CHAPTER 285: CHAPTER 272: ONLY ACCEPT GIFTS...

Red Tiger Mountain Oasis.

After "Liuyun Square" was completed and ready for use, Zhouyang returned to Red Tiger Mountain to handle various family affairs.

Because there were only a few months left until his Purple Mansion celebration, many loose cultivators and small clan cultivators who heard the news traveled thousands of miles to join in, bringing with them both popularity and some trouble to the Red Tiger Mountain Oasis.

For example, when two feuding cultivators meet here, there’s a high possibility they might start fighting on the spot.

But according to the security regulations compiled by Zhouyang, it is strictly forbidden for cultivators to engage in magical combat on Red Tiger Mountain Oasis, as not only would it make other visiting cultivators feel unsafe, it could also easily damage the oasis environment.

Therefore, when such security incidents occur, the Zhou Family’s Security Hall cultivators must intervene to maintain order, mediate or expel the parties involved in the magical combat.

Additionally, when some cultivators arrive at Red Tiger Mountain Oasis and see the vast lands and sparse population, with few people stationed around the spirit mountains, they might develop some thieving ideas.

Once discovered, such individuals are troublesome to deal with since they cannot be directly slain at once.

Of course, these are considered minor issues, as long as those caught aren’t involved with other cultivation clans, the Security Hall and Punishment Hall can handle it, at most reporting the results to Clan Leader Zhouyang.

But some matters still require Zhouyang to personally handle.

For instance, after the marketplace was established, some Foundation Establishment Clans within a radius of ten thousand miles, upon hearing the situation, have sent Foundation Establishment Cultivators to visit him to discuss the purchase of shops, while some independent Foundation Establishment Cultivators, hearing about the treatment of Ma Shaoyang and others, also came to visit him seeking to affiliate with the Zhou Family to establish their own families.

Only he, the clan leader, can decide on these matters, not even Zhou Guangxiang, whom he selected as his successor, could substitute for him.

He handled these matters simply; he deferred the shop buyers by saying that currently, they are only for rent not for sale, offering free rental of the shops for use while the ownership remains with the Zhou Family.

He’s no fool; if the marketplace has just been established, even if shops could be sold, how much could they fetch?

If he really wanted to sell the shops, it’d certainly be more profitable to sell them when the marketplace gathers momentum.

As for those Foundation Establishment Cultivators wanting to affiliate with the Zhou Family, Zhouyang politely declined.

The Zhou Family, though currently sizable, would be overwhelmed by accepting too many.

Having too many affiliated Foundation Establishment Cultivators isn’t necessarily better, as the obligation is mutual, and the Zhou Family might not be able to accommodate too many at once.

After these busy months, the day of Zhouyang’s Purple Mansion celebration finally arrived as scheduled.

On this day, the sky was clear with not a cloud in sight.

The entire Red Tiger Mountain, including Jade Spring Peak where the Zhou Family originated, was festively decorated with celebratory red silk hanging everywhere.

The formerly sparsely populated spirit mountains now were a sea of people, gathering a crowd as many as two or three thousand.

These were all cultivators, with Purple Mansion Stage cultivators, Foundation Establishment Stage, and Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators.

There were the Zhou Family’s own cultivators, as well as those coming to offer congratulations.

"Sect Leader Zhang and his wife from the Yellow Sand Sect present a congratulatory gift, a Tier Four Spirit Elixir, a ’Thousand-year-old Blood Ginseng’!"

"The Chen Family from Baituo Ridge presents a congratulatory gift, a Tier Four Spiritual Object, a piece of ’Taiyi Essence Gold’!"

"The Nie Family from Golden Sheep Mountain presents a congratulatory gift, a Tier Four Spiritual Object, a piece of ’Flame Essence Stone’!"

"Cultivator Ma Jingtao from the Yellow Sand Sect presents a congratulatory gift, a Tier Three High-Grade Thunder Talisman!"

...

The voice of the announcer echoed through most of Red Tiger Mountain.

With every treasure name announced, there was a wave of exclamations from the crowd.

Purple Mansion Stage cultivators gifting Tier Four Spiritual Objects, Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators gifting Tier Three Spiritual Objects, these are standard gifts.

However, the value of Tier Four and Tier Three Spiritual Objects can vary greatly; many could assess the relationship with the Zhou Family by the value of the gifts given.

Those who were close to the Zhou Family or wanted to ingratiate themselves with Zhouyang would try their best to select more valuable gifts of the same tier.

Conversely, those with a general relationship with the Zhou Family would choose moderately valuable items to gift.

No Foundation Establishment Cultivator, regardless of their relation to the Zhou Family, would gift a Tier Two Spiritual Object, as that would be worse than not gifting at all.

Of course, there would be those who would gift lavishly beyond their cultivation level to show loyalty.

"The Ma Family from Yangquan Ridge presents a congratulatory gift, a Tier Four Spirit Elixir, an ’Earth Fire Reishi’!"

Gasp!

With the announcer’s words, a wave of gasping sounds swept across the venue.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the cultivator presenting the gift, who was none other than Ma Shaoyang, a recently affiliated independent Foundation Establishment Cultivator with the Zhou Family.

No one expected this Seventh-Layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator to be able to produce a "Earth Fire Reishi," such a rare spirit elixir.

It was known that the "Earth Fire Reishi" is not ordinary, as it only grows in volcano craters where lava earth fire flows, or by the edges of underground fire abysses.

Due to its unique growth environment, this item is extremely difficult to cultivate artificially, making its value exceptionally high.

A typical hundred-year "Earth Fire Reishi" is only a Tier Three Spirit Elixir, while those over five hundred years old can be considered Tier Four Spirit Elixir.

"Fellow Daoist Ma, you are indeed considerate. Please take a seat."

Zhouyang hesitated for a moment but then smiled and nodded, inviting Ma Shaoyang to sit at a table closer to the main one.

Originally, Ma Shaoyang certainly didn’t qualify to sit at the table so far ahead, but one plant of "Earth Fire Reishi" gave him that qualification.

However, those like Ma Shaoyang who are willing to use a Tier Four Spirit Elixir to open the way are surely few.

Even if a Tier Four Spiritual Object cannot be utilized, selling it could fetch a substantial price. Now used as a gift, especially in a celebratory setting, it might lead to a scenario of losing money but gaining popularity.

Among the many cultivators present, not many have such courage.

After all, giving gifts privately and in public holds very different meanings.

Due to the large number of people invited to the Purple Mansion Celebration, plus the independent Foundation Establishment cultivators who heard the news and came with their own gifts, the gift-giving ceremony lasted for half a day before concluding.

Fortunately, cultivators are generally very patient, and witnessing various spiritual objects from the cultivation realm makes no one tired of it. On the contrary, most people watched with keen interest, wishing it would last longer.

Many even calculate quietly the value of the gifts Zhouyang received this time.

The result made many people click their tongues in amazement.

According to their estimates, even at a minimum value, the total value of the gifts Zhouyang received at the Purple Mansion Celebration is at least fifteen thousand spirit stones!

Fifteen thousand spirit stones!

This is not a small sum!

Many Foundation Establishment clans, even if calculating the value of their fixed assets like clan spirit mountains, cannot come up with so many spirit stones.

Yet Zhouyang has received such a number of spirit stones just from gifts.

The saying goes: "To glimpse a speck and know the whole picture."

The current influence of the Zhou Family can be glimpsed from this gift-receiving scene.

Hearing is false, seeing is believing.

Some loose cultivators who only heard of Zhouyang’s prowess and the Zhou Family’s prosperity truly witnessed Zhouyang’s influence this time.

These loose cultivators, having seen this, resolved to stay at Red Tiger Mountain Oasis for a while to see if it’s worth residing permanently.

In this way, the purpose of Zhouyang hosting the Purple Mansion Celebration was undoubtedly achieved.

Therefore, after the gift-giving ceremony ended, he stood up with a smile, bowed to the thousands of guests below, and said loudly: "I, Zhouyang, am grateful to fellow Daoists for taking the time from your busy schedules to attend my Purple Mansion Celebration, and more thanks for the gifts given by everyone just now. Now, I invite all fellow Daoists to take your seats and let me fulfill the host’s duties."

No celebration could be complete without food and drink.

Gift givers of course cannot hope to recoup through one meal, but those guests who traveled from afar without bringing gifts are counting on a good meal to earn their travel money back.

This is the Purple Mansion Celebration; the prepared food and drinks surely won’t be poor, right?

Indeed, that’s the truth.

To ensure this Purple Mansion Celebration went well, the Zhou Family stopped selling "Golden Pearl Rice" several years ago, choosing instead to transport spirit grain to Red Tiger Mountain Oasis for storage to be consumed at this celebration.

At the same time, various spirit wines brewed by the Zhou Family were no longer sold externally or consumed internally ever since Zhouyang successfully opened the Purple Mansion, thus gathering enough to serve thousands of cultivators.

As for the dishes, aside from spirit beast meat like the Zhou Family’s own bred Red Fire Chicken and Fire Rabbit, most of the monsters killed during the clearing of Red Tiger Mountain Oasis over the years had the edible parts preserved for this celebration’s consumption.

But that still wasn’t enough.

To enrich the dishes, the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Zhou Family personally visited several clans breeding other kinds of edible spirit beasts and purchased a batch back, along with buying many low-tier spirit elixirs that can be eaten or used as medicine to serve as greens.

With wine, dishes, and rice, spirit fruits are evidently indispensable.

Unfortunately, the variety of spirit fruit trees in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm is not abundant, nor is the yield high. Many spirit fruits produced by the Zhou Family went to wine making.

So finally, with Zhouyang’s approval, the Zhou Family spent five thousand low-grade spirit stones to procure various spirit fruits, ensuring that each cultivator at the celebration could at least receive one spirit fruit.

All this calculated here and there, just for preparing food, drink, and spirit fruits for the celebration, the Zhou Family spent at least over seventy thousand low-grade spirit stones!

On average, the cost of spirit stones spent per cultivator attending the banquet reached twenty to thirty spirit stones.

Such a sumptuous meal, it’s no wonder why some loose cultivators traveled miles to partake in it.

Not only can they feast, but after being well-fed, they could also listen to high-tier cultivators discuss and teach Dao, making it a truly bountiful experience.

How could this not attract people to come?