Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 822 - 805: Secret Technique Passed Down Through Generations

A giant spirit stone mine can produce dozens of top-grade spirit stones depending on the situation.

The giant spirit stone mine in the Wilderness Jungle, after being mined by the Zhou Family and Guo Family for hundreds of years, has provided Zhouyang with nearly thirty top-grade spirit stones, which is already considered quite good.

However, according to Zhou Liangyu, the remaining reserves of that spirit stone mine are now less than 30%, and it's estimated that in another two to three hundred years of mining, it will be exhausted.

Nonetheless, with the current revival of life in the Desert Sea, the Zhou Family has discovered several locations in the Boundless Desert Sea that are likely to form spirit stone veins, and they have also found and excavated four or five spirit stone veins.

In another two to three hundred years, the revival of life in the Desert Sea will reach its peak. By then, even without the spirit stone supply from that giant mine, the Zhou Family, which sits on a corner of the cultivation realm, won't have to worry about financial problems.

Of course, if the Zhou Family continues to expand, then no amount of resources will be enough for them.

Therefore, Zhouyang specifically reminded Zhou Liangyu to control the growth rate of the cultivator population through some less intense methods and try to keep the number of Zhou Family cultivators under ten thousand.

Of course, he only reminded them to pay attention to this matter, without going so far as to crazily forbid the Zhou Clan Members from having more offspring.

In the following years, Zhouyang stayed at Lingxi Peak with his family. Zhou Guangcheng and his wife also did not rush back to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm and stayed in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm to accompany their parents.

One day, Zhouyang was on Lingxi Peak, teaching a few visiting Zhou Family Golden Core cultivators, when suddenly his expression changed, and he stopped speaking.

His eyes flashed with a strange light, and suddenly he waved at the Zhou family juniors sitting cross-legged below him, saying, "Please ponder on the principles I just taught you. I will be back shortly."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up and took a step, his figure instantly disappearing from the hall.

This kind of miraculous space-shifting divine technique made the Zhou Family Golden Core cultivators in the hall yearn for it, and envy appeared in everyone's eyes.

"Truly, Ancestor lives up to being the first Nascent Soul Stage cultivator in our Spirit Realm; he has already mastered the Great Divine Technique, [Shrinking Inches], to the point of thought-invoked emergence. It's truly miraculous!"

A Zhou Family Golden Core cultivator exclaimed in pride and admiration, sincerely impressed by the divine techniques of his ancestor.

"Our ancestor is naturally boundless in power, unparalleled in the world!"

Another Golden Core Stage cultivator followed with praise and then regretfully shook his head, saying, "But it's a pity that none of us descendants has truly inherited the ancestor's mantle, except for the Little Ancestor in the Profound Sun Immortal Sect. In our entire huge Zhou family, still, none has become the third Master Nascent Soul!"

"How difficult is the path to Nascent Soul! Although our Zhou family is powerful and renowned now, it has barely been two thousand years of heritage. To have produced Ancestor, Elder Xiao, Elder Lu, and the Little Ancestor as four Masters Nascent Soul is already a blessing. In the past ten thousand years, neither the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm nor the Westernmost Cultivation Realm had a family as remarkable as ours!"

An older Zhou Family Golden Core cultivator sighed with little regret, looking at it quite openly.

At this point, the first cultivator interjected, "Currently, our Zhou Family has nine Golden Core stage cultivators. While I can't speak for the others, I think both Elder Xiaofeng and the Clan Leader have a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. If either one of them succeeds, our Zhou Family's legacy will continue, and no one will dare to call us a nouveau riche again!"

Upon hearing this, the Golden Core cultivators in the hall all turned their gaze to one person.

That was a middle-aged man in a blue magic robe, with cultivation at the Third Layer of the Golden Core Stage. He was slightly lowering his head, seemingly in thought.

As he felt the gaze of others focusing on him, he looked up at the crowd in confusion and asked, "Why are all the Elders looking at me? Did I miss something?"

Upon hearing his words, the Zhou Family Elders looked at each other in dismay, and one of them couldn't help but respond, "Elder Xiaofeng, what were you thinking so deeply about? Did Ancestor's lecture give you some enlightenment?"

Upon hearing this, the blue-robed middle-aged man Zhou Xiaofeng smiled slightly and said, "Not daring to call it enlightenment, but I did gain some understanding. Ancestor's insights resolved a cultivation doubt that had troubled me for years!"

The Zhou Family Elder who asked could not help but be momentarily stunned, then quickly reacted and praised with a clucking sound, "Well, congratulations to Elder Xiaofeng. When Ancestor returns and learns of this, he might grant you a treasure!"

Then he revealed the earlier discussions they had.

Hearing this, Zhou Xiaofeng quickly waved his hand, saying, "You Elders truly overestimate me. In terms of cultivation, I am nearly at the bottom among our Zhou Family's nine Golden Core cultivators. As for talent, half of you Elders also possess top-grade spiritual roots, just like me. How can I dare accept your praises!"

"Elder Xiaofeng, you're being modest. Although we all have top-grade spiritual root talent, you possess a single wind attribute spiritual root, and your spiritual glow during testing reached a height of five zhang. None of us surpassed four zhang, not to mention that you naturally have a much stronger perception than others. Today, during Ancestor's lecture, while we only grasped the surface, you gained insights. Doesn't this prove your potential?"

"Indeed, indeed. Elder Xiaofeng, you formed the Golden Core at three hundred and forty-seven, the second fastest among our nine Golden Core stage cultivators in the Zhou Family, second only to the Clan Leader. Now, after over a hundred years since your Core Formation, you are preparing to advance to the middle stage of the Golden Core. Such a cultivation speed is beyond us all!"

"Elder Xiaofeng, work hard and strive for the Zhou Family to let those who call us a nouveau riche eat their words. Our Zhou Family sons will not be inferior to anyone!"

Several Zhou Family Golden Core Elders expressed their support for this outstanding Zhou Family junior, sincerely hoping for another Master Nascent Soul to emerge within the clan.

Hearing the heartfelt words from these elders, Zhou Xiaofeng was deeply moved. He finally stopped being humble and courteously bowed to everyone, saying, "Thank you all for your high regard. I will surely strive in my cultivation and not disappoint you!"

Zhouyang, of course, did not know about the discussions among the Zhou Family Golden Core cultivators after he left.

After leaving Lingxi Peak, he kept flying towards outside the Rhino Horn Continent. After flying two to three thousand miles, he finally found the person he was looking for.

In the sky, a beautiful woman was piloting a flying boat spiritual artifact towards Lingxi Peak. Behind her, a red-lipped, white-toothed child of about four to five years old was curiously leaning over the edge of the flying boat, wide bright eyes looking at the oasis below.

Upon seeing this scene, Zhouyang's expression changed slightly, then with a wave of his sleeve, the beautiful woman's flying boat uncontrollably flew towards him, stopping about ten zhang in front of him.

"What is this situation? Did you find wandering freely outside uninteresting and now wish to return to the Dongxuan Pearl and live out your days in solitude?"

Zhouyang furrowed his brow while looking at the beautiful woman on the flying ship, his tone quite displeased.

This woman turned out to be the demoness Huan Qianqian, whom he had set free over seventy years ago.

As someone subjected to his Soul Capturing Great Technique, naturally, there existed a unique connection between him and Huan Qianqian, allowing him to locate her through that sensation at any moment.

Previously, Zhouyang had sensed that the demoness Huan Qianqian was approaching Lingxi Peak, which is why he paused his sermon to come meet her.

Because Zhouyang knew that unless she intended to find him specifically, the demoness Huan Qianqian would definitely not easily venture into the Zhou Family stronghold in the Rhino Horn Continent Oasis.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou possesses great divine techniques and deep wisdom; how could you not know my intentions?"

Huan Qianqian's beautiful eyes silently gazed at Zhouyang, her tone calm as she said, "After all, this child carries the bloodline of Fellow Daoist Zhou's family; can Zhou really sit by and do nothing?"

Zhouyang's eyes flickered, involuntarily looking at the young child who was curiously gazing at him.

Just then, the child, full of curiosity and expectation, pointed at him and asked Huan Qianqian, "Mother, is he Xian'Er's father?"

Zhouyang's face stiffened instantly.

Seeing this, Huan Qianqian couldn't help but laugh and say, "No, Xian'Er, don't say that. Fellow Daoist Zhou isn't your father; he's your father's eighteenth-generation ancestor. You should call him great ancestor!"

As soon as her laughter subsided, Zhouyang's face turned ashen, and with a wave of his hand, he directly made the young child behind her faint.

After doing this, Zhouyang's expression turned cold, his eyes icy as he glared at the demoness, coldly questioning, "What exactly do you mean by this? Are you trying to use such a child to retaliate against Zhou?"

Huan Qianqian's face changed slightly; she first carefully examined the child behind her and, upon discovering that he was only unconscious, looked relieved and offered a bitter smile to Zhouyang. "Fellow Daoist Zhou jests; even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare to retaliate against you. You are just half a step away from obtaining immortality and becoming a daoist. Who in this world would be so tired of living as to seek revenge against you?"

Having said this, she suddenly bowed deeply to Zhouyang, speaking with a tone of gratitude: "I am very grateful to Fellow Daoist Zhou for giving me this chance to start anew. Perhaps Fellow Daoist Zhou does not know; I grew up in the Demon Sect. By the time I could walk the cultivation realm, I was already at the Golden Core Stage, so I never truly experienced the life of an ordinary cultivator before now."

"It's thanks to Fellow Daoist Zhou's opportunity that I realized how wonderful and fortunate it is to be a normal cultivator, walking freely in the realm of cultivation without the constant fear of being hunted down by those who protect the Dao and exterminate demons!"

"If there truly is a next life, I hope to become a cultivator seeking immortality, instead of a demon cultivator who hides all day and doesn't even dare to have someone they can trust!"

Zhouyang's expression remained unchanged as he looked at her, utterly unmoved.

When a Nascent Soul Stage demoness speaks, even she probably doesn't know how much truth is in her words.

Moreover, Zhouyang was not a Bodhisattva full of compassion and mercy; he did not possess the heart to convert others to Buddha-hood.

Human sorrows are not mutually relevant, and he simply found Huan Qianqian's words meaningless.

So he quickly asked what he deemed significant: "Speak, who is the father of the child? How did you manage to conceive?"

Upon hearing this, Huan Qianqian looked a bit disappointed, but she dared not refuse to answer and spoke softly, "The father is merely an average Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator from the Zhou Family; Fellow Daoist Zhou needn't worry about anything. As for how I conceived, it's related to the demon techniques of my bloodline, and if Fellow Daoist Zhou really wants to know, I will certainly speak without reserve!"

When Zhouyang heard this, his brow furrowed deeply, full of doubt as he questioned, "If you used demon techniques to assist in conception, with your Nascent Soul Stage demon cultivator's physique and cultivation, this child should have been born covered in demonic qi with a demonic mutation spiritual root. Why does he now only have Water and Wood dual attribute spiritual roots?"

"This could also be said to be a secret technique of my lineage. My lineage once had predecessors who specifically created this type of secret technique to resolve this issue. However, back then, the technique was meant to cultivate talented spies to infiltrate Immortal Dao sects to steal information. I should be the first of my bloodline who genuinely wanted to nurture a cultivator offspring. To speak of it, it's indeed letting down the ancestor master's original intent!"

Huan Qianqian answered every question, showing a hint of mockery when speaking of 'letting down the ancestor', unsure whether she was mocking herself or those Illusion Demon Dao ancestor masters.

But Zhouyang didn't care about this, instead, he was intrigued by the information revealed in her words.

Undoubtedly, if such secret techniques enabling a high-tier cultivator, or even a Nascent Soul cultivator, to conceive were used by cultivators, it would be tremendously beneficial for a family like the Zhou.

He simply waved his hand and said, "All right, I understand your intentions. I can find someone to care and teach this child, but you must hand over all those secret techniques to me, and you may never see him again!"

"In that case, I thank Fellow Daoist Zhou profoundly. Here is the jade scroll containing the related secret techniques for Fellow Daoist Zhou to review!"

As Huan Qianqian spoke, she promptly tossed a prepared jade scroll to Zhouyang.

Being Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, she was well aware of the significance such secret techniques held for a cultivation clan like the Zhou, having prepared the jade scroll long in advance, fearing Zhouyang might refuse her request.

Seeing this, Zhouyang did not waste his breath, and after checking the contents of the jade scroll, he waved his hand, directly disappearing with the young child from Huan Qianqian's presence.

Watching this, Huan Qianqian calmly gazed toward Lingxi Peak, slowly murmuring: "Child, mother has done all she can for you; how far you can go from now on is entirely up to you. Do give your all!"

With that said, she took a final, deep glance in the direction of Lingxi Peak before turning away, commanding the flying ship to leave the Rhino Horn Continent Oasis, never to return again.