Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: News

The Yuquan Lake Oasis is more than six thousand miles away from the Baisha River Oasis. If Zhouyang were flying on his sword alone, accounting for the time spent resting and replenishing his magical power, a day’s time would be enough to reach it.

However, since he was flying on the sword with his mother Lin Yuting, the time was nearly doubled, taking more than two days to get there.

Upon arrival at the Baisha River Oasis, Zhouyang did not immediately contact Chen Pingzhi. Instead, he first took his mother Lin Yuting to the newly built "Ping’an Marketplace" to reunite with his father Zhou Xuanhao, and then he proceeded to the Zhou Family’s branch residence established at "Cyan Ox Mountain" on the Baisha River Oasis.

Cyan Ox Mountain was originally the Spirit Mountain of a small Qi Cultivation family on the Baisha River Oasis, with only Tier Two Lower Grade spirit veins on the mountain. This small clan had been established for less than a hundred years, with only eight cultivators in the family, including the patriarch.

The last time the sand bandits attacked the oasis, this small clan was directly annihilated, with only some of the clan’s mortals surviving.

For a small clan that was wiped out like this, even if the Chen Family wanted to help them, there would be no way to do so. They couldn’t possibly let a group of mortals occupy the Spirit Mountain and slowly wait for their clan to produce a spiritually rooted infant to rebuild the clan, could they?

This would be completely unrealistic and a tremendous waste of resources.

So when the Liu, Yang, and Zhou families proposed establishing family branches in the Baisha River Oasis, the Chen Family Ancestor decisively allocated Cyan Ox Mountain and its surrounding region, spanning dozens of miles, to the Zhou Family as a branch residence.

Five years ago, Zhou Xuanhao led thousands of Zhou Family mortals to the Baisha River Oasis, settling at Cyan Ox Mountain. The Zhou Family mortals established a small town at the foot of the mountain, gradually multiplying and expanding their numbers, while the Zhou Family cultivators built palaces and pavilions on the mountain for visiting cultivators to rest and stay. "Fengyue Tower" was also set up on the mountain.

After arriving at Cyan Ox Mountain, Zhouyang first went to secretly visit the areas where the Zhou Family mortals lived.

A few years had passed, and most of the thousands of Zhou Family mortals who had migrated here had already settled and given birth to offspring. Including the infants in swaddling clothes on the small town, the population now exceeded five thousand.

The land in the Baisha River Oasis is very fertile, and food production is high. If the land allocated to the Zhou Family by the Chen Family is fully developed and utilized, it can sustain ten to twenty thousand people.

Moreover, the population is not like livestock penned in pens; people can move. By then, even if the number of Zhou Family mortals at Cyan Ox Mountain exceeds the land’s carrying capacity, they can migrate to other places to settle.

However, those mortals who leave the Zhou Family territory will no longer enjoy the protection of the Zhou Family cultivators, and they will have to rely on themselves for survival.

The worries of later generations cannot be felt by the previous generation.

The Zhou Family mortals in the small town below Cyan Ox Mountain are, at least currently, living quite comfortably.

The Zhou Family, to ensure their peaceful expansion here, offered practical benefits. Men received wives for free, and women were helped to find husbands for free. They matched numerous handsome men and beautiful women from the settlements of mortals from small clans that had been destroyed, making life far better than for their relatives at the Yuquan Lake Oasis.

Zhouyang quietly observed for a while. Once he confirmed that these mortals did not resent the family for relocating them here, he left with a sense of relief.

As the clan leader of the Zhou Family, Zhouyang was not only the leader of this cultivation clan but also the leader of the Zhou Family’s mortal members. He needed to pay attention to the thoughts and views of these mortal members to some extent, at least ensuring that when they mentioned him as their clan leader, they did not do so with gritted teeth, wishing for his demise.

After leaving the mortals’ settlement, Zhouyang then made his way to the Spirit Mountain, Cyan Ox Mountain.

With Zhou Xuanhao stationed at the "Ping’an Marketplace," Cyan Ox Mountain is currently overseen by Chen Ting, a foreign relative cultivator of the Zhou Family. He is the husband of Zhouyang’s eighth aunt, Zhou Xuanyan, and has an Eighth-Layer Qi Cultivation, making him well-suited to oversee Cyan Ox Mountain. The keeper of "Fengyue Tower" is a Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation female loose cultivator hired by the Zhou Family, known as Lady Jin Hua.

Upon arriving at Cyan Ox Mountain, Zhouyang did not meet with either of them. Instead, he went to the rest area outside "Fengyue Tower" where the women stayed, subdued a mortal woman, and used the "Enchanting Skill" to probe her mind about the operations of "Fengyue Tower."

Under the influence of the "Enchanting Skill," the woman answered all questions, and through her responses, Zhouyang quickly gained an intuitive understanding of the operations at "Fengyue Tower."

Overall, he was satisfied with the results.

When "Fengyue Tower" was established, he had set some strict rules prohibiting management from using power to coerce women in the tower to serve patrons they didn’t wish to, prohibiting loose cultivators staying over from harming the women, prohibiting embezzling or withholding the women’s rewards, and strictly forbidding obstructing any woman’s decision to leave for any reason.

It seems that the Zhou Family’s responsible personnel here has kept his mandates in mind. At least for the past few years, none of those issues have occurred within "Fengyue Tower."

There have been mortal women within who have gradually retired after being rewarded for giving birth, then went down to the small town at the mountain’s foot, finding men and forming families with the rewards given by the family.

Once he understood the situation clearly, he removed the influence of the "Enchanting Skill" and placed the unconscious woman back in bed before leaving Cyan Ox Mountain, with no intention of meeting the two cultivators on the mountain.

He knew well that as long as he did not show up or explicitly communicate that he had been here, the Zhou Family cultivators responsible here would absolutely not dare to become complacent or neglect his directives.

After taking a loop around Cyan Ox Mountain and returning to "Ping’an Marketplace," Zhouyang sent a message to Chen Pingzhi via the Chen Family cultivators in the marketplace, informing him of his arrival.

"Hahaha, Zhou Xiaoyou is indeed trustworthy. I, Chen, have been waiting for you for quite some time," Chen Pingzhi responded eagerly. Zhouyang had only rested for an hour at the newly opened "Jade Spring Tower" when Chen Pingzhi, upon receiving the message, hastened over.

"I haven’t been in charge of the family for long, and there are always some things to clarify before leaving. It took quite a bit of time, causing Elder Chen to wait," Zhouyang cupped his hands, showing a touch of appropriate apology on his face.

Chen Pingzhi’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he couldn’t help but laugh heartily, saying, "Hahaha, you’ve spoken too highly, young friend. We Foundation Establishment cultivators have lifespans over two hundred years. A few days’ wait is hardly anything, is it? If you still have unresolved matters, by all means, take care of them first. I can certainly afford to wait a bit longer!"

"No need, I’ve already taken care of everything I should. If it’s convenient for you, Elder Chen, we can discuss the matter you want me to handle now," Zhouyang shook his head, heading straight to the point about Chen Pingzhi’s purpose for this visit.

Seeing him so straightforward, Chen Pingzhi finally revealed a genuinely heartfelt smile.

With a smile, he looked at Zhouyang and said, "This matter is a long story, so I’ll be brief."

"The reason for inviting you, little friend, to help is to join me in exploring a cave dwelling left by a senior cultivator. The original owner of the cave should not have had a cultivation level surpassing the Foundation Establishment stage, so it poses little danger to us. I ask for your help as a precaution against unexpected situations to ensure mutual care."

As expected!

After hearing Chen Pingzhi’s words, Zhouyang thought to himself, just as expected.

Since what Chen Pingzhi was asking for help with was as he had anticipated, he could respond according to his pre-prepared plan.

Looking at the smiling Chen Pingzhi, Zhouyang’s expression turned serious, and he asked solemnly, "Elder Chen, since you are so straightforward, please forgive my boldness. I would like to know if, should this exploration yield any rewards, there would be a share for me?"

Helping out is one thing, but doing it for free is certainly not an option.

When Chen Pingzhi lent him the cave dwelling for his Foundation Establishment, he collected a considerable amount of benefits from the old clan leader Zhou Minghan. Now that he’s here to help, it’s only fitting he receives some compensation.

Chen Pingzhi naturally understood this reasoning too, so hearing his question, he wasn’t angry. Instead, he restrung his smile and replied seriously, "If you don’t take action, I will give you a hundred spirit stones as travel expenses. If you do, I will give you one to two-tenths of the gains, depending on your contribution. What do you think?"

One to two-tenths of the gains is certainly far below the usual profits team of cultivators would split during explorations, but considering the favor involved, this share ratio is not unacceptable.

Zhouyang thought for a moment and finally nodded, "Let’s do as Elder Chen suggested."

"Then we should depart immediately," Chen Pingzhi seemed truly anxious and wanted to set off at once.

And since Zhouyang had already agreed to help, all he could do now was follow in his footsteps. After they left the marketplace, they let out their flying swords and headed towards the Boundless Desert Sea outside the Baisha River Oasis.

During the sword flight, to let Zhouyang keep up, Chen Pingzhi, who had a Sixth-Layer Foundation Establishment cultivation, deliberately slowed down. Meanwhile, he also explained to Zhouyang the reason for his urgent departure.

"Let me inform you, fellow daoist. The Yellow Sand Sect has already agreed to our family ancestor’s request for help and will soon dispatch a Purple Mansion cultivator along with ten Foundation Establishment cultivators to the Baisha River Oasis to investigate the sand bandits’ trail. At that time, cultivators like you and me at the Foundation Establishment level will be required to assist. It might take ten to eight years before we can free ourselves, hence my urgency to set off now."

What?

Zhouyang was truly astonished to hear this news.

He wasn’t surprised that the Yellow Sand Sect would send people over—the sand bandits had even robbed their shop during their raid on the Baisha River Oasis.

But for the Yellow Sand Sect to dispatch a Purple Mansion cultivator to stay long-term and assist the Chen Family in tracking the sand bandits, this had deeper implications worth pondering.

It’s important to know that Purple Mansion stage cultivators are extremely important and typically oversee crucial matters.

If the Chen Family had found the sand bandits’ location and requested support from the Yellow Sand Sect for high-tier cultivators, it would be reasonable for the sect to send a Purple Mansion stage cultivator to help.

However, for the Chen Family not even knowing the whereabouts of the sand bandits yet still having the Yellow Sand Sect send a highly-ranked Purple Mansion stage cultivator to lead ten Foundation Establishment cultivators for a long-term stationing at the Baisha River Oasis, it’s astonishing.

As the Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, Zhouyang had to be very concerned about this situation. Even though he knew it might be inappropriate to ask, he couldn’t resist asking Chen Pingzhi, "Please forgive my boldness, Elder Chen. Do you know why the Yellow Sand Sect would act in this way? And who might be the Purple Mansion elder coming?"

"That indeed is something beyond my knowledge, young friend. All dealings with the Yellow Sand Sect were personally conducted by the ancestor. I don’t know how the ancestor convinced the sect. This news was secretly informed to me by my brother!"

Whether Chen Pingzhi really didn’t know or was unwilling to reveal more, Zhouyang couldn’t extract any further useful information from him.

This cast a shadow over his heart.

He was well aware that there must be a reason behind the Yellow Sand Sect’s unusual actions, and the affiliated vassal clans under them would surely get involved.

Unavoidably, Zhouyang couldn’t help but recall his previous speculations about the origins of the sand bandits. Could it really be that he guessed right?