Red Peach Ridge.
By the time Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong were reunited, it was after Zhou Jiapeng had hurried back with the Zhou Family's Third Elder, Zhou Daoquan.
When Zhou Jiapeng rushed back to Monkey Valley and found no trace of Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong, and the Red-Tailed Monkey Group had returned, he was also greatly shocked.
Fortunately, the Third Elder Zhou Daoquan accompanied him and quickly located the two based on the deliberate trail of aura they had left behind, hiding in the ridges.
However, compared to Zhou Chun, who had only greatly exhausted his mana, Zhou Zhengyong was in a much more dire state.
He had been directly hit by the flames spat out by the Red-Tailed Monkey King, leaving his body covered in blisters, with even his face not spared.
In the end, he was lucky to escape death by coming across a river and diving underwater to hold his breath, shaking off those Red-Tailed Monkeys.
At this time, seeing Zhou Zhengyong full of injuries brought back by Zhou Daoquan, Zhou Jiapeng couldn't help but express his remorse with a troubled face, "It was my oversight, I should have stayed and let you two go back to find the Elder!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zhengyong lying on the ground immediately replied in a low voice, consoling, "Uncle Peng, there's no need to blame yourself. It was most suitable for you to return to the clan to find the Elder. No one is to blame for this, it's just our misfortune. Who would have thought those Red-Tailed Monkeys would have a Vajra Monkey as their backup!"
Hearing the mention of the Vajra Monkey, Zhou Chun couldn't help but shift his gaze towards the open ground nearby.
On that open ground, several Demon Monkeys including the Red-Tailed Monkey King and the Vajra Monkey were now lying unconscious, deeply asleep.
After chasing away Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong, perhaps to thank the Vajra Monkey, the Red-Tailed Monkey Group even organized a feast for it in the valley, offering various wild fruits and Spiritual Medicines they had found like Yellow Essence and Lingzhi, and even arranged for two female monkeys to keep it company.
As a result, when Zhou Jiapeng arrived with Zhou Daoquan, Zhou Daoquan directly captured them all with his methods and used a secret medicine to knock them out.
"These rowdy monkeys! It's just right, the clan is planning to rebuild the Beast Garden. When the time comes, throw them all into the Monkey Garden and gradually wear down their aggressiveness!"
Zhou Jiapeng also cast a glance at those Demon Monkeys lying on the ground and cursed fiercely.
"Enough, I've checked, this lad Zhengyong's injuries only look serious on the surface, actually, he should recover in a month or two. This time, you've made significant contributions for the clan, the Clan Leader will surely not mistreat you," Zhou Daoquan waved his hand, indicating that they should not dwell on these matters anymore.
Then, he first took out a Spirit Beast Pouch and put the unconscious Demon Monkeys inside, and then he began the task of transplanting the Vermilion Sun Fruit tree.
It is worth mentioning that although a Spirit Beast Pouch can accommodate living creatures like Demon Beasts and Spirit Pets, this is under the premise that the Demon Beasts do not resist.
Directly collecting untamed Demon Beasts like what Zhou Daoquan did, it is necessary to make sure that the Demon Beasts won't wake up halfway.
Otherwise, if the woken Demon Beasts struggle and attack, they could easily break the Spirit Beast Pouch from inside and escape.
At this time, Zhou Chun watched carefully as the Third Elder Zhou Daoquan transplanted the Vermilion Sun Fruit tree.
He first took out a flowerpot-shaped Magic Artifact from his Storage Pouch and placed it on the ground. Then he pinched a spell and, using a special technique to gather Spiritual Energy, he formed green Spirit Water from the surrounding Yimu (wood element) aura and sprinkled it over the Vermilion Sun Fruit tree.
After about half an hour, once the Vermilion Sun Fruit tree absorbed a large amount of the Spirit Water rich in Yimu aura and showed vigorous vitality,
Zhou Daoquan used the Magic Artifact to break through the rock wall and, under the meticulous control of his Divine Sense, he extracted the tree with its roots undamaged and placed it inside the flowerpot Magic Artifact.
Then Zhou Daoquan quickly took out a jade bottle Magic Artifact from his Storage Pouch and poured a large amount of Spirit Water stored inside into the flowerpot.
The Spirit Water in this jade bottle was somewhat similar to the Hydroponic Nutrient Solution from Zhou Chun's previous life, which can provide growth nutrients to the Spirit Plant during transplantation and improve the survival rate of the transplant, with its formula also considered a clan secret.
After the transplantation procedure was completed, Zhou Daoquan raised his hand to gesture, and the flowerpot holding the Vermilion Sun Fruit tree was moved onto the back of his fire crane Spirit Pet.
Then, he waved to the three of them, "I need to protect this Vermilion Sun Fruit tree, so I won't be taking you back. You should return to the clan on your own."
Upon hearing this, the three of them hurriedly responded, "We respectfully see off the Elder."
After seeing Zhou Daoquan off, Zhou Chun thought Zhou Jiapeng would suggest looking for the Vajra Monkey's nest to see if there were other gains.
Unexpectedly, as if it never crossed his mind, Zhou Jiapeng simply nodded to Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong and said, "Let's go back to the clan."
But at this time, Zhou Zhengyong, who was usually carefree, seemed to think the same as Zhou Chun and, even before Zhou Chun, looked at Zhou Jiapeng and said, "Uncle Peng, aren't we going to look for the Vajra Monkey's nest? There might be other gains!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiapeng's expression suddenly darkened, and he retorted irritably, "You lad, you are already half-dead, and you still worry about these trivial things, it seems you forget the pain as soon as the wound heals!"
After saying that he shook his head and said, "Don't get your hopes up for such good fortune. The Vajra Monkey itself is an oddity among the monkey troop, prone to wandering everywhere, with the world as its home. The chances of finding anything valuable in its temporary liason are basically nil."
Then, looking somewhat disappointedly at Zhou Zhengyong, he continued, "What's urgent now is to send you back to the clan for healing. What's more, no matter how good these things are, are they more important than your life?"
After being reproached in succession, Zhou Zhengyong dared not speak any further, and seeing Zhou Jiapeng's attitude, Zhou Chun didn't dare to broach the subject again either.
Thus, he took the initiative to make a stretcher and, together with Zhou Jiapeng, carried the injured Zhou Zhengyong on their way.
By the time the three of them returned to the Zhou Family at Jiufeng Ridge, three days had already passed.
After returning to the clan, since the third Elder Zhou Daoquan, who had come back early, had already reported the situation, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi met with the three and quickly issued their rewards.
For Zhou Zhengyong, who had made the greatest contribution and exertion, he was rewarded with a Blood Spirit Pill which was useful for purifying the bloodline and breaking through bottlenecks for low-level Demon Beasts, as well as with a hundred clan merits.
As for Zhou Jiapeng and Zhou Chun, they were respectively awarded eighty clan merits and fifty clan merits.
Compared with the rewards he had received in the past, this reward for Zhou Chun could only be considered ordinary.
But this was normal, after all, this time he had helped out of personal affinity, and he shouldn't have received a reward from the clan in the first place.
The reason he was awarded clan merits now was also because they had indirectly captured for the clan a rare Vajra Monkey and a group of Red-Tailed Monkeys.
For Zhou Chun, the most significant gains from this trip were probably the favor of Zhou Zhengyong and the acquaintance with the elder Zhou Jiapeng.
That's how sects and clans are: it's relatively easy to find help when needed and to make trustworthy friends.
Having helped Zhou Zhengyong this time, Zhou Chun could count on his help if he asked for it in the future; otherwise, it would be hard for Zhou Zhengyong to continue to mix in the clan, as all clan members would distance themselves from someone who only took advantage without giving back.
By assisting Zhou Zhengyong and demonstrating his impressive family strength and wisdom, Zhou Chun also earned the appreciation of the elder Zhou Jiapeng.
The relationship between the two had changed from a nominal uncle-nephew relationship to that of close acquaintances.
In the future, if Zhou Chun needed assistance with something, the probability of Zhou Jiapeng being willing to help would undoubtedly be very high.
Likewise, if Zhou Jiapeng needed help with something in the future, it would be easy for him to think of Zhou Chun.
In short, cultivation is not just about fighting and seclusion; social relationships are also a very important aspect for cultivators.
After returning to the clan, Zhou Chun's life reverted to its normal state, except that he now had two additional tasks: visiting Zhou Zhengyong, who was recuperating at home, and, under the guise of seeking advice on cultivating spirit pets, fostering a closer relationship with his Twenty-Seventh Uncle, Zhou Jiapeng.
Time quickly passed and more than three months went by, Zhou Chun's cultivation level made steady progress with the aid of the Spring Sun Pill.
One day, when Zhou Chun visited his Twenty-Seventh Uncle, Zhou Jiapeng, he suddenly learned some news from him.
"A few days ago, the Clan Leader called me over and mentioned that in half a year, the Zhou Family and several local cultivator families in Lanzhou will jointly hold a competition of martial arts for Qi Refinement cultivators, and it will be divided into a youth group and an elite group."
"Zhengchun, if you can reach the eighth level of the Qi Refinement Realm before the competition, with your magic artifact and that Rock Earth Turtle, you might contend for a top-ten spot in the youth group."
At Zhou Jiapeng's residence, just as Zhou Chun prepared to take his leave, Zhou Jiapeng suddenly looked at him and shared this piece of news.
Zhou Chun was momentarily stunned.
After being stunned for a while, he looked at Zhou Jiapeng with eyes full of curiosity and said, "Uncle Peng, could you tell me more about this matter?"
Zhou Jiapeng shook his head in response, "The specifics weren't mentioned by the Clan Leader to me, just that the Hongyao Valley Wang Family, Biyun Mountain Mu Family, Golden Maple Ridge Sun Family, and Qingzhu Mountain He Family have had this exchange tradition and hold it every decade or so, only this time our Zhou Family also gets to join."
"For more details, I'm afraid we'll have to wait for the Clan Leader to announce the news."
The Biyun Mountain Mu Family will be there too?
Hearing the name of that family again after more than half a year, Zhou Chun felt somewhat emotional.
In fact, during this past half a year, he had also repeatedly inquired about the Mu Family from loose cultivators who practiced at the Zhou Family and from clan members.
However, it seemed the news from Wild Wolf Ridge was tightly sealed, and the information Zhou Chun managed to gather was not guaranteed to be reliable; the only certainty was that the Mu Family had clashed fiercely with an organization of loose cultivators called the "Qiyun Alliance," resulting in casualties among the low-ranking cultivators of both sides.
Now, it seemed that Wild Wolf Ridge had been occupied by the "Qiyun Alliance."
Zhou Chun didn't know what the Mu Family was thinking, but this matter was clearly beyond his current ability to intervene, so he stopped paying attention to the Mu Family's situation for a while.
After zoning out for a while, Zhou Chun quickly snapped back to reality and respectfully said to Zhou Jiapeng, "I understand, thank you, Uncle Peng, for informing me."
Seeing this, Zhou Jiapeng patted his shoulder earnestly and said, "Get ready, if you really achieve a good ranking at this exchange meet, it won't be a problem for you to become an Elite Clan Member ahead of time, and the Clan Leader and Elders will surely have additional rewards for you."
"Yes, I will definitely do my best to seize this opportunity," Zhou Chun replied, nodding vigorously and taking the matter to heart.