Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

Having learned this, Zhou Chun also held great admiration for the tenacity demonstrated by the cultivator surnamed Geng.

He couldn't help but sigh with emotion and said, "The path to immortality is elusive and hard to pursue. I admire Taoist Friend Geng's perseverance. Consider these three Spirit Coins a toll for inquiring about the way. I hope there will be another day when we can meet again!"

After speaking, he forcefully stuffed the three Spirit Coins into the other party's hand, then cupped his fists in farewell and left.

Watching his rapidly departing figure, and looking at the Spirit Coins in his hand, the cultivator surnamed Geng, while happy, was also very grateful and returned the gesture with a cupped fist salute, "Taoist Friend Han, take care on your journey!"

After parting ways with the cultivator surnamed Geng, Zhou Chun, following the directions given, took less than half a day to find the deserted Pure Gold Vein within the Cangjin Mountains.

This Pure Gold Vein was originally a rich medium-to-large vein, stretching over dozens of miles, with over a dozen mine shafts dug out from the mining operation alone.

Later, when the Green Lotus Temple abandoned this place, a large number of Loose Cultivators intervened and the number of mine shafts dug out among the mountains appeared to increase tenfold or even more.

Therefore, upon arriving near the deserted vein, Zhou Chun easily spotted one abandoned mine shaft after another.

Now, most of these mine shafts had become the dwelling places of wild beasts, while some secluded ones were transformed into temporary shelters by Cultivators still mining in the area.

All in all, this area was not peaceful.

But Zhou Chun didn't need to worry about that.

His Cultivation Level at the tenth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm meant that he could, if not walk sideways through the abandoned vein, definitely not fear being harassed by anyone there.

After all, most Loose Cultivators at this Cultivation Level could completely hunt Demon Beasts to earn Spirit Coins and had no need to mingle in such abandoned veins.

This was the place where those truly low-level Loose Cultivators scrambled about, their place to pan for gold.

Now, after stopping and going through the mountains and forests for several hours, Zhou Chun found a main mine shaft.

The so-called main mine shaft referred to the mines initially excavated by the Green Lotus Temple.

Only deep within such a mine could there reside the high-quality Golden Qi that Zhou Chun desired, due to the large amounts of Pure Gold Ore that had once been fostered.

Hiss~ Hiss!

The low hissing of snakes slowly rose within the mine shaft.

Accompanying it was the sound of faint footsteps.

Zhou Chun held a "Sun Glow Stone" in his hand, proceeding step by step along the deserted mine tunnel toward the depths of the earth.

Several yards ahead of him, the Silver Lightning Python Baibai acted as the vanguard, clearing the way for him by driving away snakes, insects, rodents, and bats that lived along the mine tunnel.

The Silver Lightning Python had now grown over three yards in length and possessed a Cultivation Level comparable to a sixth-layer Qi Refinement Realm Cultivator.

Zhou Chun had also gradually started to allocate more resources towards it, beginning to feed it "Beast Spirit Pills" and other Elixirs and Spiritual Objects that would aid in its growth.

For the time being though, Zhou Chun had no need for its help in combat.

At most, it was used like now, to help with some minor, non-dangerous tasks.

In this way, driving snakes downward, Zhou Chun walked over twenty miles inside the underground mine tunnel until he finally found his target.

Where he was now, inside a branching tunnel off the main mine path, was the end of this branch.

Here, Zhou Chun sensed the presence of Golden Qi. Although it was not very dense, it barely met his requirement.

"Little White, go ahead and keep watch. If you detect anything, be sure to notify me immediately."

With a thought, Zhou Chun immediately issued an order to the Silver Lightning Python to stand guard some thirty yards away.

Once the Silver Lightning Python had left, he slapped his Storage Pouch at his waist and took out a pale golden gourd-shaped Magic Artifact.

Since the Zhou Family possessed a secret technique like "Xinjin Sword Qi," they naturally considered the future need of Family Cultivators to use high-quality Golden Qi for their practice.

The gourd Magic Artifact in Zhou Chun's hand was specifically refined for collecting Golden Qi.

At that moment, he opened the lid of the gourd Magic Artifact, placed it with the opening facing up in front of himself, and sat down cross-legged. Then he started to run the "Xinjin Sword Qi" secret technique to begin accumulating and absorbing the free-floating Golden Qi in the vicinity.

Under the influence of the secret technique, it didn't take long before streams of invisible Golden Qi were gathered by Zhou Chun in front of him and then absorbed into the gourd Magic Artifact he operated.

Actually, he possessed a Purification Stone Pot, so there was no need for such trouble; he could have directly cultivated the secret technique right there.

But the problem was that the existence of the Purification Stone Pot couldn't be exposed. If he cultivated here, it would be difficult to explain upon his return.

After all, Zhou Daoyi had tasked him with collecting enough Golden Qi to bring back to the family. The family would help purify away the Evil Qi it contained before letting him use it for cultivation.

In about half a day, Zhou Chun collected all the Golden Qi in the vicinity into his gourd Magic Artifact.

However, the amount of Golden Qi he needed was substantial, and he also had to consider the replenishment of the secret technique's expenditure in the future. This time, he had to collect as much Golden Qi as possible.

For the next half month, Zhou Chun went in and out of various mine tunnels in the abandoned ore vein, continuously searching for the Golden Qi he needed.

Thanks to his tireless efforts, the amount of Golden Qi stored in the gourd Magic Artifact grew day by day, nearing its limit of containment.

That day, Zhou Chun went down into a mine tunnel again, searching for any remaining Golden Qi.

Then, in one of the branch mine passages, he found some useable Golden Qi.

But just when Zhou Chun was gathering the Golden Qi as usual, an accident occurred!

At that moment, while Zhou Chun was operating the secret technique to gather Golden Qi, a strange noise suddenly came from about thirty feet away in the mine tunnel wall.

Before the startled Zhou Chun could stop his cultivation and stand up, a Demon Beast covered in golden scales and resembling a pangolin burst through the wall and lunged straight at him.

This situation frightened Zhou Chun quite a bit.

Because as soon as he saw the Demon Beast, he recognized its origin.

It turned out to be a rare Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast with dual gold and earth attributes, and it was in a fully mature state.

A fully mature Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast was as powerful as a Cultivator in the twelfth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, and its fighting prowess in these underground environments would be a match for even two Cultivators in the twelfth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.

Zhou Chun, let alone his inconvenience in moving, wasn't sure he could handle the Demon Beast even under normal circumstances in this underground environment.

Therefore, in shock, Zhou Chun quickly urged the Bright Dawn Pendant he wore, releasing layers of dawn light to protect himself.

By the time he had done all this, the Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast had already reached him.

It was then Zhou Chun realized that the Beast's target was not himself, but the gourd Magic Artifact in front of him.

It was after the Golden Qi inside the gourd!

A thought flashed through Zhou Chun's mind, and he immediately understood the Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast's intention.

Then, he panicked.

Leaving aside the time it took to collect all that Golden Qi in the gourd,

The gourd Magic Artifact itself was the Zhou Family's only remaining artifact of its kind.

If he lost it, it would be a great hassle to forge a new one, and the cost in Spirit Coins would be substantial.

Substantial enough that he, Zhou Chun, would have to give up most of the good deeds he had accumulated within the family!

How could Zhou Chun not be anxious?

But his anxiety was useless at that moment.

The Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast opened its mouth, bit the mouth of the gourd, and then turned tail to flee with it directly in its grasp.

As it turned to escape, its flat and narrow tail swung out and struck Zhou Chun heavily, causing the protective dawn light from the Bright Dawn Pendant to waver incessantly.

When the strike proved ineffective, the Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast completely abandoned the idea of attacking Zhou Chun and lunged towards the hole it had made when entering, ready to make a quick getaway.

But right at that moment, a serpentine forked lightning bolt suddenly tore through the darkness of the tunnel and struck the Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast right on its head.

Under the Thunder Strike, the Golden Armored Piercing Mountain Beast shuddered, and the gourd it was holding in its mouth fell to the ground.

By the time it recovered from the paralyzing effect of the Lightning Strike and picked up the gourd once again, Zhou Chun had also forced himself to stop cultivating and stood up.