Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 747 - 731: The Path is Obstructed and Difficult!
Li Hong's timely realization of the situation has also earned him a substantial reward.
Including the amount of "Jade Liquid Golden Pills" obtained from the Cultivation Realm of Beiting Continent, the number of "Jade Liquid Golden Pills" owned by Zhouyang now exceeds twenty copies.
This time, he entrusted Li Hong with five copies of the "Jade Liquid Golden Pill" as well as thirty copies of the "Purple Heart Jade Marrow" obtained from an exchange meeting, to be stored in the Zhou Family Treasure Vault for the Zhou Family Cultivators to use.
As for the remaining "Jade Liquid Golden Pills," he kept five copies for himself to reward his juniors in the future and stored the rest in his private treasury at the Fire Birch Mountain Cave Mansion.
Even if he is not with the family in the future, and the number of "Jade Liquid Golden Pills" stored in the Zhou Family Treasure Vault is depleted, Li Hong can still ask his Dao companion, Xiao Ying, or his son, Zhou Guangcheng, to open the treasure vault and retrieve them.
Moreover, he handed over many Spiritual Objects that he couldn't use, obtained from the Cultivation Realm of Beiting Continent, to Li Hong to bring back to the Zhou Family, enriching the family treasure vault.
When bestowing these items, he also suggested to Li Hong: "Now that our Zhou Family has ample resources, we might as well host more internal clan competitions next, investing more resources in those clan members with aptitude and insight to advance further, striving to cultivate more Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators and even Golden Core Stage Cultivators."
Hearing this, Li Hong promptly responded with respect: "Junior understands, and I will certainly convey the decree of the Elder Ancestor to all clan cultivators upon returning, letting everyone know that you are still always thinking of us, the family's juniors."
"I trust you to handle this, Elder Ancestor. So be it, you can now return to the family. I will arrange for people to protect you in secret."
Zhouyang nodded slightly and didn't inquire further about family affairs, directly allowing Li Hong and others to leave.
And the one he arranged to protect Li Hong and others in secret was naturally the demon servant Bi'Er.
Originally, such a task of protecting people in secret would have been more suitable for the witch Huan Qianqian, who could more easily hide herself without being discovered.
However, Zhouyang really couldn't trust this witch to the extent of letting her out of his sight, so he could only entrust this task to Bi'Er.
The Zhou Family members hadn't left for long when Master Cyan Yang, after receiving the message, personally escorted his disciple Zhou Guangcheng home to visit his family.
Decades had passed, and Zhou Guangcheng had successfully formed his core, now becoming a true Golden Core Stage Cultivator.
During the time when Dragon-Taming Star Feather was stationed to intercept Zhouyang, Zhou Guangcheng encountered several ambushes. Although nothing happened eventually, he was genuinely frightened, which inadvertently made him grow considerably and no longer as arrogant and impetuous as before.
Upon seeing his parents after several decades apart, he truly showed his emotions, a rare sight, with tears in his eyes.
"Senior Brother Wang, after going back, talked extensively with me. He said he regrets what happened back then, hoping Fellow Daoist Zhou, you will not hold it against the sect because of him."
"This half bottle of 'Seven Yang Gathering Essence Pill' was specially entrusted to me by Senior Brother Wang to bring to Fellow Daoist Zhou before I and Cheng'Er came over. He said it's a small compensation for what happened back then, hoping Fellow Daoist Zhou you could accept it!"
In the Fire Birch Mountain Cave Mansion, after sending his disciple Zhou Guangcheng away to chat with his mother Xiao Ying in another room, Master Cyan Yang brought up another purpose of this visit while looking at Zhouyang.
When he said this, his heart was also filled with emotion.
Back in the days, despite his repeated persuasions, he still couldn't change the mindset of Wang Lingxiao and several fellow brothers, couldn't make them truly recognize the potential of Zhouyang.
But now, merely two or three hundred years later, Zhouyang's actions have already made Wang Lingxiao, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who wields a Tier Seven Immortal Artifact, feel a sense of vulnerability and concede.
Had they known it would end up like this, why choose such a path in the first place!
This was what he wanted to say when he received the commission from Wang Lingxiao before coming here, words he held back with difficulty.
If they had listened to his advice back then, not haggling over everything with Zhouyang and being sincerely generous, now they might all be joyfully celebrating the fact that the Profound Yang Immortal Sect had such a Honored Guest Supreme Elder as him.
"Please, Elder Qingyang, do take back these Spirit Pills to Elder Wang, as I cannot accept favors without merit," Zhouyang said, after a long silence, shaking his head and gently refusing the Spirit Pills offered by Master Cyan Yang.
Indeed, he needed these Spirit Pills to refine his cultivation, but he wasn't willing to obtain them for no reason at all costs.
The impression Wang Lingxiao left on him back then was quite unpleasant. If not for the circumstances being perilous at the time, it would have been exceedingly difficult for him to tolerate such behavior akin to taking advantage of the situation.
Now, hundreds of years have passed, and the other side only thinks of compensating for this rift. Moreover, doing it so covertly by having Master Cyan Yang deputize it, makes him doubt the sincerity of the gesture.
"Ah! Fellow Daoist Zhou's character, I understand. Since you are so resolute, I won't force it. I just hope you won't have any negative views regarding the sect and I because of this. There are indeed hardships for both the sect and myself!"
With a sigh, Master Cyan Yang took back the Spirit Pills with a face full of helplessness, and his tone was very resigned.
Upon hearing this, Zhouyang merely smiled lightly and said, "Elder Qingyang, you worry too much. I have always respected you greatly, and the kindness and assistance you provided in my early days will never be forgotten throughout my life. How could I ever blame you for someone else's affairs?"
"Bestowing kindness upon you back then was by far the wisest and most rightful decision of my life, to be honest. I also want to see, based on Fellow Daoist Zhou's talents, how far you can go in the future, and whether you can take that step!"
With a face full of emotion, Master Cyan Yang looked at Zhouyang, his words brimming with expectation and hope.
Now, Zhouyang's cultivation level is already on par with his. At this speed, he has great hopes of seeing Zhouyang make a dash for that step within his lifetime.
"The grand Dao is boundless; how far I can go in the future, no one knows. I can only see clearly the path I should take underfoot, hoping that the path is correct and won't lead me astray!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Zhouyang, thinking about Du Chongyang, whom he had seen in the Cultivation Realm of Beiting Continent, felt a sense of realization and sentimentally articulated his inner insight.
The path of cultivation becomes increasingly arduous as one progresses.
While Master Cyan Yang marveled at Zhouyang's speed of cultivation advancement, he did not realize that Zhouyang himself felt quite the opposite about it.
Analyzing it closely, it has already been two or three hundred years since he achieved Nascent Soul Formation, advancing nearly once every hundred years. This pace might be a long-desired blessing for other Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.
But compared to his speed during the Golden Core Stage, it is indeed vastly different and incomparable.
Moreover, the dangers he encountered to ascend these two layers of cultivation were greater each time.
Many Nascent Soul Stage cultivators who journeyed with him were unable to hold on, resulting in millennia of cultivation turning to dust!
Although Zhouyang has now accumulated a significant amount of Spiritual Objects sufficient for his cultivation up to mid-stage Nascent Soul, these things, at best, can only help him advance two or three layers, not enough to assist his cultivation to the late-stage Nascent Soul.
Breaking through from mid-stage Nascent Soul to late-stage Nascent Soul, from Seventh-Layer Nascent Soul to Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul, is one challenging barrier after another.
In the face of these barriers, Zhouyang could not guarantee how long he would stay at each stage, or if he would be like many other cultivators such as Wang Lingxiao, who remained at these stages their entire lives.
Master Cyan Yang didn't stay long at the Fire Birch Mountain Cave Mansion before returning alone to the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, while Zhou Guangcheng stayed behind to accompany his parents and refine some treasures bestowed by Zhouyang.
Meanwhile, Zhouyang was not in a hurry to retreat into secluded cultivation but made an effort to spend time with his wife and children, enjoying the joys of family life together.
Soon, some old friends who heard of Zhouyang's return also came to visit him at the Fire Birch Mountain Cave Mansion.
Most of these people were unaware of Zhouyang's organization in exterminating the Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul cultivator, Dragon-Taming Star Feather, but they had heard of Zhouyang's efforts in demon extermination and Dao protection in the Beiting Continent's cultivation realm, and often brought it up during their visits.
Zhouyang welcomed these visits warmly, as cultivators valued "Dao companions, wealth, and land," where "companions" included fellow cultivators, not just Dao companions.
Like the encirclement and slaying of Dragon-Taming Star Feather this time, if not for his wide social connections and establishing relationships with many powerful figures through fortunate circumstances, how could he have mobilized so many to help him?
The saying "Those who gain the Dao gain more help; those who lose the Dao gain less help" is indeed true.
"Is Fellow Daoist Liu still busying herself with improving the sect's spirit veins?"
On Fire Birch Mountain, as Zhouyang entertained the Honored Supreme Elder Liu Yunxiang of the Suyun Sect, he casually inquired about this matter after exchanging pleasantries and sharing his experiences from his journey in the Beiting Continent cultivation realm.
Upon hearing him bring this up, Liu Yunxiang seemed to have a lot to vent, sighing with fatigue in her eyes, "Yes, I am still busy with it. I don't know how many more years it will take before I can finally accomplish this grand task!"
She succeeded in forming her Nascent Soul slightly earlier than Zhouyang, but now, after two to three hundred years, while Zhouyang's cultivation has reached Third-Layer Nascent Soul, she is still far from advancing to Second-Layer Nascent Soul.
This is not because her aptitude is multiple times worse than Zhouyang's but because in these two to three hundred years, she hasn't truly cultivated, spending her time and energy on upgrading the sect's spirit veins.
Since they brought up this subject, and Zhouyang was a long-time friend who had once saved her entire sect together side by side, Liu Yunxiang didn't mind revealing her vulnerability before him, seizing this chance to vent and release the frustrations she couldn't share with her fellow sect members.
Taking the opportunity, she confided in Zhouyang, "When I first joined the sect, the resources for cultivation were gathered with the help of my master and elders. Although there were quite a few trials during that period, I rarely worried about those things."
"Now that I've personally spent centuries busily toiling over this, I've come to deeply understand how difficult it was for the ancestors to establish the sect back then!"
"As the saying goes, 'The predecessors plant the trees, and the later generations enjoy the shade.' The ancestors of the Suyun Sect planted the saplings and nurtured them as they grew so we and many disciples of Suyun Sect today can flourish under the canopy of their shade."
"Now that Suyun Sect has grown larger, the trees planted by our ancestors no longer suffice to meet all disciples' needs. As the one with the highest cultivation in Suyun Sect today, I have the responsibility and duty to plant a taller and bigger tree for the sect, so future disciples can enjoy the shade and won't need to follow in my cumbersome footsteps!"
It's often said that starting an endeavor is easy, but maintaining it is hard.
To expand and develop the foundations left by the ancestors is even more difficult.
With Liu Yunxiang's success in forming her Nascent Soul, Suyun Sect now has the foundation to become a major sect, but truly attaining that status will depend on whether the sect's spirit vein can upgrade to Tier Six.
With a Nascent Soul stage cultivator in command and a Tier Six spirit vein as the foundation, these two hard indicators together could allow Suyun Sect to earn the title of a major sect.
Moreover, with a Tier Six spirit vein as the foundation, only then could Liu Yunxiang have the possibility of further advancing her cultivation.
For the cultivators of Suyun Sect following her, if someone succeeded in forming their Nascent Soul, they wouldn't have to tread her difficult path again!
Zhouyang deeply understood Liu Yunxiang's current feelings and struggles, as the Zhou Family, under his leadership, had experienced something similar.
Yet, he was more fortunate than Liu Yunxiang, facing lesser difficulty at the time, and with his meticulous planning, managed to secure the oasis on Rhino Horn Continent smoothly, thus establishing the foundation of a Golden Core clan for the Zhou Family.
Listening to Liu Yunxiang's story at this moment, he felt deeply sympathetic, unable to refrain from comforting her, "Fellow Daoist Liu is indeed accountable and dutiful. I believe the future generations of Suyun Sect cultivators will surely remember and appreciate your merits and kindness. In Suyun Sect's Ancestor Hall, your position will surely far surpass previous ancestors, even standing alongside the founder ancestor!"
Hearing this, Liu Yunxiang could only smile bitterly and sigh, "What I do is only to be worthy of my conscience and responsibilities. I do not expect such things, merely hoping that these days of busy toil will end as soon as possible!"
As these words were spoken, Xiao Ying, who had been accompanying her, suddenly giggled and said, "Hehehe, Sister Liu's wish will soon be realized. When the spirit vein of your sect successfully upgrades, you must remember to invite us to celebrate!"
"Sister Ying'Er, what do you mean by this..."
Liu Yunxiang looked at Xiao Ying in astonishment, her thoughts racing, seemingly realizing something, and couldn't help but turn her trembling body towards Zhouyang.
"During my journey in the Beiting Continent cultivation realm, I fortunately achieved some merits, and Fellow Daoist Nie Yushuang from the Profound Nether Immortal Sect happened to award me a top-grade spirit stone while assessing contributions. The Zhou Family currently has no use for a Tier Six spirit vein, and as I also have the Fire Birch Mountain Cave Mansion, if Fellow Daoist Liu urgently needs it, I can lend it to you for use."
Meeting Liu Yunxiang's incredulous and expectant gaze, Zhouyang nodded slightly with a faint smile and revealed his intention.
As he spoke, he had already flipped his palm to reveal the top-grade wood attribute spirit stone given by Nie Yushuang.
When Zhouyang ventured to the Beiting Continent's cultivation realm, a giant spirit stone ore in the Wilderness Jungle yielded another top-grade spirit stone. Hence, Zhouyang now possessed as many as six top-grade spirit stones, covering several attributes.
Since Suyun Sect's cultivation techniques mainly focused on wood and water attributes, and having decided to do this favor with the right item in hand, Zhouyang naturally wanted to carry out this goodwill to the end, providing them with a wood attribute top-grade spirit stone most suitable for upgrading the spirit vein.
"This this this... this this..."
Liu Yunxiang widened her eyes and looked at the verdant spirit stone in Zhouyang's hand, too excited to speak coherently.
That which she had longed for centuries now appeared before her in an entirely unexpected way; her excitement was beyond words.
"Sister Liu, don't just be lost in excitement. Since my husband is willing to lend this to you, quickly take it. Otherwise, if he changes his mind, you'll be left with nothing but false joy!"
Xiao Ying chuckled lightly, teasingly taking the top-grade wood attribute spirit stone from Zhouyang's hand and placing it into Liu Yunxiang's jade-like palm.
Feeling the pure and rich wood attribute spiritual power within the spirit stone in her hand, Liu Yunxiang felt a profound sense of tranquility and peace in her heart.
Under the influence of this tranquility and calmness, her trembling body finally settled down.
After calming down, she immediately gripped the spirit stone in her hand firmly, her beautiful eyes filled with gratitude as she bowed deeply to Zhouyang to express her thanks, saying, "The grace of Fellow Daoist Zhou's assistance will be forever remembered by Liu Yunxiang and all the disciples of Suyun Sect. Please accept my humble gratitude!"
