Chapter 580: Chapter 580

The divine technique is named "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique," and only Golden Core Stage cultivators can practice it. Once mastered and displayed, one can conceal one’s form and breath like a stinging dragon, without a trace, and it also avoids tracking by techniques like the "Ten Thousand Miles Soul-Chasing Technique."

If one can cultivate it to the Great Success Realm, even a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal using the "Heaven’s Eye and Earth’s Ear" great divine technique cannot find the person.

"Tattooed Face Butcher" Wu Biao was able to stay at large because he cultivated this divine technique to the Small Success Realm, making it impossible for people to catch his whereabouts.

At that time, he originally intended to use this divine technique to conceal his form and breath to approach Zhouyang and deliver a fatal blow.

He had done such things a few times before and succeeded each time.

Those Golden Core Stage cultivators he quietly approached couldn’t even react to his sudden ambush before being either killed or severely injured by him, losing all capability to escape.

Unfortunately, he didn’t count on Zhouyang’s divine sense being stronger than that of a Ninth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator.

Originally, when he was tracking Zhouyang from tens to a hundred miles away, Zhouyang wouldn’t notice his presence without fully releasing his divine sense.

But once he approached within twenty to thirty miles of Zhouyang, Zhouyang’s powerful divine sense naturally detected the anomaly, causing him to lose the chance for an ambush.

It can be said that his failure was not due to the lack of potency in the "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique" and its concealing effects, but because his opponent was simply too strong.

Therefore, upon seeing the introduction of this divine technique, Zhouyang immediately decided that once he mastered the Third and Fourth Layers of the "Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique," his next divine technique to cultivate would be this "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique."

He already had the disguise mask gifted by Lu Xuanji, which could make Golden Core Stage cultivators unable to see through his disguise technique. If he further learned this "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique," he would have no worries about being tracked down when handling secret tasks for the Profound Sun Immortal Sect and Yuqing Daoist Sect.

Besides the "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique," there were several divine techniques among the cultivation technique manuals collected by "Tattooed Face Butcher" Wu Biao, including the two divine techniques he used when confronting Zhouyang.

However, these divine techniques either required special items for auxiliary cultivation or their power did not meet Zhouyang’s standards. He merely glanced at them and stored them as collections, intending to later place them in the Zhou Family’s Scripture Pavilion for future cultivators to study.

Afterward, he selected one magical artifact from the six Tier Five artifacts acquired from Wu Biao.

The artifact chosen for refining was called "Fiery Sun Heart-Burning Spear," a Tier Five Top-Grade attack artifact, with power comparable to the "Taiyin Soul-cutting Saber" in his possession.

During their battle, this spear pierced through his long-used "Profound Turtle Shield" with one strike. If it weren’t for the protection from the "Qianyang Celestial Fire Shield" divine technique, he might have perished under this divine spear.

Zhouyang originally wanted to refine the inner armor Wu Biao had and wear it himself, but after careful consideration, he decided to keep it as a Core Formation gift for his Dao companion, Xiao Ying.

Practicing the "Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique," he could already invoke a "Dragon Scale Armor" divine technique for protection once he mastered it to the Third Layer, with dragon scale defense surpassing that of the inner armor.

If cultivated to the Fourth Layer, gaining the "Cyan Dragon Transformation" divine technique, he could no longer wear such defensive magical artifacts like the inner armor, as the increased body size from the transformation would tear apart any clothing he wore.

With Zhouyang’s current cultivation level, it wouldn’t take much time to refine an artifact, and after completing the refinement, he met with Lu Xuewei and the five Zhou Family juniors who had arrived at Immortal Sun City.

The five Zhou Family juniors who came with Zhouyang to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm were all very young. The eldest, Zhou Ronghua, was only thirty-four years old, and the youngest, Zhou Shengying, was just twenty-five, with all five being Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators.

Zhouyang promised these five that each would receive a Foundation Establishment Pill upon arrival.

In fact, even without the Foundation Establishment Pill, having the opportunity to cultivate alongside their clan ancestor was something these Zhou Family junior cultivators eagerly desired.

After meeting with Lu Xuewei and these clan juniors, Zhouyang immediately arranged for them.

"Xuewei, you can continue your travels through the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, and if you encounter any issues, you can find me at Chongxuan Mountain. However, while traveling, you must not neglect your cultivation."

Lu Xuewei had initially accompanied Zhouyang to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm decades ago to broaden her experience and knowledge through travel.

Unfortunately, during those decades, Zhouyang was trapped in the "Dome Heaven Immortal Realm," and with the "Heaven-Sundering True Demon" causing chaos outside, her travel plans had to be temporarily suspended, limiting her to activities around the Liuyun Immortal City with her teacher, Xiao Ying.

This time, Zhouyang brought her back to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm to resume her travel plans.

Upon hearing Zhouyang’s words, she immediately replied earnestly, "Disciple will strictly follow Master’s orders."

"Ronghua, Rongxiang, you five will practice at Chongxuan Mountain with the ancestor and serve me henceforth."

Zhouyang shifted his gaze and looked at the five Zhou Family juniors, saying.

"We shall heed the Patriarch’s decree."

Zhou Ronghua, Zhou Rongxiang, and the other Zhou Family juniors maintained their solemn expressions as they respectfully replied.

Having made these arrangements, Zhouyang immediately sent a message to Master Cyan Yang, informing him of his departure, and then set off with his Dao Companion Xiao Ying and the five Zhou Family juniors towards the Tier Five Upper Grade Spirit Mountain Chongxuan Mountain, soon to be his.

An Country, where Chongxuan Mountain is located, is separated by hundreds of thousands of miles from Daoxuan Country where the Profound Sun Immortal Sect is, with three countries in between. The cultivation sects and sects within these three countries all belong to the "Profound Purity Dao Alliance".

It should be noted that An Country once also belonged to the "Profound Purity Dao Alliance", but due to the chaos caused by the "Heaven-Sundering True Demon", the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, which originally occupied An Country, had to completely withdraw, leading to it now returning to the hands of its previous owner, the "Six Paths Alliance".

Chongxuan Mountain was originally a piece of territory the Profound Sun Immortal Sect gave to its greatest ally, the Yuqing Daoist Sect, after occupying An Country. Within An Country, there were originally two such enclaves, both Tier Five Spirit Mountains.

Now, the power of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect has completely retreated back to Chang Country behind An Country, and the Yuqing Daoist Sect originally intended to completely abandon Chongxuan Mountain, painfully exiting the scene.

However, the Profound Sun Immortal Sect was clearly not willing to entirely abandon the land of An Country, so they persuaded the Yuqing Daoist Sect to let Zhouyang, under the alias "Qingyun Wanderer", guard Chongxuan Mountain, located at the border area between An Country and Chang Country.

The so-called "Qingyun Wanderer" is indeed a real person, who was originally an Honored Guest Elder of the Yuqing Daoist Sect, with cultivation at the Fourth-Layer Golden Core, similar to Zhouyang.

At the same time, this "Qingyun Wanderer" also has another layer of identity, as a descendant of a Nascent Soul Stage Supreme Elder from the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

Why, then, did "Qingyun Wanderer", being a descendant of a Nascent Soul Stage Supreme Elder of the Yuqing Daoist Sect, not formally join the Yuqing Daoist Sect as an official disciple?

This involves a disgraceful affair of the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

It turns out that the mother of "Qingyun Wanderer" was the daughter of that Nascent Soul Stage Supreme Elder from the Yuqing Daoist Sect, a Golden Core Stage Elder.

Yet, this prodigious daughter fell in love during a demon elimination operation with a disciple from a small sect within the "Profound Purity Dao Alliance".

This in itself was not problematic. Being the daughter of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, and a dignified Golden Core Cultivator, even if she liked a cultivator younger and of lower cultivation than herself, no one would dare to gossip rashly.

But it was unimaginable that the disciple in love with the mother of "Qingyun Wanderer" was in fact an undercover agent from the Demon Dao planted within the "Profound Purity Dao Alliance". This affair was a deliberate setup by the Demonic cultivators.

The result was that at a time when the mother of "Qingyun Wanderer" was almost due to give birth, that spy acted as an insider, assisting Demon Dao cultivators in a bloody massacre of an immortal city belonging to the Yuqing Daoist Sect, leading to the death of a Golden Core Elder and thousands of cultivators from the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

The impact of this incident was atrociously severe. Although the spy was eventually hunted down and killed by the infuriated grandfather of "Qingyun Wanderer", the responsibility of the mother could not be absolved.

Moreover, as a disciple of such a reputable sect as the Yuqing Daoist Sect, and having a father who was a renowned Nascent Soul Stage Zhenren, the mother of "Qingyun Wanderer" would certainly care about her reputation, wouldn’t she?

It turned out that the man she had shared her bed with for decades was a demonic spy, and upon learning this, she nearly lost control over her Dao Heart, almost spiraling into madness.

It was under such circumstances that "Qingyun Wanderer" was born.

After giving birth to "Qingyun Wanderer", his mother intended to kill this cursed child, sparing herself and her sect from shame.

But a tiger, no matter how cruel, will not eat its own cub. Facing her newborn son, she found herself unable to take his life.

Subsequently, after some struggle, his mother decided to return to the mountain gate of the Yuqing Daoist Sect, voluntarily accepting the punishment of lightning and fire, ending her life amidst celestial thunder and blazing flames under the witness of countless sect peers, to cleanse her sins.

Regarding his daughter’s decision, the Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Yuqing Daoist Sect did not intervene, merely sending the infant "Qingyun Wanderer" to be fostered by a subordinate cultivation family of the Yuqing Daoist Sect, and then ceased to concern himself.

Though he no longer involved himself with this grandson, "Qingyun Wanderer" was evidently receiving some assistance from him on his path to the Golden Core Stage, given his eventual position as Honored Guest Elder of the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

However, "Qingyun Wanderer"’s identity was rather embarrassing. Even though he became an Honored Guest Elder of the Yuqing Daoist Sect, he found it nearly impossible to get along with the Golden Core Elders there, spending most of his time traveling and cultivating in seclusion, rarely returning to the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

But in truth, four or five decades ago, the real "Qingyun Wanderer" had already perished in the Wilderness Jungle.

This information is scarcely known, even within the Yuqing Daoist Sect, and those who are aware have all been silenced.

Therefore, Zhouyang, under the alias "Qingyun Wanderer", watches over Chongxuan Mountain in An Country, and as long as he remains careful, he should have little worry about being recognized.

This shows that the Profound Sun Immortal Sect put in significant effort to appoint him as the guardian of Chongxuan Mountain.

Because of "Qingyun Wanderer’s" special status, as long as the "Six Paths Alliance" does not intend to declare full-scale war, they would not lightly touch the Yuqing Daoist Sect’s territory where he guards Chongxuan Mountain.

And if "Qingyun Wanderer," who guards the frontline Spirit Mountain, suddenly disappears for a while one day, it wouldn’t raise suspicions.

After all, this person has always been known to travel around frequently, a cultivator used to freedom and leisure. Those who know him would only assume he’s out wandering again.

Zhouyang and his group set off from Immortal Sun City, and after more than half a month of flying, they officially entered the territory of An Country. After two more days, they arrived outside the Chongxuan Mountain.

This Chongxuan Mountain is located in the southern region of An Country, standing over 2,300 zhang tall. It’s surrounded by rolling hills and primeval forests, home to many middle-to-low tier demon beasts.

Currently, the entire surrounding area of a thousand miles, including Chongxuan Mountain, belongs to Zhouyang, who goes by the alias "Qingyun Wanderer." Any cultivators daring to enter without his permission to hunt demon beasts or harvest spirit elixirs will face retribution.

Unexpectedly to Zhouyang, the cultivator from Yuqing Daoist Sect staying at Chongxuan Mountain to hand over duties was not a Golden Core Elder but an Inner Sect Disciple at the Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivation.

After a brief thought, he understood why Yuqing Daoist Sect made such an arrangement.

Obviously, if they had arranged for a Golden Core Stage cultivator, unaware that the real "Qingyun Wanderer" had perished, it might cause him embarrassment or even see through his disguise.

But replacing them with an Inner Sect Disciple at the Purple Mansion stage, whether this person knows about "Qingyun Wanderer’s" awkward situation or not, they surely wouldn’t dare embarrass an Honored Guest Elder from their sect, which would be disrespectful.

Understanding this, Zhouyang conducted the handover with the Yuqing Daoist Sect’s cultivator in a businesslike manner. After verifying the token, he received various items from them, completing the handover.

From this person, Zhouyang obtained the control array plate for the Mountain Protection Array of Chongxuan Mountain, a jade scroll recording various resources on Chongxuan Mountain, a jade scroll with basic information on forces within An Country and neighboring countries, and a jade book about a foot long and three inches wide.

As a Tier Five Top-Grade Spirit Mountain, Chongxuan Mountain houses a Tier Five Top-Grade Array, the "Five Elements Returning to Origin Array," set by Yuqing Daoist Sect. The strength of this array lies mainly in its formidable defense, with no apparent weaknesses; breaking it would require an all-out assault.

However, with a Golden Core Stage cultivator managing the array, unless over ten Golden Core Stage cultivators join forces for an attack, breaking the Mountain Protection Array quickly would be impossible.

This indeed greatly assists Zhouyang in guarding Chongxuan Mountain. Even if one day an actual enemy attack occurs, he could rely on the array to defend the Spirit Mountain and seek assistance from the Profound Sun Immortal Sect’s stationed cultivators in Chang Country, thousands of miles away.

The other two jade scrolls, as expected, are for Zhouyang’s future cultivation at Chongxuan Mountain, providing necessary information about neighboring forces. Without unexpected events, he will cultivate here long-term and certainly needs to know about potential enemies before they arrive.

As for that jade book, Zhouyang was quite interested in it.

This item named "Immortal Spirit Jade Book" is a special inheritance artifact from the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

The unique aspect of this artifact is that it has one page as a Tier Six Artifact and several dozen replica pages as Tier Five Artifacts.

Those holding a replica can, as long as they do not go more than ten thousand miles away from the main "Immortal Spirit Jade Book," inscribe text on the jade book using magical power, and the text will appear on the main book. The holder of the main jade book can then choose to communicate in writing with the holder of any replica page.

However, if trapped within a Grotto Heaven like the "Dome Heaven Immortal Realm," this item cannot be used.

The Yuqing Daoist Sect’s intention in giving Zhouyang this page of "Immortal Spirit Jade Book" was to ensure they could contact him in case he needed to leave Chongxuan Mountain.

At the same time, should he encounter danger outside, he could use this "Immortal Spirit Jade Book" for emergency assistance.

With a reach of ten thousand miles, Zhouyang could use this jade book to contact the Yuqing Daoist Sect even if he were in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

Unfortunately, as the main book is one of Yuqing Daoist Sect’s most important inheritance artifacts, there’s no chance they would give it to others, and the method of producing even the replicas is a secret not shared by them.

Otherwise, if Zhouyang had this item in hand, he could communicate seamlessly with Zhou Guangxiang in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

"Alright, from now on, we will reside here for cultivation. Choose any palace or courtyard you prefer among the ones outside, and do not casually switch after choosing."

"Your future tasks are to manage the Spirit Fields, Medicinal Gardens, and Fruit Gardens on the mountain in addition to your cultivation. Do not let them fall into neglect. If the ancestor needs you to run errands, further instructions will be provided, but do not disturb my cultivation without reason."

"Also, if you want to go down the mountain, you must obtain approval from myself or Ying’Er. If I find out anyone dares to descend without permission, they will be severely punished!" Orıginal content can be found at novel·fire.net

On Chongxuan Mountain, after the Yuqing Daoist Sect cultivator responsible for the handover left, Zhouyang waved his sleeve and began instructing several Zhou Family juniors around him.

On this Chongxuan Mountain, there are ready-made grotto-heavens established by the Yuqing Daoist Sect and numerous palaces and pavilions for middle-to-low tier cultivators to reside and cultivate in. This saved them the effort of having to construct these anew.

However, this vast Chongxuan Mountain, relying solely on the five Zhou Family cultivators he brought with him, they would exhaust themselves trying to manage the over a thousand acres of spirit fields and dozens of acres of medicinal gardens and fruit gardens.

Thus, Zhouyang planned to settle down first before recruiting a batch of registered disciples under the name "Qingyun Wanderer" to come up the mountain and be of service.

"Qingyun Wanderer" is not an official disciple of the Yuqing Daoist Sect, and the disciples he recruits are not listed in the sect’s registry. Zhouyang doing this wouldn’t arouse any suspicion.

The Yuqing Daoist Sect withdrew all of its disciples from Chongxuan Mountain, leaving only a specially-invested Honored Guest Elder with some registered disciples to cultivate here. This in itself was also a gesture to the Six Paths Alliance, indicating that although they occupied Chongxuan Mountain, they only wished to safeguard this spirit mountain and had no plans to make a comeback to take over An Country.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, three years have passed since Zhouyang moved into Chongxuan Mountain.

During these three years, he spent the majority of his time in seclusion within the grotto-heaven on the mountain, cultivating the body refining divine technique "Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique". Occasionally, he took several Zhou Family juniors to visit some Six Paths Alliance forces with Golden Core Stage cultivators stationed within An Country, expressing his contentment with the current situation and subtly indicating that they need not worry about any actions from him.

Additionally, Zhouyang did not neglect the forces within Chang Country, making time to visit each of them as well, although the tone he used at those times was another matter.

Three years passed, and the injuries Xiao Ying sustained during her last attempt to break through to the Golden Core Stage had still not healed. In these years, she remained indoors, focusing solely on alchemy and instructing the Zhou Family juniors on how to manage the various spirit herbs in the medicinal garden.

The thirty sets of auxiliary materials for Foundation Establishment Pills that Zhouyang had initially purchased have now all been refined by her into finished Foundation Establishment Pills.

Currently, Zhouyang possesses a total of 168 Foundation Establishment Pills!

If you add the twenty to thirty Foundation Establishment Pills he confiscated from Cangyuan Immortal City, he and the Zhou Family Treasure Vault now possess over two hundred Foundation Establishment Pills!

What an astonishing number this is!

Although for the current Zhouyang, Foundation Establishment Pills have long become easily obtainable, when he received these Foundation Establishment Pills from his Dao companion Xiao Ying, he still couldn’t help but shiver slightly.

How many times in the past did the entire Zhou Family need to gamble with the life of their only Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, as well as the lives of several Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators, just to acquire a single Foundation Establishment Pill.

How many times in the past did Zhouyang, as the clan leader of the Zhou Family, have to risk his life hunting Tier Four Demon Beasts for a single Foundation Establishment Pill.

Scenes from hundreds of years ago flashed through Zhouyang’s mind as he fingered the storage ring containing 168 Foundation Establishment Pills, unaware that his eyes were already moist.

Then he looked at his Dao companion, who was staring at him with some confusion, and suddenly pulled her into his embrace, kissing her deeply.

"Ying’er, thank you, thank you for your silent sacrifices over the years for me and the Zhou Family. Without you, I might still have formed a Golden Core, but the Zhou Family would never have achieved such brilliance today!"

Zhouyang said excitedly, his voice filled with gratitude.

When he first formed a Dao partnership with Xiao Ying, his intentions were not entirely pure; he coveted Xiao Ying’s alchemical talent, wanting to cultivate an excellent alchemist for the Zhou Family.

In reality, he indeed succeeded; under his and the Zhou Family’s guidance, Xiao Ying became a highly skilled high-tier alchemist. The Zhou Family also benefited, gaining a large number of rare Spirit Pills.

Especially the Foundation Establishment Pill, without Xiao Ying’s presence, even if Zhouyang and the Zhou Family managed to collect the materials, the resulting Foundation Establishment Pills would undoubtedly be less than half of what they have now.

The importance of an alchemist to a force can be seen from this perspective.

It was only at this moment that Xiao Ying understood why Zhouyang suddenly expressed such genuine emotion and immediately responded with a face full of sentiment and gratitude: "I must also thank you, my husband. If it weren’t for you, I would have perished long ago, let alone achieved my current cultivation level, gained this level of alchemy, or witnessed the true splendor of this world!"

"Hurry and form your Golden Core, Ying’er. Once you do, we can truly dual-cultivate. At that time, let’s have one, no, two children—a boy and a girl. Then we can have the boy grow up to inherit the Zhou Family clan leader position, and have the girl by our side, cultivating together!"

Zhouyang held his Dao companion’s delicate and enchanting face in his hands, suddenly uttering words that made Xiao Ying’s face blush with shyness.

This was the first time he had revealed his desire to have offspring. Xiao Ying, for a moment, didn’t know how to respond.

She had thought about this question before, but now, when the time came, she found herself too shy to discuss it.

Ultimately, she only lightly uttered a soft "Mm," whispering inaudibly, "I will listen to my husband in everything."