The Jade Spring Peak stands several hundred meters tall, with Spiritual Qi becoming more concentrated as one ascends. Generally, the Zhou Clan members at the Qi Cultivation Stage find the mountainside sufficient for their cultivation practices. There, comfortable palaces and pavilions are established for residence and life, with mundane clansmen specializing in caring for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.
Only cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage reside in the Cave Mansions atop Jade Spring Peak, making use of the abundant Spiritual Qi there for cultivation.
The entire Jade Spring Peak is enveloped by a Tier Three Middle Grade Array, the "Array of Ten Thousand Trees Holding Up the Heavens." This array absorbs the Spiritual Qi of plants and trees within to enhance its power. Consequently, from the foothill to the peak, apart from the specially cultivated Spirit Fields and Spirit Medicine Gardens, the area is covered in various towering trees, including some that are several centuries to millennia old.
The crowns of these towering trees connect in one continuous canopy, blocking out the sunlight, making the mountain temperature a few degrees cooler than outside. With a refreshing breeze weaving through the forest, it imparts an indescribable coolness to those walking among them.
Zhouyang, dressed in flowing white robes, employs the Light Body Technique to swiftly ascend from the mountainside along a stone-paved path cut into the forest, quickly reaching the summit.
After human alteration, the mountaintop of Jade Spring Peak has become quite flat, covering just a few dozen acres. Due to the rich Spiritual Qi above, apart from three places where there are three Cultivator's Cave Mansions, the rest has been developed into Spirit Medicine Fields, planted with various grades of Spirit Medicines.
As Zhouyang arrives here, an aroma composed of various Spirit Medicines greets him, invigorating his spirit with just one sniff, accelerating his Magical Power.
It is imaginable that regular cultivation here would significantly speed up one's progress more than down the mountainside.
But it's just not possible.
The Spirit Medicine Garden is a precious ground for the Zhou Family. Many Spirit Medicines here are rare varieties cultivated over one to two hundred years by the Zhou Family. Losing even one plant would be enough to make the old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan grieve for decades.
Therefore, aside from the two Tier Two Spirit Plant Cultivators in the clan, even someone like Zhouyang, a highly favored prodigy, is strictly forbidden from stepping onto the mountaintop without the Clan Leader's summons.
Moreover, not just anyone can enter the mountaintop at will. It's the core region of the "Array of Ten Thousand Trees Holding Up the Heavens," protected by strong Array Power. If the Guardians inside don't manipulate the array for passage, even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could only attempt to forcefully break the array.
"Junior Zhouyang, ordered to pay respects to the old Clan Leader, begs the venerable elders for passage."
He stood outside the array atop the mountain, respectfully clasping his hands towards the area covered in the array's white mist, performing a bow.
"So it's Xiao Jiu. The Clan Leader has already instructed beforehand; you may enter first."
An aged voice emanated from the white mist, and soon, the fog before Zhouyang surged, revealing a safe passage wide enough for one person.
Upon seeing this, Zhouyang hurriedly bowed in gratitude, saying, "Grandson thanks Grandpa Qi."
He then followed the path inward, eventually reaching the side of a venerable elder with white hair, sitting under a giant tree tens of meters tall.
The elder sitting under the tree with white hair is named Zhou Yun, possessing a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation and serving as the Fourth Elder of the Zhou Family, ranking seventh among the "Light" generation, and is one of the only two Tier Two Spirit Plant Cultivators in the family.
The youngest of the Zhou Family's "Light" generation cultivators are over eighty years old, and this Fourth Elder Zhou Yun is nearly a hundred, approaching the hundred and twenty-year lifespan limit of Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators.
Though the ability for Magical Combat doesn't decay much with age, typically, those elderly cultivators nearing a hundred years old in the major cultivation clans retire to the clan's ancestral grounds for peace in their twilight years. Unless facing catastrophic events, no one disturbs these meritorious ones who have served the family most of their lives.
Especially since Zhou Yun is also a Tier Two Spirit Plant Cultivator, allowing him to seclude himself on the mountaintop to care for the Spirit Medicines in the several dozen acres of medicine garden.
Seeing Zhouyang approach, the elder promptly waved his sleeve, causing a tea table, a tea set, and a cushion to appear before him. Indicating the empty cushion, he said, "The Clan Leader is concluding his cultivation; Xiao Jiu, accompany this old man for some tea and chatter for a while."
Rarely do younger family members make it to the summit, and with the Clan Leader often in secluded cultivation, the elder is usually alone with no one to talk to, feeling quite bored.
Now, seeing Zhouyang, the most outstanding junior among the family's younger generation, turn up, he naturally feels delighted.
Young individuals may not understand an elder's heart easily, but Zhouyang, who has lived two lives, comprehends it well. He is willing to chat with these elders more when it doesn't interfere with important tasks, listening to the various tales and wonders of the Cultivation Realm they share.
"Drinking Grandpa Qi's self-made spirit tea is not something easy to come by. Today this grandson must drink to his fill."
He smiled, seated himself on the cushion, and took the initiative to pick up the tea set and brew some tea.
Naturally, brewing tea with a cultivator is not like that of a mortal. The fire used in brewing tea is conjured by Magical Power, allowing the tea to boil within moments without any trace of smoke or fire odor.
After a pot of tea was brewed, Zhouyang poured tea for the two of them, eagerly raised his cup of fragrant hot tea, and drank it all in one go.
If a mortal drank tea like this, the scalding hot tea would surely burn their throat, but for a cultivator who has tempered their body with magical power, this temperature is like drinking warm water for an ordinary person and is nothing at all.
The old man saw his gulping way of drinking tea, and not only did he not show any dissatisfaction, but he happily watched him and asked with a smile, "How about it? Are you satisfied with this new medicinal tea I made?"
Before Zhouyang could answer, he himself gently picked up the teacup, took a sip, then closed his eyes with an expression of enjoyment and said triumphantly, "This is a new tea I made from the fallen leaves of the Tier Two spirit elixir 'Immortal Cloud Grass', along with the roots of a twenty-year-old 'White Jade Ginseng', and five types of spirit elixirs including the Tier One spirit elixir 'Fragrant Leaf Chrysanthemum'. I made only three taels of it in total, and the tea water used to brew it was the spirit dew collected from the spirit medicine in the garden this morning."
"Indeed, it is good tea. Grandpa Qi, this medicinal tea, in terms of taste and effect, is no worse than any of the spirit teas I've had before. If it could be mass-produced, it would provide an additional source of income for our Zhou Family!"
Zhouyang put down his teacup, quietly felt the changes in magical power within his body, sniffed the medicinal fragrance lingering on his lips, and his face was full of admiration.
The old man was first delighted to hear his praise, then his face turned full of frustration and helplessness as he shook his head and said, "I also had this thought, but the 'Immortal Cloud Grass' is the main ingredient for refining Tier Two Spirit Pills 'Immortal Cloud Pill'. How can such a spirit elixir be wasted for tea-making? If I only use naturally withered leaves, the amount wouldn't even be enough for me to drink!"
"This..."
Zhouyang awkwardly lowered his head, resolutely not taking the old man's words further.
In the family, there's only one Tier Two alchemist, and that's his father Zhou Xuanhao. Once the 'Immortal Cloud Grass' matures, it's all used by his father for alchemy. If he dared to suggest using the spirit grass to make tea, his father would probably slap him to death.
"Heh heh, you little rascal, cunning as ever. Don't worry, as if I would disregard the bigger picture? What I said just now was just a casual remark!"
The old man chuckled, well aware of what Zhouyang was thinking, first offering him some comforting words, then sharing some anecdotes from his youth to help dissolve the previous awkwardness.
The two of them chatted like this for about a quarter of an hour, when the door to the retreat cave of the clan leader atop the mountain suddenly opened on its own, and from within came the old clan leader's aged yet powerful voice, "Is that Xiao Jiu? Please come in."
Hearing this voice, the two who were conversing stopped simultaneously, then Zhouyang immediately stood up and cupped his hand towards Zhou Yun, saying, "Grandpa Qi, I'll go pay my respects to the clan leader now."
"Go on, go on, don't keep the old clan leader waiting."
Bidding farewell to Zhou Yun, Zhouyang walked through the open doors of the cave mansion and quickly found himself in the cultivation chamber deep within, where he met the current clan leader of the Zhou Clan, the Foundation Establishment cultivator, Zhou Minghan.
Zhou Minghan was over a hundred and fifty years old, yet he looked much younger than Zhou Yun outside. His hair was not completely white, and his complexion was rosy like an infant's.
This is entirely normal, as Foundation Establishment cultivators have a lifespan of over two hundred years. Barring any accidents, Zhou Minghan still had at least forty or fifty years of life, and with his high cultivation, he naturally appeared younger than Zhou Yun.
When Zhouyang met Zhou Minghan, this clan leader of the Zhou Race was seated in meditation on a Cold Jade Bed. Zhouyang dared not look too much; upon entering, he bowed deeply to pay respect and said, "Grandson pays respects to Ancestor."
Zhou Minghan, as the only cultivator of the "Ming" generation in the Zhou Family and with Foundation Establishment cultivation, naturally became the patriarch for all the "Yuan" generation cultivators.
"Xuan He has already informed me through a communication talisman about your performance in the 'Jade Sun Cave'. Xiao Jiu, you handled it very well. Even when I was your age, I was far inferior in terms of strategic vision!"
Seated on the Cold Jade Bed, Zhou Minghan slightly opened his eyes, revealing a look of appreciation in his gaze towards Zhouyang, heaping praises upon him, with joy evident on his face.
Upon hearing this, Zhouyang was truly elated. To be the first of the "Yuan" generation to receive such commendation from the old clan leader Zhou Minghan was no small feat. If word of this were to spread, his status in the eyes of the Zhou Family elders and seniors would undoubtedly rise a notch.
However, despite his joy, Zhouyang did not let it make him complacent; he promptly replied respectfully, "You overpraise me, Ancestor. I merely did what was necessary, and such praise is undeserved."
"Well said, doing what is necessary! If every disciple of the Zhou Family had the same understanding as Xiao Jiu, how could the Zhou Family not prosper?"
Zhou Minghan couldn't help but smile broadly, clearly extremely pleased with Zhouyang's response.
He laughed, lifting his hand slightly, and an invisible force helped Zhouyang up from his bowing position.
"Come, stand up straight, let me take a good look at the Qilin'Er of our Zhou Family!"
The joy of the old clan leader was evident, as he even called out "Qilin'Er," showing the high regard and affection he held for this junior Zhouyang.