CHAPTER 281: CHAPTER 268: HUANG YI PRESENTS A TREASURE

"Huang Yi, why have you suddenly requested to see me?"

Inside "Qianyang Cave," Zhouyang sat cross-legged on the jade bed, his eyes fixated on Huang Yi as he entered the cave, a hint of curiosity showing in his gaze.

In the Zhou Family, Huang Yi was undoubtedly the person who least wanted to meet him.

Most of the time, Huang Yi would try to avoid meeting him, noticeably staying out of his way.

Yet today, Huang Yi, who had always avoided him, unexpectedly took the initiative to visit him, sparking Zhouyang’s curiosity about his intentions.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing his words, Huang Yi’s expression changed slightly and he suddenly bowed deeply to him, saying, "Clan Leader, please see clearly, I am here to confess my sins!"

Zhouyang heard this and narrowed his eyes slightly, asking, "Confess? What sin have you committed?"

"My sin lies in hoarding a precious treasure and refusing to hand it over to the clan, and in judging the Clan Leader’s kind heart with a petty mind!"

As Huang Yi spoke in a low voice about his "sins," he shook his sleeve, revealing a white jade box, then offered it with both hands to Zhouyang, saying in a low voice, "Inside this jade box is a [Thousand-Year-Old Earth Polyporus], over three thousand years old, a treasure I acquired back on Rhino Horn Continent!"

"I am ashamed, knowing I cannot utilize this item, yet selfishness tempted me to keep it, unwilling to hand it over to the clan. I ask the Clan Leader to punish me!"

A "Thousand-Year-Old Earth Polyporus" over three thousand years old!

Even though Zhouyang possessed many treasures, he couldn’t help but show surprise at Huang Yi’s words.

It’s understood that any spirit elixir, regardless of type, as long as its potency reaches the level of a thousand-year spirit elixir, is at least a Tier Four spirit elixir.

And if a spirit elixir’s potency reaches three thousand years, it can be classified as Upper Grade among Tier Five spirit elixirs.

It is said that if a spirit elixir can amass its potency to reach ten-thousand-year spirit medicine level, it could not only become a Tier Six spirit elixir but also has a significant chance of developing spirituality, forming a legendary "Medicinal Spirit."

If a spirit elixir forms a "Medicinal Spirit," it is equivalent to a spirit wood gaining wisdom and becoming a tree demon, possessing significant magical cultivation and able to uproot itself and migrate independently.

Not to mention Tier Six spirit elixirs, even Tier Five spirit elixirs are treasures that are hard to come by.

When Zhouyang was at the auction in Immortal Sun City, such a high-level spirit elixir was nowhere to be seen.

This is not because the value of Tier Five spirit elixirs exceeds treasures like the "Jade Liquid Golden Pill," but because no one would be foolish enough to sell such a high-level spirit elixir as raw material for Spirit Stones.

For Golden Core Stage cultivators, should they acquire such a high-level spirit elixir, even if they lack alchemy skills to utilize it themselves.

They would either use the spirit elixir as a barter item at private exchanges to trade for something they need or use it to obtain spirit pills and favors from a Tier Five Alchemist.

If Huang Yi wasn’t lying, then what was inside the jade box in his hand truly deserved to be called a "treasure."

"Let me have a look."

Zhouyang said, brushing his sleeve to receive the jade box, he then opened the lid to examine its contents.

Inside the jade box, a large piece of golden-yellow "Earth Polyporus" emanating a strong spiritual aura and medicinal fragrance was lying intact in the box.

Zhouyang had seen two to three-hundred-year-old "Earth Polyporus" before, which appeared yellow like sand ginger.

However, the "Earth Polyporus" in this jade box was golden like amber, crystal clear, and its strong fragrance caused the magical power within him, even as a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, to become much more active with just a whiff.

Hence, even if Huang Yi exaggerated the age to three thousand years, the item was indeed a genuine Tier Five spirit elixir!

For Zhouyang, knowing this was enough.

To prevent the elixir’s potency from dissipating, he didn’t examine it further. He simply closed the lid with a "snap" and took out a Tier Three "Sealing Spirit Talisman" from his storage bag to seal the jade box, carefully storing it back in the storage bag.

After securing the jade box, he adjusted his expression, gazing sharply at Huang Yi and said, "Speak, what reward do you seek for offering this item?"

The whole confession was just a pretext.

Huang Yi delayed handing over the item until now, clearly because he had something to request.

Thus, Zhouyang didn’t bother with pleasantries and directly accepted the item before asking about Huang Yi’s request.

This act made it clear to Huang Yi that once he received the item, he wouldn’t be giving it back.

As for whether he would fulfill Huang Yi’s request, that was up to him to decide.

Knowing that offering such a treasure meant he wouldn’t retrieve it, Huang Yi’s expression remained unchanged. He calmly looked at Zhouyang and said firmly, "I wish to ask the Clan Leader for one thing: to permit me to establish my own branch family. I can assure the Clan Leader that the Huang Clan I establish will always be loyal to the Zhou Family, and as long as I live, I will unconditionally follow the Clan Leader’s orders!"

"Oh, you wish to independently establish a cultivation clan?"

Zhouyang looked at Huang Yi with a face full of surprise, completely unexpected that the other party would propose such a condition.

He had thought Huang Yi would use "Thousand-year-old Earth Polyporus" as a price to request him to lift the "Nether Blood Contract" binding his freedom.

He even made up his mind, as long as Huang Yi proposed this request, he would immediately agree to this condition.

But after agreeing, he would personally take action to kill him after he left the Zhou family.

This seems contradictory and unnecessary.

But in reality, it is very necessary and not contradictory at all.

Those who think it’s contradictory just believe Zhouyang doesn’t want to let people go, he can completely refuse, and there’s no need to kill Huang Yi.

What they don’t know is that Zhouyang, as a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator, acts according to the basic principle that words must be followed by action. Since he accepted the treasures offered by Huang Yi, he would certainly agree to Huang Yi’s request, even if that request seemed rude and ignorant to him.

However, as a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator, as the Clan Leader of the Zhou family, he cannot let Huang Yi, who knows the Zhou family’s secrets deeply, just leave the clan and go away.

If he allows Huang Yi to leave safely, it would not only set a bad precedent for other foreign relative cultivators who join the Zhou family in the future.

It would also hurt the self-esteem of the Zhou Clan Members and damage the reputation of the Zhou family.

These are things he cannot allow to happen.

But now, since Huang Yi had not proposed such an excessively unacceptable condition, his thoughts naturally needed no further mention.

He just looked deeply at Huang Yi without speaking, staring into the other’s eyes directly.

Only when Huang Yi could not withstand the pressure brought by such a gaze and lowered his head indicating submission, did he retract his gaze and said lightly, "Indeed, you’re very clever! You touched just at the edge of my bottom line!"

"Good, since you want to establish a clan, I will fulfill your wish. After this clan meeting, I will carve out a Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Mountain on Red Tiger Mountain for you to establish a clan, as a reward for your contribution of offering Spirit Elixir!"

"Thank you for the Clan Leader’s grace, Huang Yi is deeply grateful. In the future, any orders from the Clan Leader, Huang Yi will carry out loyally even at the cost of his life!"

Huang Yi raised his head, his face filled with joy, earnestly expressing his gratitude and loyalty aloud.

He knew he had made the right gamble!

And the reason he dared to take this risky bet was mainly because he had heard about Ma Shaoyang and others submitting to Zhouyang and retaining control of Spirit Stone and Oasis territories, which fortified his decision.

Initially, back on Haoyang Mountain, when Zhouyang was preparing to head to the Yellow Sand Sect to establish the Purple Mansion, their conversation stirred his heart.

But it was indeed Zhouyang who forced him to sign the "Nether Blood Contract", leading him to selectively distrust Zhouyang’s words. Therefore, he had not decisively offered his treasure.

This time, after hearing about Ma Shaoyang’s matter, he ultimately made up his mind.

Now it seems, he made the right bet.

Since Zhouyang could tolerate Ma Shaoyang and others, who he never met before, establishing their territories and clans, it truly wouldn’t just make him, who has shed blood and sweat for the Zhou family, become a target of killing due to this request.

The main reason why Zhouyang agreed to Huang Yi’s request, of course, is because of the "Thousand-year-old Earth Polyporus" he offered. If a Zhou Clan Member offered this, the reward contribution points earned would be sufficient to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill.

The secondary reason, however, is because the Zhou family is now strong enough that losing a Foundation Establishment Cultivator like Huang Yi doesn’t affect it much.

Moreover, even if Huang Yi establishes the Huang Clan, he still has to be bound by the Blood Contract, continuing to act according to the Zhou family’s orders.

Furthermore, in Zhouyang’s view, letting Huang Yi establish the Huang Clan might not be a bad thing.

First, if Huang Yi establishes a clan, it means having something to care about, making him more proactive in his actions and less likely to play tricks.

Secondly, if the Zhou family could have an additional vassal clan, it indirectly enhances the overall strength of the family.

After handling Huang Yi’s matters in such a way, Zhouyang began to personally engage in another major event, which is personally writing invitations to invite people to attend his Purple Mansion ceremony.

According to his plan, he will hold the Purple Mansion ceremony five years later.

For this Purple Mansion ceremony, he will not only invite Zhang Yunpeng and his wife and some Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Yellow Sand Sect, but also invite almost all existing Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clans in the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm.

On the invitation, he specifically wrote "Honored Guest Elder of the Yellow Sand Sect, Respectfully from Zhouyang".

With such a line, surely few of the clans affiliated under the Yellow Sand Sect would dare not show face and not come.

Additionally, he let the word out, welcoming all Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators without invitations to attend his Purple Mansion ceremony, and offered a rich temptation of three days of lecture and enlightenment personally by a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator to attract those Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators.

After hundreds of invitations personally written by Zhouyang were handed to ten Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators from Zhou family, who rode Flying Fire Bats to deliver them to various destinations, the Zhou Clan’s assembly meeting on Red Tiger Mountain officially commenced.