The Troubles of Happiness

It was another bright, sunny morning.

On Precious Lingzhi Peak, after Zhou Chun returned to his residence from cultivating at the mountaintop, the Silver Lightning Thunder Python hiding beneath his bed quickly slithered out and headed straight toward him.

The Silver Lightning Thunder Python was already half a zhang long, as thick as a baby's arm.

Moreover, after shedding its skin several times, its white scales had gradually gained a hint of silver, making it look even more graceful and beautiful.

With the Silver Lightning Thunder Python now this large, Zhou Chun could no longer keep it wrapped around his body and take it everywhere. Thus, whenever he went out, he usually left it at home.

"Bai Bai has grown again. That's wonderful."

Zhou Chun extended an arm and let the white snake slowly coil around it. Then, with his right hand, he gently stroked its cool head and massaged it a few times.

Hiss hiss~

The white snake flicked its tongue, thoroughly enjoying the gentle caresses in high spirits.

It had only been born for a little over a month and possessed no real intelligence, only the bloodline instincts of a beast.

But Zhou Chun was in no hurry. With its intelligence still so low, this was precisely the best time to nurture their bond.

Once their feelings had been cultivated from childhood, it would be much easier to command it after it grew up.

Why did so many cultivators who practiced Beast Taming Arts prefer to contract juvenile Demonic Beasts?

Aside from juvenile Demonic Beasts being easier to contract, it was also because it was easier to cultivate the bond between master and servant.

Otherwise, if one directly contracted an adult Demonic Beast, even if successful, one would still have to constantly worry about it turning on its master when they were weak. During battle, one would also have to expend spiritual sense and mental energy to suppress the Demonic Beast's resistance.

After spending some time affectionately playing with Bai Bai and feeding it chopped frozen Flame Rat meat jerky, Zhou Chun put it back beneath the bed once it was full and wanted to rest. He then went into the Quiet Room to practice secret arts.

Unexpectedly, he had only practiced the secret art twice when Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi personally came outside his residence.

"Zheng Chun, have you rested enough? If you have, then come out with me."

Outside the courtyard, Zhou Daoyi smiled faintly at Zhou Chun, who had opened the door and revealed a startled expression upon seeing him. He then directly stated his purpose.

The moment Zhou Chun heard this, he understood why Zhou Daoyi had come. He immediately replied respectfully, "Yes, this junior obeys."

Then he left the Zhou Family with Zhou Daoyi.

Once outside, Zhou Daoyi did not ostentatiously release the Azure Cloud Python to carry Zhou Chun along. Instead, he brought out a flying boat artifact, carrying Zhou Chun into the azure sky and above the clouds.

Traveling by artifact in this manner, they reached the skies above the Red Pine Forest in only an hour.

"This is the place. Judging from the traces around here, no one should have come here yet."

Within the mountain forest, Zhou Chun pointed at the concealed cave entrance and spoke in a low voice.

"Then let us go. Enter with me."

Zhou Daoyi nodded. As he spoke, he patted the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist and released the Azure Cloud Python to stand guard outside, then strode into the cave.

The two entered the cave and arrived at the place where Zhou Chun had excavated the Crimson Radiance Iron Ore. Zhou Daoyi first released his spiritual sense to investigate, then brought out a bronze-colored Flying Sword artifact and began digging throughout the area.

This was Zhou Chun's first time seeing a Foundation Establishment cultivator in action, and the sight deeply shocked him.

Under Zhou Daoyi's command, the bronze Flying Sword artifact darted all over the cave like an agile wandering dragon.

Wherever its edge passed, the stone walls tore apart and shattered as easily as tofu, leaving overturned cracks behind like earth plowed by an iron plow.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhou Daoyi's Flying Sword had plowed dozens of deep, long fissures through a section of cave over a hundred zhang long.

Through those fissures, even Zhou Chun could detect the Crimson Radiance Iron Ore mixed within using his spiritual sense.

If he could discover it, how could Zhou Daoyi possibly fail to do so?

Thus, Zhou Chun soon heard Zhou Daoyi mutter to himself, "It seems this place truly contains a Crimson Radiance Iron ore vein!!"

Yet Zhou Chun could not hear much joy in his words.

As if possessed by a ghost, Zhou Chun suddenly gathered his courage and asked, "Clan Chief, you do not seem very happy?"

"Oh? Why do you ask?"

Zhou Daoyi's expression shifted as he looked at him with slight surprise.

Zhou Chun immediately felt awkward and opened his mouth. "Uh, this junior merely felt that... felt that Clan Chief did not look particularly happy."

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Zhou Daoyi nodded. "Your feeling is not wrong. I am indeed not especially happy!"

This left Zhou Chun even more confused, and he could not help asking, "Why? Although this junior does not understand artifact refining, I know that Crimson Radiance Iron is a spirit material for refining artifacts. Even if it is not as rare as materials like Essence Gold and Steel Silver, the value of an entire ore vein must surely be enormous, right?"

"Yes. Even a small ore vein, once fully mined, would be worth at least two hundred thousand Spirit Coins!"

"Even after deducting all the various costs and losses along the way, the net profit would not be less than one hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Coins!"

Zhou Daoyi sighed softly and nodded as he spoke of the tremendous value of the ore vein.

Without waiting for Zhou Chun to ask another question, he gave a bitter smile and waved his hand. "But such a huge sum of Spirit Coins is not something the current Zhou Family can swallow!"

"As the saying goes, a common man commits no crime, but he becomes guilty for possessing jade. With the Zhou Family's current strength and influence, if we tried to swallow this ore vein, the final outcome would be our joint destruction at the hands of other factions!"

"To the various local powers of Misty Prefecture, our Zhou Family is still an outsider. They would never permit such a precious ore vein to fall into our hands!"

Now Zhou Chun understood, and he fell silent.

Things in this world had always been this way. There had never been any fairness to speak of.

Even in the world of his previous life, it was not as though whoever discovered an ore vein automatically owned it.

Let alone in this Cultivation World, where strength reigned supreme.

If the Zhou Family were not outsiders, if they had countless intertwined connections with the local factions, then perhaps, with the deterrence of the Lineage's Violet Palace cultivator, they might have had the slightest chance of swallowing this ore vein.

But as outsiders, how could the various local powers of Misty Prefecture sit by and watch such immense profits be seized by the Zhou Family?

And now that the Zhou Family had finally taken root and gradually gained the support of certain local factions in Misty Prefecture, how could they give the various powers an excuse to join forces and destroy them at such a time?

But if this ore vein could not be mined, how much reward would Zhou Chun and the others receive for discovering it?

Thus, all sorts of thoughts flashed through Zhou Chun's mind as he began considering a solution for his own benefit.

After pondering for a while, he looked at Zhou Daoyi and said, "Could we perhaps mine it jointly with other factions? Did our Zhou Family not just hold a Daoist martial arts competition together with the Wang Family, Sun Family, Mu Family, and He Family? If we join hands with them to mine it, and the several families form an alliance to resist outside enemies, that should be enough to protect this ore vein, shouldn't it?"

"It is not bad that you thought of that."

Zhou Daoyi glanced at him and nodded faintly. "That is right. At present, this is the only method. But whether it can succeed will depend on whether the other families are willing."

Thus, after gathering some more Crimson Radiance Iron Ore as evidence, Zhou Daoyi completely filled in and sealed the cave entrance, then returned to the Zhou Family with Zhou Chun.

And because the matter of how the ore vein would be mined had yet to be decided, the rewards for Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong naturally could not be determined for the time being.

Over the next three months, Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi and even Grand Elder Zhou Mingde repeatedly left the Lineage to travel about and negotiate over the mining of the ore vein.

After preparing a generous bride price, Zhou Zhengyong also went with Twenty-seventh Uncle Zhou Jiapeng to the Sun Family of Golden Maple Ridge to propose marriage. He succeeded and brought Sun Yujiao back to the Zhou Family as his wife.

As the matchmaker who had personally brought the two together, Zhou Chun also received the young couple's sincere gratitude and was seated in a place of honor during the wedding celebration.

More than three months later, Zhou Chun was only two acupoints away from breaking through to Level Nine Qi Refining.

By then, the Silver Lightning Thunder Python had also successfully awakened its innate spell and become a First-grade low-tier Demonic Beast.

At this time, the Silver Lightning Thunder Python had grown to one zhang and two chi in length. Its snake scales had initially formed, making it difficult for blades and swords to harm it.

To temper its abilities, Zhou Chun no longer actively fed it. He only brought it to places at the foot of the mountain where wild beasts and birds were plentiful, allowing it to hunt for itself.

Sometimes, he even forbade it from using spells while hunting.

One day, Zhou Chun was watching the Silver Lightning Thunder Python hunt at the foot of Precious Lingzhi Peak when Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi's blue parrot, Lanlan, suddenly flew over Precious Lingzhi Peak and arrived before him.

"Brother Chun, the Clan Chief wants you to go to Pagoda Peak."

The large parrot Lanlan flapped its wings as it circled above Zhou Chun's head, loudly delivering Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi's order.

Yet its eyes nervously watched the white streak amid the distant grass.

From its lofty position, it could naturally tell that a huge python was hiding there.

"Understood. Lanlan, go back and report to the Clan Chief that I will be there shortly."

Zhou Chun smiled. As he spoke, he took out a fresh wild fruit that he had not yet eaten from his pocket and tossed it to the blue parrot as a reward.

Seeing this, the blue parrot immediately swooped down, accurately catching the wild fruit in midair. Then it called out to Zhou Chun, "Thank you, Brother Chun. Goodbye, Brother Chun."

With that, it flew away clutching the wild fruit.

Watching the blue parrot depart, Zhou Chun could not help falling into thought.

Why had the Clan Chief specifically summoned him to Pagoda Peak this time?

Had there been a result concerning the development of the Crimson Radiance Iron ore vein?

Or was it because of something else?