Cultivation Begins From The Desert

As he flew over the oasis passage formed by twenty-five artificial oases, Zhouyang saw scenes he had long imagined in his mind.

Like the service areas on highways in his previous life, using the twenty-five artificial oases as bases, numerous cultivators exploring the Desert Sea came in and out of these oases, either selling the spiritual objects they acquired while exploring the Desert Sea to the Zhou Family shops on the oases, or purchasing Grain Avoidance Pills, Antitoxic Pills, Muscle Regeneration and Blood Stopping Pills, and various consumable spirit talismans from the shops.

Exploring the Desert Sea was not as easy for low-tier cultivators as it was for Foundation Establishment cultivators; their storage bags had limited capacity, the food and water loaded at one time could only sustain them for a few months or half a year, so they had to carefully calculate and control the depth of exploration to reserve the necessary consumption for their return.

Moreover, the undeveloped Desert Sea was teeming with demon beasts; once encountered, it could lead to battle, and if they did not encounter easily crushable Tier One demon beasts, fighting with same tier demon beasts would inevitably consume some of the spirit talismans and elixirs the cultivators carried.

If they exhausted all these elixirs and spirit talismans, they had to return to one of the twenty-five oasis bases for replenishment, or else they would easily perish in the Desert Sea when faced with powerful enemies.

All these supply items on the twenty-five artificial oases could only be provided by the Zhou Family.

There were also some astute low-tier cultivators who noticed this business opportunity, selling similar items at slightly lower prices like pedlars walking through the streets in the Mortal Realm, but ultimately, they could only take a small sip from the soup, with the main profits still going to the Zhou Family.

Meanwhile, Zhouyang also saw two migrating mortal teams; the mortals in these teams were seated on desert camel vehicles pulled by Shatuo Beasts, heading towards Rhino Horn Continent, with a dozen Zhou Family Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators escorting them.

One team had already traversed a quarter of the journey, with the number of people reduced by nearly ten percent; most of the faces in the team were weary, with many eyes filled with worry and regret, seeming to be anxious and regretting embarking on this perilous journey.

While the other team had just set out not long ago and hadn't yet reached the first artificial oasis, the spirits of the people in the team were still vibrant, filled with longing and anticipation for the Rhino Horn Continent said to possess fertile lands, imagining brand new lives upon reaching there.

Endless white flour buns, limitless fresh white milk, aromatic roast lamb...

These scenes were captured in Zhouyang's eyes, but they could no longer stir any emotion within him.

With more than two hundred years of life experience, he had become accustomed to the partings of life and death; his heart had hardened like iron and stone.

Perhaps those mortals migrating were very pitiful, and those mortals who died along the way were even more innocent.

But what of it?

This world is just so ruthless; to live well, to live more comfortably than others, you have to put in more effort and pay a bigger price than others.

The Zhou Family cultivators did not deceive these mortals with false advertisements; if they were able to arrive at Rhino Horn Continent alive, those beautiful fantasies could all be realized.

The prosperity and fertility of Rhino Horn Continent could fully assure them and their descendants would not worry about food and drink for one or two hundred years.

Had they remained in their original place, they would still have to lead lives under a ration system, where eating, drinking, wearing, and using were strictly controlled and distributed according to labor.

The path was chosen by themselves; whether they live or die could only be borne by themselves.

Even though Zhouyang's cultivation and magical power are now among the most outstanding in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, he could not help these people with this matter.

After flying like this for more than ten days, Zhouyang arrived at Red Tiger Mountain.

"Nephew (Disciple) pays respects to Ninth Uncle (Master)!"

"Nephew, grandnephew pays respects to the Supreme Elder!"

On Red Tiger Mountain, knowing Zhouyang's arrival, Zhou Guangxiang and Liu Xuanxuan, along with a group of Zhou Family elders, had already led a party to wait for him.

This time, the Zhou Family held a clan gathering; besides Zhou Guangxiang and Pang River, two Foundation Establishment cultivators each needed to oversee Rhino Horn Continent and Yuquan Lake Oasis, all other Zhou Family Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived at Red Tiger Mountain.

And now, the number of Zhou Family cultivators gathered on Red Tiger Mountain has surpassed eight hundred.

Due to the large number of attendees, Zhou Guangxiang had urgently ordered the demolition of the original Council Hall and built a newer, larger, grander hall capable of accommodating thousands of people for meetings over these months.

Zhouyang's gaze swept over the younger clan members present to welcome him, with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

The current Zhou Family truly had talents emerging in large numbers, with each generation having Foundation Establishment cultivators appearing, and not just one.

And all of this was thanks to him.

He single-handedly led the initially small clan, which was facing a crisis of severed heritage, to develop to its present scale.

Now, witnessing these outstanding Zhou Family talents gathered to welcome him, he somewhat experienced the feeling of founding a sect and being revered as an ancestor.

To the Zhou Family, although he wasn't the founding ancestor, he was indeed the patriarch who revitalized the clan.

His prestige in the Zhou Family and his contributions have long surpassed any ancestor, including Yuquan Ancestor who founded the Zhou Family.

Even though he remains in seclusion for years, not appearing to anyone, his legends are scattered throughout the Zhou Family.

"Hehehe, everyone, please rise. I will first go to the Ancestral Hall to pay respects to our ancestors, and afterwards, we can discuss things in detail."

Zhouyang chuckled softly, waving his hand gently, serving as a greeting to this group of juniors.

His status and cultivation are evident, requiring no cordialities with these juniors. Excessive courtesy would only make them uncomfortable and contradict the image of the "old ancestor" that he holds in their hearts.

Following his own words, Zhouyang went to the Ancestral Hall to pay respects to the ancestors of the Zhou Family, and then visited the graves of his parents and intimate elders, Zhou Minghan and Zhou Xuan Yu.

During this process, only Zhou Guangxiang accompanied him in service.

After finishing paying respects at the elders' graves, Zhouyang finally called Zhou Guangxiang to the summit of Red Tiger Mountain for questioning.

"Guangxiang, you are already aware of the reason for convening this family assembly. How is that matter you were tasked with handling?"

"In response to Ninth Uncle, after fifteen years of mining, the Forbidden God Stone mine has been exploited nearly halfway, and the extracted ore is already sufficient for the construction of the Treasure Vault."

"As for myself, I have comprehended most of the Bloodline Divine Ban, and within two to three years, I can fully grasp it and integrate it into the guardian array of the Treasure Vault."

...

Silence.

Zhouyang fell into a silent contemplation after hearing Zhou Guangxiang's report.

It took quite a while before he murmured, "Do you think Ninth Uncle is doing right by this? Is it really necessary to distinguish the main lineage from the branches using the bloodline of the strong?"

"I dare not speculate on this matter, Uncle!"

"However, regardless of what you decide to do, I will unwaveringly support and implement your decision."

"I believe that anything you do is surely for the benefit of the family and all its members!"

Zhou Guangxiang gazed respectfully at Zhouyang, his words brimming with trust and admiration.

Yet, it seemed that Zhouyang anticipated such a response all along; hearing it, his face showed no joy but instead was marked with complexity and he shook his head with a long sigh: "Ah, I know well that this decision truly has no merit for the family. It might even earn the infamy of dividing the clan!"

"But I am more aware that as the family continues expanding, if we persist with the current system, should I be absent from the family for an extended period, and neither you nor your successors can embody the authority and respect necessary to lead the clan, it will only take one spark for the clan to plunge into civil war and division."

"Rather than passively facing internal division and conflict in the future, it is better to act now, while the initiative remains with us. With my reputation, I can suppress all voices of dissent, ensuring they adhere to the rules we set."

"In the short term, this reform will inflict some damage on the family, reducing its cohesion."

"But in the long run, as the various branches of the family increase, even if none of us remain, even if the main lineage becomes a branch, the Zhou Family will still be the Zhou Family and will not head towards extinction due to internal turmoil and division!"

Zhouyang muttered to himself, the resolve in his eyes gradually hardening.

He firmly believes that the decision he made is not a misguided one.

In his previous life, the century-old noble families he knew, or the Golden Core clans, even Nascent Soul clans he encountered in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, were never like the present Zhou Family, where the primary and secondary distinction is blurred, resting solely on a family ancestor like him to sustain the family's existence.

Half a month later, the Zhou Family's clan assembly officially commenced.

All participating cultivators were Zhou Family members, totaling eight hundred and twenty-one individuals, including Zhouyang and Zhou Guangxiang, both Purple Mansion Cultivators, Zhou Yuanyao, Zhou Guangqing, Zhou Tongyao, Zhou Tonghua, Zhou Tongmin, and Zhou Fuyun, six Foundation Establishment Elders, along with seven Deacon Elders and hundreds of other clan members.

The meeting began with Zhou Guangxiang, the Clan Leader, first inquiring about the family's personnel, finances, and other matters.

Zhouyang merely listened.

"Currently, the clan has nine hundred and twenty-seven members, with four hundred and eighty-nine foreign relative cultivators, and one hundred and forty-three honored guest cultivators."

"Among them, there are three Purple Mansion Cultivators, ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators, one hundred and twenty-five Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Cultivators, three hundred and thirty-seven Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators, Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators…"

"The clan's mortal population amounts to approximately four million two hundred thousand, and those with different surnames number around eight hundred sixty thousand!"

"Currently, the clan has seven vassal Foundation Establishment clans, namely the Huang Family, Ma Family, Guo Family, He Family, Yu Family, Xie Family, Luo Family, and nine vassal Qi Cultivation clans, comprising the Lu Family, Li Family, Lin Family…"

"These vassal clans have a total of eight Foundation Establishment cultivators, two from the Huang Family, and another five hundred ninety-seven Qi Cultivation cultivators, all at the beck and call of our Zhou Family!"