Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Zhouyang didn't want too many people to know about the discovery of the Spirit Stone mine in the short term.

Although the Zhou Family already possessed the power to fear no one in the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm, the interests involved with a medium-sized Spirit Stone mine were too significant, making it necessary for him to act cautiously.

Moreover, for the time being, the Spirit Stones stored in the Zhou Family's treasure vault were sufficient. Extracting more would only result in a pile-up in the warehouse, unable to be converted into urgently needed treasures.

Additionally, all of the Zhou Family's current projects required manpower, making it difficult to spare many people to travel afar to mine the Spirit Stone ore.

It's important to note that a valuable ore vein like a Spirit Stone mine is unlike other ore veins. Once mining begins, not only must cultivators carry out the mining, but a large number of cultivators must also be stationed at the mining area to guard against theft and plundering.

When major sects discover a Spirit Stone mine, they first send high-tier Array Masters to set up a vast Tier Five Array to cover the Spirit Stone mine area before dispatching people to extract the Spirit Stones.

The medium-sized Spirit Stone mine Zhouyang discovered spans hundreds of miles in length. Such a large area couldn't be covered by an ordinary Tier Five Array but requires a Forbidden Array instead.

The Zhou Family, of course, couldn't deploy such a grand array, so they would have to employ a cumbersome method by sending numerous clan cultivators to patrol the boundaries of the Spirit Stone mine zone, with at least one Purple Mansion Stage cultivator stationed within to provide support at any time.

Knowing that the Zhou Family didn't have these resources, and with himself soon traveling to explore the Great Brightness Immortal Palace area, Zhouyang returned to the Rhino Horn Continent, strictly instructing his disciple Lu Xuewei not to leak the news of the Spirit Stone mine, and only informed Zhou Guangxiang, personally leading him to the mining site to familiarize himself with the route.

Thus, the matter of the Spirit Stone mine was temporarily concluded. After briefly mentioning to Clan Leader Zhou Guangxiang the promise he made to Lu Xuewei, Zhouyang set off to collect Fire Separation Essence Gold from the Underground Fire Abyss where the "Purifying Blue Lotus Flame" had been discovered.

Zhouyang originally thought he might again encounter the "Fire Qilin Beast" that had escaped before and was prepared to attempt to kill it this time.

However, he didn't know that the "Fire Qilin Beast," after being infiltrated by his "Qianyang True Flame," had nearly perished at the bottom of the fiery abyss, and dared not return to its former dwelling place, fearing running into its nemesis again.

Furthermore, the "Fire Qilin Beast" had primarily resided at the Underground Fire Abyss to utilize the "Purifying Blue Lotus Flame" for cultivation. Without that Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire, the area held no unique appeal compared to other places.

Though Zhouyang lamented not seeing the "Fire Qilin Beast," the abundance of Fire Separation Essence Gold he soon harvested quickly dispelled his regret and frustration.

Last time, using the "Thousand Blade Disc" to harvest Fire Separation Essence Gold, he hadn't dared penetrate too far into the magma fearing damage to the Magical Artifact.

This time, he came prepared, using the highly heat-resistant "Great Derivation Divine Light Sword" as a mining tool, resulting in substantial gains.

When he returned to the Rhino Horn Continent and used the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace" to refine the Fire Separation Essence Gold from the ore, he had gained as much as thirty-seven jin six liang of Fire Separation Essence Gold.

Unfortunately, although he had a bonanza with the Fire Separation Essence Gold, his harvest of materials like "Taiyi Essence Gold" was far less ideal.

The Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm was still too barren and backward. Precious artifact refining materials like "Taiyi Essence Gold," if possessed, are typically used to enhance one's Flying Sword, with very few storing large chunks of Spiritual Gold unused.

Though the Zhou Family had been putting out word to help him purchase it for years, they only managed to acquire five liang, far off from the several jin he needed.

With no other option, Zhouyang postponed his sword refining plans, intending to gather materials for artifact refining once he reached the area of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.

Time flew by, and over a year quickly passed.

On this day, Xiao Ying, who had been in seclusion for six years, finally succeeded in breaking through to the Fourth Layer of the Purple Mansion and emerged from her Seclusion Chamber.

"Congratulations, Ying'er! You've finally come out!"

Outside Xiao Ying's Seclusion Chamber, Zhouyang, having noticed the commotion and come to check, couldn't contain his joy at seeing his Dao Companion for the first time in almost twenty years. He rushed over to lift her up in a hug.

"I've missed you too, my husband!"

Xiao Ying placed her hands around Zhouyang's neck, her beautiful eyes full of joy, resting her head against his chest, reluctant to let go.

After a tender, brief embrace, the slight estrangement that had arisen between the couple over twenty years apart quickly faded away completely.

In the midst of their loving reunion, Zhouyang didn't forget his responsibilities and soon told his Dao Companion about the blossoming of the "Yuan Condensing Fruit" tree.

Hearing this news, Xiao Ying, too, took it seriously, traveling with Zhouyang the next day to Red Tiger Mountain to assess the situation.

Over the following year, Xiao Ying focused on overseeing Red Tiger Mountain, both refining various Tier Three Spirit Elixirs collected by the Zhou Family during her years of seclusion into Spirit Pills and preparing various Spirit Liquids and gathering Wood Essence Qi to replenish the Yuan of the "Yuan Condensing Fruit" tree.

Seeing this, Zhouyang moved with her to take residence on Red Tiger Mountain, studying the Sword Techniques while accompanying his Dao Companion.

Another year passed like this, and while Zhouyang had not yet fully comprehended the "Eight Desolates and Six Harmonies Sword Array," the Zhou Family's four-hundredth founding anniversary celebration had arrived.

In a place like the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, for a clan to have thrived for four hundred years is very rare indeed.

Many Foundation Establishment Clans have only survived for one or two hundred years before falling into decline due to the demise of their Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and the long inability to produce new Foundation Establishment Cultivators eventually led to the severance of their legacy.

The Zhou Family almost ended up like this back then.

Originally, when the Zhou Family was celebrating its three-hundredth founding anniversary, it should have widely invited guests for a grand celebration.

However, at that time, the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm was in a period of turmoil, and with the recent demise of the previous Elder Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, naturally, there was no thought of organizing such an event.

Now, the Zhou Family has reached its four-hundredth anniversary, has been promoted to a Purple Mansion Clan, and has become the strongest Purple Mansion Clan in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm in the past two thousand years. Naturally, this celebration must be held on a grand scale.

Since Zhouyang announced the celebration five years ago, the entire Zhou Family has been preparing for this event.

In these five years, almost all the Foundation Establishment Clans in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm received invitations from the Zhou Family.

At the same time, many more cultivators came uninvited to participate in this grand event.

These people certainly were not there just for the food and drinks; they were more interested in the Treasure Hunting Conference promised by the Zhou Family.

Therefore, on the actual day of the celebration, over twenty thousand cultivators gathered at the Red Tiger Mountain Oasis.

For the Zhou Family, so many cultivators gathering at one oasis was both an honor and a test.

One must know that cultivators are not known for their kindness, and for more than twenty thousand cultivators to gather in one oasis, it's almost impossible for some magical combat conflicts not to occur daily.

For this reason, the Zhou Family had to temporarily expand their security team, deploying more than half of the Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators over sixty from the clan to maintain order and prevent large-scale magical combat conflicts.

On the day of the celebration, only those cultivators who received invitations could ascend Red Tiger Mountain to observe the celebrations. They were either Foundation Establishment Cultivators or high-ranking elders of Foundation Establishment Clans, all of them people of status.

At this time, on Red Tiger Mountain, a Heavenly Sacrifice Altar built specifically for the celebration had long been completed.

This Heavenly Sacrifice Altar was circular, standing nine feet nine inches high, and three feet three inches wide, with nine colors rising up from the base. It was paved with the Essence of the Five Metals and four kinds of Spirit Jade.

Three days prior, Zhouyang, after cleansing and fasting, had already sat cross-legged on the altar, abstaining from eating while waiting.

Before him was a towering wooden pyramid structure, on which were arranged the spiritual tablets of the ancestors taken from the ancestral hall of the Zhou Family.

At the top of the tower were the spiritual tablets bearing the words "Heaven and Earth," representing the heavens above.

The second layer belonged to the spiritual tablets of Zhou Yuquan, the ancestor who founded the Zhou Family, and his primary wife. The third layer held the spiritual tablets of the three deceased Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Zhou Family: Zhou Hua Jian, Zhou Minghan, and Zhou Xuanhao, and their Dao Companions.

Below that were the spiritual tablets of the successive Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation ancestors from the Zhou Family, along with those from the Zhou Family listed on the "Heroic Martyr List," and finally, the spiritual tablets of lesser-known ordinary Zhou Family ancestors.

However, these spiritual tablets only extended to those of the "Xuan" generation because, beyond the "Xuan" generation, there still exists "Yuan" generation cultivators such as Zhouyang.

The ceremony to honor the ancestors, which he presided over, naturally could not include the spiritual tablets of cultivators from the same generation.

With the arrival of the celebration day, the current Clan Leader, Zhou Guangxiang, personally brought the three sacrificial animals for the ancestor worship ceremony onto the altar.

These three sacrificial animals were the Tier Two High-Grade Demon Beasts: "Red-haired Ox," "White-tailed Black Sheep," and "Rock Earth Pig."

Initially, Zhouyang intended to use Tier Three Demon Beasts as offerings, to truly reflect the prestige of the Zhou Family as a Purple Mansion Clan.

However, despite the many demon beasts in the Boundless Desert Sea, Tier Three demon beasts of the ox, sheep, and pig types were exceedingly rare. He couldn't simply capture any three Tier Three demon beasts to make up the numbers, could he?

In the end, he had to settle for the next best thing, choosing three Tier Two High-Grade Demon Beasts as offerings.

These sacrificial demon beasts had been fed Essence Pills and some Purifying Body Spirit Elixirs a month in advance, while their excretion passages were sealed with artifacts to ensure that they would not foul the solemn and sacred setting by defecating or urinating in their fear of death.

When the three sacrificial animals were placed, and the auspicious moment arrived, Zhouyang, having cleansed and fasted, took up the blade and personally slaughtered the sacrificial animals for Heaven and the ancestors, placing their heads on a jade plate before him, then knelt in front of the aligned spiritual tablets, reverently and sincerely bowing in prayer.

"To the forebears of the Zhou Race, I, Zhou Yuan Yang, lead nine hundred seventy-six members of the Zhou Race to offer sacrifices to Heaven and our ancestors, praying for the divine spirits of Heaven and our ancestors to bless the Zhou Family with eternal prosperity and longevity!"

At the same time, Zhou Guangxiang and the other Zhou Family cultivators below the altar also knelt down, loudly echoing: "May our forebears bless the Zhou Family with eternal prosperity and longevity!"

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