Hongya Marketplace, Welcoming Immortals Inn.
After purchasing a stalk of Wild Ginseng from the street market, Zhou Chun temporarily closed his stall and came to the Welcoming Immortals Inn to rent a Cultivation Room.
In marketplaces like Hongya Marketplace, the inns were officially operated by the marketplace authorities, charging according to the duration and the grade of the rooms.
For a Cultivation Room of the Second Rank suitable for cultivators in the Qi Refinement Realm, the cost was one Spirit Coin for every twelve hours, which could be tallied up cumulatively.
For example, a cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refinement could only meditate and cultivate for two hours a day.
Therefore, after paying one Spirit Coin as an initial fee on the first day, he could come and cultivate for two hours for free for the next five days.
Zhou Chun had already rented a Cultivation Room in the marketplace for the past few days.
Honestly, the feeling of cultivating in a Cultivation Room was incomparable to cultivating outside.
Without the disturbance of the Evil Qi, the euphoric sensation during cultivation was utterly addicting.
If it weren't for the limitations of his own meridians and acupoints' capacity and the sparse Spirit Coins in his wallet, Zhou Chun would indeed desire to stay in the Cultivation Room all day, not exiting until he had cultivated to the twelfth level of Qi Refinement in one go!
However, Zhou Chun's current entry into the Cultivation Room wasn't for cultivating.
After activating the small soundproof Array in the room, he took out that stone jar from his Storage Pouch.
At this moment, there was still half a jar of Purification Spirit Water unused.
Zhou Chun looked at the Spirit Water inside the jar, hesitated briefly, then placed the Wild Ginseng, which had cost him twenty-four Spirit Coins, into it to soak.
The Purification Spirit Water in the stone jar could purify and remove the accreted Evil Qi within the wild spiritual medicines and Spirit Ores, according to the information Zhou Chun had from the original owner's memories.
He didn't doubt this, and now that he had the opportunity to verify it, he naturally wanted to try.
Sometime later, the blue color of the Spirit Water in the jar had indeed lightened slightly.
When the color of the Spirit Water no longer changed, Zhou Chun took the Wild Ginseng out again.
The Wild Ginseng now looked much brighter in appearance, with a light glow appearing on its yellow-white skin, emitting a faint scent of ginseng.
Now, the Evil Qi within the Wild Ginseng had been completely purified, making it equivalent to the Spirit Ginseng cultivated in a spiritual field.
Such ginseng, at the same age, could fetch more than double the price!
In other words, any wild spiritual medicine that came into Zhou Chun's hands could double in price just by soaking it in the stone jar's Spirit Water!
At this thought, Zhou Chun's breathing hitched. He excitedly looked at the stone jar and exclaimed, "Treasure Basin! This is the real Treasure Basin!"
For a moment, his mind was flooded with various ideas, and he saw himself making a fortune by buying low and selling high with the stone jar, leading to a peak life of prosperity.
But as he pondered, a very practical problem presented itself.
How could he explain the origin of the Spiritual Medicine in his possession?
The Loose Cultivator who sold the Spirit Ginseng had mentioned that in the Cultivation World, the method of purifying the Evil Qi within wild spiritual medicines was only known to those Cultivation Sects.
If Zhou Chun, as an individual, was to sell this purified medicine, how could it not arouse suspicion about its origins?
Even if he could wait until he joined the Zhou Family, and sell under their name, if the quantity sold was large and the variety of goods wide, it wouldn't withstand scrutiny, right?
Moreover, as he knew from his memories, even when a lot of spiritual medicines were planted in the fields of Cultivation Families, most of these medicines were considered public property of the family and were not meant for individuals to sell separately.
Usually, they were directly used by the family or traded in bulk with other forces, or sold in the family's own shops.
"In that case, unless I can sell through official channels in the future, or sell anonymously, I should not lightly bring these purified medicines out for sale!"
Realizing this, Zhou Chun's eyes dimmed with joy, and he quickly regained his composure.
Then he looked at the Spirit Ginseng in his hand, carefully placed it into a jade box that could effectively prevent the dissipation of its medicinal power, and stored it in his Storage Pouch.
After cultivating in the cultivation room for a little over two hours, Zhou Chun resumed his position in the marketplace to gather information.
Three days passed, and it was only then that Zhou Chun finally learned of the Zhou Family's current whereabouts from a Loose Cultivator who had recently set up a stall in the marketplace.
According to that Loose Cultivator, the Zhou Family of Spirit Beasts had now taken Jiufeng Ridge in the eastern part of Lanzhou to serve as their family residence. For this purpose, they had even fought a ferocious battle with a group of Loose Cultivators who had originally occupied the area, killing two of those at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
After learning of this, Zhou Chun no longer had the desire to stay in Hongya Marketplace any longer.
He barely waited until the early morning of the next day when he quickly closed his stall and headed straight to a certain shop within the marketplace.
In this shop renowned for its Talismans, Zhou Chun purchased Talismans worth hundreds of Spirit Coins in one go, then prepared to leave the marketplace to head for the so-called Jiufeng Ridge.
Just as he was about to approach the entrance of the marketplace, he suddenly encountered a group of three cultivators walking in from outside.
And just when he had casually glanced at the three of them and was about to leave, a sudden shout stopped him in his tracks.
"Is that Brother Chun from the Leopard Garden?"
Zhou Chun quickly looked up to see that the person who had called out was a long-faced young man a few years older than him, with a noticeable black mole under his right ear.
In an instant, his memory aligned with a certain familiar cultivator, and he couldn't help but ask, "Are you Brother Yong from the Monkey Garden?"
Upon hearing this, the long-faced young man's expression brightened with joy, and he burst into laughter, saying, "Hahaha, it seems it's really you, Brother Chun! It's great that you're safe!"
As it turned out, this long-faced young man was a disciple of the same generation in the Zhou Family, named Zhou Yong, with a cultivation level at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement Realm.
Previously, both had worked in the Beast Gardens of the Sanjue Sect, except Zhou Chun was responsible for managing the Leopard Garden, while he was in charge of the Monkey Garden.
Because they worked in the same location, the two had a rather good relationship, which is why the long-faced young man recognized Zhou Chun immediately upon seeing him.
Once the two recognized each other, with Zhou Yong's explanation, Zhou Chun gradually recalled the names of the other two based on his memory.
After all, they were all once cultivators of the Zhou Family, and although they may not have had much of a personal relationship, they would see each other at important family gatherings, and so he had generally heard of their names.
The oldest of the other two was named Zhou Fei, who was already forty-seven years old with a cultivation level at the tenth layer of Qi Refinement Realm.
The other was named Zhou Jingwen, a 35-year-old female cultivator with a somewhat short stature and a cultivation level at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement Realm.
After such recognition, Zhou Chun thought quickly, not waiting for Zhou Yong and the others to ask about his own matters.
He immediately cried out with an extremely happy appearance, "It's so great to meet Uncle Fei and Brother Yong here! I've just found out that our family has settled in Jiufeng Ridge and was preparing to go join them!"
Hearing this, faces of Zhou Fei and Zhou Yong instantly lit up with smiles, evidently satisfied with his words.
This saved them a good deal of persuasion.
Thus, Zhou Fei also replied immediately, "Chun'er, you are thoughtful. Since we have the fate of meeting here, after we finish our affairs, we will naturally take you to meet the Clan Leader and the Elders."
The other elder, Zhou Jingwen, also nodded continuously, "Yes, yes, the family has just settled here in Jingguo Country and is in great need of help. With a clansman of excellent aptitude like you, Brother Chun, returning to the family, the Clan Leader and the Elders will surely be delighted and won't mistreat you."
"The elders are right, Brother Chun, you can just follow us back without worry; the family definitely will not mistreat you,"
Zhou Yong added.
Seeing the attitude of these three, Zhou Chun seemed to have a clue about the current situation of the Zhou Family.
Clearly, after experiencing the split, the Zhou Family now highly valued every returning family member.
This was also what he had anticipated earlier.
A cultivation family that had just broken free from the constraints of a sect would inevitably focus on wooing young cultivators from the family to strengthen unity and settle people's hearts.
In this way, he should not have to worry about being treated like a workhorse upon his return.