Chapter 68: Chapter 68: The Difference Between Immortals and Mortals, An Unexpected Discovery

Jiufeng Ridge.

When Zhou Chun was assigned by the shopkeeper Zhou Jiasheng to represent the Spirit Beast Restaurant and return to the Zhou Family to mourn, he saw Zhou Family Cultivators in the clan all with white cloth wrapped around their heads, mourning for the deceased Great Elder Zhou Mingshan.

Upon seeing this, he too hurriedly found someone to give him a piece of white cloth to wrap around his head, then went to pay his respects to the remains of the Great Elder Zhou Mingshan at Pagoda Peak.

Although the Zhou Family had been rooted in Jiufeng Ridge for five or six years, this was the first occurrence of a Cultivator like Zhou Mingshan dying of old age.

How the mourning process should be conducted also needed to be discussed and decided upon by Zhou Daoyi as the Clan Leader and the various Elders.

Ultimately, after deliberation, they decided to set the mourning period for nine days in accordance with the status of Zhou Mingshan as an Elder.

During these nine days, aside from the duties such as guarding the Spirit Cleansing Pavilion that could not be shirked, every Zhou Family Cultivator within the family’s gates was required to chant scriptures and pray outside the ancestral shrine on Pagoda Peak, seeking transcendence for the departed Elder Zhou Mingshan.

And during these nine days, the other four great Cultivation families who received the news of the mourning, as well as other powers in Lanzhou, each sent people to offer their condolences.

Some Loose Cultivators who lived and practiced near the Zhou Family in Jiufeng Ridge also took the time to pay their respects when they came to the Zhou Family to cultivate.

After grandly carrying out these rites over nine days, Zhou Mingshan’s remains were finally buried in the clan cemetery behind the mountain at Pagoda Peak, laid to rest.

With the body in the ground, the mourning period came to an end.

The lives of most Zhou Family Cultivators returned to normal and were no different from before.

It was only then that Zhou Chun had the chance to meet privately with the Clan Leader, Zhou Daoyi.

He too came with a task, which was to inquire whether the family could continue to provide a stable supply of the Zhou Family’s exclusive elixirs to the Spirit Beast Restaurant.

“You may reassure Jiasheng on this matter. The Great Elder had already refined and stockpiled enough elixirs for the family to last several years before his ascension. Supply to the store will indeed decrease, but it won’t be by much!”

As Zhou Daoyi spoke, he looked concerned and asked, “Is the number of customers at the store still declining, or has the Spirit Beast Pavilion come up with some new scheme?”

“Your insight is clear, Clan Leader. Indeed, customer numbers continue to fall. The Spirit Beast Pavilion hasn’t come up with anything new for the time being; they are probably just watching us struggle,” Zhou Chun said, his face filled with bitterness.

Seeing this, Zhou Daoyi couldn’t help but sigh and said, “Ah, it can’t be helped. You all should try to see the bigger picture. The family still has the support of the Red Shine Iron Mine’s income, we should be able to hold out for a few years!”

Hearing Zhou Daoyi say this, Zhou Chun did feel somewhat better.

Right now, he and Zhou Jiasheng were afraid that the family wouldn’t understand their position, thinking it was their lack of capability that caused the store’s revenue to plummet, leaving them with no way to defend themselves.

He immediately showed his gratitude by bowing and thanking, “Thank you for your understanding, Clan Leader. I will relay your words to Uncle Sixteen when I return.”

Having said that, he brought up another matter.

“Your insight is clear, Clan Leader. Some days ago, I acquired a strange fish carcass from a Loose Cultivator. Despite thoroughly examining the Zhou Family’s Demon Beast Charts, I’ve never seen this creature, nor do I know what use its materials may have. Therefore, I wished to ask the Clan Leader to identify it and see if this fish holds any special value.”

While speaking, Zhou Chun reached out and tapped his Storage Pouch by his waist to take out the wooden box containing the strange fish carcass.

Thanks to the large amount of ice used to keep it fresh, the fish carcass inside the wooden box was still relatively fresh, almost no different from when it was first acquired.

At this point, Zhou Daoyi, upon seeing the strange fish carcass he had taken out, also slightly narrowed his eyes, examining it closely.

After a thorough examination, he nodded slightly at Zhou Chun, “Indeed, it’s a new type of Demon Beast not recorded by the family. Tell me more about this Demon Beast in detail!”

“Yes.”

Zhou Chun complied with a response and then recounted what the Loose Cultivator Luo Guangshun had told him.

“As the Loose Cultivator described, this strange fish seems to be a schooling, underwater-living Demon Beast, which suggests they have good reproductive capabilities.”

“If their requirements for habitat and food are not high, even if they have no other uses, we can capture some to raise in the rivers and ponds inside and outside the family’s gates, serving as a food reserve for other carnivorous Demon Beasts!”

After hearing what Zhou Chun said, Zhou Daoyi gave it some thought and expressed his opinion.

Schooling Demon Beasts have always been valued by Beast Taming Families like the Zhou Family.

Simply the fact that schooling Demon Beasts are easy to breed can help the family avoid the awkward situation of Family Cultivators not having Beast contracts.

However, schooling Demon Beasts have their downsides, one of which is the difficulty in providing enough food for a large population over a long period.

Demon Beasts like Red-Tailed Monkeys and Emerald Crown Flying Serpents are somewhat easier to manage as they either eat fruit or have small appetites.

But for large carnivorous Demon Beasts like lions, tigers, wolves, and leopards, the consumption of meat is just too great.

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Moreover, these Demon Beasts are fussy about their food; they generally only eat live prey and fresh meat, which makes large-scale breeding truly difficult.

Therefore, the Zhou Family has not dared to capture these kinds of Demon Beasts for domestication on a large scale.

If the strange fishes brought by Zhou Chun do not require much from their aquatic environment and are not fussy about food, then raising them as a high-level food source for Demon Beasts would indeed be quite good.

“The junior understands and will find a way to contact that Loose Cultivator later to see if it’s possible to learn from him the location of this strange fish’s nest!”

Zhou Chun nodded his head, indicating he knew what to do.

After leaving the strange fish corpses with his family for research, Zhou Chun went to visit his parents and others in the nearby Mortal town.

Ever since he had gone to the Marketplace, he had very little time to visit his parents and siblings.

It was only upon this return that he discovered his fifth younger brother had gotten married and his wife was already carrying a child, while his fourth younger sister’s family had also welcomed a chubby little boy.

Unfortunately, they were still Mortals without Spirit Root Aptitude!

“Child, as long as you remember us and occasionally come to visit, that’s enough; just make sure not to neglect your own Cultivation because of it.”

“We have the family taking care of us, and your brothers and sisters are all showing their filial piety. Everything is very good!”

In the dining hall reserved for the Zhou Family, after having a reunion meal around the long table, Zhou Chun’s father looked at him with loving eyes and offered these words of advice.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhou Chun’s second older brother, who was more quick-witted among his siblings, hastily agreed, “Yes, yes, Father is right. Third younger brother, you are the only Cultivator in our family for several generations. You must not neglect your Cultivation because of us ordinary folks. Mother and Father have us to look after them; you can rest assured.”

Then the eldest sister quickly expressed the same sentiment, “Second brother is right. Your own Cultivation is the most important, third brother. We will take care of our parents, so don’t let these things delay your Cultivation.”

Once the eldest sister and second brother had spoken, even the fourth sister and fifth brother, who were less observant, knew they must follow suit at this time.

They then joined in and said similar things.

Zhou Chun watched this scene unfold, his feelings extremely complicated.

The truth was, it wasn’t that he had such deep feelings for these family members, but he often found time to visit out of a sense of guilt and a desire to compensate them.

He had not expected that his enthusiastic behavior would lead to misunderstandings among the family members.

This really left him unsure of what to say.

However, he also did realize that when only he in the family was a Cultivator, interactions among family members were indeed somewhat strange.

It wasn’t too bad with his father and mother, but his siblings and their spouses and children were all very reserved and cautious around him, not daring to speak to him unless he spoke first, even though he always wore a smile.

It was as if Zhou Chun was not their brother, but rather a superior who could decide their fates with a single word.

This sense of interaction, similar to that between a leader and subordinates, not only failed to please Zhou Chun as the “leader,” but instead made him feel quite awkward and uncomfortable.

At that moment, looking at his siblings actively trying to please him, Zhou Chun remained silent for a long time.

Then without saying much more, he simply nodded and said, “Parents, rest assured. Your child has everything under control and will not slacken in his Cultivation.”

He then addressed his siblings, “So, in the future, I’ll trouble the eldest sister, second brother, fourth sister, and fifth brother to take good care of our parents. If there’s any trouble, or you lack anything, make sure to inform me promptly, and I will do everything I can to help you.”

Upon hearing this, both Zhou Chun’s parents and siblings showed happy smiles.

Afterwards, Zhou Chun, who had originally planned to stay with the family for two more days, had to return to the Marketplace earlier than expected.

Back at the Marketplace, Zhou Chun passed on Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi’s instructions to Shopkeeper Zhou Jiasheng, which somewhat eased the Shopkeeper’s recently troubled mood, making him look a bit more cheerful.

With no pressure from the family side and the assurance that the shop’s supply wouldn’t decrease too much, the Shopkeeper indeed felt much less stressed.

Thus, the two of them continued to run and maintain the shop while racking their brains on how to regain lost popularity.

One day, with the strange fish discovered by Loose Cultivator Luo Guangshun on his mind, Zhou Chun asked for leave to find Liu Qingshan to inquire if he knew a way to locate the man.

But since Liu Qingshan had been banned from leaving the Marketplace, he had less contact with his friends and was unable to help Zhou Chun.

As Zhou Chun was on his way back to the shop, passing by the Spirit Beast Pavilion, his gaze suddenly sharpened as he caught sight of a familiar Cultivator coming out of the pavilion.

Why would he be visiting the Spirit Beast Pavilion?

From behind a large tree, Zhou Chun watched the Cultivator who had quickly left the Spirit Beast Pavilion, his eyes filled with surprise and suspicion.

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