Chapter 46 - Chapter 46: Chapter 46: The Troubles of Happiness

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: The Troubles of Happiness

It was another sunny and bright morning.

Upon returning to his home atop Baozhi Peak from his cultivation practice on the mountaintop, Zhou Chun’s Silver Lightning Python that hid beneath the bed swiftly crawled out and slithered straight toward him.

The Silver Lightning Python had now grown to half a zhang long, and was as thick as a baby’s arm.

Moreover, after several shedding of its skin, its white scales had gradually developed a hint of silver, making it appear even more elegant and beautiful.

With the Silver Lightning Python being so long, Zhou Chun could no longer let it constantly coil around his body and carry it everywhere, so he usually left it at home when he went out.

“Little White has grown again, that’s great.”

Zhou Chun stretched out his arm, allowing the white snake on the ground to slowly wind itself around it, then gently stroked its cool head with his right hand, massaging it a few times.

Hiss hiss~

The white snake gently flicked its tongue, clearly enjoying the gentle caress.

It had been born just over a month ago and had no intelligence to speak of, possessing only the instinctual bloodline of a wild animal.

However, Zhou Chun was not in a hurry. With its intelligence so low, now was the best time to cultivate a bond.

Cultivating a bond from a young age would make it easier to control once it grew larger.

Why did many cultivators who practiced the Beast Taming Technique prefer to form contracts with young Demon Beasts?

Aside from the fact that young Demon Beasts were easier to bond with, it was also because it was easier to cultivate a master-servant relationship with them.

Otherwise, contracting an adult Demon Beast, even if successful, would always leave one worrying whether the beast might turn on its master when weak, and one would also have to expend mental effort and divine sense in battle to suppress the resisting will within the Demon Beast.

After being affectionate with Little White for a while and feeding it chopped frozen Flame Rat meat, Zhou Chun then put it back under the bed, now wanting to rest after eating, and he himself went to the quiet room to cultivate secret techniques.

Just as he practiced the secret techniques twice, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi personally arrived outside his dwelling.

“Zhengchun, have you rested enough? If you have, come with me,” Zhou Daoyi said with a faint smile after appearing at the door and seeing Zhou Chun’s surprised expression.

Zhou Chun immediately understood why he had come and respectfully replied, “Yes, junior obeys.”

Then he left the Zhou Family with Zhou Daoyi.

Outside, Zhou Daoyi did not show off by traveling on the Sky Azure Cloud Python as before but instead took out a Flying Boat Instrument and flew up into the blue firmament with Zhou Chun, heading for the clouds.

Traveling this way, within just two hours, they arrived above the Red Pine Forest.

“This is the place; from the various traces, it seems that no one has come here before,” Zhou Chun whispered, pointing to the cave entrance he had hidden.

“Let’s go then, enter with me,” Zhou Daoyi said, nodding his head. He patted the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist to release the Sky Azure Cloud Python to guard outside, then strode into the cave.

The two entered the cave and came to the spot where Zhou Chun had discovered Red Shine Iron ore. Zhou Daoyi first sent out his Divine Sense to scan the area, then took out an ancient bronze-colored Flying Sword Talisman and began to excavate all around.

This was Zhou Chun’s first time witnessing a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator take action, and it left him deeply shocked.

The ancient bronze-colored Flying Sword Talisman, under Zhou Daoyi’s control, darted around the cave like a nimble dragon.

Wherever the sword’s edge went, the stone walls were effortlessly torn apart as if they were tofu, leaving furrows like plowed fields, revealing rows of upturned cracks.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, Zhou Daoyi’s Flying Sword carved numerous deep and long cracks into a hundred-zhang stretch of the cave.

Even Zhou Chun could detect the Red Shine Iron ore mixed within those cracks using his Divine Sense.

If Zhou Chun could notice it, how could Zhou Daoyi fail to do so?

Soon enough, Zhou Daoyi was heard muttering to himself, “It seems that this place indeed conceals a vein of Red Shine Iron Mine!!”

However, Zhou Chun did not detect much joy in his words.

Suddenly emboldened, he blurted out, “Clan Leader, you don’t seem very happy?”

“Oh? Why do you ask that?” Zhou Daoyi’s expression shifted slightly as he looked at Zhou Chun with curiosity.

Zhou Chun was momentarily taken aback and stammered, “Uh, junior just feels that… feels that the Clan Leader doesn’t seem very delighted.”

To his surprise, Zhou Daoyi nodded after hearing his words and said, “Your feeling is not wrong, I am indeed not particularly delighted!”

Zhou Chun became even more perplexed and asked, “Why? Although junior does not understand the art of Artifact Refining, I am aware that Red Shine Iron is a Spirit Material for crafting Magic Artifacts. Even if it’s not as rare as Pure Gold or Steel Silver, the value of an entire ore vein must be surely immense!”

“Yes, even a small vein, once fully mined, would be worth at least two hundred thousand Spirit Coins!”

“Even after deducting various expenses and losses, the net income wouldn’t be less than one hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Coins!”

Zhou Daoyi sighed softly and nodded, acknowledging the immense value of this vein.

Without waiting for Zhou Chun to ask further, he responded with a wry smile and a wave of his hand, “But such a large amount of Spirit Coins is not something the current Zhou Family can swallow!”

“The saying goes ‘An innocent man holds no guilt; he who carries a jade bears the blame.’ With the strength the Zhou Family currently possesses, if they try to claim this vein for themselves, the end result would be other powers banding together to annihilate us!”

“As far as the local powers in Lanzhou are concerned, our Zhou Family is still an outsider. They would never allow such a precious vein to fall into the hands of our Zhou Family!”

Now Zhou Chun understood and fell silent.

The ways of the world have always been such; there is no such thing as fairness.

Even in his previous life’s world, there was no rule saying the one who discovered a vein got to keep it.

Not to mention in this strength-dominated Cultivation World.

If the Zhou Family weren’t outsiders, if they had intricate relations with the local powers, perhaps, with the deterrence of the family’s Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator, there might be a slight chance of claiming this vein.

But as outsiders, how could the local powers of Lanzhou sit idly by and watch the Zhou Family take such a great profit!

And now that the Zhou Family had finally laid roots here and gradually gained some support from local Lanzhou powers, why would they give these powers an excuse to unite against them and crush the Zhou Family?

But if they couldn’t mine the vein, what would Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong’s reward for discovering it be?

So at this moment, various thoughts flashed through Zhou Chun’s mind as he pondered solutions for his own benefit.

After pondering for a while, he looked at Zhou Daoyi and said, “Couldn’t we possibly cooperate with other forces for the mining? Didn’t our Zhou Family just jointly hold a spell duel event with the Wang, Sun, Mu, and He Families? If we join them in the mining, forming an alliance to resist external enemies, should that not be enough to secure the vein?”

“That you’ve thought of this is not bad,”

Zhou Daoyi glanced at him, then nodded slightly, saying, “Indeed, that’s the only option for now, but whether it will be successful or not depends on whether the other families are willing!”

After collecting some more Red Shine Iron ore as evidence, Zhou Daoyi completely sealed the entrance of the cave, and then returned to the Zhou Family with Zhou Chun.

And because the matter of how to mine the vein had not been settled, the rewards for Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong were naturally still undetermined.

Over the next three months, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi and even the Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde left the family multiple times to rally support for the mining of the vein.

Zhou Zhengyong, after preparing a generous dowry, had also successfully went with his twenty-seventh uncle Zhou Jiapeng to the Sun Family at Golden Maple Ridge to propose, and successfully brought Sun Yujiao back to the Zhou Family.

Zhou Chun, as the main matchmaker in bringing the couple together, also received sincere thanks from the newlyweds, sitting at the honored guest position during the wedding celebrations.

Three months later, Zhou Chun was only two acupoints away from breaking through to the ninth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.

By then, the Silver Lightning Python had successfully awakened its innate spell, becoming a first-order low-grade Demon Beast.

The Silver Lightning Python had grown to a length of twelve feet, its scales beginning to form and resistant to cuts from knives and swords.

To train its abilities, Zhou Chun had stopped feeding it directly and would instead take it to places at the foot of the mountain where wild beasts and birds were abundant, leaving it to hunt on its own.

Sometimes, he even forbade it from using its spells to hunt.

On this day, while Zhou Chun was watching the Silver Lightning Python hunting at the base of Baozhi Peak, suddenly the large blue parrot “Lan Lan,” belonging to Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi, flew over Baozhi Peak and came before him.

“Brother Chun, the Clan Leader requests you to make a trip to Pagoda Peak.”

The large parrot “Lan Lan” fluttered its wings, circling above Zhou Chun’s head, loudly conveying Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi’s orders.

Its eyes, however, watched nervously at the white line in the distant thicket.

From its higher vantage point, it could see a large python hidden there.

“I understand, Lan Lan. You go back and tell the Clan Leader that I’ll be there shortly,”

Zhou Chun smiled, took out a fresh wild fruit from his pocket that he hadn’t eaten yet, and threw it to the large blue parrot as a reward.

Seeing this, the blue parrot immediately swooped down, accurately catching the fruit in mid-air, and then called out to Zhou Chun, “Thank you, Brother Chun. Goodbye, Brother Chun.”

After saying this, it flew off with the fruit.

Watching the blue parrot fly away, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but ponder.

What could the Clan Leader want with him at Pagoda Peak this time?

Had there been a conclusion regarding the mining of the Red Shine Iron vein?

Or was it for some other matter?