Beast Taming Immortal Clan

"Zhengchun, I understand that your Zhou family has had a tough time these past few years, but the interests involved in the 'Tianling Morning Post' are far too great for your family to handle!"

"Yes, Ancestor, I admit that even if others wanted to follow your example and create a newspaper like yours, they couldn't collect and summarize news from all over the country as quickly as your Zhou family."

"But you must also understand that even if others cannot imitate what you have done, it is not difficult for them to disrupt the Zhou family's intelligence transmission!"

"Money makes people greedy! The profits from just two copies of the 'Heavenly Spirit Morning News' a month can buy a Foundation Establishment Pill. Such enormous profits are not something your Zhou family can easily swallow. Trying to keep it all to yourself will only breed resentment!"

"Of course, I'm not saying this to compete with your Zhou family for resources, but to tell you that the profits involved are too great for your Zhou family to handle alone!"

Inside the cave, the Su family patriarch looked at Zhou Chun with a serious expression and explained the purpose of inviting him here today.

Zhou Chun also knew that the Su family patriarch's words were not exaggerated.

To be honest, although he had expected that "Tianling Morning Post" would make a lot of money, he was still somewhat surprised when he actually saw the profits in hand.

It should be noted that this "Heavenly Spirit Morning News" has only been running for less than a year, and there are still many areas that are not perfect and there is room for improvement and strengthening. In addition, not all cultivators are used to buying and reading newspapers.

As the system becomes more and more complete, and more cultivators start buying it and develop a reading habit, the profits will likely increase several times or even ten times!

People like the Su family patriarch must have seen this out.

If that were all, it shouldn't have been enough to make the Su family patriarch say such a thing.

After all, which Golden Core family doesn't have a business that earns tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of spirit coins a year!

The problem is that, in the eyes of most cultivators, this "Heavenly Spirit Morning Post" is a business with virtually no cost.

All we need to do is collect and organize the information that ordinary cultivators on the street already know. Any Qi Refining stage cultivator can easily handle this task!

More importantly, mineral veins will eventually be depleted, and alchemy and weapon crafting require collecting materials and putting in effort. Furthermore, the resources will decline as skilled cultivators pass away.

However, if this "Heavenly Spirit Morning Post" continues to be the only one of its kind, it will be an inexhaustible gold mine.

With such low investment and high, endless returns, how could such a business not attract envy!

However, this is just an outsider's opinion; Zhou Chun himself does not see it that way.

He immediately complained, "Grandmaster, you make it sound so easy, but you only see the thief eating meat, not the thief getting beaten!"

Then he began to complain, "Do you think that the 'Heavenly Spirit Morning Post' could achieve its current success simply by having a good idea? Let me tell you, just the fact that it's sold simultaneously in markets and towns across the country—does anyone else do that?"

"Do you know how many spirit coins my Zhou family invested in purchasing shops? How many cultivators we hired to sell them door-to-door? And how much manpower and resources were spent transporting the newspapers?"

"And you just mentioned intelligence gathering. Do you think my Zhou family doesn't spend money to build intelligence gathering stations? Do you think maintaining these intelligence stations doesn't cost money? The initial investment of spirit coins adds up to a huge sum, it's definitely not as simple as you think!"

"Furthermore, as you know, those independent cultivators are a bunch of misers. They can pool their money from over a dozen people to buy a newspaper that costs one spirit coin. If more people follow suit, the profits won't be as high as you see now!"

His words were also based on reason and evidence, and were not fabricated.

The Su family patriarch couldn't deny it for a moment.

He could only shake his head slightly and say, "Zheng Chun, I don't deny what you said, but it's easy for you to convince me, but it's hard to convince others! They might not listen to your grievances; they'll only see that you're making money now!"

At this point, he decided to be frank and say, "To tell you the truth, it wasn't my own intention to call you here today to discuss this matter. Rather, some elders from the Moon Wheel Sect sent word through Yunniang that they wanted to get involved!"

"As you know, the reason why the Zhou Tong Tian Xia Trading Company was able to establish itself in various states under the Moon Wheel Sect was not because my Su family was so capable, but because we had connections with the Moon Wheel Sect!"

"Now your Zhou family's newspapers are sold through the various branches of the business, and the profits are astonishing. The benefits we gave them back then are no longer enough to satisfy them!"

As if afraid Zhou Chun wouldn't believe him, he immediately added, "I think it's not just me; the Zhu family of the Yan Yang Sect will most likely come to you about this as well!"

Finally, he comforted Zhou Chun, saying, "Don't blame them for their ugly behavior. That's how it is everywhere in this world. In the end, it's still the two families who call the shots in Jing Kingdom!"

At this point, the Su family patriarch let out a sigh filled with helplessness.

However, to his surprise, Zhou Chun, whom he had expected to argue back after hearing his words, remained silent for a moment before calmly saying, "Now that you put it that way, I understand. It's simply a matter of money not being able to overcome power!"

Upon hearing Zhou Chun's words, the Su family patriarch slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's absolutely right! The lives of those elders from major sects aren't as easy as ordinary cultivators imagine. The welfare and stipends provided by the sects are only enough to maintain their own decent living. If they want to advance further, they have to take risks and find ways to make money!"

"Normally, if our families want to open a mine or something, they can't really stop us. But for your 'Heavenly Spirit Daily News' and your business operations, it's too easy for them to cause trouble. They can just stop us from opening our shops!"

Zhou Chun has a deep understanding of this matter.

This is because I experienced too many similar things in my previous life.

Even if you open a small shop, you still need to manage several aspects. If the shop is doing well, then managing these aspects is even more essential!

However, there are always subtle differences between the two worlds.

In his previous life, any few people in uniform could easily receive his tribute.

In this world, only those who are truly in a high position and have great power can receive this money!

Moreover, he doesn't need to be as obsequious as those small business owners in his previous life.

After all, this is a world where great power ultimately belongs to oneself. In terms of strength, Zhou Chun is no less powerful than those Golden Core elders of the Moon Wheel Sect who want to take his tribute!

After pondering for a moment, he nodded to the Su family patriarch and said, "How about this, Patriarch, please pass on a message and arrange for me to meet with those people in person to discuss this matter. As long as they are willing to pay for the service and their demands are not too outrageous, I will not break the rules!"

"This is easy to handle. You just wait at the Su family residence for a few days, and I, your patriarch, will personally send a letter inviting them to come and meet us!"

The Su family patriarch nodded repeatedly and immediately agreed.

The two then discussed some other things.

As they were talking, the Su family patriarch suddenly looked at Zhou Chun and said, "I heard that you recently took a junior from the Zhou family as your disciple and are personally teaching him. Is this child very talented?"

It's no wonder he suddenly asked about this; the matter is indeed rather strange.

Among the several Golden Core cultivators in the Zhou family, Zhou Chun is the youngest and has the greatest potential. Logically, he should focus on cultivation and strive for a higher realm.

Even if it were truly necessary to mentor and cultivate the next generation, Zhou Mingde and Lin Hongyu could take over, so there was absolutely no need for Zhou Chun to do it personally.

But now it's Zhou Chun who's personally taking on this task.

How could this not make the Su family patriarch uneasy?

And since he wasn't exactly an outsider, he took the opportunity to ask the question that had been bothering him.

When Zhou Chun heard him ask about this, he didn't show any unusual reaction. He simply replied softly, "As for talent, it's certainly not bad. Ying'er has a top-grade wind attribute spiritual root aptitude. In terms of talent, she has the best aptitude in our Zhou family in the last few hundred years!"

"However, the reason I took her as a disciple is because Ying'er's father previously presented me with a treasure that would be of great use to me, and in addition, her aptitude is indeed excellent. I want to cultivate another Golden Core seed for the Zhou family!"

This answer wasn't perfect, but it was enough to appease the Su family patriarch.

Even if the relationship between the two parties is truly special, it's not appropriate to pry into every single detail.

Then he nodded slightly, his expression suddenly enlightened, and said, "I see. I didn't expect you to be considering such things so early, Masaharu. You really have foresight!"

While waiting for the Golden Core elders of the Moon Wheel Sect to arrive, Zhou Chun also went to the bottom of Suzi Lake outside the Zhou Family Mountain Gate to visit the Thunder Dragon Bai Bai, which was being raised there.

After much deliberation, Zhou Chun finally decided to release the Thunder Dragon Bai Bai into Suzi Lake.

Since we arrived here right outside the Su family's mountain gate, with the Su family patriarch and Su Yuzhen looking after us, we don't have to worry about anyone targeting us.

Secondly, the environment of Suzi Lake is quite suitable for Lei Jiao to live in.

At the deepest part of the lake, hundreds of feet deep, stood a colossal palace cast in black bronze.

This palace is fifty or sixty zhang long, more than thirty zhang wide, and more than twenty zhang high!

The palace has thirty-six bronze pillars inside, which are used to support the weight of the palace and to provide a place for the Thunder Dragon to live.

Besides Lei Jiao Bai Bai, some low-level demonic beasts tamed by the Zhou family were also released inside, such as the Azure Water Turtle, the Ironclad Crocodile, the Ink Scale Python, the Thunder Feather Sparrow, and other demonic beasts!

These low-level demonic beasts are kept here, exposed to the aura of the dragon day and night, in the hope that they will undergo a positive mutation and become dragon-born demonic beasts.

However, this is not so easy to do. Most of the time, these demonic beasts die because they cannot withstand the pressure of the dragon's aura and the psychological pressure is too great.

Or perhaps their bloodline collapsed during the mutation, causing them to explode and die!

In fact, the reason why such a huge palace could be built is thanks to the Zhou family's discovery of a black copper mine in the wilderness.

Otherwise, the amount of black copper ore needed to build this palace would be worth over ten thousand spirit coins!

As Zhou Chun entered the waterless palace, the white thunder dragon that had been coiled on a bronze pillar immediately swam down the pillar and came straight to him, bringing its head close.

To be honest, this movement is more like that of snakes.

However, since Lei Jiao Bai Bai was originally an evolved python, it is normal for him to retain some of his snake-like habits.

As before, Zhou Chun reached out and stroked his beloved pet's eyelids and forehead, then took out some spirit beast food that Lei Jiao Bai Bai liked to eat from his storage bag and fed it to it.

With Lei Jiao advancing to the fourth rank, the spirit beast food provided by the Zhou family became useless to it, at most just enough to satisfy its cravings.

Moreover, if it wants to improve its cultivation level in the future, it will basically have to rely on its own step-by-step cultivation.

Fortunately, it has awakened its bloodline inheritance and has the most suitable demonic cultivation technique for itself, the "Thunder Dragon Transformation Scripture," which it can cultivate. Its future growth and progress should not be much slower than Zhou Chun's.

After a while of cuddling, Lei Jiao Bai Bai let out a painful groan, and a piece of dragon scale on its body immediately fell off and flew to Zhou Chun.

This is one of the reasons why Zhou Chun came to visit it today.

Over a hundred years, eighty-one complete dragon scales need to be handed over, which means that it loses one dragon scale almost every year, and Zhou Chun has to come and collect them every year.

Looking at his beloved pet, which appeared somewhat listless after losing its dragon scales, Zhou Chun felt extremely distressed, as if someone were cutting off his own flesh.

After carefully storing the dragon scales, he immediately took out a 600-year-old Crimson Blood Ginseng, a medicinal herb that replenishes qi and blood, and fed it to Lei Jiao Bai Bai. Then, he gently patted his beloved pet's head to comfort it, saying, "Good Bai Bai, you'll have to work hard these next few years. Don't worry, what we've offered up now will be returned to us tenfold in the future!"

After spending several hours with his beloved pet in the underwater palace, Zhou Chun finally returned to the Su family's mountain gate.

A few days later, five Golden Core elders of the Moon Wheel Sect were invited by the Su family patriarch to visit the Su family's mountain gate.

After a frank and open discussion with the five Golden Core elders of the Moon Wheel Sect, Zhou Chun and the other party finally reached an agreement.

Going forward, half of the profits from the "Heavenly Spirit Morning Post" sold in the Moon Wheel Sect's territory will be handed over to these five Golden Core Elders of the Moon Wheel Sect. In return, they must speak to the heads of the Moon Wheel Sect's various markets and provide the Zhou family with various conveniences within their authority.

Another crucial point is that if the Zhou family encounters external pressure in the future, they must use their elder authority to petition the sect leader for protection of the Zhou family!

Although such petitions and suggestions do not have much binding force, if multiple elders jointly submit petitions and suggestions, theoretically, the sect leader will usually give them some face.

This can be seen as Zhou Chun's forward-thinking move to prepare for the future of the Zhou family.

It's unclear whether the Su family patriarch was right or if the Moon Wheel Sect leaked the information to the Flame Sun Sect.

Less than half a month after Zhou Chun returned to his family from the Su family, Zhu Wuyai, the Golden Core Ancestor of the Zhu family in Yanzhou, indeed came to Tuyun Ridge as a guest and mentioned that some Golden Core elders of the Yanyang Sect wanted to collect benefits.

Generally speaking, Golden Core elders who can demand benefits from a Golden Core family like the Zhou family are not elders who have recently formed their Golden Core, but rather cultivators in the mid-stage or even late-stage of the Golden Core realm, or at the very least, veteran early-stage Golden Core cultivators who have been in the Golden Core realm for hundreds of years.

Otherwise, if large sects like the Moon Wheel Sect and the Flaming Sun Sect had a dozen or twenty Golden Core cultivators, and everyone had a share, then no one would have anything to eat.

For example, the five Golden Core elders of the Moon Wheel Sect, according to the agreed share, each of them can receive about five or six thousand spirit coins as dividends every year. If a few more people are added, the dividends they receive will be much less.

However, the Yan Yang Sect is not the Moon Wheel Sect. Putting aside the fact that the Zhou family is not a vassal of the Yan Yang Sect, the Yan Yang Sect's power is not as great as the Moon Wheel Sect's, and it would not help the Zhou family when it is threatened by external forces.

Therefore, when negotiating with those people from the Yan Yang Sect, Zhou Chun became much more assertive. If the other party demanded too much, he would simply refuse to do business with them.

With Zhu Wuyai mediating, the Zhou family only needed to give the Yan Yang Sect 30% of the profits from the "Tian Ling Morning News" in the Yan Yang Sect's territory.

After dealing with these leeches who were clinging to the Zhou family, Zhou Chun was finally able to calm down and train his disciples.

Now Zhou Zhiying is over eight years old. Since she was fed some spiritual creatures that are beneficial to her growth and development of intelligence from a young age, and with the help of a Golden Core cultivator to cleanse her marrow and open her meridians with magic power, she not only grows to be as tall as a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, but also far surpasses her peers in temperament and wisdom.

Before she was even seven years old, she had already memorized the locations of the meridians and acupoints in her body and was able to meditate and cultivate herself.

With her top-grade spiritual root aptitude, plus the spiritual power accumulated in her body from consuming those spiritual items since childhood, she had already reached the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage in less than two years of cultivation!

Such a cultivation speed is unprecedented in the history of the Zhou family.

Zhou Chun even specially put a magical artifact on her to help conceal her cultivation aura, so that outsiders would see that she only had the second level of Qi Refining stage cultivation.

"Master, Master, the mulberries outside are ripe! I asked Uncle Mu Sang to pick some for me, but it insists on your permission first. How stingy!"

That day, after Zhou Chun came out of the cultivation room, he had just brewed himself a cup of tea to drink when suddenly a young woman in green rushed in from outside the door, pouting as she ran up to him and began to complain.

This young woman in green is Zhou Zhiying.

Zhou Chun always regarded his spirit pets as companions, so as his only disciple, Zhou Zhiying naturally called these spirit pets "Shishu" (a term of respect for senior uncles).

Upon hearing the little girl's complaint, Zhou Chun gently tapped her head and said, "You little brat, that purple mulberry wood is already a fourth-tier spirit wood. How could you possibly eat the mulberries it bears? Your spiritual energy overflowed and burst your stomach!"

"Oh no, Master, you're really not kidding me?"

The young woman in green turned pale and stared at Zhou Chun with wide eyes, her expression filled with shock.

"Now you know fear?"

Zhou Chun glanced at the little girl, then said, "If you know fear, then cultivate diligently. Once you reach the late stage of Qi Refining, you should be able to barely swallow one!"

"Is that so?"

The young woman in green tilted her head and looked at Zhou Chun, then, as if she had thought of something, she pouted and said, "But by then, the mulberries should have all fallen!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun immediately smiled and patted her head, saying, "Don't worry, as long as you cultivate to the late stage of Qi Refining within five years, there will still be mulberries left for you to pick!"

"Alright, then I'll go pick mulberries to eat after I reach the late stage of Qi Refining!"

The young woman in green nodded, then picked up the teacup on the table and handed it to Zhou Chun, saying, "Master, please have some tea. This disciple is going to cultivate."

Then he strode towards his bedroom.

Watching her skip and hop away, Zhou Chun couldn't help but shake his head, his heart filled with emotion.

It would be difficult for even a cultivator with a superior spiritual root to go from the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage to the ninth level in five years, unless they take some very effective elixirs and fruits.

However, for a cultivator with top-grade spiritual roots like Zhou Zhiying, it was an easy task.

Only those who have personally witnessed the cultivation speed of such a talented cultivator can understand how favored they are by the Heavenly Dao!

Zhou Zhiying cultivated to the fourth level of Qi Refining in less than two years. During this time, she did not take any pills. Moreover, because she was still young, she did not work as hard as the adult cultivators.

Even so, she still managed to reach this level in such a short time!

While the rich spiritual energy within Zhou Chun's cave may have played a role, the primary reason was undoubtedly his exceptional talent.

At this rate, Zhou Chun estimated that she would successfully establish her foundation before the age of twenty without any problem.

It's impossible not to envy someone with such extraordinary talent!

Zhou Chun seemed to understand why the owner of that secret island insisted on setting the rule that only cultivators with top-grade wind-attribute spiritual roots could inherit his mantle.

They probably believed that only someone with such talent could inherit their mantle and achieve the goals they had never accomplished in their lifetime, allowing them to reach a higher realm and see the scenery from above!

However, Zhou Chun was not one of those who believed solely in spiritual roots.

He firmly believed that spiritual root aptitude could not determine the upper limit of a cultivator's achievements. Even with low-grade spiritual root aptitude, as long as there were enough opportunities, one might still be able to form a Nascent Soul or even a Deity Transformation!

Even cultivators with top-grade spiritual roots may not necessarily be able to eventually form a Nascent Soul or even a Deity!

He himself is proof of this.

Who could have imagined that a cultivator with a mid-grade spiritual root aptitude could successfully form his core, especially at the age of over two hundred!

If he succeeds in forming his Nascent Soul in the future, it will further prove this principle and show that his idea is correct.

Sunrise and sunset, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, a mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivator came from the Great Zhou Kingdom and delivered a letter to Zhou Chun.

The sender of the letter was Luo Qingni. According to her, she had already found out about the Golden Thread Tree, which was three thousand years old, and invited Zhou Chun to the Great Zhou Kingdom to discuss the matter of refining the Jade Dew Golden Glow Pill.

After reading the letter, Zhou Chun couldn't sit still any longer.

Whether he can successfully refine the Jade Dew Golden Glow Pill is crucial to his future advancement to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, so he cannot afford to be indifferent.

Therefore, after giving his instructions, he set off again for the Great Zhou Kingdom.