Chapter 592: Chapter 592

Upon hearing from Master Cyan Yang that Elder Lu Xuanji has passed away, Zhouyang felt both surprised and unsurprised. The source of thɪs content is novel•fire.net

Back in the "Dome Heaven Immortal Realm," Lu Xuanji had mentioned he had less than a century of lifespan left, and during their journey to the Land of the Far West, Zhouyang could clearly see his body was deteriorating.

Honestly, given Lu Xuanji’s condition at the time, it was surprising for him to last until now before passing away.

"Senior Brother Lu was busy with two matters over the years. One was sealing the spatial rift in the Sea of Death, and the other was reconnecting the pathway to the Dome Heaven Immortal Realm."

"Before he passed away, he managed to complete the first task. The spatial rift is now covered by a Tier Six Array, which purifies the demonic qi. As long as the array remains intact, there will be no issues for thousands of years."

"However, he couldn’t complete the second task and passed away prematurely. My current retreat is to focus on refining the artifacts he left behind."

Knowing that Zhouyang had a good relationship with Lu Xuanji, and because Zhouyang was personally involved in both matters, Master Cyan Yang did not conceal anything and explained what Lu Xuanji had been doing over the years.

Zhouyang thus understood why he hadn’t heard any news from this elder in recent years.

However, these matters had little to do with what he came to investigate this time.

After listening to Master Cyan Yang, Zhouyang bowed his head in silent tribute for a quarter of an hour to the elder who had been kind to him.

Then he lifted his head with a puzzled expression and asked, "The news of Elder Lu’s passing should still be a secret, right? How did the Six Paths Alliance find out so quickly and is eager to start a war?"

"Senior Brother Lu lived for over three thousand years. His life journey was thoroughly examined by these major forces after his Nascent Soul Formation, making it easy to estimate his lifespan limitations."

"However, Senior Brother Lu consumed some life-extending treasures, so the Six Paths Alliance could only roughly estimate his passing within this time period and weren’t certain if he had already passed, which is why they’re probing to find out the truth."

"Your actions at Chongxuan Mountain were good, temporarily keeping them at bay and buying more time for both yourself and us."

"But the downside is clear: once the news of Elder Lu’s passing can no longer be suppressed, Chongxuan Mountain will definitely be their key target, and you’ll face immense pressure then!"

Master Cyan Yang calmly answered Zhouyang’s question, analyzing the situation for him.

Zhouyang’s face changed unpredictably after hearing this, his mind chaotic.

According to Master Cyan Yang, war seemed inevitable, and Chongxuan Mountain would be the frontline battlefield.

That was truly not good news!

He remained silent with varied expressions for a while before looking gravely at Master Cyan Yang and asking, "Senior, from what you said, if war is unavoidable, should Chongxuan Mountain still be defended? I can’t defend it alone; if not, what should I do?"

"Chongxuan Mountain must be defended!"

"If the Six Paths Alliance truly initiates war, they won’t stop at just Chongxuan Mountain. We can’t let them easily seize a Tier Five Top-Grade Spirit Mountain."

"Rest assured, Senior Brother Lu arranged everything before his passing. If it comes to war, we of the Profound Purity Dao Alliance won’t necessarily fear the Six Paths Alliance."

"For now, while the news of Senior Brother Lu’s passing is still secret, we can’t rush to assist you, or it might reveal the truth to the Six Paths Alliance."

"But relax, once the Six Paths Alliance officially starts the war, our reinforcements will promptly come to Chongxuan Mountain to support you, ensuring you won’t fight alone!"

Master Cyan Yang looked solemnly at Zhouyang, giving him a strong, affirmative response.

This guarantee eased Zhouyang’s expression, making his face look significantly better.

Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to give up this treasured land of Chongxuan Mountain.

After all, a Tier Five Top-Grade Spirit Mountain is not something you can easily obtain anywhere.

Even for a top-tier major sect like the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, there are not many Golden Core Stage Elders who can independently oversee such a Tier Five Top-Grade Spirit Mountain.

"With these words from the elder, this junior understands what needs to be done."

He slightly cupped his hands in salute, formally expressing his stance.

Seeing this, Master Cyan Yang nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Very good, just guard there boldly. With your cultivation strength, even if a large-scale war breaks out, your life will not be in danger. On the contrary, if you can establish merit in the war, it will be beneficial both for your future cultivation and for the Zhou Family from which you hail!"

Zhouyang understood the meaning behind Master Cyan Yang’s words.

For those with strength, war is the fastest way to accumulate wealth and resources.

Once war begins, the "Profound Purity Dao Alliance" will definitely implement a wartime merit reward system, allowing achievers to exchange real wartime achievements for various treasures from the alliance, including many treasures that would not have been easily available for exchange otherwise.

Moreover, the spoils and rewards obtained from killing enemies in war are also a huge gain.

It’s important to know that during peaceful times, few dare to easily kill Golden Core Stage cultivators from major sects under the deterrence of Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

However, in war, even if a Golden Core Elder from the Profound Sun Immortal Sect is killed by the enemy, no Nascent Soul Stage cultivator would retaliate by attacking for vengeance.

Zhouyang is undoubtedly the kind of person with such strength.

However, he did not respond directly to Master Cyan Yang’s words, instead changing the topic and respectfully saying, "This junior has another matter to consult with Elder Cyan Yang, and hopes the elder can enlighten me."

Master Cyan Yang looked at him, and saw him raise his hand to take out a jade box and open it, revealing a blood-red lotus pod inside.

"After receiving the message from the elder last year, this junior visited the Wilderness Jungle and by chance witnessed the phenomenon of the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] maturing."

"These lotus seeds inside the lotus pod are what this junior obtained by placing the corpses of a Tier Five Middle-Grade Barbaric Beast and two Tier Five Middle-Grade Demon Beasts into the Blood Pool to nourish the flowering [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus]."

"Currently, the petals of the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] have been devoured by this junior’s Golden-winged Thunder Eagle spirit pet, but this junior does not know the purpose of these lotus seeds, only intuitively feels that they should not be useful only to demon beasts."

Zhouyang held the lotus pod in his hand and slowly explained the origin of this spiritual object.

He did not mention the Five-Colored Peacock advancing to Tier Five after devouring two lotus seeds, because it was not helpful to what he wanted to learn.

He already knew the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] was greatly useful to demon beasts, and did not need to question its lotus seeds having the same effect.

Upon hearing his words, Master Cyan Yang looked at him with a peculiar gaze, full of sentiment, and sighed, "You lucky boy, such good fortune you have encountered!"

Then, before Zhouyang could ask more, he had already explained the purpose of the lotus seeds.

"The petals of the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] can promote the advancement of demon beasts, which many people are aware of, but only a few know about the purpose of the lotus seeds. Our Profound Sun Immortal Sect knew only because a thousand years ago, an ancestor master, like you, happened upon the blooming of the Blood Lotus, and by chance saw the appearance of the lotus seeds. After searching through various ancient texts and consulting many seniors and experts in the cultivation realm, we finally learned about the purpose of the lotus seeds."

"These lotus seeds, for demon beasts, still serve as a substantial tonic for enhancing cultivation."

"However, for us cultivators, these lotus seeds are a natural spiritual object for restoring essence blood. With your Golden Core Stage cultivation, even if your essence blood is depleted by half, consuming a lotus seed can restore it completely."

"But the greatest purpose of these lotus seeds is to act as the main ingredient for the Tier Six Spirit Pill [Blood Lotus Rebirth Pill]!"

"The [Blood Lotus Rebirth Pill] is a Tier Six Middle-Grade Spirit Pill, used to help Nascent Soul Stage cultivators who have lost their physical bodies to reforge them without the need for possession, which goes against the righteous path."

"Since during the refinement of the [Blood Lotus Rebirth Pill], the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator’s own essence blood and flesh are used as auxiliary materials, the refashioned body is no different from the original, with no repulsion, and the negative impact on future cultivation is nearly absent!"

"Unfortunately, the pill formula for the [Blood Lotus Rebirth Pill] is extremely rare. Our Profound Sun Immortal Sect searched the Liuyun Continent cultivation realm without finding this formula. It was only more than five thousand years ago, when a senior from our sect was traveling in the Donghua Continent cultivation realm, that he learned that the top-tier major sect most proficient in alchemy, Longevity Hall, possessed this ancient formula."

"Longevity Hall’s status in the Donghua Continent cultivation realm is similar to our Profound Sun Immortal Sect’s status in the Liuyun Continent cultivation realm. Despite our senior bringing precious treasures to request an exchange for this ancient formula, he was flatly refused."

"These are all the roles of the {Demon Blood Ancient Lotus} lotus seeds that this old Taoist knows,"

After Master Cyan Yang finished speaking, his lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something more, but eventually he held back and didn’t speak.

However, Zhouyang wasn’t blind, so how could he not see such an obvious situation?

Immediately, he took a deep breath to suppress his surprise and said proactively, "Elder Cyan Yang, if there is anything you’d like to say, please speak frankly; I am willing to listen attentively."

Upon hearing this, Master Cyan Yang merely pondered for a moment before smiling and shaking his head, saying, "Actually, there’s nothing difficult to say. This old Taoist wishes to ask you for two lotus seeds, to see if in the future I can ask friends from the Longevity Hall to help refine a furnace of {Blood Lotus Rebirth Pill} for emergencies!"

Upon hearing these words, Zhouyang immediately responded, "That can be arranged. Anyway, I don’t really have much use for these things. It’s rare for the elder to have a request, I’m willing to offer a third of the leftover lotus seeds to you, Elder!"

Having said that, he pointed at the lotus pod, and five purple-red lotus seeds were shaken out by him with a deft maneuver, flying towards Master Cyan Yang.

Raising his hand, Master Cyan Yang caught the flying five lotus seeds, his gaze towards Zhouyang flickered slightly. He shook his head at first, then nodded, and sighed helplessly, "Tell me, what do you want in exchange for these lotus seeds? Let me inform you first, although these lotus seeds are precious, they are not essential to our existence. If your requests are too difficult to fulfill, this old Taoist can only say that I am powerless!"

Such a high-level elder naturally wouldn’t take advantage of Zhou Yang, a junior, without offering something in return. If he took the lotus seeds, he would surely reciprocate with benefits.

If it were just two lotus seeds, the benefits he initially prepared would be just about appropriate, but with five lotus seeds, his offerings seem inadequate.

That was why he shook his head earlier.

"Elder, no worries, what I seek is actually quite simple, and definitely won’t put you in a difficult position!"

Zhouyang grinned and immediately stated his requests.

He asked for three things: Firstly, he wished for Master Cyan Yang to grant him a "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman for self-defense;

Secondly, he hoped that once the Five-Colored Peacock and Golden-winged Thunder Eagle ascended to Tier Five Demon Beast status, Master Cyan Yang could help these two Spirit Birds refine their Transverse Bones, allowing them to speak human language and communicate with people;

Thirdly, he asked for assistance in finding an artifact refining expert within the Profound Sun Immortal Sect to help him refine the {Flame Star Stone} into a Tier Five Pill Furnace, and also to refine the ten Tier Six Flood Dragon Scales given by Lu Xuanji along with other materials into a Tier Five High-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact.

These three things were indeed not difficult tasks for Master Cyan Yang.

The "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman was initially prepared as an exchange for two lotus seeds, and assisting with the Spirit Birds’ Transverse Bone refinement wasn’t a difficult task; he could easily accomplish it.

As for the third task, with the additional three lotus seeds in hand, he only needed to use two lotus seeds for exchange to find a Nascent Soul Stage artifact refining grandmaster to do the task for Zhouyang, and in passing, he could gain favor and even earn a lotus seed gratis.

Thus, after listening to Zhouyang’s requests, his expression immediately softened, and he quickly nodded in agreement.

So, Zhouyang immediately took out the {Flame Star Stone} along with the Tier Six Flood Dragon Scales, {Fiery Sun Divine Iron}, and other items and handed them over to Master Cyan Yang. Then he took the "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman bestowed by Master Cyan Yang and quietly left "Cyan Yang Cave," returning to Immortal Sun City.

Upon arriving in Immortal Sun City, Zhouyang first made his way to the Profound Sun Pavilion to inquire with the head shopkeeper Sun Zhengbin about the acquisition of "Cloud Breath Grass."

The result pleased him greatly, as after raising the price to four thousand low-grade spirit stones per stalk, in just two or three years, the Profound Sun Pavilion had acquired nineteen stalks of "Cloud Breath Grass."

If this pace continued, combined with the existing stock of "Cloud Breath Grass" he had, in twenty or thirty years at most, the quantity of "Cloud Breath Grass" he acquired would be sufficient for cultivating the "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique" to the Small Success Realm level.

After paying for all the spirit stones, Zhouyang took all the "Cloud Breath Grass" stock from the Profound Sun Pavilion and bid farewell to Sun Zhengbin, returning to the cave mansion where Zhou Guangxiang resided.

"The situation is basically clarified, the war is inevitable, it’s just a matter of sooner or later."

"This time, for those juniors you’ve brought, have them come to see me later. I’ll explain the situation to them, and whether they wish to stay will ultimately be their personal decision."

Inside the cave mansion, Zhouyang called Zhou Guangxiang over and, after briefly explaining the dangers Chongxuan Mountain currently faced, laid out his plans.

Chongxuan Mountain was about to become a battlefield, and logically speaking, sending Zhou family cultivators there at this time wouldn’t be a very good idea.

Yet, Zhouyang had his considerations.

The Zhou family would eventually step out from the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, and Zhou family cultivators would eventually face enemies head-on on battlefields.

With this opportunity now, allowing some Zhou family cultivators to gather such experience early isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Zhou Guangxiang was also very supportive of Zhouyang’s idea.

To put it bluntly, with a stash of one hundred and fifty Foundation Establishment Pills, he didn’t care at all if a few family Foundation Establishment Cultivators might be lost on the battlefield.

The Zhou Family is no longer the family it was hundreds of years ago.

Nowadays, the number of Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators in the Zhou Family has exceeded two thousand. As long as the source of Foundation Establishment Pills remains stable, Foundation Establishment Cultivators can be continuously mass-produced.

Rather than letting these Foundation Establishment Cultivators grow old and die in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, Zhou Guangxiang hopes they will stay in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, work hard, and fight for a better future.

"There is something I should tell you, Ninth Uncle. Among the three Qi Cultivation Stage clansmen accompanying me this time, one has a Top-Grade Fire and Wood Spiritual Root Talent. I have brought him over to have Aunt Nine mentor him and learn alchemy, hoping to cultivate a second high-tier alchemist for the clan."

As if recalling something, after agreeing with Zhouyang’s opinion, Zhou Guangxiang shifted the conversation to this matter.

Zhouyang was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then gladly smiled and said, "This is a good thing. Other than you, is there finally another clan member with Top-Grade Spiritual Root Talent? I agree to this, and I’ll talk to Ying’er to ensure she’s willing to take this child as a disciple!"

"With Ninth Uncle’s words, I am at ease. I will have them come to pay respects to you right away."

Feeling relieved, Zhou Guangxiang smiled and withdrew to find the clan members.

It wasn’t long before the six Zhou Family juniors who followed him to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm were brought into the cave, and the one with Top-Grade Spiritual Root Talent received a solo audience with Zhouyang.

The second Zhou Family cultivator with Top-Grade Spiritual Root Talent was named Zhou Shengyu, only seventeen years old, and had a Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation. He was born after Zhouyang left the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

Zhouyang’s private meeting with this young Zhou Family genius left him both honored and startled. After respectfully bowing and making his salutations, he stood there somewhat nervously, honestly answering Zhouyang’s questions.

"Your answers were quite good; it seems you’ve laid a solid foundation in your cultivation studies, which is excellent. Today, I, as your ancestor, will give you a piece of advice. No matter how good your talent is, in the path of cultivation, you must keep your feet on the ground and focus on your foundation. Never be too eager for quick success!"

In the cave, Zhouyang looked over the youthful and naive junior in front of him, nodded in satisfaction, and offered words that allowed the young junior to breathe a sigh of relief.

He quietly glanced up at Zhouyang’s face, which was identical to the portrait hanging in the ancestral hall, and replied excitedly, "I will remember the Ancestor Master’s teachings."

From the junior’s voice, Zhouyang could tell this was yet another devotee who had grown up hearing legends about him and deeply admired and revered him.

In all honesty, given his current level of cultivation and status, he no longer needed such gestures to unite people.

But he also knew that because of his achievements and influence on the Zhou Family, this type of thing would occur naturally, even if no deliberate effort was made.

Just like some historical figures who left great achievements, even after thousands of years, descendants learned about their exploits through historical texts and felt intense admiration and reverence for them.

"Alright, you wait here first."

Shaking his head and overlooking this small matter, Zhouyang asked the young junior to step aside, and with a transmission of thoughts, he had Zhou Guangxiang bring in the other five juniors.

Zhouyang and Zhou Guangxiang were both quite satisfied and relieved when, after Zhouyang explained the situation at Chongxuan Mountain, the five Zhou Family cultivators ultimately agreed to cultivate there following some hesitation and consideration.

As a reward for making this decision, Zhouyang handed a Foundation Establishment Pill to each of the three Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators on the spot and awarded each of the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators a Tier Four Lower-Grade Spirit Talisman.

Thereafter, after Zhouyang and Zhou Guangxiang addressed some matters, they first took the six Zhou Family juniors back to Chongxuan Mountain.

As for Zhou Guangxiang, carrying one hundred and fifty Foundation Establishment Pills and a piece of "Purple Heart Jade Marrow," he was cautious not to wander aimlessly in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm. He had already decided to travel in Immortal Sun City for half a year before directly returning to the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

Upon returning to Chongxuan Mountain, Zhouyang entrusted the five Zhou Family juniors, except for Zhou Shengyu, to Zhou Ronghua, naming them as his registered disciples. Except for the Zhou Family members, no one knew their true relationship.

Zhou Shengyu was directly accepted as a second disciple by Xiao Ying the next day, intending to pass on the alchemy heritage to him in the future.

However, due to his current low cultivation and Xiao Ying’s preoccupation with refining her Lifebound Spiritual Artifact, they could only temporarily establish a title and have Ye Yunshan, his senior sister, teach him on behalf of the master.

These small matters were not enough to distract Zhouyang, who, after learning from Master Cyan Yang about the impending war and knowing that the Six Paths Alliance wouldn’t attack again until the fate of Lu Xuanji was determined, directly entered the closed-door chamber to take Spirit Pills and work towards achieving the Fifth-Layer Golden Core.

With the war approaching, enhancing cultivation by even one layer would be more useful than any tactic.