Chapter 131, Zhou Chun’s Thoughts

Translator: Raznick

 

The Clan Leader of the Zhou Clan, Zhou Daoyi, had once said that the most important matter for the Zhou Clan was to assist Zhou Chun in reaching Foundation Establishment.

 

The Foundation Establishment Pill that the Zhou Clan would acquire had to be given to Zhou Chun first.

 

Therefore, in order to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, as the Clan Leader, he personally went to the front lines of Cloud Province after the Green Lotus Monastery issued the order to mobilize manpower.

 

However, there hadn’t been any definitive news from his side all this time, and Zhou Mingde, who was left behind in the clan, had already obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill by killing members of the Dragonized Sect.

 

Now holding the Foundation Establishment Pill, Zhou Mingde looked at Zhou Chun and pondered for a moment before lightly nodding, “The Foundation Establishment Pill is yours, Zhengchun. Once your cultivation reaches a certain level, you can come find me to claim it.”

 

Zhou Chun’s heart eased.

 

It concerned a major matter of Foundation Establishment, and he couldn’t help but be anxious, worrying about something going wrong.

 

Fortunately, Zhou Mingde was still thinking of the greater good.

 

He quickly bowed and said, “Thank you, Grand Elder, for your kindness. I will definitely work hard to cultivate and not disappoint your high expectations!”

 

“Let’s hope so!”

 

Zhou Mingde nodded slightly and returned to his cave.

 

Because the detachment of the Dragonized Sect sent to Mist Province was wiped out, after some discussion among Zhou Clan elders, the previous conservative measures were cancelled, and everything was restored to its original state.

 

However, after this incident, the supervision within the clan was indeed strengthened, and the control over personnel entering and leaving the estate became much stricter.

 

Not just the Zhou Clan, but all the other cultivating clans in Mist Province were the same.

 

After all, the example was right in front of them.

 

The rogue cultivator camp was compromised precisely because of lax supervision, allowing people from the Dragonized Sect to infiltrate.

 

They controlled the cultivators guarding the array and inserted a Black Dragon Guardian, a Violet Palace cultivator, into the camp.

 

This ultimately led to several Foundation Establishment Stage rogue cultivators being captured.

 

Although the rogue cultivator camp itself was partly to blame for its relaxed supervision of outside cultivators, the incident was undeniably caused by this lax security.

 

With this negative example as a warning, if the cultivating clans didn’t strengthen supervision of those entering and leaving the estate, they deserved to be wiped out.

 

At the same time, spurred on by the certainty of obtaining usable Foundation Establishment Pills, Zhou Chun put even more effort into his cultivation.

 

Even when he was busiest, he wouldn’t neglect his daily cultivation.

 

By now, he had fully realized that if he didn’t become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, no matter how well he did in other areas, he would never truly wield power in the Zhou Clan and would never join the leadership.

 

Therefore, whether it was to gain greater strength, a longer lifespan, or higher authority, reaching Foundation Establishment became his most important objective.

 

At this time, he had Fourth Elder Zhou Jiarui go to the market to deliver goods and buy two vials of Golden Bud Pill from Li’s Pharmacy, still relying on pills to quickly open the remaining few orifices in his body.

 

Time slowly passed, and the incident in which the Black Dragon Guardian failed in Mist Province seemed to have elicited little reaction from the Dragonized Sect.

 

Meanwhile, Cloud Province had gradually calmed down after several fierce battles, transforming into a guerrilla war of wits between the cultivators of both sides.

 

This indicated that the Dragonized Sect was not yet prepared for a large-scale invasion of Cloud Province; it appeared to be used primarily for training.

 

The various sects in the Jing Kingdom seemed to have unknown intentions and did not appear to be following the directive to launch a distant expedition to the main hall of the Dragonized Sect.

 

Zhou Chun’s knowledge was limited, and he was unaware of the intentions and plans of the Green Lotus Monastery and other sects above.

 

He only hoped that the war could be contained within the borders of Cloud Province and didn’t drag Mist Province into it.

 

For now, it seemed the Green Lotus Monastery was of the same idea, consistently preventing the Dragonized Sect from expanding the battlefield.

 

It was the end of the month again, and Zhou Chun began writing a summary of the various clan affairs handled this month for the elders to review.

 

He was well-versed in this task, having previously served as a Clan Leader’s aide, where he specialized in such work.

 

However, performing this task in his current position as acting Clan Leader, he felt a sense of displeasure.

 

As the head of a prominent clan, he was being reduced to performing tasks akin to a menial clerk; it was a blow to his ego.

 

He couldn’t help but consider finding someone else for the job.

 

“These document processing tasks don’t necessarily require cultivators to do them; it’s perfectly possible to select some clever commoners from the clan to fulfill them, as long as they are restricted from leaving the estate easily and from communicating freely with other clan members.

 

“And for the guards outside the hall, two people could be stationed to pass messages, without having to call people directly at the door when they come to conduct business.

 

“Even the beast enclosure and Medicine Peak—they can train and recruit commoners to do some breeding and planting so that the clan members there do not have to spend a lot of time on these matters!”

 

This idea of finding a replacement for mundane tasks quickly led Zhou Chun to consider even more possibilities.

 

He could be said to have had extensive experience at the bottom level. When the estate was initially established, he accompanied a large number of Zhou Clan cultivators to various peaks, built roads and bridges, raised beasts, and fed wolves; he had done everything.

 

So he also knew that some things didn’t necessarily need a cultivator to do; ordinary people were capable as long as they were willing to put in the effort.

 

It was just that the ordinary people of the Zhou Clan hadn’t all migrated over at the time, and those who had come over had superficial connections with the clan leadership, so they weren’t entrusted with tasks that were both tiring and potentially dangerous.

 

Another issue was the cultivator’s way of thinking.

 

In many cultivators’ ingrained mindset, ordinary people were weak and short-lived. Even a minor bout of illness could take their life.

 

A careless roar from a demon beast could easily frighten people to death.

 

With this way of thinking, they naturally didn’t believe that ordinary people could help a cultivator with anything.

 

At most, they would be allowed to do things with no risk at all, like cooking or doing laundry.

 

This way of thinking wasn’t necessarily wrong; after all, if there were enough hands, the same task entrusted to a cultivator would be much better than having ordinary people do it.

 

But with the Zhou Clan’s current number of cultivators, they clearly couldn’t afford to have a dedicated secretary and two guards assigned to the Clan Leader!

 

And Zhou Chun felt he needed these people to support his work.

 

So using ordinary people was a very good compromise.

 

In fact, if you asked them, they wouldn’t even have to reward clan merits; the cost was almost nothing.

 

But however much he wanted to, involving ordinary people in clan affairs was something Zhou Chun wasn’t able to accomplish just yet.

 

Firstly, the clan elders might not approve of it.

 

Secondly, finding ordinary people suitable for these tasks would also take time.

 

Therefore, Zhou Chun intended to secretly have the cultivator stationed in the mortal town help him select candidates and conduct targeted preliminary training.

 

He would wait until he reached Foundation Establishment, truly secured the acting Clan Leader position, and gained influence before bringing up the matter. It should be fine then.

 

However, while Zhou Chun was secretly plotting this, a Foundation Establishment cultivator named Mu Yuntian, once a disciple of Green Lotus Monastery, from the Mu Clan, arrived to visit the Zhou Clan.

 

He was a former inner sect disciple of Green Lotus Monastery, the clan brother of Mu Clan’s former Clan Leader, Mu Yunshan, and his cultivation reached late Foundation Establishment.

 

Previously, the Mu Clan had intended to devote all their efforts to help him break through to the Violet Palace.

 

But now, Mu Clan had suffered a disaster, and he was not only unable to receive assistance from the clan anymore but also had to step up and help Mu Clan rebuild. It was a pity of misfortune.

 

At this time, when he arrived at Zhou Clan, he directly requested to see Zhou Clan’s Grand Elder, Zhou Mingde.

 

Seeing this, Zhou Chun could only ask Second Elder, Zhou Chongshan, to come forward and announce it and asked the person to rest in a guest chamber beside the Central Palace.

 

Shortly after, Zhou Mingde arrived with Zhou Chongshan.

 

As soon as he saw Zhou Mingde, Mu Yun Tian, who was still dressed as a Daoist, quickly stepped forward and performed a deep bow, saying,

 

“In the previous disaster, Mu Clan suffered greatly, and of my clan’s allied clans, Senior Zhou was the first to come to the rescue. The surviving cultivators of the Mu Clan are all filled with gratitude and appreciation.

 

“Now, I have been permitted by the sect and have returned to Mist Province to rebuild the clan.

 

“Therefore, I am specially coming to visit Senior Zhou and hope that Senior will remember the friendship between our two clans and be willing to attend the Mu Clan’s rebuilding celebration in Green Cloud Mountains in half a month.”

 

Hearing his words, Zhou Mingde’s eyes flashed with an unusual color, and he said, “Fellow Daoist Mu is too kind. The Zhou Clan and Mu Clan are originally allied clans. When the Mu Clan sent out a signal of distress, how could my clan be indifferent?”

 

“It’s a pity that I was a bit too slow back then and failed to save the Mu Clan’s Fellow Daoists!”

 

As he spoke, he stepped forward two paces and helped Mu Yuntian up.

 

Then he continued, “But regarding what Fellow Daoist Mu said earlier, I have some doubts. If rebuilding the Mu Clan was permitted by the sect, will you continue to cultivate within the Green Lotus Monastery?”

 

Hearing his words, Mu Yuntian immediately replied respectfully, “To be honest, I was permitted by the sect to rebuild the Mu Clan as a disciple of the sect, permanently residing within the Mu Clan until a new generation of Foundation Establishment cultivators is cultivated from among the Mu Clan’s younger generation.”

 

“I see. I understand.”

 

Zhou Mingde nodded slightly, understanding his meaning.

 

Then, after a moment of contemplation, he shook his head gently and said, “Since that is the case, it would be more appropriate for me not to go. Let the acting Clan Leader of the Zhou Clan and an elder of the Zhou Clan go instead.”

 

As soon as he finished speaking, a clear look of disappointment appeared in Mu Yuntian’s eyes.

 

But he also knew that if Zhou Mingde had said it, he wouldn’t change his mind.

 

He simply responded, “Yes, since Senior is unwilling to attend, I naturally wouldn’t dare to insist. Then I’d await the arrival of the Zhou Clan Fellow Daoist in the Green Cloud Mountains.”

 

Then, with the farewell of Zhou Chun, he left the Zhou Clan.

 

When Zhou Chun saw Mu Yuntian off and returned to Pagoda Peak, Zhou Mingde looked at him and several Zhou Clan elders and suddenly asked, “What do you think about Mu Yuntian residing permanently within the Mu Clan as a disciple of the Green Lotus Monastery?”

 

At his words, everyone was slightly taken aback, then lowered their heads to ponder the purpose of his question.

 

But whether it was a matter of not quite grasping Zhou Mingde’s intent, after a long time of consideration, no one was willing to be the first to speak.

 

This caused Zhou Mingde to raise his eyebrows and then turn to Zhou Chun and say, “Since the elders are unwilling to speak first, you, Zhengchun, tell me your opinion.”

 

He was unable to remain silent after Zhou Chun’s selection and could only respond, “Yes, I shall present my humble opinion.”

 

Then, he raised his head and said, “I believe that a sect as prestigious as Green Lotus Monastery would be unlikely to actively assist the Mu Clan in rebuilding through such a method, even if some within its leadership felt pity for the Mu Clan’s plight.

 

“Therefore, it’s highly probable that Mu Yuntian himself requested this from the sect, and the sect leadership, whether out of pity for the Mu Clan or for other reasons, agreed to let him rebuild the Mu Clan in this way.”

 

Pausing slightly in his speech, he lowered his voice and continued, “Whether Mu Yuntian’s actions are meant to intimidate other forces with designs on the Mu Clan using his Green Lotus Monastery inner sect disciple status, or whether he is reluctant to abandon that inner sect disciple status, I dare not speculate.”

 

“That’s right, well said, and a clear understanding.”

 

Zhou Mingde looked at Zhou Chun with a hint of surprise, then nodded repeatedly, clearly satisfied with his response.

 

After speaking, he turned his gaze to the other elder and asked, “What about you? Do you have anything to add?”

 

“I think Mu Yuntian lacks sincerity. He expressed gratitude for Grand Elder’s rescue of the Mu Clan, but only verbally, without even presenting a proper gift.”

 

Zhou Jiarui then quietly expressed his opinion.

 

Zhou Chongshan was the first to shake his head and say, “That’s not necessarily true. He may not have sent a gift because he thought that a typical gift wouldn’t be adequate to repay such a great kindness.

 

“Furthermore, rebuilding the clan will require considerable expenses on all fronts, and if he’s a wise man, he should use every valuable item he owns to help rebuild the clan!”

 

Hearing this, Zhou Jiarui’s mouth opened slightly, but he still restrained himself from arguing and quietly said, “Perhaps that’s the case.”

 

Zhou Mingde also shook his head slightly and waved his hand, saying, “Alright, let’s end the analysis here. We’ll see what kind of person Mu Yuntian really is in time.”

 

After speaking, he instructed, “When you, Zhengchun, and Jiarui go to the Mu Clan, choose some items that will be helpful in rebuilding the clan and present them as gifts, so people don’t spread rumors about the Zhou Clan.”

 

“Yes, I understand.”

 

Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiarui responded in unison.

 

After Zhou Mingde left, the two of them also discussed the specifics of the gift with the other elders.

 

After this discussion, a suitable gift list was finalized, and the corresponding gifts were prepared accordingly.

 

Half a month later, Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiarui brought the prepared gifts and headed to the Green Cloud Mountains to meet with the Mu Clan.