Another spring had arrived.
Atop Pagoda Peak, Zhou Chun emerged from the ancestral hall, his gaze swept over the lush and verdant trees and flowers on the mountain, and his mood was likewise clear and bright.
This marked the seventh year since the end of the war with the Dragon Transformation Sect.
In the six years following the war, the Zhou Family, as expected, had experienced rapid development.
The battle merits and spoils of war harvested allowed the vast majority of Zhou Family Cultivators to benefit greatly.
In just six years, the average Zhou Family Qi Refinement Realm cultivator below the Foundation Establishment Stage had improved by two levels in cultivation.
Some of the Zhou Family cultivators, who originally had lower levels of cultivation, broke through three or four times in succession within six years due to ample elixir supplies.
Like Zhou Zhengyong's son, Zhou Xinlan, who was not yet twenty years old, had already reached the seventh layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, which was stronger than Zhou Chun had been at that time.
The rise of these young members had greatly increased the number of people Zhou Chun could count on, and he no longer needed to rack his brains on how to utilize every bit of manpower.
Additionally, thanks to the newly implemented super birth subsidy policy, every few months Zhou Chun would receive joyful news from clan members telling him someone had given birth to a son or daughter with Spirit Root Aptitude.
At the same time, the populations of demon beasts bred by the Zhou Family Beast Garden were also expanding year by year.
Thanks to the large amount of demon beast corpses the Zhou Family had stockpiled, with sufficient Spirit Beast Feed supplies, many of the Zhou Family's tamed demon beasts had accelerated their breeding frequency, and some even had their cultivation levels break through a small realm.
Under these circumstances, Zhou Chun could almost see reports every few days about someone's cultivation progress, someone giving birth to a promising child, or reports of demon beasts producing offspring.
And naturally, these were all things that delighted him as the Clan Leader.
Everything was developing in a positive direction.
As long as this progress continued, the Zhou Family's strength and foundation would steadily grow and strengthen.
On this day, Zhou Chun accepted an invitation from Honorary Elder Lin Wan'er and went to inspect the Death Warrior Camp.
Over the years, the Zhou Family had never ceased recruiting these family servants and death warriors.
Now, those Cultivators training in the Zhou Family Death Warrior Camp numbered forty-six.
The highest among them was already at the sixth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, and there were also three individuals in the mid-Qi Refinement stage.
The ages of these individuals varied greatly, some had already surpassed twenty years old, while others were only eight or nine.
Zhou Chun seldom visited this Death Warrior Camp, but he was responsible for the allocation of supplies here.
Upon entering the Death Warrior Camp this time, he quickly encountered Lin Wan'er, the person in charge.
"Elder Lin, you invited me here today, may I inquire what you are prepared to show me?"
After a quick glance at Lin Wan'er's delicate face, Zhou Chun soon asked her smilingly about the specifics.
"Today, I have invited the Clan Leader to see the fruits of my labor over these past years," Lin Wan'er replied calmly to Zhou Chun's question, then turned to a young man behind her and instructed, "Xu Fu, you may begin."
The lean young man in blue clothes respectfully responded and swiftly moved to the training field dozens of yards away with agile and graceful maneuvers.
At that moment, Lin Wan'er reached for a Spirit Beast Pouch at her waist and released a fainting black giant leopard demon beast from it.
Zhou Chun recognized at a glance that it was a top-grade first-order Black Wind Leopard.
Lin Wan'er then released the Black Wind Leopard and promptly used a spell to awaken it.
The newly awakened Black Wind Leopard, still in a daze, emitted a series of growls from deep within its throat.
However, at that moment, Xu Fu on the training field had already raised his hand to cast a spell, flinging a cyan wind blade towards the Black Wind Leopard.
This action immediately made the Black Wind Leopard bristle.
It agilely leaped ten yards high on the spot, dodging the cyan wind blade's assault.
The leopard then pounced towards Xu Fu like a black tornado.
Facing the attack from the top-grade first-order demon beast, Xu Fu, who was only at the sixth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, did not show a hint of fear.
He tapped his Storage Pouch and a black Iron Shield Dharma Tool flew out, circling around him.
At the same time, he flicked his sleeve and shot an arrow Dharma Tool at the pouncing Black Wind Leopard.
The arrow whistled through the air, but the Black Wind Leopard opened its mouth and spat out a stream of cyan-black airflow, forcefully twisting the arrow off course.
The leopard's swiftly charging body quickly reached Xu Fu, its beast claws fiercely swiping at the young man.
A loud blast sounded, and the black Iron Shield protecting the young man was knocked flying.
Then, as the Black Wind Leopard steadied itself getting ready for another attack, the young man swiftly moved, actually charging forward to engage it.
A glint of cyan light, and the young man's right claw slashed across the Black Wind Leopard's cheek, leaving a bloody claw mark and half an ear on the leopard's left face, much to its surprise.
The pain of disfigurement and a sever ear instantly caused the Black Wind Leopard's eyes to fill with blood as it let out an enraged roar.
It swiftly turned and sprayed a string of cyan-black wind blades at the young man, then pounced fiercely once more, its body enveloped in cyan-black light and moving even faster than before.