Cultivation begins with earning spirit stones

Chapter 69 Noble Families

"Then so be it. I will write a letter and have someone send it to Danxia Sect and give it to Mingxuan."

Zhou Mingxuan shook her head: "Letters are not reliable enough. Someone needs to go there in person to explain the pros and cons."

"Once I've joined the sect, I'll go find my cousin Mingxuan and make sure Zhang Lin suffers eternal damnation." Zhou Mingyuan nodded.

Zhou Mingxuan added, "There's one more thing."

"What?"

"Sister Ruyan."

Zhou Mingyuan was taken aback: "Sister Ruyan? Which Sister Ruyan?"

"Zhou Ruyan," Zhou Mingxuan said calmly, "the eldest daughter of the Zhou family among the twelve great families, an inner disciple of the Danxia Sect, and the one who has reached the Foundation Establishment stage of the Heavenly Dao. In terms of seniority, she is our distant cousin."

Zhou Mingyuan gasped.

The Zhou family, one of the twelve great clans, is a legitimate first-class family in the cultivation world, second only to the five great surnames.

Although the Zhou family is the last of the twelve great families, they are still not comparable to the Zhou family of Qingxuan City.

The Zhou family of Qingxuan City is merely a distant branch of the Zhou family, one of the twelve great families.

"Sister Ruyan...would she care about something like our distant branch?" Zhou Mingyuan frowned.

"She won't care, but Cousin Mingxuan will," Zhou Mingxuan said. "Cousin Mingxuan is on good terms with Sister Ruyan. If Sister Ruyan is backing him up, dealing with Zhang Lin will be much easier."

She paused, then said, "I'll write a letter, and you can send it to your cousin along with the letter. If you can persuade Sister Ruyan, Zhang Lin's days in the Danxia Sect won't be easy."

Zhou Mingyuan nodded: "Okay."

Zhou Huai-ren sat in the main seat, listening to the conversation between the brother and sister, and nodded slowly.

"We shall do as Mingxuan says."

He looked at Zhou Mingyuan with a stern gaze.

"But you must remember, this matter ends here. Do not take any further action against Zhang Lin in Qingxuan City. If the Danxia Sect finds out, the Zhou family cannot bear the responsibility."

Zhou Mingyuan lowered his head: "Grandson understands."

Zhou Huai-ren waved his hand: "Go ahead."

Zhou Mingyuan and Zhou Jingtang rose to take their leave.

Zhou Mingxuan did not leave; she remained seated, holding a teacup in her hands.

"Mingxuan, is there anything else?" Zhou Huai-ren asked.

Zhou Mingxuan put down her teacup and looked at Zhou Huai Ren.

"Uncle, I'm wondering if we made a mistake?"

Zhou Huai-ren was taken aback: "What did I do wrong?"

"Make Zhang Lin your enemy." Zhou Mingxuan said calmly, "This person was able to cultivate from the early stage of Qi Refining to the late stage of Qi Refining in just a few months, win the championship at the Alchemy Conference, and kill opponents who were at the peak of Qi Refining with his late stage Qi Refining cultivation."

"Such a person is destined for greatness."

"Is it really wise for us to be his enemy?"

Zhou Huai-ren remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "You mean..."

"What I mean is, if we can't kill him in one blow, we shouldn't make enemies easily," Zhou Mingxuan said. "Now that we've made enemies with him, we can only go down this path to the bitter end."

"What if we can't kill him?"

Zhou Huai-ren asked the most crucial question.

Zhou Mingxuan remained silent.

After a long while, she stood up and walked out of the hall.

She stopped at the door without turning around.

"Then we can only... hope he dies at someone else's hands."

After saying that, she stepped out of the council chamber.

Zhou Huai-ren sat in the main seat, looking at her back with a complicated expression.

This grandniece is meticulous and has a keen eye; she is the most outstanding person in the Zhou family of this generation.

Unfortunately, it was a woman.

If he were a man, why would the Zhou family not prosper?

Zhou Huai-ren sighed and closed his eyes.

---------

Yunlai Inn, night.

Zhang Lin took out a jade slip from his pocket and placed it on his forehead.

The jade slip contains the history, rules, and organizational structure of the Danxia Sect, which he had copied from Zhao Songxi.

Danxia Sect, one of the nine great mystical sects, is located in Yunmeng Continent, possesses the Yunmeng spiritual vein, and controls the Yunmeng Cauldron.

He is known as the orthodox master of alchemy and the master of spiritual medicine.

The Danxia Sect is the wealthiest of the nine great mystical sects.

The profits from high-grade pills are astonishing; eighty percent of all high-grade pills in the world come from the Danxia Sect.

The sect was founded on alchemy, its alchemy skills were unparalleled in the world, it monopolized high-grade elixirs, and its wealth was comparable to that of a country.

The sect is divided into inner and outer sects. Outer sect disciples are in the Qi Refining stage, inner sect disciples are in the Foundation Establishment stage, and true disciples are in the Golden Core stage.

Outer disciples need to complete sect tasks and accumulate contribution points before they can exchange them for cultivation techniques, pills, magic weapons, and... the qualification to establish a foundation.

Zhang Lin memorized all the information in the jade slip.

The Danxia Sect was an important step in his path of cultivation.

This step must be taken carefully.

Zhang Lin put away the jade slip, closed his eyes, and continued to regulate his breathing.

Tomorrow will be a new beginning.

------

At dawn, a thin mist, like a veil, enveloped Qingxuan City.

Zhang Lin awoke from his meditation, opened his eyes, and a glint of light flashed in them.

He put on that blue Taoist robe and styled his hair into a hunyuan bun, securing it with a wooden hairpin.

Once everything was tidied up, he pushed open the door and went out.

Just then, the door to the next room opened, and Yu Youwei came out.

"Let's go," Zhang Lin said.

Yu Youwei nodded, and the two went downstairs.

In the inn's lobby, the innkeeper was doing accounts behind the counter. Seeing the two come down, he quickly put on a smiling face and greeted them: "Young master, young lady, would you like some breakfast?"

"No need." Zhang Lin took out some silver and placed it on the counter. "Rental fee."

The shopkeeper took the money, bowing and scraping, "Please take care, young master, come again next time."

Zhang Lin and Yu Youwei left the inn and headed towards the Danxia Sect branch altar in the east of the city.

In the early morning, Qingxuan City was shrouded in a thin mist, and there were few pedestrians on the streets.

Zhang Lin walked at a steady pace, his gaze calmly fixed ahead.

Yu Youwei followed beside him, her eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

Although she knew nothing about the Zhou family, she gleaned some clues from the conversation among the people in the teahouse yesterday: Zhang Lin had enemies in Qingxuan City.

"Young Master Zhang," Yu Youwei suddenly spoke, her voice very low, "Won't the Zhou family make a move on the road?"

Zhang Lin glanced at her and shook his head slightly: "No, today is the day the Danxia Sect comes to receive us, and the branch master will definitely be present."

"No matter how bold the Zhou family is, they wouldn't dare to make a move under the nose of the Danxia Sect."

Yu Youwei nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The two quickened their pace and headed east of the city.

The Danxia Sect's Qingxuan City branch altar is located in the most bustling street in the east of the city.

The branch altar is a three-story pavilion built of bluestone, with upturned eaves and corners. In front of the gate, two stone lions each hold a spirit stone in their mouths, their spiritual light faintly emanating from them.

There is a wide square in front of the building, paved with bluestone, which can accommodate hundreds of people.

At this moment, dozens of people had gathered in the square.

Most of them were independent cultivators, at the mid-to-late stage of Qi Refining, gathered in twos and threes, talking in hushed tones.

His gaze frequently drifted to the sky, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Zhang Lin's gaze swept across the crowd, and he spotted several familiar faces.

Chen Boyuan stood in the center of the square, wearing a worn gray Taoist robe and carrying a medicine basket on his back, talking to a middle-aged rogue cultivator beside him.

Upon seeing Zhang Lin arrive, his eyes lit up, and he quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, Miss Yu, you've arrived!"

His voice was loud and clear, full of energy, which attracted the attention of many people.

Zhang Lin cupped his hands in greeting: "Fellow Daoist Chen."

Chen Boyuan then looked at Yu Youwei, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Miss Yu, today is the day you enter the sect. Are you ready?"

Yu Youwei nodded slightly: "Ready."

Chen Boyuan nodded, then lowered his voice and said, "I heard that the one who came to guide us this time is a senior sister from the inner sect of Danxia Sect. She has a cultivation level of mid-Foundation Establishment and is highly regarded in the sect."

"You'd better behave yourself and not be impolite."