Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The arrival of his parents, Zhou Xuanhao and Lin Yuting, finally made Zhou Yang’s daily life not so boring anymore.
Ever since he was seven years old, his family had always been apart from each other. Now that they could finally reunite and live together, the three of them cherished this wonderful time very much.
Zhou Yang even stopped his daily cultivation. Instead, he would go outside with his mother every day to help build the oasis or forage through the desert in search of unique edible plants. Sometimes, he would listen to his father tell him all sorts of strange stories that he had seen at or heard from the marketplace. Zhou Yang’s life was both fulfilling and happy.
And as a family of immortal cultivators, the topic of cultivation would always come up at some point.
One day, Zhou Xuanhao and Zhou Yang were talking about what they had seen and heard when they had visited a certain immortal cultivation clan. Then, Zhou Xuanhao asked, “Yang, the clan leader said that you will be in charge of Haoyang Cave in the future. Do you have any plans for the development and utilization of the spiritual vein here?”
When Zhou Yang heard this, he couldn’t help but reply somewhat awkwardly, “Father, you’re asking a child who has been busy cultivating all these years. I haven’t thought about this aspect yet.”
“Right, cultivation is important.” Zhou Xuanhao nodded, indicating that he agreed with Zhou Yang’s answer. Then, the father looked at his son encouragingly and said, “But now that you’ve reached a barrier, you might as well start planning for this matter. Since your mother and I are here, feel free to let us know whatever you have in mind so that we can also provide some advice and input.”
When Zhou Yang heard this, he knew that his father already had an idea in his heart. Saying this was just a small test.
If he was allowed to be honest, he still had some complaints about how his father and the other elders always had the urge to test the actions of the younger generation before the latter was allowed to do anything.
Although Zhou Yang and his peers were part of the younger generation, most of them were already in their thirties or forties. In the mortal world, they would be old enough to be grandparents. Yet, they were still treated like children by the elders. How could anyone be happy about this?
Even if they passed the test and received a few compliments from the elders, what good was that?
Were they expected to play their part as children and expect praise and candy as rewards?
He grumbled internally, but he put on a thoughtful look and lowered his head to think. After a moment, he looked up with a troubled face and said, “I don’t have much knowledge or experience in this area. I really can’t think of any good ideas yet. Father, I would need your advice for this since you have more knowledge than me in this.”
“Well, how rare it is for Yang to not know about something!” Zhou Xuanhao burst into laughter. He seemed satisfied to finally have an upper hand against his own son.
Each time they conversed over the past few days, Zhou Xuanhao would always have a difficult time catching up with or interjecting Zhou Yang. It didn’t matter if it was about general matters, cultivation, or other topics. His son seemed to know about almost everything.
Zhou Xuanhao wondered how his son, who had only been cultivating in the clan, could know so much. The past few days had made it difficult for him to act like the fatherly figure for his son.
If it was not because Zhou Yang looked so young and was the son he had watched grow up from a baby, Zhou Xuanhao would not have doubts if someone else told him that Zhou Yang was an immortal cultivator with a Golden Core who had cultivated for hundreds of years.
Sadly, Zhou Xuanhao could not confide in others about the conflicts and dejection in his heart. Wouldn’t that just make him a laughing stock to others?
Now that his son was willing to seek his advice on the development of the spiritual vein, Zhou Xuanhao finally regained his confidence as a father. He laughed and looked at Zhou Yang with a smug expression as he said, “Haoyang Cave’s spiritual vein is hidden deep underground and surrounded by rocks. It is impossible for you to open up a spiritual field like the one at Yuquan Peak!
“However, this is not entirely a bad thing. The rocks around the spiritual vein are nourished by the spiritual Qi all year round and are much harder than ordinary rocks. It will be more suitable to open up a spiritual beast room to raise some low-level demon beasts for their meat. This will also serve as a good source of income.
“In addition, you can also borrow some storage bags from the clan leader to transport some of the spiritual soil from Yuquan Peak’s spiritual fields to be spread out in the caves just beyond Haoyang Cave. Then, you will be able to grow some Grade 3 and Grade 4 spiritual herbs that usually require a lot of spiritual Qi.
“The spiritual Qi of Hao Yang Cave is more inclined to the Fire element, which means that the layer of magma in the earth here is relatively shallow. Once you have reached the realm of Foundation Establishment, you can collect a sum of spiritual stones and go to Jinsha Square City. Once there, you can ask the Chen clan leader to help you open up a channel of magma to supply Earth Fire here for the alchemists and artifact refiners of the clan to refine high-level pills and magical artifacts. That way, they won’t have to go to Jinsha Square City to rent an Earth Fire chamber.”
Zhou Xuanhao had lived for nearly a hundred years, and he had been in charge of the immortal cultivator market for a long time. He had even visited other immortal cultivator clans on behalf of the Zhou clan many times. The young Zhou Yang could not compare to his father in terms of the amount of experience and exposure to the immortal cultivation world.
The few suggestions made it seem as if Zhou Xuanhao had simply thought of them out of thin air. But he had actually been investigating and planning for the development of Haoyang Cave’s spiritual vein over the past few days.
Each suggestion was the best choice after considering every possible solution and outcome.
Zhou Xuanhao did not have to explain the efforts he had put into his thought process. As an office worker in his precious life, Zhou Yang already knew how hard Zhou Xuanhao had worked to be able to come up with these suggestions.
Then, he remembered that he had just complained that his father didn’t care about his juniors. He couldn’t help but feel ashamed of himself. He lowered his head and bowed deeply to his father. “Father, you are wise. I am ashamed I didn’t know that I was sitting on a treasure mountain. I have let down the clan and elders’ love!”
“Why are you acting like this, Son?”
Zhou Xuanhao was surprised by Zhou Yang’s response. He did not understand why Zhou Yang had suddenly turned so serious.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I just feel ashamed and I have lost my composure for a moment.”
Zhou Yang was embarrassed. He quickly used his mana to suppress the negative emotions in his heart and laughed dryly as he raised his head towards his father.
“Well, it’s also a good thing to know how to be ashamed. To be able to reach your current level of cultivation at your age, it’s inevitable that you will grow arrogant and belittle your peers and even senior cultivators. It would be terrible to have that kind of mentality! I think you should go out and experience the outside world more in the future. You should interact with the cultivators outside the clan. When you have seen and heard of the many geniuses in the cultivation world, you will know that your current achievements in the immortal cultivation world are nothing!”
Zhou Xuanhao nodded lightly. He didn’t delve into the reason Zhou Yang was ashamed. He simply looked at him and lectured him on the principles of being a person.
“You’re right, Father. I have the same intentions too. However, I’ll explain this matter to the clan leader after we’ve settled ‘that matter’.”
Zhou Xuanhao fell silent when his son brought it up.
Taking the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence to break through to the realm of Foundation Establishment was quite risky. Whether or not it could succeed depended on the will of the heavens. It was useless to discuss it any further.
When he saw the change in his father’s expressions and body language, Zhou Yang immediately regretted bringing up the pot that had yet to boil. He hurriedly changed the topic and said, “Father, since you suggested creating a spiritual beast room, why don’t we give it a go now since we have nothing better to do?”
“Alright.”
Zhou Xuanhao nodded willingly, wanting to avoid the awkward topic.
Since Zhou Yang and Zhou Xuanhao were at Qi Refinement Level 8 and Level 9 respectfully, and both of them were equipped with Advanced Grade 2 flying swords, they were able to easily carve out a part of the stone walls to open up a spiritual beast room.
In less than half a year, the father and son took advantage of the hole created by the Venomous Fire Scorpions outside the cave to open up four ring-shaped stone rooms that were more than two thousand feet long, ten feet wide, and seven feet tall.
These ring-shaped stone rooms were surrounded by thick stone walls. Even a Grade 2 demon beast would not be able to escape unless it could burrow to escape like the Metal Eating Rat.
The Zhou clan usually raised the Advanced Grade 1 Phoenix Crown Turkey at Yuquan Peak. This demon beast could grow up to forty to fifty kilograms in weight and produced meat that was firm and chewy that could easily fill one’s stomach. It was a highly preferred food choice of low-level rogue cultivators.
Zhou Yang planned to wait until he reached the realm of Foundation Establishment before he brought in a batch of Phoenix Crown Turkeys from Yuquan Peak to be kept in the spiritual beast room.
Not long after the spiritual beast room had been built, the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence flowed out from the ten-thousand-year-old stalactite.
The Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence that flowed out was amber in color and emitted a strange, alluring fragrance. There wasn’t much of it, only less than a liter.
“I’ll take half of it. Yang, keep the rest of the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence well. I’ll hand it over to the clan leader later.”
Zhou Xuanhao was an alchemist, so collecting ingredients such as the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence was a must. He used a jade bottle to collect the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence that flowed out. Then, he poured half of it into another jade bottle and handed it to Zhou Yang.
After gazing deeply at his wife and son for a full fifteen minutes, he finally broke into a laugh and said, “Alright, I’ve already told you what I needed to tell you. No one is allowed to cry today. Just quietly wait for my good news!”
“Xuanhao!”
Lin Yuting cried out in a low voice with tears streaming down from her beautiful eyes. Her jade-like hands tightly held the man’s hands, unwilling to let him go.
Although she had already tried to persuade him, she understood his choice. Still, it was hard to hold back her tears.
Zhou Yang looked unusually calm at that moment. He looked at his father, nodded slightly, then reached out to pull his mother away. He gently advised her. “Mother, let’s go. What Father needs the most right now is to calm his mind. We can’t let him break through with his worries!”
“Take good care of your mother. Don’t let her do stupid things!”
Zhou Xuanhao’s mana surged as he gently pushed his wife’s hands away. Then, he turned around and walked into the Closed Door Cultivation room without looking back. The door to the room lowered shut with a boom..