Chapter 125, Zhengyong’s Persistence and Acting Clan Leader

Translator: Raznick

 

Zhou Daoyi was troubled about how to find a legitimate reason to let Zhou Chun stay within the clan to cultivate peacefully and wait for Foundation Establishment.

 

At this moment, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly stood up and said he was willing to take Zhou Chun’s place to leave for Cloud Province. How could he not be delighted?

 

He knew with Zhou Chun’s personality, he would undoubtedly voice a rejection and would certainly have to refuse.

 

Therefore, he interrupted Zhou Chun, firmly settling the matter.

 

Although Zhou Zhengyong was also a relatively outstanding junior within the Zhou Clan, he was undoubtedly far inferior compared to Zhou Chun.

 

Zhou Daoyi, as Clan Leader, believed his decision was justifiable for his identity and responsibilities.

 

Zhou Chun, whose words were interrupted, opened his mouth but ultimately did not voice any opposing words.

 

Publicly questioning the Clan Leader’s decision was possible, but it had to be an elder.

 

If anyone questioned the Clan Leader, where would his prestige be?

 

Moreover, even a blind person could see that both Zhou Zhengyong and Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi were doing these things to help Zhou Chun.

 

At this point, if he still stood up, he would undoubtedly protect his own reputation but would inevitably hurt Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi’s name and feelings.

 

Therefore, the matter could only be settled in this way.

 

When everyone had dispersed, Zhou Chun sought out Zhou Zhengyong alone.

 

“Brother Yong, how could you be so reckless?

 

“I understand your good intentions, but you must also consider yourself, your wife, and your son.

 

“For a matter of such importance, how could you decide on it alone without consulting your wife?

 

“If something were to happen to you, how would I ever face your wife and son?”

 

The two were alone in a room. Zhou Chun’s tone was agitated, his expression visibly stirred.

 

He understood Zhou Zhengyong’s intention, but he truly didn’t want to bear such a burden.

 

In Zhou Chun’s eyes, with his cultivation, even venturing into Cloud Province would be manageable; therefore, he didn’t require anyone to go on his behalf.

 

Conversely, if Zhou Zhengyong were to go for him and were injured, maimed, or even died, it would be a lifetime of regret for him, incurring a debt of immense proportions.

 

How could he not be agitated?

 

Zhou Zhengyong said with a serious expression, “Thirteenth Brother, you are mistaken; I am not foolish.”

 

“Throughout the years, you have assisted me greatly. If not for your matchmaking, I would not have married such a lovely wife as Yujiao, and Lan’er wouldn’t have been born!

 

“Yujiao often tells me that your cultivation is progressing too quickly; we owe you a debt that may be difficult to repay.

 

“Now, the opportunity has presented itself, allowing me the chance to do something for you, to repay your debt, Thirteenth Brother. Yujiao knows this and will also agree.”

 

He gazed at Zhou Chun with a face filled with emotion, saying, “I know what you’re worrying about, Thirteenth Brother, but please consider this from my perspective. It’s not only you who doesn’t want to owe favors; I’m not the type to accept kindness and remain at ease without thinking of repayment.”

 

“Brother Yong…”

 

Zhou Chun was unable to find the right words.

 

Yes, Zhou Zhengyong wasn’t foolish; he understood what he was worrying about.

 

But he was also a cultivator with a moral compass and also had his own convictions and ideas.

 

How could he, because of his own worries, force others to go against their own sense of morality?

 

Seeing him remain silent, Zhou Zhengyong knew his words had taken effect, and with a wave of his hand, he said, “Thirteenth Brother, you needn’t say more. The clan has already decided on this matter, and it cannot be changed.

 

“I’m only going in your stead; it’s not as if I’m heading to certain doom. Why must we be so pessimistic?

 

“Even if something were to happen to me, it would be a destined tribulation, and I wouldn’t blame anyone!”

 

Zhou Chun could only force a smile.

 

Only the one in this position could say it so casually.

 

If something were to happen to him, not only would Sun Yujiao and her child have to bear it, but the rest of the Zhou clan would likely be watching Zhou Chun’s future performance.

 

But since things had reached this point, there was indeed nothing more to say.

 

Everyone has their own convictions, things they cherish and stand by.

 

He could only helplessly nod, saying, “Alright, since you’ve made up your mind, Brother Yong, I won’t say anything more. Just that you must accept these things; otherwise, I’ll absolutely refuse!”

 

He reached out and patted his storage bag, taking out two superior first-grade artifacts, one for offense and one for defense, as well as a dozen superior first-grade talismans.

 

Since he couldn’t stop Zhou Zhengyong from taking his place on the expedition, Zhou Chun could only try his best to arm himself and strengthen his abilities.

 

If his Rock Turtle hadn’t yet evolved to the point of understanding human speech like a Fire Spirit Jackal, Zhou Chun would definitely insist that Zhou Zhengyong take the Rock Turtle along.

 

Facing the items Zhou Chun had taken out, Zhou Zhengyong tried to decline but found that he couldn’t, so he accepted them.

 

Two days later, fourteen cultivators from the Zhou Clan confirmed to be going to Cloud Province left Nine Peaks with Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi and set off for Cloud Province.

 

Before leaving, after a tearful farewell to his wife and child, who had come to see him off, Zhou Zhengyong quietly said to Zhou Chun, “Thirteenth Brother, I’m leaving. If I encounter any trouble, please take care of Lan’er. Please help him grow into an adult.”

 

Hearing his words, Zhou Chun’s heart sank as he thought of something unpleasant.

 

He quickly spoke seriously, “Brother Yong, don’t think like that. You must return safely to care for them.”

 

After that, he also quietly promised, “Rest assured, as long as I’m within the clan, I won’t allow anything to happen to my sister-in-law and nephew!”

 

“I’m glad to hear that!”

 

Zhou Zhengyong nodded approvingly, completely relieved, and left.

 

Because Zhou Chun remained within the clan after Zhou Daoyi, the Clan Leader, left, he entrusted all the clan’s affairs to him to handle and had him act as Clan Leader in advance.

 

This was his final test!

 

If he could perform the duties of Clan Leader flawlessly, then after he reached Foundation Establishment, Zhou Daoyi could retire to a secondary role and focus on improving cultivation and breaking through to the Violet Palace.

 

Zhou Chun was well aware of this, so after he assumed the duties of Clan Leader, he worked diligently, walking on eggshells, and dared not be negligent in the slightest.

 

This differed from his previous role as a clan leader’s aide.

 

An aide, while also involved in handling clan affairs, mostly dealt with minor matters or those with established procedures.

 

Acting as Clan Leader, aside from the acting designation indicating a temporary position, held all other powers and responsibilities identical to the Clan Leader.

 

This meant that even diplomatic matters involving other factions would be solely within his purview.

 

A single misstep would be a failure and could lead to a disastrous mistake.

 

Therefore, he couldn’t afford to be careless.

 

“Nephew Zhengchun, a fellow from the He Clan who is an acquaintance, recently came to visit and said he discovered a treasure site guarded by a swarm of venomous insect demons. He wants me to go and help. Do you approve my request for a half-month leave?”

 

On this day, Zhou Chun was working in the Central Palace when a senior from the clan came to request an audience, explaining his purpose.

 

Upon hearing the visitor’s request, he quickly recalled all he knew about this senior. He then quickly formulated a plan and spoke.

 

“Twenty-third Uncle, you are now a valued member of the clan. According to the rules, you can take up to two months’ leave for personal matters each year. If you take a half-month leave this time, you will only have less than ten days of leave remaining this year.”

 

The visitor responded immediately, “Of course, I understand. Nephew, do you agree?”

 

“Yes, Twenty-third Uncle. Please go and be careful.”

 

Zhou Chun nodded and immediately produced a document authorizing his request for the cultivator guarding the estate’s entrance to verify.

 

According to the Zhou Clan’s rules, except for the Clan Leader and elders, all other members of the clan, regardless of personal or official matters, must first come to the Clan Leader to explain the situation and obtain an authorization document before leaving the estate.

 

Otherwise, not only would the cultivator who left the estate privately be heavily penalized, but the person who allowed him to leave would also be held accountable.

 

This was a necessity; without this regulation, sometimes clan members would go missing abroad, and they simply didn’t know where they went or how they disappeared.

 

Moreover, this showed the Clan Leader’s authority.

 

Just like now, Zhou Chun, as the acting Clan Leader, held such power that even a senior visiting him must be polite and show respect.

 

Otherwise, he could simply prevent them from leaving the clan.

 

He must remember that the so-called outing time limit he stipulated earlier was just a standard, just like the double weekend vacation in his previous life.

 

In reality, the Clan Leader could entirely use the excuse of the clan currently having insufficient manpower and needing a large workforce for security to detain them from leaving the clan.

 

Or, if they wanted to go out for ten days, he would only approve three days, and overdue absences would be treated as defiance, with light punishment being limiting their outing time and severe punishment involving deducting one year’s welfare.

 

Therefore, unless one became a clan elder, as a cultivator of the clan, he couldn’t afford to offend the Clan Leader!

 

Issuing documents for clan members to leave the estate was just one of the Clan Leader’s daily duties, in addition to hearing reports from various peaks and halls regarding various businesses.

 

For example, the Medicine Peak was recently preparing to refine pills, reporting how many herbs were needed and how many pills they expected to produce, and wanting the clan to help search and purchase the lacking materials.

 

The beast enclosure had a new litter of a certain demon beast; the clan could see if any clan members wanted to contract it or if a demon beast unexpectedly died and how it died.

 

For example, how many rogue cultivators rented the cultivation room each season, how much revenue they got, how many rogue cultivators want to guard the Purification Pavilion to work off their debts, and so on.

 

These various large and small matters, as the Clan Leader, must be known about and have a clear understanding of.

 

Based on Zhou Chun’s personal experience, the Clan Leader was like an accountant of an entire feudal dynasty and must understand all aspects and not make any big mistakes.

 

Therefore, a large area in the Central Palace was used to store various documents and data for the Clan Leader to check and compare at any time.

 

Of course, a clan had a limited population and limited industries. Even if a Clan Leader needed to oversee so many things, he could manage them, but he would be quite busy.

 

However, Zhou Chun felt that handing over these matters to the Clan Leader was unnecessary and a complete waste of the Clan Leader’s time, and it also deprived many clan members who wanted to be involved, preventing them from training more managers.

 

Especially as the Zhou Clan grew stronger, with more people and more industries, the matters would only increase. It would be difficult for a Clan Leader to manage all aspects of things.

 

So, after acting as the Clan Leader for half a month, he had ideas about reforming the structure.

 

However, he only considered these reforms now, and he certainly wouldn’t implement them immediately, nor would he rush to say them.

 

Major reforms to the clan structure could only wait until he reached Foundation Establishment and truly took over the Clan Leader position from Zhou Daoyi.

 

Now, it was about thinking about which areas needed to be changed and which didn’t.

 

He didn’t have to worry too much about that.

 

The knowledge accumulated in his previous life could guarantee that the reforms he made in this area would not make any mistakes.

 

However, what Zhou Chun didn’t expect was that just fifty days after he served as the Clan Leader, a major problem tested him.

 

The news quickly spread throughout the various cultivating clans of Mist Province.

 

It was an announcement from Green Lotus Monastery, stating that at least one Dragonized Sect Guardian led multiple Envoy and many Dragonized Sect followers into the two regions of Mist Province and Ridge Province, intending to disturb and destroy the rear and strike at the cultivator of the front line in Cloud Province.

 

Because they didn’t know how long this group of Dragonized Sect people had been infiltrating Mist Province, nor how many people they had, Green Lotus Monastery could only notify the various cultivating clans of Mist Province to be vigilant and reduce outdoor activities in order to avoid enemies seizing the opportunity to attack and kill.

 

The announcement was simple, while actually doing it was far from easy.

 

Now, because they had received a large number of cultivators fleeing from Cloud Province, the various cultivating clans in Mist Province had made a considerable fortune from the war.

 

If they were to stop outward activities and seal off their estates at this time, the losses would be significant.

 

The key was that Mist Province was not a frontline, and the enemy was only a small detachment.

 

If this small detachment were to infiltrate and cause the entire province’s cultivating clans to seal off their estates, it would be a case of diminishing returns, and it would also make that detachment of the Dragonized Sect ecstatic.

 

However, if they didn’t close their doors, no one could guarantee that their clan wouldn’t become the target of this infiltrating detachment of the Dragonized Sect.

 

“With the Clan Leader absent, and in my power as the acting Clan Leader, I have asked all the elders to come and discuss this matter, wanting to hear your opinions and then present a decision to the Grand Elder!”

 

Within Central Palace, Zhou Chun, knowing the gravity of the situation, also immediately summoned the clan’s three elders to discuss the matter.