Cultivation Begins From The Desert

As the ancients said: when one attains enlightenment, even the chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

But in the actual cultivation realm, by the time you truly attain enlightenment, those who follow you, either have changed countless times or themselves have the potential to ascend, able to keep pace with your cultivation progress!

Take the Nascent Soul Stage cultivators at the top of the cultivation realm as an example, for a cultivator to cultivate to the Nascent Soul Stage, even those with an innate spirit body, it inevitably takes four to five hundred years.

By the time that person cultivates to the Nascent Soul Stage and is able to support clan members, disciples, and old friends, how many related to him can still be alive? And those who live to that time, would they be mediocrities?

Impossible!

Therefore, if the Zhou Family wants to become strong and even stronger, the Zhou Family descendants wanting to achieve Foundation Establishment, cannot solely rely on Zhouyang and those Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Zhouyang and those high-tier cultivators can only ensure obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills and other spiritual objects, can provide the younger clan members with a ladder for ascension, but the use of these spiritual objects.

To climb the ladder, one must rely on themselves.

Zhouyang is willing to be the Guardian of the clan, protecting the low-tier cultivators from being oppressed and bullied by other Foundation Establishment cultivators and clans, but does not want to be the nanny of the clan, tending to all needs; he believes any high-tier cultivator thinks this way.

The most typical example is Cao Wenjin.

Faced with the invasion of demonic cultivators in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, he took risks to pursue a Ninth-Layer Golden Core demonic cultivator to protect sect cultivators and vassal clans, dispelling demon chaos, even at the expense of his lifespan to repeatedly cast the "Blood Escape Technique" to eliminate the remnants of the Demon Sect.

At that time, he surely understood what he was doing, and ultimately did it anyway.

But later, Cao Wenjin would also, to buy a life-extending treasure, not hesitate to deplete more than half the Yellow Sand Sect's Treasure Vault.

If the price of the "Seven-colored Reishi" had not exceeded his psychological tolerance, he would certainly have chosen to buy the "Seven-colored Reishi" rather than the "Jade Liquid Golden Pill."

To some, it seems that Cao Wenjin acted selfishly, sacrificing the sect's opportunities for cultivators to condense their Golden Core for his own chance to live another hundred years.

But what is the reality?

If Cao Wenjin had not initially risked his lifespan to quell the demon chaos, would the Yellow Sand Sect have dared to send people to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm to shop under such circumstances?

Moreover, if Cao Wenjin consumed the "Seven-colored Reishi" and extended his life by a hundred years, it would certainly extend the Yellow Sand Sect's heritage for two hundred more years.

But now, with the purchase of the "Jade Liquid Golden Pill," no one can guarantee that the Purple Mansion cultivators of the Yellow Sand Sect will truly succeed in Golden Core Formation after consuming the item!

Indisputably, Cao Wenjin ultimately bowed to reality and chose to be the nanny!

But Zhouyang is convinced that inwardly, he surely does not wish to be a nanny; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so resolute in repeatedly bidding higher at auctions.

Similarly, Zhouyang does not want to be the Zhou Family's nanny; he is the Guardian, the guide, not the family slave.

He can pave a path for the Zhou Family to a higher realm, but cannot carry them on his back up the ladder.

Now, the ladder has already been prepared; whether they can grasp it, climb it, and want to see the higher scenery depends on the capabilities of the Zhou Family descendants!

And as Zhouyang expected, when he mentioned that the clan currently had two stored Foundation Establishment Pills, and more would come in the future, all Qi Cultivation Stage relatives showed expressions of surprise and joy.

Originally, his sudden break of family rules to encourage clan low-tier cultivators to venture out indeed shocked even Zhou Minghan.

Because everyone knows, no matter how pleasant Zhouyang's words are, once clan cultivators venture out greatly, there will surely be casualties, and when those encouraged by Zhouyang's words to go out suffer such a fate, will they resent him?

However, while Zhouyang brought up this matter, he also revealed the existence of multiple Foundation Establishment Pills and discussed their allocation, indirectly explaining why such actions were necessary, dissipating the clan's panic.

Indeed! Zhouyang only mentioned encouraging the clan to venture and explore but did not force them to do so.

You can choose to stay at home quietly cultivating instead of going out for adventure, but that means your chance of obtaining the Foundation Establishment Pill will be far behind those who venture out and take risks, essentially meaning you are giving up on your own hope of Foundation Establishment.

Zhouyang looked at the changing expressions on the faces of the clan cultivators below without immediately discussing other matters, giving them some time to think.

After a quarter of an hour had passed, he continued, "With the first matter discussed, I will now talk about the second matter."

"The second matter occurred to me when I previously went to Haoyang Mountain to check the situation and saw that oasis!"

Looking at the group of clan members who were listening intently, Zhouyang's tone suddenly became solemn and respectful: "The deceased clan elder, Zhou Xuanyan, who has already passed into immortality, was a hero of our Zhou Family. That oasis was entirely created by her over twenty years with her own hands. Her contributions in creating that oasis deserve to be remembered and commemorated by all our clan's cultivators and mortals."

"Our Zhou Family already has a Heroic Martyr List, on which the cultivators' life stories and achievements are documented by the clan to be passed down in books for future cultivators to learn from. Eighth Aunt is qualified to be on that list; we should not allow someone who made such imperishable contributions to the clan to fade into obscurity over time!"

"At the same time, I will also revise the rules for being included on the Heroic Martyr List. In the future, one does not necessarily need to have bled and sacrificed on the battlefield for the clan to be eligible. A cultivator who has made significant contributions to the clan from behind the lines, such as creating an oasis, cultivating new types of spirit beasts, or new types of spirit fruits, will also be eligible to be included on the list after passing away. The clan will give special allowances to these listed cultivators!"

"For the oasis created by Eighth Aunt Zhou Xuanyan, I have decided to rename it to Siyan Oasis to commemorate her achievements. Additionally, I will award a one-time special allowance of two thousand clan contribution points, to be inherited by her descendant Zhou Yu!"

After he finished speaking, before others could fully process it, the old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan let out a long sigh and said:

"Ah! Listening to the words of the Clan Leader makes this old man feel ashamed! When that girl Xuanyan came back and reported to me back then, I never thought of this layer of consideration and never gave her any allowances, yet she never complained or said anything about it... I am the first to support putting her on the Heroic Martyr List and giving her special allowances!"

Zhou Minghan's prestige in the Zhou Family is beyond question. With him saying such things, combined with this matter being proposed by Zhouyang, the current Clan Leader, how could others oppose it?

Moreover, what Zhouyang just said about the applicable rules for the "Heroic Martyr List" benefits all Zhou Family cultivators, allowing many to see a direction for themselves to be included on the list.

In the world, nothing surpasses the words "fame and fortune." Even cultivators who are superior can't escape the bounds of these two words.

Even those as strong as Golden Core Stage cultivators need to establish sects and act as founders so that their names are remembered by future generations.

Let alone cultivators at the much lower Qi Cultivation Stage.

On the Zhou Family's "Heroic Martyr List," Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators can naturally be included after passing away, but for Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators, it's much harder.

The most recent persons before Zhou Xuanyan to be added to the list were several Zhou Family Elders who fell in the last Foundation Establishment Conference. They were those who bled and sacrificed on the battlefield for the clan and naturally qualified to be on the list.

Others such as the elders who passed away peacefully at home, like Zhou Guangqian, Zhou Guangquan, and Zhou Guangdan, did not receive this honor of being listed.

Now, Zhouyang has broadened the path to being listed, which is a great thing for all Zhou Family Qi Cultivation clan members, and all these people should be grateful to the deceased Zhou Xuanyan.

"Having finished the second matter, I'll speak about the third matter."

"The third matter is actually related to the first because the current state of the clan determines that we must expand outward. The clan is already searching for places to expand. By then, there will certainly be a fierce battle, so after this clan meeting, all mid-stage Qi cultivation cultivators must train your magical combat and fighting skills because you will be participating in that battle!"

"Moreover, the demon beasts you hunt at that time will all be purchased by the clan in exchange for contribution points!"

The new oasis discovered by the Lu Family father and son still can't be disclosed to those low-tier clan members yet, but the battle for expanding the oasis in the future will require participation from these lower-tier clan members.

This is a compulsory clan task, a responsibility that must be fulfilled by clan members, just as when the Zhou Family was expanding the spirit vein at Haoyang Cave, they gathered all the late-stage Qi cultivation clan members together.

Zhouyang is now taking some risks by giving these clan members a reminder several years in advance.

After finishing this matter, unlike before, he did not give time for the clan members below to think about it, but directly stated the last matter of this clan meeting, which is also the most urgent matter that needs solving.

"Finally, let's talk about the fourth matter."

"The fourth matter is that the number of mortals in the clan has reached the limit of what the Jade Spring Lake Oasis can sustain. I will be discussing with the old Clan Leader about the matter of migrating some mortals, and what you need to do before the migration is to take the time to help increase the yield of the mortals' grain crops!"

"At the same time, I'm providing you with an opportunity to earn special contribution points. I don't care if you find or research and improve it yourself, as long as someone can produce a grain crop with a per-acre yield 10% higher than the current main grain crops planted by the clan's mortals, I will, on behalf of the clan, reward you with 500 special contribution points. For every additional 10% increase in yield, an extra 500 will be added, with no upper limit!"