Ultimately, Zhou Xinyan's cultivation of the risky Jiamu Profound Technique, how far he can go, will have to be left to his own destiny.
Once a cultivator reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, their path of cultivation is more or less set.
The Zhou Family has many cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm, but only a few have chosen to cultivate the same techniques.
Everyone cultivates different techniques, and when they encounter difficulties in their cultivation, most of the time they must find their own solutions.
For instance, Zhou Chun had never cultivated the Jiamu Profound Technique, so when Zhou Xinyan encountered difficulties in his cultivation later on, Zhou Chun could offer few suggestions.
This is why choosing a technique after Foundation Establishment should be done with great caution.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another two years have passed.
During these two years, Zhou Chun, aside from occasionally traveling to the Wasteland Territory to deliver supplies to the base and visit the Skyfrost Cold Bees, mainly secluded himself for cultivation within the family's domain, with Zhou Daoquan taking over his position at the Jade Mining Mountain Base.
Although his cultivation level hadn't improved much in such a short period of two years, he had managed to train his Golden Armor Rock Turtle to a second-tier superior grade.
This was mainly because, half a year ago, a Qi Refinement Realm cultivator from the Zhou Family made a lucky discovery in the Wasteland Territory of Yunzhou – a stalactite spiritual cave containing a pool of "Earth Origin Spirit Milk."
"Earth Origin Spirit Milk" is a spiritual object formed from a ten-thousand-year stalactite that absorbs earth's essence. It has an excellent effect on tempering the body and is also an important auxiliary material in making many elixirs.
But for Zhou Chun's Golden Armor Rock Turtle, it was the best spiritual object to enhance its cultivation level, even better than elixirs.
For cultivators using "Earth Origin Spirit Milk" to temper their body, they first have to remove the Evil Qi within it and then mix it with other spiritual medicines to prevent petrification poisoning.
However, the Golden Armor Rock Turtle could directly consume it to enhance its cultivation level.
Therefore, Zhou Chun immediately spent two thousand points of family merit to purchase all the "Earth Origin Spirit Milk" and fed it entirely to the Golden Armor Rock Turtle.
As a result, the Golden Armor Rock Turtle, which was already close to advancing to a second-tier superior grade Demon Beast, easily broke through with the help of this momentum.
Having a reputation for defensive strength and having gone through a mutation, the Golden Armor Rock Turtle, upon reaching a second-tier superior grade Demon Beast, had its defense become so strong it could withstand several strikes from a Purple Mansion Phase cultivator.
Even the "Heavenly Thunder Slash" from the Silver Lightning Python Baibai would struggle to tear its tough shell.
Now, if he were to fight an ordinary Purple Mansion early-phase cultivator, Zhou Chun could release it along with the Silver Lightning Python Baibai as aides to pressure the enemy.
Zhou Chun was now waiting for Lin Hongyu's message about finishing her seclusion, and then he could plot to obtain the Millennium Dragon Transformation Grass.
That day, Zhou Chun was meditating at home as usual when he suddenly heard that a messenger from the Green Lotus Temple had come to announce a decree.
This news shocked him greatly, and he hurried to the front gate to welcome them.
He discovered that the cultivator sent to deliver the decree was but a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Green Lotus Temple.
This eased his mind a bit.
According to the unwritten rules of the Cultivation World, the cultivation level of the messenger delivering the decree was closely related to the importance of the decree itself.
Given the Zhou Family's status these days, if they were indeed to be mobilized for an important task, at least a Purple Mansion Phase cultivator would be required to do so.
Despite feeling relieved, Zhou Chun still greeted the envoy with a solemn expression and led them to Pagoda Peak, summoning the elders to receive the decree together.
The decrees of the Cultivation World are generally issued by Golden Core Stage cultivators and naturally would not involve anything like "Receiving the mandate from heaven"; neither would they require one to kneel to receive the decree.
Zhou Chun and the others just stood in line according to their status, tidied up their appearances, and then the Green Lotus Temple cultivator took out the decree and read it aloud, "Temple Master's decree, the Zhou Family of Lanzhou with its long heritage and prosperous members have established foundational deeds since taking root in Lanzhou, serving as an example for all clans. As a special reward, we hereby bestow one Talisman Treasure, three Inner Sect Disciple positions, and ten Outer Sect Disciple positions!"
Once the reading was finished, the envoy from the Green Lotus Temple rolled up the decree and saluted Zhou Chun with folded hands, "Senior Zhou, I am merely responsible for delivering the decree. You will need to personally collect the related rewards from our temple."
"Zhou understands, thank you for your efforts," Zhou Chun replied evenly, nodding his head and taking the decree from the envoy's hands. Then, turning to Zhou Jiarui, he said, "Fourth Elder, please take this Daoist friend to rest, and make sure to treat him well."
Zhou Chun watched as Zhou Jiarui led the envoy to the guest resting area. Then he turned back to the elders and saw that each had a different expression on their face, some worried, others barely concealing their joy.
This made him sigh inwardly, as he was well aware of their thoughts.
All this time, not many Zhou Family clan members had joined the Green Lotus Temple.
This was because Zhou Chun and other high-ranking members of the Zhou Family had intentionally kept control over this matter.
After all, previously the Zhou Family had always been short of people, and while they were still in need of more hands within the clan, they were not willing to let clan members join the Green Lotus Temple.
But the situation was different now.
The population of Zhou Family cultivators had grown to over three hundred. Although the family could support these people, those who had a chance for Foundation Establishment within the family were still extremely few.
Now that the Green Lotus Temple was willing to offer three Inner Sect Disciple positions to the Zhou Family, it meant that if the Zhou Family dispatched people to occupy these positions, all three would receive the reward of Foundation Establishment Pills.
This kind of direct allocation of Inner Sect Disciple positions was a special privilege that major sects like the Green Lotus Temple granted to their subordinate cultivation clans, usually only awarded to families who had made significant contributions.