The Troubles of Happiness

Chapter 46 The Troubles of Happiness

It was another bright and sunny morning.

On Baozhi Peak, after Zhou Chun returned to his residence from his cultivation at the summit, the Silver Lightning Python, which had been hiding under the bed, quickly crawled out and headed straight for him.

At this time, the Silver Lightning Python had grown to half a zhang in length and was as thick as an infant's arm.

Moreover, after several molts, its white snakeskin has gradually acquired a touch of silver, making it look even more elegant and beautiful.

Zhou Chun couldn't keep the long silver lightning python wrapped around him all the time, so he usually left it at home when he went out.

"Little Bai Bai has grown up again, that's wonderful."

Zhou Chun stretched out his arm, letting the white snake on the ground slowly coil around him. Then, he gently touched its cold head with his right hand and massaged it a few times.

Hiss~

The white snake flicked its tongue, enjoying the gentle caress with great pleasure.

It was only a little over a month old and had no intelligence whatsoever; it only possessed the instincts of a wild beast.

However, Zhou Chun was not in a hurry. Now that it was low in intelligence, it was the best time to cultivate feelings.

Once you cultivate a bond with someone from a young age, it will be easier to manage them when they grow up.

Why do many cultivators who practice beast taming techniques prefer to contract with young demon beasts?

Besides being a good contract for young monsters, it is also because it makes it easier to cultivate a master-servant bond.

Otherwise, even if you successfully form a contract with an adult demon beast, you will still have to worry about whether it will turn on you when you are weak, and you will also have to expend your spiritual energy to suppress the demon beast's will to resist when you are fighting.

After spending some time cuddling with Little Whitey and feeding it chopped Flame Rat jerky, Zhou Chun put it back under the bed after it had eaten its fill and wanted to rest. He then went to his quiet room to practice his secret arts.

Unexpectedly, after he had practiced the secret technique twice, the clan leader Zhou Daoyi personally came to his residence.

"Masaharu, have you rested enough? If you have, then come with me on this trip!"

Outside the courtyard, Zhou Daoyi smiled slightly at Zhou Chun, who looked surprised when she saw him after opening the door, and directly stated his purpose.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun immediately understood why he had come, and respectfully replied, "Yes, junior obeys."

Then he left the Zhou family with Zhou Daoyi.

Once outside, Zhou Daoyi did not ostentatiously release the Azure Cloud Python to carry Zhou Chun on his journey. Instead, he summoned a flying boat magic artifact to carry Zhou Chun up to the Azure Sky and above the clouds.

Using this flying artifact, they arrived above the red pine forest in just one hour.

"This is the place. Judging from the traces around, no one should have been here before."

In the mountains and forests, Zhou Chun pointed to the entrance of his concealed cave and said in a low voice.

"Then let's go, you come in with me."

Zhou Daoyi nodded, then reached out and patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist, releasing the Azure Cloud Python to guard outside before striding into the cave.

The two entered the cave and arrived at the place where Zhou Chun had mined the Crimson Iron Ore. Zhou Daoyi first used his divine sense to explore the area, and then summoned a bronze flying sword artifact to dig around.

This was the first time Zhou Chun had witnessed a Foundation Establishment cultivator make a move, and the result greatly shocked him.

Under Zhou Daoyi's control, the bronze-colored flying sword magical artifact moved like a nimble dragon throughout the cave.

Wherever the sword passed, the stone wall was easily torn apart like tofu, revealing rolling cracks as if the ground had been turned over by an iron plow.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhou Daoyi's flying sword had carved dozens of deep and long cracks in a cave that was a hundred feet long.

Even Zhou Chun could detect the crimson iron ore mixed in with those cracks using his divine sense.

If he could discover it, how could Zhou Daoyi not have discovered it?

Therefore, Zhou Daoyi was soon heard muttering to himself, "It seems that this place does indeed contain a vein of crimson iron ore!!"

However, Zhou Chun did not detect much joy in his words.

On a whim, he suddenly mustered his courage and asked, "Chieftain, you don't seem very happy?"

"Oh, why do you ask?"

Zhou Daoyi's expression shifted, and he looked at him with slight surprise.

Zhou Chun was immediately embarrassed and opened his mouth to say, "Uh, this junior just felt that you, the clan leader, didn't seem very happy."

Unexpectedly, after hearing his words, Zhou Daoyi nodded and said, "Your feeling is correct. I am indeed not particularly happy!"

Zhou Chun was even more confused now and couldn't help but ask, "Why? Although I don't understand the art of weapon crafting, I know that Crimson Iron is a spiritual material for crafting magical artifacts. Even if it's not as rare as refined gold or silver, the value of a single mine must be enormous!"

"Yes, even a small mine, once fully mined, would be worth at least two hundred thousand spirit coins!"

Even after deducting all intermediate losses and expenses, the net income will not be less than 150,000 spirit coins!

Zhou Daoyi sighed softly and nodded, revealing the immense value of this mineral vein.

Before Zhou Chun could ask any more questions, he waved his hand with a wry smile and said, "But such a large sum of spirit coins is not something the Zhou family can afford to swallow right now!"

"The saying goes, 'A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.' With the Zhou family's current power, if they want to swallow this mine, the final result will be their annihilation by a coalition of other forces!"

"To the various local powers in Lanzhou, our Zhou family is ultimately an outsider. They simply cannot allow such a valuable mineral vein to fall into our hands!"

Zhou Chun understood now and fell silent.

That's just how things are in this world; there's never any such thing as fairness.

Even in his previous life, there was no rule that whoever discovered a mineral vein would own it.

Not to mention this world of cultivation where strength reigns supreme.

If the Zhou family weren't outsiders, and if they had close ties with various local forces, they might have had a slight chance of acquiring this mine, given the presence of a Purple Mansion stage cultivator in the family.

However, as outsiders, how could the various local powers in Lanzhou sit idly by and watch such a huge profit be seized by the Zhou family?

Now that the Zhou family has finally established itself and gradually gained the support of some local forces in Lanzhou, how could they give various forces an excuse to unite against and destroy the Zhou family under such circumstances?

But if this vein can't be mined, how much reward will Zhou Chun and his team get for discovering it?

Therefore, Zhou Chun's mind was racing with various thoughts as he pondered ways to benefit himself.

After pondering this for a while, he looked at Zhou Daoyi and said, "Then, could we join forces with other forces to mine this mine? Didn't our Zhou family just finish a martial arts competition with the Wang, Sun, Mu, and He families? If we join forces with them to mine, forming an alliance to resist external enemies, that should be enough to protect this mine!"

"It's not bad that you thought of that."

Zhou Daoyi glanced at him, then nodded slightly and said, "That's right. For now, this is the only way. But whether it will succeed depends on whether the other companies are willing!"

After collecting some more Crimson Iron Ore as evidence, Zhou Daoyi completely sealed off the cave entrance and then returned to the Zhou family with Zhou Chun.

Since the specific method for mining the vein has not yet been determined, the rewards for Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong are naturally uncertain for the time being.

Over the next three months, clan leader Zhou Daoyi and even the Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde left the clan multiple times to travel around and advocate for the mining of the mineral vein.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhengyong, having prepared a generous betrothal gift, accompanied his twenty-seventh uncle, Zhou Jiapeng, to the Sun family in Jinfengling to propose marriage, successfully bringing Sun Yujiao into the Zhou family.

As the matchmaker who brought the two together, Zhou Chun received sincere gratitude from the young couple and was seated at the head of the table at the wedding celebration.

More than three months later, Zhou Chun's cultivation was only two acupoints away from breaking through to the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage.

Meanwhile, the Silver Lightning Python successfully awakened its innate magic and became a first-tier low-grade demon beast.

At this time, the Silver Lightning Python had reached a length of twelve feet, and its scales were beginning to take shape, making it difficult to be harmed by swords and blades.

To hone its skills, Zhou Chun stopped feeding it and instead took it to places with more wild animals and birds at the foot of the mountain, letting it hunt on its own.

Sometimes it is even forbidden to use magic to hunt.

On this day, Zhou Chun was watching the Silver Lightning Python hunt at the foot of Baozhi Peak when suddenly the clan leader Zhou Daoyi's big blue parrot "Lanlan" flew over Baozhi Peak and came to him.

"Brother Chun, the clan leader wants you to go to Pagoda Peak."

The large parrot "Lanlan" flapped its wings and circled above Zhou Chun's head, loudly conveying the clan leader Zhou Daoyi's orders.

His eyes, however, were fixed intently on a white line in the distant grass.

From its elevated position, it could easily see that a large python was hiding there.

"Understood, Lanlan, go back and inform the clan leader. I'll be there right away."

Zhou Chun smiled and took out a fresh wild fruit from his pocket, which he hadn't eaten yet, and tossed it to the blue parrot as a reward.

Upon seeing this, the large blue parrot immediately swooped down and precisely caught the wild fruit in mid-air. Then it called out to Zhou Chun, "Thank you, Brother Chun. Goodbye, Brother Chun."

After saying that, he grabbed the wild fruit and left.

Watching the blue parrot depart, Zhou Chun couldn't help but ponder.

Why did the clan chief summon him to Pagoda Peak?

Is there a result regarding the development of the Red Jade Iron Vein?

Or is it because of something else?

The final chapter of the desert story is being written and should be released in a few days!

(End of this chapter)