Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming
Chapter 1177 - 505: A Joy and A Sorrow [Subscribe Please]_3

Chapter 1177: Chapter 505: A Joy and A Sorrow [Subscribe Please]_3

Just as her palm touched the Storage Pouch, she suddenly felt her vision go dark and collapsed to the ground.

"You foolish idiot! If you hadn’t yelled and screamed, perhaps the poison wouldn’t have taken you down so quickly. But no, you just had to make a scene..."

From within the valley, Zhou Yuanlian slowly emerged from the woods where she had been hiding, carrying a censer in her hand.

The poison had been released through the burning of the censer, which itself was a Magic Artifact used by Poison Cultivators.

As soon as she revealed herself, she waved her hand, sending a black poison needle — another Magic Artifact — straight toward the forehead of the woman lying on the ground.

After confirming that the black poison needle had pierced her target’s forehead, Zhou Yuanlian walked forward confidently and took the Storage Pouch from her.

Then, she turned her gaze toward the Green-Faced Ghost Apes.

As Demon Beasts, Green-Faced Ghost Apes had a strong resistance to poisons. However, most of them were already injured, and after inhaling large amounts of poisonous smoke, they were now staggering, unable to pose any threat to Zhou Yuanlian.

"The Clan Leader tasked me with bringing back a few Green-Faced Ghost Apes for breeding, but I only brought four Spirit Beast Pouches. Which ones should I take back?"

After contemplating for a while as she eyed the Green-Faced Ghost Apes, who now appeared as helpless as lambs to the slaughter, Zhou Yuanlian came to a decision.

From the surviving apes in the valley, she selected four that seemed to have the strongest life energy and drugged them, then stored them in the Spirit Beast Pouches. The apes selected were three females and one male.

The potent sedative she used, crafted using her own Poison Techniques, was strong enough to keep the Green-Faced Ghost Apes dazed for half a month.

As for the remaining apes, she refrained from killing them and instead treated their external injuries.

The Soul Heart Fruit tree could not be transplanted, and the apes were needed to care for the tree. Destroying the Green-Faced Ghost Ape population would be the equivalent of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

After handling everything appropriately, Zhou Yuanlian quickly left Ghost Ape Valley.

In the ensuing days, Zhou Yuanlian moved freely through the Secret Realm, using her cunning and unpredictable Poison Techniques to effortlessly collect seven Heavenly Spirit Orders, securing numerous treasures.

However, she didn’t let greed guide her actions. She avoided intentionally hunting down other trial participants and spent most of her time roaming the Secret Realm and gathering Spiritual Objects and resources instead.

By the time she was about to leave, her seven Heavenly Spirit Orders earned her the qualification to enter the tower.

During the subsequent process of breaking the Protective Barrier to claim treasures, she unleashed her Poison Techniques to their fullest extent, along with the aid of several Magic Artifacts. It only took her about ten breaths to shatter the barrier and obtain a Jade Box.

Zhou Yuanlian’s luck seemed to surpass that of Zhou Chun in the past.

Inside the Jade Box, she found a Jade Slip, which contained a precious and rare poison recipe. If successfully prepared, the poison could even incapacitate a Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator!

After leaving the Secret Realm, Zhou Yuanlian refrained from elaborating on the treasures she acquired within. She simply asked Zhou Xinyan to lead her back to the family as soon as possible.

Zhou Xinyan, noticing her urgency, didn’t ask too many questions. He immediately summoned the Blue Feather Fire Kite to take her back to Tuyun Ridge.

"Clan Leader, with your wisdom, I, your junior, have fulfilled my mission and retrieved the Soul Heart Fruits and Green-Faced Ghost Apes!"

Within Zhou Chun’s cave abode, Zhou Yuanlian, returning from the "Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm" trial, deferentially presented the spoils she had gathered to Zhou Chun.

Due to her cultivation of Poison Techniques, Zhou Yuanlian was somewhat of an outcast within the Zhou Family. Many Zhou Family Cultivators were hesitant to interact with her, which also fostered a lack of reverence on her part toward many Zhou Family elders.

But in front of Zhou Chun, she dared not show even the slightest disrespect.

First, because Zhou Chun was the source of her power. Second, she feared and revered the strength that Zhou Chun possessed!

"Only two Soul Heart Fruits?"

Observing the Spirit Fruits she offered, Zhou Chun frowned slightly.

When he harvested Soul Heart Fruits years ago, there were still two that hadn’t matured, so he’d left them on the tree.

Unexpectedly, after all these years, only those two Soul Heart Fruits had been recovered.

Upon hearing Zhou Chun’s remark, Zhou Yuanlian hurriedly explained, "There are still four Soul Heart Fruits on the tree that haven’t ripened yet. Thus, as per your instructions, I didn’t disturb them!"

"No need to be flustered; I don’t mean to chide you,"

Zhou Chun gently reassured her and dismissed her for the time being.

Then, he stored away the two Soul Heart Fruits and entrusted the four Green-Faced Ghost Apes to Zhou Xinyi, instructing him to have them sent to a secluded area for breeding.

Green-Faced Ghost Apes could only inhabit the Land of Yin Fiend, making it impossible to keep them at the Zhou Family Mountain Gate.

However, given the Zhou Family’s current power, occupying a few unique areas to establish secondary estates for nurturing Demon Beasts with specialized environmental needs was entirely reasonable.

After withdrawing, Zhou Yuanlian went to meet Zhou Xinyi and handed over the majority of the Spiritual Medicine she had obtained from the Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm to the family in exchange for Merit Points.

To practice Poison Techniques, she needed to gather various poisonous materials, and relying solely on her own efforts was clearly inefficient.

Thus, most of the Merit Points she earned over the years were spent on tasks posted by the family to collect poisonous materials.

This was one key difference between her and ordinary cultivators.

In her case, she didn’t need to consume Elixirs to refine her Mana. Instead, she used medicinal baths to absorb the power of poisonous materials and accelerate her cultivation.

So her resources were largely spent on acquiring poisons.

Time flew by, and another year passed in the blink of an eye.

By this time, Su Yuzhen, who began her retreat later than Zhou Mingde, had already reached the critical juncture for Core Formation.