Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhou Yang did not want his bed warmed. Lust was like a bone-scraping knife. Countless geniuses in the immortal cultivation world had failed to resist the temptation of lust and beauty, losing their virginity too early, and thus destroying their cultivation.
There was nothing more foolish than allowing a one-night stand to stand in the way of one’s cultivation. A woman’s seduction should be nothing compared to longevity.
Moreover, the women Zhou Yang had interacted with were immortal cultivators such as his mother and godmother. Though they were nearly a hundred years old, their beauty and temperament were not something ordinary women could compare to. Why would he be interested in the regular women the Chen clan offered him?
But Zhou Yang knew that some of the older cultivators who had already lost their virginity or who had extremely poor spiritual roots would often visit Fengyue Brothels – places set up by each of the various clans in White Sand River Oasis – to be treated like emperors.
Though the women at Fengyue Brothels were mortal clansmen of their respective immortal cultivation clans, their purpose in serving the men was to gain the opportunity of giving birth to a baby with spiritual roots.
Based on the statistical calculations of the experienced and seasoned immortal cultivators, the chances of a mortal woman and an ordinary Qi Refinement cultivator giving birth to a child with spiritual roots were more than one percent, much higher than the chances of a mortal couple trying to do the same.
Any woman in a Fengyue Brothel who gave birth to a child with spiritual roots, even if it’s of a lower level, would receive a reward from their clan.
The reward might not be much to immortal cultivators, but it was a huge sum of money for mortals to use within a lifetime. Plus, the clan would gain a new immortal cultivator to add to their ranks. It was a double-win situation for everyone.
The first clan to set up a Fengyue Brothel was the Chen clan. At least 30% of their Qi Refinement cultivators and two of the more-than-ten Foundation Establishment cultivators were offsprings of the women who worked in the brothel.
It was precisely because of the Chen clan’s genius that the other immortal cultivation clans in White Sand River Oasis decided to follow in the Chen clan’s footsteps and set up their own Fengyue Brothels. Sometimes, the major clans would even offer spiritual stones to the cultivators who visited the clan’s Fengyue Brothels when there was a lack of cultivators frequenting the Fengyue Brothels.
Many young rogue cultivators who did not know how precious their Yuan Qi was would fall victim to the beauties and spiritual stones of Fengyue Brothels.
It seemed that the Fengyue Brothels in White Sand River Oasis had been so successful that other clans in the Boundless Sand Sea had opened their own versions.
However, this model was not without its limitations. It could only survive in large oases with immortal cultivator marketplaces like White Sand River Oasis due to the high traffic of immortal cultivators.
For example, the Zhou clan of Yuquan Lake Oasis would not be able to open a Fengyue Brothel because they didn’t have the traffic. The Zhou clan was just a small clan that did not have the manpower or resources to protect themselves should a large number of foreign immortal cultivators move around and through Yuquan Lake Oasis.
When Zhou Yang first heard of Fengyue Brothels from an elder, he was quite surprised and used to envy the cultivators who were able to visit such a place. After all, some of them were paid to visit them, a concept he could never dream of in his previous life!
In addition to offering spiritual stones, some of the clans would go one step further and train their mortal women in many aspects, including etiquette, dance, vocal music, bed techniques, and so on. They had based these skills on the standards of the concubines of the mortal countries in the immortal cultivation world of Liuyun continent. Having this set of skills could guarantee an emperor-like treatment for all immortal cultivators who visited Fengyue Brothels.
But not all clans allowed their cultivators to visit the brothels. The Zhou clan was one of many beyond White Sand River Oasis with clan rules that prohibited any of their clansmen from visiting a Fengyue Brothel. For the Zhou clan, it was one of the top rules on the list.
The rule was put in place to not only prevent young cultivators of the clan from being blinded by the temptation of beauty but also to prevent the blood of the clan from leaking into the outside world and being used by enemies against the clan.
Immortal cultivation clans, especially the larger ones, would usually add a Divine Bloodline Restriction in their clan’s treasury and territory protection array formation. This will ensure that any trespassers that managed to enter with a token or magical artifact and planned to rob the treasury but had a bloodline that did not meet the entry requirements of the restriction would trigger the array formation to kill them directly or by self-destructing.
With such precautions in place, how could they risk the death of a fellow blood brother who had fallen in with the wrong company?
The Zhou clan was not large so they did not set up such precautions for their treasury. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. If they did not make efforts to stop the problems at their source now, it might come back to haunt them when the Zhou clan became large and prosperous enough to attract the enemies’ attention in the future.
Thus, no immortal cultivation clan that had even the tiniest bit of foresight would willingly allow their bloodline to leave the clan. Even if their female cultivators had found their Dao partners elsewhere, the clan would mostly have the Dao partner marry into the family or make them swear a Netherworld Blood Oath to never have children.
For Zhou Yang, it didn’t matter whether it was because of the clan rules or the pursuit of longevity, but he was determined not to lose his Yuan Qi before reaching the realm of Core Foundation.
The moment he rejected the women Chen Fangping had sent him, Zhou Yang immediately closed the door to his room and fell asleep.
He slept very comfortably for more than twenty hours before he woke up, full of energy and no longer feeling as tired as before.
Then, he tidied up his appearance and left the room for the visitor arrivals hall. He was ready to bid farewell to Chen Fangping and head over to Jinsha Square City.
When Chen Fangping saw Zhou Yang walk in, the former immediately greeted the latter with a smile. “Zhou Yang! You’re finally awake. so, do you want me to arrange another feast before I send you off?”
Zhou Yang’s face instantly darkened. He was so angry that he almost turned around and left.
But he held it in, rolled his eyes, and looked at the black-hearted, round-faced fatty with a look of annoyance. “Brother Chen, do I look so easy to rip off? You’re the descendant of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Don’t tell me that I can afford more spiritual stones than you?”
“Oh, Zhou Yang. What are you talking about? Doing business is all about being honest and fair. Why are you talking about rip-offs? Besides, who said that the descendants of Foundation Establishment cultivators don’t have enough spiritual stones? But who wouldn’t want more?”
Chen Fangping shook his head disagreeably.
Chen Fangping liked spiritual stones just like a businessman liked money. Everything had a price. How could Zhou Yang use such insulting words like ‘ripping off customers’ with him? This was an insult to Chen Fangping and his father, Chen Pingan!
He looked at Zhou Yang and seriously said, “Zhou Yang, are you really not going to reconsider? Let me just say this, if it wasn’t for the fact that you and I hit it off from the beginning, I would not have let anyone else drink or eat at the same table as me!”
Zhou Yang looked at Chen Fangping with a straight face, completely unmoved.
Most people wouldn’t have been able to afford the wine Chen Fangping drank anyway. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn’t be so extravagant with a table full of wine and food worth over a hundred spiritual stones.
The more Zhou Yang thought about the meal yesterday, the more his heart hurt. He had just spent over a hundred spiritual stones with an annual income of only eighty lower-tier spiritual stones!
He had just eaten a meal worth more than a year’s income! How could he not wince at that memory?
An Advanced Grade 2 magical artifact on the market would only cost between five hundred to one thousand lower-tier spiritual stones. This meal was equivalent to eating a Lower Grade 2 magical artifact, or four Advanced Grade 2 spiritual talismans!
After staring at each other for a long time, Chen Fangping realized that Zhou Yang would not budge at all. In the end, the former helplessly shrugged and said, “Alright, since you insist, then I wish you a safe journey!”
“Farewell, Brother Chen!”
Zhou Yang cupped his hands and turned around to leave the hall without looking back.
Chen Fangping watched Zhou Yang’s figure gradually disappear into the distance, and the smile on his face disappeared. Chen Fangping turned thoughtful as he muttered to himself. “This guy is already at Qi Refinement Level 8 at such a young age, and he has such a good temperament too. He’s a good Foundation Establishment Seed. It seems that the Zhou clan will have another Foundation Establishment cultivator after this Foundation Establishment Meeting!”
Chen Fangping was one of the many who had been assigned by their respective clans to welcome and guide cultivators in and out of White Sand River Oasis. But their purpose was not just to prevent cultivators from barging into the oasis and disturbing the mortals. People like Chen Fangping were also on a mission to secretly observe the potential of visiting cultivators.
If they encountered rogue cultivators perceived to have good potential, the stationed clan cultivators would inform their clans to secretly inquire about their personal lives. If the investigations confirmed that there was nothing amiss with the rogue cultivator’s character, the clan would throw an olive branch to the rogue cultivator, hoping to recruit him as a guest elder or disciple of the clan.
If they met a cultivator from another immortal cultivation clan like Zhou Yang, they would simply collect his information and compile it into a book to be submitted to the clan. Such information might not seem useful now but if the clan wanted to deal with or recruit the cultivator in the future, they would already have the necessary information..