Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 553 The Unlucky Thunder God [Seeking guaranteed monthly votes and subscriptions]

Furthermore, after Zhou Chun used the "diverting the trouble eastward" strategy, he did not actually leave the Black Mist Marsh.

He was very clear about one thing: if even after he had taken several countermeasures, Master Kuang Lei could still track and locate him, then he would have no way to escape, no matter where he ran.

After all, the difference in flight speed between a Nascent Soul cultivator and a Golden Core cultivator is too great. Even if he had the advantage of being the first to act, it would be impossible for him to escape the pursuit.

Of course, he didn't say he would really accept his fate and do nothing.

In fact, although Zhou Chun did not leave the Black Mist Swamp, he merged with the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone and escaped into the depths of a large island within the Black Mist Swamp, hiding thousands of feet underground.

Even if Mad Thunder Master chases after him from this deep underground, he might not be able to find his true hiding place. With the help of the Golden Armor Mountain Tortoise Stone's talent, he still has the possibility of dealing with him.

Of course, once it really comes to that point, he will truly be in a life-or-death situation.

However, the final outcome of events undoubtedly proved that his approach was not problematic.

Actually, this is quite in line with the rules of the cultivation world.

As long as one is not greedy and is not blinded by greed, one is less likely to get hurt or encounter danger.

Zhou Chun's purpose in coming here for revenge was very clear: to vent his anger and to make his mind go free!

He didn't have the power before, so he could only swallow his anger and dare not take revenge.

Now that he has this strength, and having encountered Wang Jun again a few years ago, there is naturally no need for him to continue to swallow his anger.

While cultivators may not necessarily seek revenge, they also cannot remain cowards forever.

To live, one cannot simply live for the sake of living; that would be too tiring and meaningless!

Since his only goal was revenge, Zhou Chun naturally wouldn't put himself in danger for some insignificant gain.

Even if he got his hands on Wang Jun's magic weapons, he wouldn't be able to exchange them for cash, and he wouldn't have the strength to refine more magic weapons for use. Why put himself in danger because of this!

Furthermore, if they don't take these magical treasures, in the event that Mad Thunder Immortal really finds the Zhou family in the future, Zhou Chun can still have a reason to ask the Moon Wheel Sect or Heavenly Mirror Immortal for help to mediate and define the matter as a feud between cultivators of the same generation.

After all, Wang Jun attacked and killed him first, so it's only natural for him to seek revenge now.

However, if he also took away the magical treasures that Mad Thunder Immortal had given to Wang Jun, then the matter would easily veer towards the idea that he deliberately killed people to steal their treasures.

At that time, it will be difficult for either the Moon Wheel Sect or the Heavenly Mirror Master to have a legitimate reason to protect him!

Although the cultivation world is a dog-eat-dog world where the strong are respected, that doesn't mean that principles are useless.

The strong will not reason with the weak, but they will certainly reason with those of equal strength!

Therefore, Zhou Chun must leave himself a way out and not be short-sighted and live only for immediate gains.

After hiding deep underground for some time, Zhou Chun suddenly felt a strong tremor, as if a major earthquake had occurred.

Through the senses of the Golden Armored Mountain Tortoise Stone, he quickly determined that a strong earthquake had indeed occurred in the distance!

This immediately piqued Zhou Chun's curiosity.

He had a vague feeling that the earthquake must be related to Master Kuang Lei.

What puzzled him was, who was Master Kuang Lei's opponent?

Are there any other powerful individuals within this Black Mist Swamp who can rival Master Kuang Lei?

For a moment, Zhou Chun felt like a cat tossing a monkey, desperately wanting to know the identity of the person who had fought against Kuang Lei Zhenren.

But reason told him that he must not go out to watch the excitement at this time, and he must not expose himself to Kuang Lei Zhenren.

So he could only suppress his curiosity and quietly wait for the outcome deep underground.

After waiting for some time until the tremors stopped, Zhou Chun instructed the Golden-Armored Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone to scout out intelligence along the source.

In the previous battle with Wang Jun, the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone never appeared, so even if it was discovered by Mad Thunder Master, it would not be considered to be related to Zhou Chun.

After waiting underground for almost two more hours, Zhou Chun finally saw the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone return.

"What? You said you sensed the aura of a fifth-tier demonic beast at the source of the tremor!"

Deep underground in the cave, Zhou Chun looked at the returning Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone and was also shocked by what it said.

A fifth-tier demon king actually exists within the Black Mist Swamp!

The thought of this filled Zhou Chun with lingering fear.

If he had known this beforehand, he certainly wouldn't have dared to ambush Wang Jun here.

"That's not right. If a fifth-tier demon king really exists in the Black Mist Swamp, why would so many cultivators be allowed to hunt demonic beasts and gather spiritual herbs there? Why has there never been a single word about it?"

Zhou Chun looked up at the cave ceiling with a look of surprise and uncertainty, sensing that things were not so simple.

Black Mist Marsh is human territory located within the Great Zhou Kingdom. If there were any fifth-tier demon kings there, even a high-grade fifth-tier demon king, they would probably be surrounded and killed by the Nascent Soul stage cultivators of the Great Zhou Kingdom.

Even if that fifth-tier demon king was from out of town, it's impossible for him to hide himself without revealing any clues.

After all, a fifth-tier demon king has a great need for spiritual veins, and the Black Mist Swamp has very limited space to accommodate such a powerful being.

The key point is that a fifth-tier demon king has absolutely no reason to risk staying in the Black Mist Swamp!

At this level, even if it is no match for those Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the Great Zhou Kingdom, it can escape to the Dolan Grassland or other non-human-controlled areas. There is no need to make itself miserable by hiding in the Black Mist Swamp!

"Wait, could it be that the backer of that group of bandits is this fifth-tier demon king? The reason he was able to cultivate undetected in the Black Mist Swamp was because of the array and the help of human cultivators?"

Zhou Chun suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but ponder with a slight change in expression.

If things are really as he thinks, then he has solved two problems at once by accident, which is a contribution to the Great Zhou Kingdom!

After staying deep underground for a few more days, Zhou Chun left the underground, changed his appearance, concealed his cultivation, and left the Black Mist Swamp.

Once Zhou Chun arrived at a medium-sized market town near the Black Mist Marsh, he easily learned about the major battle that had taken place a few days earlier.

The contents of the intelligence both surprised and delighted him.

According to the news circulating in the market, Master Kuang Lei did indeed fight a fifth-order demon king in the Black Mist Swamp that day. It is said that the demon king was a mid-grade fifth-order demon king, and also an extremely powerful mid-grade fifth-order black dragon!

Just as Zhou Chun guessed, this black dragon demon king was the true controller of the bandit organization "Black Dragon Society". It had been hiding deep in the Black Dragon Society's lair, cultivating and concealing its existence with the help of the formation set up by the Black Dragon Society.

Master Kuang Lei suddenly attacked the Black Dragon Society's stronghold, forcing the Black Dragon Society's leader to awaken the Black Flood Dragon Demon King. Then, the two fifth-tier beings engaged in a fierce battle in the Black Mist Swamp.

The final battle naturally ended with Mad Thunder Master suffering a crushing defeat!

It is said that Master Kuang Lei not only lost, but lost very badly. It is rumored that his physical body was destroyed by the Black Flood Dragon Demon King, and he only escaped with his life by having his nascent soul leave his body!

After his identity was exposed, the Black Dragon Demon King did not stay in the Black Mist Swamp. He simply took a group of high-ranking members of the Black Dragon Society and left the place, their whereabouts unknown.

This matter has reportedly enraged the top sects of the Great Zhou Kingdom, who have begun investigating the origins and whereabouts of the Black Flood Dragon Demon King.

Think about it too.

The Great Zhou Kingdom has always been a benchmark and role model for the cultivation world in the surrounding area, with numerous highly skilled cultivators within its borders, including several late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

As it turns out, there was a fifth-order mid-grade demon king hidden in the country who was not under surveillance or control. Moreover, he had enslaved human cultivators and established a bandit organization that specialized in robbing and killing human cultivators!

If this gets out, it will definitely be seen as a joke and will bring shame to the cultivators of our country.

After all, even in a remote country like Jingguo, there wouldn't be a fifth-tier demon king within its borders!

To put it more bluntly, since this mid-grade fifth-order black dragon committed a crime within the Great Zhou Kingdom, the Great Zhou Kingdom has a valid reason to hunt it down. Even if it is killed, the other demon kings have no reason to stand up for it.

Whether the Great Zhou Kingdom could successfully kill that mid-grade fifth-order black dragon or not was of no concern to Zhou Chun, as it had nothing to do with him.

However, he was very concerned about the true situation of Master Kuang Lei.

If, as the rumors suggest, his physical body was destroyed and he only escaped with his nascent soul leaving his body, then that would be the best news imaginable for him.

After all, it would take him decades or even centuries just to recover from his injuries and restore his cultivation.

However, the true situation of Master Kuang Lei cannot be found out in ordinary markets.

Zhou Chun quickly recovered his Golden Core stage cultivation, transformed into the appearance of his deceased cousin Zhou Zhengqing, and headed straight for Tianyuan Immortal City.

In this revenge, although Zhou Chun himself did not lose any magical treasures or spiritual objects, he still felt somewhat regretful that his carefully cultivated identity as Zhang Liang was abandoned.

In fact, after he killed Wang Jun, Zhang Liang's identity might not necessarily be discovered.

But he dared not gamble, because if he lost, he might lose his life!

Fortunately, Luo Qingni knows his true identity. There won't be any problem communicating with him under a different identity in the future. She just needs to be careful not to let people associate her new identity with Zhang Liang's identity.

As for the other lost connections, they weren't essential anyway, so the losses are still within an acceptable range!

In short, after returning to Tianyuan Immortal City, Zhou Chun did not contact Luo Qingni, but only sent a message to Zhou Daoyi to let him know that he was safe and to explain some of the situation.

Then he went to Tianzhi Tower to buy information about the battle between Kuang Lei Zhenren and the fifth-rank mid-grade black dragon.

This matter is currently the hottest topic in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and his purchase of this intelligence should not arouse any suspicion.

It must be said that Tianzhilou is indeed a professional intelligence broker.

Although the incident had only occurred a few days ago, they had already obtained firsthand intelligence.

Zhou Chun was generous with his spirit coins, spending 10,000 spirit coins to purchase the most detailed information.

You get what you pay for; the only downside of expensive things is that they're expensive!

The information from Tianzhi Tower differed considerably from the information Zhou Chun gathered in the market.

According to the intelligence records from Tianzhi Tower, that black dragon did not have the cultivation level of a mid-level fifth rank; it was merely a low-level fifth rank demon king!

However, the Black Dragon is not a pure demon king, but an extremely rare human-demon symbiosis!

According to what Tianzhilou learned, in addition to the black dragon's own demonic soul and primordial spirit, there was also the soul of a human Nascent Soul cultivator inside the black dragon's body. Moreover, this dragon was actually a mutated dragon with two heads, making it a two-headed black dragon!

No one knows the origin of that human Nascent Soul stage cultivator, nor does anyone know how he managed to share a body with the black dragon.

If it weren't for Master Kuang Lei, no one would have known that such a being was hidden deep within the Black Mist Swamp.

This time, Master Kuang Lei has truly stepped on a landmine!

After being forced to reveal himself, that being clearly hated him intensely, and therefore acted extremely ruthlessly.

It is said that not only was the physical body of the Mad Thunder Immortal destroyed, but even his nascent soul was severely injured by some kind of supernatural power, which may cut off his future path and even greatly reduce his lifespan!

In short, now that Master Kuang Lei has fled back to Leiya Valley, Leiya Valley has announced the closure of the mountain and fully activated the mountain protection formation to protect itself.

Perhaps in order to avenge himself, Master Kuang Lei also took the initiative to have some information about the two-headed black dragon released.

According to the information released by Master Kuang Lei, the two-headed black dragon not only possessed extraordinary talent and supernatural abilities, but also wielded several powerful magic treasures, including a very powerful seal spirit treasure.

The Thunder God's invincible lightning escape technique was broken by that seal treasure, and in the end, he couldn't even save his physical body. He could only escape by teleporting his nascent soul out of his body.

The reason why the Nascent Soul stage cultivators of the Great Zhou Kingdom are now chasing after the two-headed black dragon is mainly because they want to kill the dragon and seize its treasures!

"Wonderful! This is truly a case of an unexpected stroke of luck, a perfect accident!"

Zhou Chun put down the intelligence report in his hand, his face immediately filled with joy.

For him, this result was undoubtedly a very pleasant surprise.

If the intelligence is correct, Master Kuang Lei will not be able to show his face for at least a hundred years, and may not even dare to leave the mountain gate for a longer period of time.

After all, an injury to the nascent soul is no small matter; it is far more serious than the destruction of the physical body.

For Nascent Soul stage cultivators, as long as they have not possessed another body before and their Nascent Soul is not injured, even if their physical body is destroyed, they can restore their cultivation strength through possession, and it will not take long.

However, if the nascent soul is injured, that would be extremely troublesome.

Spiritual objects capable of healing Nascent Soul injuries are far more precious and rare than those that enhance the magical power of Nascent Soul cultivators. It's practically impossible for Mad Thunder True Person, who comes from a medium-sized sect like Thunder Cliff Valley, to possess one.

Therefore, the only way for him to recover from his injuries is through long periods of secluded cultivation.

During this period, he basically cannot make any more moves, otherwise he may worsen his injuries and make his condition more serious!

Zhou Chun didn't know if Kuang Lei Zhenren had any enemies of the same level. If he did, then there would definitely be a good show to watch.

"Good, very good, excellent!"

He couldn't help but clap and cheer, feeling a huge sense of relief.

Since Master Kuang Lei is severely injured and unable to make a move, the matter of Wang Jun will be temporarily put aside and will no longer pose any threat to him.

Upon realizing this, Zhou Chun felt refreshed and clear-headed. Some of his confusion about cultivation seemed to have found direction now.

He immediately rented a cultivation room to begin his secluded cultivation.

After several months of secluded cultivation, Zhou Chun indeed made some progress, gaining some benefits in both personal cultivation techniques and supernatural abilities.

Zhou Chun then did not rush back to his family, but instead traveled around the Great Zhou Kingdom, seeking out the spiritual herbs he needed to refine the Ancient Dust Pill at high prices.

Several months later, Zhou Chun, who had successfully purchased the elixir, asked Luo Qingni to help him refine a batch of [Ancient Dust Pills] through Zhou Daoyi, obtaining a total of eight elixirs.

Only then did he return to Jingguo with a satisfied heart.

……

On Suzi Lake outside the gate of Su Family Mountain in Jiangzhou, several young members of the Su family, along with a number of friends, were boating on the lake, each discussing and debating a large piece of paper with small characters printed on both sides.

One of the handsome young men, dressed in a blue robe, suddenly put down the paper in his hand and sighed with emotion, "What a remarkable invention! Who would have thought that just a newspaper like this could let us know about the treasures that appeared at an auction in Yunzhou, and let us know that because a large steel-silver mine has been discovered in Cangzhou, the price of steel-silver ore there has dropped by half a percent!"

Upon hearing the young man in blue's words, another young man in white beside him nodded in deep agreement, saying, "Fellow Daoist Ma is absolutely right. The appearance of this 'Heavenly Spirit Morning Post' has greatly facilitated us low-level cultivators. Now, even if we go into seclusion for several months, we only need to buy the newspapers published in the last few months to know all the big and small events happening in various parts of the country, without having to specifically seek out people to find out!"

At this point, the man sighed with regret, "I now subscribe to a newspaper every two weeks, hoping not to miss another opportunity to buy a Foundation Establishment spiritual item like before!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a young man from the Su family, dressed in a blue robe, paused, then thoughtfully interjected, "Brother Chen, the Foundation Establishment spiritual item you mentioned, is it the [Pulse Protection Pill] that appeared at the auction in Qinghu Market, Huzhou two months ago? I saw it in the newspaper at the time. I didn't expect the auction organizers to be so bold and resourceful, actually finding the [Zhou Tong Tianxia] trading company in advance to publish information about some auction items, attracting many cultivators from other places to Huzhou to bid!"

"Wasn't it that time? When Mr. Chen received the news, he only had less than a day left, and there was no time to get there. Unfortunately, he missed a golden opportunity!"

The young man in white, upon reaching this point, repeatedly slapped his thigh in regret.

Seeing this, the young man from the Su family immediately comforted him, saying, "Brother Chen, don't worry. Since Qinghu Market succeeded this time, other auction houses will surely follow suit. As long as you prepare your spirit coins, you won't have to worry about not having another opportunity!"

"Well, I hope so!"

The young man in white sighed, his expression still somewhat melancholy.

At this moment, a beautiful female cultivator in a white dress on the boat suddenly put down her newspaper and looked at the young man from the Su family with a face full of curiosity, asking, "Brother Qing, I heard that the fourth-tier Thunder Dragon of the Zhou family patriarch is now being raised in this Suzi Lake. Have you seen it? Can you tell us what it looks like?"

Upon hearing this, several non-family cultivators who had come to visit on the ship looked at the two members of the Su family with great curiosity.

This doesn't seem to be the first time the two members of the Su family have faced this kind of problem.

After exchanging a glance, the young man in blue lowered his voice and said, "Since you've both heard about this, let me tell you."

"As you all know, our Su family's Supreme Elder Yuzhen and the Zhou family patriarch are Daoist partners, and the relationship between our two families is extraordinary. Moreover, the fourth-order Thunder Flood Dragon now has the ability to protect itself and needs to build a dragon nest to live in. Therefore, after much deliberation, we chose Suzi Lake outside our Su family's mountain gate!"

"Although we all know that the fourth-tier Thunder Flood Dragon is at the bottom of the lake, it rarely appears on the surface, making it extremely difficult even for cultivators from our Su family to see it, and even then, it's very hard to get a full view of it!"

"If you really want to see them, I have a few portraits here that my tribesmen have copied; you can all take a look!"

As the young man in the blue shirt spoke, he patted the storage bag at his waist, took out several scrolls, and spread them out for everyone to admire.

On the painting, during a thunderstorm, the figure of a silver dragon appears and disappears in the lake, stirring up huge waves.

The silver dragons on the several scrolls are all in different poses, but it is difficult to see their full appearance. Only parts of the dragon's head and body can be seen. They are truly like a divine dragon whose head is seen but whose tail is not!

While these young people were boating on the lake, discussing Lei Jiao Bai Bai, Zhou Chun was also inside the Su family's mountain gate talking with the Su family patriarch about the "Heavenly Spirit Morning Report".

Zhou Chun got his idea for "Tianling Morning News" from Tianzhilou.

Of course, he didn't intend to sell that private information; instead, he directly started a newspaper business for the cultivation world.

Zhou Chun had known for a long time that news in the cultivation world circulated very slowly among low-level cultivators.

Generally, only extremely popular news can spread quickly in the cultivation world.

But in reality, these messages are of no use to lower-level cultivators except to provide them with some topics of conversation.

Therefore, Zhou Chun planned to start a newspaper, which would be updated every half month, and would print out information about local markets that only local cultivators knew, so that cultivators from other places could also know about it and thus obtain business opportunities.

At that time, the newspaper business will definitely be very profitable, and it will also win the favor of the lower-level cultivators for the Zhou family again.

Zhou Chun had discussed this matter with Zhou Mingde long ago, and had begun preparations many years in advance. Three years ago, after he returned from his revenge in the Great Zhou Kingdom, he began to personally guide and handle this matter.

The "Heavenly Spirit Morning News" has been running for half a year now, and the response has been very good. The newspaper, which costs one spirit coin, sells thousands of copies each issue.

Even if they are short of money, many independent cultivators will pool their resources to take turns buying information, making it easier to find useful intelligence.

A new month begins, just a quick request for monthly votes!

(End of this chapter)