Chapter Four, First Descent from the Mountain.

For example, the famous "Black Sandstorm". Once a Golden Core stage cultivator is trapped in it, their divine sense will be isolated and their five senses will be shielded by the peculiar power contained within. Eventually, they will be exhausted of their mana by the endless power of the storm and perish.

Zhou Xuanjin put away his spells, looking at this outstanding junior with a complex gaze. He didn't know whether he should feel happy for the family for having such a genius, or feel ashamed and lost because his cultivation was about to be surpassed by a junior who was several decades younger.

The area of Qingping Mountain Oasis is very small. Most of the area has been transformed into residential areas for miners. Only a small hill, about a hundred meters high, in the center of the spiritual vein, has been designated as a residence for stationed cultivators and a warehouse for finished materials.

Because the current head of the Zhou family is a second-order formation master, a second-order formation called "Cloud Sea Light Splitting Formation" has been arranged on the spiritual vein of Qingping Mountain. The power of the formation causes this small hill to be shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, making it difficult for people to see the arrangement inside.

Wow, impressive, impressive. How old are you?

According to the current clan rules, members of the Zhou clan who have reached the first level of Qi cultivation can receive 10 pieces of low-grade spirit stones per year. Those who have reached the second level can receive 20 pieces, and so on, until the ninth level of Qi cultivation is reached.

As an uncle who has been practicing hard for forty to fifty years, I have only achieved the seventh level of Qi cultivation. You, on the other hand, have already reached the sixth level at the age of seventeen. In another ten or eight years, your cultivation level may surpass mine!

Qingping Mountain is also an oasis, but it is a man-made oasis.

The cultivation techniques and spells of the Qi Refining Stage in the Zhou Family's Scripture Cave are accessible for the clan members to peruse, but they are strictly prohibited from taking them out of the cave, and it is also forbidden to privately teach them to outsiders.

Hey, why is it you, Yang, who's come to replace me? Aren't you still under twenty?

It is easy to learn but difficult to master the art of magic. It only takes a short time to learn the basics. With the cultivation of the sixth level of Zhouyang's Qi, it took almost half a month to learn all five spells at www.hetushucom.

These five spells are, respectively, the second-tier attack spells "Golden Sword Technique" and "Fire Snake Technique", the second-tier defense spell "Golden Light Body Protection Technique", and the second-tier auxiliary spells "Heavenly Eye Technique" and "Earth Escape Technique".

Before this, Zhou Yang stayed at the fifth level of Qi cultivation for two years. His offering was only 50 pieces of low-grade spirit stones per year. Based on this calculation, even if he saved all his spirit stones and did not use them, it would take him ten years of offering to exchange for a fist-sized Silver Gang stone.

Regarding this, he can only remain silent and not say much.

For example, one of the most famous fifth-order demon beasts in the boundless desert is the Sandworm. It has a body length of thousands of zhang and terrifying sharp teeth in its mouth. It can easily crush fifth-order defensive magic weapons with its immense strength. If a Golden Core stage cultivator accidentally falls into the mouth of a Sandworm, they will lose their life in a bewildering manner.

In the next few days, Zhou Yang kept his door tightly closed and focused on refining the newly acquired "Silver Gang Shield" magic weapon in his room. He didn't leave until he successfully refined the magic weapon and was able to use it as he wished, and then he prepared to go down the mountain.

Zhou Xuanjin's face suddenly changed, and he muttered in a low voice with a puzzled expression: "Achieving the standard for leaving the mountain? Since when did our Zhou family have such a standard?"

Furthermore, due to the incorporation of "Silver Gang Stone" during the refining process, this magical tool not only has the ability to easily block attacks from weapons such as flying swords and flying knives of the same level, but also has remarkable effectiveness against spells cast by cultivators or demonic beasts, greatly mitigating the damage caused by spells of the third level or lower.

The boundless desert stretches endlessly, and it is easy for people to lose their way while walking in it.

This is his first time leaving the Yuquan Lake Oasis in seventeen years, and also the first time in two lifetimes that he has set foot in the desert.

At this time, it was not far from the one-month deadline given to him by the old patriarch. He wrote a letter explaining the situation and entrusted the elders of the clan to deliver it to his parents, who were stationed in a distant city of cultivators thousands of miles away. Then, he bid farewell to the familiar elders and peers on the mountain and descended alone.

In the world of cultivation, using "Heaven's Eye Technique" to directly observe others' cultivation level is a taboo, and often leads to cultivators engaging in physical confrontations over such matters.

Masters in the Golden Elixir stage may not fear losing their way, but within the Desert Sea, there are not only dangers of getting lost, but also various terrifying natural disasters and powerful monsters that can even kill masters in the Golden Elixir stage.

Feeling a warmth in his heart, Zhou Yang couldn't help but tighten his grip on the magic tool in his hand. He made a firm resolution to do his job well and repay the trust of his elders.

Before, Zhou Yang followed the teachings of his parents and elders. Besides learning some simple first-order auxiliary spells, he did not divert his energy to learn combat spells that would be useful in battles. Instead, he focused all his energy on improving his cultivation.

It can be seen from this that Elder Chief Zhou Minghan regarded the "Silver Light Shield" as a reward for him to retire in advance. It is such a significant and generous gift!

Zhou Xuanjin, dressed as a scholar, saw Zhou Yang coming in. He couldn't help but exclaim softly. Before Zhou Yang could greet him, he quickly put down the book in his hand and started asking questions.

"Ah, getting old, getting old, can't compare to young people, all with mediocre spiritual roots, why is the gap so big!"

After descending the mountain, Zhou Yang led a camel, essential for desert travel, from the local people at the foot of the mountain, and plunged straight into the boundless sea of sand.

The second-tier magical weapon, "Silver Light Shield," is crafted using shed scales from the second-tier spiritual object, "Dragon Scale Tree," as the main material, mixed with second-tier spiritual object, "Silver Light Stone."

Only this medium-sized vein of refined iron ore, when extracted and processed for sale each year, can bring the Zhou family a net profit of over five hundred pieces of low-grade spirit stones. More than fifty years have passed, and the initial investment has long since been multiplied several times over.

He traveled alone on a camel, strictly following the map issued by his family, and after about five days of traveling in the desert, he arrived smoothly at his destination - Qingping Mountain.

This oasis is very small, with an area of only a dozen square kilometers. The formation of the oasis relies entirely on the Zhou family's unlimited investment of tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones, creating a second-grade low-grade spiritual vein.

Before this magical tool is refined, it appears to be only the size of a palm. However, once Zhou Yang refines it, when released during battle, it can transform into a huge shield the size of a door, protecting his entire body, and can also be adjusted in position at will.

As a family of cultivators, every member of the Zhou family who reaches the Qi refining stage can receive regular offerings of spirit stones from the family each year, until they reach the age of sixty.

According to Uncle Sixteen, this is the arrangement of the old patriarch. He said that my cultivation has already reached the standard for descending the mountain, so he made an exception to let me descend the mountain for training ahead of time.

Of course, all of this investment is worth it.

My Zhou family has a second-order "Dragon Scale Tree", which can yield several mature tree scales every ten years. It can be considered as self-produced. However, the "Silver Gang Stone" is not commonly seen. Even a small piece the size of a fist would cost at least five hundred low-grade spirit stones or more. This gift from the old patriarch is indeed not light!

Once lost in the desert, even immortal cultivators carrying a large amount of food and water in their storage bags will eventually starve and die of thirst if they cannot reach an oasis before their supplies run out.

Regarding second-tier magical instruments, there are also three grades: upper, middle, and lower. The Silver Gang Shield, a second-tier magical instrument, was carefully crafted by Zhou Minghan, a third-tier alchemist, and naturally belongs to the highest grade, the upper grade.

With these risks present, unless there is a compelling reason, those Nascent Soul stage cultivators will definitely not easily venture deep into the Desert of Shifting Sands.

If there are no accidents, reaching the ninth level of Qi cultivation is the limit for ordinary Qi cultivators. The current family rule of the Zhou family is that any family cultivator who advances to the ninth level of Qi cultivation will be promoted to the position of family elder. Each elder can receive an annual offering of 150 pieces of low-grade spirit stones. This offering is not subject to age restrictions and can be fully received as long as the elder does not pass away.

The refined iron ore is a kind of spiritual ore that contains a trace of spiritual energy. After smelting and processing, it can be used to refine first-grade spiritual iron and second-grade spiritual mysterious iron. These two types of spiritual materials are the main materials for the construction of important buildings such as ancestral halls, scripture pavilions, and treasure vaults by immortal cultivation families or sects. They are also the main materials for most first-grade and second-grade magical instruments refined by weapon refiners. There is a huge market demand.

However, Zhou Xuanjin is a senior family member, so Zhou Yang doesn't care about such trivial matters.