Beast-controlling fairy clan.

Chapter 168 Zhou Family Changes, Rat Plague [Subscription Request]

After one year and three months of seclusion, Zhou Chun came out.

Almost not long after he walked out of the secret retreat room, the supreme elder Zhou Mingde in the cave on the top of the mountain discovered this.

So before he had the time to return to his residence to visit his two spiritual pets whom he had not seen for a year, he was called into the cave by Zhou Mingde.

Then the clan leader Zhou Daoyi also rushed here.

"Your aura is strong and powerful, as powerful as a diamond. It seems that your transformation into the Golden Tripod Mysterious Art is going very smoothly!"

In the cave, Zhou Mingde stared at Zhou Chun with sharp eyes, and after looking him up and down, he noticed the great changes that had taken place in him.

After hearing this, clan leader Zhou Daoyi looked at Zhou Chun and asked, "How do you feel? Can you tell me what the strengths of the top-level skills are?"

"I feel really good. It's worth all the hard work and preparation!"

Zhou Chun smiled gently and without hiding anything, he immediately told others about the benefits he had gained after switching to practicing "Golden Tripod Mysterious Art".

"Amazing! Just by listening to you describe it like this, I can tell how strong you are now. It's worthy of being a top-level martial art passed down from ancient times!"

After listening to Zhou Chun's story, Zhou Daoyi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, and was amazed and envious of his achievements.

"Although top-level skills are difficult to master, the rewards are indeed huge once you master them!"

Zhou Mingde nodded, also feeling quite emotional.

Then he told Zhou Chun: "However, Zhengchun, the fact that you have practiced a top-level technique still needs to be kept secret. In the future, just say that you have practiced a fighting technique!"

Zhou Chun knew that he said this because he was worried that he would stand out too much and be envied by others.

He immediately responded seriously: "Yes, I understand."

Seeing that he understood what he meant, Zhou Mingde nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then you should practice well at home, and Daoyi can concentrate on building the dragon's lair."

Then he let Zhou Chun go home first.

When Zhou Chun returned to his residence, the Rock Turtle and the Silver Lightning Python Baibai, whom he hadn't seen for more than a year, came up to him and got close to him in a very friendly manner.

These two spirit pets had always been fed by clan leader Zhou Daoyi at intervals. Although they were never hungry, they were obviously not as carefully cared for as he was.

"Don't worry, Shitou. Now that I have completed the important task of changing my cultivation method, I will do my best to find spiritual objects for you to purify your bloodline and break through. I will definitely help you break through to the second level as soon as possible."

In the yard, Zhou Chun touched the rock turtle's head and gave it a promise.

After switching to practicing "Golden Tripod Mysterious Art", he no longer had anything else urgent to do.

Naturally, you can use your energy to cultivate spiritual pets and other aspects.

Zhou Chun had also made up his mind. Next, in addition to practicing and handling clan affairs, he would concentrate on practicing a few more secret techniques and some second-level spells.

After you have learned both the secret arts and the magic spells, try to practice a skill.

Anyway, after building the foundation, his life span will be more than 240 years. For him who is only in his early forties now, there is still a long time to live!
In the next few days, Zhou Chun checked the clan records in Zhongping Hall and communicated with others. He also learned that a lot of things had happened in the family during the more than one year he had been in seclusion.

For example, the Zhang family from Tiantai Mountain sent people to apologize.

There was also the fact that more than a month after he had been in seclusion, the family's third elder Zhou Daoquan left home to travel far away, looking for an opportunity to open up his own Purple Mansion.

And all the things about the thriving development of various industries within the family.

However, there was one thing that made Zhou Chun curious.

During the more than one year that he was in seclusion, the cultivator named Hu, with whom he had dealt in Cangzhou at that time, actually asked someone to deliver three letters to Lingshouzhai, all of which invited him to go to Cangzhou for a chat, saying that they had important matters that required his help.

The most recent letter was written more than ten days ago, and the tone of the letter was much more earnest than the previous two.

"Forget it, let's leave it alone for now. If there's something urgent, he will definitely send someone over to ask for help."

Shaking his head, Zhou Chun put the letter away and didn't take it too seriously.

When I left my contact information, I just wanted to make friends.

It’s not certain whether I should make friends with this person or not!

After he took charge of family affairs again, he also made some changes to the family personnel.

Zhou Jiasheng, who had been the shopkeeper of Lingshouzhai for many years, was transferred back to the family, and Zhou Jiafei was appointed as the new shopkeeper.

Zhou Jiasheng was appointed as the financial deacon by Zhou Chun, responsible for the organization and statistics of the family's finances.

Zhou Zhengxun, the manager of the Deer Park, performed well and was promoted to the deacon of the Hall of Beasts.

Zhou Zhengyong, the former deacon of the Hall of Beasts, was transferred to the position of supervisory deacon.

"Currently, there are a total of 176 cultivators in my Zhou family, including 135 cultivators from the Zhou family and 41 cultivators from relatives outside the family."

"In the past year, the family's income was about 35,400 spirit coins, and the expenditure was about 23,000 spirit coins."

"At the same time, in the past year, the family has issued about 18,000 points of good deeds, and the number of good deeds redeemed is about 11,000 points."

"The current amount of spiritual coins in the family account is about 27,400."

In Zhongping Hall, at the invitation of Zhou Chun, all the foundation-building cultivators in the clan, including the clan leader Zhou Daoyi, gathered here again to listen to his report on the current situation of the family.

Compared to the last time, the elders attending the meeting this time included the Third Elder Zhou Daoquan but had the Sixth Elder Zhou Jiapeng.

After listening to his brief report, the second elder Zhou Chongshan immediately relaxed his brows and nodded slightly, saying, "It sounds good. It's obviously improved a lot compared to the last time."

"Yes, the family has indeed become more lively in the past few years. Not to mention other things, I have attended the full moon banquets for new members of the family seven or eight times. There are almost half of the village's babies in the nursery!"

The fourth elder Zhou Jiarui also nodded with deep emotion and expressed his feelings with a smile.

Then the fifth elder Zhou Jiahe also said: "Not only has the number of clan members increased, but the enthusiasm of the clan members is also higher than before. The incentive measures formulated by the deputy clan leader, and the knowledge that after accumulating 5,000 family merits, they can become foundation-building seeds, have made the clan members more enthusiastic about doing things for the family and accumulating merits than before."

At this point, he looked at the clan leader Zhou Daoyi and added, "Of course, the clan leader's transformation from a cloud python to a dragon has also greatly boosted the morale of the clan members, making them more excited about the future of the clan."

Seeing this, Zhou Daoyi also nodded with a smile and said, "What the elders said makes sense. It seems that you should all be satisfied with the reforms that Zhengchun has made to the family, right?"

"I have no objection."

The second elder Zhou Chongshan took the lead in answering.

"satisfy."

"satisfy."

"very satisfied."

The three elders, Zhou Jiarui, Zhou Jiahe, and Zhou Jiapeng, also expressed their support. Seeing this, Zhou Chun also hurriedly bowed and thanked them, saying, "Thank you all for your trust and support. Zhengchun will definitely continue to work hard to serve the family."

"Then let's talk about the other thing that called all the elders here today."

Zhou Daoyi took over the conversation, looked at the elders and said, "A few years ago, Zheng Yuan from Baiyao Peak reported to the family, hoping that the family would support him in building his foundation successfully, so that he would be absolutely sure to refine the Demon Spirit Pill."

"At that time, I was in seclusion, and there were many things to do in the family. The financial situation was not good, so I only promised him that I would support him, but I didn't do it immediately."

"Now that everything has been settled, there is no point in dragging this matter on any longer."

"So, elders, do you think that the family should use up their savings to buy him a foundation-building pill for the purpose of building his foundation?"

Is there such a thing?

Several Zhou family elders who heard about this for the first time were all surprised.

The second elder Zhou Chongshan frowned and said in a deep voice: "This is a bit against the rules!"

He is a conservative in the family. Naturally, he cannot stand those members who are so self-righteous about their talents that they actively ask for support from the family's top leaders.

In the eyes of an old man like him, the family leaders are not blind and they certainly know which family members are worth training and supporting to build the foundation.

If someone doesn't take the initiative to support you, it means they think you are not qualified.

It’s just like what the classic saying goes: What I give you is yours. If I don’t give it to you, you can’t take it away from you!
Zhou Zhengyuan's alchemy skills are indeed the best among the current alchemists in the Zhou family.

However, elders of the older generation of the family like Zhou Chongshan knew that his talent in alchemy was not at the level that the family had to support him in building his foundation.

Otherwise, the late great elder Zhou Mingshan would have explained this matter in his will.

"It's a little against the rules, but we can't keep the rules unchanged forever!"

"The family does have a great need for Demon Spirit Pills right now, and we also need someone with decent alchemy skills to work for the family."

"Since there is no better candidate, I can only trust him this time and make an exception for him!"

When Zhou Daoyi said this, his tone was somewhat helpless.

After his Sky Blue Cloud Python transformed into a dragon, the Zhou family's ancestral beast taming skills could be said to have reached their peak.

However, the other skills of alchemy, weapons, talismans and arrays are somewhat lacking.

The formation is now completely supported by the second elder Zhou Chongshan, and he has not yet found a suitable successor.

Needless to say, as for weapon refining, only the supreme elder Zhou Mingde knows a little about it, but he doesn't spend too much time on it.

As for making talismans, he can indeed make second-order talismans, but it is impossible for him, as a clan leader, to not do other things and just be the family talisman maker.

In the field of alchemy, ever since the passing of the great elder Zhou Mingshan, it has been difficult for any of the few alchemists he trained for the family to take on the responsibility.

Zhou Zhengyuan is already the tallest among the short guys, which is considered good compared to others.

So although he was a little uncomfortable with Zhou Zhengyuan's request which was tinged with coercion, Zhou Daoyi also felt it necessary to help him in order to strengthen the family's foundation.

After hearing his words, the second elder Zhou Chongshan also fell silent.

"In fact, with Zheng Yuan's ability, as long as he works hard, in another ten or twenty years, he will be able to accumulate enough good deeds for the family to become a foundation-building seed. By then, he will be in his early seventies, and he will still have a chance to succeed in building a foundation."

"If the family helps him now, it can be regarded as an advance investment!"

The fourth elder Zhou Jiarui whispered a few words, expressing his agreement with this matter.

Zhou Chun glanced at the fourth elder and understood what he was thinking.

His newly contracted pet, the Red Flame Dragon Python, has a great chance of being promoted to the second level in the future, as there is already a third-level dragon in the family. At that time, he will definitely need the Demon Spirit Pill.

Helping Zhou Zhengyuan at this time is equivalent to helping yourself.

Obviously, Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiapeng quickly figured out the connection and then spoke out in agreement with this matter.

Seeing this, Zhou Chongshan could only change his words and said, "Well, the family can support him in building his foundation, but if he fails to build his foundation, or if he fails to refine the Demon Spirit Pill as he said after building his foundation, he will no longer receive family benefits in the future!"

He took a step back, and the fourth elder Zhou Jiarui immediately nodded and said, "That's fine. I think this kind of punishment should be taken for Zheng Yuan's situation!"

"Then let's do as the Second Elder said. I don't think Zheng Yuan will have any objection to this."

Zhou Daoyi nodded slightly and agreed to this matter.

So the matter was settled.

The next step is to inquire about purchasing the Foundation Establishment Pill.

However, as long as you are willing to spend spirit coins, and spend more spirit coins, it is not impossible to buy the Foundation Establishment Pill.

More than a month later, Zhou Chun suddenly received news from the market town, saying that a foundation-building cultivator named Hu had found the store and wanted to meet him.

“I really found it.”

There was a flash of surprise in Zhou Chun's eyes. After thinking for a while, he told the clan leader Zhou Daoyi about the situation and then went to Hongyafang Market.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou is finally willing to come and see Hu!"

In the Spirit Beast House, Hu Changyou, who met Zhou Chun again, looked at him with a look of emotion on his face and let out a long sigh.

There was a lot of resentment in her words, like a bullied young wife.

It is not difficult to know from his words that he already knows Zhou Chun's true origins.

This made Zhou Chun feel a little embarrassed.

He immediately bowed and said, "I'm sorry, I've been in seclusion at home for more than a year and only came out a month ago. Although I saw Fellow Daoist Hu's letter after I came out, I was busy with family affairs and didn't have time to ask someone to reply to Fellow Daoist."

At this point, he also smiled bitterly and said: "I didn't expect that fellow Taoist would be so anxious that he would come all the way to Lanzhou."

Hearing what he said, Hu Changyou also smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I'm anxious, it's the people who asked me for help who are anxious. I can't stand their urging, so I can only come to ask Brother Zhou in person!"

"What on earth is going on that is worthy of Daoist Hu coming all the way to look for Zhou?"

Zhou Chun's eyes flashed with surprise and he asked the reason.

“It’s a rat infestation!”

"A second-order mutated gold-eating rat king appeared in a group of gold-eating rats in Cangzhou. It secretly integrated several rat groups and bred a huge group of tens of thousands underground. Now it has caused a rat plague in many mining areas. Many mining monks have been injured by them, and the amount of minerals lost is also huge!"

Hu Changyou stated his purpose with a serious expression.

After finishing this chapter, the book has 600,000 words. It’s going so fast!
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(End of this chapter)