A Walk Through the Gates of Hell

The cultivators of the Azure Cloud Sect arrived quickly and departed even faster.

They only stayed in Qingshui County for three days before riding their flying boat to another county.

During this period, both the Zhou and Huang families dispatched cultivators to pay their respects. Huang Bailin personally went on behalf of the Huang family, which made the Zhou family appear somewhat lacking in sincerity. Fortunately, Zhou Chang'an had accompanied the envoys the entire time, which barely qualified as an exchange of equal status.

The county office's rapid announcements prompted many local households to send their children forward. Several ordinary youths unwilling to accept a mundane life also traveled on their own, amounting to a massive crowd of one or two thousand people.

In the end, only five were found to possess spiritual aptitude and were taken away by the Azure Cloud Sect. Four of them had spiritual light below two cun, destined to serve as mere menial laborers. Only one had a spiritual light measuring two and four-tenths cun, holding considerable hope for a breakthrough.

In contrast, neither the Zhou nor the Huang family managed to send a single clan member into the Azure Cloud Sect.

During this time, another incident occurred. In the eastern village, a ten-year-old boy stubbornly believed he possessed immortal destiny. He was convinced that the Zhou family feared he would become an immortal and had deceived him about his lack of aptitude. Upon hearing that the Azure Cloud Sect was recruiting disciples, he fled to the county city overnight.

Naturally, he returned in utter despair. This sequence of events did not escape the Zhou family's eyes and ears. Before the boy could even leave the county city, Zhou Chang'an dispatched men to capture him, turning him into a test subject for Zhou Ping's modified Jade Rock Green Origin Pills.

Golden Vine Pond

"Hahaha."

Zhou Qianling ran wildly through the small grove, chasing after a few lambs with silver-bell laughter echoing from her lips.

These lambs had been specifically sought out by Zhou Ping. Their meat was exceptionally tender and their flavor superb.

As Zhou Dashan and his wife grew increasingly aged, he naturally thought of ways to let the two elders enjoy their remaining years in comfort.

He used to hunt spirit-awakened Demon Beasts for them to eat, but such creatures were not always easy to find. Thus, he brought a few lambs to raise in this small grove.

Across the entirety of Baixi Mountain, the Spiritual Qi here was the most abundant. Even if the lambs could not mutate into Demon Beasts, the constant nourishment of Spiritual Qi would make them far more succulent and beneficial to the mortal body.

Furthermore, a formation isolated the area, ensuring the animals could not ruin the cultivated spirit plants.

"Qianling, stop running around so blindly."

Zhou Xuanya finished watering the spirit plants and called out toward the grove.

"I know, Fifth Uncle!"

Zhou Qianling skipped out and began to playfully splash the water at the fish in the pond. As she did, she casually plucked another leaf from the Purple Gold Vine and swiftly stuffed it into her mouth.

As a cultivator, Zhou Xuanya possessed keen senses and naturally caught sight of this. He could only shake his head with a bitter smile; the Purple Gold Vine was nearly being plucked bald by his own niece.

"Qianling, even if you want to eat them, you have to let it grow a few new leaves first."

"Hehe," Zhou Qianling beamed a brilliant smile.

In the courtyard halfway up the mountain, a group of children frolicked under the watchful eyes of the servants. Over a dozen of them were children of the Zhou main family, while the majority were the offspring of household servants. A few others were youths with outside surnames, much like Lin Fenghe.

It was worth noting that among them was a chubby boy named Chen Qiusheng. He was born last year to Old Chen, who remained vigorous in his old age, though his wife had tragically lost her life during the birth.

Not far away stood a spacious, unadorned schoolhouse, sturdy against the wind and rain. From within drifted the diligent sound of young children reciting their texts. Boys like Zhou Chengqian and Zhou Chengyang were currently studying inside.

Even the younger ones, like Zhou Chengyuan, would have to begin their foundational education there.

As for the children of the servants, they had lived on the mountain since birth, adopted the Zhou surname, and were raised by the Zhou family. Though they did not share the Zhou bloodline, they had effectively become a collateral branch of the clan.

Zhou Changhe had even instructed Zhou Bo to draft a clan genealogy. It did not divide the family into major and minor houses, but simply established the six brothers as the six main branches, designating the household servants as the collateral branch. If anyone from the collateral branch made a massive contribution to the Zhou family or produced a cultivator, they would be elevated to a distinct lineage.

This method ensured the servants' absolute loyalty, fully integrating them into the family. With the six main branches remaining constant, this lineage system guaranteed the enduring legacy of the main family.

In the future, earning the right to establish a distinct lineage would become the lifelong aspiration of these collateral members.

Across the other areas of the four peaks, life carried on: Zhou Minghu directed hands in the small workshop to produce talisman paper, Chen Fusheng irrigated the White Marrow Grass on Qing Peak, Zhou Ping refined Pills deep within his cave, and Zhou Chengyuan bitterly absorbed the essence of metal and stone nearby.

Meanwhile, at the border between Darong Mountain and Zhaoping Commandery, a streak of flowing light tore across the high heavens.

It was a flying sword, bearing a middle-aged man who looked like a wandering swordsman-though his unkempt appearance leaned closer to that of a vagabond.

He was Yang Tiancheng, Hall Master of the Immortals' Directorate's Zhaoping Commandery Branch. He was a late-stage Foundation Establishment sword cultivator, possessing terrifyingly formidable offensive might.

At this very moment, he was patrolling the border, checking to see if any great demons from Darong Mountain had trespassed into the Zhao Kingdom's territory.

Yet, after sweeping across over three hundred li of the border, he hadn't seen a single great demon, let alone a mere Qi Condensation Demon Beast.

"Truly boring. These cowards, why don't they have the guts to charge out and let me slaughter a few?" Yang Tiancheng cursed, standing mid-air as he glared toward Darong Mountain.

In the eastern foothills of Darong Mountain, Hu Li peered through the dense forest canopy, catching sight of Yang Tiancheng in the sky. The fox demon promptly shrank back into its cave and went to sleep.

Yang Tiancheng continued to stare at Darong Mountain, his terrifying sword intent surging violently in all directions. Only when he sensed the auras of several Profound Core great demons rising from deep within the mountain did he finally restrain himself.

"I really want to start another war and level this mountain to the ground."

Yang Tiancheng muttered to himself. As he looked away, his gaze caught the curling smoke of a mortal village below, alongside four low mountain peaks veiled by a formation.

"Since when did people settle here?" Yang Tiancheng scratched his head in confusion. He pulled out a map, examined it for a moment, and sighed with profound emotion.

"The Baixi Zhou Clan. They established their clan here only eight years ago. Truly fascinating."

The last time he visited this region was over a hundred years ago, during the brutal war between the Zhao Kingdom and the Darong Mountain demon race. That conflict had severed the earth veins and eradicated all vitality from the land.

He never expected that just a century later, the land's vitality would gradually recover, allowing so many mortals to live and work here in peace.

Amidst his emotional sighs, Yang Tiancheng took a few extra glances. The Four Poles Origin-Stabilizing Formation was like empty air before his eyes; he easily saw through every inch of Baixi Mountain.

"A Purple Gold Vine. Not a bad item."

"And a wild deer that took human form. By the looks of it, it must have accidentally swallowed a Transformation Herb. I wonder if this family even knows."

"Planting so much White Marrow Grass... they only see the present without a single thought for the future."

"That cultivation method looks a lot like Old Ghost Yu's technique. And those damaged Dharma Treasures... could they have dug up Old Ghost Yu's remains? Hahaha," Yang Tiancheng laughed aloud.

Old Ghost Yu was a comrade-in-arms who had fought by his side a century ago. Sadly, he died in battle somewhere in the wilderness, and his remains were never recovered.

However, Yang Tiancheng had no intention of descending. He was a member of the Immortals' Directorate; in his eyes, Old Ghost Yu continuing to bless a local immortal clan after his death was a good thing.

"One, two, three... eight cultivators. Passable."

Yang Tiancheng didn't pay much mind to the number of cultivators. After all, the Zhou family governed a population of roughly two thousand mortals. Producing eight cultivators fell perfectly within the normal range.

Had the Zhou family possessed more cultivators, he would have already shown himself to investigate the truth.

Yang Tiancheng glanced around the area, finding nothing else of interest. "Damn it, I'm going to go find that ox-nosed Daoist in White Mountain for a fight."

With that, he transformed into a streak of flowing light and fled toward the north.

From top to bottom, the Zhou family remained completely oblivious to all of this. They had no idea they had just taken a stroll past the gates of hell.

Had Zhou Ping been greedy and elevated the aptitudes of a few more younger generation members, the Zhou clan might have already ceased to exist.

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