Chapter Three, Family Mission.

Originally, Zhou Minghan had hoped to place his hopes on the younger generation of the "Xuan" generation. He had even made up his mind that if no one in the Zhou family had reached the Foundation Building stage before his demise, he would rather offer the majority of the output from the Yinquan Lake Oasis and the Zhou family to the Huangsha Sect in exchange for their protection, rather than let the Zhou family be wiped out due to jealousy over their substantial interests.

However, as it has developed to this day, the Yuquan Zhou clan seems to have run out of luck. Since Zhou Minghan, there has been no new foundation-building cultivator born for over a hundred years.

However, this is ultimately not a fundamental solution. The best approach is for the Zhou family to give birth to new Foundation Establishment cultivators to preside over the family before his downfall.

However, your situation is special. Although you are only seventeen years old, you have already reached the sixth level of Qi cultivation. In the past hundred years of our clan, no one has had such cultivation at the age of twenty when they descended the mountain.

As for this "Silver Radiance Shield" artifact, it is a fine piece among the many second-tier artifacts that I have crafted. Consider it as compensation from me for you leaving the mountain ahead of time.

So the only reason he can use so many materials to practice now is that the old patriarch used his personal savings to exchange these materials from the family warehouse.

During the conversation just now, he secretly used a soul-capturing spell he had learned in his early years to affect Zhou Yang's mind.

However, now his storage bag has been upgraded.

At the next moment, he immediately stopped his dangerous idea.

Once the protection of the Foundation Establishment cultivator is lost, not to mention the continued development and expansion of the Zhou family, even the ancestral land of Yuhu Lake Oasis and Yuhu Peak may not be able to be defended.

Zhou Minghan is currently in this situation.

Inside the mountain cave, Zhou Minghan saw through his divine sense the change in expression of Zhou Yang after he left. He looked a bit awkward and tugged at his beard, with a hint of regret flashing across his face.

It seems that the old clan leader really wants me to inherit his alchemy skills. As the only third-level alchemist in the clan, he must have seen something. Perhaps I do have some talent in alchemy after all.

Zhou Yang remembered the cultivation technique he practiced, "Golden Yang Fierce Fire Technique," and suddenly had a moment of enlightenment, revealing a hint of a knowing smile on his face.

Not until he walked out of the cave and heard the sound of the cave door closing did he suddenly realize what had happened.

As long as there is a Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding, with the assistance of the third-level array formation "Heaven-Defying Array" on the Yuzhen Peak and dozens of Qi Refinement stage clan members, even if multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators attack, they will not be able to harm the foundation of the Zhou family.

He knows, the old patriarch has always been clear about public and private matters, even if he is exceptionally talented, he will not make an exception for him in this regard.

Zhou Yang looked at the full materials in the storage bag, thinking to himself that it would be deceiving not to be moved.

It's like those adults among ordinary people who, in order to tease children, deliberately give them a little bit of strong liquor to drink, and then watch the child pretend to be mature while being overwhelmed by the spiciness, with snot and tears streaming down their face, laughing heartily.

After watching it, he only had one thought in his mind.

Fortunately, Zhou Yang is truly mature psychologically, rather than pretending to be mature. He did not harbor any resentment towards the elderly who devoted themselves to the family because of this small joke.

Just as you have just broken through with the help of the earth's spiritual energy, it will take at least five years to cultivate your mana in the future. If I let you stay on the mountain, wouldn't it be a waste of human resources?

However, now Zhou Minghan has realized that perhaps he should change his mind.

First is the storage bag given to him by the old patriarch. This storage device is made from the skin of the demonic beast "Spirit Void Rat" and the *Book Rat*, and it is almost a must-have for cultivators. Even the poorest wandering cultivator would try their best to acquire one for themselves.

He carefully looked at the young man standing in front of him. The young man's handsome and elegant appearance and temperament were not his focus. What he valued was the young man's non-submissive attitude in front of him, the calm and steady mindset that he could maintain when he knew he was being scrutinized.

Zhou Yang smiled inwardly and directly threw out the sentence that left Zhou Minghan speechless for a while.

Even if the old patriarch cast some spells on him, it must have been just a joke. There's no need to overthink it, as overthinking will only harm oneself.

Zhou Minghan has high expectations for Zhou Yang.

It's not that he is afraid of any resistance from Zhou Yang regarding his arrangements, that's why he did this. It's purely because he can't stand Zhou Yang's mature and sophisticated appearance and wants to tease him a little.

Could it be that the old clan leader has cast some kind of spell on me?

This kid seems to have discovered something. It seems that we can no longer play such tricks on him in the future, in order to avoid causing any misunderstandings.

It so happens that the cultivator from our family who was stationed at Qingping Mountain has reached the end of his term. You can go there to replace him for the next five years, and after five years, I will arrange for someone else to take over from you.

Before finally stepping out of the formation, Zhou Yang turned back and took a glance at the mountaintop. He saw Grandpa Qi, Zhou Yun, standing under a tree, smiling and watching him leave.

Grandson doesn't know. Zhou Yang honestly replied.

This person is highly capable and can be of great use!

After a while, he gasped and laughed, cursing, "Indeed, you are a cunning little scoundrel. Xuanhao and his wife are both honest people. How could they have given birth to a cunning little scoundrel like you!"

He recalled the things that Zhou Minghan had just explained in the cave, murmuring with a puzzled look in his eyes, "What happened to me just now? How could I lose my soul and not even react? This is not like my character!"

Yuquan Zhou Family, starting from the founder Zhou Yuquan, has always had Foundation Establishment cultivators sitting in town, which is why it has developed to its current scale in just over 200 years.

According to the rules of the clan, after reaching the age of twenty, young cultivators in the clan must leave the mountain to gain experience and serve the clan for a period of time before they can return to cultivate in seclusion on the mountain again.

Additionally, I hope that during this time, you can find time to learn the art of refining tools in the myriad arts of cultivating immortality. Currently, there are no promising successors in our family for this craft. If you can make achievements in this area, it will be a great benefit for the entire family.

Grandson believes that no matter how his great-grandfather arranges things, it is ultimately for the good of the grandson.

As for the Zhou family of Yuquan who are a kind of cultivation clan, as long as each member reaches the foundation building stage, they can receive a free storage bag with a size of five feet square from the family. Due to having a good father, Zhou Yang's daily use storage bag is even one zhang square in size.

Of course, as an elder, even if he is very satisfied and happy in his heart, he will not show it too much on his face, so as not to encourage the arrogance of young people.

Therefore, although he was extremely happy in his heart, his face instead regained a calm expression. He looked at Zhou Yang with a calm expression and asked, "Do you know the purpose of my summoning you here?"

The storage bag given by the old patriarch looks rather shabby, but surprisingly, it has a space of three zhang square inside. In addition to a tripod used for refining tools and several books on refining tools, it is also filled with low-level refining materials such as mysterious iron, red copper, and hundred-year ironwood.

Of course, there are different sizes and levels of storage bags. The storage bags commonly used by Qi refining stage scattered cultivators usually have a space of only about three cubic feet, which can barely hold a few sets of clothes for changing and a small amount of sundries.

Thinking about this, he looked at the storage bag and magical tools in his hand, carefully put them away, and then greeted Grandpa Qi, who was sitting alone under the tree, and asked him for help to open the formation and send himself down the mountain.

Zhou Minghan finished explaining his arrangements, then waved his hand and threw a gray storage bag and a silver small shield into Zhou Yang's hands.

Then he carefully put away the storage bag and turned his gaze to the other item given by the old patriarch, the second-order magic tool "Silver Gang Shield".

In the storage bag are some low-level refining materials, as well as some discussions on refining techniques by the old man, and a set of copies of the "True Explanation of Refining" collected by the family. You must take good care of these things and must not spread them outside.

With the potential demonstrated by Zhou Yang, the younger generation of the "Yuan" generation, if given another twenty or thirty years, their prospects for foundation building are likely to be much greater than those of the "Xuan" generation.

This kind of teasing, although it may bring a sense of satisfaction to the elders at that time, when they realize that their teasing will cause resentment in the younger generation, they will deeply regret it.

Zhou Minghan looked at Zhou Yang, who had a look of rapt attention on his face, with a slight quirk at the corner of his mouth, and solemnly stated his own arrangement.

After he descended from the mountaintop, he quickly returned to his attic located halfway up the mountain and closed the door to sort out today's harvest.

As expected, Zhou Yang's expression changed completely after hearing his words, obviously he did not anticipate that being called here would involve such a matter.

Upon seeing this, he asked in a strange tone, "Don't you want to know where I plan to arrange you?"

Ordinary clan members learn the art of refining tools. Although the clan also provides materials for practice free of charge, they only give a few hundred opportunities at most. With so many materials given to me by the clan leader, even the most foolish person should be able to succeed two or three times!

Alright, if you have nothing else to attend to, you may withdraw. It is best to complete the trip to Qingping Mountain within January.

After a rough calculation, Zhou Yang realized that these materials would be enough for him to refine hundreds of instruments, such as swords, which require fewer materials.

Your spiritual root attributes lean towards the gold and fire elements, and the cultivation technique you practice is the vigorous and domineering "Golden Yang Fierce Fire Technique". Apart from lacking some combat experience, your ability to fight with magic is actually not weaker than any other cultivator of the same level.

This is dangerous.

After finishing speaking without waiting for Zhou Yang to protest, he took the initiative to reveal his arrangement for Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang was stunned by Zhou Minghan's words and actions. In the end, almost instinctively, he tightly grasped the object in his hand and replied, "Then, grandson will take his leave first."

Therefore, under the secret instruction of Zhou Minghan, the development of the Zhou family has actually been secretly halted in recent years. The fear is that further expansion will attract the attention of others and lead to the downfall of Zhou, bringing disaster to the entire family.

As the voice fell, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but come up with a bold guess.

However, what made him unsure whether to be happy or upset was that after Zhou Yang's expression changed slightly, he immediately regained his composure, then respectfully bowed and said, "Grandson understands and is willing to comply with the family's arrangement."

Therefore, I have decided to make special arrangements for you to leave the mountain early to serve the family, which will also be a valuable experience for you and greatly benefit your future practice.

A cultivation family is most afraid of the sudden interruption of high-level cultivators.