Chapter 21: Elixir and Magic Artifact

Although Mu Xuanfeng spoke politely, he was asking Zhou Chun to leave the Mu Family.

But how could Zhou Chun not understand what the "invitation" meant? He didn't dare oppose Mu Xuanfeng's "kindness."

Thus, before he could even make himself comfortable at the Mu Family residence, let alone say goodbye to Mu Ziying, Mu Yunqing, and other Mu Family cultivators he was on good terms with, Mu Xuanfeng personally escorted him to the Zhou Family at Jiufeng Ridge.

Upon arriving at Jiufeng Ridge, Zhou Chun, a Zhou Family cultivator, was ironically left waiting outside the Central Peace Hall.

After nearly half an hour, he saw Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi with a smile on his face escorting Mu Xuanfeng out of the great hall and all the way to the mountain gate before coming back.

When they returned to the Central Peace Hall, Zhou Daoyi called Zhou Chun, who had been waiting outside, into the hall to discuss his arrangements.

"I'm aware of what transpired at the Mu Family; Daoist Mu Xuanfeng has informed me. You truly toiled hard this time, Zhengchun, and both I and the clan will remember your contribution to our family," he said.

"You may take my token later to the Hundred Medicines Peak and find the Great Elder to claim one bottle of Spring Sun Pill and three bottles of Beast Spirit Pill, which serve as the family's reward for this task."

"After this, you should stay and cultivate diligently within the family. If there are other tasks, I will summon you again."

This arrangement did not surprise Zhou Chun; it was quite the expected outcome.

Moreover, the rewards given to him were very generous and just what he needed.

He promptly bowed and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Clan Leader, for your generous reward."

He then took the token given by Zhou Daoyi and left Pagoda Peak.

Afterward, Zhou Chun didn't rush to the Hundred Medicines Peak to claim the elixirs from the Great Elder; instead, he first returned to his residence on Baozhi Peak.

Having not returned for over a year, Zhou Chun's residence was now littered with many dead twigs and leaves, and a layer of dust had settled on the tables and chairs.

Seeing this, he opened the windows and doors, formed a spell with his hands, and cast a Dust Removal Spell that shook off all the dust from the surfaces, which a gentle breeze then whisked away into the courtyard.

Satisfied with the now much cleaner and brighter room, Zhou Chun nodded approvingly, closed the doors and windows, and began to inventory his gains.

He opened the storage pouch that Mu Xuanfeng had given him and poured out all its contents.

To Zhou Chun's surprise, there was quite a lot inside.

In addition to the Magic Artifacts he was interested in, there were also talismans, books, Spirit Coins, clothing, and various other items a cultivator would typically carry.

This indicated that Mu Xuanfeng truly hadn't touched the contents of the storage pouch.

"Indeed, with the Clan Leader of the Mu Family's status, these items are trivial to him, so why be petty and become the laughing stock?"

Having come to this realization, Zhou Chun couldn't help but laugh at himself, acknowledging that he had been somewhat distrustful.

Shaking his head, he immediately began to take inventory of the pile of items on the ground.

Aside from the Magic Artifacts, there were seven talismans on the ground, including five lower-grade first-level talismans and two mid-grade first-level talismans.

In addition, the books consisted of one cultivation technique, personal cultivation notes, and several classics detailing information about spiritual medicines and demon beasts.

There were also fifty-seven Spirit Coins.

Regarding the Magic Artifacts, there were four in total: the Bamboo Leaf Flight Artifact that Zhou Chun had seen before, a dark Iron Shield Dharma Tool, a silver short sword, and a black long saber.

Of these four Magic Artifacts, the Bamboo Leaf Flight Artifact was equivalent to a mid-grade first-level artifact, whereas the Iron Shield and the short sword were both mid-grade first-level artifacts; the black saber, however, was only a lower-grade first-level artifact.

Zhou Chun then inspected the few Magic Artifacts and immediately began to refine the three mid-grade first-level artifacts.

For a cultivator to use a Magic Artifact as they wish, they must first leave their Spirit Sense Imprint in the artifact and refine it with their mana.

The original owners' Spirit Sense Imprints had already been erased from the three Magic Artifacts in Zhou Chun's hands, likely the doing of the Clan Leader of the Mu Family, Mu Xuanfeng, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Otherwise, with his seventh layer Qi Refinement Realm cultivation level, erasing the yellow-clothed middle-aged man's Spirit Sense Imprint would have taken him several days of concentrated effort.

Now, all he needed to do was leave his own Spirit Sense Imprint in the artifacts using the Magic Artifact refining spells and cleanse the remnants of the previous owner's aura with his mana.

This way, it took less than two days to completely refine the three artifacts.

And Zhou Chun was very satisfied with the power of the newly refined artifacts.

The silver short sword was exceptionally sharp, capable of emitting a piercing sword light to defeat enemies, and it was not easy to block its edge with an artifact of the same grade.

The dark Iron Shield was even more mysterious; once refined, it could fly around the owner at will, providing protection. Although it couldn't offer full body defense, the shield's defensive power far exceeded that of the mid-grade first-level spell "Vajra Shield."

The key is that as long as the magic artifacts aren't damaged, they can be used indefinitely, whereas spells and talismans have a limited duration.

As for the flying artifact, because it was too conspicuous, Zhou Chun didn't dare to fly high to try it out. He just found an open space outside the courtyard and flew a few circles, feeling very good about it.

For him, this item actually had a greater effect than for any other Qi Refinement Realm Cultivator.

Because other Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators would worry about Mana depletion when outside, they wouldn't dare to use this item to fly and hurry on their way.

But he could meditate in the wilderness and recover Mana at will, without worrying about Mana consumption at all.

However, using this item to fly and hurry on one's way was indeed quite eye-catching. Zhou Chun suspected that his current cultivation level was probably not enough to deter those bandit cultivators.

So in his mind, the use of this item was similar to that of the yellow-clothed middle-aged man; it was to be used only in certain emergencies.

After consecrating and testing the newly acquired magic artifact, Zhou Chun suddenly remembered that there was something else he hadn't done, so he hurried to do it.

He walked to the courtyard with a stone jar filled with Purification Spirit Water and fed half a jar directly to the Rock Earth Turtle that was dozing beside the courtyard gate.

It was interesting that the Rock Earth Turtle usually didn't drink water, obtaining moisture only from eating bark and leaves.

However, Purification Spirit Water was an exception. Although Zhou Chun didn't taste anything when drinking the water, the turtle seemed to savor flavors that Zhou Chun couldn't detect, and it hardly ever refused.

And Zhou Chun was quite happy to see this.

Although research by senior cultivators showed that Demon Beasts were less affected by Evil Qi than cultivators, they were still influenced.

Therefore, even without cultivators feeding them various Elixirs and Spiritual Objects, Demon Beasts that grew up in places free from Evil Qi would advance faster, have a much more docile nature, and even be smarter than those in the wild.

In such cases, cultivators with Spirit Pets generally tried to prevent their pets from absorbing nature's spiritual energy in the wilderness, to avoid contamination with Evil Qi.

But Demon Beasts couldn't control this aspect as well as cultivators. Low-level Demon Beasts, even if commanded by their owner, would absorb nature's spiritual energy to replenish Mana after using spells, a result of their bloodline talents and instincts, which were difficult for them to control themselves.

Zhou Chun's Rock Earth Turtle had previously fought in the wild and naturally absorbed spiritual energy tainted with Evil Qi.

Although the amount of Evil Qi absorbed was relatively small, he still didn't want the Rock Earth Turtle to be affected, so he now fed it the Purification Spirit Water to expel the Evil Qi from its body.

Only after ensuring that the Evil Qi within the Rock Earth Turtle was thoroughly purified did Zhou Chun pat the head of the turtle, which conveyed its happy and satisfied emotions, and then he set out from the courtyard.

Next, he needed to go to the Hundred Medicines Peak to collect the Elixirs rewarded to him by the Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, Zhou Daoyi.

Hundred Medicines Peak was located twelve miles south of Pagoda Peak and was a mountain with very rich spiritual energy, second only to Pagoda Peak.

Compared to the other peaks of Jiufeng Ridge, the soil and environment of Hundred Medicines Peak were more suitable for planting various Spiritual Medicines. Therefore, after the Zhou Family took over Jiufeng Ridge, they made this peak the family's future Spirit Medicine Garden, with the Great Elder Zhou Mingshan in charge.

As the Great Elder of the Zhou Family, Zhou Mingshan was the man with the highest status and cultivation level in the family after the Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde.

He was also the best elixir maker in the family. Most of the Spirit Pills consumed by Zhou Family Cultivators and their pets came from his hands.

Unfortunately, as far as Zhou Chun knew, this elder of the Zhou Family didn't have much longer to live; he might pass away within a decade.

Therefore, unless it was for very significant matters, clan members of the Zhou Family rarely saw this Great Elder leave Hundred Medicines Peak.

When Zhou Chun arrived at Hundred Medicines Peak and stated his purpose, an apprentice alchemist in charge of reception went to inform the Great Elder Zhou Mingshan.

While he waited outside, he took the opportunity to examine Hundred Medicines Peak.

He had helped to turn the soil when they were first clearing the land for medicinal fields on Hundred Medicines Peak.

Two years had passed since then, and those clearings were now planted with Spirit Medicine Seeds. Many fields already showed sprouting green shoots, and with some fast-growing varieties, they were even over a foot tall.

At a glance, Zhou Chun easily recognized common medicinal materials such as Ginseng, Yellow Essence, and others.

While these looked much like their mundane counterparts found in mortal pharmacies, they were actually improved varieties selectively bred by cultivators, with progenitor plants being quality Hundred-Year Spirit Herbs.

After growing in the fields for twenty to thirty years, they could be used as Spiritual Medicine. Once they reached a hundred years, they would be highly valuable Hundred-Year Spirit Herbs.

For any established cultivation power, the Spirit Medicine Garden is one of the most treasured assets and one of the vital places.

When the Sanjue Sect withdrew from Fengguo, the Spirit Medicine Garden, which had been passed down for a thousand years, was a top priority for relocation.

But now, looking at the tender sprouts in the medicine fields on Hundred Medicines Peak, Zhou Chun knew that the rare Spiritual Medicines that had been moved from the Sanjue Sect were most likely divided among those three major powers with Golden Core Stage cultivators at their helm.

This situation suggested that although the Zhou Family was nominally a cultivation family with over a thousand years of heritage, aside from their inherited Beast Taming Technique, some Cultivation Techniques, and classics, in terms of Spiritual Medicine and mineral resources, they were no different from a newly established family—they had to start from scratch and accumulate everything anew.