Who in this world was truly selfless?
When an old man who had devoted more than a century of his life to the Lineage wept bitter tears before him, disregarding his dignity as an elder to plead desperately with a junior of the same generation as his grandson, Zhou Yang truly could not refuse the old man's somewhat selfish request.
An old man nearing the end of his life who wished to leave behind a considerable inheritance for his descendants was simply human nature.
Even the harshest person could not criticize him for it.
Especially since the old man was not abusing his authority to embezzle Lineage assets for his descendants. He merely wanted the reward that should have belonged to him in the first place to be distributed "normally."
"Third Grandfather, rest assured. If we truly discover a new ore vein, then as long as I, Zhou Yang, remain alive, I will certainly transfer your share of the dividends in full to Second Brother Zhou Bao. But I must make one thing clear: if I die midway, or if Second Brother Zhou Bao passes away in meditation someday, then your share of the dividends must still be truthfully turned over to the Lineage!"
Looking at the old man before him, whose face was already streaked with tears, Zhou Yang solemnly made his promise.
He had not taken the additional twenty percent of dividends the old man had offered. He could not accept that money. Agreeing to the old man's condition was already skating along the edge of the clan rules; if he took that money as well, it would truly become "robbing the public coffers to fatten private pockets."
"Thank you, Little Nine. Thank you so much! Whether this succeeds or not, Third Grandfather will remember this kindness of yours. Your second brother, Zhou Bao, will also remember this great favor for the rest of his life!" The old man excitedly clutched Zhou Yang's arm, his voice already choked with emotion.
For old Zhou Quan, whose end was not far away, his greatest concern was the survival of his descendants after his death. With his care over the years, even those descendants of his without spiritual roots had been able to live quite comfortably within the Zhou Family.
But once he passed away, without the support of his Attendant allowance from the Lineage, the quality of life for those descendants would likely plummet. Within a generation or two, they would probably fall into circumstances no different from ordinary commoners. That was something he did not wish to see.
Now that he had Zhou Yang's promise, even after his death, his descendants would at least not fall into dire straits for the next several decades with these ore-vein dividends to rely on.
If, during those coming decades, another descendant among his children and grandchildren were to possess spiritual roots, that would be even better.
Thus, old Zhou Quan was genuinely immensely grateful to Zhou Yang. Otherwise, he would not have lost his composure so badly.
Zhou Yang understood the old man's excitement, but the old man's behavior also left him somewhat caught between laughter and tears. He could not help exerting a little strength to free his hands from the old man's grip, then softly advised him in a helpless tone, "Third Grandfather, please calm down. Even if you wish to thank me, you should wait until we truly find that ore vein. Don't let us toil away only to end up rejoicing for nothing. That would make us a laughingstock."
At his words, the old man's face immediately reddened. He awkwardly tugged at his beard and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Hehe, Little Nine, you are right. This old man lost his composure."
Zhou Yang thought that the old man's behavior just now had been far more than merely losing composure, but he kept his expression unchanged and did not mention it again. Instead, he took the initiative to ask, "Third Grandfather, you are experienced and knowledgeable. What are your thoughts on finding that possible ore vein?"
"In this old man's opinion, rather than having the two of us search blindly through the Boundless Sea of Sand like headless flies, we might as well wait by a tree stump for a rabbit. When that Gold-Eating Rat comes again, this old man will plant a Blood Spirit Mark upon it. Then we will wound it and let it escape back to its lair, following the mark's resonance straight to its nest."
"You know that rodent demonic beasts usually make their dens deep underground. Once injured outside, they generally hide in their lairs to recover. As long as we keep pursuing that Gold-Eating Rat, it will not be able to hide itself around this Fine Iron Ore Vein and will surely habitually flee back to its former nest to heal. When that time comes, would we still fear failing to find the place?"
Old Zhou Quan truly deserved the saying that age turned one into a demon. Once he calmed down, he immediately came up with a method that made Zhou Yang clap his hands in admiration.
"Wonderful! Old ginger is spicier than young ginger. Third Grandfather, this method is excellent. Let's do exactly that!" He clapped his hands and shouted in delight, raising both hands in wholehearted approval of the old man's plan.
Just as the old man had said, the sea of sand was boundless. If the two of them relied on themselves alone, the odds of finding an ore vein in an unknown location were far too low.
If the ore vein where the Gold-Eating Rat had originally hidden were so easy to find, the Zhou Family elders who had discovered the Qingping Mountain Fine Iron Ore Vein would certainly have found it long ago.
"Since you approve of this old man's method, we shall return and prepare at once. This old man estimates that beast will need at least one or two months to heal its injuries. That will be more than enough time for this old man to make a round trip back to the Lineage. When the time comes, to pursue that beast through the sea of sand without getting lost, we will need to bring Sand Camel Beasts!"
Seeing that Zhou Yang did not oppose his proposed method, old Zhou Quan immediately laid out the next step of their arrangements.
Sand Camel Beasts were Tier 1 High-grade Demonic Beasts bred by the Zhou Family. It was said that these demonic beasts had evolved from ordinary camels. Their strength and endurance were ten times that of ordinary camels, making them the finest helpers for low-level cultivators traveling through deserts and the primary means of transport for the trading caravans under Cultivation Families such as the Zhou Family.
Sand Camel Beasts also possessed an exceptionally powerful ability: as long as they had traveled a route within the previous thirty days, they could remember it and return the way they came. In the desert, this ability was practically divine.
Unfortunately, Sand Camel Beasts were difficult to breed. Moreover, because they often crossed deserts under heavy loads, their lifespans were generally shorter than those of normal Tier 1 beast-type demonic beasts. Even after more than two hundred years of breeding, the Zhou Family's Sand Camel Beast herd numbered only thirty-four in total, old and young combined.
These Sand Camel Beasts were part of the Zhou Family's foundation. Ordinary Zhou Family disciples could not borrow them for personal use. Old Zhou Quan only dared to speak of borrowing them because he was a Zhou Family elder and the Lineage's sole Second-Rank Beast Tamer.
With the plan decided, old Zhou Quan immediately set off back to the Jade Spring Lake Oasis. Zhou Yang, meanwhile, calmed the restless miners, selected a new overseer, and ordered him to organize the men to resume mining.
Since old Zhou Quan had said the Gold-Eating Rat would need at least one or two months to recover, the mining of Fine Iron Ore certainly could not stop during that period.
As for the miners, from the moment they chose to become miners, they had already prepared themselves for death. Furthermore, the Zhou Family had always provided generous compensation for miners who died.
Therefore, after Zhou Yang, this "Immortal Master," personally came forward and explained that the demonic beast had been driven away, the miners' emotions quickly settled, and they gradually resumed work.
More than a month later, old Zhou Quan returned from the Lineage and arrived at Qingping Mountain once more with two Sand Camel Beasts. Accompanying him was Zhou Yang's clansman Zhou Bao, old Zhou Quan's own grandson.
"This old man thought that if you and I leave the Qingping Mountain region in pursuit of that beast, there will be no Family Cultivator stationed here. Should anything happen, it would be very detrimental to your future evaluation. Your second brother happens to be on leave right now, so this old man had him come over and cover your shift."
Seeing Zhou Yang looking at the two of them with confusion, old Zhou Quan explained the reason with a smile. Then he lightly kicked his own grandson and gave him a meaningful look.
Zhou Bao ranked second among the "Yuan" generation. He was already in his thirties or forties, with a somewhat dull-looking face and dark, rough skin. He resembled an old farmer from the fields, honest and simple in appearance, and his cultivation was only at Qi Refining Layer Four.
Though they were both of the "Yuan" generation, the considerable age gap between them, coupled with Zhou Bao having followed the Lineage's camel caravans on trading journeys everywhere since turning twenty, meant that Zhou Yang had seen this clansman fewer than ten times in total since childhood. They had exchanged even fewer words.
Seeing him like this now, Zhou Yang immediately understood old Zhou Quan's painstaking efforts even better. If the old man did not leave his descendants a solid family foundation while he was still alive, then given this clansman's circumstances, there was truly no way he could provide Third Grandfather's large family with a good life in the future.
At this moment, after receiving his grandfather's signal, Zhou Bao hurriedly opened his mouth and said, "Ninth Brother, Grandfather has told me everything. If this matter succeeds, then you will be the great benefactor of our entire family. Your second brother's cultivation may be low, but running errands is no problem. In the future, if Ninth Brother has any orders, simply send word to your second brother."
After speaking, he lowered his head, not daring to look at Zhou Yang's handsome face.
Zhou Yang was simply too dazzling!
Even though he was nearly twice Zhou Yang's age, even though he spent all year outside and rarely returned home, Zhou Bao often heard the great name of this Ninth Brother from elders and peers around him.
He began cultivating at four, reached Qi Refining at seven, attained Qi Refining Layer Four at twelve, Qi Refining Layer Five at fifteen, Qi Refining Layer Six at seventeen, and became a First-Rank Artifact Forger at twenty...
Whenever the elders spoke of Zhou Yang, they were full of praise. Then, without exception, they would use him to lecture the younger descendants around them, telling them to learn from this talented Zhou Family junior.
Heaven knew how despairing and helpless Zhou Bao felt whenever he heard elders speak that way.
He wanted to work hard too, but his spiritual root aptitude was only low-grade, and his comprehension was ordinary as well. Even with Grandfather Zhou Quan's many forms of care, he had only barely broken through to Qi Refining Layer Four by now. Forget Foundation Establishment—even whether he could reach Qi Refining Layer Nine in this life remained unknown.
Under such circumstances, let alone harboring thoughts of competing with Ninth Brother Zhou Yang, he did not even have the confidence to look at this Ninth Brother as an equal.
In the end, the Cultivation World revered strength. Even cultivators from the same Lineage and the same generation would not truly believe that greater seniority entitled them to speak as equals with a clansman whose cultivation far surpassed their own.
Especially since Zhou Bao had spent so long following trading caravans outside the Lineage, he had long witnessed the cruelty of the Cultivation World and learned reverence—reverence for the strong.
And Zhou Yang, whom the Old Clan Leader had personally called the Zhou Family Prodigy, and whom even his grandfather praised endlessly in his words, was undoubtedly the sort of existence Zhou Bao needed to revere.
In truth, Zhou Bao was not the only one. Among the Zhou Family cultivators of the "Yuan" generation, apart from the few who were relatively familiar with Zhou Yang, nearly everyone else had developed a psychological shadow toward this "Ninth Brother" and "Ninth Brother." None of them dared treat him as a peer any longer.
Their generation was destined to live beneath the shadow named "Zhou Yang" for the rest of their lives.
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