Mission Accomplished

It was deep into the night at Qingping Mountain as Zhou Yang read the notes the clan leader had written when he was a Grade 2 artifact refiner. They were useful for Zhou Yang who was preparing to become a Grade 2 artifact refiner as well.

According to the clan leader's notes, a Grade 1 artifact refiner could try to refine a Grade 2 magical artifact after achieving a 30%-or-higher success rate of refining an Advanced Grade 1 magical artifact.

While continuing to refine Grade 1 magical artifacts would be easier, it would not be profitable. An artifact refiner could only start earning spiritual stones when his artifact refinement had reached Grade 2. As such, clans would use the same strategy as the one written in the Zhou clan leader's notes to ensure their artifact refiners can start making a profit from artifact refinement.

However, the spiritual items used to refine a Grade 2 magical artifact were not cheap, and thus should not be used without restraint for the sake of helping artifact refiners reach Grade 2. Even a Foundation Establishment clan like the Zhou clan would only provide thirty sets of refining materials for free to artifact refiners attempting a Grade 2 magical artifact. If they were still unable to produce a Grade 2 magical artifact after exhausting all thirty sets of free materials, the artifact refiners would have to pay for more materials.

Currently, Zhou Yang's success rate of refining a Advanced Grade 1 magical artifact was only less than 20%. There was still some time before he could attempt to become a Grade 2 artifact refiner. However, the clan leader had already sent him the thirty sets of refining materials.

Zhou Minghan must have thought quite highly of Zhou Yang's potential at artifact refinement since the latter had failed fewer times as a Grade 1 artifact refiner. While sending him the sets of materials might have been a bit too early in terms of Zhou Yang's progress, it was still in accordance with the clan's rules and not purely because Zhou Minghan favored Zhou Yang.

Around midnight, Zhou Yang suddenly heard a beeping sound.

His heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly walked out of the room to look for the source of the sound. Then, his expression instantly changed.

The beeping came from the main formation flag of the Cloud Sea Light Diffraction Array at his door. The formation flag was shaking violently as if an invisible hand had gripped it.

"This is Yuquan Zhou clan's spiritual mountain! Who dares to trespass?" Zhou Yang announced his presence and quickly stepped forward to stabilize the formation flag with his mana. He then used the power of the formation to search for the figure of the intruder.

However, before he could find him, he heard a swoosh and a hand was suddenly silently placed on his back.

"Zhou Yang, don't be alarmed. This is just a small test from me."

It was a familiar voice. Zhou Yang's body, which had been extremely tense, relaxed before he turned around and looked at the person who had arrived. He could not help but smile bitterly. "Clan Leader, do you have something against this grandson of yours? I can be quite timid, you know!"

It turned out that the person who had suddenly barged into the array formation in the middle of the night was none other than Zhou Minghan, the clan leader of the Zhou clan who had been overseeing Yuquan Lake Oasis.

"Oh, Zhou Yang, are you blaming me? Do you know how worried I was when I heard Zhou Quan say that you almost barged into a nest of Venomous Fire Scorpions?" asked Zhou Minghan with a smile on his face. His face made Zhou Yang's heart skip a beat.

"Do you know how much expectation the clan and I have of you? Do you know how much we need you? It's one thing if you don't cultivate properly on the mountain, but another for you to chase a demon beast into the lair of another more deadly one without telling any of us. Do you know what a loss we would have suffered if anything happened to you?"

"But the Zhou clan needs another mineral vein."

"No! What the Zhou clan lacks now is a qualified Foundation Establishment successor who can take my place to protect this family business after I pass away!

"You say you are timid, but it seems to me that you are not only not timid, but also reckless and unafraid of death!"

Zhou Minghan's words rang as clearly in Zhou Yang's head just as the latter's words did in the miners' the other day. Every word went straight to Zhou Yang's heart and soul, triggering him so much that his body kept retreating. His face went as pale as a sheet of paper. He couldn't even say a single word to defend himself.

"I know that you've been wise since you were young and have your own ideas about everything. But you have to know that the dangers and cruelty of the immortal cultivation world are far more than what you've learned from the ancient books and elders

"I don't object to you wanting to see the outside world, but ask yourself, are you prepared to die at any time?

"Like just now, if the person who came was not me but a Grade 3 demon beast or a hostile Foundation Establishment cultivator, do you really think you could have held up the array formation until reinforcements arrive?"

The questions from Zhou Minghan kept striking deep into Zhou Yang's heart. The usually composed and eloquent Zhou Yang was now sweating profusely and could not say a single word.

"Clan Leader, please calm down. I know my mistake now. I know that I was wrong."

Zhou Yang no longer dared to face Zhou Minghan as the former's head drooped dejectedly.

Seeing Zhou Yang acting like this dissipated Zhou Minghan's anger. Zhou Yang was the junior that he valued the most after all. How could he be so harsh on him for that long?

Zhou Minghan softened up as he calmly said, "Look at me. If I really wanted to punish you, I would have already sent someone to bring you back to the clan. I'm only teaching you a lesson this time. I just really want you to know you're a member of a clan. When you do things, you can't just think of yourself. You need to think more of the clan, your family, your parents who work hard in the marketplace every day. Don't you know for whom they're working so hard and far away?

"I know. I will definitely remember your teachings from now on. I will not make the same mistake again!" Zhou Yang raised his head with determination. Though there were a few droplets of tears in his eyes, it was clear from his gaze that he had truly learned his lesson.

Zhou Minghan was grateful that Zhou Yang was able to reflect and heed his advice so well, but he did not let his emotions show on his face. "Alright, let's cut the small talk. I can't leave the clan for too long. While there is still some time left, how about you let me watch you refine a magical artifact? I want to see your skills and techniques. I can also give some immediate feedback if you have any issues."

'The clan leader still loves me!'

Zhou Yang's heart was filled with joy when Zhou Minghan had moved on with the conversation. He knew that he had passed today's test. As such, he did not linger on what had passed and hurriedly took out the artifact refining cauldron and materials to refine a magical artifact on the spot.

This time, he was extremely focused and completed the entire refinement process in one go, successfully refining the Advanced Grade 1 Black Steel Shield.

"Please give me some pointers, Great-Grandfather," said Zhou Yang as he immediately handed the Black Steel Shield to Zhou Minghan the moment the magical armor was out of the furnace without bothering to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

Zhou Minghan was sitting cross-legged next to Zhou Yang and unexpectedly shot out a stream of sword Qi to cut the magical armor into several pieces without another look at it. 

Then, Zhou Minghan picked up and examined a few of the magical armor fragments closely, pointing out the flaws and mistakes that had occurred when Zhou Yang was refining.

"Look, here. The lines along the place of fracture are disorderly, which means that you have not completely removed the impurities in the metal. Something so slight might not affect the use of the magical armor but it reduces its pressure-bearing ability. Such a mark will become the magical armor's weak point!

"And the technique you used when refining the magical armor..."

There was a huge difference in learning the Artifact Refinement Technique with and without an instructor.

Before this, despite having read a lot of artifact refinement books, all of Zhou Minghan's notes, and reflecting after every artifact refinement session, there was only so much Zhou Yang was able to learn and improve on. No matter how much he read, learned, practiced, and reflected, it was difficult for him to identify where he had failed some times.

Everyone needed a fresh set of eyes to give better opinions and advice if they wanted to improve. For Zhou Minghan, the flaws and mistakes Zhou Yang failed to notice were as plain as day. Zhou Minghan was a Grade 3 artifact refiner after all.

After receiving constructive feedback from Zhou Minghan, Zhou Yang felt as if he had had a sudden epiphany in Artifact Refinement Technique. If he digested the knowledge imparted by Zhou Minghan well, he should be able to attempt a Grade 2 magical artifact soon.

After the session on artifact refinement, Zhou Minghan stayed a little longer to answer a few more questions from Zhou Yang about cultivation. Then, Zhou Minghan left just as quietly as he came.

Although the clan leader did not say where he was going, Zhou Yang knew that he was most likely going to the red flame iron vein that he and Zhou Quan had discovered the other day.

As expected, a day after Zhou Minghan had visited Zhou Yang, the latter received a Voice Transmission Talisman sent by the clan leader.

The clan leader told Zhou Yang that there was indeed a Lower Grade 3 spiritual vein and a Grade 3 Venomous Fire Scorpion King in the red flame iron vein, and to not go near that area. However, Zhou Minghan did not say anything about how to deal with the matter.

Since Zhou Minghan had chosen not to speak any further on the matter, Zhou Yang did not bother to question anymore. After all, this matter involved a Grade 3 demon beast and wasn't something Qi Refinement cultivators like him could deal with. If the clan leader wanted to deal with the matter, he would probably know what to do and act accordingly.

Zhou Yang just pitied Zhou Quan a little because the latter wouldn't be able to get a share of the profits. He would probably not be able to last past the day the clan claimed and opened the red flame iron mine.

After another two years, Zhou Yang's mission to guard Qingping Mountain had come to an end.

By then, he had already been stationed at Qingping Mountain for five years and severely missed Yuquan Lake Oasis - the scenery, the sweetness of the lake's water, and his parents whom he had not seen for seven or eight years.

Therefore, when the clan elder and 17th uncle, Zhou Xuanzhao, had arrived to replace Zhou Yang as instructed by the clan, Zhou Yang hurriedly completed the handover process as he did not want to stay any longer. Despite the grumbles of the elder, Zhou Yang set off for Yuquan Lake Oasis as quickly as an arrow the moment he was ready.