Chapter 22: The Family Fights Together

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Zhou Yang, your plan seems to have worked. After I incinerated all the plants around the sand slope, the Venomous Fire Scorpions’ food source had been destroyed. In less than half a month, the Venomous Fire Scorpions began to kill each other. I also took advantage of the situation and managed to decrease the number of Venomous Fire Scorpions by 50%.

“However, the Grade-3 Venomous Fire Scorpion King has already noticed our intentions. It forcefully stopped the Venomous Fire Scorpions from killing each other and sent them out to the depths of the desert to hunt. For the time being, they seemed to have found a way to survive the food crisis.”

Zhou Minghan had gathered all the Zhou clan cultivators and was reporting the progress of his month-long battle at the sand slope.

When they initially heard that Zhou Yang’s plan had eliminated 50% of the Venomous Fire Scorpions, the Zhou clan cultivators were delighted.

However, the joy on their faces faded when they heard how the Venomous Fire Scorpion King had reacted at the end.

The Venomous Fire Scorpions were demon beasts, after all – their abilities to fight and survive in the desert were many times stronger than ordinary desert animals. If they were able to locate food sources during their hunts, it would be easy for them to survive even though they were away from their nest.

It seemed that Zhou Yang’s plan was not as perfect as everyone had imagined. But Zhou Xuanyu suddenly broke the silence to lighten up the mood and defend her godson’s plan.

“Hey, what are you all thinking about? Right now, we have reduced the number of Venomous Fire Scorpions by 50% without injuring a single person. This is already a great victory. Did you really think that we could have annihilated all the Venomous Fire Scorpions without releasing a single spell? Stop dreaming. Those are demon beasts. They are not bugs that ordinary people can simply stomp to death. In all these years, have you ever heard of anyone killing demon beast without a direct fight?”

Although her words were not pleasant to hear, they did make the others realize that they had fallen into a misunderstanding.

There was no such thing as a perfect plan because things would never go as planned. They knew this and still expected Zhou Yang’s plan to successfully eliminate a group of demon beasts? How ridiculous was that?!

Moreover, if a plan to eliminate demon beasts could be used by mortals, what was the point of having Immortal Cultivators around, then? How could they proudly call themselves Immortal Masters and claim to be able to solve problems for mortals?

Thus, Zhou Xuanhao decided to stand up for his son. This was also the first time in so many years that he had taken the initiative to respond to Zhou Xuanyu’s words.

“Although Third Sister’s words were a bit harsh, they speak the truth. Look, we don’t have time to wait around for the Venomous Fire Scorpions to eliminate themselves.

“And we can’t keep our absences at our stations a secret for much longer. If we don’t return soon, it will also arouse the suspicion of outsiders. And if people find out what happened here, the damage to the Zhou clan will be much greater than the problem of the Venomous Fire Scorpions!”

The sight of these two people who usually didn’t get along now standing on a united front for a junior brought a sense of relief and joy to the others. It was such a rare sight!

Unity among a clan’s cultivators was one of the foundations of a clan’s strength. Though most of the Zhou clan’s cultivators were united, the discord between Zhou Xuanhao and Zhou Xuanyu had always been an Achilles’ heel for the clan. It didn’t help that the two figures were significant members of the Zhou clan, often being entrusted with important clan missions. Their absence due to the clan missions was understandable, but the clan would also start to worry and grow anxious if they had been gone for too long. Thus, hearing them agree with each other for the first time was a reason for the others to rejoice.

Moreover, Zhou Xuanyu and Zhou Xuanhao’s words were indeed reasonable.

“Zhou Yang, do you have anything to say?”

Zhou Minghan wanted to know what the young cultivator thought about all this.

“Clan Leader, it is true that my plan was flawed. We had just taken the smaller path to reach our bigger goal. Now that we have completed that journey, it is time to realize our true potential as Immortal Cultivators, return to the greater path, and wield our magical artifacts in the field once more!

“Didn’t the Venomous Fire Scorpions start to venture further out in the sand sea to hunt for food? Then we will surround and attack them and lure out the Venomous Fire Scorpion King. We will eliminate them all in one fell swoop!”

Zhou Yang confidently looked at the elders before him as he spoke of his thoughts passionately.

“Realize our true potential as Immortal Cultivators?”

Zhou Minghan narrowed his eyes as he pondered upon that phrase before laughing out loud. “To realize our true potential as Immortal Cultivators. These may be simple words to understand but they speak true to the Great Dao. Immortal Cultivators like us have painstakingly cultivated for thousands of years. Other than seeking eternal life and unfettered freedom, don’t we want to realize our own potential?”

Then, the clan leader turned solemn as he instructed the clan elders. “We will do as Zhou Yang says. I will lead out hunt to eliminate the Venomous Fire Scorpions out in the sand sea.”

“Yes, sir.”

With that, the Advanced-Stage Qi Refinement Cultivators of the Zhou clan quickly followed Zhou Minghan into action.

The entourage set off from Qingping Mountain on their Camel Beasts. In less than two days, they arrived at the periphery of the Red Flame Iron vein. Then, they used the sand rabbits, gerbils, and other wild beasts that they had brought from Qingping Mountain Oasis to bait the dozens of Venomous Fire Scorpions that were out hunting.

Hiss…

Dozens of Grade-1 Venomous Fire Scorpions led by a few Grade-2 Venomous Fire Scorpions rushed over due to the smell of blood. Soon, more than half of them had been killed with magical artifacts wielded by more than a dozen Zhou clan cultivators who had concealed their auras. The surviving Venomous Fire Scorpions cried out for help while desperately digging holes to escape underground.

Zhou Yang had been observing from the sidelines the entire time. When he saw the Venomous Fire Scorpions starting escape by burrowing, he finally cast the newly- learned Grade-2 Advanced-Tier Earth to Steel Spell. It took almost a minute for the spell to take effect.

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When one’s cultivation reached Level 7 of Qi Refinement, one would be able to cast a Grade-2 Advanced-Tier spell, and Zhou Yang’s first attempt at that was the Earth to Steel Spell.

Though this spell was not very useful against Immortal Cultivators, it worked wonders against demon beasts that were very good at burrowing. It was a spell that every Advanced-Stage Qi Refinement Immortal Cultivator in the far west had to learn.

However, spells were easy to learn but difficult to master. Zhou Yang had only learned this spell for a few months and thus found it very difficult to successfully cast. If he wanted to speed up the casting speed to the level of Zhou Quan, he would need more than ten years of dedicated practice.

Only one or two out of a hundred Advanced-Stage Qi Refinement Cultivators Zhou Quan could cast a Grade-2 Advanced-Tier spell like Earth to Steel Spell in just a few breaths of time. Moreover, capable castors of the spell were usually more than a hundred years old.

Generally speaking, other than geniuses who had a special talent in spell learning, ordinary Immortal Cultivators could only dream of reducing their casting time to a few seconds or even one second, unless they were willing to practice like Zhou Quan for ten years or resolve to cast low-level spells despite having high-level cultivation.

Zhou Yang had learned many spells, excluding the non-combat Grade-1 spells. The fastest spell he could cast now was the Grade-2 Intermediate-Tier Fire Snake Spell – it took him less than five seconds to cast but he could barely use it in normal battles.

It was precisely because spells were easy to learn but hard to master that they were difficult to use in battles that corresponded to the cultivators and spells’ levels. That was why Immortal Cultivators developed talisman-making and artifact-refining skills.

Talisman makers could seal spells inside special talisman papers for Immortal Cultivators to activate with their mana. It was very convenient.

As for the magical artifacts made by artifact refiners, Immortal Cultivators could use them at will and repeatedly, unlike the spiritual talismans, which could only be used once.

Immortal Cultivators without such talismans or artifacts would be ten times more disadvantageous in situations compared to those who have such items with them.

The moment Zhou Yang cast his spell, the Venomous Fire Scorpions immediately realized that the originally-soft sand had turned as hard as steel. Their pincers merely scraped against the surface as they tried to dig.

The other Zhou clan cultivators noticed what had happened and did not waste another second to whip out their spiritual talismans and magical artifacts to take out the remaining stranded Venomous Fire Scorpions. Soon, the Immortal Cultivators had ended the one-sided battle aboveground.

At this moment, an angry cry came from afar.

Then, everyone saw the calf-sized dark red Venomous Fire Scorpion charging toward them like a gust of wind, kicking up sand and dust in its wake.

Ordinary black Venomous Fire Scorpions also quickly drilled out from the sand in other directions.

“You guys deal with Venomous Fire Scorpions newcomers. Leave the Venomous Fire Scorpion King to me,” said Zhou Minghan who had also been observing from the sidelines this whole while. Now that the king had revealed himself, he finally made his move. With a flash of sword light under his feet, he intercepted the incoming Venomous Fire Scorpion King.

Since the clan leader was engaged in battle, the next-in-command was Zhou Quan as he had the highest seniority among the nineteen cultivators of the Zhou clan present.

Zhou Quan quickly ordered the others in response to the change in situation.

“Xuanhao, Xuanyu, Yuting, and Zhou Yang, you are responsible for clearing out the demon beasts on the east side.

“Seventh Brother, Ninth Brother, Xuantai, Xuanbin, and Xuanyan, you are responsible for the south side.

“Fifth Brother, Xuanhe, Xuanying…”

Zhou Yang followed his parents according to Zhou Quan’s orders and swiftly moved toward the dozens of Venomous Fire Scorpions that had appeared on the east side.

Among the dozens of Venomous Fire Scorpions, there were only seven Grade-2 Venomous Fire Scorpions, among them was one Grade-2 Advanced-Tier. It was the weakest group of demon beasts that had appeared among all sides.

This was the first time Zhou Yang fought alongside his parents. He wanted to show his abilities to his parents, to let them see the results of his cultivation over the years.

Therefore, as soon as he got close to the Venomous Fire Scorpions, he immediately took out his Grade-2 Advanced-Tier Armor Breaker Dagger that the clan leader had refined for him with the four front teeth of the Metal Eating Ratand, and nailed the four Grade-1 Venomous Fire Scorpions to the ground in an instant.

Though Grade-1 Venomous Fire Scorpions had exoskeletons that were as hard as Refined Iron, they were easily stabbed through like a slightly-thick layer of paper by the Armor Breaker Daggers.

When Lin Yuting saw this, she immediately praised her son. “Well done, Zhou Yang! You just deal with the Grade-1 Venomous Fire Scorpions. Leave the Grade-2 ones to us!”

Zhou Yang was happy at first. But when he heard how he was simply assigned to the easy targets while his parents and godmother handled the more challenging ones, he was a little dissatisfied. He could tell that she still thought of him as a child who needed their protection.

“I understand.”

He replied weakly, but he did not have any intentions of protesting. This was because he knew that even if he protested, his parents would not listen anyway.

He decided to convert his dissatisfaction into his strength and vent all his anger on the Grade-1 Venomous Fire Scorpions. The way he wielded his four Armor Breaker Daggers made him look like he was wielding the sickle of the Grim Reaper as he crazily harvested the lives of these low-level demon beasts..

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