Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming
Chapter 640 - 329: Foundation Establishment Pill Sold Out [Subscribe Requested]_2

The elders of the Zhou Family whom Zhou Chun had first come into contact with after arriving in this world were now few and far between.

Almost every year, one or two new graves are added to the Zhou family tomb behind Pagoda Peak.

And if the death weren't that of an important figure like a Family Elder, the funeral for a deceased Zhou Family Cultivator would typically only be attended by their immediate family.

At most, Zhou Chun, as Clan Leader, or one of the Elders, would make a token appearance on behalf of the family and the deceased.

Having experienced this sort of thing many times, Zhou Chun had grown accustomed to it.

One day, Zhou Chun again brought supplies to Longxing Valley.

After years of development, Longxing Valley had truly become a significant source of income for the Zhou Family.

With the abundant Spiritual Medicine resources provided by Longxing Valley, the alchemists of the Zhou Family had advanced rapidly in skill; Zhou Zhengyuan and Zhou Xinlan could even produce Spirit Pills that advanced the mana of Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Progression Phase.

Also, the various Artifact Refining and Talisman Making materials gathered here had put the Zhou Family's Artifact Refining and Talisman Making skills on the fast track.

In the four major cultivation techniques of Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Talisman Making, and Formation, except for Formations which indeed required high personal insight and talent, the other three were actually disciplines of experience.

With these experience-based skills, those with talent could indeed progress faster and further, but those of average talent weren't without hope of catching up.

However, years of scavenging had stripped the surrounding areas of Longxing Valley of anything worth collecting.

In order to continue maintaining their income, they had to send people like Xu Fu to scavenge in more distant places.

But once they strayed too far from the stronghold of Longxing Valley, the survival risks for these Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators increased dramatically.

Keep in mind that in just a few short years, of the original forty-eight Zhou Family Death Warriors who had come here, five had fallen, and two had been crippled!

And that's with both Zhou Zhengyong and the Vajra Monkey looking out for them.

"This time I've brought ten first-tier superior-grade Magic Artifacts, thirty second-tier Talismans, five hundred first-tier superior-grade Talismans, and twenty vials of Elixirs for advancing mana and cultivation level, various healing medicines in substantial quantities, and five hundred jade boxes!"

Inside Longxing Valley, after being welcomed in, Zhou Chun first informed Zhou Zhengyong and Xu Fu of the supplies he had brought with him this time.

Given the small number of people and the intensity of combat, the consumption of Magic Artifacts and Talismans here in Longxing Valley was enormous.

Each time Zhou Chun or Zhou Daoyi came to deliver supplies, Talismans were an essential part of it.

Fortunately, Zhou Daoyi himself was a master at creating second-tier Talismans, and the Zhou Family had now trained several Cultivators who could make first-tier superior-grade Talismans. Otherwise, the cost of purchasing these items alone would be tremendous.

"That's great. With the items you've brought this time, Clan Leader, we'll be able to continue exploring even further afield," Zhou Zhengyong said in the presence of Xu Fu, an outsider, still maintaining some formalities and addressing Zhou Chun as the Clan Leader.

At this moment, he took the Storage Pouch from Zhou Chun and quickly handed over two Storage Pouches to Zhou Chun, "These contain our harvest from the past two months, please take care of it, Clan Leader."

After Zhou Chun put away the Storage Pouches, Zhou Zhengyong continued, "Also, last month we lost a Qi Refinement six-layer Cultivator and seriously injured a Qi Refinement seven-layer Cultivator. Now there's a sense of unease within the team, with some fearing the continual losses of their fellow companions."

His words were diplomatic, but Zhou Chun understood the gravity of the situation.

Although it was made clear to these Zhou Family Death Warriors at the outset of their training that they might have to give their lives for the Zhou Family at any moment.

Understanding that concept is one thing; facing the reality when it occurs is another.

These Zhou Family Death Warriors had grown up and learned their skills together, fostering the teamwork and camaraderie among them. Their relationships were very close.

Watching their close companions fall one by one, not knowing when one's turn might come, that feeling of panic and anxiety, Zhou Chun himself had experienced it firsthand.

After all, during the Southern Campaign, all the participating Cultivators had faced such a situation.

Thus, he took Zhou Zhengyong's report very seriously and promptly turned his gaze to Xu Fu, the Death Warrior Commander, and asked, "Xu Fu, do you have anything to add?"

Hearing this, Xu Fu immediately responded respectfully, "I believe that this is as normal as can be. Those individuals just haven't fully adapted to the parting of life and death yet. Once they get used to it, they will not overthink it anymore!"

"Hmm, you do have a point, but we must still pay close attention to this matter."

Zhou Chun nodded, then lowered his head and contemplated for a while before he had an idea in mind.

"Here's what you can tell them," he said slowly to Xu Fu, "from now on, whenever they come back from an outing with some gains, they can have two days of rest."

"At the same time, you can also tell them that as long as they can persevere and make significant contributions to the family, there will be a chance for them to leave this place!"

Having said this, Zhou Chun waved his hand and said, "Alright, Xu Fu, you may withdraw now. I still have matters to entrust to the Eighth Elder."

"Yes, your subordinate will take his leave."

After Xu Fu had withdrawn, Zhou Chun turned to Zhou Zhengyong and asked, "Brother Yong, what do you think of Xu Fu?"

Hearing this, Zhou Zhengyong obviously paused for a moment.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he spoke softly, "Xu Fu is quite remarkable, not only is his combat capability outstanding and rarely matched, but his mind is also very agile. Whether in dealing with people or devising strategies, he's very capable, almost catching up to the days when you were young."

"Oh, Brother Yong, you think so highly of him?"

A flash of surprise appeared in Zhou Chun's eyes; it seemed he hadn't expected Zhou Zhengyong to answer in such a way.

Zhou Zhengyong, hearing this, responded solemnly, "It's not that I think highly of him, but that he truly has performed excellently. If he were a member of our Zhou Family, I would definitely recommend him to take over your position in the future!"

"Yes, it's a pity he's not a member of our Zhou Family," Zhou Chun sighed lightly, also feeling regretful at heart.

Objectively speaking, Zhou Chun was not the kind of person who insisted on bloodline theories.

However, the special circumstances of the Zhou Family meant that cultivators not of Zhou Family blood had difficulty being placed in important positions.

Zhou Mingde, the Supreme Elder who truly had the final say in the Zhou Family decisions, was particularly concerned about this point.

Zhou Chun had no standing to criticize Zhou Mingde for being narrow-sighted; after all, Zhou Mingde and the Zhou Family had indeed suffered greatly because of this issue.

Moreover, Zhou Chun could not guarantee that his judgment of people was always accurate and could not assuredly say that Xu Fu, once he achieved great success, would not betray the Zhou Family like Yu Jinghua did.

"We'll see. Brother Yong, please observe him more closely. If he truly has no issues, even if it's just to give other family death warriors a hope to strive for, I will find a way to help him succeed in Foundation Establishment!" Zhou Chun rubbed his forehead and quietly revealed his intentions.

"Don't worry, little brother. I will be attentive," Zhou Zhengyong nodded and readily agreed.

Afterward, Zhou Chun went to visit Zhou Daoquan and then returned to the family with the harvest from Longxing Valley.

Unexpectedly, not many days after returning to the family, another Foundation Establishment Pill was exchanged out of Zhou Chun's hands.

The person who exchanged for the Foundation Establishment Pill was from the "Zheng" generation of the Zhou Family, Zhou Zhengqing, another Zhou Family cultivator who previously participated in the Tianjing Conference.

He was a second-generation cultivator, his mother being the Zhou Family Cultivator Zhou Jiakui and his father a late-stage Qi Refinement realm Loose Cultivator who had married into the Zhou Family.

Because he had always performed excellently, his parents had given up their own cultivation early on and had been frugally concentrating all their energy on earning good deeds for the family. They even humbled themselves to borrow some deeds from others.

Now, they had finally succeeded in their wish and obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill for him.

With this Foundation Establishment Pill exchanged, Zhou Chun was left with only one pill.

According to the rules, this pill was reserved for a Zhou Family member with high Spirit Root Aptitude, Zhou Xinyan, and no one else was allowed to touch it.

This meant that even if others managed to accrue five thousand points of family deeds in the future, they temporarily could not exchange them for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

"It seems that the standard of five thousand family deeds has become a bit outdated, and perhaps the amount of family deeds needed to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill should be increased in the future!"

"Indeed, perhaps we shouldn't only offer Foundation Establishment Pills for our clan members to exchange but should give them more options, so they need not fixate on the Foundation Establishment Pill alone. Thus, even in failure, they wouldn't have to live their entire lives unable to lift their heads high, like Uncle Seven!"

Zhou Chun looked at the last Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand and couldn't help but reflect deeply.