CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 135: CLAN MEETING (PART 1)

The clan meeting of the Yuquan Zhou Family is not held regularly; it is decided by the Clan Leader and the Supreme Elder based on the actual situation of the clan.

The last time the Zhou Family held a clan meeting was when Zhouyang first took over as Clan Leader. Now, it has been nearly ten years since he assumed the position.

Unlike last time, this time, the clan meeting gathered all cultivators of the Zhou Family, including foreign relative cultivators like Lin Yuting and Chen Ting, as well as younger family cultivators like Zhou Guangxiang and Zhou Yuanyao, and even some infants with spiritual roots still in swaddling clothes, were all summoned back to Jade Spring Peak.

The location of the meeting was also moved from indoors to outdoors, right on the square outside the Zhou Family ancestral shrine.

"Fifth Uncle, please take a headcount and see if all the family cultivators are present."

On the square outside the Zhou Family ancestral shrine, dozens of Zhou Family cultivators sat cross-legged. As the Clan Leader, Zhouyang started inquiring about the attendance from the Second Elder Zhou Xuanbin, responsible for family affairs, once all participants had gathered.

He had been away from the clan for a while and was not entirely clear about the current number of cultivators in the clan.

Upon hearing his question, Zhou Xuanbin immediately stood up, scanned everyone, and finally bowed respectfully, saying, "Reporting to the Clan Leader, our Zhou family currently has 1 from the Ming Generation, 11 from the Xuan Generation, 21 from the Yuan Generation, 24 from the Guang Generation, and 5 foreign relative cultivators, all are present."

"Oh, has the number of Zhou Family cultivators unknowingly reached 57?"

Zhouyang’s eyes flashed with surprise at the population data Zhou Xuanbin reported.

During the last clan meeting, excluding foreign relative cultivators, the Zhou Family had only 26 cultivators. In less than ten years, the population had nearly doubled.

"Hehehe, mainly because Xiao Jiu set up that childbirth subsidy fund so well. In my opinion, the amount of spirit stones for this subsidy can be increased. Our Zhou Family is not afraid of not being able to support so many people, only afraid these youngsters are unwilling to give birth!"

Zhou Minghan chuckled, revealing the reason for the explosive growth of the Zhou Family’s population.

Before this clan meeting was convened, Zhouyang had already given him some hints, so he spoke with confidence now.

However, while he spoke lightly about it, those Yuan Generation cultivators serving as the main force for childbirth were inwardly rolling their eyes.

In today’s gathering, except for Zhouyang and a few others and those direct-lineage descendants born later from Xuan Generation elders, which of the remaining had not already fathered twenty to thirty descendants?

Having so many offspring, yet less than one-tenth have spiritual roots, causing many to give up the idea of getting rich by having children.

If it weren’t for childbirth being a one-time deal, they’d be considering returning them by now!

"Great Grandfather’s suggestion is worth considering, but for now, let’s discuss other matters first."

Zhouyang nodded, indicating he would consider it, then turned his attention to the Third Elder, Household Affairs Elder Zhou Xuanlin.

"Seventh Uncle, now it’s your turn to explain the financial situation of the clan to everyone."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuanlin stood up with a troubled expression and said, "Reporting to the Clan Leader, due to the prior Demon Chaos’s impact, not much of the clan’s spirit rice, spirit ores, and other raw materials have been sold, making the financial income situation hard to gauge."

"It’s fine, Seventh Uncle, just make a rough estimate based on the market prices at normal times." Zhouyang waved his hand, signaling Zhou Xuanlin not to worry.

"This... Please forgive me, Clan Leader, I fear I can’t calculate this data at the moment!"

Zhou Xuanlin lowered his head, face flushed, his voice barely audible.

He hadn’t considered this aspect beforehand, only prepared the inventory ledgers for various supplies. Zhouyang didn’t ask him for the inventory amounts but instead asked for an estimate of their values, leaving him at a loss for the moment on how to calculate so many types of materials’ prices.

The atmosphere became a bit awkward. Zhouyang hadn’t expected that Zhou Xuanlin, who managed the clan’s finances, couldn’t even come up with an approximate income statement.

Looking at his white-haired Seventh Uncle, reprimanding words were just impossible to utter.

In the end, he could only offer a hint with a wry smile: "Seventh Uncle, please think carefully. Aside from the revenues discussed at the last clan meeting, consider the current income channels the clan has. What would the expected revenue be from these channels before the Demon Chaos began, and how much treasure remains in the clan’s vault?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuanlin seemed to wake up from a dream, promptly took out the ledgers from the storage bag, flipped through them briefly, estimated the prices in his mind, and then said loudly:

"Clan Leader, aside from the revenues discussed at the last clan meeting, the clan’s income channels now include the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein, as well as revenues from the Jade Spring Tower and Drunken Immortal Tower, and also the spider silk from Flame-devouring Spiders and milk from Golden Rock Sheep."

"Among them, the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein provided the clan with a net yearly income of about 1200 spirit stones before the Demon Chaos started, the two Jade Spring Towers stable yearly net income of about 1700 spirit stones, 15 Flame-devouring Spiders yearly silk output could refine three magic robes, with net income around 1000 spirit stones, the three Golden Rock Sheep haven’t produced milk yet, and their value is currently unestimated."

"And in the clan’s treasure vault, there are currently 2 Tier Three Spiritual Artifacts, 7 Tier Two High-Grade Spiritual Artifacts, 32 Tier Two Middle Grade Spiritual Artifacts, 37 Tier Two Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, as well as 16 Tier Two High-Grade Spirit Talismans, 7 Tier Two Middle-Grade Spirit Talismans, 9 Tier Two Lower-Grade Spirit Talismans, in addition to 2 Tier Two Middle Grade Arrays, and 5 Tier Two Lower Grade Arrays."

"Finally, speaking of expenses, since the main expenditure for the clan in the past, the welfare offerings for the clan cultivators, has been changed to contribution points, the main expense for the clan now has instead become the issuance of the childbirth subsidy fund. According to the clan’s previous subsidy standard, the current yearly disbursement of the childbirth subsidy fund for the clan has already exceeded 600 spirit stones."

"The second largest expense is the subsidy to Fengyue Tower, which amounts to around 400 spirit stones yearly."

"The third largest expense is the tribute to the Yellow Sand Sect. Every ten years, the clan needs to pay tribute to the Yellow Sand Sect, with the total value of the materials and spirit stones for the tribute not falling below three thousand spirit stones."

"In summary, if everything is normal, the clan could have a net income of approximately 6,200 spirit stones per year with expenses of about 1,400 spirit stones."

"Finally, the clan currently has a balance of 14,387 spirit stones on its books."

Zhou Xuanlin seemed to want to make up for his previous mistake, so he took a deep breath and spilled out all the details of the financial income and expenditure situation.

After saying those things, he took another deep breath and continued: "Additionally, I have another matter to report to the Clan Leader. With the increase in numbers of clan cultivators, the consumption of spirit rice, spirit elixirs, and other resources is also increasing. Therefore, the yield from the clan’s spirit fields and spirit medicine garden will be somewhat reduced."

"At the same time, many clan members have repeatedly expressed that the items that can be exchanged with clan contribution points are not as abundant as those in the marketplace shops outside. They asked whether the clan could fund the purchase of various treasures from the outside to enrich the clan’s treasure vault and also open the option to exchange contribution points for spirit stones."

"Thank you for your hard work, Seventh Uncle."

Zhouyang nodded gently, finally revealing a slight smile on his face.

From the words of Zhou Xuanlin, it was clear that the Zhou Family’s current financial situation was extremely enviable, with an income-to-expenditure ratio of 4:1, a remarkable achievement even compared to companies from his past life.

Of course, he also did not overlook those words Zhou Xuanlin mentioned at the end. The current impressive financial situation of the Zhou Family was largely because the number of clan cultivators was small and because contribution points were used in place of spirit stones as the welfare offerings for the clan cultivators.

As the population of the clan’s cultivators gradually expands, this income-to-expenditure ratio will undoubtedly be unsustainable.

After smiling about this, his expression returned to normal. Then, he swept his gaze over all the clan members and said in a serious tone: "Seventh Uncle has already mentioned the current financial situation of the clan. I will now share with you some things that were previously unknown to everyone."

"Firstly, I want to inform everyone that I have advanced to become a Tier Three Refiner."

"Secondly, I want to tell everyone that the clan currently has one Foundation Establishment Pill as a reserve, and the Chen Family Ancestor has promised to gift our Zhou Family an extra Foundation Establishment Pill for free the next time he refines them!"

"Thirdly, besides the Tier Three Refiner inheritance, the clan now also has the inheritance of a Tier Three Spirit Plant Cultivator and Tier Three Beast Tamer, in addition to a Tier Three Pill Formula. So if anyone wishes to learn one of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, it would be best to start with these areas."

Hua!

As soon as Zhouyang finished speaking, the area outside the ancestral hall of the Zhou Family suddenly became as lively as a marketplace.

"Did I hear wrong? Did the Clan Leader just say the clan currently has a Foundation Establishment Pill in hand?"

"A Foundation Establishment Pill! Where did the Clan Leader get such a treasure? And it’s not just one!"

"The question is, what does the Clan Leader intend to convey by saying this now? Has he already decided who the Foundation Establishment Pill will be given to?"

Zhouyang announced three pieces of news, yet among the dozens of Zhou Family cultivators, aside from the young children and infants who did not understand much, everyone’s attention was focused on the words "Foundation Establishment Pill."

Before this, no one had expected the Zhou Family to acquire another Foundation Establishment Pill so soon, and this included Zhou Minghan as well.

When Zhouyang mentioned to him that he had a Foundation Establishment Pill in hand, his expression was no better than those of the people present now.

"Quiet, everyone quiet, let me finish my words first!"

In the bustling atmosphere, Zhouyang’s voice rose again.

In an instant, the noise ceased immediately, and everyone craned their necks to look at him, their eyes burning with eagerness.

"I know everyone desires the Foundation Establishment Pill, but I must tell you that apart from exchanging it through special contribution points, it can only be exchanged by following the principle of spiritual root priority and contribution priority."

"You might not fully understand what I mean by this, so let me explain it in detail now. Spiritual root priority means that a Top-grade Spiritual Root can, before Foundation Establishment, borrow twenty thousand contribution points from the clan to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill for advancement."

"Contribution priority is easy to understand. In the absence of Upper-Grade Spiritual Root cultivators competing, any Middle-grade Spiritual Root cultivator under sixty years old can use twenty thousand contribution points to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill. Whoever gathers the twenty thousand contribution points first gets to use the Foundation Establishment Pill first!"

"So now, do you still want to exchange contribution points for spirit stones?"

Zhouyang looked at all the clan members, and from their fervent gazes, he already obtained the answer he was seeking.