Chapter 1208: Chapter 513: Lifebound Beast Plaque [4 updates, please subscribe]

The deal with Yuchi Fei truly brought Zhou Chun a pleasant surprise.

He originally thought that the shattered sword Dharma Treasure forged from was already a rare find. Unexpectedly, the Sword Control Technique claimed to be Yuchi Fei’s family legacy was equally exquisite.

Though Zhou Chun was not a Sword Cultivator and did not practice swordsmanship, as a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, his discernment was naturally sharp.

The left behind by Yuchi Fei not only contained methods for condensing Sword Qi but also approached the cultivation of Sword Intent!

The Zhou Family had previously obtained some methods for cultivating Sword Control Techniques, but they essentially stopped at the level of condensing Sword Qi. Regarding higher-level forces such as Sword Intent, only some vague and inconclusive conjectures were recorded.

Now, this unexpectedly contained methods for cultivating Sword Intent, instantly doubling its value, making it comparable to the Zhou Family’s inherited Beast Taming Technique!

Of course, compared to Beast Taming Techniques, Sword Control Techniques place far greater demands on talent and comprehension, making them unsuitable as a primary clan legacy. In terms of practical value, the former is still higher.

Nevertheless, one way or another, Zhou Chun had profited handsomely this time.

At the very least, with the presence of this , if cultivators from the Zhou Family took a particular interest in Sword Control Techniques and had talent in this area in the future, their innate gifts wouldn’t be wasted. They might even cultivate a legendary Sword Cultivator for the family!

After studying the briefly, Zhou Chun deemed himself content and rose to leave the tea house.

When he went to settle the bill, however, he found that Yuchi Fei had already paid in advance.

This improved Zhou Chun’s opinion of the man quite a bit.

Returning to his cave estate, Zhou Chun reviewed his harvest over the past few years in the Great Zhou Kingdom and found it quite substantial.

First of all, the had been successfully refined, and its medicinal properties were extremely satisfying.

As for the Foundation Establishment Pills, he had obtained sixty-one in one haul, surpassing his expectations!

Although the had not been refined into the anticipated elixir, he had managed to trade it for two , which barely met his goals.

At the same time, Zhou Mingde’s Lifebound Dharma Treasure materials had basically been collected, and his own Lifebound Dharma Treasure materials were similarly nearing completion.

By such calculations, apart from the “Reforging of the Shattered Cauldron,” refining the Lifebound Dharma Treasure, and exchanging the for another Dharma Treasure, most of Zhou Chun’s objectives for coming to the Great Zhou Kingdom had been achieved!

Currently, the “Reforging of the Shattered Cauldron” still required the arrival of the from Sun Yuanjing. The latter two matters were not yet at the right timing. Calculating everything, Zhou Chun realized he had no urgent tasks left to accomplish in the Great Zhou Kingdom.

Thus, after inventorying his gains, Zhou Chun decided to return to the Zhou Family for a visit and hand over his materials to Zhou Mingde.

After waiting two months for the Spirit Pets that had ingested the to awaken, Zhou Chun packed his pets and set out for the Zhou Family.

The journey was uneventful, and Zhou Chun took less than a month to return to Tuyun Ridge.

However, upon his return, he received tragic news.

Zhou Zhengqing, who had secluded himself for Purple Mansion cultivation before Zhou Chun’s departure, had failed to establish his Purple Mansion, just like Zhou Zhengyuan!

Moreover, it seemed he might have pushed himself too hard during the attempt. After failing, Zhou Zhengqing had even injured his Divine Soul, losing part of his memory. Most of the time, he now lived in confusion and disarray.

This situation was undoubtedly one of the worst outcomes, essentially marking the end of him as a cultivator.

Upon learning of this, Zhou Chun immediately went to visit him personally.

The Zhou Zhengqing who had once been sharp, capable, and handled the Zhou Family’s intelligence operations for many years was now a shadow of his former self. His hair had turned completely white, and he sat disheveled on his bed, staring blankly with unfocused eyes, unmoved even as Zhou Chun entered.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun had no choice but to suppress him gently and examine his Divine Soul.

After an extensive check, Zhou Chun could only let out a long sigh: “Ah, the path of cultivation is fraught with difficulties. With Twenty-Seventh Brother in this condition, I have no solution. From now on, he shall remain confined to the rear mountains, cared for by his descendants until the end of his days.”

Upon inspection, Zhou Chun discovered severe damage to Zhou Zhengqing’s Sea of Consciousness, with his Divine Soul subsequently invaded by external wind-evil forces. His essence was slowly but steadily diminishing.

In such a state, his condition would deteriorate as time went on, and his lifespan would accelerate toward its end.

It could be decisively concluded that his remaining lifespan would not exceed ten years!

Moreover, his symptoms of memory loss and delirium would only worsen in the future, until he was reduced to a complete imbecile.

This was one of the most devastating outcomes of failing to establish the Purple Mansion–worse than death and nearly unbearable.

Zhou Zhengqing’s greatest fortune was that he was a family cultivator with his own bloodline descendants.

As such, he could at least pass away over time, cared for by his kin.

For Loose Cultivators and sect cultivators, with such a fate, they often wouldn’t live long due to various circumstances!

After arranging Zhou Zhengqing’s final matters, Zhou Chun finally met with Zhou Mingde in his cave estate and shared the harvest from his stay in the Great Zhou Kingdom.

As Zhou Chun had expected, when he directly displayed sixty-one Foundation Establishment Pills, Zhou Mingde was stunned silent, unable to speak for a long time.

“This truly, this truly…”

Looking at over a dozen alchemy bottles packed with Foundation Establishment Pills, Zhou Mingde muttered to himself, tripping over his words, clearly overwhelmed with emotion.

After quite a while, he finally exhaled deeply and said, “This has truly broadened my horizons!”