Nine Peaks Ridge

Chapter 9 Nine Peaks Ridge

Zhou Chun did not understand the meaning of Zhou Fei's words at first.

But when an elderly man from the Zhou family, dressed in red, arrived on a red flamingo, he understood what Zhou Fei meant.

This is because the old man in red is a Foundation Establishment stage elder of the Zhou family, ranking third among the three elders of the Zhou family.

When Elder Zhou Quan arrived at the scene and learned about the situation from Zhou Fei, he immediately reached out with a cold look and patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist, releasing a brownish-yellow spirit pet that looked like a groundhog.

Then he gave the spirit pet a few instructions, and the spirit pet ran to the place where the rogue cultivators had been and began to sniff around.

A moment later, the little creature squeaked at Zhou Quan for a while, then vanished into the forest as a yellow phantom.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Quan immediately instructed Zhou Fei and the others, "You all return to the clan and report the situation to the clan leader. I'll go and wipe out those ignorant bastards right now!"

Then he rode his second-tier demonic beast, the Fire Crane, to give chase.

This is because the Zhou family migrated from another country, and the local rogue cultivators had no idea what methods they had, which is why they dared to be so foolish as to attack Zhou family members near the Zhou family's mountain gate.

If it were a rogue cultivator from Feng Kingdom, after hearing about the reputation of the Zhou family of the Three Absolutes Sect, they would absolutely not dare to ambush and kill Zhou family members near the Zhou family's mountain gate without being absolutely certain of silencing them.

Because those fools who dared to do this in the past eventually became food for the spirit pets tamed by the Zhou family cultivators.

Seeing Zhou Quan's figure disappear into the sky above the mountains on a crane, Zhou Fei quickly came to his senses and waved to Zhou Chun and the others, saying, "Let's go, let's go back to the clan first. With the Third Elder personally taking action, those stupid thieves are surely doomed!"

So the group continued along the established route, and after traveling more than seventy miles, they finally arrived at the current location of the Zhou family's mountain gate—Jiufeng Ridge.

Located deep in the mountains, Jiufengling is a beautiful place composed of nine elegant peaks, stretching more than 20 miles from east to west and 17 or 18 miles from north to south.

Originally, this place was the lair of a group of rogue cultivators in Lanzhou. On each of the nine mountain peaks, there was a Foundation Establishment stage rogue cultivator in charge, and two or three hundred Qi Refining stage rogue cultivators lived and cultivated here.

After the Three Absolutes Sect was dismantled, the Zhou family, having nowhere else to go, quickly set their sights on this place.

After some investigation, and learning that this group of independent cultivators had no significant connection with the major sects or families, the Zhou family marched the entire clan to Jiufeng Ridge and forcibly occupied this precious cultivation ground.

At this time, less than three months had passed since the great battle involving hundreds of cultivators, and traces of that battle could still be seen in many places inside and outside Jiufeng Ridge.

For example, forests that have been burned down, and mountain peaks whose sections have been partially destroyed.

According to Zhou Yong's account, in that great battle, although the Zhou family had a Purple Mansion stage cultivator in charge and many second-tier spirit beasts comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators to assist them, they still paid the price of more than a dozen clansmen dying in battle before they achieved victory.

Currently, all Zhou Chun can see in his line of sight is a white, misty array, making it impossible to discern the true scenery within.

Led by Zhou Fei, the group walked around the area for a while before arriving at the mouth of a valley between two mountains.

Upon arriving here, without them needing to say anything, the Zhou family cultivators guarding the entrance and exit in the misty valley recognized Zhou Fei, Zhou Yong, and the other two, and greeted them, inquiring about Zhou Chun's background.

After receiving Zhou Fei's explanation, Zhou Jingwen and Zhou Yong also provided corroborating testimony.

The Zhou family cultivators inside quickly manipulated the array, causing the array mist leading into the valley to surge and reveal a passage wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

The four walked along the passage for less than a hundred feet when the view suddenly opened up, and their vision was no longer obstructed, allowing them to see the world inside clearly.

Within this formation, nine spiritual peaks of varying heights are distributed in the four directions: east, south, west, and north, with dozens of smaller hills guarding them.

Mountains, streams, lakes, waterfalls, secluded pools, meadows, mountain ravines, deep valleys...

All kinds of terrain and landforms can be found in this small world.

In those mountains and forests, you can see monkeys playing in the treetops, and tigers and leopards leaping and bounding with agile movements.

Beside the stream, deer, sheep, cattle, horses and other animals quietly graze on the tender green grass, while black bears play in the water and catch fish.

In the lake, a giant turtle floats on the surface, basking in the sun.

At the bottom of the waterfall, several terrifying-looking dark blue pythons coiled their bodies around the pillar-like rocks, letting the rushing water wash over them, seemingly enjoying it immensely.

On the grass, there were Zhou family boys who looked like they were underage chasing and playing with giant wolves, and there were also girls who were grooming and catching insects with white foxes that were bigger than themselves.

Beside a secluded pool, two elderly men from the Zhou family were using a stone as a chessboard, each holding two black and white pieces, locked in a fierce battle. Not far away, a wild boar-like monster with a single horn was grunting and snorting as it wrestled head-to-head with another blue ox monster.

After an initial period of discomfort, Zhou Chun quickly grew to like the place.

A place where humans and nature live in such harmony, where animals and humans coexist in such harmony, can purify the soul and make people feel incredibly relaxed.

Before coming into this world, such a place and such a life were the dream of office workers like Zhou Chun, a place that could only exist in fantasy.

"Brother Chun, don't overthink it. Although this place can't compare to our old Three Absolutes Sect's mountain gate in Feng Kingdom, it belongs exclusively to our Zhou family. As long as our Zhou family manages and develops it well, it might not be any worse than when we were at the Three Absolutes Sect!"

Walking through the pathless mountains and forests, Zhou Yong noticed that Zhou Chun seemed a bit off. Thinking he was disappointed with the situation at Jiufeng Ridge, Zhou Yong quickly offered words of comfort.

Seeing that he had misunderstood, Zhou Chun shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, Brother Yong, you're overthinking it. This place is very good, excellent. I'm very satisfied!"

"Haha, as long as you're satisfied, as long as you're satisfied."

Upon hearing Zhou Chun's words, Zhou Fei, who was leading the way, burst into laughter, clearly satisfied with his answer.

After walking for another quarter of an hour, they finally arrived at the main peak of Jiufeng Ridge, which is also the office of the Zhou family patriarch, Pagoda Peak.

Pagoda Peak, just like its name suggests, looks like a round pagoda standing on the earth.

It stands over 470 feet tall, with ancient trees reaching for the sky on its peaks, and is rich in spiritual energy, making it the best place for cultivation in Jiufeng Ridge.

Climbing up the mountainside along a path carved out from the foot of the mountain, the view suddenly widens, revealing a cluster of palaces and pavilions built against the mountainside.

Before Zhou Chun could properly observe and examine these palaces and pavilions, Zhou Fei led them into the hall with the plaque "Zhongping Hall" hanging on it.

Soon, Zhou Chun met Zhou Guyi, the patriarch of the Zhou family, deep inside the main hall.

Like most sects and families, the patriarch of the Zhou family was not the one with the highest cultivation level.

Zhou Guyi's cultivation level was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

However, he had already become the patriarch of the Zhou family when the Three Absolutes Sect still existed.

For Zhou Fei, Zhou Chun, and other members of the Zhou family, this patriarch was more awe-inspiring than the current Grand Elder of the Purple Mansion stage.

The Zhou family patriarch was a robust man with a resolute face and an imposing demeanor; one could tell at a glance that he had long held a high position.

After Zhou Fei and the other three bowed, he did not rush to ask about Zhou Chun's affairs. Instead, he first asked Zhou Fei to report on the investigation in Hongyafang City and then took the handbook that Zhou Fei had written to summarize his findings for reading.

After reading the manual in less than fifteen minutes, he put it down, nodded slightly, and said, "You have done a good job in this matter. I will record your merits."

Then he turned his gaze to Zhou Chun and said, "Now tell me about yourself. If I remember correctly, your name is Zhou Chun, right? You used to work at the Leopard Park, didn't you?"

As the head of the Zhou family, he had long since memorized the names, appearances, and whereabouts of all the adult Zhou family cultivators.

Having just met Zhou Chun, he had already recalled Zhou Chun's relevant information and did not need Zhou Fei and the others to introduce him.

Upon hearing him bring up the topic of himself, Zhou Chun quickly and respectfully replied, "The clan leader has keen insight; this junior is indeed Zhou Chun."

Then she took the initiative to recount how she fled from Fengguo to Jingguo and how she met Zhou Fei and others.

However, the part where he turned against Li Han, a cultivator from the Li family, was also omitted. Instead, the story was changed so that the two of them went their separate ways after hearing the news of the Three Absolutes Sect's split halfway through their journey.

His description, which was mostly true and partially false, was naturally not something he was afraid of Zhou Guyi would expose, and he also believed that Zhou Guyi would not investigate the matter further.

As expected, Zhou Guyi only praised and commended his experience of fleeing, extolling his determination to return to his family despite the hardships and dangers, and did not ask any further questions about it.

Instead, after looking at him and pondering for a while, she nodded slightly and said, "Now that the family's mountain gate has just been established and everything is in ruins, it is precisely the time when we need people. Zhou Chun, you have returned to the family despite the difficulties and hardships. This sentiment deserves to be commended."

"Since your original spirit pet has perished, this Rock Turtle spirit egg will be given to you as a new spirit pet to raise. I hope you will cherish and make good use of it, and serve the family well in the future!"

After saying that, he raised his hand and patted a storage bag at his waist, took out a white jade box from it and handed it to Zhou Chun.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun was overjoyed, his face beaming with delight.

He held the jade box in both hands, his face full of joy, and immediately bowed deeply to Zhou Guyi, saying, "Thank you for the reward, Clan Chief. I will definitely do my best to serve the clan and live up to the Clan Chief's and the clan's kindness."

"Alright, you can start your cultivation at Baozhi Peak now. You can inquire about the current situation of my Zhou family and the rules you need to follow within the family from Zhou He, the peak master of Baozhi Peak."

After Zhou Guyi finished speaking, he waved his hand gently, indicating that the others could leave.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Fei and his companions quickly bowed, took their leave, and departed.

(End of this chapter)