Nine Peaks Ridge.
When Zhou Chun was dispatched by shopkeeper Zhou Jiasheng to return to the Zhou Family of Nine Peaks Ridge on behalf of Spirit Beast Hall to mourn, he saw that all the Zhou Family cultivators within the Lineage had wrapped white cloth around their heads. The entire Lineage was holding funeral rites for the departed Grand Elder, Zhou Mingshan.
Seeing this, he hurriedly found someone to get a strip of white cloth from and wrapped it around his own head. Then he went up Pagoda Peak to pay his respects before the remains of Grand Elder Zhou Mingshan.
By reckoning, the Zhou Family had only established its roots in Nine Peaks Ridge five or six years ago. Yet this was the first time a cultivator like Zhou Mingshan had passed away after exhausting his natural lifespan.
Even the proper procedure for handling the funeral had to be discussed and decided by Clan Chief Zhou Daoyi and the various elders.
After deliberation, they ultimately decided that, in accordance with Zhou Mingshan's status as an elder, the mourning period would last nine days.
During those nine days, aside from duties that could not be shirked, such as guarding the Spirit Cleansing Pavilion, every Zhou Family cultivator within the mountain gate had to recite scriptures and chant spells outside the Ancestral Shrine on Pagoda Peak, praying for the departed elder Zhou Mingshan's passage beyond.
During those nine days, the other four great Cultivation Families that had received the news, along with certain other forces from Misty Prefecture, each sent people to offer condolences.
Some Rogue Cultivators who lived and cultivated near the Zhou Family of Nine Peaks Ridge also stopped by to pay their respects whenever they came to cultivate at the Zhou Family.
After nine days of such grand