Having long grown accustomed to Zhou Yang's various extraordinary displays, the old clan leader, Zhou Minghan, was not overly surprised when Zhou Yang mastered the first layer of the Flying Star Sword Art in less than two months. As usual, he merely offered a few words of praise.
And when their group returned to the Lineage, just as Zhou Yang had expected, white mourning banners had been hung all over Jade Spring Peak. Everywhere, Zhou family members who had lost loved ones could be heard weeping bitterly.
Jade Spring Peak was home not only to Zhou family cultivators, but also to the mortal direct descendants within two generations of those cultivators. For instance, Zhou Xuanyu's two sons, neither of whom possessed spiritual roots, lived beside her courtyard with their families of several dozen people.
In all his decades, this was the first time Zhou Yang had seen the entire mountain clothed in mourning white. At first sight, it truly moved him deeply.
"Does it hurt? Good. It should hurt!"
"Why is the cohesion among our family cultivators stronger than that of rogue cultivators and even sect cultivators? It is because every cultivator in our Lineage has lived and cultivated together from childhood to adulthood. Besides sharing the same ancestor, we also share friendships beyond blood ties. When family and friends pass away, we should naturally mourn and remember them."
"Look instead at sect cultivators. Though they, too, have bonds between masters and disciples and affection among fellow disciples, it is absolutely impossible for them to be like our Zhou family now, where the deaths of a few low-level cultivators can draw mourning and remembrance from the entire sect."
"Look at this mountain draped in white. It was all done voluntarily by the clansmen. Those cries of grief are heartfelt and