Chapter 42, Test and to The Sun Clan

Translator: Raznick

 

“Ninth Brother, that child, he’s just got a low-grade spirit root at best. Clan Leader spoke so grand for another reason, to inspire others like us to follow suit.”

 

On their way back to Ganoderma Peak, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly looked at Zhou Chun.

 

Zhou Chun, who had been deep in thought, was startled upon hearing these words. He glanced at him with a curious expression and asked, “Brother Yong, if you understand this point, what are your intentions?”

 

Having heard his words, Zhou Zhengyong immediately and without hesitation responded, saying, “Of course one should respond to Clan Leader’s call by finding a Dao companion and have many children!”

 

Zhou Chun hesitated, his expression marked by concern as he softly asked, “What if, I mean what if, you end up with children who lack a spirit root?”

 

It was unexpected for him that Zhou Zhengyong answered without any hesitation regarding the matter he had found difficult to face.

 

“If there’s no spirit root, well, that’s just how it is. It’s all about luck anyway. Without it, they can only blame their own bad luck. They just don’t have a cultivator’s destiny!”

 

This kind of answer, which attributes everything to fate, made Zhou Chun furrow his brows.

 

He blurted out his greatest concern. “Brother Yong, aren’t you afraid that after reaching Foundation Establishment and with a greatly extended lifespan, you would witness their untimely passing before your own? For they, unable to cultivate, would depart from this world long before you.”

 

Indeed, after Zhou Zhengyong was asked this question, he fell silent as well.

 

Just when Zhou Chun thought he would remain silent for a long time before answering, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly looked at him with an odd expression and said, “Thirteenth Brother, the questions you’re asking today are so strange, don’t tell me that it’s because you’re worried about these things that you don’t want to find a Dao companion and have children?”

 

In saying this, Zhou Zhengyong couldn’t help but shake his head and looked at Zhou Chun with a serious expression, saying: “If that’s the case, Thirteenth Brother, you must quickly change your mind, or else it will be very dangerous!”

 

“Even if what you just said applies to ordinary people rather than us cultivators, the dangers of beasts, diseases, wars, and various natural and man-made disasters still exist. These horrors can leave parents helplessly watching their children die before their eyes.

 

“Is it because of worrying about this point that all parents choose not to have children?

 

“Let’s put it bluntly, even if you can guarantee that your children will possess a spirit root, can you also ensure their safety and protection when they venture out into the world? And can you guarantee that all of them reach Foundation Establishment?

 

“If you can’t guarantee these things, would you also choose not to have children?

 

“You are truly overreacting and worrying about nonexistent problems.”

 

[Is he venting?]

 

Zhou Chun hesitated slightly before finally sighing softly. “Hmm,” he began, “maybe Brother Yong is right. I do tend to overthink things too much.”

 

After finishing his thought, he slightly pressed his lips and softly muttered, “I still think that if we could wait until our cultivation reaches a higher level before finding a Dao companion to have children, at least their starting point in life would be much higher than now. They would also be able to walk further on the path of cultivation.”

 

Zhou Zhengyong nodded in agreement this time and said, “That’s also true. Many Senior members of the clan who haven’t married or had children are also thinking this way, but…”

 

It was just that Zhou Zhengyong didn’t say, but he knew Zhou Chun would understand.

 

After returning to Ganoderma Peak, they each went their separate ways.

 

It could be said that within a cultivating clan like the Zhou Clan, the words spoken by the Clan Leader were still very effective.

 

Since the one-month old party that day, some seniors of the Zhou Clan indeed had their Dao companions become pregnant very quickly.

 

When Zhou Chun went to the Purification Pavilion to do his part, he could still often hear some seniors complaining in a teasing manner about certain clan members who had taken leave to visit other cultivating clans, intending to court female cultivators from other clans as wives.

 

Among them was Zhou Zhengyong, that guy.

 

Even at times, some female rogue cultivators who came to cultivate would flirtatiously gesture towards him, trying to capture his attention.

 

This also made Zhou Chun unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

 

He could only blame himself for being too much of a lady killer—or at least that’s what he told himself as women couldn’t resist him!

 

And on this particular day, Zhou Zhengyong, who had been gone for nearly half a month after that point in time, finally reappeared before Zhou Chun and once again asked him for help.

 

It turned out this guy had been missing for over half a month, going all the way to Gold Maple Peak’s Sun Clan to find the female cultivator Sun Yujiao he had met at Red Herb Valley’s Wang Clan.

 

It could be said that this guy still had some skill to him; within less than half a month, he managed to make the female cultivator, Sun Yujiao, take a fancy to him, and even introduced him to her parents.

 

That Sun Yujiao’s father, as a cultivator of the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining Stage within the Sun Clan, and her mother similarly hailed from another small cultivating clan.

 

Regarding the matter of his daughter and Zhou Zhengyong becoming dual cultivation Dao companions, Mr. Sun did not show any sign of opposition. He merely set a test for Zhou Zhengyong to complete.

 

Master Sun’s test, however, was neither particularly difficult nor easily achievable for Zhou Zhengyong.

 

That meant he was only allowed to bring one cultivator in the late Qi Refining Stage as an assistant. The task was to journey to a certain place to slay a superior first-grade demon beast, specifically a Purple Flame Marten, and retrieve its fur as part of the dowry to wed his own daughter.

 

In this situation, Zhou Zhengyong naturally could only come to Zhou Chun for help.

 

“In short, Thirteenth Brother, you have to help me this time. Whether I can successfully win the beauty depends on whether I can get Miss Yujiao’s father to agree this time.”

 

In the hall, after Zhou Zhengyong had explained his purpose, he looked intently at Zhou Chun with an air of anticipation.

 

Zhou Chun saw this and immediately nodded seriously, saying, “Since it concerns Brother Yong’s happiness in life, as your younger brother, I naturally cannot refuse to help!”

 

After finishing, he looked at Zhou Zhengyong and asked, “But have you told Clan Leader about this?”

 

Upon hearing these words, Zhou Zhengyong immediately slapped his forehead and exclaimed: “Ah, I haven’t. It’s only because Thirteenth Brother brought it up that I suddenly forgot about this matter for a moment!”

 

Then he said hastily, “Let’s go see the Clan Leader.”

 

“Alright.”

 

Zhou Chun responded, and immediately went to Pagoda Peak with Zhou Zhengyong to meet Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi and explain the situation.

 

In the Central Palace, after hearing Zhou Zhengyong’s account, Zhou Daoyi also nodded approvingly at him and said, “This matter I am aware of. If your efforts succeed, it will certainly bring benefit to our clan, and then there will surely be rewards for you.”

 

Turning his gaze toward Zhou Chun, he said, “As for you, Zhengchun, although your actions were motivated by personal feelings in helping Zheng Yong, it still indirectly benefited the clan. Should this mission prove successful, I will have rewards for you as well.”

 

“Junior respectfully thanks Clan Leader.”

 

Zhou Chun and another person hurriedly expressed their gratitude and said thanks, then left together down the mountain from Nine Peaks.

 

Compared to the relatively distant Red Herb Valley’s Wang Clan and Gold Maple Peak’s Sun Clan, Zhou Clan’s location at Nine Peaks was much closer, only about three hundred miles away.

 

If one were to ride the Black Scaled Steed, the distance would be covered in less than four hours.

 

It was a pity that the Zhou Clan had yet to acquire a Black Scaled Steed for breeding, opting instead to domesticate a breed of horned mountain goats skilled in scaling peaks and traversing valleys as their clan’s mounts for short-distance travel.

 

The Horned Goat had horns like those of a water buffalo, a robust build, weighing over a thousand catties, capable of scaling mountains and rivers, and easily able to carry a person on its back without any difficulty.

 

But ordinary beasts had limited physical endurance. If one were to carry a person across mountains and hills without using the secret pill to stimulate their life potential, a hundred miles per day would be their limit.

 

At this time, Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong were heading to Gold Maple Peak Sun Clan, riding these Horned Goats.

 

Two people climbed up and down the mountains, taking over a day to finally reach the Gold Maple Peak Sun Clan estate.

 

Since it was a test, in order to prevent cheating, Sun Yujiao’s father naturally took it upon himself to supervise personally.

 

After resting at the Sun Clan for a while, Zhou Zhengyong brought a middle-aged couple and Miss Yujiao from the Sun Clan to Zhou Chun.

 

Upon meeting, Zhou Zhengyong had scarcely introduced them before he began: “Thirteenth Brother, this is Mr. Sun Lianzhong from the Sun Clan. This is Madam Lin. As for Miss Sun, you already know.”

 

“Uncle Sun, Aunt Lin, this is my most trusted friend, Zhou Zhengchun. He is the one who will help me complete Uncle Sun’s test.”

 

Zhou Chun, upon seeing this, hurriedly greeted the middle-aged couple and said, “I am Zhou Zhengchun and I pay my respects to Uncle Sun and Madam Lin.”

 

“Sir Zhou, you don’t need to be polite,” he said.

 

Sun Lianzhong merely raised his hand lightly, his gaze swept over Zhou Chun’s handsome face, then glanced at his daughter beside him, and couldn’t help but shake his head slightly, sighing inwardly with regret.

 

At this point, less than a year had passed since the martial competition organized by the five major cultivating clans. Moreover, as Zhou Zhengyong had previously mentioned Zhou Chun, he naturally had heard about Zhou Chun’s accomplishments in that martial competition.

 

After seeing Zhou Chun’s real face, he became even more impressed with Zhou Chun.

 

From his perspective at this moment, if the man who wished to engage in dual cultivation with his daughter was Zhou Chun, then there would have been no need for this trial at all.

 

Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong naturally saw Sun Lianzhong’s actions, but since they weren’t mind readers, they couldn’t understand his intentions.

 

After exchanging greetings, the five of them set off for the area where the Purple Flame Marten was known to dwell.

 

The Purple Flame Marten was a solitary demon beast with extremely strong territorial instincts, also known for being intelligent and highly alert.

 

Sun Lianzhong had Zhou Zhengyong hunts the Purple Flame Marten, which was located in the forests about a thirty miles east of the Sun Clan estate at Gold Maple Peak.

 

According to what he said, there had already been several Sun Clan cultivators who had attempted to slay the Purple Flame Marten without success; on the contrary, they were instead ambushed and injured by it.

 

If Zhou Zhengyong were able to hunt this Purple Flame Marten, even with some help, it would show his skills surpass those Sun Clan cultivators, making him a suitable match for his daughter.

 

At this point, after walking for half a day, they soon reached the edge of a mountain forest teeming with towering, majestic red pine trees.

 

Sun Lianzhong pointed ahead to the pine forest and said, “That’s the Crimson Pine Forest ahead. The Purple Flame Marten usually moves around in that Crimson Pine Forest.”

 

Having finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at Zhong Zhengyong and Zhou Chun, the two of them, saying, “Our family won’t go in. Let’s set a three-day deadline. If you two can’t succeed within three days, that will be considered a failure.”

 

He then reached out and tapped his storage bag, handing Zhou Zhengyong a specially crafted talisman. “Also, in case of danger where you are unable to defend yourself, you can release this emergency signal flare,” he instructed, “and I will naturally come to your aid at that point.”

 

“Uncle, rest assured. Within three days, we will definitely bring the corpse of the Purple Flame Marten to you.”

 

Zhou Zhengyong took over that specially made talisman, confidently pounded his chest, and issued a bold declaration.

 

Then he pulled Zhou Chun and they walked briskly into the Red Pine Forest.