Chapter 107, Worldly Wisdom and Heaven Terrace Mountain’s Zhang Clan

Translator: Raznick

 

“The matter of the Heaven Spirit Trial is traced back thousands of years.

 

“Roughly seven or eight thousand years ago, the vast region encompassing the Jing Kingdom, Chen Kingdom, and Shen Kingdom was dominated by the powerful sect known as the Heaven Spirit Sect.

 

“It is said that at its most powerful, the Heaven Spirit Sect boasted more than a dozen Nascent Soul cultivators!

 

“And the Heaven Spirit Trial was created by the Heaven Spirit Sect to select outstanding disciples. It was a special trial.

 

“The trial grounds for the Heaven Spirit Trial numbered three, corresponding to the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Purple Mansion stages of cultivation. Different levels of Heaven Spirit Order were required to enter them.

 

“Within each trial ground, the Heaven Spirit Sect had arranged various dangerous trials and treasures for the disciples. The better a disciple performed within the trial ground, the higher the reward they would receive upon completion.

 

“However, the Heaven Spirit Sect had long since fallen, and two trial grounds for the Heaven Spirit Trial had been discovered and unraveled, leaving only the Qi Refining cultivator’s trial ground yet to be found.

 

“Likewise, due to the fall of the Heaven Spirit Sect, to participate in the Heaven Spirit Trial and enter the trial ground, one could only rely on the Heaven Spirit Order at certain periods and travel through the Transfer Altar on the ruins of the Heaven Spirit Sect to reach the trial ground.

 

“From what I know, each time the Heaven Spirit Trial is opened, cultivators from within the three kingdoms will hold a Heaven Spirit Order and enter the trial ground to scavenge for resources, and there were even instances of someone bringing out millennium herbs from within!”

 

Within the Central Palace, in response to Zhou Chun’s inquiries, Zhou Daoyi slightly organized his thoughts and informed him of everything concerning the Heaven Spirit Trial.

 

After speaking, he sighed with regret, “It is a pity that I was not present at the time; otherwise, if it were only five thousand plus spirit coins, I could’ve tried to obtain that Heaven Spirit Order and let you also go to the trial ground to investigate the situation!”

 

Zhou Daoyi still had a good understanding of Zhou Chun’s abilities.

 

Now that the Rock Turtle and Silver Thunder Python had both been successfully raised, combined with the secret art he cultivated and the artifact he possessed, it was difficult for anyone within the Qi Refining Stage to overpower him.

 

If he were to participate in the Heaven Spirit Trial, he should be able to achieve quite a harvest.

 

However, Zhou Chun’s attention at this moment was captivated by the powerful faction that Zhou Daoyi mentioned, the Heaven Spirit Sect.

 

He did not react to Zhou Daoyi’s exclamation, but instead, with a face full of curiosity, he pursued, “Clan Leader, how could the Heaven Spirit Sect, at its peak, be so powerful, and how did it collapse?”

 

Zhou Daoyi shook his head this time. “I do not know. After thousands of years, only those experienced Golden Core cultivators likely know the truth about this matter.”

 

He waved his hand at Zhou Chun and said, “Enough, you only need to know a bit about these things; there is no need to pay too much attention. Next, focus more on cultivation, and reach a point where you can form your foundation as soon as possible!”

 

“Yes, I understand.”

 

Zhou Chun replied obediently and immediately excused himself and returned to his residence.

 

A few days later, the news spread throughout the entire Zhou Clan that the clan had obtained five Elevating Spirit Fruits.

 

Unlike previous years when individuals were selected to consume a Foundation Establishment Pill to form their foundation, Zhou Daoyi placed all five Elevating Spirit Fruits into the clan’s treasury, allowing clan members to exchange them using clan merits.

 

The exchange price for each Elevating Spirit Fruit was two thousand clan merits.

 

This price was nearly the cost price and even offered a slight discount.

 

However, within the entire Zhou Clan’s Qi Refining cultivators, only two people possessed over two thousand clan merits. One was Zhou Chun, who had no need for an Elevating Spirit Fruit, and the other had already lived past ninety years of age and had basically no hope of forming a foundation.

 

Therefore, neither of them participated in the competition for the five Elevating Spirit Fruits.

 

But since they did not want them, others coveted the clan merits that they possessed.

 

The news regarding the ability to exchange Elevating Spirit Fruits using merits had barely surfaced when several seniors from the Zhou Clan sought him out; their purpose was obvious: to borrow merits.

 

The fact that Zhou Chun, a Qi Refining cultivator, possessed the most merits was no longer a secret.

 

He currently needed some time to break through to the Twelfth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage, let alone permeate all one hundred and eight acupoints throughout his body.

 

Therefore, those seniors who desired Elevating Spirit Fruits but lacked sufficient merits easily targeted him.

 

Faced with these seniors’ requests, Zhou Chun found himself in a difficult position.

 

Declining would inevitably lead the senior to criticize him as petty and miserly, creating a negative perception.

 

Accepting would mean deciding to whom to lend, with so many seniors vying for his assistance.

 

He could only first inquire about the amount of merits each person wished to borrow, then stall by claiming he needed time to consider, secretly weighing his options.

 

He was certainly going to lend merits; failing to do so would seem like he was offending everyone, even though he was attempting to avoid doing so.

 

Furthermore, lending merits offered a significant favor if it successfully helped someone reach Foundation Establishment.

 

Just two days after Zhou Chun began his considerations, two of the five Elevating Spirit Fruits were exchanged.

 

Some had managed to gather sufficient merits from other clan members and had taken the initiative.

 

The remaining members of the Zhou Clan grew anxious, and Zhou Chun faced greater pressure.

 

After much deliberation, he made his choices.

 

He first invited his Twenty-seventh Uncle, Zhou Jiapeng, who had come to inquire about the situation, into his residence, and then spoke with a serious expression: “Uncle Peng, the kindness and support you showed me previously, I have always held in my heart. Since you have asked, then these thousand points of merits are yours!”

 

He finished speaking and immediately saw a look of wild joy erupt on Zhou Jiapeng’s face. He was so delighted that he repeatedly exclaimed, “Wonderful, wonderful! I knew I hadn’t misjudged you! Zhengchun, you truly are a good child, full of loyalty and righteousness, and appreciative of kindness!”

 

At this moment, Zhou Jiapeng was genuinely overjoyed.

 

He knew that compared to other individuals who came seeking Zhou Chun to borrow merits, he only held a slight advantage.

 

For instance, his cultivation had only recently broken through to the Twelfth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage, and it would require at least another year of cultivation before he could consume an Elevating Spirit Fruit.

 

This alone gave Zhou Chun ample reason to prioritize excluding him when considering lending merits.

 

Not to mention, he was seeking to borrow as many as one thousand and several points of clan merits at once!

 

Under these circumstances, Zhou Chun was still willing to grant his request.

 

How could he not be thrilled beyond measure?

 

In his excitement, he immediately promised, “Zhengchun, you can rest assured that these one thousand clan merits, after I consume the Elevating Spirit Fruit, regardless of success or failure, I will repay you as soon as possible!”

 

“Then I wish Uncle Peng great success in your endeavor!”

 

Zhou Chun smiled on his face and offered his blessing.

 

He then immediately provided Zhou Jiapeng with a letter transferring one thousand and several points of clan merits, instructing him to take it to redeem an Elevating Spirit Fruit.

 

After seeing off the overjoyed Zhou Jiapeng, Zhou Chun summoned his fourteenth aunt, Zhou Jiahe, to his residence.

 

“When I first arrived at Ganoderma Peak to settle down, Fourteenth Aunt took great care of me. I have always kept that kindness and gratitude in my heart. Now that you, Fourteenth Aunt, have asked for these six hundred and fifty points of clan merits, I naturally cannot refuse!”

 

In the room, Zhou Chun looked at Zhou Jiahe, whose hair had already turned completely white, and he couldn’t help but recall the time twelve years ago when he first arrived at Nine Peaks.

 

At that time, he was in the Sixth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage cultivation, having arrived in this world not long ago.

 

Zhou Jiahe, though already sixty-seven years old, did not appear as aged as she did now.

 

In fact, given Zhou Jiahe’s current age, if she were to consume a Foundation Establishment Pill to attempt the Foundation Establishment Stage, there would still be a chance of success.

 

After all, there was already the precedent of Zhou Jiarui, over seventy years old, having reached Foundation Establishment.

 

However, the probability of success when attempting Foundation Establishment by consuming an Elevating Spirit Fruit was difficult to say.

 

The most important thing was, if the attempt failed, her body, at her age, would find it difficult to withstand the backlash.

 

Zhou Chun felt that the likely reason this elder was willing to take the risk was that she had never married and had no family matters to worry about.

 

Even if it failed, it would simply be dust returning to dust.

 

And when she heard Zhou Chun was willing to lend clan merits to her, Zhou Jiahe was naturally overjoyed but did not lose her composure as Zhou Jiapeng had.

 

She simply looked at Zhou Chun with a kindly expression, nodding repeatedly, and said, “That child, Zheng Yong, wasn’t wrong. Zhengchun, you truly are sentimental. I won’t ever forget your kindness.”

 

She did not say anything about repaying him, as Zhou Jiapeng had, but Zhou Chun was not worried that she would default.

 

They were all members of the same clan, and some level of trust was present.

 

Therefore, after issuing a letter authorizing the loan of clan merits to Zhou Jiahe, Zhou Chun bid farewell to the senior.

 

Then, regarding the remaining seniors of the clan, he could only regretfully express that his abilities were limited, and he was powerless to assist.

 

This would naturally disappoint those individuals and potentially lead them to form certain opinions about him.

 

But he could not possibly cater to everyone, and he could only let things be.

 

And as Zhou Jiapeng and Zhou Jiahe both exchanged for an Elevating Spirit Fruit, the last Elevating Spirit Fruit was quickly exchanged by someone else.

 

As for whether these five Elevating Spirit Fruits would ultimately allow the Zhou Clan to produce new Foundation Establishment cultivators, only time would tell.

 

Overall, for the clan, this was a great windfall.

 

Not only did they recover ten thousand clan merits through the Elevating Spirit Fruit, but they also had the potential to gain one or more Foundation Establishment cultivators.

 

However, while the Zhou Clan were celebrating heartily because of receiving five Elevating Spirit Fruits, another cultivating clan, the Zhang Clan, who also resided in Mist Province, were mourning the demise of an elder.

 

Heaven Terrace Mountain’s Zhang Clan was an old and established cultivating clan with a long legacy in Mist Province.

 

The ancestor of the Zhang Clan was merely a rogue cultivator and had not even reached the Foundation Establishment Stage in their cultivation.

 

Yet, that person had relied on taking many concubines and producing offspring to birth five descendants, three sons and two daughters, possessing spirit roots, one of whom even had a superior spirit root.

 

Later, it was through these three sons and two daughters, and hundreds of mortal offspring, that the foundation of Heaven Terrace Mountain’s Zhang Clan was established.

 

Now, the Zhang Clan’s legacy spanned seven or eight centuries, with two to three hundred cultivator clan members and hundreds of thousands of mortal clan members.

 

This time, Zhang Yunjin, the Second Elder of the Zhang Clan, had embarked on a clan mission to attend an underground auction, hoping to acquire a Foundation Establishment Pill and add another Foundation Establishment cultivator to the clan.

 

But what shocked everyone in the Zhang Clan was that, for such a simple task, Zhang Yunjin, who had reached late Foundation Establishment cultivation, had vanished and perished outside.

 

If not for the Zhang Clan mobilizing their connections to inquire extensively, they might not even have known how their clan elder had died and at whose hands.

 

“Clan Leader, the news is confirmed. Second Elder was killed by the Fire Spirit Jackal tamed by the Zhou Clan’s Grand Elder. What are you and the Grand Elder hesitating about? Why don’t you lead us to confront them?”

 

“That’s right, the Zhou Clan murdered a Zhang Clan Elder and stole our Zhang Clan’s possessions. If we don’t respond, how will outsiders view us? What will our clan members think of us?”

 

“I don’t understand what you’re worried about, Clan Leader. The Zhou Clan is an outsider. In the past, we never bothered them, and they should be thanking us for it. Yet they went as far as to kill a Zhang Clan Elder! If we don’t visit them and demand an explanation, won’t people ridicule us?”

 

Within the Zhang Clan’s Clan Leader’s office, several Zhang Clan Foundation Establishment Elders surrounded Clan Leader Zhang Kaida, their emotions so heightened that they pressured him to seek justice for the fallen Second Elder, Zhang Yunjian.

 

It was as Zhou Jiarui had expressed concerns to Zhou Daoyi previously; Fire Spirit Jackal of the Zhou Clan had been witnessed from a distance by several Foundation Establishment cultivators who were departing the flying boat before and after the incident.

 

At the time, those individuals may not have known who had died, but they at least knew that a Fire Spirit Jackal of the Zhou Clan had killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

 

Subsequently, when the Zhang Clan realized that Second Elder Zhang Yunjian hadn’t returned to the clan, and after searching and inquiring everywhere, someone was willing to provide them a favor, revealing what they had seen that day.

 

Furthermore, there had been no other forces searching for the missing Foundation Establishment cultivator recently, and the entire situation became clear.

 

Thus, the scene of several Foundation Establishment Elders of the Zhang Clan angrily wanting to visit the Zhou Clan to demand justice emerged.

 

However, faced with the furious questioning of the elders, Clan Leader Zhang Kaida’s face was unsightly, and he angrily stated, “Seeking justice? You make it sound so simple!

 

“Even if we know that Second Elder was killed by that Fire Spirit Jackal of the Zhou Clan, who is willing to testify for us?

 

“Furthermore, Second Elder may have started the fight, making it difficult for us to claim the moral high ground!

 

“The most important thing is that the Zhou Clan is now a different entity. Don’t forget that two years ago, Senior Ming Xia of the Green Lotus Monastery personally visited the Zhou Clan, and the Zhou Clan still maintains close relationships with the Wang Clan, the Mu Clan, and the Sun Clan, having jointly campaigned together!

 

“Without a good reason and without the support of other forces, what reason does our Zhang Clan, with only one Violet Palace cultivator, have to visit another clan with a Violet Palace cultivator and a third-grade demon beast to demand justice?”

 

Zhang Kaida glared fiercely at the elders who were clamoring and roared, “Do you few Foundation Establishment cultivators think you can do it? Who among you can stop that Fire Spirit Jackal? Who can fight against Zhou Daoyi, who alone suppressed and killed three Foundation Establishment cultivators?”

 

Fortunately, the office’s soundproofing was excellent; otherwise, Zhang Kaida’s roars might have been heard by half the clan’s cultivators.

 

The outburst stunned the several Zhang Clan elders, who exchanged glances, hesitant to speak.

 

It was quite a while before one, his face etched with discontent, dared to ask, “Are we just going to let this go? Did Second Elder die for nothing?”

 

“Of course not!”

 

Zhang Kaida responded with a grim face, his voice low as he continued, “This grudge, the Zhang Clan will hold onto for now. When the opportunity arises, the Zhou Clan will pay a heavy price.”