Ninth Level of Qi Refining

The spiritual脉 on Golden Mist Mountain is a third-tier high-grade, one level higher than the Zhou Family's Jade Spring Peak spiritual脉. Even though the location of "Jade Spring Tower" isn't at the spiritual脉's core, the spiritual energy environment is more than sufficient to support a Qi Refining stage cultivator like Zhou Yang in breaking through minor realms.

After cultivating in seclusion in the private room at the back of "Jade Spring Tower" for just nine days, he successfully broke through the cultivation barrier that had held him back for over a year, reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining. He became the first cultivator in the Zhou Family to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining before the age of forty in over two hundred years.

It was only after breaking through to the ninth level of Qi Refining that Zhou Yang understood why only cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining were eligible to serve as Family Elders.

He didn't know about others, but after breaking through from the eighth level of Qi Refining to the ninth, his magical power had doubled, and his spiritual sense had also doubled, extending his outward spiritual sense range to three hundred meters!

With such magical power and spiritual sense, he could simultaneously control four or five high-grade second-tier magical artifacts to fight for half an hour. His combat power was incomparable to what it was before.

According to the Zhou Family's rules, as long as a Zhou Family cultivator who broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining reported it to the family, they would be granted the position of Family Elder by the Old Clan Leader, Zhou Minghan, on behalf of the family.

If Zhou Yang had broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining in the Jade Spring Lake oasis, he probably would have become the ninth Elder of the Zhou Family that very day.

The reason he would have been the ninth Elder was that his father, Zhou Xuanhao, after successfully establishing his foundation, had been granted the higher-level position of Supreme Elder by the Old Clan Leader, Zhou Minghan, after the Foundation Establishment celebration, thus vacating a position among the Zhou Family's nine Elders.

In principle, Supreme Elders and Family Clan Leaders were on equal footing. Even the Clan Leader had no right to directly issue any orders to them. If the Clan Leader made a grave mistake and caused significant losses to the family, the Supreme Elder even had the right to convene the Elder Council to vote on removing the Clan Leader.

However, in reality, within the family system, the status of a Supreme Elder was still lower than that of the Clan Leader. To put it bluntly, a Supreme Elder was a position of high status but little actual power. As long as the Clan Leader did not make mistakes or cause widespread resentment among the clan members, the Supreme Elder could only act as a figurehead, receiving a generous stipend and focusing on their cultivation.

For those with strong desires for power and control, of course, they would not like to be a Supreme Elder with seemingly noble status but little actual power. However, there were not many such people among cultivators.

Therefore, the actual situation in the cultivation world was that high-level cultivators in major forces often preferred to be Supreme Elders who received stipends and did less work, rather than wasting their precious cultivation time on trivial sect matters.

After all, the power of cultivators ultimately resided within themselves. As long as their cultivation remained, even if they were a leisurely Supreme Elder, no one would dare to ignore their existence because of it.

Thus, Zhou Yang was actually extremely envious of his father, Zhou Xuanhao, becoming a Supreme Elder.

Unfortunately, he could only envy him. As the almost predetermined next Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, even if he succeeded in establishing his foundation, he wouldn't be able to become a leisurely Supreme Elder. In the future, he would be the one to steer the Zhou Family ship.

"Ninth Brother, Ninth Brother, the family caravan is back! Sixth Uncle and Eleventh Uncle are returning to the market town with the caravan!"

On this day, Zhou Yang was reading a book on strange objects on the third floor of "Jade Spring Tower" when Zhou Xiong, who had been entertaining guests downstairs, suddenly burst in, shouting excitedly.

"Caravan? Sixth Uncle and Eleventh Uncle? Wait... are you saying the caravan that went to the Yellow Sand Sect for tribute trade with the Chen Family caravan a few years ago is back?"

Zhou Yang muttered to himself as he followed his clan brother's words, his expression suddenly becoming solemn.

Both the Chen Family and the Zhou Family were families affiliated with the Yellow Sand Sect. Every ten years, the surrounding families affiliated with the Yellow Sand Sect would jointly organize a caravan carrying a large amount of spiritual items to the Yellow Sand Sect's mountain gate for tribute and trade.

This caravan was usually led and overseen by a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Chen Family. Other Foundation Establishment families like the Zhou Family would each contribute a few Qi Refining cultivators to join it. Then, they would form a camel train and depart from the White Sand River oasis. It would take over twenty thousand li to reach the giant oasis where the Yellow Sand Sect's mountain gate was located.

As far as Zhou Yang knew, more than two years ago, his Sixth Uncle, Zhou Xuanjing, a Family Elder, and his Eleventh Uncle, Zhou Xuankun, who had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, had led two collateral relatives of the Zhou Family and three juniors from the "Yuan" generation to the Yellow Sand Sect with the caravan.

Ordinary family cultivators like Zhou Xiong only knew that this caravan's trip to the Yellow Sand Sect was for tribute and trade, just like in the past.

However, Zhou Yang knew that this caravan's trip to the Yellow Sand Sect actually had another mission: to retrieve the last few auxiliary spiritual items for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill, which had been pre-ordered for the Chen Family's ancestor, Chen Yaohui.

Now that the caravan had returned, it meant that the "Foundation Establishment Conference" that the Old Clan Leader, Zhou Minghan, had told him about was about to be held.

As expected, when he met his Sixth Uncle, Zhou Xuanjing, and Eleventh Uncle, Zhou Xuankun, he immediately saw an invitation letter personally written by the Chen Family's ancestor from his Sixth Uncle, inviting the Zhou Family's Old Clan Leader, Zhou Minghan, to gather at the Chen Family ancestral land in White Camel Ridge six months later.

"Little Nine, the Old Clan Leader must have told you about the [Foundation Establishment Conference], right? Since you've already broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, this time, no matter what, our Zhou Family must obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. You must stay in the market town during this period and absolutely do not leave!"

In "Jade Spring Tower," Zhou Xuankun looked at the junior before him, whose cultivation had surpassed his own, with both relief and envy.

He was nearly twenty years younger than Zhou Yang's father, Zhou Xuanhao. If Zhou Yang hadn't broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, he would have had some opportunities to take the Foundation Establishment Pill after the Zhou Family purchased it.

Unfortunately, although he also had medium-grade spiritual root aptitude, due to an injury sustained in a fight in his early years, his cultivation had been delayed for several years, causing him to remain at the eighth level of Qi Refining without breaking through. This time, he was completely out of luck for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"What Eleventh Uncle said is right, Little Nine, you need to be more careful at this time. It's not like being in the family when you're out here. You need to be more vigilant in everything."

Zhou Xuanjing glanced at his clan brother, whose expression was complicated, and then looked at Zhou Yang meaningfully as he cautioned him.

"Don't worry, both uncles. At this time, unless the Old Clan Leader personally gives the order, your nephew will not step out of the market town by half a step!"

Zhou Yang understood the meaning of his two clan uncles. They were worried that if he left the market town, he might be harmed, causing him to miss the opportunity for Foundation Establishment. Such incidents had happened before.

After all, even if the Chen Family's ancestor refined the Foundation Establishment Pill, the quantity would definitely not be large. If the Zhou Family obtained one, it would mean that someone from another family would return empty-handed.

In such a situation, it was natural for some families to secretly harm the "Foundation Establishment Seeds" of other families who had the potential to establish their foundation, in order to reduce a competitor.

The Old Clan Leader, Zhou Minghan, had specifically instructed him on these matters when Zhou Yang left the family. Therefore, he had not left the market town even once since arriving there.

As long as he was within the market town, the Chen Family would vouch for his safety. Anyone who dared to harm someone in the market town would be considered an enemy of the entire Chen Family.

Chapter Two, requesting recommendation tickets, requesting investment in the new book.