang, Zhou Xindie, and other Zhou family cultivators who were waiting around rushed towards the flying sword that had transformed into a giant sword several dozen feet long in the sky.

Soon the giant sword carried Zhou Chun and a group of Zhou family cultivators straight into the sky and quickly disappeared from the scene.

As the Zhou family members left, the cultivators and demonic beasts who had been attracted by the loud explosions all gathered towards the ruins of the secret vault.

Soon after, news of the secret vault appearing at Wutou Ridge spread rapidly throughout the Cheng Kingdom.

On the other side, after Zhou Chun brought the Zhou family back to Jingguo, he told them to return to their families to receive their rewards and instructed them not to reveal any information about their trip.

He then returned to his family to share the spoils of the secret vault with Zhou Mingde.

Inside Zhou Chun's cave in Tu Yunling, Zhou Mingde, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, joined him in examining the books and classics he had rescued.

In the rush of the time, Zhou Chun didn't have time to carefully distinguish which books and classics were important. He simply used the most basic method of identification, which was to rescue them based on the rarity of the carrier.

Generally speaking, the more expensive the paper and animal hides used, the better the quality of the paper or hides will be.

In retrospect, his choice may not have been entirely correct, but it certainly wasn't a major mistake.

After taking stock, the two Golden Core cultivators from the Zhou family checked their respective results and were both beaming with joy.

"That's right. Even after removing the books that overlap with the family collection, there are still three top-tier cultivation techniques, eight combat techniques, and twenty-three ordinary cultivation techniques that the family doesn't have. In addition, there are sixteen secret cultivation methods, one set each of alchemy master and weapon crafting master inheritances, and inheritances in talisman making and formation techniques that involve the third tier!"

"This harvest is far more valuable than all the ancient texts and legacies my Zhou family has collected in the past two hundred years!"

Zhou Mingde, beaming with joy, announced the results of the inventory count, his heart overflowing with happiness.

Zhou Chun also had a happy expression on her face.

Leaving aside those cultivation techniques and secret arts, they are merely icing on the cake for the Zhou family, giving future clansmen more options when choosing cultivation methods.

However, the inheritance of alchemy and weapon crafting was a godsend for the Zhou family!

In particular, when Zhou Chun was examining the pill formulas recorded in the alchemy manual, he unsurprisingly discovered the formula for the [Purple Dust Pill], a very famous elixir that helps open the Purple Mansion.

In addition, there are three elixir formulas suitable for cultivators in the Purple Mansion stage, including the [Energy Enhancement Pill] formula that the Zhou family currently possesses.

More importantly, one of the pill formulas, written on fine gold paper, actually recorded a method for refining pills that could enhance the magical power of cultivators at the Golden Core stage.

This elixir, called the Jade Dew Golden Glow Pill, can enhance the magical power of early-stage Golden Core cultivators and also provides some assistance in breaking through the barrier to the mid-stage Golden Core realm.

The value of such a pill formula is even higher than that of a mid-grade magic weapon; it is definitely the biggest gain from this secret vault!

With this formula in hand, Zhou Chun was confident that he could get Luo Qingni, the alchemy master, to refine pills for him for free for the next hundred years!

In comparison, the formula for the [Purple Dust Pill] becomes an optional extra.

"This weapon-refining inheritance is truly remarkable! It even contains the crafting method for a third-tier flying ship. This flying ship, called the [Silver Scale Cloud Piercing Ship], can not only carry two to three hundred people but also possesses powerful defensive capabilities. Its fastest flight speed is comparable to that of a late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator using the escape technique!"

"There's also this flying magical artifact called the [Azure Jade Cloud-Piercing Boat]. Although it's a second-tier flying magical artifact, it can carry twenty or thirty people, and it doesn't seem too difficult to forge!"

Just as Zhou Chun was feeling excited and happy about the pill formulas recorded in the alchemy inheritance, Zhou Mingde also loudly announced his own discovery with shining eyes.

He has recently devoted himself to studying weapon crafting techniques, and with the superior advantage brought by his cultivation level, he is now able to craft second-tier high-grade magic weapons on his own.

Therefore, they pay more attention to the various unique methods of crafting magical artifacts recorded in the weapon crafting tradition.

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Chun immediately understood their importance.

Although almost everyone in the Zhou family has a spirit pet for transportation, it doesn't mean they don't have a need for such flying magical artifacts.

After all, spirit pets that can carry dozens or even hundreds of people at high speeds are still very rare.

The [Silver Scale Cloud Piercing Ship], a flying artifact capable of carrying hundreds of people at a time, is an excellent tool for personnel transfer, capable of transferring almost all members of some small and medium-sized families.

These kinds of treasures are basically only possessed by the major sects.

In addition, the recipe for the [Jade Dew Golden Glow Pill] aroused Zhou Chun's curiosity about the power that built the secret vault.

He immediately said, "To leave behind such a powerful legacy, I wonder which faction built that secret vault. Let's examine these texts carefully; perhaps we can find some clues!"

(End of this chapter)