"You should be aware of the old family rules of the Zhou Family, Brother Chun, so I won't repeat them,"
"Now that our family has settled down in Jiufeng Ridge and will fully become a cultivation clan from now on, the rules will certainly change. This matter will still need to be discussed and amended by the Supreme Elder, Clan Leader, and the Elders."
"At present, the family is adapting accordingly to our new environment and circumstances and has only added a few additional rules."
"Firstly, without the family's assignment, members are not allowed to leave Jiufeng Ridge without good reason. This rule is mainly to protect all clan members and to minimize the chances of provoking enemies. After all, we are still unfamiliar with life here and don't understand much about Jingguo Country."
"Secondly, without the family's permission, one must not boastfully display our family's various techniques in front of outsiders, nor reveal internal information about the family to them, nor bring outsiders back to the family. This rule is also for the protection of the family and clan members."
"Thirdly, in order to concentrate our efforts on major initiatives, the family is temporarily suspending the distribution of Spirit Coins as welfare and rewards for tasks to clan members. Instead, we will use merit points, where one merit point corresponds to one Spirit Coin. Once the family has firmly established itself, the exchange of merit points and Spirit Coins will be opened up."
...
All sorts of big and small rules, along with various matters that required attention and things to avoid, were meticulously articulated by Zhou He and intently listened to by Zhou Chun.
One spoke clearly and in detail, the other listened attentively and even took notes while listening.
In less than a day's time, Zhou Chun had gained a fairly clear understanding of the current situation of the Zhou Family.
It should be said that the current situation of the Zhou Family was not bad at all.
Ignoring those members of the family who, like Zhou Chun, might still be wandering outside, there were more than one hundred and thirty Cultivators in the Zhou Family. Among them, one was at the Purple Mansion Phase, four were at the Foundation Establishment Stage, and the rest were all Cultivators at the Qi Refinement Realm.
Such strength, even when placed in the cultivation world of Lanzhou in Jingguo Country, would allow them to rank among the top ten of many cultivation clans.
However, the Zhou Family, after all, was new to the area and had forcibly occupied the feng shui treasure land of Jiufeng Ridge through violence, which resulted in them having a very poor reputation among the Loose Cultivators in Jingguo Country.
The cultivation sects and families of Jingguo Country surrounding them were also somewhat wary and hostile towards this new external force and were not particularly willing to interact or cooperate with the Zhou Family.
Fortunately, the pressure was partly alleviated by the three other forces that had split from the Sanjue Sect, so for the moment, it seemed that no one dared to be the first to openly become the enemy of the Zhou Family.
It appeared that the upper echelons of the Zhou Family were very aware of the current difficulties facing the family. The rules they established were all designed to address these challenges.
Zhou Chun trusted that they must have other measures to break out of these entanglements, but he simply was not privy to them at the moment.
Of course, the Zhou Family's situation was not something for him to worry about at the moment; his Cultivation Level was not yet influential enough to impact the Zhou Family's decisions.
Now, all he needed to do was to follow the arranged schedule, continuing his cultivation daily and completing the tasks assigned to him.
After Zhou He had finished conveying all the matters that required Zhou Chun's attention, she also shared a piece of news with him.
It was that the group of Loose Cultivators who had lain in ambush near Jiufeng Ridge had all been slain by the third Elder, Zhou Quan. He had also managed to track down and eliminate a dozen more Loose Cultivators who harbored enmity towards the Zhou Family.
...
Another sunny and splendid morning arrived.
On Baozhi Peak, after completing his meditative cultivation on the cliff top, Zhou Chun returned to his residence to have breakfast.
His breakfast was simple – plain congee and steamed buns, accompanied by some fruit jerky and dried meat strips.
Actually, many Cultivators didn't have the habit of eating breakfast. At most, they would eat some wild fruit from the mountains and drink a few sips of spring water in the morning.
Once reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage and achieving the ability to abstain from grain, it was common for them not to eat for a month.
But Zhou Chun was different.
To him, maintaining the habit of three meals a day was a remembrance of his previous life, reminding him daily of how he differed from others.
And this little habit, even if discovered by someone else, would not attract much attention.
Even if someone were to inquire, Zhou Chun had ample justification to explain.
After spending approximately two hours on breakfast, Zhou Chun leisurely made his way to the Spirit Cleansing Pavilion located on the mountainside of Baozhi Peak.
The Spirit Cleansing Pavilion was nestled in a valley on the shaded side of Baozhi Peak. The environment there was tranquil and fragrant with flowers, and it was planted with many beautiful flowers.
Upon arriving at the valley, Zhou Chun noticed three Zhou Family Cultivators sitting cross-legged around a well in the center of a four-cornered pavilion.
Every so often, a black-and-white mottled white jade column would pop out of the well.
At that time, the three Zhou Family Cultivators would cast controlling spells at the jade column to press it back into the well, repeating the process without end.
The well was one of the foundations of the Spirit Cleansing Formation that sheltered the Zhou Family at Jiufeng Ridge, also known as the "Sinking Evil Well."
Atop each of the nine Spirit Peaks of Jiufeng Ridge, there was such a Spirit Cleansing Pavilion and a Sinking Evil Well.
At every moment, Zhou Family Cultivators stationed beside the well would manipulate the array to sink the Evil Qi absorbed by the Formation deep underground, ensuring that the Spiritual Energy refined and absorbed by the Zhou Family Cultivators on the mountain was pure.
This task was exhausting, not only taxing the mind and body but also preventing normal meditation and other activities.
Therefore, the current rule of the Zhou Family was that every disciple of the Zhou Family at the Qi Refinement Realm had to guard the Spirit Cleansing Pavilion for at least three two-hour periods each day.
Now that Zhou Chun had settled down and cultivated on Baozhi Peak, he would need to guard this nearby Spirit Cleansing Pavilion daily.
Seeing him arrive on time at the Spirit Cleansing Pavilion, a Zhou Family Cultivator who had been sitting for enough time greeted him with a smile and nod before leaving the place first.
And Zhou Chun took over the task, sitting on the straw mat the other had just vacated and started to guard the "Sinking Evil Well" together with the other two Zhou Family Cultivators.
Besides guarding the Spirit Cleansing Pavilion, Zhou Family Cultivators at the Qi Refinement Realm like Zhou Chun also had to take turns guarding several places within the Mountain Protection Array.
They also needed to hunt outside for the Spirit Beasts raised by the sect, build structures, clear mountain paths between peaks, and develop the Medicine Garden, among many other tasks.
However, except for guarding the Spirit Cleansing Pavilion, where not the slightest carelessness was allowed, the rest of the tasks were not difficult, and no one supervised them closely, so doing a little bit each day was sufficient.
After all, if Cultivators had anything in abundance, it was time.
While carrying out these tasks, Zhou Chun naturally got to meet and become familiar with other Zhou Family Cultivators.
One day, Zhou Chun returned from hunting in the mountains outside Jiufeng Ridge with several other Zhou Family Cultivators, and after delivering most of the prey to the Beast Garden, he returned to his own residence.
Upon entering his courtyard, he saw a Rock Earth Turtle gnawing on tree bark.
Three months had passed since Zhou Chun's return to the Zhou Family at Jiufeng Ridge.
The Rock Earth Turtle, which had been just an egg at the time, had now hatched and grown into a small grey-brown turtle the size of a washbasin, somewhat resembling the alligator snapping turtles from Zhou Chun's previous life.
An adult Rock Earth Turtle could comfortably bear three or four people on its back without it feeling crowded, so this size of turtle was truly just a "small turtle."
But despite its small size, this little guy was not lacking in bite strength.
With its sharp teeth, it could easily crush pebbles.
Even without awakening or mastering the Rock Earth Turtle lineage's innate spells, this little turtle already posed a great threat to ordinary people.
One of the best things about raising Rock Earth Turtles was their undiscriminating diet.
They would eat almost anything—animal meat, tree bark, or even soil, swallowing it all down with powerful digestive capabilities.
Feeling the return of Zhou Chun, its master, the little turtle munching on a tree in the courtyard immediately turned its head toward him, shaking its tail, and conveyed a sense of hunger.
Generally, Spirit Beasts raised by Cultivators from a young age, being rarely affected by the erosion of Evil Qi, were much smarter than wild Demon Beasts.
Some species of Demon Beasts, already intelligent by nature, could even achieve a level of wisdom comparable to humans.
However, Rock Earth Turtles weren't known for their intelligence, and being able to convey hunger was already the best this three-month-old turtle could do, given the mental pact between them.
Fortunately, Zhou Chun had no particular expectations for the intelligence of the Rock Earth Turtle; he was interested in its tenacity and ability to take and deliver a beating. As long as it could help him in combat and spellcasting in the future, that was enough.
He immediately approached and took out some nutritious items he had specifically saved, such as wild beast hearts and livers, tossing them into the feeding bowl for the little turtle to gnaw and eat at its own pace.
He then proceeded to enter the kitchen to start a fire and cook a meal.
Two quarters of an hour later, Zhou Chun had prepared several dishes, whether fried, roasted, or boiled, and then he began to slowly savor the sumptuous dinner all by himself.