CHAPTER 379: CHAPTER 364: CHANGES IN THE ZHOU FAMILY [PART 2]

Zhou Guangtai, with middle-grade spiritual root talent, is a Tier Two High-grade Talisman Maker and formerly the Security Elder among the seven Deacon Elders of the Zhou Family, originating from the "Fengyue Tower." At seventy-four, he took the Foundation Establishment Pill and successfully established his Foundation in seclusion. He is now eighty-one, with First-Layer Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Zhou Guangqing, with middle-grade spiritual root talent, is the son of the late Zhou clan cultivator Zhou Yuanchang. At fifty-seven, he took the Foundation Establishment Pill and successfully established his Foundation. He is now sixty-four, with First-Layer Foundation Establishment cultivation.

...

After returning to the Zhou clan’s ancestral land on Red Tiger Mountain, Zhouyang first inquired about the situation of the two newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivators in the clan.

Zhou Guangxiang was also a smart person. The moment Zhouyang asked about this, he vaguely guessed Zhouyang’s intention and promptly recounted the major changes that had occurred in the Zhou family during the years Zhouyang had been away.

It turned out that the four Foundation Establishment Pills Zhouyang had left before departing had been gradually exchanged by the Zhou clan members over the years.

However, out of the four Foundation Establishment Pills exchanged, only Zhou Guangtai and Zhou Guangqing successfully established their Foundation.

Leaving aside Zhou Guangqing, who inherited from his ancestors, the fact that a cultivator like Zhou Guangtai from "Fengyue Tower" could gather twenty thousand contribution points to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill is a story worth telling.

It turns out Zhou Guangtai, since taking on the role of Security Elder for the Zhou family, worked very diligently to prove his competency for the position and to prevent other clan members from pushing him out.

The news that the Zhou family could refine Foundation Establishment Pills attracted many loose cultivators to the Red Tiger Mountain Oasis to make a living.

The influx of loose cultivators to Red Tiger Mountain Oasis, while stimulating the local economy, also led to increased chaos in the oasis’s security, placing significant pressure on Zhou Guangtai as the Zhou family’s Security Elder.

To maintain his position as Security Elder, and due to his cultivation being stuck at Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation, he spent most of his time patrolling the oasis to maintain security.

This diligent work brought him considerable rewards.

During one patrol through the oasis, Zhou Guangtai discovered three qi cultivation cultivators pursuing another qi cultivation cultivator, and he immediately went to intervene.

Unexpectedly, before he could arrive at the battlefield, the fugitive cultivator was killed by his pursuers.

At the time, Zhou Guangtai was simply angry at the murderers for disregarding his presence and intended to capture them for punishment.

However, after he and his team killed two and captured one, cleaning the battlefield revealed something extraordinary in the storage bag of the fleeing cultivator.

It turned out that the storage bag contained a high-level cultivation technique "One Qi Qianyuan Technique" and a token artifact embedded with Tier Five Spiritual Object "Profound Crystal Stone."

After obtaining these two treasures, Zhou Guangtai returned to the clan and handed them over to Clan Leader Zhou Guangxiang.

After Zhou Guangxiang verified the authenticity of the high-level cultivation technique, he awarded Zhou Guangtai twenty thousand clan contribution points according to the rules and then exchanged an additional fifteen thousand clan contribution points for the token artifact.

Typically, a high-level cultivation technique and at least a Tier Five Spiritual Object token artifact would exchange for far more contribution points.

However, since these items were acquired during official duties and not found on a treasure hunt, they inherently belonged to the clan according to clan rules.

Additionally, when clans or sects purchase cultivation techniques and high-grade spiritual objects from clan cultivators, they cannot buy them at market prices.

The reason is simple: "safety."

When qi cultivation stage cultivators contribute high-grade techniques and treasures to clans and sects, the rewards, though far less than external sales, ensure safety without fear of harm.

Selling outside, however, almost guarantees "a life earned but no life to spend it."

For this reason, most low-tier cultivators from sects and clans choose to hand over their finds to their sects or clans in exchange for desperately needed items rather than risk their lives selling them outside.

Through sheer luck, Zhou Guangtai gained thirty-five thousand clan contribution points, naturally overjoyed, and immediately exchanged them for a Foundation Establishment Pill to begin a secluded cultivation breakthrough.

At the time, he was seventy-four and had a wife and children, so the success rate of Foundation Establishment was theoretically less than fifty percent.

Yet against the odds, he succeeded, becoming a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

That was the process of Zhou Guangtai’s Foundation Establishment.

As for Zhou Guangqing, he succeeded partly by inheriting seven to eight thousand clan contribution points from his father and partly due to good fortune when he discovered a medium-sized Tier Three ore vein, "Obsidian" during his travels. The buyout dividends from this ore vein led to a clan reward of twelve thousand clan contribution points.

The so-called buyout dividend means the clan directly buys the ten percent share dividend from the cultivators who discover spirit ores in one go, a new clan rule Zhouyang established following a few reforms for the benefit of the clan.

Zhou Guangqing relied on this one-time share buyout, along with the clan contribution points inherited from his ancestors, to successfully exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill and establish his foundation.

Besides Zhou Guangtai and Zhou Guangqing, the Zhou family had two other Qi Cultivation cultivators, Zhou Guangyi and Zhou Guangwen, who also exchanged for two Foundation Establishment Pills in recent years, but unfortunately both of them eventually failed in their foundation establishment.

The failure of Zhou Guangyi and Zhou Guangwen not only meant that all the clan contribution points accumulated from their grandparent’s generation were completely wasted but also left them in debt to numerous clan members.

Unless they or their descendants stumble upon a great encounter, they shouldn’t expect to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill within two or three generations.

This is reality, a harsh reality!

Success earns one admiration from thousands, extending life for a century, while failure leaves one forgotten, burdening future generations.

"... That’s basically the situation. Ninth Uncle, you see, this is the ’One Qi Qianyuan Technique’ and that Token Spiritual Artifact."

On Red Tiger Mountain, inside Qianyang Cave, Zhou Guangxiang and Zhouyang were alone in a room. After reporting the situation, Zhou Guangxiang reached into his storage bag, took out a jade scroll and a silver-colored token spiritual artifact, and handed them to Zhouyang.

Zhouyang did not stand on ceremony with his nephew and directly took the two treasures. He didn’t rush into examining them but instead looked at Zhou Guangxiang and said, "In a month, I’m going to hold a clan meeting. Guangxiang, pass the message along and ensure all the deacon elders prepare the necessary information. During the clan meeting, I don’t want to see anyone making any elementary mistakes!"

"Nephew understands. I will not let Ninth Uncle down."

Zhou Guangxiang respectfully bowed and immediately left to attend to his tasks.

Only after he left did Zhouyang begin studying the two treasures in his hands.

First is the ’One Qi Qianyuan Technique.’ This cultivation technique is a rare high-level technique, allowing cultivation up to the Nascent Soul stage. Moreover, it can be practiced by anyone with the Five Elements attribute spirit root, making it suitable as a fundamental technique for a clan or sect.

This kind of high-level technique, suited for many spirit root cultivators, is far more valuable than techniques like the ’Qinghua Calamity Crossing Scripture,’ which is only suitable for cultivators with wood attribute spirit roots. Its auction price would be at least a million spirit stones.

However, everything has pros and cons. The ’One Qi Qianyuan Technique’ can be cultivated as long as one possesses a Five Elements attribute spirit root, though its power is somewhat inferior compared to high-level techniques suited for a single attribute spirit root.

So, this technique is more suitable for forces without robust foundations, those unable to gather different attribute high-level techniques.

Excluding Zhouyang’s own practice of the ’Qianyang Immortal Scripture,’ the Zhou family previously had only two high-level techniques: The ’Qinghua Calamity Crossing Scripture’ practiced by Xiao Ying, and the ’Golden Radiance Shining Technique’ Zhouyang found in the Golden Light Ascendant’s storage ring.

The ’Qinghua Calamity Crossing Scripture’ does not count as part of Zhou family possessions, as Zhouyang had signed the ’Nether Blood Contract,’ thus daring not to have Xiao Ying pass this technique to other Zhou family cultivators.

Previously, the Zhou family cultivators could select only one high-level technique, suitable for gold attribute cultivators: the ’Golden Radiance Shining Technique.’

The ghost servant Xu Song, whom Zhouyang subdued, practiced a fire attribute high-level technique, ’Li Huo Scripture,’ during his lifetime. Unfortunately, this technique was purchased from another family’s shop under a signed ’Nether Blood Contract’ forbidding external transmission.

This ’Nether Blood Contract’ directly affects the divine soul and primordial spirit, rendering Xu Song unable to breach the contract, even as a ghost cultivator.

Now, the appearance of the ’One Qi Qianyuan Technique’ thoroughly resolves the Zhou family cultivation of foundation establishment cultivators’ lack of suitable techniques. New foundation establishment cultivators like Zhou Guangtai and Zhou Guangqing have opted for this technique.

In contrast, sibling duo Zhou Guangxiang and Zhou Guangxiang found it hard to switch techniques, having established their foundation long ago. They can only consider switching after possibly forming a core in the future.

"The technique is sound, indeed a complete high-level technique. Yet, this Token Spiritual Artifact leaves me puzzled; it features Golden Seal Text, indicating it’s at least a Tier Six treasure. However, how can a Tier Six treasure not emit any aura? Looks like I’ll have to summon Xu Song for an evaluation!"

Inside the cave mansion, Zhouyang held the silver token embedded with a Tier Five Spiritual Object, Profound Crystal Stone, and studied it for half a day. Unable to decipher anything, he finally set it aside and summoned Xu Song, who was slumbering within the Spiritual Treasure Token.

"Apologies for disturbing your cultivation, Elder Xu. I have a treasure here I’d like your appraisal on. Could you help identify its nature?"

Xu Song emerged from the Spiritual Treasure Token, barely having a chance to survey the surroundings before hearing Zhouyang’s reason for summoning him.

His eyes shifted, landing on the silver token handed over by Zhouyang. His ghostly countenance, formed by concentrated Yin Qi, suddenly transformed dramatically.

"The Kunxu Order!"

A gasp escaped Xu Song’s lips, indicating his familiarity with the silver token, immediately naming it.

"Oh, Elder Xu, you know the origin of this treasure? Could you please share its purpose with me?"

Zhouyang’s eyes flashed with surprise as he curiously asked Xu Song for details.

Xu Song, a seasoned old ghost, was knowledgeable and well-versed. Seeing him revealing such astonishment suggested to Zhouyang that the silver token named ’Kunxu Order’ in his hand has an incredibly significant background.