Cultivation Begins From The Desert

The Zhou Family Elder Zhou Yuanjing unexpectedly perished outside, and this matter quickly spread within the Zhou Family, even other families heard about it.

The cultivators of the Zhou Family were therefore abuzz, many submitted writings to the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the family, requesting to find out the truth and severely punish the culprit.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Zhou Family also responded to the clansmen's demands. Zhouyang, Zhou Minghan, and Huang Yi, three Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, set out separately from the Yuquan Lake Oasis, embarking on a thorough search along the road towards the Baisha River Oasis.

They carried out a grand search for a whole month, yet they could not find even the location where Zhou Yuanjing was harmed, and ultimately issued a reward notice, offering a reward to any cultivator who could provide information on Zhou Yuanjing, even news of the accident site would be welcomed.

"It's clear that Yuanjing must have suffered an attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator whose strength far exceeded his own, and then he was instantly killed without being able to resist at all. This can explain why the three of us Foundation Establishment cultivators searched for a month but couldn't find any traces of magical combat!"

On Jade Spring Peak, the three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Zhou Family returned home after completing the search and began discussing their opinions on Zhou Yuanjing's demise behind closed doors.

Old clan leader Zhou Minghan, as an elder, was the first to share his conjecture.

Zhouyang heard and didn't rush to express his opinion but instead looked at Huang Yi and asked, "Fellow Daoist Huang, you were a loose cultivator, you should understand the loose cultivators and sand bandits of the Baisha River Cultivation Realm better than us, do you think Brother Eight's cultivation and the magical artifacts and talismans he carried, could have been instantly killed by some Qi Cultivation stray cultivator and sand bandit?"

Huang Yi initially didn't want to comment on such matters, but since Zhouyang asked, not saying anything seemed inappropriate.

He then said, "If it were a frontal confrontation, it's definitely impossible for a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator to instantly kill Elder Yuanjing without leaving obvious traces of magical combat, but if it were a stealth attack, then that's hard to say."

His remark was ambiguous, essentially saying nothing, showing a refined diplomacy.

Zhouyang frowned slightly, nodded and said, "I see, let's leave it at that for now, I'll go and reassure the clansmen and explain the situation."

He did not explain what his thoughts were.

Subsequently, Zhouyang personally went out to explain the investigation to the clansmen, stating that Zhou Yuanjing was missing rather than deceased, as the Zhou Family hadn't found his remains or belongings.

Of course, many people understood that the so-called "missing" was almost equal to death, defining it as "missing" indicated that the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the family didn't want the matter to escalate and affect the entire family operation.

Of course, simply doing this wouldn't completely satisfy everyone, so Zhouyang further said, "Rest assured, the family will continue its investigation into Elder Yuanjing's disappearance. Since he disappeared while performing family tasks, I represent the family and allocate 2000 points of contribution to his descendants as consolation and transfer his accumulated contribution points in full to his descendants."

2000 contribution points as consolation, this amount is definitely not low, and Zhou Yuanjing's descendants can inherit the contribution points he accumulated during his lifetime.

This move quieted the Zhou Family cultivators.

They then realized the superiority of contribution points over spirit stones, as these points not only don't require space like spirit stones, but follow the individual, even if you die unexpectedly outside, your family contribution points in full can still be passed on to your descendants.

Among Zhou Yuanjing's descendants, only two juniors possessed low-grade spiritual roots, and suddenly his acquired contribution points were divided between them, making these two juniors, who only had the cultivation level of Qi Cultivation Stage two or three, wealthier than many Late-Stage Qi Cultivation cultivators.

Subsequently, the stir created by Zhou Yuanjing's "disappearance" quickly subsided under intentional mitigation by the family high-ups, and only some Zhou Family members who had planned to go out for travel were affected and temporarily postponed their trips, intending to observe a bit longer.

Only Zhouyang personally went to the Baisha River Oasis, escorting the newly appointed Zhou Family Elder Brother Ten, Zhou Yuanpeng, to the Jade Spring Tower to replace Xuan Jin sitting in the town, then returned Xuan Jin to the Yuquan Lake Oasis for retirement.

It seemed like the incident had passed.

About six months later, the Zhou Family cultivators who delayed travel plans noticed the situation seemed to have calmed down; a few bolder members submitted applications to the clan elders, then departed, either alone or in groups of three, accompanied by relatives and friends, leaving the Yuquan Lake Oasis and entering the vast Desert Sea.

Zhouyang when he first traveled from Yuquan Lake Oasis to Baisha River Oasis encountered a sand bandit attack, indicating this route was not peaceful.

But in recent decades, as the Zhou Family's strength grew stronger day by day, coupled with the extensive killing of sand bandits during the Demon Chaos, Zhou Family cultivators traveling this route basically encountered no dangers.

Now, the Zhou Family Elder Zhou Yuanjing suddenly "disappeared" on this road, making this originally safe route unsafe once again.

That day, after a sandstorm, a Zhou Family cultivator riding a camel suddenly appeared on this road.

This Zhou Family cultivator's aura showed he's only at Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation, and his face appeared somewhat immature. He rode on a camel's back with his eyes wide open, staring at the desert ahead as if trying to discern whether the ground ahead was normal sand or hiding quicksand traps.

This appearance clearly indicated someone who seldom ventured far, a newbie fledgling.

These fledgling newbies are always favored targets for sand bandit attacks.

Within the vast desert sea, as long as the deeds are done cleanly, everything would be buried by the yellow sands, just like the "disappeared" elder of the Zhou Family.

The covert observer in hiding thought of this, his gaze turned cold, and a murderous intent rose in his heart.

However, he didn't immediately take action; instead, he continued lurking in the shadows to observe, waiting until that Zhou Family cultivator rode his camel several miles away before he sprang up from the hiding sandy ground, stepping lightly on a Sword Light, tracking the direction where that Zhou Family cultivator had departed.

Because it was a close-to-ground flight, only when he was less than ten miles from his target did the Zhou Family cultivator riding on a camel finally realize, through the sound of the flying sword breaking the air, that there was a Foundation Establishment cultivator capable of sword control following behind.

But at this time, whether he realized it or not, it was obviously already irrelevant.

The stalker had no intention of exchanging words with his target; as he got within two or three miles of the target, he immediately waved his sleeve and released another flying sword to assassinate the target.

However, he didn't expect that as soon as he released his flying sword, a cold snort suddenly sounded in his ears.

Hmm!

The icy snort scared the stalker out of his wits, causing the sword light beneath his feet to turn instantly as he attempted to flee.

He recognized the owner of this voice!

It was that person's voice!

The voice of the one he both hated and feared!

At this moment, he didn't have time to think about why that person was there; he just wanted to escape, to get out of that person's attack range first!

Unfortunately, he had just fled a few dozen yards when he suddenly seemed to lose his mind, screamed "Ah!", clutched his head, and fell from the flying sword down to the sandy ground below.

Fortunately, the sand was soft, and since his flying altitude was not high, with the constitution of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this fall wouldn't kill him; at most, he'd suffer some internal injuries.

But was the situation really so simple?

Obviously not.

Even though the stalker's cultivation was not low, at Fourth-Layer Foundation Establishment, how could Zhouyang's "Godslaying Needle" be so easily endured?

Given his Divine Sense strength, although this attack wouldn't directly shatter his consciousness and turn him into a vegetable, it severely damaged his consciousness, causing him to faint on the spot.

Disguised as a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator riding on a camel, Zhouyang's figure swiftly moved, stepping on the sword light and landing in front of the fainted stalker, then he waved his sleeve to remove the Ghost Face Mask refined with the Forbidden God Stone from the stalker's face.

With the Ghost Face Mask lifted, a face both strange and familiar immediately appeared in Zhouyang's eyes.

"So it really is you, Chen Fangli!"

Zhouyang looked at the unconscious person's face on the ground, not showing much surprise on his face.

This Chen Fangli, twenty years ago during his Foundation Establishment celebration, failed to cause trouble and was instead severely humiliated by him, and upon returning home, was confined by the Chen Family Ancestor at White Camel Peak for a full twenty years.

At that time, the relationship between the Chen and Zhou families was in the honeymoon phase, and having exposed the "Qianyang Treasure Body," Zhouyang, who was valued by Cao Wenjin, also became an individual considered worth befriending by the Chen Family Ancestor.

Chen Fangli representing the Chen Family in causing trouble for Zhouyang at such an important event as the Foundation Establishment celebration certainly wasn't tolerated by the Chen Family Ancestor.

But now, as time has passed and circumstances have changed, the Chen and Zhou families' relationship has effectively fractured.

Chen Fangli, released after his twenty-year confinement, upon discovering this situation, how could he not harbor thoughts of revenge?

Back then, in investigating the incident of Zhou Yuanjing's death, Zhouyang's first suspicious target was naturally the Chen Family.

And during his investigation of the recent whereabouts of the Chen Family's Foundation Establishment cultivators, he happened to discover records of Chen Fangli's flamboyant appearances at the Ping'an Marketplace, which led him to list this person as the primary suspect.

However, while he suspected, without evidence, he certainly wouldn't dare to march into the Chen Family to demand justice.

Therefore, outwardly he collaborated with Elder Zhou Minghan in a grand search for a month, even issuing a high-priced bounty for information on Zhou Yuanjing's whereabouts, putting on an appearance of "powerless rage" to lull the murderer into a false sense of security.

Secretly, though, he had long planned this "playing the pig to eat the tiger" scheme.

He knew well; if the murderer was indeed Chen Fangli, he wouldn't be satisfied with just killing one Zhou Yuanjing.

How could merely killing one Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Stage Zhou Yuanjing satisfy the long-repressed resentment of Chen Fangli, who had been confined for twenty years?

And now facts have proven, Zhouyang's conjecture was entirely correct; after Chen Fangli tasted the sweetness from killing Zhou Yuanjing which left Zhouyang vexed and at wit's end, he indeed refused to stop, continuing to ambush along this road to target other Zhou Family cultivators.