Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Who in this world would be completely selfless, anyway?
When an old man who had dedicated more than a hundred years of his life to his family cried in front of Zhou Yang, willingly putting his dignity aside as the older person, how could Zhou Yang refuse?
It was human nature for an old man to want to leave a considerable inheritance to his descendants when he was approaching the end of his lifespan.
Even the harshest person could not blame him for this.
Moreover, Zhou Quan wasn’t abusing his seniority to force the wealth out of Zhou Yang’s hands. He simply wanted to ensure that his share of the dividends continue to be given to his family, albeit via an alternative method.
“Don’t worry, Third Grandfather. If I truly discovered a new ore vein, I will definitely give Zhou Bao 30% of my share as long as I am alive. However, I must clarify that if I or Zhou Bao die prematurely your share of the dividends will still be handed over to the Zhou Family.”
Zhou Yang made a solemn promise to Zhou Quan.
Agreeing to Zhou Quan’s terms was already pushing the boundaries of the clan rules, but Zhou Yang did not want the full share of the 10% dividends either. If he had to make a choice, Zhou Quan’s proposal was the best of the two.
“Thank you, Zhou Yang. Thank you so much. Regardless of whether this matter succeeds or not, Third Grandfather and Zhou Bao will always remember your kindness for the rest of our lives!” Zhou Quan held Zhou Yang’s hand tightly in his with excitement as the former spoke through choked sobs.
If the deal went through, Zhou Quan would be able to pass in peace, knowing that his descendants would be able to continue living comfortably.
Otherwise, Zhou Quan’s passing would plummet the quality of life of his descendants. In less than one or two generations, they would probably end up no different from ordinary commoners. And this was what he did not want to happen.
The best-case scenario would be for one of his future descendants to be born with a spiritual root.
Zhou Quan was very grateful to Zhou Yang. Otherwise, he would not have lost his composure like this.
Zhou Yang, on the other hand, did not know whether he should laugh or cry. He definitely empathized with Zhou Quan, but the latter had disregarded all sense of seniority just to make such a request. Zhou Yang could not help but struggle a little to free himself from Zhou Quan’s grip and helplessly said in a lowered voice, “Third Grandfather, please calm down. Even if you want to thank me, you have to wait until we have already found that ore vein. You don’t want to end up feeling happy for nothing after all that work. Wouldn’t this all be a waste, then?”
Zhou Quan immediately blushed and he quickly pulled stroked his beard in embarrassment as he said, “Zhou Yang, what you said makes sense. I have completely lost my composure!”
Zhou Yang decided not to remain on the matter any longer as he move on. “Third Grandfather, you are very knowledgeable. What do you think about the possibility of finding the ore vein?”
“In my opinion, instead of the two of us searching in the Boundless Sand Sea like headless chickens, why don’t we wait for our target to return? When the Metal-Eating Rat comes back I will use the Blood Spirit Tracing Technique to mark it. Then, we will injure it once more, let it return to its nest, and use the mark to trace its location.
The lairs of rat-type demon beasts are usually deep underground. If they have any form of injury, they will usually hide in their lairs to recuperate. As long as we are able to trace it wherever it goes, we should be able to locate the ore vein the Metal-Eating Rat is nesting.”
Zhou Quan was indeed a shrewd old man. Once he had calmed down, he had immediately thought of a way that made Zhou Yang clap his hands in approval.
“Wonderful, the older the ginger, the spicier it is. I like your idea, Third Grandfather. Let’s do it!” Zhou Yang’s face beamed with joy and excitement.
Zhou Quan wasn’t wrong, after all. The Boundless Sand Sea was, well, boundless. It was impossible for the two of them to cover the entire range of it just to find this one ore vein.
If the ore vein where the Metal-Eating Rat was nesting was that easy to find, the Zhou family seniors who discovered the Qingping Mountain refined iron vein would have found it long ago.
“Since you agree with my idea, then let’s go back and make the necessary preparations. I estimate that it would take a month or two for that demon beast to recover, which should be long enough for me to go back and forth between here and my family. Since we will eventually have to track the demon beast without getting lost ourselves, I will also bring along the Camel Beast.”
Zhou Yang hadn’t rejected any of his suggestions so far, so Zhou Quan continued to tell the former of the next steps of the plan.
The Camel Beast was a Grade-1 advanced-tier demon beast tamed by the Zhou clan. It was said that this demon beast evolved from an ordinary camel but with ten times the physical strength and endurance of its ancestor. It was the best mode of transportation through the desert for low-level cultivators as well as the immortal cultivating Zhou clan’s camel trading group.
The Camel Beast also had a particularly powerful ability to remember all the paths and routes it had taken within thirty days. Essentially, the Camel Beast was able to make a map as it traveled. This ability was simply a godly skill for desert travel and survival.
Unfortunately, it was difficult for the Camel Beast to reproduce. And because it often carried heavy loads through the desert, its lifespan was generally lower than that of other Grade-1 demon beasts. Even the Zhou clan’s herd of Camel Beasts that reproduced over more than two hundred years had resulted in thirty-four old and young individuals.
The Camel Beasts were precious resources of the Zhou family. As such, ordinary Zhou family disciples could not use them for personal use at all. Only Zhou Quan, an elder of the Zhou family and the only Grade-2 beast tamer in the clan had the authority to do so.
After the plan was formulated, Zhou Quan immediately set off to return to Yuquan Lake Oasis. Zhou Yang, on the other hand, calmed down the miners who were still making a commotion and re-elected a new manager to organize the people and resume mining.
Since Zhou Quan said that the Metal-Eating Rat’s injuries would not recover for another month or two, they should be able to continue mining for the time being.
The miners had already prepared for death the moment they chose to take up the profession. Moreover, the Zhou family had always been generous with the compensation for the miners who died.
Therefore, when Zhou Yang, the Master Immortal Cultivator, personally came to explain that the demon beast had been chased away, the miners’ emotions quickly stabilized and they gradually returned to work willingly.
After more than a month, Zhou Quan returned to Qingping Mountain with two Camel Beasts and a companion, his biological grandson and Zhou Yang’s second brother, Zhou Bao.
Zhou Yang greeted them but with a slightly puzzled expression. Zhou Quan noticed and decided to explain himself.
“Once you and I leave Qingping Mountain to chase after that demon beast, there won’t be any of our clan cultivators to guard the place in your stead. If something happened and the clan finds out, it would be very disadvantageous for your future assessment. Zhou Bao is on leave anyway so I thought that he could come be your temporary replacement while we’re away.”
Then, he lightly nudged his grandson as a hint.
Zhou Bao was ranked second in the Yuan generation and at Qi Refinement Level 4. He and was already in his thirties or forties so his face was a little stiff and his skin was dark and rough like a farmer who had been working hard in the field. But he was an honest guy.
Despite being in the same generation, Zhou Bao and Zhou Yang had only met less than ten times. It was partially due to the age gap but mainly because Zhou Bao had been tagging along on the travels of the camel trading group since he was twenty. Thus, Zhou Bao was hardly around when Zhou Yang had been cultivating at Yuquan Lake Oasis.
Now that Zhou Yang had properly met Zhou Bao, the former finally understood Zhou Quan’s request regarding the dividends. If Zhou Quan did not leave behind a substantial amount of family assets for his descendants while he was still alive, it would be difficult for large family to live a good life in the future, especially with Zhou Bao’s current appearance.
Due to the nudge, Zhou Bao hurriedly said, “Zhou Yang, Grandpa told me everything. If you succeed, you will be the great benefactor of our family. Although my cultivation level is low, running errands is not a problem for me. Please feel free to let me know however I can be of service in the future.”
Zhou Bao lowered his head right after speaking, not daring to look at Zhou Yang’s handsome face.
Zhou Yang was simply too dazzling!
Even though he was almost twice the age of Zhou Yang and was often away from home, Zhou Bao had often heard from the elders and his peers of Zhou Yang’s achievements: he started cultivating at the age of four, began Qi Refinement at the age of seven, reached Qi Refinement Level 4 at the age of twelve, broke through to Qi Refinement Level 5 at the age of fifteen, entered Qi Refinment Level 6 at the age of seventeen, and became a Grade-1 artifact refiner at the age of twenty.
Every word mentioned about Zhou Yang was a compliment of him. And it almost became inevitable for elders and seniors to use Zhou Yang as an example when teaching the juniors.
Only God knows how much despair and helplessness Zhou Bao felt every time his elders speak Zhou Yang’s name.
He also wanted to work hard, but he only had lower-tier spiritual root and an average ability to comprehend things. Even with the amount of attention and care he had received from his grandfather, Zhou Quan, Zhou Bao was only barely able to break through to Qi Refinement Level 4. Forget about Foundation Establishment. Zhou Bao didn’t even know if could even reach Qi Refinement Level 9.
With such mediocre achievements, he didn’t even have the confidence to look at Zhou Yang in the eye.
Strength was everything in the world of cultivation. No immortal cultivator would dare treat those stronger as a peer or junior, regardless of their clan or seniority.
This was especially so for Zhou Bao. As a person who had traveled far and wide with the camel trading group, he had long witnessed the cruel reality of the cultivation world – he knew to to respect and fear the strong.
Zhou Yang was someone deemed by the clan leader as the clan’s unicorn child, and a person his grandfather could not stop praising everytime they met. As such, Zhou Bao knew that Zhou Yang was an existence that he had to respect.
And Zhou Bao wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Many among the Zhou clan’s Yuan generation cultivators, aside from those close to Zhou Yang, had developed something close to psychological trauma towards the person in question. No one dared to treat this person as a peer anymore.
It seemed that their generation was destined to live under Zhou Yang’s shadow for their entire lives..