Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

Chapter 34: Sky Azure Cloud Python, Riding the Dragon in Flight

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Secret art cultivation is not something that can be mastered in a day or two.

Even though the Hidden Cicada Breathing Technique and Five Elements Spiritual Armor Technique are not amongst those more difficult to cultivate secret techniques, a Qi Refinement Realm cultivator wishing to cultivate them to the point of being able to utilize them as desired without delaying their own cultivation still needs at least a year or more.

Therefore, after Zhou Chun returned from Flying Rock Peak, apart from devoting the time previously spent reading and relaxing to the cultivation of the two secret techniques, not much in his life changed.

Seven days after his return from Hongya Marketplace, the Zhou Family’s internal selection contest officially began.

The final results of the selection contest did not surprise many of the Zhou Family cultivators.

As cultivators from the same family, they inevitably sparred and ventured out together, and one could generally understand the others’ strength with some inquiries.

Zhou Chun didn’t go all out in the selection contest, not even using the first-rank superior magic artifact Moon Blade Meteor Wheel, so he ended up placing fifth in the youth group, just behind his tenth brother Zhou Zhengyong.

In the elite group, which had an age restriction of no more than sixty years, Zhou Jiapeng, his relatively close twenty-seventh uncle, achieved second place.

With the end of the internal selection contest, Zhou Chun and the other confirmed participants received a list of data records, which contained information on participants from several other families.

At the same time, each person received one first-rank superior talisman and four first-rank mid-grade talismans from the family.

From this, it was not hard to see just how seriously Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi and the other Zhou Family upper echelons took this grand martial competition among the five major cultivation families.

About another month passed, and on this day at dawn, twenty Zhou Family cultivators participating in the martial competition among the five major cultivation families all gathered at Pagoda Peak.

Today was the day to depart for the venue where the martial competition was being held.

This time, the host of the martial competition was the Wang Family from Hongyao Valley, with the location set within the Wang Family’s gate.

Upon Pagoda Peak, after all the competing Zhou Family cultivators had arrived, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi began with an inspiring speech to boost their morale, and then flung open his Spirit Beast Pouch tied at his waist.

Instantly, a gust of wind rose, and on the square in front of Central Peace Hall, a six to seven zhang long green python suddenly appeared.

This green python, as thick as a water bucket with a belly showing white within its green color, had clusters of white cloud patterns, resembling tufts of clouds.

A mid-grade second-rank Demon Beast, the Sky Azure Cloud Python!

This green python was Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, Zhou Daoyi’s spirit pet, the Sky Azure Cloud Python, a rare mid-level demon beast with the legendary Flood Dragon bloodline.

And once a Demon Beast reaches the second rank, regardless of its species, it attains the sky maneuver flight ability similar to a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.

As a Wind Attribute Demon Beast, the Sky Azure Cloud Python is even faster than cultivators in flight upon reaching adulthood and the second rank, and is especially adept at flying.

Thus, with its six to seven zhang long body, it could perfectly serve as a flying dragon boat, carrying Zhou Chun and the other twenty Qi Refinement Realm cultivators for swift travel.

Having released the Sky Azure Cloud Python, Zhou Daoyi immediately stepped forward and walked straight up to the python’s head as it rested on the ground with its body stretched out.

Then, he turned to the Zhou Family cultivators behind him, who had been awed by the python’s appearance, and beckoned, “Come up, everyone. Next, Qingqing will take you to the Wang Family of Hongyao Valley.”

Hearing his words, cultivators like Zhou Jiapeng, who had already seen the Sky Azure Cloud Python more than once and belonged to the “Home” generation, quickly followed suit and stepped onto the python’s back before sitting down with legs astride.

With them leading the way, the younger “Zheng” generation cultivators like Zhou Chun dared to follow boldly.

Once all twenty were aboard the python, standing in line about a foot apart from each other, Zhou Daoyi uttered, “Hold tight,” and the Sky Azure Cloud Python flicked its tail and twisted its head, creating a whirlwind that lifted it from the ground.

“Ah!!!”

Screams echoed through the air—one after another, it was the Zhou Family cultivators who were riding the flying serpent for the first time. They were so nervous they called out loudly because of the serpent’s shake.

But in fact, most of the noise was due to their own nervousness; although the serpent’s body did sway slightly, it was actually much more stable than a galloping horse and there was no feeling of bumpiness.

So, after shouting to release that tension, they quickly realized this and soon returned to normal, gripping the serpent’s sides with excitement and pointing at the landscape below with wide eyes.

To accommodate the Qi Refinement Realm cultivators, the Sky Azure Cloud Python did not fly too high, maintaining an altitude of just six to seven hundred zhang below the clouds. This height allowed the beauty of the mountains and rivers below to be seen clearly.

Of course, this also meant that mortals only had to look up to see the silhouette of the giant python carrying more than twenty people through the air.

So when the giant python flew near areas where mortals congregated, those who happened to glance up and see this scene would mistake the python for a true dragon from legends and the Zhou Family cultivators on its back as immortals on a dragon’s journey, resulting in reverent worship.

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Even some Cultivators who saw this scene were shocked, with many of them stunned into silence.

The reactions of the people below, observed by the Zhou Family Cultivators, instantly filled their hearts with immense pride.

Look, this was their Spirit Beast Zhou Family, a Cultivation family with a legacy of more than 1,700 years, incomparable to those foundationless Loose Cultivators and minor families.

A Cultivator of the Zhou Family of the “Zhou” generation couldn’t help but sigh, “If only the Clan Leader’s Sky Azure Cloud Python could evolve into a Flood Dragon. Then, we’d truly be traveling on a dragon!”

Hearing his words, the other Zhou Family Cultivators on the python’s back couldn’t help but indulge in the fantasy, their hearts yearning for the scene he described.

Only Zhou Daoyi, who had his back to everyone, wore a bitter smile on his face after hearing this.

A Flood Dragon, he wished for it too!!

The problem was, making the Sky Azure Cloud Python evolve into a Flood Dragon was no small challenge.

Even if he reached the Purple Mansion Phase, the hopes of achieving this were not great, let alone as a mere Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator.

Those that could be called Flood Dragons were at least upper-level Demon Beasts, and even among them, they were incredibly powerful.

Though the Sky Azure Cloud Python possessed the Flood Dragon Bloodline, evolving into an actual Flood Dragon on its own was essentially impossible.

However, there was no need to dampen the ambitions of these junior family members at this time.

In fact, Zhou Daoyi had intended to motivate the younger generation by leading the Zhou Family Cultivators to Hongyao Valley in such a high-profile and flamboyant manner, while also showcasing the strength and depth of the Zhou Family to the outside world.

The Sky Azure Cloud Python flew swiftly, covering four or five hundred li in just two hours, and in less than four hours, they arrived at Hongyao Valley, where the Wang Family resided.

Hongyao Valley’s Wang Family was famous for cultivating and selling Spiritual Medicine. Their territory, Hongyao Valley, was an area particularly suited for the growth of Spiritual Medicine.

In terms of family strength, the Wang Family was also very powerful, not only boasting a Purple Mansion Phase Supreme Elder but also possessing up to five Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators. Moreover, there were three more Wang Family Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage within the Green Lotus Temple.

It could be said that the Wang Family’s apparent strength was even greater than that of the Zhou Family on the surface.

When the Zhou Family Cultivators, riding the Sky Azure Cloud Python, appeared outside of Hongyao Valley, the Wang Family Cultivators guarding the Formation were all shocked and left speechless.

It was Zhou Daoyi who commanded the Sky Azure Cloud Python to land, unloaded everyone from its back, and put the python into the Spirit Beast Pouch, which stirred the stupefied Wang Family Cultivators back to reality. They quickly reported the situation to the Clan Leader of Wang Family and other high-ranking members.

After waiting outside the Wang Family’s mountain gate for nearly fifteen minutes, Zhou Chun and others saw the fog of the Formation in front of them churning violently, revealing a passageway wide enough for several people to enter and exit side by side.

Then came Clan Leader Wang Zhixiong of Hongyao Valley’s Wang Family, accompanied by two Wang Family Cultivators, emerging from the passageway to greet them.

“Hahaha, welcome Taoist Friend Zhou and all the Zhou Family Cultivators to the Wang Family. Wang extends his greetings to you all.”

With a portly figure, small eyes, and a round belly, wearing a loose yellow robe, this was what Clan Leader Wang Zhixiong looked like.

His face beaming with a smile, he clasped hands in salute to Zhou Daoyi and the Zhou Family Cultivators, then warmly ushered them into the mountain gate.

Different from the varied scenery of the Zhou Family’s Jiufeng Ridge, the environment of the Wang Family’s mountain gate was like a large farmstead, sitting inside a vast valley and filled with expansive herb fields.

Upon entering the Wang Family’s mountain gate, they could smell an assortment of medicinal fragrances, and as far as the eye could see, many Wang Family Cultivators were seen watering, weeding, and ridding pests in the fields.

Zhou Chun glanced over and noticed that in terms of area alone, the medicinal fields he saw of the Wang Family were over seven or eight times larger than those of the Zhou Family, with a wide variety of Spiritual Medicine planted within them.

“Indeed, the Wang Family of Hongyao Valley lives up to its reputation!”

By Zhou Chun’s side, Zhou Jiapeng, like him, scrutinized the various Spirit fields and then murmured a quiet sigh.

Even Zhou Zhengyong was murmuring enviously, “With so many Spiritual Medicines, the Wang Family Cultivators must be very fortunate. At least they shouldn’t lack Elixirs to advance their Cultivation Level!”

But was this really the case?

Zhou Chun thought about the information he knew about the Wang Family, feeling that it couldn’t be as simple as Zhou Zhengyong had said.

After all, if Elixirs truly weren’t scarce, the competing Cultivators from the Wang Family mentioned in the reports should all be at least at the Qi Refinement Realm, levels eleven or twelve.

He pondered to himself, “There might also be a possibility that these Spiritual Medicines don’t fully belong to the Wang Family.”

But such words were not suitable to be spoken out loud, especially since Clan Leader Wang Zhixiong was walking right ahead of them!