Third Aunt Zhou Xuanyu

The journey home was smooth.

A few days after leaving the Qingping Mountain oasis, Zhou Yang successfully returned to Jade Spring Peak, which he hadn't seen in five years.

When he descended the mountain five years ago, he was just a dashing young man who had just broken through to Qi Refining Layer Six, full of youthful vigor.

Five years later, upon his return, although his cultivation level was still Qi Refining Layer Six, the spirited young man of the past had grown into a six-foot-tall, handsome and distinguished young man. (One chi is approximately 33cm).

According to family rules, cultivators returning from guard duty must first report their situation to the family's Steward Elder and submit a performance review.

The current Steward Elder of the Zhou Family is the Seventh Elder, Zhou Xuanyu. She is the only female cultivator among the Zhou Family's eight elders and also the highest-cultivated female cultivator in the family.

Zhou Xuanyu ranks third in the "Xuan" generation and is a direct descendant of the Old Clan Leader, Zhou Minghan. She possesses Mid-grade Spiritual Root aptitude. When her cultivation reached Qi Refining Layer Nine, she was less than sixty years old. If she had taken a Foundation Establishment Pill at that time to attempt Foundation Establishment, her chances of success would have been quite high.

Unfortunately, as a woman, she was naturally at a disadvantage in acquiring family resources compared to men. Even though she was a direct descendant of the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan, the family elders ultimately did not agree to mobilize the entire clan's resources to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for her to attempt Foundation Establishment.

Cultivators with High-grade Spiritual Roots have a one-third chance of achieving Foundation Establishment without a Foundation Establishment Pill, but for cultivators with Mid-grade Spiritual Roots, the success rate without taking a Foundation Establishment Pill drops to less than ten percent.

Foundation Establishment is the first major hurdle in cultivation. Without the protection of a spiritual pill like the Foundation Establishment Pill, if the attempt fails, ninety percent of cultivators will have their meridians burst by the rampaging mana, leading to death. Even if they miraculously survive, they will lose all their mana and become cripples.

To go from a high-and-mighty Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivator to a cripple, which cultivator could withstand such a blow?

Therefore, even if someone could survive the qi deviation, they would not choose to live on as a cripple but would rather die for the Dao.

The danger of Foundation Establishment is so great that in the current Cultivation World, among Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivators who do not possess High-grade Spiritual Roots and do not have a Foundation Establishment Pill, it is difficult to find even a few out of a hundred who would dare to risk attempting Foundation Establishment.

Cultivators who manage to reach Qi Refining Layer Nine have endured countless hardships and toils throughout their lives, and no one is willing to lose all their hard-earned cultivation in one fell swoop.

Especially for cultivators of Foundation Establishment Families like the Zhou Family, reaching Qi Refining Layer Nine is enough to enter the upper echelons of the family and wield significant power, making it unnecessary to take such a risk.

For these family cultivators, rather than risking a near-certain death to attempt Foundation Establishment, it is better to spend the rest of their lives diligently earning spirit stones and nurturing their descendants. In this way, with the combined efforts of two or three generations of cultivators, they might be able to gather enough spirit stones to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Although they themselves might be dead by then, their descendants might succeed in Foundation Establishment with the help of a Foundation Establishment Pill, making their deaths worthwhile.

Only solitary Rogue Cultivators at Qi Refining Layer Nine, who have no attachments and envy the long lifespan and powerful divine abilities and mana of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, would dare to take the risk and forcefully attempt Foundation Establishment.

If successful, their lifespan would double to two hundred and forty years. Afterward, whether they establish their own cultivation family by occupying an oasis Spirit Vein or join a powerful cultivation family as an guest elder, it would be infinitely better than remaining a Rogue Cultivator.

Even if they fail, it would not have been a wasted cultivation journey, and they would have died for the Dao.

However, a very realistic problem is that Rogue Cultivators, due to a lack of resources and good cultivation techniques, rarely reach Qi Refining Layer Nine before the age of sixty, even with Mid-grade Spiritual Roots. And without the assistance of a Foundation Establishment Pill, the success rate of attempting Foundation Establishment after sixty years old drops significantly, making it almost a certain death.

Therefore, when all factors are considered, although Rogue Cultivators have a large base and are more determined to attempt Foundation Establishment than family cultivators, the actual number of people who successfully achieve Foundation Establishment is far lower than those in major cultivation families who achieve it with the help of Foundation Establishment Pills.

As a disciple of the Zhou Family and a direct descendant of the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan, even if Zhou Xuanyu wanted to risk attempting Foundation Establishment, the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan would have stopped her. Moreover, she had been pampered since childhood and lacked that determination.

It was true that she was disappointed that the family did not prepare a Foundation Establishment Pill for her, but she did not resent the family because of it. Instead, she quickly took in a young Rogue Cultivator in the Qi Refining stage from outside as a son-in-law to join the Zhou Family, proving her loyalty to the family through her actions.

Because of this, all the family leaders, including the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan, felt indebted to her. Therefore, they appointed her as the Steward Elder as compensation, allowing her to remain in the family long-term to care for her children and descendants.

Zhou Yang's mother, Lin Yuting, had a very good relationship with this Eighth Aunt, and he himself had been doted on by this Eighth Aunt since childhood. Therefore, he was not worried about this so-called performance review at all.

"Oh my, after a few years, our Little Nine is getting more and more handsome. I wonder which family's daughter will be lucky enough to marry our Zhou Family's prodigy."

In the family's Affairs Hall, as soon as Zhou Yang entered, he saw a beautiful middle-aged woman in a white lotus-patterned dress organizing scrolls. Upon seeing him enter, her beautiful eyes lit up, and she quickly put down the scrolls she was holding, looking at him with a smile and teasing him.

Even though Zhou Yang was already mature in mind, he couldn't help but blush at such teasing and offered a wry smile, clasping his hands together in surrender, "Third Aunt, please stop teasing your nephew. Your nephew is still young, and it's too early to talk about marriage!"

Cultivators, unless they are cultivators with Low-grade Spiritual Roots who have no hope of Foundation Establishment, will not lose their primal yang or primal yin before Foundation Establishment if they have any thoughts of achieving it.

This is because, according to the experience summarized by predecessors, cultivators who maintain their primal yang or primal yin bodies not only cultivate faster in normal times but also have a significantly higher chance of success during Foundation Establishment compared to those who have lost their primal yang and primal yin.

Therefore, even cultivators with High-grade Spiritual Roots, who have a very high chance of Foundation Establishment, do not lose their virginity early before Foundation Establishment.

Although cultivation families like the Zhou Family attach importance to bloodline inheritance, in this regard, they actually encourage qualified family disciples to marry and have children late, preferably after the age of sixty.

Zhou Yang's father, Zhou Xuanhao, and the Third Aunt, Zhou Xuanyu, both married and had children only after they were over sixty and had no hope of Foundation Establishment.

Fortunately, cultivators have strong physiques and can use healing spells to treat injuries. Even giving birth after sixty years old does not pose a life-threatening risk like it does for mortal mothers. It only slightly damages their cultivation, leading to a slower cultivation speed in the future.

Zhou Yang's mother, Lin Yuting, had a cultivation level of Qi Refining Layer Seven when she gave birth to him. Twenty years later, her cultivation level remained the same, which shows how much harm childbirth causes to low-level female cultivators.

In contrast, Zhou Xuanyu fared much better. Before she got married and had children, her cultivation had already reached Qi Refining Layer Nine. Unless she achieved Foundation Establishment, her cultivation would not advance further in her life. Therefore, childbirth had little impact on her cultivation, except perhaps slightly reducing her lifespan.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yang's Third Aunt's luck seemed to have been consistently poor. Even though both she and her husband had Mid-grade Spiritual Root aptitude, among their three descendants—two sons and one daughter—only one daughter possessed Low-grade Spiritual Root.

Continuous childbirth, while not causing Zhou Xuanyu's cultivation to regress, significantly accelerated her aging process. Although she herself did not care much about it, the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan feared that her lifespan would be greatly reduced and she would perish prematurely. Disregarding her objections and complaints, he forcibly used elixirs to damage her fertility, forbidding her from having more children.

After learning about his Third Aunt's experiences, Zhou Yang developed immense respect for her. She was a great woman worthy of respect from everyone in the family.

"That's true. With your talent, your chances of Foundation Establishment are very high. The family's situation has also improved considerably compared to back then. Coupled with your parents' savings, they should be able to prepare a Foundation Establishment Pill for you. Once you successfully achieve Foundation Establishment, you will naturally have plenty of time to slowly find a suitable Dao companion!"

Looking at her handsome nephew before her, Zhou Xuanyu's beautiful eyes became momentarily lost in thought, as if she saw herself at the same age back then. At that time, she was also wholeheartedly aiming to follow in her grandfather's footsteps and become an envied Foundation Establishment cultivator, never considering marriage.

It was just that her luck was poor. When she was Zhou Yang's age, the Zhou Family had just spent a significant amount of resources to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for the current Great Elder, Zhou Qian. The family's savings for many years were almost depleted and did not recover for decades.

Coincidentally, the Great Elder Zhou Qian, who was highly anticipated, failed to achieve Foundation Establishment after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. His cultivation only advanced by one level, becoming a Qi Refining Layer Ten cultivator, commonly known as Qi Refining Perfection.

Although Qi Refining Perfection cultivators are much stronger than Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivators, they are still worlds apart from Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. Not to mention that Qi Refining Perfection is still within the Qi Refining stage, and there is no increase in lifespan.

Zhou Qian thus wasted a Foundation Establishment Pill, incurred a huge family debt, and spent his entire life working hard for the family to repay his debts. He didn't even leave behind any descendants.

Due to the depletion of the family's savings, Zhou Xuanyu also lost the opportunity to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for Foundation Establishment, leaving her with a lifelong regret.

A small Foundation Establishment Pill directly changed and influenced the destinies of two generations of Zhou Family elders!

Zhou Yang had been warned by his parents since childhood not to mention the matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill in front of his Third Aunt, so as not to hurt the elder.

Now, hearing Zhou Xuanyu mention the Foundation Establishment Pill herself, his heart skipped a beat. His intention to catch up and chat with his Third Aunt vanished instantly. He quickly handed over the performance report he had already prepared and then, using the excuse of visiting the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan, fled the Affairs Hall as if escaping.

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