CHAPTER 287: CHAPTER 274: PLEASE CLAN LEADER THINK TWICE! [3 UPDATES, SUBSCRIPTION REQUESTED]

"Clan Leader, according to the report, the Zhou Family currently has 195 cultivators. Among them, there is 1 Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator, 3 Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, 24 Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Cultivators, 34 Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators, 57 Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators, 67 Early-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators, and 9 children below the Qi Cultivation Stage."

"Additionally, our Zhou Family currently has 34 foreign relative cultivators, among which there are 2 Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, 3 Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Cultivators, 8 Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators, 15 Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators, and 6 Early-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators."

"As for the number of mortals in our Zhou Family, the number of mortals with Zhou Family bloodline currently stands at around 320,000. The number of other surname mortals is about 110,000, with approximately 160,000 Zhou Family mortals at the Red Tiger Mountain Oasis, and around 40,000 mortals with other surnames."

Zhou Yuanchang held a ledger in his hands, methodically reporting the personnel details of the Zhou Family.

From the data he reported, it can be understood that despite being a solid Purple Mansion Family, the Zhou Family, both in terms of cultivator numbers and mortal numbers, falls far short compared to a Purple Mansion Family like the Chen Family.

In this regard, the Zhou Family would require at least a century or even more to compare with the Chen Family.

After listening to Zhou Yuanchang’s words, Zhouyang frowned, slightly bowed his head as if contemplating. After a moment, he looked at Zhou Yuanchang and continued to ask, "Then, Eleventh Brother, could you tell me, over the years, what percentage of the cultivator population born within our family consists of descendants of family cultivators? What percentage comes from mortal descendants within the family? And what percentage comes from Fengyue Tower?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuanchang’s face turned bitter, and he reluctantly said, "I need to check the records to answer this, Clan Leader. Please wait a moment."

With that, he quickly opened his storage bag, taking out a large stack of documents, spreading them out in front of him. His Divine Sense quickly scanned the various pieces of information recorded, mentally calculating the relevant numbers.

About a quarter of an hour passed before he wiped the sweat from his forehead, disregarding the documents scattered on the ground, and hurriedly looked up at Zhouyang, saying, "Clan Leader, upon reviewing the identity records of all cultivators born within the family over the past fifty years, I found that forty percent were descendants of family cultivators, forty percent came from Fengyue Tower, and twenty percent were descendants of family mortals!"

"Only twenty percent from mortal cultivators?"

Zhouyang frowned, seemingly unwilling to believe the authenticity of this data.

"Yang’Er, this matter is indeed true. The chance of Spiritual Roots appearing from pure mortal descendants is said to be one in ten thousand, but it might actually be even lower!"

"Thus, even though we cultivators often say mortals are the foundation of the Cultivation Realm, in reality, even many Loose Cultivators are born from the offspring of cultivators and mortal women, not truly purely from mortal births!"

Xuan Hao saw his son seeming to grasp the truth within, and felt compelled to explain.

The information he shared isn’t necessarily known by those who haven’t regularly encountered such situations.

Although Zhouyang had accompanied his elders a few times to test mortal descendants at the Oasis for Spiritual Roots, he hadn’t delved into the detailed intricacies of these matters.

After all, his cultivation level was rapidly improving, so he hadn’t understood grassroots matters as clearly as those grassroots cultivators.

It was because Xuan Hao had experienced the family’s decline during his youth, spending a considerable amount of time at grassroots that he knew so precisely.

"Alright, I was indeed negligent in this area."

Zhouyang nodded, straightforwardly admitting this oversight.

Then he furrowed his brow, looking seriously at everyone in the hall and asked, "Earlier, you all heard the Internal Affairs Elder’s words. Now, does anyone have any good suggestions for addressing the issue of insufficient manpower in the family and accelerating the growth of the cultivator population?"

"Clan Leader, I have a suggestion."

Upon Zhouyang’s voice falling, Zhou Guangxiang quickly responded.

"Oh, Guangxiang, tell us your suggestion."

Zhouyang looked at his chosen successor, showing an encouraging expression on his face.

With his encouragement, Zhou Guangxiang’s face grew more confident, and he spoke aloud, "My suggestion is twofold. Firstly, we should quickly rebuild Fengyue Tower outside the Marketplace and increase our investment in it."

"Secondly, we should increase the family’s reproductive incentive fund, and encourage those clan members whose Spiritual Root talent is not ideal to have children earlier to contribute to the family, even providing special rewards for cultivators who produce multiple offspring!"

"I personally think Guangxiang’s suggestion is good. What do you all think?" Zhouyang spoke while looking at the other cultivators in the hall, seeking their opinions.

"The benefits of Fengyue Tower have been evident to all of us over the years. If we want to increase the cultivator population of the Zhou Family, this is certainly something we need to continue doing. As for raising the amount of the reproductive incentive fund, I don’t see a problem with it either. Given our family’s wealth, allocating a small portion for this will be enough to support it for a good length of time."

Xuan Hao immediately nodded in agreement with Zhou Guangxiang’s suggestion and expressed his reasons for supporting it.

As Zhou Guangxiang’s sister, Zhou Guangxiang naturally wouldn’t oppose her brother’s suggestion.

Thus, the high-tier cultivators of the Zhou Family reached a consensus.

However, Zhouyang did not immediately announce the adoption of Zhou Guangxiang’s proposal. Instead, he looked towards the Preaching Elder Zhou Yuanpeng and the other seven Deacon Elders, asking, "What do the Deacon Elders think?"

This seemingly inconspicuous gesture instantly moved the hearts of Zhou Yuanpeng and the seven Deacon Elders.

In the clan, the status of the Deacon Elders is equivalent to that of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, as stated by Zhouyang himself. Now, his actions are a testament to this point.

This kind of respect is particularly important for the seven Deacon Elders.

Zhou Clan’s new Elder system has just been established and implemented, and the authority of the seven Deacon Elders has yet to become deeply ingrained in people’s minds.

At this moment, if Clan Leader Zhouyang himself does not support and respect the seven Deacon Elders he chose, how can other clan members genuinely fear and respect these seven Deacon Elders, treating them as Foundation Establishment Cultivators?

An act of goodwill deserves reciprocation.

This is a basic principle of conduct.

The seven Deacon Elders, upon hearing Zhouyang’s words, felt moved and also nodded in agreement with Zhou Guangxiang’s proposal.

Now, anyone with a keen eye in Zhou Clan knows that Zhouyang is grooming Zhou Guangxiang as the successor.

Given Zhou Clan’s newly established Deacon Elder system, whether the new Clan Leader can obtain the approval of the seven Deacon Elders is evidently of utmost importance.

Zhouyang could have easily decided on Zhou Guangxiang’s proposal with a single word, yet he still sought everyone’s opinion. The intention already seemed quite clear: to pave the way and establish prestige for Zhou Guangxiang.

If the seven Deacon Elders couldn’t see this, they truly would not deserve their positions.

Among them, the Foreign Affairs Elder Tan Qiu, who was also the late Zhou Family Elder Zhou Yuanchun’s husband, after agreeing with Zhou Guangxiang’s proposal, spoke up again, "Clan Leader, I also have a suggestion I wish to discuss with the Clan Leader and all Elders and clan members."

"Oh, Elder Tan, please speak."

A flash of a different emotion appeared in Zhouyang’s eyes as he smiled and waved for him to continue.

With Zhouyang’s permission, Tan Qiu immediately spoke out loud, "The Clan Leader once mentioned the responsibilities of a Foreign Affairs Elder, one of which is to introduce outstanding talents to the clan. I would like to ask the Clan Leader if, apart from inviting people to marry into the clan, we can also invite talented loose cultivators to join us as Honored Guest Elders, offering them cultivation and direction?"

"Elder Tan’s suggestion is that we could recruit cultivators of other surnames as Honored Guests of the clan, and by providing them with fixed annual stipends and reward-based tasks, have them serve our Zhou Clan. Have I understood correctly?" Zhouyang asked, his gaze firm on Tan Qiu, his tone slightly surprised.

"Clan Leader, you are correct, but I must add that for those loose cultivators who have exceptional talent in the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, we can not only invite them as Honored Guests of the clan but also provide training and resources so that they can attain achievements and serve the clan after their success."

"Moreover, for those with particularly outstanding talent, we can even use Foundation Establishment Pills and Tier Three legacy as incentives to ensure they are willing to sign the Nether Blood Contract after successfully establishing their Foundation, devoting their lives to serving the clan!"

Wow!

Tan Qiu’s words instantly caused an uproar in the Council Hall.

"Absurd, utterly absurd!"

"Elder Tan, do you know what you are saying? How precious are the Foundation Establishment Pills, yet our Zhou Family descendants still have to earn contribution points painstakingly to exchange for them!"

"But here you are, suggesting the Foundation Establishment Pills are like Grain Avoidance Pills, available to anyone!"

"Tell us, what’s your motive? Do you want to see our Zhou Clan perish?"

Angry shouts resounded in the Council Hall, coming from Preaching Elder Zhou Yuanpeng, who couldn’t help but rise and angrily rebuke Tan Qiu.

As Zhou Yuanpeng’s angry rebuke subsided, Zhous Yuang even nodded in agreement and loudly declared, "Tenth Brother is right. I firmly oppose turning over Foundation Establishment Pills to outsiders, let alone letting foreign relatives who marry into our clan have access to such treasures!"

After the Household Affairs Elder Zhou Yuanliang spoke, Internal Affairs Elder Zhou Yuanchang also loudly declared, "Clan Leader, I do not oppose recruiting outside talent into the clan, but if we judge everything by aptitude and talent alone, absorbing any outsider with potential and giving them special treatment, then in the long run, will Zhou Clan still be the Zhou Clan of the Zhou people?"

"If one day the upper echelons of Zhou Clan are all composed of cultivators of other surnames, will the bloodline of our Zhou Clan continue? Will the countless base-level cultivators of Zhou Clan ever have a chance to rise?"

"Please, Clan Leader, reconsider!"

As Zhou Yuanchang finished speaking, he suddenly kneeled on the ground.

His sudden kneel sparked a chain reaction among the Zhou Clan members, who were also emotionally stirred by Tan Qiu’s suggestion. They too knelt facing Zhouyang, loudly crying out, "Please, Clan Leader, reconsider!"