Chapter 100, Outraged Clan Leader

Translator: Raznick

 

“Witch, what have you done to me? Why has my cultivation dropped to early Foundation Establishment!!” 

 

In the mountains, Zhou Daoyi’s face was filled with anger as he stared at the female cultivator from the Dragonized Sect. After the initial shock had subsided, he quickly found that his cultivation, which had been on the brink of reaching late Foundation Establishment, had suddenly regressed to early stage.

 

This situation filled him with both fear and anger. For a cultivator, cultivation was everything—without it, there was nothing.

 

Especially now, when Zhou Daoyi was well over 160 years old. Originally, with his cultivation level and talent, there was still a chance for him to strive for the Violet Palace Stage. But now, his cultivation has regressed to early Foundation Establishment, making that hope quite dim.

 

“Don’t worry, it’s just that your spiritual power has regressed,” the woman from the Dragonized Sect reassured him. “Your level remains intact; as long as you obtain some pills to enhance your spiritual power in the future, you’ll be able to restore your cultivation quickly.”

 

Upon hearing her words, Zhou Daoyi did indeed breathe a sigh of relief. He had been concerned and thus acting out of sorts. Now, after her reminder, he realized his level hadn’t fallen, only that a portion of his spiritual power and cultivation had been absorbed.

 

The thought of absorbing made him glance at the female cultivator from the Dragonized Sect, admiring her shapely figure, and then look down at his own nude body. His face darkened instantly, suddenly understanding why his cultivation had regressed.

 

“You’ve cast a deviant practice on me to steal my yang!” he said, staring hatefully at the woman across from him, unable to tell if his anger or humiliation was more prominent.

 

But the female cultivator merely rolled her eyes upon hearing this. “Don’t speak so crudely. I, a respectable Violet Palace cultivator, ended up sleeping with you, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. You should be honored.”

 

She then smirked and continued, “To be honest, though, I should thank you. It’s your pure yang energy that helped me recover. Otherwise, even if I survived, my cultivation might not have held.”

 

Adding with a hint of surprise, she said, “And honestly, I never expected someone your age to still be holding onto his virginity!”

 

Zhou Daoyi heard her final words and finally lost control!

 

Even though he was the Clan Leader of the Zhou Clan, with his cultivating skills polished to an extremely high level, he still couldn’t hold back his reaction at the words from the female cultivator.

 

It was hard to say what exactly he felt in that moment—rage for the hundred-plus years of his yang essence that had been shattered, or indignation at her brazen and triumphant attitude, or embarrassment at her shameless remarks.

 

In any case, his anger boiled over, and he bellowed an order to Sky Cloud Python to attack, while he himself unleashed an artifact toward the Dragonized Sect woman without considering the cultivation level disparity between them.

 

The outcome was predictable.

 

Though the Dragonized Sect woman’s strength had only partially returned, her mid Violet Palace cultivation alone made it impossible for Zhou Daoyi and his Sky Cloud Python to be a match.

 

She didn’t even need to brandish the crimson longsword that had felled the Blue Flood Dragon. With just her mystical arts, she effortlessly trapped Zhou Daoyi, using him as leverage to force Sky Cloud Python to abandon its assault.

 

“Little guy, with your current cultivation, you think you can stand up against me? You’re nowhere near ready!” The female cultivator sneered, her hand tightly gripping Zhou Daoyi’s neck before leaning in close to blow a cold breath into his ear. Her words dripped with menace. “If it weren’t for the fact that you managed to save my life earlier, I’d have ended yours right then and there.”

 

Her actions seemed playful at first glance, but her tone was anything but—filled with an icy, lethal intent.

 

Zhou Daoyi’s body trembled in response, his mind finally snapping back to clarity.

 

“What do you plan to do now?” he rasped out, his voice hoarse as he addressed her, while telling the Sky Cloud Python to stand back.

 

The female cultivator frowned upon hearing this, her thoughts evidently elsewhere as she muttered under her breath, “I haven’t decided what I’ll do with you yet, but for now, just focus on getting dressed.”

 

With that, she released her grip on Zhou Daoyi and stepped back. She then retrieved her storage bag from the scattered remnants of her torn clothing, pulling out a fresh set of attire to change into.

 

But what she hadn’t anticipated was Zhou Daoyi’s refusal to follow her instructions. Instead of putting on clothes as she had told him, he swiftly grabbed the storage bag and spirit beast pouch lying on the ground, and with a wave of his hand, released a spirit beast from one of the spirit beast pouches.

 

“Third-grade demon beast!”

 

When the sudden appearance of the Fire Spirit Jackal caught her attention, the female cultivator from the Dragonized Sect paled, her eyes wide with astonishment as she stared at Zhou Daoyi. She had been overly confident, thinking that Zhou Daoyi, being just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, would be lucky to have even an average second-grade demon beast like the Sky Cloud Python.

 

But here he was, bringing out the Grand Elder Zhou Mingde’s spirit pet, the very same Fire Spirit Jackal.

 

Her mind raced with a mix of shock and regret, interspersed with anger at Zhou Daoyi for his lack of judgment.

 

She coldly looked at Zhou Daoyi and said: “What? Do you really think having this third-grade demon beast to protect you makes you my enemy?”

 

“I do not wish to oppose you, but neither will I allow myself to be humiliated!”

 

Zhou Daoyi glared darkly at the female cultivator, his voice heavy with menace as he said, “I have no desire to quarrel with you over past events. From now on, we part ways—no more connections between us!”

 

At his words, the woman’s eyebrows shot up in mocking surprise. “Is that so? In a hurry to distance yourself from me, are you worried I’ll drag you into trouble, afraid Green Lotus Monastery will come after you?”

 

Zhou Daoyi’s eye twitched at her insolence, his anger flaring as he retorted, “I never even knew your name, let alone had any connection with you!”

 

The mere thought of what had transpired filled him with rage—he couldn’t bear to listen to her taunts.

 

Hearing this, the woman realized she might have misjudged him. But as his personal Guardian Spirit of the Red Dragon, she couldn’t bring herself to apologize.

 

“Very well,” she said coldly, “listen up—I go by Lin Hongyu.”

 

Zhou Daoyi remained silent upon hearing this and simply retrieved fresh clothing from his storage bag, changing into them. He then looked at the two battlefields, hesitated slightly, and turned to Lin Hongyu, saying, “Though you killed the Blue Flood Dragon, you’ve also reduced my cultivation. If I take a portion of its body to exchange for pills that can restore my cultivation, wouldn’t that be reasonable?”

 

Lin Hongyu rolled her eyes and retorted, “Hmph, greedy man. You’ve already taken the Flood Dragon’s inner core and its residual soul—do you even need more?”

 

She didn’t explicitly oppose his request, however.

 

Zhou Daoyi took this as implicit consent and said no more. He simply took possession of the dragon’s tail, which was less than ten meters in length—the value of which was only a third that of the front half—and left with it.

 

As far as Zhou Daoyi was concerned, it was a pure profit. After all, he had already obtained the Flood Dragon’s inner core and its residual soul.

 

After retrieving the fragment of the corpse, he stepped onto the head of the Sky Cloud Python and prepared to leave.

 

Lin Hongyu, who had remained silent until now, couldn’t hold back her words and said, “Are you just going to walk away like that? At least tell me your name and origin so I know who I’ve slept with!”

 

Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoyi, whose elation at having obtained a Flood Dragon corpse had momentarily stalled, spoke with a distinctly embarrassed and annoyed tone. “No need. Today’s matter will be as if it never happened.”

 

He then urged the Sky Cloud Python to take to the air and departed the scene alongside the Fire Spirit Jackal.

 

“You thinking I won’t find out just because you’re not speaking?” Lin Hongyu mocked under her breath as she watched the Sky Cloud Python vanish into the distance.

 

…

 

“I have lived two hundred and more years, and this is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing. Truly, it was quite an experience.”

 

On Pagoda Peak, Zhou Mingde listened intently as Zhou Daoyi recounted his bizarre experience. After finishing, Zhou Daoyi’s face was filled with shock and amazement, leaving him speechless for quite some time before he finally sighed with a bitter expression.

 

Even the incident of a Foundation Establishment cultivator slaying a Violet Palace cultivator would pale in comparison to Zhou Daoyi’s extraordinary tale.

 

“This time, it was indeed my oversight,” Zhou Daoyi said darkly, filled with regret. “I shouldn’t have entertained such ambitions. I should’ve ended that whitch right then and there.”

 

Zhou Mingde attempted to console him: “It’s not entirely your fault. Based on what you described, if I were in your position, with a Fire Spirit Jackal by my side, I’d likely want to capture her for maximum gain as well!”

 

But this was merely token consolation. Deep down, Zhou Mingde felt bitter as well.

 

If Zhou Daoyi had killed Lin Hongyu back then, he would not only have obtained the intact corpse of the Blue Flood Dragon but also the items on her person—a haul that would’ve been incredibly lucrative!

 

But now that the deed was done, regretting it would only make things worse. So he could only console Zhou Daoyi and tell him not to dwell on it. After consoling Zhou Daoyi for a while, Zhou Mingde’s expression grew serious, and he looked at him intently before saying, “Originally, I wasn’t too optimistic about your plans for this trip. I thought you wouldn’t stand much of a chance.

 

“But now, your accomplishments have left me speechless,” he continued. “With the Blue Flood Dragon inner core in your possession, once you cultivate the Sky Cloud Python to advanced second-grade, you can then work on the process of turning it into a Flood Dragon.”

 

“If this succeeds, as long as no Golden Core Stage cultivator interferes, our Zhou Clan will have no equals in the future!”

 

The power of a Flood Dragon at the third-grade was evident from seeing the Blue Flood Dragon and the Black Flood Dragon. If the Zhou Clan could harness a third-grade Flood Dragon, combined with Zhou Mingde and his spirit pet the Fire Spirit Jackal, then their enemies would need to come in numbers of five or six Violet Palace Stage cultivators to stand any chance against them.

 

For any force able to field five or six Violet Palace Stage cultivators, it was practically impossible for them to engage in any sort of power struggle with the Zhou Clan. Moreover, a third-grade Flood Dragon wasn’t just powerful; it could create its own lair and mass-produce dragon blood items, providing continuous revenue for the clan. The Zhou Clan could even use the Flood Dragon’s spiritual essence as a catalyst to breed powerful dragon-descended demon beasts, which clan members could then contract.

 

In Zhou Mingde’s view, nothing was more pressing for the Zhou Clan than having Zhou Daoyi’s spirit pet undergo its transformation into a Flood Dragon.

 

He quickly set his sights on a plan, resolved. “What I propose is this: since you can’t very well publicize the fact that you have a piece of Flood Dragon corpse, why not use its flesh and blood for alchemy to boost your spirit pet’s cultivation?

 

“As for restoring your own cultivation,” Zhou Mingde added, “the clan will support you.”

 

Zhou Daoyi couldn’t refuse such an offer, especially since having his Sky Cloud Python transform into a Flood Dragon had always been his greatest aspiration. He and Zhou Mingde then proceeded to discuss the details at length.

 

After all matters had been thoroughly discussed, Zhou Daoyi finally left Zhou Mingde’s abode and returned to the Central Palace.

 

Inside the Central Palace, Zhou Chun learned of Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi’s return and patiently awaited him there. He knew that Zhou Daoyi would surely come here first upon returning from Grand Elder Zhou Mingde’s residence.

 

When Zhou Daoyi arrived, Zhou Chun recounted the incident where he encountered a Dragonized Sect envoy being chased and then proceeded to beat them mercilessly, ultimately slaying the black-clothed elder.

 

This time, it was Zhou Daoyi’s turn to be astonished. He had believed that the events he encountered during his departure from the clan were once-in-a-thousand-years occurrences. Yet, Zhou Chun, this younger member of the clan, had also achieved the remarkable feat of killing a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And the one he had slain was none other than a member of the Dragonized Sect.

 

He stared at Zhou Chun in surprise, his lips slightly moving as if to speak. What he intended to say was that Zhou Chun had taken a huge risk. But recalling his own scheme to manipulate a third-grade Flood Dragon’s inner core using his Foundation Establishment cultivation, he felt ashamed to reproach Zhou Chun. Moreover, Zhou Chun was no child; he was always level-headed and would only act after carefully considering the consequences.

 

So he quickly retracted his words and instead expressed his astonishment: “Zhengchun, you really gave me quite the surprise!”

 

Seeing that Zhou Daoyi was not reproaching him for taking the risk, Zhou Chun felt a bit puzzled. Nevertheless, he explained himself: “It’s just that I thought this opportunity was too good to pass up, so I decided to take a gamble. Little did I know that the power of the Hard Gold Sword Energy would exceed my imagination and yield results so easily!”

 

“Hmph,” Zhou Daoyi nodded in agreement. “Though the process of cultivating this secret art, the Hard Gold Sword Energy, is quite arduous, the rewards are indeed worth the suffering.” With a slight nod, Zhou Daoyi showed his approval of Zhou Chun’s words.

 

Zhou Chun went through such agony to master this secret art, leaving him in admiration of the boy’s perseverance. In the past, there had been many Zhou Clan cultivators who were tempted by the power of this secret art and sought to cultivate it themselves. However, they couldn’t endure the pain involved in the process and eventually gave up halfway.

 

Zhou Chun’s ability to master this secret art was a testament to his exceptional determination. At this point, seeing that his explanation had been acknowledged by Zhou Daoyi, he said, “Clan Leader, please understand: I obtained some personal data records of the Dragonized Sect emissary from their storage bag. This information might be useful to the clan.

 

“Additionally,” he continued, “I also retrieved some pills from the same storage bag and would like you to help identify their purpose as well.”