Third Grandfather's Advice

The Gold-Eating Rat had initially believed that by escaping back to its lair within the Crimson Flame Iron Ore Vein, it could rely on the protection of the Poison Fire Scorpion swarm outside to recover from its injuries and survive.

Unfortunately, it had underestimated the methods of human cultivators and had also underestimated Zhou Yang's resolve to kill it.

Using the precise location provided by the "Blood Spirit Mark," Zhou Yang and the elder Zhou Quan, with the aid of the "Earth Evasion Technique" and artifacts, managed to blast a path into the rat's burrow, located fifty to sixty meters underground. They appeared like divine soldiers descending from the heavens, right before the Gold-Eating Rat, which was then sleeping and recuperating.

Before the great rat could even awaken from the shock of this sudden turn of events and burrow away, Elder Zhou Quan had already used the "Finger Points to Steel" spell to seal off the surrounding earth and stone.

With its most potent escape method blocked, and trapped within the confined space of its burrow, how could the already severely injured Gold-Eating Rat possibly survive?

After a desperate struggle like a cornered beast, the great rat, responsible for the deaths of dozens of people, was finally smashed to death by Elder Zhou Quan's Golden Gourd Great Hammer, its head obliterated.

"Beast, this is your retribution for devouring humans!"

The elder casually raised his hand, retrieving the Golden Gourd Great Hammer splashed with its foul blood. With a grim expression, he delivered another blow to the Gold-Eating Rat's head, smashing its skull into several pieces before finally stopping.

It was only then that Zhou Yang realized the elder was not entirely cold-blooded and indifferent to the lives of ordinary family members.

It was simply that the elder, having lived for over a hundred years, had grown accustomed to life and death and was adept at concealing his emotions, rarely revealing them.

"But isn't this a bit sentimental, like putting up a facade and wanting to build a monument for oneself?"

Recalling the elder's stern words from before, Zhou Yang couldn't help but feel a slight dissatisfaction with the elder's approach.

Of course, as a junior, even if he had any grievances, he certainly wouldn't say them out loud, nor would he dare to.

The hierarchy between elders and juniors was the foundation of a family's power. Even if cultivators pursued freedom and immortality, as long as they hadn't truly attained them, they couldn't completely disregard these principles.

Moreover, Zhou Yang's current strength was not yet on par with Elder Zhou Quan's.

Just as Zhou Yang was having these thoughts, Elder Zhou Quan had already put away his artifact and gestured towards him with a slight nod. "Little Nine, take this beast's corpse. Later, you can add some materials and ask the Old Clan Leader to refine it. You'll surely get a few decent artifacts."

Zhou Yang was taken aback. He hadn't expected the elder to say that at all. Recalling the disparaging thoughts he had just harbored about the elder, he felt a surge of shame and repeatedly shook his head with a flushed face. "I cannot accept this. This fiend was killed by you, Third Grandfather. How could I, your nephew, dare to accept such a prize?"

"Take it if I tell you to. I'm already this old. Even if you gave me a third-tier or fourth-tier artifact, how many more years could I use it? Besides, you're about to advance to the Late Qi Cultivation stage. Once you reach it, if you don't have a few impressive artifacts, how will you win in future duels?"

Elder Zhou Quan glared at Zhou Yang with displeasure, as if Zhou Yang refusing the gift was a sign of disrespect.

Seeing this, Zhou Yang felt even more ashamed and still tried to decline. "I appreciate your kindness, Third Grandfather, but this item is truly too valuable. I am unworthy, truly unworthy!"

His sincerity was evident, and Elder Zhou Quan couldn't help but feel confused.

What was going on?

These younger generations were truly incomprehensible!

The elder stared at Zhou Yang, perplexed, and finally couldn't help but ask, "What makes you unworthy? This beast was discovered and hunted by both you and me. Even when rogue cultivators team up to hunt demonic beasts, everyone gets a share, let alone us?"

What puzzled him the most was this. While the Zhou Family had excellent upbringing and its members were united and friendly, there was no rule that only elders could eat meat while juniors got nothing.

The elder, having lived for a century and interacted with countless cultivators, could discern whether someone's expression was genuine or feigned.

He could tell that the shame on Zhou Yang's face was heartfelt and not at all fabricated.

However, Zhou Yang couldn't possibly reveal the thoughts he had just had about the elder. Facing the elder's questioning and scrutiny, he could only lower his head and remain silent, wishing for the matter to be quickly forgotten.

Seeing this, the elder couldn't press the issue further and finally said with resignation, "If you truly feel indebted, then consider this a favor I'm setting aside for you to look after your second brother in the future!"

After speaking, fearing that Zhou Yang still wouldn't agree, the elder directly used the "Earth Evasion Technique" to leave the burrow. His hurried departure would have made anyone unaware think that the elder himself felt guilty and couldn't face Zhou Yang!

This outcome was completely unexpected for Zhou Yang, leaving him stunned.

After a long moment, he finally snapped out of his daze and couldn't help but let out a wry smile and a long sigh. "Fine, fine. As the saying goes: 'When an elder bestows something, one does not refuse.' I will accept this favor as Third Grandfather suggested, and find an opportunity to repay it to my second brother and the others later."

After collecting the Gold-Eating Rat's corpse, Zhou Yang searched the burrow for a while longer and found some of the Gold-Eating Rat's droppings.

The droppings of a Gold-Eating Rat were also treasures. Because of their nature of consuming metals, the droppings sometimes contained special spiritual metals that they themselves could not absorb or digest. When added to the forging of certain artifacts, these special spiritual metals could slightly increase the success rate of refinement and were also excellent materials for repairing damaged artifacts.

Previously, in the Gold-Eating Rat's nest within the Fine Iron Ore Vein, Zhou Yang had collected a considerable amount of droppings from the rats that had consumed fine iron ore. Now, he had collected more droppings here from the rats that had consumed crimson flame iron.

Once he returned and used the Artifact Forging Art to extract the special spiritual metals from these droppings, they would undoubtedly be of great use when he forged second-tier or even third-tier artifacts in the future.

Thoroughly scouring the burrow, Zhou Yang soon used the "Earth Evasion Technique" to return to the surface and reunite with Elder Zhou Quan, who was waiting above.

"Little Nine, you said you wanted to kill the Gold-Eating Rat. Now that the monster is dead, what are your plans?"

Upon seeing Zhou Yang emerge, the elder's gaze briefly flickered towards the bulging storage bag at his waist, but then he returned to the previous test.

"What are my plans now? Don't you already have a decision in mind, Third Grandfather?"

Zhou Yang looked at the elder's surprised expression and said with a confident smile, revealing the elder's intended plan.

"Whether there's a third-tier Poison Fire Scorpion King here or not, hundreds of Poison Fire Scorpions are not something the two of us can handle. Since that's the case, why should we risk investigating if there's a Poison Fire Scorpion King? Of course, we should return to Qingping Mountain first, and let you report the details of this incident to the Old Clan Leader so that he can make the final decision."

Clap, clap, clap!

Applause rang out. Elder Zhou Quan looked at Zhou Yang with a gratified expression, clapping his hands and sincerely praising him. "Well said! As expected of the Zhou Family Prodigy personally proclaimed by the Old Clan Leader. I had long heard of your early wisdom, Little Nine, but today I realize that you are not only wise beyond your years but also possess strategic thinking, know when to advance and retreat, and understand priorities. In terms of judging the situation, among the cultivators of the Xuan and Yuan generations in our Zhou Family, no more than three can match you!"

After speaking, the elder's expression turned serious as he looked at Zhou Yang and said, "Indeed, that is precisely what I was thinking, Little Nine. Today, I will give you a piece of advice: in the future, whenever you encounter situations where opportunities and risks coexist, unless there is a compelling reason to take a gamble, you must restrain all greed and curiosity. Always prioritize your own safety. Remember, only when a person is alive can an opportunity be an opportunity. Otherwise, if the person is dead, no matter how good the opportunity, it will have nothing to do with you!"

"I will engrave Third Grandfather's advice in my heart. Thank you for your guidance, Third Grandfather."

Zhou Yang respectfully bowed to the elder, thanking him for his counsel.

Although he already knew this principle, the elder's advice was not only golden words summarized from his lifetime of experience but also contained the deep affection of an elder for his junior. For this affection alone, he could not fail to express his gratitude.

Elder Zhou Quan accepted his bow calmly and then, as if recalling something, let out a sigh with a complex expression.

"It's good that you remember. Our Zhou Family will depend on you juniors in the future. We old folks are getting old now. All we can do is pass on these insights and experiences that we've learned through our own lives, hoping that you will take fewer detours on your cultivation path, and not end up like your uncles and granduncles who died young, losing their lives on these very detours!"

When Zhou Yang heard the old man's words, he knew the elder was speaking from the heart, recalling the many clansmen of the Zhou Family who had met untimely deaths over the years.

The Boundless Sea of Sand was fraught with danger, not only from natural disasters and Demonic Beasts but also from man-made calamities.

The vast Sea of Sand contained countless oases. Besides Cultivation Families like the Zhou Family that occupied an oasis to cultivate, many smaller oases, unsuitable for large populations, were occupied by solitary Rogue Cultivators.

These Rogue Cultivators lacked the systematic cultivation techniques and Artifact Forging and Alchemy inheritances of family cultivators and sect cultivators. They also didn't receive sect or family benefits. To obtain talismans, pills, Spirit Stones, and Artifacts, they could only hunt Demonic Beasts or gather Spiritual Medicine and bring them to cultivator market towns to exchange for goods at shops opened by Cultivation Families and sects.

Where there was trade, there was naturally killing.

Hunting Demonic Beasts and gathering Spiritual Medicine could earn Spirit Stones and pills; hunting cultivators could also yield these.

As a result, many Rogue Cultivators formed gangs and became sand bandits in the Sea of Sand, engaging in risk-free business by specifically killing and plundering other cultivators' wealth to aid their own cultivation.

Some powerful Rogue Cultivators would even deliberately leave spiritual items in the desert to set traps, then spread rumors of treasures, waiting for cultivators who thought they had stumbled upon an opportunity to come to them willingly.

And in the vast Sea of Sand, as long as their actions were clean, or they found an unknown small oasis to hide in after a successful operation, no one would know who the killer was. Even if they knew, it would be difficult to find them.

The Zhou Family's genealogy listed thirteen cultivators of the "Guang" generation and eighteen of the "Xuan" generation. However, only eighteen of them were still alive!

Of the thirteen who disappeared, three died accidentally in the mouths of Demonic Beasts, while the remaining ten lost contact under unknown circumstances while leaving the family to carry out missions or venture out for adventures, their remains unfound.

Compared to impoverished Rogue Cultivators, wealthy family cultivators and sect cultivators sometimes became easier targets for those wicked individuals.

For this reason, the Zhou Family and many other Cultivation Families established strict family rules: no family cultivator was allowed to leave the family to travel or adventure alone until they reached the Late Qi Cultivation stage.

Elder Zhou Quan, having lived for over a hundred years, had certainly encountered many attacks from Rogue Cultivators and experienced numerous traps and temptations. The fact that he was still alive meant his hands were stained with the lives of many.

Therefore, his statement that his experience and insights were summed up through his life was by no means an exaggeration.

Seeking recommendation votes, seeking favorites, seeking to join the new book investment group. Once the investment reaches 100 people, there will be a small recommendation. As a transparent author, I don't have many readers or channels to promote the book. I can only hope the website will take pity and give me a small recommendation for exposure!