Chapter 46, Happiness’ Worries

Translator: Raznick

 

Another bright and sunny morning.

 

On Ganoderma Peak, after Zhou Chun had finished cultivating at the top and returned to his quarters, the Silver Thunder Python, which had been hiding beneath his bed, emerged swiftly and slithered toward him.

 

At this point, the Silver Thunder Python had grown to half a two meters in length, as thick as a newborn’s arm.

 

And after shedding its skin several times, its white snake scales have gradually developed a silvery hue, making it appear more elegant and beautiful.

 

Such a long Silver Thunder Python, Zhou Chun couldn’t keep it wrapped around him all the time as he moved about. So, when Zhou Chun went out on his own, he usually left it at home.

 

“Whitey has grown bigger again, that’s great.”

 

Zhou Chun extended his arm, allowing the white snake on the ground to coil itself slowly around him. Then, with his right hand, he gently touched its icy-cold head, massaging it softly a few times.

 

The white snake, with its sleek and elegant form, was gently flicking its tongue as it basked in the soft caress.

 

It had only just been born a month or so ago and hadn’t the slightest bit of wisdom to speak of, only primal instincts inherited from its lineage.

 

But Zhou Chun wasn’t in a hurry. Now that it was of low intelligence, this was the perfect time to build rapport.

 

Once one’s emotions had been cultivated from a young age, it became far easier to direct them later in life.

 

Why else do many cultivators of beast-taming techniques preferred to choose demon beasts in their juvenile stage for spirit contracts?

 

In addition to forming a good covenant with a young demon beast, it was also because they found it easier to cultivate the master-servant relationship.

 

Why not directly contract that adult demon beast? Even if it succeeded, one still had to constantly worry whether the beast might bite back at the master during their moment of weakness. Additionally, when controlling and fighting, one must expend Divine Sense energy to suppress the resistance in the demon beast’s heart.

 

After spending some time being affectionate with Whitey this way, Zhou Chun fed it minced frozen meat from fire rats. Once that was done, he carefully placed the well-fed and sleepy Whitey back under the bed. Then, he went to the quiet room to practice his cultivation and secret arts.

 

Unbeknownst to him, he had barely trained the secret arts twice when the Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi personally came to his residence.

 

“Zhengchun, have you had enough rest? If so, come with me for an outing.”

 

Outside the courtyard, Zhou Daoyi noticed Zhou Chun’s surprise when he opened the door and saw him. He gave a slight smile and directly stated his intention.

 

When Zhou Chun heard this, he immediately understood why he came and replied respectfully, “Yes.”

 

Then, he left the Zhou Clan together with Zhou Daoyi.

 

Outside, Zhou Daoyi did not boastfully release Sky Cloud Python to rush on. Instead, he summoned an artefact flying ship to carry Zhou Chun, soaring into the heavens above the clouds.

 

Flying in this manner by controlling an artifact, it only took them one hour to reach the airspace above the Crimson Pine Forest.

 

“This is the spot, and from all the signs, it seems no one has been here before.”

 

In the mountains, Zhou Chun pointed to his carefully concealed cave entrance and whispered.

 

“Well then, let us go in together.”

 

Zhou Daoyi nodded, slapped his spirit beast pouch at his waist, releasing the Sky Cloud Python to guard outside, then briskly walked into the cave.

 

Both entered the cave, arriving at Zhou Chun’s previous location where he had unearthed the Scarlet Glow Iron ore. Upon arrival, Zhou Daoyi began to release his Divine Sense to scan the area thoroughly. Then, he pulled out an artifact—a copper-colored flying sword—and started digging by dispatching it in various directions.

 

This was Zhou Chun’s first time witnessing a Foundation Establishment cultivator take action, and the sight left him deeply shaken.

 

The bronze-colored flying sword artifact, under Zhou Daoyi’s command, moved like a nimble dragon, darting around every corner of the cave.

 

The sword’s edge, as it passed over the stone wall, tore through it effortlessly like butter, leaving behind deep fissures that exposed layers of fractured rock beneath.

 

In less than half a cicada’s eye blink, Zhou Daoyi’s flying sword acted within a three-hundred-meter stretch of the cave tunnel, plowing out dozens of deep and long cracks.

 

Through the cracks, even Zhou Chun could use his Divine Sense to detect the Scarlet Glow Iron ore embedded within.

 

If he could, then so could Zhou Daoyi.

 

Soon after, Zhou Daoyi could be heard muttering to himself, “It seems this place is indeed hiding a vein of Scarltet Glow Iron!”

 

But Zhou Chun heard little enthusiasm in his words.

 

Then, as if guided by spirits, he suddenly plucked up courage and asked, “Clan Leader, you don’t seem very happy.”

 

“Hm, why ask that?”

 

Zhou Daoyi’s face shifted slightly, his gaze filled with slight surprise as he looked at him.

 

Zhou Chun was taken aback and hesitated before speaking, “Well, I was just thinking…I don’t think Clan Leader seemed particularly happy about it.”

 

It turned out Zhou Daoyi nodded after hearing his words, saying: “Your perception is not wrong; I not thrilled at all!”

 

This made Zhou Chun even more confused, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Why? Though I am not skilled in artifact crafting, I do know that the Scarlet Glow Iron is a spiritual material for making artifacts. Even if it’s less rare than refined gold and steel silver, the value of a mine must be enormous, right?”

 

“Yes, a vein of ore—no matter how small—even when fully exploited, would amount to at least twenty thousand spirit coins once calculated in terms of spirit coin, right?

 

“Even after deducting all the various costs and expenses in between, the net income wouldn’t be less than fifteen ten-thousand spirit coins!”

 

Zhou Daoyi sighed softly and nodded as he revealed the immense value of this ore vein.

 

Without waiting for Zhou Chun to ask again, he smiled bitterly and waved his hand, saying, “But such a large amount of spirit coins is not something that the current Zhou Clan can monopolize!”

 

“That which is known as possessing treasure makes you guilty—given the Zhou Clan’s current strength and influence, were they to attempt to seize control of this vein, the end result would inevitably be their destruction at the hands of a coalition of other powers.

 

“As for the various powers within Mist Province, the Zhou Clan is, after all, outsiders here. They could never permit such precious mineral veins falling into the hands of our Zhou Clan!”

 

Now that Zhou Chun realized what was going on, he fell silent as well.

 

The affairs of the world have always been such, for there has never been any fairness in the matter.

 

Even in his previous world, which was similar to this one, there’s no rule that whoever discovers a vein of ore got to claim it.

 

In this world of cultivation, power reigned supreme.

 

If the Zhou Clan weren’t outsiders, and if they had intricate ties with the local factions, leveraging their Violet Palace Stage cultivators to instill fear, they might just stand a chance of taking over this vein.

 

However, Zhou Clan was now a foreigner, so how could the local forces in Mist Province watch such huge benefits fall into the hands of Zhou Clan!

 

And now, after the Zhou Clan had finally managed to establish a foothold and gradually gained some support from local powers in Mist Province, how could they allow themselves to be targeted by a coalition of forces under such circumstances?

 

If this ore vein couldn’t be mined, how much would there be of the reward for Zhou Chun and his team discovering this ore vein?

 

However, Zhou Chun’s mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts at the moment, and he began to deliberate on ways to protect his own interests.

 

After some thought, he looked at Zhou Daoyi and said, “Can we jointly mine with other forces? Didn’t our Zhou Clan just hold a martial competition with Wang Clan, Sun Clan, Mu Clan, and He Clan? If we join forces with them to mine, and form an alliance to fight against foreign enemies, it should be enough to protect this vein of minerals!”

 

“It’s impressive that you came up with such a suggestion.”

 

Zhou Daoyi glanced at him once, then nodded slightly and said, “That’s correct. For now, we can only proceed with this method. Whether it will ultimately succeed depends on the willingness of the other clans.”

 

After gathering additional Scarlet Glow Iron ore as evidence, Zhou Daoyi completely sealed off the cave entrance and then took Zhou Chun back to the Zhou Clan.

 

But since the matter of how to mine the ore vein had yet to be decided, Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong’s rewards naturally could not be determined for the time being.

 

Over the next three months, the Zhou Daoyi and even the Grand Elder Zhou Mingde often left the clan to travel far and wide for the matter of mining the vein.

 

After preparing a lavish dowry, Zhou Zhengyong also went with Twenty-seventh Uncle Zhou Jiapeng to Gold Maple Peak’s Sun Clan to successfully negotiate the marriage. He married back Sun Yujiao into Zhou Clan.

 

As Zhou Chun was the chief matchmaker who had facilitated their union, he was also sincerely thanked by the young couple. At the wedding celebration, he had the best seat.

 

After three and a half months, Zhou Chun’s cultivation level was just two acupoints away from breaking through into the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.

 

The Silver Thunder Python had also successfully awakened its innate mystical art, becoming an inferior first-grade demon beast.

 

Now, the Silver Thunder Python had reached a body length of two meters ten centimeters. Its scales were beginning to take shape and were difficult to wound with blades or swords.

 

Zhou Chun no longer fed it by hand but carried it to places teeming with wild animals and birds, where it could hunt on its own.

 

Sometimes, it was even prohibited from hunting using mystical arts.

 

On this day, Zhou Chun was observing the Silver Thunder Python’s hunt at the foot of Ganoderma Peak when suddenly, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi’s blue macaw, Blue, flew over Ganoderma Peak and arrived beside him.

 

“Brother Chun，the Clan Leader wants you to go to Pagoda Peak.”

 

Blue flapped its wings and circled above Zhou Chun’s head, vocally conveying the orders of Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi.

 

Its eyes were fixed tensely on the distant grasses, where a faint white line stretched out.

 

It overlooked from above, and with a sweeping view, it could naturally see that there was a huge python hiding there.

 

“Yes, Blue. Go inform Clan Leader right away that I’m coming over.”

 

Zhou Chun gave a smile, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a fresh, uneaten wild fruit, throwing it as a reward to the blue macaw.

 

A large blue macaw, upon seeing this, immediately dove downward and skillfully snatched a piece of fruit midair. Then, it called out to Zhou Chun, saying, “Thank you, Brother Chun. Farewell.”

 

Having finished speaking, he immediately plucked some wild fruit and departed, still clutching them tightly.

 

As Zhou Chun watched the blue macaw fly away, he could not help but ponder aloud.

 

Why did the patriarch specifically summon him to Pagoda Peak this time?

 

Was there news on the development of the Scarlet Glow Iron vein?

 

Ws there something—or rather, anything—else?