Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 89 - 88: Witch Xuan Yu

"Tell me, Yu’Er, how did you end up in this predicament? How could you turn to demon techniques and become a demonic cultivator hunted by everyone!"

In a hidden underground dune, three Zhou Family cultivators and a witch with a child were in the same room, each with a peculiar expression.

Zhou Minghan gazed complexly at the unveiled witch, looking at the beautiful face he hadn’t seen in decades, with a trembling voice.

Who could have thought that this witch practicing orthodox Blood Slaughter Demon Sect techniques was none other than the Zhou Family elder, Zhou Xuan Yu, who disappeared during the sand bandit attack on Baisha River Oasis years ago?

This woman, declared dead by the Zhou Family, not only survived but succeeded in Foundation Establishment and became a demonic cultivator hunted by everyone!

"Sob sob, granddaughter never thought I’d see grandpa, brother, and Yang’Er again in this life!"

Zhou Xuan Yu, whose appearance had reverted to her thirties, trembled slightly while looking at her closest family members, tears overflowing her beautiful eyes uncontrollably.

Hearing her cry filled with grievance and sadness, Zhou Minghan’s heart softened instantly, hugging her head and comforting her gently: "Don’t cry, don’t cry, Yu’Er, don’t cry, grandpa is here. No matter how you’ve changed, grandpa won’t blame you!"

At this moment, he was no longer the high-hearted Immortal Dao expert intent on slaying demons, just an ordinary old man who dearly loves his granddaughter.

"No, grandpa, it’s Yu’Er who is unfilial, who succumbed to temptation, misled by demons, and fell into the Demon Dao, bringing shame to the family, failing your teachings, and disappointing the elders and brother’s love. Yu’Er regrets it!"

Zhou Xuan Yu, with tearful eyes, looked up at Zhou Minghan’s old face, her tears pouring down like a broken dam.

She didn’t wait for Zhou Minghan and Zhouyang to further question, and began to recount her experiences over the years through sobs.

It turned out that during the battle at Golden Dawn Mountain, even though she used the "Flying Talisman" Zhou Minghan had bestowed upon her to escape the mountain’s boundaries, she was still found by Foundation Establishment sand bandits who pursued her.

At that time, the Foundation Establishment sand bandit noticed the abundance of spirit talismans on her, guessed her identity as a talisman maker, and decided to capture her to slowly interrogate her talisman-making techniques.

Unexpectedly, after the sand bandit knocked her out and took her to his small hidden oasis, the old demon Blood Mo Luo suddenly appeared, forcibly taking her and some other Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivators away.

This old demon took these Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivators to his abode, using the promise to help them achieve Foundation Establishment to tempt them into practicing demon techniques, assuring them that once they succeeded, he would no longer restrict their freedom or harm them.

Zhou Xuan Yu and some cultivators had too strong an obsession with Foundation Establishment, unable to resist this temptation, agreed to Blood Mo Luo’s conditions and started practicing demon techniques.

At that time, more than ten people agreed to practice demon techniques, but ultimately only three succeeded, Zhou Xuan Yu being one of them.

After the three succeeded in practicing demon techniques, Blood Mo Luo indeed kept his word, not only distributing a portion of "Earth Element Spirit Milk" to restore their bodily vitality but also a "Blood Treasure Pill" to each, which could increase their Foundation Establishment success rate by thirty percent.

With the spiritual objects and pills Blood Mo Luo gifted, Zhou Xuan Yu and another cultivator successfully passed the Three Foundation Establishment Gates and became demonic Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After they became Foundation Establishment cultivators, Blood Mo Luo immediately took them as direct disciples, teaching them orthodox "Blood Evil Demon Techniques" and gifting them two pieces of Tier Three Demon Spiritual Artifacts for attack and defense.

Among them, Zhou Xuan Yu, due to her youthful appearance post-Foundation Establishment, became one of the rare female Foundation Establishment cultivators, thus Blood Mo Luo took her as a concubine and even had a daughter with her.

This time, when the Chen Family Ancestor used "Ten Thousand Miles Soul-Chasing Technique" to find Blood Mo Luo’s hideout with Zhouyang and others, Blood Mo Luo knew today’s outcome would not be peaceful, hence beforehand gave Zhou Xuan Yu a Tier Three "Hidden Breath Technique" talisman, helping her blend in with the Qi Cultivation stage sand bandits, allowing her to escape the oasis with her daughter under the chaos.

Unexpectedly, soon after Zhou Xuan Yu escaped the oasis, she encountered the Huang Family Patriarch chasing down the fleeing Qi Cultivation stage cultivators and was forced to expose her cultivation to escape, ultimately meeting the three from Zhou Family.

"Grandpa, Yu’Er willingly fell into the Demon Dao, my death is not to be regretted!"

"But this child is innocent, she’s only three years old and has never practiced any demon techniques!"

"Yu’Er begs you, please take in this child, she carries your bloodline too, she is a part of the Zhou Family!"

As Zhou Xuan Yu spoke, she suddenly knelt on the ground, her face full of tears as she held up the sleeping child in her hand, presenting her to Zhou Minghan.

Just as she said, a demonic cultivator’s death is not regrettable; from the moment she practiced demon techniques, it was destined she could never return to the Zhou Family, nor could the Zhou Family take her back, lest the entire Zhou Family, from cultivators to mortals, be annihilated.

However, the child in her hand could be adopted by the Zhou Family; as long as no one knew the child’s parents were demonic cultivators, the Zhou Family could find a pair of ordinary mortals to act as foster parents for the child. Then, even if someone investigated the child’s lineage, they would only trace it back to the foster parents finding her in the mountains.

Of course, this still carries risks. For example, Zhouyang and his father also know about this, and if one day they inadvertently slip up, or someone uses the "Heart Inquiry Skill" or similar magic on them, the secret would be exposed.

Overall, the matter is very dangerous; once exposed, it faces clan extermination risk, so even though Zhou Minghan dearly loves this granddaughter, he hesitated at this moment.

He could kill the Huang Family Patriarch without hesitation for his granddaughter, but taking in the daughter of a Purple Mansion Stage demon, risking the annihilation of his clan, was a difficult decision for him.

"Xiao Jiu, Xuan Hao, what do you think?"

He didn’t reach for the child in Zhou Xuan Yu’s arms but instead looked at Zhouyang and his son, his face full of hesitation.

"This..." Zhou Xuanhao and Zhouyang exchanged glances, both feeling it was a tough call.

Zhou Minghan’s worries were also their worries. As members of the clan’s decision-making body, making decisions that concerned the clan’s safety couldn’t be based merely on personal feelings.

"Foster mother, does this child have a spiritual root? And what is the attribute of the spiritual root? I heard that the descendants of demonic cultivators might naturally lean towards attributes influenced by their parents’ cultivation in demon techniques due to this."

Zhouyang looked solemnly at his foster mother Zhou Xuan Yu, suddenly asking a question that stunned everyone present.

This question, at first glance, seemed unrelated to the decision they had to make, yet everyone present was astute from years of experience.

After a brief pause, they immediately understood his point, and then Zhou Minghan and Zhou Xuanhao’s expressions became serious.

What Zhouyang said made a lot of sense.

Demonic techniques have strong compatibility; basically, except for cultivators with few special constitutions naturally opposing demon techniques, ninety-nine percent of cultivators can switch to a type of demon cultivation.

And for the descendants of these demon cultivators, if they have a spiritual root, the attribute of the spiritual root might be influenced, deviating, becoming aberrant attributes compatible with demon techniques.

For instance, with the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect, the most compatible aberrant spiritual root attributes for this demon technique are the Blood Spirit Root and Dark Spirit Root, attributes unlikely to appear in normal individuals.

Cultivators with these aberrant spiritual roots can mainly only cultivate related demon techniques; if they practice other Immortal Dao techniques, it results in much effort for little success and likely achieves nothing in their lifetime.

Most importantly, once these cultivators with aberrant spiritual roots start their cultivation, their magical power will inherently carry the traits of the aberrant spiritual root, making it evident to anyone that the person is a descendant of a demonic cultivator.

If the child in Zhou Xuan Yu’s hands truly possesses aberrant spiritual root talent, the Zhou Family certainly wouldn’t dare to adopt her, for it would be tantamount to seeking their own demise.

"No, Yao’Er has a spiritual root attribute leaning towards wood and fire dual attributes, middle-grade spiritual root, absolutely no relation to aberrant spiritual roots. You can test this yourself, Grandpa, and you’ll see." Zhou Xuan Yu knew the implicit meaning in Zhouyang’s words. Her beautiful face was drenched in tears as she shook her head desperately, extending the child in her arms.

This time Zhou Minghan didn’t refuse again, taking the little girl under the "Sleep Spell" into his arms, directly activating the "Spirit Testing Technique" to check the girl’s spiritual root.

The results proved that Zhou Xuan Yu wasn’t lying. Under the effect of the "Spirit Testing Technique," a one-foot-seven-inch tall green and red spiritual light arose from the girl, confirming she indeed had a middle-grade spiritual root leaning towards wood and fire attributes without a doubt.

Upon witnessing this scene, Zhou Minghan’s eyes unwittingly revealed a trace of relief, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief, then turned his gaze to Zhouyang and asked, "Xiao Jiu, what do you think?"

"Since there are no aberrant spiritual roots, of course, we should take this child into the Zhou Family. Foster mother was right; since she carries our Zhou Family bloodline, we logically and morally should adopt her."

This time, Zhouyang voiced his agreement straightforwardly without any hesitation, his tone firm.

Since he said this, Zhou Xuanhao naturally wouldn’t oppose it, making the matter almost definite.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan Yu’s beautiful face immediately expressed ecstatic joy, gratefully bowing repeatedly to the three: "Thank you, Grandpa, thank you, elder brother, thank you, Xiao Jiu. I can only repay your great kindness in the next life!"

"Foster mother, what are you doing?"

Zhouyang was startled, quickly helping Zhou Xuan Yu up, shocked by her words.

"Hehe, Xiao Jiu, don’t you understand yet? If foster mother remains alive, how could the Blood Mo Luo demon spare foster mother and the Zhou Family? You don’t know that foster mother’s body bears his ’Soul-Burning Blood Curse,’ which allows him to find me even over thousands of miles and remotely cast spells to incinerate both my essence blood and divine soul."

"Moreover, regardless of my struggles, the fact is that cultivation of demon techniques cannot be denied. As a demonic cultivator, if I live and my identity is recognized, wouldn’t it cause the entire Zhou Family to be buried with me?"

Zhou Xuan Yu smiled bitterly yet had long since accepted her life and death.

"Yu’Er, you... Alas!" Zhou Minghan’s mouth moved, but ultimately he uttered a long sigh, unable to voice any words.

And hearing Zhou Xuan Yu speak so, Zhouyang’s face too turned bitter, not knowing how to respond.

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