Cultivation Begins From The Desert Chapter 403 - 388: There are Successors!

A small family eting to understand the family’s situation made Zhouyang aware of the unnoticed hidden dangers within the Zhou Family; from this perspective, the eting was extrely successful.

After discovering the hidden dangers between Zhou Family cultivators of different backgrounds, although eager to find a solution, he dared not to alarm anyone to avoid prematurely igniting this hidden threat.

Even Preaching Elder Zhou Guangjian, who faintly sensed sothing, was ordered by Zhouyang to keep silent and not disclose today’s discussions to anyone.

Subsequently, Zhouyang acted as if nothing had happened, listened to reports from other law enforcent elders of the family, gave so related guidance, and then announced the adjournnt of the eting.

After the eting, Zhouyang secretly reviewed the law enforcent hall’s records for the past twenty years and indeed found so anomalies.

In the law enforcent records from the past twenty years, the annual increase in dispositions due to fights among clan mbers was evident.

Although the law enforcent records didn’t specify the reasons triggering fights, Zhouyang found it easy to compare with the Zhou Family cultivator roster from the preaching hall and discovered that the parties involved in fights were often cultivators from "Fengyue Tower" and direct lineage cultivators of the Zhou Family.

Now, what comforted Zhouyang was that those fighting clan mbers were mostly young people.

Those over sixty and seventy years of age within the Zhou Family, because they used to share joys and hardships, they maintained restraint even if influenced by so young people, not engaging in fratricide.

However, as ti goes by, new generation Zhou Family cultivators, due to lacking shared hardship experiences, during internal family resource competition, the division between pureblood and mixed blood will inevitably beco an excuse for mutual attacks.

At that ti, even if the seniors can keep their heads clear and see the consequences of their choices, they may still be inevitably dragged down by their juniors.

After all, not everyone can be like Zhouyang without brothers and sisters, without children and relatives, able to maintain "individual integrity."

When one’s siblings, nephews, nieces, sons, and daughters are insulted and attacked as "mixed-blood bastards," how many can restrain their anger and not protect their kin?

"This warrants vigilance!"

Inside the quiet room, after finishing all the materials, Zhouyang couldn’t help rubbing the corner of his eyes and sighed with a complex expression.

A clan can never be in eternal harmony; Zhouyang had always been aware of this since he took over the clan a hundred years ago.

Previously, the Zhou Family was in a rising period, with fewer people and more resources. Even if there were so contradictions, they were soon temporarily forgotten due to various busy matters.

Conflicts were not eliminated, just suppressed by more important matters.

After a hundred years of developnt, the population of Zhou Family cultivators increased by twenty to thirty tis; with more people, all kinds of trivial family matters were bound to occur.

In fact, back when Zhou Guangyin and Zhou Tongming’s affair ca to light, it had already exposed so issues, but Zhouyang had no ti to think about these aspects then and didn’t pay much attention.

However, now he knows he must address the pureblood and mixed-blood issue beforehand; otherwise, when their conflict escalates to an irreconcilable state, solving it without bloodshed and death would be impossible.

Zhouyang actually has a solution to this, but it cannot be implented yet.

Because once executed, it will inevitably strike the Zhou Family’s developnt severely and face opposition from many clan mbers.

Therefore, he must wait for the conflict to escalate until most clan mbers realize the severe consequences often caused by this conflict before implenting it.

By that ti, those opposing clan mbers should be few.

Of course, this conflict can escalate but must remain under Zhouyang’s control, not escalate infinitely, or breach his bottom line.

Coincidentally, Zhou Guangxiang is now in secluded cultivation opening the Purple Mansion, Zhouyang regains the power of Clan Leader, giving him a legitimate opportunity to rearrange and rectify the situation.

He first reduced the expenditure of "Fengyue Tower," indirectly reducing the number of mixed-blood cultivators born.

Then, he adjusted the work of so internal cultivators of the clan, secretly transferring so mixed-blood cultivators to guard on Spirit Mountains outside Red Tiger Mountain.

Next, he quietly spread the rumor that the number of clan’s Deacon Elders is too small, their power too great, and the Supre Elder intends to expand the Elder Council’s mbers and reduce the Deacon Elders’ power.

As he expected, so Zhou Family cultivators soon began probing the authenticity of this news and preparing to compete for a place.

However, at this mont, he thunderously responded to the rumors as false, severely reprimanding those who spread them, announcing that anyone spreading rumors within the clan will be directly exiled.

Those Zhou Family cultivators, seeing the rumors quickly discovered by Zhouyang and sternly dealt with, imdiately realized that Zhouyang, the Supre Elder, is not wholeheartedly cultivating away from worldly affairs, but actually acutely aware of everything happening within the clan.

So clan mbers with ulterior motives were also frightened into restraint by Zhouyang’s actions, and the clan’s internal harmony improved significantly.

anwhile, due to this incident, Zhouyang’s maneuvering of clan mbers’ work, except for so stakeholders feeling sowhat unwilling and discontent, others paid little attention to it.

Most cultivators are actually sophisticated self-interested individuals; as long as their personal interests are unaffected, they won’t care about what happens to others and prefer channeling energy into cultivation instead.

"Supre Elder, reporting to Supre Elder, the junior has an important matter to discuss!"

On this day, Zhouyang was handling so accumulated clan docunts in the daily affairs palace of the Clan Leader when he suddenly heard the extrely joyful shout of Liu Xuanxuan, the Vice Hall Master of the Zhou Family’s Hundred Arts Hall.

"So it’s Liu Xiaoyou. What brings you here today?" He summoned her inside and asked with a smile about her purpose.

However, upon hearing his words, Liu Xuanxuan directly reached out and tapped her Storage Bag, taking out a shimring cyan Feather Fan and handed it to him.

"Please look, Supre Elder. This [Wind Feather Fan] is the latest artifact refined by this junior. What do you think?"

The cyan Feather Fan was crafted using the feathers from the Eagle Lion Beast after its advancent to Tier Four as the main material, and the fan handle was made from Tier Three Spirit Wood. The spiritual light emitted from the magical artifact was evidently of Tier Three standard!

Back then, Zhouyang took a considerable amount of Eagle Lion feathers to the Zhou Family Treasure Vault after plucking them, and he always knew that Liu Xuanxuan had been consuming her accumulated Spirit Stones and Contribution Points from over the years to exchange materials from the vault to refine the Tier Three artifacts, keeping her promise.

It now appears that she truly succeeded!

Of course, whether she truly succeeded still needed Zhouyang’s judgnt.

He didn’t say anything; he directly reached out to receive the Feather Fan handed over by Liu Xuanxuan and imdiately began to refine the magical artifact.

With his cultivation at the Fourth Layer of the Purple Mansion, refining such a Tier Three Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact was, naturally, accomplished in just a mont.

Then he walked out of the room, waved the fan toward the sky, instantly causing the fan’s surface to flash with cyan light, forming three foot-long cyan Wind Blades that shot toward the sky, flying out four to five hundred ters before dissipating.

Afterward, he shook the Feather Fan again, the fan’s surface flashing with cyan spiritual light, and quickly ford a cyan-gray Wind Wall before him.

He gently reached out and poked the Wind Wall, finding it quite resilient, difficult to pierce through in one go.

"After failing fifteen tis, this junior finally used nine Eagle Lion feathers as the main material, combined with Cyan Sky Wood to refine this [Wind Feather Fan]."

"This fan can not only charge and release a Tier Three Lower Grade Attack Spell-level Wind Blade once daily to attack enemies, but it can also release a Tier Three Lower Grade Defense-level Wind Wall for defense every three days."

"If faced with a critical situation, it’s possible to use the self-destruct thod to trigger the nine Eagle feathers on the fan’s surface for a cover attack. Each feather’s attack power should be comparable to the strike of a Tier Three Lower Grade Flying Sword!"

While Zhouyang was testing the magical artifact, Liu Xuanxuan, as if she finally caught the opportunity, introduced the functions of her artifact with a beaming smile from the side.

A Tier Three Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact with three different divine functions was indeed a rare occurrence, no wonder a hint of pride and satisfaction peeked through her words involuntarily.

Zhouyang, however, didn’t test the third divine function of the magical artifact as ntioned by Liu Xuanxuan, which would destroy an artifact of great commorative significance to Liu Xuanxuan.

Moreover, with his status as a Tier Four Middle-grade Refiner, he could naturally tell whether Liu Xuanxuan’s words were true or not.

After testing the first two divine functions of the "Wind Feather Fan," he put away the artifact and looked deeply at Liu Xuanxuan, asking, "How old are you this year?"

Liu Xuanxuan was startled upon hearing this and then, as if she thought of sothing, respectfully replied, "Supre Elder, this junior entered the Zhou Family at twenty-one and is already fifty-five years old this year."

"Ti flies, unnoticed, thirty-four years passed by!"

Zhouyang sighed with emotion, gently nodded in the puzzled gaze of Liu Xuanxuan, and said, "Very good, since you can refine a Tier Three artifact with Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation, I shall fulfill my promise, ensuring your success in Foundation Establishnt!"

Ensure your success in Foundation Establishnt!

Upon hearing this, Liu Xuanxuan couldn’t contain her extre delight despite having developed a calm mindset over the years.

"Here is a Foundation Establishnt Pill; take it and try. If you fail, co to for another one."

Zhouyang, being straightforward, knew actions spoke louder than words and that many good words were less convincing than practical actions. Without delay, he took out a Jade Bottle containing the Foundation Establishnt Pill and handed it to Liu Xuanxuan.

"Thank you, Supre Elder, for bestowing the pill!"

With an excited face, Liu Xuanxuan took the Jade Bottle containing the Foundation Establishnt Pill from Zhouyang’s hand and didn’t even know how she returned to her own cave mansion.

She had served the Zhou Family for many years, earning the right to reside in a Foundation Establishnt Cave Mansion with her Artifact Refining Skill at Red Tiger Mountain.

Upon returning to her cave mansion, filled with excitent, she imdiately went into seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishnt.

A month later, Liu Xuanxuan erged from the cave mansion with a grim expression. Her cultivation was at Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer Great Perfection.

Regarding Liu Xuanxuan’s failure in Foundation Establishnt after taking the Foundation Establishnt Pill, Zhouyang didn’t think much of it. The success rate for Foundation Establishnt was never a certainty when Middle-grade Spiritual Roots took Foundation Establishnt Pills; failure was normal.

Thus, he simply consoled Liu Xuanxuan, urging her not to bear too much psychological pressure. He then gave her a second Foundation Establishnt Pill.

Fortunately, Liu Xuanxuan didn’t waste the opportunity this ti, successfully establishing her Foundation after a month and a half in seclusion.

Henceforth, the Zhou Family’s first Class A Honored Guest Elder ca into being.