Third Grandfather's Request

The Metal Eating Rat was a type of demon beast with very strong attack power. Although Zhou Quan's and Zhou Yang's auras were not weak, they were not enough to intimidate the demon beast. The Metal Eating Rat was already angered when the duo interrupted its meal and would not let them off easily.

When its attack on Zhou Yang failed due to the Silver Shield's barrier, the cunning demon beast hid in the dark for about fifteen minutes before it launched another attack.

In order to lure it out, Zhou Quan had deliberately put away his protective golden light, making the demon beast think that it had found an opportunity. This time, the Metal Eating Rat's target was Zhou Quan. 

Fortunately, Zhou Quan had plenty of fighting experience, unlike Zhou Yang who was still a newbie. As soon as the demon beast pounced out of the cave wall, it was immediately smashed to the ground by a flying round shield.

Then, just as the Metal Eating Rat was about to escape again, a golden light suddenly shot out from Zhou Quan's fingers and into the ground of the mine.

In an instant, the ground within a radius of dozens of meters became as hard as steel. The Metal Eating Rat had merely begun to burrow itself before the ground hardened and got it half-stuck.

What a great opportunity!

Neither Zhou Yang nor Zhou Quan had expected that the Earth to Steel Spell could be used to capture the demon beast. Their eyes lit up as they launched counterattacks almost simultaneously on the demon beast.

When Zhou Quan raised his Mountain Quaking Hammer, it immediately expanded to the size of a water tank before it was brought down directly onto the Metal Eating Rat stuck in the ground.

Zhou Yang remembered one of the attacks effective against the Metal Eating Rat that Zhou Quan had mentioned earlier. Thus, rather than using one of his magical artifacts, Zhou Yang used the Grade 2 spell he had been practicing for the past few years, the Fire Snake Technique.

He quickly formed a mantra gesture and pointed at the Metal Eating Rat, summoning a huge blazing python several meters long that shot straight towards its target.

The clan leader had once said that cultivating the Golden Sun Blazing Fire Form was beneficial to Zhou Yang's ability to cast spells, especially for combat, and he wasn't wrong. After all, the Golden Sun Blazing Fire Form was highly compatible with Zhou Yang's spiritual root attributes. Since Zhou Yang had been practicing his spells alongside his cultivation of the Golden Sun Blazing Fire Form, his execution of the Fire Snake Technique was twice more powerful than one executed by a typical Level 6 Qi Refinement cultivator.

After a series of earth-rumbling explosions, the entire tunnel collapsed due to Zhou Quan's and Zhou Yang's attacks. The duo's faces turned pale, afraid that they would get buried or trapped by the crumbling tunnel.

They had been so focused on eliminating the demon beast that they forgot that they were fighting tens of meters underground. If the tunnel collapsed, it would turn into a situation that the two Qi Refinement cultivators could not deal with unscathed. A Core Foundation cultivator would have better luck.

"Quick, let's retreat first."

Zhou Quan quickly decided to temporarily retreat. He did not even have time to retrieve his Mountain Quaking Hammer as pulled Zhou Yang, who was still in shock, out along the path they had come from.

Right now, ensuring the safety of Zhou Yang, the genius disciple and future of the Zhou clan was more important than the demon beast.

The two ran over dozens of meters until they finally saw the exit and started to walk the rest of the way. Eventually, the rumbling stopped and Zhou Quan instructed Zhou Yang to wait outside before the former returned to the mine to check on the situation.

Not long after, Zhou Quan returned empty-handed.

"That demon beast is too resilient to be able to escape with such heavy injuries!" Zhou Quan resentfully complained and Zhou Yang regretfully sighed. "It's truly a pity. Such an Advanced Grade 2 demon beast is not common here. If we can capture and hand it over to the clan leader, our clan would have obtained enough materials to refine a few Advanced Grade 2 magical artifacts!"

But the moment Zhou Yang was done speaking, he quickly realized that he shouldn't have said anything as Zhou Quan's expression only turned uglier.

Zhou Quan had initially intended to show the young cultivator that he was still strong and full of vigor despite his age. He did not want Zhou Yang to view him as a frail and deteriorating old man like those old mortals who simply sat at home and waited for death.

Now that things had turned out like this, how could Zhou Quan not feel frustrated?

"This matter isn't over yet. The Metal Eating Rat is a demon beast that holds grudges. We may have severely injured it but it will heal. And once it's ready, it will come to feast on people again. By then, we will have prepared ourselves and bait it with some treasures. Once we have captured it, we shall kill, skin, and dismember it!" Zhou Quan spoke with a face filled with hatred.

Zhou Yang felt a squeeze in his heart when he heard Zhou Quan's words. If the Metal Eating Rat was sure to return with revenge, should they still continue to mine?

The clan had sent him to guard Qingping Mountain. His main responsibility was to protect the refined iron vein. If they stopped mining because of the demon beast, they would lose spiritual stones!

But as much as Zhou Yang tried to not let his concerns show on his face, Zhou Quan still noticed it and immediately understood what he was worried about. "Zhou Yang, don't worry. I will help you explain the situation to the clan. The Metal Eating Rat is an Advanced Grade 2 demon beast that exceeds your ability to deal with. No one will look down on you because of this."

"Thank you for your words of comfort, Third Grandfather. However, I still have a bit of doubt. The Zhou clan has been mining this refined iron vein for decades. As such, getting attacked by the demon beasts from the desert attracted by human presence is not something new to us. However, this is the first time we have encountered a Metal Eating Rat.

"Plus, it's already an adult. If it had been lurking throughout the mine, how did we not detect it earlier?" asked Zhou Yang, slightly puzzled.

Besides the clan leader, no one else in their clan would understand the behavior of demon beasts as well as Zhou Quan, a Grade 2 beast tamer.

"You're right. Demon beasts like the Metal Eating Rat have always liked to nest and reproduce in mineral veins. If a Metal Eating Rat had been living in our decades-old veins, the clan elders and Zhou Qian who were the first to explore the mineral vein should have discovered it long ago. Unless..."

"Unless it migrated here recently!"

The duo cried out almost at the same time. Then, they looked at each other with joy.

"That's right. According to what I know, if a demon beast like the Metal Eating Rat wants to advance to Grade 3, it needs to devour a large amount of metals with different attributes. That demon beast that escaped must have migrated here recently from another mineral vein!"

Zhou Quan excitedly stretched out his hand to stroke his beard as he beamed proudly.

Zhou Yang was equally as excited at their recent deduction. "Since Third Grandfather said so, then it's definitely not wrong. But we don't know where and how far away the mineral vein that the Metal Eating Rat came from is. If we're able to get to it, the Zhou clan might be able to strike it rich!"

And that was why the two were so happy. Ever since Zhou Yuquan established their clan, there had been a rule: any Zhou clan disciple who found and reported an unclaimed mineral or natural spiritual vein in the Boundless Sand Sea, the person would receive a 10% annual lifetime dividend of the profits once the clan had occupied and developed the resource.

If the origins of the Metal Eating Rat were as Zhou Quan and Zhou Yang had guessed, they could receive the dividend once they had discovered and reported the location of the mineral vein to the clan, provided that no one else had found and claimed it yet.

Under such circumstances, how could the two of them not be happy?

But tried to maintain a calm expression. After all, they still needed to maintain their image as dignified immortal cultivators.

Moreover, they had simply made educated guesses and deductions. Nothing had been verified yet, except for the existence of the Metal Eating Rat.

Just as Zhou Yang started to calm down and think about how to locate the possible mineral vein, Zhou Quan suddenly turned to him and hesitantly said to him in a low voice, "Zhou Yang, there is something I would like to discuss with you."

"Please speak, Third Grandfather." Zhou Yang looked back at Zhou Quan in surprise. The latter was not using the usual tone of an older person speaking to a younger person. Moreover, Zhou Quan looked like he was slightly blushing as he gritted his teeth and said, "If you really discover the mineral vein, I am willing to let you enjoy the full 10% of the dividends. But, would you be willing to give 30% of your dividends to your second brother?"

"I..."

Zhou Yang's expression changed as he immediately understood what Zhou Quan meant.

According to the clan's rules, if more than one person discovered a vein at the same time, then those privy to the discovery would have an equal share of the 10% dividends. If one of them passed away, his share of the dividends would return to the clan.

Since Zhou Quan was already over a hundred years old, he would only be able to enjoy a share of the dividends for a few more years before the clan took it. This would also mean that Zhou Yang would be enjoying less than 10% of the dividends for the rest of his life.

However, if Zhou Yang alone received the full 10% dividend at such a young age, the amount of dividend he would accumulate over the years would be massive. And his eligibility to receive the dividend was regardless of whether he achieved Foundation Establishment or not.

Thus, if Zhou Yang was willing to give only 30% of his 10% dividend to Zhou Bao, his second brother in name and the biological grandson of Zhou Quan, then Zhou Quan's family would still be able to profit greatly in the long run.

But the reason Zhou Quan was so hesitant to make such a request was that it was a rather selfish one, going against public interest and wealth. Moreover, it was shameful for him as the head of his family.

Zhou Quan knew how disgraceful his request was and he only grew more ashamed when he saw that Zhou Yang continued to remain silent as his expression continued to change greatly. But Zhou Quan swallowed a bit more pride and continued to speak.

"I know that this is quite a disgraceful request I am making of you. But Zhou Yang, I hope you can think of this as being considerate to your second brother. He only has a lower spirit root and his parents have already passed away. Once I pass away, how hard would it be for him to provide for the large family I leave behind? In my hundred-over years of living, I have never done anything to let down the clan. For once in my life, I hope you will be able to grant my request!"

By the time he was done speaking, his eyes had already started to fill with tears.