CHAPTER 278: CHAPTER 265: A HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY AND A LONG ROAD AHEAD!

"Very good, with these three spiritual lands for cultivation, not only will the clan’s low-tier cultivators have an additional way to refine their abilities, but we can also recoup some clan contribution points, reducing the financial deficit!"

Previously, the Zhou Family only had the "Jade Sun Cave" as a spiritual land for cultivation, which naturally could only be used to nurture a few elite clan members.

However, now with both the "Fire Spirit Cave" and the "Yellow Stone Valley" being spiritual lands for cultivation, they can be open year-round for cultivation. To continue using them in the same way as "Jade Sun Cave" would clearly be unacceptable to the majority.

Thus, they can only adopt Zhouyang’s method, collecting clan contribution points as usage fees, to give all clan cultivators the opportunity to cultivate there.

In the following period, Zhouyang stayed at the A-level cave mansion on the main peak of Red Tiger Mountain, cultivating the four magical techniques from the "Qianyang Immortal Scripture," while waiting for the migration of the Zhou Family members.

Originally, this cave mansion had an unremarkable name, but after he moved in, it was renamed "Qianyang Cave."

"Qianyang Cave" was previously a cultivator’s cave mansion at Red Tiger Mountain overseen by the Yellow Sand Sect’s Purple Mansion cultivators. The space inside is quite vast, and after Zhouyang and Xiao Ying moved in, they only added a training room and a bedroom.

At this moment, in one training room inside the cave mansion, Zhouyang was performing the "Sacred Treasure Technique" spell over a fire-red feather fan.

This fire-red feather fan, called "True Yang Fan," originally belonged to Luo Yunqing. After Zhouyang slew Luo Yunqing, this treasure came into his possession.

In truth, Luo Yunqing was unlucky. With "True Yang Fan" being a Tier Four high-grade spiritual artifact, its power was naturally substantial. If he hadn’t encountered Zhouyang, but another cultivator, this artifact would undoubtedly have been of great use.

But fate had him unluckily run into Zhouyang, who had just refined the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace" not long ago!

Once used by a Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivator as an artifact refining furnace, the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace" was, of course, not an ordinary Tier Four high-grade spiritual artifact, but a spirit communication spiritual artifact with an "artifact soul."

This artifact’s material was made from the precious and rare Tier Four spiritual object "Fire Separation Essence Gold," similar in value to "Taiyi Essence Gold." Upon successful refinement, it also incorporated the beast soul of a Tier Four demon bird, "Flame Sparrow," which possessed a trace of bloodline from the Vermilion Bird Divine Bird, forming the artifact soul.

The Vermilion Bird is a divine bird of fire, innately capable of mastering all flames. After the "Flame Sparrow" beast soul merged with the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace," its fire control divine techniques combined with the artifact. It not only allowed the artifact refiner to release "Separation Fire Essence Flame" to aid in refining but also had the ability to absorb and devour other flame divine techniques.

Though the red flames emitted by "True Yang Fan" had considerable power, they certainly did not exceed the absorption range of the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace."

Thus, Luo Yunqing met with disaster!

Even though the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace" is exceptional, it is ultimately an auxiliary artifact meant for refining, not suitable for use as an attack artifact.

Therefore, Zhouyang now needed to refine the "True Yang Fan," a Tier Four high-grade attack artifact, to enrich his combat strategies and make his attack methods more comprehensive.

After spending nearly a month to refine the "True Yang Fan," he then began cultivating the "Separation Fire Golden Eye" divine technique.

Among the four magical techniques, after careful consideration, Zhouyang decided to first cultivate this pupil technique divine technique.

The reason for this choice was, of course, that compared to the other three techniques, this one was easier to master.

To cultivate this divine technique, one first needs to use a secret technique to collect the fiery and fierce Li Fire Qi from the heavens and earth to cleanse the pupils.

However, if "Li Fire Qi," which is fierce and explosive, rushes into the eyes without restraint, it can easily burn the eyes. Therefore, to practice the "Separation Fire Golden Eye" divine technique, in addition to the cultivator’s own high "fire resistance," a special secret elixir needs to be applied to the eyes to suppress the "Li Fire Qi."

The preparation of this secret elixir is not overly complex; Zhouyang had already tasked Zhou Clan members with collecting all the necessary materials through task missions, producing many finished products.

Over the past two or three years of cultivation, Zhouyang’s "Separation Fire Golden Eye" divine technique showed signs of readiness to enter, and it is estimated it will take at most another half-year to reach entry level.

Speaking of which, after reaching the Purple Mansion stage, Zhouyang indeed had many tasks to accomplish.

Apart from the Zhou Family’s migration matter, he not only had to cultivate four magical techniques with associated divine abilities but also needed to enhance his artifact refining skills. Additionally, after reaching the Purple Mansion stage, he urgently needed to learn the next level sword array recorded in the "Great Derivation Sword Technique."

These were the most critical tasks.

There were also some secondary matters that required gradual completion.

For instance, after advancing to the Purple Mansion stage, the two secret techniques he had learned previously, "Godslaying Needle" and "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique," both required深化修行提升到紫府层次.

Additionally, the fire control secret technique "Profound Sun Fire Manipulation Technique" given by Master Cyan Yang could now be attempted to comprehend and cultivate after he reached the Purple Mansion stage.

If he learns this "Profound Sun Fire Manipulation Technique," not only can it enhance the power of his strongest divine technique, "Qianyang True Flame," but it will also improve his fire control ability during artifact refining, indirectly increasing the success rate of the process.

If after mastering all these secret techniques and divine abilities he still has spare time, Zhouyang also plans to study one of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation.

Of course, these are just plans he has made, whether this plan can be smoothly executed is still unknown.

Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, a year had elapsed since Zhouyang moved to Red Tiger Mountain.

For a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, saying it passed in the blink of an eye might be an exaggeration, but Zhouyang indeed did not feel the passage of time at all.

If it weren’t for the increasing number of Zhou Family cultivators busy on Red Tiger Mountain, he might not have even noticed time slipping by.

This past year, he focused solely on cultivating divine abilities, paying little attention to family affairs. Only now, after initially mastering the divine abilities, did he have time to learn about the family’s migration situation.

He stood on the summit of Red Tiger Mountain, gently activating his magical power, and his pupils instantly changed from black and white to a golden-red color. Then the world looked completely different to him.

Firstly, his vision extended more than ten times its normal range, allowing him to clearly see a mosquito flapping its wings more than ten miles away and to recognize a person’s face from dozens of miles away.

Secondly, to his eyes, the flow and distribution of spiritual qi in the heavens and the earth were clearly visible, like a meteorological chart over a stretch of several dozen miles, making it easy to see where the spiritual qi is abundant or scarce.

When he looked at a cultivator, unless the cultivator used an extremely powerful technique or spiritual artifact for concealment, their cultivation realm would be laid bare before him, and he could even discern the spirit root attributes of Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators at a glance!

This is the power of the "Separation Fire Golden Eye"!

Although Zhouyang had only just begun learning this divine ability, the depth of its power was already clear to him.

This made him even more eager for the remaining three divine abilities!

Zhouyang looked around and found that on a piece of flat, barren land several tens of miles from Red Tiger Mountain, a small mortal city had already been built with the help of Zhou Family cultivators’ magic. The tens of thousands of Zhou Family mortals who migrated from the Baisha River Oasis now lived in that small city.

The architectural style of this small city differs somewhat from common mortal cities in this world. Although it also has tall city walls and the same "field" shaped outer landscape, the houses inside for mortals are no longer one or two-story houses. Instead, they are five-story stone buildings reinforced and constructed with the help of cultivators using earth magic.

These five-story stone buildings have dozens of rooms and can accommodate at least a hundred people. They even have comprehensive sewage systems and kitchen ventilation systems. Being entirely made of stone, there’s no worry about the buildings burning down in a fire.

Clearly, these buildings, whose architectural style is quite different from the local norms, could only be the handiwork of Zhouyang, this visitor from another world.

He had long disapproved of the Zhou Family mortals’ practice of using land extensively for farming while still building excessive houses and yards.

Therefore, during the migration to the New Oasis, he specifically instructed that, unless approved by the clan, no mortal may occupy land privately to build houses in the city. Everyone, regardless of rank, must live in "resettlement housing" specially designed for them by the cultivators.

Now it seemed that his orders were being adequately enforced. At least for now, he hadn’t seen any unsightly "illegal constructions" within that small city.

"Very well, henceforth, all Zhou Family mortals’ residences must be constructed in this format. As for aesthetics, let them go to hell for now!"

Zhouyang withdrew his gaze from the small city, nodding contentedly, pleased that his orders were being thoroughly implemented.

He harbored no intention of developing any technology in this world, but he didn’t mind adopting some "advanced" methods that could promote the family’s population, economy, and education.

For example, these five-story buildings that could house many mortals have no technical significance in the Cultivation Realm—what marketplace or sect doesn’t have buildings of this height?

But never had the cultivators considered letting mortals live in such tall buildings.

Of course, this stemmed partly from their desire to feel superior to mortals, but mostly, it was because no cultivator felt it necessary to do so for mortals.

After all, mortals could live in single-story houses and thatched-roof cottages. Why should these noble cultivators waste time and effort on such endeavors?

But Zhouyang was different. Although he understood the distinction between immortals and mortals, and never considered himself equal to a mortal, he knew, as the clan leader of the Zhou Family, that those seemingly insignificant mortals were the fundamental basis of a cultivation clan.

If this foundation is not well-laid or unstable, the cultivation clan cannot last long.

Therefore, in building the new city, he required Zhou Guangxiang and Huang Yi, two Foundation Establishment cultivators practicing earth element techniques, to lead a group of Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators with earth element techniques to jointly complete the task of establishing the new city—regardless of whether the clan’s cultivators understood his decision or not, he issued strict orders.