Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

After hearing his succinct report, the Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, immediately relaxed his brow and gave a slight nod, saying, "It sounds quite good, there’s definitely a noticeable improvement compared to the last report."

"Indeed, the family has visibly become more lively in the past few years. Not to mention anything else, but just with the newborn celebrations alone, I’ve attended about seven or eight. The number of children in the nursery is almost half the size of a village!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Fourth Elder, Zhou Jiarui also nodded in agreement, expressing his sentiments with a smile.

Then the Fifth Elder, Zhou Jiahe added, "It’s not just the increase in the number of clan members, but their enthusiasm has also surged compared to before. The incentive measures set by the Vice Clan Leader, along with the knowledge that accumulating five thousand family merits can make one a Foundation Establishment Seed, have made clan members more fervent than ever to work for the family and to accumulate merits."

At this point, he looked at the Clan Leader, Zhou Daoyi, and added, "Of course, your Sky Azure Cloud Python’s transformation into a Flood Dragon has also greatly boosted the morale of our clan members, increasing their expectations for the future of the family."

Zhou Daoyi, upon hearing this, nodded with a smile and said, "All the Elders make very good points. It seems that everyone is quite satisfied with the reforms Zhengchun has implemented for the family, am I right?"

"I have no objections,"

Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, took the lead in responding.

"Satisfied."

"Satisfied."

"Very satisfied."

Elders Zhou Jiarui, Zhou Jiahe, and Zhou Jiapeng all expressed their support one after another.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun hurriedly clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you for the trust and support of the Elders, I will certainly continue to work hard for the family."

"Now let’s discuss the other matter for which I have summoned the Elders here today,"

Zhou Daoyi took over the topic and looked at the Elders, saying, "Several years ago, Zhou Zhengyuan from Hundred Medicines Peak had requested the family’s support for his Foundation Establishment, confident that with it, he could absolutely succeed in refining the Demon Spirit Pill."

"At that time, I was in seclusion, and with many matters demanding attention in the family, financial resources were also scarce. I agreed to support him, but did not carry it out immediately."

"Now that everything has settled, there’s no reason to prolong this matter."

"So, do the Elders think the family should use its savings to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for him to use for Foundation Establishment?"

Such a matter exists?

Several Elders of the Zhou Family who heard about this for the first time all showed surprise.

The Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, immediately frowned and said in a deep voice, "That seems somewhat against the rules!"

He was part of the family’s conservative faction and naturally looked unfavorably upon clan members who, confident in their own talents, actively requested support from the higher echelons of the family.

In the eyes of such an old-timer, the high-ranking members of the family weren’t blind; they knew which clan members were worth nurturing and supporting through Foundation Establishment.

If they didn’t actively come forward to support you, it meant they felt you weren’t up to par.

It was just like that classic saying: What I give you is yours; what I don’t, you cannot take by force!

It was true that Zhou Zhengyuan’s Alchemy skills were the highest among the current Alchemists in the Zhou Family.

But like Zhou Chongshan and other old-generation Elders of the family knew, his talent in Alchemy was not at a level that necessitated the family’s support for his Foundation Establishment.

Otherwise, the late Great Elder, Zhou Mingshan, would have already made note of this in his will.

"It is somewhat against the rules, but the rules cannot always remain unchanged!"

"The family indeed has a great need for the Demon Spirit Pill at present, as well as someone whose Alchemy skills are passable to serve the family."

"Since there is no better candidate, we can only trust him this once, and make an exception for him!"

Zhou Daoyi said this with a tone of helplessness.

After his Sky Azure Cloud Python transformed into a Flood Dragon, the Zhou Family’s ancestral Beast Taming skills had arguably reached their peak.

However, the other skills in Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Talisman Making, and Formations were showing signs of discontinuity.

The Formation department now entirely relied on Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, and even now, there was no suitable successor in sight.

As for Artifact Refining, it didn’t need saying; only the Supreme Elder, Zhou Mingde, knew a bit, but he hadn’t put much effort into it either.

In terms of making Talismans, he indeed could craft second-order Talismans, but you can’t expect him, as a Clan Leader, to abandon all other duties and solely act as a family Talisman Maker.

When it comes to Alchemy, since the Great Elder, Zhou Mingshan, passed away and ascended, the few Alchemists he trained for the family also find it hard to shoulder the major responsibilities.

Zhou Zhengyuan was already something of a giant among dwarfs, and comparatively speaking, he was considered good.

Therefore, though feeling slightly uncomfortable with Zhou Zhengyuan’s somewhat coercive request, Zhou Daoyi still believed it necessary to lend him assistance for the sake of strengthening the family’s foundation.

After hearing his words, the Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, also fell silent.

"In fact, with Zhengyuan’s capabilities, as long as he works hard, in another ten to twenty years, he could accumulate enough merit for the family to become a Foundation Establishment Seed. By that time, he would be just over seventy, and he would still have a good chance of succeeding in Foundation Establishment."

"If the family helps him now, think of it as an early investment!"

The Fourth Elder, Zhou Jiarui, quietly spoke a few words in agreement with the decision.

Zhou Chun glanced at the Fourth Elder and understood his thoughts.

His newly contracted Spirit Pet, the Redflame Dragon Python, had a great chance of advancing to the second order in the future due to the presence of a third-order Flood Dragon within the family, and by then, he would definitely need a Demon Spirit Pill.

Helping Zhou Zhengyuan now was essentially helping himself.

Clearly, Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiapeng also quickly grasped the crux of the matter and subsequently voiced their support.

Seeing this, Zhou Chongshan had no choice but to change his stance, "Alright then, the family can support his Foundation Establishment, but if he fails to establish his foundation, or if after succeeding he fails to produce the Demon Spirit Pill as he claimed, then he should not take any more benefits from the family!"

No sooner had he made this concession than the Fourth Elder, Zhou Jiarui, immediately nodded in agreement, "That’s fair. I think for cases like Zhengyuan’s, we need to implement such punitive measures!"

"Then let’s proceed as the Second Elder suggested. I believe Zhengyuan will have no objections to this."

Zhou Daoyi nodded slightly, indicating his agreement with the proposal.

And so, the matter was settled.

The next step was to inquire about purchasing Foundation Establishment Pills.

However, as long as you are willing to spend Spirit Coins, and spend more of them, buying Foundation Establishment Pills is not an impossibility.

After more than a month had passed, Zhou Chun suddenly received a message from the Marketplace stating that a Cultivator surnamed Hu, who had reached Foundation Establishment, had come to the shop insisting on meeting with him.

"He actually found his way here."

A flash of surprise in his eyes, Zhou Chun thought for a moment, then discussed the situation with Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi before heading to Hongya Marketplace.

"Taoist Friend Zhou has finally deigned to meet with Hu!"

Inside the Spirit Beast Restaurant, Hu Changyou, who had met Zhou Chun again, looked at him with a face full of emotional sighs.

His words carried a sense of grievance, much like that of a woman wronged.

And from his words, it wasn’t hard to tell that he already knew about Zhou Chun’s true origins.

This left Zhou Chun somewhat embarrassed.

He hurriedly clasped his hands in a salute and said, "I apologize, I apologize, Zhou has been in seclusion at home for over a year and only emerged a month ago. Though I saw Taoist Friend Hu’s letter after coming out, family affairs kept me so busy that I could not find the time to send a reply."

With a bitter smile, he added, "I certainly did not expect Taoist Friend Hu to be in such a hurry that you would make a special trip to Lanzhou."

Hearing this, Hu Changyou also showed a face full of wry smiles, "It’s not that Hu is in a hurry, but the person who asked Hu is getting impatient. Hu really couldn’t withstand their constant pressing, so I had to come personally to request Taoist Friend Zhou!"

"What is the matter that warranted Taoist Friend Hu to personally seek me out with such urgency?"

A flash of curiosity in Zhou Chun’s eyes, he inquired about the reason.

"It’s a rat problem!"

"In Cangzhou, a clan of Gold-Eating Rats has emerged with a second-order Mutant Gold-Devouring Rat King. It has secretly unified several rat groups, breeding a gigantic clan with tens of thousands of members in the shadows underground. They have now become a pestilence in numerous mining areas, injuring many mining Cultivators, and the loss of minerals is substantial," proclaimed Hu Changyou with a grave expression, explaining the purpose of his visit.