Kong Sang Divine Tree

"The rules for this Foundation Establishment Assembly have already been set. Aside from this old man, who will take part in the battle to besiege the Tier 4 Demonic Beast, the rest of our Zhou Lineage only need to cooperate with the Chen Lineage's Qi Refining Cultivators to form formations and wipe out the low-ranking demonic beasts."

"Bound by an oath, this old man cannot reveal the specific target of this operation for now. I can only say that if the Chen Lineage's information is correct, the risks of this operation should be somewhat lower than in the previous few times."

"Therefore, starting tomorrow, Jun'er, Qi'er, the five of you Qi Refining Cultivators participating in the battle must go with this old man to White Camel Ridge and drill formations alongside the other participating cultivators. Remember, you only have one month to prepare."

Several days later, on the third floor of Jade Spring Tower, Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan arrived after discussing the details of the Foundation Establishment Assembly with the Chen Lineage and informed the Zhou Lineage's higher-ups present of the outcome.

Zhou Yang knew that once a demonic beast reached Tier 4 and condensed a demon core, its intelligence would greatly increase, and it would know how to subdue other demonic beasts as servants.

Thus, around Tier 4 Demonic Beasts in the Boundless Sea of Sand, quite a few Third-Rank Demonic Beasts and Tier 2 Demonic Beasts would often gather. Some Tier 4 Demonic Beasts even had more than a dozen Third-Rank Demonic Beasts by their side.

A Tier 4 Demonic Beast in its own lair, with more than a dozen Third-Rank Demonic Beasts and hundreds, even several hundred Tier 2 Demonic Beasts assisting it—even a Late Purple Mansion Stage cultivator like Old Ancestor Chen would not dare come knocking to stroke a tiger's whiskers.

That was why, despite being able to refine Foundation Establishment Pills himself, Old Ancestor Chen was still willing to sell them to other families. Relying on their own strength alone, even if they killed a Tier 4 Demonic Beast and obtained its demon core, they would suffer grievous losses and gain less than they lost.

How could a Tier 4 Demonic Beast possibly be so easy to kill?

The frenzied counterattack of a dying Tier 4 Demonic Beast could injure even a Late Purple Mansion Stage expert like Old Ancestor Chen, let alone cultivators whose cultivation had not reached the Purple Mansion Stage.

In fact, every time the Chen Lineage organized people to hunt Tier 4 Demonic Beasts, Foundation Establishment Cultivators would perish. In the worst instance, five participating Foundation Establishment Cultivators died at once, directly causing several Foundation Establishment Families to decline and have their inheritances cut off.

Yet even so, in order to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills and continue their family inheritances, small families like the Zhou Lineage could only grit their teeth and join in.

Such was the helplessness of small families!

After Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan finished discussing the important matters, he took out several jade slips and handed them to Zhou Yang. "Little Nine, these contain the Foundation Establishment experiences recorded by this old man, your father, and the Lineage's other Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Study them carefully over the coming days. Once we return from exterminating the demonic beasts, Old Ancestor Chen will immediately begin refining pills. Then you will directly attempt Foundation Establishment at White Camel Ridge."

"Rest assured, Great-Grandfather. Your grandson will certainly not disappoint you." Zhou Yang accepted the jade slips, his expression solemn as he nodded heavily.

Foundation Establishment was the foremost matter on the cultivation road of a Qi Refining Stage cultivator. Anything that could increase the chances of Achieving Foundation Establishment was enough to make Ninth Layer Qi Refining Cultivators aspiring toward Foundation Establishment scramble for it like mad.

For a Foundation Establishment Family like the Zhou Lineage, when younger cultivators underwent Foundation Establishment, they had their predecessors' Foundation Establishment experiences for reference. They could take many fewer detours and avoid many risks that could have been avoided.

As for Rogue Cultivators, without the Foundation Establishment experiences of senior Foundation Establishment Cultivators for reference, they could only rely entirely on luck and comprehension, fighting and gambling with fate.

Many Rogue Cultivators lacked the reference of their predecessors' experiences. Even if they ultimately Achieved Foundation Establishment by sheer luck, they would leave behind hidden injuries afterward, affecting their future Dao Path.

Zhou Yang did not doubt that if he put the jade slips in his hands up for sale, even at a price of one thousand spirit stones per slip, Rogue Cultivators would certainly be willing to buy them.

However, such an act was no different from selling off ancestral property, an unforgivable grave crime for any family. No matter how desperately he needed money, he could not do something that would make every cultivator in the Lineage point at his spine and curse him.

Over the next month, Zhou Yang did not see Old Clan Leader or the other elders participating in the battle again. Only when the agreed departure day arrived did he leave the marketplace with his adoptive mother, Zhou Xuanyu, to see them off.

This was also Zhou Yang's first time seeing a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator. Though he observed from several thousand meters away, he could still sense the unfathomably powerful aura surrounding Old Ancestor Chen.

At the same time, it was his first time witnessing the spectacular sight of more than a dozen Foundation Establishment Cultivators and over a hundred Late Qi Cultivation cultivators gathered together.

Zhou Yang counted them. Including Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan, seventeen Foundation Establishment Cultivators participated in this demon-hunting operation. Only four were Chen Lineage Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Of the remaining thirteen, excluding three Rogue Cultivator Foundation Establishment Cultivators, all were Foundation Establishment Cultivators from small families like the Zhou Lineage.

Among the one hundred and twenty-four Late Qi Cultivation cultivators, however, forty-eight were Qi Refining Cultivators from the Chen Lineage. Including those from other families, nearly half were old cultivators whose lifespans were nearing their end, just like the Zhou Lineage's two elders of the "Guang" generation. It seemed they wished to give off their remaining warmth in life's final afterglow and contribute one last measure of strength to their families.

After the farewell had lasted for nearly half a day, Zhou Yang witnessed an immensely shocking scene.

Old Ancestor Chen swept his great sleeve, releasing a green spiritual boat that glittered with azure light. At first, the vessel was only several feet long, but once Old Ancestor Chen poured mana into it, it instantly swelled against the wind into a massive tower ship more than ten zhang long.

Then, under Old Ancestor Chen's control, the enormous tower ship released a mass of green light and swept it downward. With one sweep after another, it took all the Qi Refining Cultivators on the ground into the space within the ship. Seeing this, Foundation Establishment Cultivators like Zhou Minghan also mounted their sword lights and flew into the tower ship one after another.

Once everyone had boarded, the massive tower ship carrying more than a hundred people transformed into a streak of azure spiritual light and swiftly flew away from this patch of sky beneath the astonished gazes of the countless cultivators seeing them off.

"Quite shocking, isn't it? This giant tower ship is a Tier 4 Mid-grade artifact, a treasure Old Ancestor Chen obtained while traveling through the Cultivation World of the Flowing Cloud Continent in his younger days. It is said that the main material used to refine the tower ship has some connection to the legendary Seventh-tier Divine Wood, the Kong Sang Divine Tree. The space inside is so vast that even several hundred people can ride it at once without feeling crowded!"

Before Zhou Yang had recovered from the shock of the giant tower ship's appearance, he heard Zhou Xuanyu beside him speak with envy.

A glint flashed through his eyes, and he could not help crying out, "The Kong Sang Divine Tree? Godmother, are you sure you did not get that wrong? That is the divine tree said to be able to hold an entire world once its canopy spreads open!"

Zhou Xuanyu was unsurprised by Zhou Yang's expression, because when she had heard Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan speak of it back then, she had not looked much better than Zhou Yang did now.

She immediately nodded. "Of course it is true. The Record of Heavenly Treasures records that tens of thousands of years ago, a section of branch from the Kong Sang Divine Tree fell from beyond the heavens and was obtained by a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal. Later, that Tribulation Crossing True Immortal used immortal divine arts to Graft Flowers and Trees, grafting it onto a Sixth-tier Spirit Wood. From then on, the Kong Sang Divine Tree took root in this world."

Recalling the records on the Kong Sang Divine Tree he had read in the Record of Heavenly Treasures, Zhou Yang hurriedly echoed, "That's right, I have read that account too. I also know that Spirit Planters later cultivated many branch saplings from that Sixth-tier Spirit Wood. The first generation of branch saplings were supposedly Sixth-tier Spirit Wood as well, called Kong Sang Trees. They are the finest materials for refining Teleportation Array Disks, Spatial Formations, and spatial artifacts. Even the Sixth-tier Spiritual Item Xuan Crystal Stone, which also possesses spatial attributes, cannot compare."

"Exactly. If even the spirit wood grafted with the Kong Sang Divine Tree could be cultivated into offshoots, why could the Sixth-tier Spirit Wood Kong Sang Tree not do the same? It is said that Old Ancestor Chen's giant tower ship was refined from an offshoot of an offshoot of a Kong Sang Tree." Zhou Xuanyu smiled as she tapped Zhou Yang's forehead with a jade finger.

"So that's how it was!"

Zhou Yang suddenly understood, and a comfortable smile appeared on his face as his curiosity was satisfied.

Seeing this, Zhou Xuanyu patted his shoulder fondly. "All right, we should head back too. Now we only need to wait for good news from Grandfather and the others."

Thanks to fellow readers Love in That Summer, Fearless One Is Invincible, Villager Grows Vegetables for Sale, Eight Years of Books, Qing Feng Fu Luo Ye, Snafu, and the others for their rewards. The second update is here—please join the new book investment group!