Test: Heading to the Sun Family—Today's Follow-up Reading Is Very Important

"Ninth Brother's child only had Lower-grade Spiritual Root aptitude. For the patriarch to make such a grand affair of it, I fear the old man was not drinking for the wine's sake. He wanted to use this as an example to inspire the rest of us!"

On the way back to Precious Lingzhi Peak, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly looked at Zhou Chun and blurted out those words without any warning.

Zhou Chun had been lost in thought. Hearing this, he was briefly startled, then glanced at him and asked curiously, "Since you understand that, Brother Yong, what do you plan to do?"

Zhou Zhengyong immediately answered without hesitation, "Of course, I'll answer the patriarch's call, find a Daoist companion as soon as possible, and have more children!"

Zhou Chun's brows twitched. His mouth fell slightly open as he stared at Zhou Zhengyong. After hesitating for quite some time, he finally asked in a low voice, "But what if—I mean, what if—you have children without Spiritual Root aptitude?"

What he had not expected was that Zhou Zhengyong gave an answer to this matter, which Zhou Chun had thought difficult to face, without the slightest hesitation.

"Then they don't have it. This was a matter of luck to begin with. If they don't, they can only blame their own bad fortune, for not having the fate to cultivate immortality and seek the Dao!"

This answer, which attributed everything to fate, made Zhou Chun frown deeply.

He soon voiced the greatest knot in his heart. "Then aren't you afraid, Brother Yong, that after you successfully establish your foundation in the future and your lifespan greatly increases, you'll personally watch your children who cannot cultivate die before you?"

Sure enough, after this question was asked, Zhou Zhengyong fell silent as well.

But just as Zhou Chun thought he would need a long silence before finding an answer, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly looked at him with a strange expression. "Thirteenth Brother, your questions today are really strange. Don't tell me the reason you don't want to find a Daoist companion and have children is because you're worried about these things?"

At this point, Zhou Zhengyong could not help shaking his head. Then he looked at Zhou Chun with a solemn expression. "If that's really the case, Thirteenth Brother, you need to correct that way of thinking quickly. Otherwise, it'll be very dangerous!!"

"What you just mentioned exists among ordinary mortals too, even without involving cultivators. Wild beasts, illness, war, all kinds of natural and man-made disasters—any of these can leave parents watching their children die before their very eyes, powerless to stop it!"

"Would all parents stop having children just because they worried about that?"

"To put it more harshly, even if you could guarantee that every child you had possessed Spiritual Root aptitude, could you guarantee they would always be safe whenever they went out? Could you guarantee that all of them would successfully establish their foundations?"

"If you can't guarantee those things, does that mean you won't have children either?"

"You're truly starving yourself for fear of choking, worrying that the sky will fall!!"

Was I really worrying that the sky would fall?

Zhou Chun's lips moved, but in the end, he merely sighed softly. "Sigh, perhaps you're right, Brother Yong. Maybe I'm just overthinking things!"

After speaking, he pursed his lips again and muttered quietly, "But I still think that if I could wait until my cultivation was higher before finding a Daoist companion and having descendants, at least those descendants would have a much higher starting point when they grew up, and could travel farther down the path of cultivation in the future!"

This time, Zhou Zhengyong nodded in agreement. "That's true. Quite a few elders in the Lineage who haven't married or had children actually think the same way, it's just that..."

Zhou Zhengyong did not explain what came after that, but he knew Zhou Chun would certainly understand.

After the two returned to Precious Lingzhi Peak like this, they each went home.

It had to be said that in a cultivation family like the Zhou Family, the patriarch's words still carried considerable weight.

Since that day's full-month celebration, the Daoist companions of several elders in the Zhou Family had indeed become pregnant again before long.

Whenever Zhou Chun went to stand guard at Spirit Cleansing Pavilion, he would often hear certain elders joking in a complaining tone about how some clan brothers and younger clan brothers had specifically taken leave to visit other Cultivation Families, hoping to lure female cultivators from those families into becoming their wives.

Zhou Zhengyong was among them.

Sometimes, even female Rogue Cultivators who came to cultivate would strike alluring poses at him, trying to draw his attention.

This left Zhou Chun feeling both amused and helpless.

He could only blame himself for being too charming, too popular with women!

Then one day, Zhou Zhengyong, who had vanished for nearly half a month since that day, finally appeared before Zhou Chun again—and once more, he had come to ask for help.

It turned out that during the half month or so he had disappeared, he had gone to the Sun Family of Golden Maple Ridge to see Sun Yujiao, the female cultivator he had met at the Wang Family of Red Medicine Valley.

It had to be said that the man had some skill. In less than half a month, he had actually won Sun Yujiao's heart and been introduced to her parents.

Sun Yujiao's father was himself a Level Twelve Qi Refining cultivator of the Sun Family, while her mother came from another small cultivation family.

Regarding his daughter forming a dual cultivation partnership with Zhou Zhengyong, Father Sun did not openly object. He merely set a test for Zhou Zhengyong to complete.

Father Sun's test was not impossible for Zhou Zhengyong to accomplish, yet neither was it easy.

He was to bring only one helper below the late Qi Refining Stage to a certain place, kill a First-grade High-tier Demonic Beast Purple Flame Sable, and take its pelt as the betrothal gift to marry his daughter.

Under such circumstances, Zhou Zhengyong naturally had no choice but to seek Zhou Chun's help.

"In any case, Thirteenth Brother, you must help your elder brother this time. Whether I can successfully carry the beauty home in my arms depends entirely on whether I can satisfy Miss Yujiao's father this time!"

In the reception hall, after explaining his purpose, Zhou Zhengyong gazed at Zhou Chun eagerly, his face full of expectation.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately nodded seriously. "Since this concerns Brother Yong's happiness in life, I naturally cannot refuse to help!"

Then he looked at Zhou Zhengyong and asked, "But have you told the patriarch about this?"

Hearing that, Zhou Zhengyong slapped his forehead and cried out, "Ah, not yet! If you hadn't mentioned it, Thirteenth Brother, I really wouldn't have remembered for a while!"

He then hurriedly said, "Let's go see the patriarch right away."

"Alright."

Zhou Chun answered, then immediately went with Zhou Zhengyong to Pagoda Peak to meet Patriarch Zhou Daoyi and explain the matter.

Within Zhongping Hall, after hearing Zhou Zhengyong's account, Zhou Daoyi nodded as he looked at him with a face full of approval. "I understand this matter. If you can succeed in this, Zhengyong, it will also benefit the Lineage. The Lineage will grant you a reward when the time comes."

Then his gaze shifted to Zhou Chun. "As for you, Zheng Chun, although you are helping Zhengyong with this matter out of personal friendship, you are also indirectly assisting the Lineage. If this trip succeeds, I will grant you a reward as well."

"Thank you, Patriarch."

Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong hurriedly voiced their thanks, then descended the mountain together and left Nine Peaks Ridge.

Compared with the relatively distant Wang Family of Red Medicine Valley, the Sun Family of Golden Maple Ridge was quite close to the Zhou Family's Nine Peaks Ridge, only a little over three hundred li away.

If they rode Ink Scale Colts, they could cover that distance in less than two hours.

Unfortunately, the Zhou Family had not yet purchased Ink Scale Colts for breeding. They had only tamed a kind of Great Horned Green Sheep, skilled at climbing mountains and crossing ridges, as short-distance mounts for clan members.

These Great Horned Green Sheep had hard horns like those of water buffaloes. They were powerfully built, weighed over a thousand jin, could climb mountains and ford rivers, and had no trouble carrying a single rider.

But ordinary beasts had limited stamina. Carrying one person across mountains and ridges, without using secret medicine to stimulate their life potential, two or three hundred li a day was their limit.

When Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong set out for the Sun Family of Golden Maple Ridge, they rode these Great Horned Green Sheep.

The two climbed mountains and crossed ridges all the way, taking more than a day to reach the Sun Family of Golden Maple Ridge's mountain gate.

Since it was a test, Sun Yujiao's father naturally had to supervise it personally to prevent cheating.

After Zhou Chun rested for a while at the Sun Family, Zhou Zhengyong brought a middle-aged couple and Miss Sun Yujiao before him.

Once both sides met, Zhou Zhengyong immediately introduced them. "Thirteenth Brother, this is Uncle Sun Lianzhong of the Sun Family. This is Aunt Lin. There's no need to introduce Miss Sun—you've already met her."

"Uncle Sun, Aunt Lin, this is Zhou Zheng Chun, the brother I am closest to within the Lineage. He will be helping me complete Uncle Sun's test this time."

Zhou Chun quickly bowed to the middle-aged couple. "This junior, Zhou Zheng Chun, greets Uncle Sun and Aunt Lin."

"Nephew Zhou, there is no need for such formality."

Sun Lianzhong lightly raised a hand. His gaze swept across Zhou Chun's handsome face, then he glanced at his daughter beside him. He could not help gently shaking his head as he inwardly sighed that it was a pity.

Less than a year had passed since the Daoist martial arts competition held by the Five Great Cultivation Families. In addition, Zhou Zhengyong had previously mentioned Zhou Chun, so Sun Lianzhong had naturally heard of Zhou Chun's achievements in that competition.

Now that he had seen Zhou Chun's true appearance, he admired him even more.

At this moment, in his eyes, if the person wishing to form a dual cultivation partnership with his daughter had been Zhou Chun, then there would have been no need for this test at all.

Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong naturally both saw Sun Lianzhong's movements, but neither was a worm in his belly. Naturally, they could not know what he was thinking and could only pretend not to have seen anything.

After this exchange of pleasantries, the group of five headed for the place where the Purple Flame Sable lived and roamed.

Purple Flame Sables were solitary demonic beasts with an extremely strong sense of territory. They were also very intelligent and vigilant.

The Purple Flame Sable Sun Lianzhong wanted Zhou Zhengyong to hunt was in the mountain forest over a hundred li east of the Sun Family of Golden Maple Ridge's mountain gate.

According to him, several Sun Family cultivators had previously failed to hunt that Purple Flame Sable and had instead been injured by its sneak attacks.

If Zhou Zhengyong could kill this Purple Flame Sable, even with someone assisting him, it would be enough to show that he was more capable than those Sun Family cultivators and worthy of being entrusted with his daughter.

After traveling for less than half a day, the group arrived outside a mountain forest filled with towering Red Pine Trees.

Sun Lianzhong pointed toward the pine forest ahead and said, "This is the Red Pine Forest. That Purple Flame Sable normally only moves about within this Red Pine Forest."

After speaking, he turned to Zhou Zhengyong and Zhou Chun. "My family and I will not be going in. We'll set a limit of three days. If you cannot succeed within three days, it will count as a failure."

Then he patted the Storage Bag at his waist and handed Zhou Zhengyong a specially made talisman. "Also, if you encounter danger and cannot prevail, release this rescue firework talisman. I will naturally come aid you then."

"Don't worry, Uncle. We won't need three days. We'll definitely bring that Purple Flame Sable's corpse back to offer you!"

Zhou Zhengyong accepted the special talisman, patted his chest confidently, and made this bold declaration.

Then he pulled Zhou Chun along and strode into the Red Pine Forest.

The recent plot development has been a little slow, causing quite a few readers to stockpile chapters, but I do not regret writing it this way! My experience with Desert has taught me that if a novel is to be exciting, become even more exciting later on, and be long enough, then all kinds of early groundwork are the key! Without scenes, characters, and plotlines laid out in advance, the middle and later stages will suffer badly from writer's block and reach a point where there is nothing left to write, and then I won't be able to resist wanting to finish the book!! So this approach may cause my early results to be relatively poor, but since I firmly believe I can write this book to over three million characters, I have to choose the writing method that is more correct for me! Naturally, I must deeply thank the readers who are still willing to follow along every day under these circumstances. You are the true fans, thank you so much!!!