Emitting Both Power and Kindness

Despite having successfully executed their plan, Zhou Yang was still slightly haunted by the chase and battle with the Metal Eating Rat earlier. As such, Zhou Quan had to slow down and keep a more careful eye on the young cultivator as they journeyed back to Qingping Mountain. This time, they took almost two days to return.

Unfortunately, Qingping Mountain had turned into a mess. The Metal Eating Rat had killed twenty to thirty miners, and Zhou Yang, the cultivator stationed there, was nowhere to be seen. Although Zhou Bao was the temporary replacement, he was simply given the position by Zhou Quan and Zhou Yang, not officially by the clan. He couldn't appease the frightened miners or control the overall situation at all.

The honest and dull-witted Zhou Bao could only stand guard on Qingping Mountain, watching the miners wreak havoc at the base. There was nothing he could do to vent the fear and anger in his heart.

When Zhou Yang and Zhou Quan returned to this situation, they fell speechless, feeling both incredulous and angry.

The sight of the duo's return brought so much joy to Zhou Bao that he rushed out happily to meet them.

But Zhou Quan returned his grandson's greeting with a slap while Zhou Yang went ahead to deal with the mess.

"What a waste of potential! Aren't you a Level 4 Qi Refinement cultivator? Why are you hiding behind the array formation helplessly like a mere mortal? What use is the magical artifact you have equipped, then? Did you learn spells to play with children?"

Zhou Quan reprimanded his grandson furiously with a face full of disappointment.

However, the honest and dull Zhou Bao was still stubbornly clueless as he defended himself as if he had been wronged. "Grandpa, you don't understand. The clan has a rule that forbids cultivators from hurting the clan's mortals. I can't just kill those people if they don't listen to me, right?"

Zhou Bao's words only made his grandfather angrier, so much so that he gave his grandson another slap with an angry curse. "Kill? Do you even have the guts to kill people with that timid personality of yours? Can you not see and learn from how Zhou Yang deals with such situations? Honestly, the only thing you have over him is your age."

'I'm never going to be as good as Zhou Yang anyway!' thought Zhou Bao, still feeling extremely wronged. But he did not dare to talk back anymore. Instead, he obediently used his Heavenly Eye Technique to look at the miners' camp and see how Zhou Yang was dealing with those miners.

Zhou Yang's solution was very simple. He used his Scarlet Flame Sword to drive the miners to an open area. Then, he threw the corpse of the Metal Eating Rat before them.

"Look, the human-eating demon beast is now dead!

"I know you are afraid of being eaten by the demon beast, but fear is not a reason for you to destroy the clan's property!

"Now, I'm giving you a chance. Clean up the camp immediately and obediently await the clan's instructions. Otherwise, I will report what you have done in the past two days to the clan and suggest that you be stripped of our clan name and have your entire family be expelled!"

Zhou Yang used the Grade 1 Sound of Cleansing spell to calmly and clearly convey his words to the minds of the miners he was speaking to.

The miners suddenly recalled the clan rules that they had recited since young and started to break out in cold sweat as they looked at the young Master Immortal Cultivator standing next to the corpse of the Metal Eating Rat.

Although the Zhou clan's rules strictly forbade clan cultivators from killing clan mortals, they also did not allow the clan's mortals to destroy the clan's spiritual resources. If any mortal violated this rule, they would be killed or be banished.

Either way, they would no longer be members of the Zhou clan to receive the protection or benefits of the clan. By then, it would not be a violation of the clan rules if the clan cultivators decide to kill them.

"Spare our lives, Master Immortal Cultivator! Please, spare us!"

"We were wrong. We know we were wrong. Master Immortal Cultivator, please show mercy and spare us this time. We won't dare to do it again!"

"I had nothing to do with this, Master Immortal Cultivator. I've been in the barracks for the past two days and did not participate in the destruction of the camp at all. Master Immortal Cultivator, your vision is as sharp as a hawk's. You must realize the truth and know that I've been wronged!"

In an instant, the miners who had understood the consequences of the matter knelt and prostrated themselves as they begged for mercy. They no longer had the crazed look of a desperate person.

Zhou Bao was completely astonished when he witnessed the scene through the Heavenly Eye Technique.

Zhou Quan saw the scene too and took the opportunity to educate his grandson, "Did you see that? Now, do you know how foolish your words were earlier? To fight with and kill a mere group of mortals? What's the difference between that and being a sand bandit, then? Why else do you think we first teach you the simple Grade 1 spells that did not seem that beneficial to your cultivation from a young age instead of the other more advanced and offensive ones?"

Zhou Bao was speechless. Although he was stubborn, he was not a true one-track-minded fool. The truth was right in front of him, and there was no room for him to deny it or defend himself any longer.

"Learn well. You're not young anymore. You need to use your brain more when you do things in the future. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you're unable to make a decision, you should just consult Zhou Yang. Listen to his opinion before making a decision!"

Zhou Quan could not bear to hit and scold Zhou Bao anymore. The latter was his own grandson, after all. He could only sigh and try to persuade him, hoping that he would change eventually.

Down where the miners had been gathered, Zhou Yang waited for the miners to kowtow until their heads were covered in blood. Only then did he agree to forgive them for their mistakes. Without another word, he dismissed them with a wave of his hand so that they could start cleaning up the camp. Zhou Yang picked up the Metal Eating Rat's corpse and returned to Qingping Mountain.

"What a good show of kindness and intimidation - using the clan rules to intimidate them until their courage is broken, then use kindness to appease their hearts. Zhou Yang, for you to have understood this concept and apply it so effectively truly puts my heart at ease knowing that you will do the clan well when you take over from us elders!"

Zhou Quan did not bother hiding his fondness and praises for Zhou Yang in front of his own grandson, who naturally felt a little jealous. Still, he knew his place. The position of clan leader was only for the capable and there were fifteen Yuan generation cultivators in the Zhou clan. Even if Zhou Bao's talent was not right at the bottom, it was still in the bottom half. He probably would never have a chance to be the clan leader.

"Third Grandfather, although these mortal miners have been temporarily appeased, it is unlikely that they will be able to enter the mines to mine again so soon. Therefore, can you please report this situation to the clan leader upon your return to the clan and ask the clan to recruit a new batch of miners to replace this group?"

"Don't worry. When I return, I will definitely help you settle this matter," said Zhou Quan with a slight nod as he easily agreed to Zhou Yang's request.

Thus, after resting for another day on Qingping Mountain, Zhou Quan and Zhou Bao rode their Camel Beasts back to the Zhou clan.

After sending the pair off, Zhou Yang finally had the time to deal with the harvest from this trip.

First, he peeled off the skin from the corpse of the Metal Eating Rat, then proceeded to preserve the skin, teeth, claws, bones, and eyes. These body parts could be used to refine weapons while the meat could be cooked with Golden Pearl Rice to make a spiritual meal and improve their nutrition.

Zhou Yang set up a copper cauldron that he had refined himself and threw the grape-sized rat droppings into the cauldron. Then, he added spring water and charcoal before bringing it slowly to a boil.

After boiling thousands of rat droppings, Zhou Yang obtained a few kilograms of metal granules.

These metal granules were not the special spiritual metal that Zhou Yang wanted. He still needed to further extract them, which would test his skills as an artifact refiner.

Zhou Yang switched out the copper cauldron with the Advanced Grade 1 magical cauldron that he usually used for artifact refining. Then, he took out dozens of palm-sized pieces of fiery-red wood charcoal, stuffed them under the cauldron, and used a spell to ignite them.

This fiery-red wood charcoal was made from a Grade 2 spiritual wood called the Flaming Sun Wood that only grew near active volcanoes and lava. Upon ignition, the flames produced would be white compared to the color of True Fire mastered by Foundation Establishment cultivators. Ten palm-sized charcoal pieces of it were worth one lower-tier spiritual stone - they were extremely precious.

Qi Refining alchemists or artifact refiners would burn Flaming Sun Wood charcoal to raise the temperature of the flames if they didn't have any Earth Fire to use when refining artifacts that required high temperature.

The Flaming Sun Wood charcoal was taken from the clan's treasury and given to Zhou Yang by Zhou Minghan via Zhou Quan. It was both a reward and hint for Zhou Yang to quickly become a Grade 2 artifact refiner after Zhou Minghan had examined the Grade 1 magical artifacts that Zhou Qi had helped Zhou Yang bring back.

The pieces of Flaming Sun Wood charcoal under the cauldron instantly ignited into bright, high-temperature, white flames that caused even a cultivator like Zhou Yang to start sweating profusely after standing next to the cauldron for a while.

However, Zhou Yang had no time to wipe his sweat off as he activated his Divine Sense to see into the cauldron and witness the metal grains inside slowly melting. Then, he quickly got to work, continuously using the Artifact Refining Technique to remove the impurities from the concoction and leave behind the special spiritual metal that he wanted.

This kind of work tested the artifact refiner's eyesight and ability to control the timing of his techniques. It also consumed a lot of Divine Sense and mana. With Zhou Yang's cultivation at Qi Refinement Level 6, he only lasted for less than an hour before he started to feel dizzy and weak. In the end, he had to put out the furnace fire and stop the extraction for the time being.

Zhou Yang continued the extraction over the next few days. Finally, he managed to extract a palm-sized dark gold spiritual metal from all the metal grains.

This palm-sized dark gold spiritual metal was at least at Grade 3. Though its weight was not that much different from refined iron, it was harder than the Grade 2 black iron.

This was the first time Zhou Yang had obtained such a high-level spiritual item, and it was something that he had obtained by himself. He could not put it down as he held it in his hands and played with it with a face full of joy for a long time.