After greeting his Fifth Uncle, Zhou Xuanbin, and explaining the situation, Zhou Yang came up to the surface of Haoyang Cave.
Eight years had passed, and large numbers of desert plants had once again grown around the sandy slope aboveground. With the care of the Zhou Lineage's mortals, not only had these plants grown more luxuriantly than before, but many more varieties had appeared. Some mortals had even begun free-ranging Sand Chickens, Sand Antelopes, sand rabbits, and other animals here.
Not far beneath the sandy slope lay the earthen city where the Zhou Lineage mortals lived. More than two thousand meters west of the city was the oasis currently under construction.
Since the oasis had only been created a few years ago, there was merely a strip of grass several dozen meters wide around the desert lake formed by the underground river.
Standing atop the sandy slope and looking into the distance, Zhou Yang saw several thousand Zhou Lineage mortals divided into four groups, standing on all four sides of the lake like four long dragons. The people at the front filled wooden buckets with lake water, then passed them one by one down the line until they reached the people at the end, who used them to water the sand.
A bucket of water poured onto the sand could only soak through about half a meter of soil, while the sand layer in the area chosen for the oasis averaged over five meters thick.
If these several thousand people relied solely on such a primitive method to irrigate the sand, they would struggle to create even one hundred square meters of oasis in a year—and that was without accounting for the desert's erosion.
Thus, it was time for cultivators to take the stage.
Among the First-Rank spells commonly used by cultivators was a minor spell called the Cloud Gathering Rain Technique. So long as one cast it, water could be condensed even in the hottest reaches of the Boundless Sea of Sand.
And if a Foundation Establishment Cultivator used this First-Rank spell near an ocean or a great lake rich in water vapor, then, just as the spell's name suggested, they could directly bring down a heavy rain over an area several miles around.
The desert lake formed by the underground river had nothing whatsoever to do with the words "great lake," and Zhou Xuanyan, a Ninth Layer Qi Refining Cultivator, could hardly be mentioned in the same breath as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
However, as a Ninth Layer Qi Refining Cultivator specializing in a Water Element Cultivation Method, and with the aid of the Tier 2 High-grade Artifact, the Water Cloud Banner, which was specifically meant to enhance the power of water-element spells, she could barely make moderate rain fall over one square kilometer of land after casting the Cloud Gathering Rain Technique.
In order to create an oasis as quickly as possible, Zhou Xuanyan cast the Cloud Gathering Rain Technique dozens of times every day at morning, noon, and evening, watering the land around the desert lake until her spiritual power was depleted.
Therefore, the sandy ground Zhou Yang saw the mortals watering had already been irrigated by Zhou Xuanyan's spell. Their drawing and carrying water now was merely a small supplement, barely offsetting the moisture evaporated by the desert heat.
"Poor Aunt Xuanyan. This sort of trivial task should have been handled by the Lineage's low-level cultivators. Having an elder like her do it is not only a waste of talent, but also beneath her status!"
Zhou Yang could not help shaking his head with a sigh. When all was said and done, the Zhou Lineage was simply too weak.
In the eyes of ordinary Rogue Cultivators, a Cultivation Family like the Zhou Lineage, which occupied a medium-sized oasis and had a Foundation Establishment Cultivator stationed there, was an existence they could only look up to.
But in the eyes of high-level cultivators, a Cultivation Family like the Zhou Lineage, with only one Foundation Establishment Cultivator holding the fort, was something anyone could step on.
If people learned that, besides the Jade Spring Lake Oasis, the Zhou Lineage also occupied a Third-tier Spirit Vein, other Foundation Establishment Cultivators would certainly come knocking within a month, forcing the Zhou Lineage to surrender the spirit vein at Haoyang Cave and the Crimson Flame Iron Ore Vein.
And if they encountered ruthless people, those people might even use this as an excuse to join forces with other Foundation Establishment Cultivators or families, smash the Mountain Protection Array of Jade Spring Peak, and carve up the entire Zhou Lineage!
Such things had not failed to happen before.
To prevent such a thing from happening, the Zhou Lineage needed to produce a new Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Thus, all the Zhou Lineage higher-ups who knew of Haoyang Cave were secretly hoping that Zhou Yang, the younger generation member bearing the hopes of the entire clan, could achieve foundation establishment and lead the Zhou Lineage through this crisis.
When Zhou Xuanyan and Zhou Xuantai saw that Zhou Yang had emerged from seclusion without breaking through to Qi Refining Layer Nine in one go, they both felt regretful yet secretly relieved.
Since Zhou Yang was no longer in seclusion, they no longer needed to spare one person each day to guard him. With one more person sharing the work of creating the oasis, they could relax considerably. Besides, Zhou Yang occasionally found time to go over and help.
Creating an oasis was not something that could be accomplished overnight. Zhou Yang and the others were only laying the foundation now. To truly create a vast oasis around Haoyang Cave would require the efforts of several generations and take decades, perhaps even a hundred years.
Therefore, after leaving seclusion, Zhou Yang's main efforts were still focused on improving his Artifact Forging Art.
Over the past eight years, he had concentrated on cultivation and rarely forged artifacts, so his skills had grown somewhat rusty.
But his foundation was still there. After forging a few artifacts to familiarize himself with the feel again, he soon regained his form.
In the battle to eliminate the Poison Fire Scorpion swarm, the Zhou Lineage had obtained a great quantity of Tier 2 Demonic Beast materials. As a Tier 2 Mid-grade Artifact Forger, Zhou Yang had received quite a few himself, so he was not lacking in forging materials now.
However, using materials from demonic beasts to forge artifacts was still a first for him, making it quite a challenge.
Materials from demonic beasts were unlike metal ores, which could be freely melted into liquid and molded. When using demonic beast materials to forge artifacts, one had to decide the type of artifact according to the material's original shape.
For example, the stinger of a Poison Fire Scorpion could only be forged into a Flying Needle Artifact.
If the stinger were melted down, the fire poison unique to the Poison Fire Scorpion would disperse along with it, and the material would be ruined.
Of course, demonic beast materials also had advantages over metal ores. The materials on a demonic beast's body had been tempered by its demonic power for years, so they contained few impurities and were more convenient for Artifact Forgers to inscribe with artifact restrictions. Once certain special demonic beast materials were forged into artifacts, they might even retain a certain divine ability the demonic beast had possessed in life.
Since he had never forged artifacts with demonic beast materials before, Zhou Yang did not dare use precious Tier 2 materials directly. Instead, he first practiced with materials from First-tier Poison Fire Scorpions. A huge pile of such First-tier materials was stored in the Haoyang Cave warehouse, and it would not hurt to waste them.
The only usable artifact-forging materials on a First-tier Poison Fire Scorpion were its two pincers and its stinger. The pincers were suitable for forging an unusual weapon called the Iron-Arm Divine Hook, while the stinger could be forged into Poison Fire Flying Needles.
Compared with the more intricate Poison Fire Flying Needles, the thick, cumbersome Iron-Arm Divine Hook was undoubtedly more suitable for a beginner to forge.
In scientific terms, this so-called Iron-Arm Divine Hook was an "exoskeleton armor"—in other words, a mechanical arm.
Zhou Yang took out a stored scorpion pincer, first scraping away all the dried strands of meat remaining inside it. He then placed it into the artifact-forging cauldron, poured in a special solution mixed from various acidic minerals and plant juices, and lit the furnace with fierce flames to heat the cauldron and soften the pincer within.
He then extended his divine sense into the cauldron, observing the pincer's degree of softening throughout the process. Once the pincer began to soften under the effects of high heat and the acidic solution, he started forming the shaping-related artifact-forging hand seals recorded in the forging manuals, making fine adjustments to the softened pincer and molding it into the shape of an Iron-Arm Divine Hook.
Once the shaping was complete, Zhou Yang maintained the flame's temperature while forming artifact-forging hand seals, inscribing a "Vibration" artifact restriction within the Iron-Arm Divine Hook.
After the artifact restriction was completed, he used the Object Retrieval Technique to lift the Iron-Arm Divine Hook and drop it into the quenching pool prepared at the side. After a burst of white mist rose with a series of hisses, the artifact was considered successfully forged.
First-Rank Artifacts required no refinement. They could be used after true qi and spiritual power were infused into them. Zhou Yang casually sent a stream of spiritual power into the newly forged artifact, and the two Iron-Arm Divine Hooks, each weighing dozens of pounds, slammed heavily into the iron mannequin used to test artifact power.
After a deafening boom, dozens of slender cracks as thick as chopsticks instantly appeared on the iron mannequin forged from refined iron. Then two pale yellow flashes of spiritual light spread from the Iron-Arm Divine Hooks, shaking the entire Artifact Forging Room and nearly overturning the artifact-forging cauldron on the ground.
"Hmm, this power is already close to a single strike from a Tier 2 low-grade artifact. It seems my Artifact Forging Art is incomparably close to Tier 2 High-grade now. Very good. Keep trying."
With a sweep of his sleeve, Zhou Yang sent out a stream of spiritual power to steady the artifact-forging cauldron. He then took out another set of materials, tossed them into the cauldron, and continued forging.
About half a year passed like this. After several hundred artifact-forging attempts, Zhou Yang finally broke through to become a Second-tier High-grade Artifact Forger, the youngest Second-tier High-grade Artifact Forger in the Zhou Lineage's history.
The moment his Artifact Forging Art broke through to Tier 2 High-grade, Zhou Yang immediately sent word of the good news to the Old Clan Leader, Zhou Minghan, and his parents. Not long afterward, he saw his dust-covered parents arriving at Haoyang Cave.
"Father, have you made up your mind?"
Zhou Yang looked at his suddenly arrived parents. After a brief moment of surprise, he immediately understood why they had come.
"What, can't your father have come to see you simply because I missed you?"
Zhou Xuanhao smiled faintly, as though he had not seen Zhou Yang's expression suddenly grow heavy.
"Enough, you father and son. Why do you have to act like enemies the moment you meet? This is such a joyous day for father and son to reunite—why say such disheartening things?" Seeing that the atmosphere was off, Lin Yuting hurriedly interjected to ease the tension.
Then she grabbed Zhou Yang's hand and smiled. "Come, come, come. Yang'er, take your mother to your cave dwelling. This time, Mother brought you plenty of specialty foods that can only be found in the marketplace."
PS: I want to tell everyone something. This book got a recommendation this week. Although it is only a recommendation on the PC web version, even a mosquito leg is still meat. I want to perform well so the editor can see this book's potential and give it some good recommendations later on.
So, could everyone please give me your recommendation votes at least for the first few days of this week? This is very important for whether the book can get another recommendation. Also, since there is a recommendation this week, I want to push for the top ten on the category's New Book Ranking. I have already dropped out of the top ten, so readers who are able, please help by sending a small tip. When the book is released, I will tally the total amount of tips, and there will be bonus chapters then.
Thank you to reader Qing Feng Fu Luo Ye for the 100 Qidian Coins tip!
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