Chapter 62, Elder’s Guidance and Flower Collection

Translator: Raznick

 

A forest fire that hadn’t even reached ten thousand acres in size wasn’t particularly challenging for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to put out.

 

After Zhou Chun and his companions returned to the market, it took less than half an hour before that robed figure sensed their presence in the Spirit Beast Pavilion.

 

With Liu Qingshan taking responsibility and having Zhou Jiasheng vouch for him, Zhou Chun managed to extricate himself from the situation without being implicated as a co-conspirator in the arson.

 

However, Liu Qingshan and his daughter were each sentenced to five years of labor within the market or pay a fine of three hundred spirit coins.

 

Naturally, Liu Qingshang couldn’t afford such a hefty penalty; all they could scrape together was one hundred fifty-four spirit coins.

 

It was Zhou Chun who stepped in and covered their remaining balance with another 146 spirit coins, ensuring that Liu Shiyun wouldn’t face punishment.

 

As for Elder Liu Qingshan’s fine, Zhou Chun was powerless to help.

 

At Liu Qingshan’s urging, Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiasheng discussed it over and agreed to let Liu Shiyun work as an apprentice at the Spirit Beast Pavilion while continuing her cultivation practice.

 

This was temporary; if another apprentice was sent from the Zhou Clan, Liu Shiyun would have to vacate her position.

 

Zhou Chun didn’t do it for free either. He had his eyes on the valley that the Liu father and daughter mentioned.

 

Putting aside the valuable herbs in the valley, just the group of Green-crowned Flying Snakes was an excellent spiritual beast for Zhou Clan.

 

The strength of a demon beast like the Green-crowned Flying Snake was a bit weak, but if you could tame multiple of them at a time, it would greatly improve the combat power of a cultivator.

 

Moreover, this demon beast was small. After contracting and taming, it could even be hidden in the sleeve, which could sometimes have an unexpected effect.

 

The most important thing was that this kind of social demon beast always had a good reproductive ability. If Zhou Clan trained it well, it could let many clansmen contract one or two for self-defense in the future.

 

Therefore, Zhou Chun had to redeem Liu Shiyun so that she could take him there to catch snakes and collect herbs.

 

However, Zhou Chun alone wasn’t enough.

 

Even if he called Zhou Zhengyong and Zhou Jiapeng, who had a good relationship with him, it would be difficult to do this.

 

So he planned to report this matter to the Third Elder Zhou Daoquan as a thank you gift for helping him hatch Silver Thunder Python.

 

Zhou Chun discussed his plans with Liu Shiyun and, after obtaining her consent, took leave from Zhou Jiasheng and returned to the clan alone. With his current cultivation level, traveling to the Red Rock Mountains by himself posed no significant challenges.

 

In just over a day, Zhou Chun arrived back at Nine Peaks. He did not disturb the Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi or return to his residence on Ganoderma Peak. Instead, he went straight to Flying Stone Peak to pay his respects to Third Elder Zhou Daoquan.

 

However, what Zhou Chun found unexpected was Zhou Daoquan’s response. With a brief pause, Zhou Daoquan looked at him and said, “If I were to handle this matter personally, the captured Green-crowned Flying Snake and the herbs from the valley would mostly belong to the clan. The benefits that could fall into your hands and that of the young girl would likely be minimal—only two-tenths at most.”

 

Zhou Chun was puzzled about the elder’s reasoning but quickly replied, “I naturally understand this, Senior.”

 

He then added with a bitter smile and spread his hands, “However, without the Elder’s intervention, I might manage to invite a few clan members to help with snake extermination and herb collection. But capturing those Green-crowned Flying Snake to be tamed by the clan would undoubtedly be extremely difficult!”

 

Zhou Daoquan merely remarked, “To capture those Green-crowned Flying Snake alone doesn’t require my personal involvement. There are others more skilled in that aspect who wouldn’t take that much of your interests.”

 

Zhou Chun looked at Zhou Daoquan in puzzlement, completely clueless about the person he was referring to.

 

Seeing his confusion, Zhou Daoquan clarified further: “You’re familiar with that old ape at the library, aren’t you? How come you don’t know its specialty of catching snakes?”

 

Ah!

 

Zhou Chun finally understood what Zhou Daoquan was getting at.

 

The Wood Spirit Ape, although residing at the Zhou Clan, wasn’t exactly considered a full member since it had no true owner. Its relationship with the Zhou Clan was mutually beneficial—providing them with its services while receiving compensation in return.

 

If Zhou Chun asked it to help him with snake hunting or herb gathering, all he’d have to do was offer it some rewards.

 

And what could the Wood Spirit Ape ask for? Just a few spirit fruits and spirit wine from the market would suffice to make it very happy indeed.

 

But why was Third Elder Zhou Daoquan being so kind to him?

 

This favor was entirely unnecessary for Zhou Daoquan to bestow upon him.

 

Zhou Chun secretly glanced at Zhou Daoquan; this doubt was eventually suppressed deep within his heart.

 

He quickly replied with respect: “I understand, thank you Elder for your guidance.”

 

After speaking, he bowed deeply to express gratitude: “Elder’s support and instruction are a great help to me. I have nothing to offer now, but I will keep it in my heart and repay it in the future!”

 

Zhou Daoquan rolled his eyes and said: “If it weren’t for the fact that you are somewhat to my liking, I wouldn’t bother having this conversation with you. Among these clan youngsters today, there are few who I tolerate.”

 

With that, he waved his hand dismissively: “Enough. I need to meditate now. You may leave.”

 

Zhou Chun had long since grown accustomed to this manner of speaking. He understood that despite the Elder’s age, his personality still held a playful and youthful streak, disliking excessive formality.

 

Unfortunately, clan hierarchy was something that could not be disregarded. Zhou Chun would have loved to get closer with this Elder, but he knew better than to act on such wishes.

 

Upon leaving Zhou Daoquan’s residence, Zhou Chun headed to the library to meet with the Wood Spirit Ape.

 

As for this Ape Elder, Zhou Chun saw no need for pretense; he straightforwardly and honestly shared all relevant details.

 

The Azure Giant Ape appeared to ponder deeply, lowering its head like a person in thought.

 

After a while, the Azure Giant Ape finally looked at Zhou Chun and nodded.

 

“Ape Elder, thank you kindly!” Zhou Chun said with a beaming expression, bowing in respect.

 

Then he led the Azure Giant Ape straight to Pagoda Peak to report the matter to Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi.

 

“Managing to persuade it to leave the clan and join you is no small feat. I trust you will handle this with care and ensure neither it nor yourself come to harm,” Zhou Daoyi said.

 

In the Central Palace, upon hearing that Zhou Chun wanted to take the Wood Spirit Ape outside the clan on an task, Zhou Daoyi was initially surprised that he had managed to persuade the ape to join him. He readily approved of the request without inquiring further into Zhou Chun’s intentions.

 

In response to Zhou Daoyi’s admonishments, Zhou Chun replied with a solemn tone, “I will heed Clan Leader’s teachings.”

 

After obtaining Zhou Daoyi’s special permission slip, Zhou Chun proceeded to borrow several items and then led the Azure Giant Ape out of Nine Peaks.

 

Once outside, the Azure Giant Ape intended for Zhou Chun to ride on its shoulders for the journey. However, Zhou Chun declined, deeming it inappropriate due to the disparity in status—a sign of disrespect toward Ape Elder—and also wishing to avoid drawing undue attention.

 

So Zhou Chun asked Azure Giant Ape to rest in the spirit beast pouch first, and then asked it to come out to help catch the snake after reaching the destination. Azure Giant Ape didn’t care whether to walk or rest in the spirit beast pouch. Since Zhou Chun thought it was better to let it rest in the spirit beast pouch, it naturally didn’t object.

 

After putting Azure Giant Ape into an empty spirit beast pouch, Zhou Chun drove the flying artifact to the market. In order to prevent Zhou Jiasheng from finding that he came back too quickly and getting suspicious, he took a rest for most of the day after arriving outside Red Rock Mountains, and counted the gains from killing Guo Dahu and others before.

 

Because those people were killed by Zhou Chun and Rock Turtle, Liu Qingshan was embarrassed to take the spoils, so everything on the three people belonged to Zhou Chun. Although Zhou Chun destroyed several of their artifacts with Shooting Moon Edge, he still got two average first-grade artifacts and three inferior first-grade artifacts.

 

In addition, the three people’s storage bags also contained some herbs, some demon beast fur claws materials, some commonly used low-level talismans, various cultivation method books, healing and detoxification drugs, etc. Most importantly, there were a total of 177 spirit coins.

 

Without mentioning the artifact and talisman, the thing that really caught Zhou Chun’s attention was the Flower Hunting Book he found in Third Aunt He’s storage bag. The flower here didn’t refer to plants, but to some female cultivators with special physiques. This book included more than 20 methods of identifying female cultivators with special physiques, but the book only recorded the relevant identification methods and did not explain the specific benefits of these female cultivators with special physiques. It seemed that it was deliberately deleted.

 

When Zhou Chun saw the illustration and description of the Mystical Yin Bone Charm constitution in the book, his expression turned odd. He stared at the illustration for a long time before finally flipping the page.

 

At the end of the book, there were records of two secret arts. One taught how to extract yin essence or yang  essence into oneself, and the other explained how to, during dual cultivation, used the state of spiritual desire combination to gradually influence and control the mind of the dual cultivation partner, turning them into one’s servant.

 

Both secret arts were evil arts.

 

Zhou Chun decided it was better to keep this book to himself rather than risk having Zhou Clan cultivators give in to temptation and practice these arts.

 

After tallying up his loot, he estimated that enough time passed. He returned to the market.

 

“Since Ape Elder is here with you, I won’t say much. In any case, come back quickly, as the store can’t do without you right now.”

 

Inside the Spirit Beast Pavilion, Zhou Jiasheng was surprised upon hearing that Zhou Chun had returned to the clan and brought out the Wood Spirit Ape. He looked at Zhou Chun in shock, wanting to speak but holding back.

 

After hesitating for a long time, he ultimately said nothing, giving only one instruction: “Come back quickly,” before granting permission for Zhou Chun and Liu Shiyun to leave the shop temporarily.