Chapter 16: 16

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After leaving the hall of general affairs, Zhou Yang headed straight for the top of Yuquan Peak.

The cultivator stationed at the top was still Seventh Grandfather Zhou Yun. As usual, the old man was sitting under the tall Dragon Scale Tree. As soon as he saw Zhou Yang, Zhou Yun insisted that he sat down to taste the herbal tea he had just made.

Since the elder had invited him so warmly, how could Zhou Yang refuse? Moreover, he usually liked the herbal tea made by the old man.

As Zhou Yang drank the tea, his gaze kept getting pulled to the Dragon Scale Tree.

It was a very rare and special spiritual wood, getting its name from its dragon scale-like bark.

A hundred-year-old Dragon Scale Tree’s bark scales were as black and hard as Black Refined Iron. It was classified as a Grade-1 spiritual wood that could be used to refine a Grade-1 defensive magical artifact.

Dragon Scale Trees that were more than five hundred years old would have silver-gray scales that were harder than Black Refined Iron. These older Dragon Scale Trees were classified as Grade-2 spiritual woods and could be used to refine Grade-2 defensive magical artifacts.

If Dragon Scale Trees could grow for more than a thousand years, their scales would turn pure silver and they would be classified as a Grade-3 spiritual wood that could be used to refine Grade-3 defensive magical artifacts.

It was said that once Dragon Scale Trees were more than five thousand years old, their scales would turn golden like a real dragon’s scale. These scales could be used to refine Grade-5 defensive magical artifacts. Such older Dragon Scale Trees were regarded as precious resources that even Core Foundation Grandmasters would fight over.

The Zhou clan’s Dragon Scale Tree was around eight hundred years old, not far from becoming a Grade-3 spiritual wood. It was already there when Zhou Yuquan, the Zhou clan’s founder, discovered Yuquan Peak.

Since then, the Zhou clan would take a few pieces of scales from the Dragon Scale Tree every ten years or so for artifact refinement. The main material of Zhou Yang’s Silver Shield, for example, was a piece from the Dragon Scale Tree.

Though Zhou Yang had known of the tree and its features, he had never thought so highly of it because it looked just like any other ancient giant pine tree on the mountain.

He even thought that the Grade-2 Dragon Scale Tree at Yuquan Peak was far less valuable than the several Grade-2 spiritual Fire Crystal Jujube Trees in the spiritual fruit orchard on the mountain.

The Fire Crystal Jujube Tree could at least bear fruit once every five years. For a person like him with a masculine cultivation method that had yet to reach the Advanced Stage of Qi Refinement, eating jujube was equivalent to ten days of bitter cultivation. Moreover, spiritual jujubes tasted amazing, far surpassing any fruit he had eaten in his previous life.

However, now that he had become an artifact refiner, Zhou Yang finally realized and appreciated the value of the Dragon Scale Tree.

“Zhou Yang, do you also want a piece of this Dragon Scale Tree? Well, it’s not that I look down on you. But even though you are already a Grade-2 Artifact Refiner, it is not your turn to harvest and use them yet because they can only be used to refine Grade-2 Advanced-Tier magical artifacts. For now, only the clan leader is allowed to harvest them as he is the only one who can refine such magical artifacts as the clan’s only Grade-3 Artifact Refiner. No matter how highly the clan leader thinks of you, he will not let you waste such a treasure until you have become a Grade-2 Advanced-Tier Artifact Refiner!”

Zhou Yun knew what Zhou Yang was thinking when the former noticed the latter’s fixated gaze on the tree.

The elder could not help but tease the young cultivator. Being able to do so gave him some form of satisfaction and entertainment that was rare for his usually solo presence at the mountain top.

However, the smile on Zhou Yun’s face only bloomed for a few seconds before it was erased in astonishment by Zhou Yang’s response.

“Seventh Grandfather is right. Since I am only a Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Artifact Refiner, I am not yet skillful enough to fully utilize the potential of the tree’s scales. I will wait until I have become a Grade-2 Advanced-Tier Artifact Refiner and wait my turn then. I am confident that it won’t be too long until then.”

“What? You have become a Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Artifact Refiner?!” asked Zhou Yun with a slightly broken voice due to the shock.

Wasn’t he just a Grade-2 Lower-Tier Artifact Refiner just last year? How and when did he become a Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Artifact Refiner in just a year’s time?

Did the clan leader secretly descend the mountain to tutor him again?

Nevertheless, Zhou Yun still could not believe how quickly this young cultivator was progressing.

Could it be that this young man was not only a cultivation genius but also had more talent in artifact refinement?

Otherwise, how could he go from a simple cultivator who knew nothing about artifact refinement to a Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Artifact Refiner in less than five years?

If he remembered correctly, even the clan leader, the most talented Grade-3 Advanced-Tier Artifact Refiner in the history of the clan, had spent a total of twelve years just to become a Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Artifact Refiner!

“Seventh Grandfather? Seventh Grandfather!”

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Zhou Yang noticed that Zhou Yun was still stunned and it would be a lie if the former said that he did not feel proud of being able to reveal his achievements.

After all, a twenty-two-year-old Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Artifact Refiner was indeed something worth bragging about. The rate of such progress was high enough to write Zhou Yang in the history of both the two-hundred-year-old Foundation Establishment Zhou clan and the two-thousand-year-old Yellow Sand School.

Even he had never thought that his artifact refining talent would be that good.

He never noticed anything that stood out about his process or skills when he was a Grade-1 Artifact Refiner. However, after he had become a Grade-2 Artifact Refiner and had to start mixing several kinds of materials to refine magical artifacts, he noticed that he had an excellent innate ability to control the temperature of the heat, the most crucial component in concoction during artifact refinement.

When he compared his ability to the notes of other Artifact Refiners, including the clan leader’s, he realized that he was better than most Artifact Refiners of the same level.

If it weren’t for the fact that his cultivation was still a little lacking and he didn’t have the right materials, he was confident that he could have refined a Grade-2 Advanced-Tier magical artifact by now.

“Has Zhou Yang arrived? Come in, quickly. I have something to tell you.”

Zhou Minghan’s timely request helped Zhou Yun’s predicament of not knowing what to say after hearing of Zhou Yang’s achievements. Zhou Yun’s tense face finally relaxed as he said, “Zhou Yang, did you hear that? The clan leader is calling you. Hurry up and go over. Don’t let him wait for you.”

If Zhou Yang was able to see through Zhou Yun’s thoughts, he didn’t bother to say them out loud. Zhou Yang wouldn’t let Zhou Yun lose his dignity just because of a moment of anger. Zhou Yang simply held back his laughter as he bowed respectfully to Zhou Yun. Then, he walked briskly toward the clan leader’s cave.

“Gosh, I must be getting on with age. I can’t keep up with these youngsters anymore!”

Under the Dragon Scale Tree, Zhou Yun sat and looked on as Zhou Yang walked towards the cave entrance.

However, his sigh only lasted for a few seconds before Zhou Yun’s expression face changed and instantly turned red. His eyes turned bright as he started to laugh out loud. “Young people nowadays are really amazing. A twenty-two-year-old Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Artifact Refiner? I didn’t expect to be able to meet one in my lifetime. God bless the Zhou clan, God bless the Zhou clan indeed!”

For an old man like Zhou Yun who had worked hard for his clan his entire life, there was probably nothing happier than seeing an outstanding junior appear in his clan.

Bigger clans with Core Foundation or Nascent Soul Grandmasters as clan leaders might have existed for generations over hundreds or thousands of years. However, they were bound to have internal conflicts between the heirs and concubines over the distribution of resources.

A smaller clan like the Zhou clan that had only been around for five or six generations with less than three hundred years of history and a Foundation Establishment Cultivator holding the fort had to remain united and selfless to ensure the continuation of the clan. If they allowed conflicts such as those in the bigger clans, it would only hinder their efforts in nurturing the next Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

After all, the Zhou clan already struggled to afford a Foundation Establishment Pill without exhausting its entire treasury. If the family were to have internal conflicts and divide into factions, no one would be able to reach Foundation Establishment, which would result in the extinction of the Zhou clan.

Since Immortal Cultivators had lifespans that far exceeded that of ordinary people, their wisdom should measure as much as their lifespans. Immortal Cultivators would not make such a stupid mistake.

Moreover, even if there are individuals within the clan who wanted to act selfishly and cause conflicts, the small size of the clan would allow the culprit to be discovered and punished quickly according to the clan rules.

Therefore, even though Zhou Yang was not their direct descendant, the elders of the Zhou clan were genuinely happy for him and the clan.

The stronger the clan, the easier it was to accumulate the necessary cultivation resources, and thus, the better their descendants could live. They would be paving an easier and more well-trodden path to Foundation Establishment for future generations.

Zhou Yang had entered the cave at the top of Yuquan Mountain and met the clan leader, Zhou Minghan, once again. He did not even have the time to bow before the clan leader directly invited him to the latter’s artifact refining room.

“I heard everything when you were out there with Zhou Yun just now. Come, refine a Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier magical artifact for me. If you need any materials, just let me know and I will supply them!”

Zhou Minghan was indeed worthy of being the clan leader as he spoke with such confidence in his disciples. After all, Zhou Yang was a Qi Refinement Cultivator who had become a Grade-2 Artifact Refiner. His achievements had made him worthy of Zhou Minghan’s spiritual item supply.

And what was Zhou Yang waiting for? He immediately rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

After going through three sets of materials in a row, Zhou Yang successfully refined a Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier magical flying sword with his fourth set of materials.

“Not bad, not bad at all. Your artifact refining skills have improved greatly. This flying sword could already be sold in the marketplace. It seems that your artifact refining talent is much higher than what I had originally expected.”

Once the clan leader had inspected the magical flying sword that Zhou Yang had just refined, the former finally revealed a happy smile on his face, an expression rarely seen by the clan’s juniors.

Since Zhou Minghan was in a good mood. He decided to reward Zhou Yang. The former stretched out his hand to take Zhou Yang’s with a smile. “Now, come watch me refine. Hand me the rat skin and teeth that you had obtained back then. I will refine two Grade-2 Advanced-Tier magical artifacts for you – one for attack and one for defense. Consider it as your reward for becoming a Grade-2 Artifact Refiner..”

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