Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

"After pressing that Tang Hu, he confessed his identity. It turns out he was actually a spy deliberately planted in our Zhou Family by the Zhang Family of Tiantai Mountain. His daughter married a Cultivator from the Zhang Family, and he himself would receive an annual stipend from them!"

"Because he reported back to the Zhang Family about the unusual lockdown of our Zhou Family last time, they took the matter very seriously and specially sent him Spiritual Wine and Spirit Coins to bribe and entice the Zhou Family Cultivators into investigating the truth of the matter!"

"And the other Loose Cultivators indeed didn’t know anything; they were just being used by him."

Zhou Chun slowly relayed the sequence of events and then turned his gaze to Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi.

Back when he and Elder Zhou Jiarui returned from the underground auction, Zhou Jiarui had unleashed the Fire Divine Jackal to kill a late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

At that time, Zhou Daoyi did not inform him of the true background of the individual, and later on, he might have forgotten about the matter and never explained it to him.

As a result, he had learned from that Loose Cultivator Tang Hu that the late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator killed by the Fire Divine Jackal was actually the second Elder of the Zhang Family of Tiantai Mountain!

"The Zhang Family of Tiantai Mountain? It seems they are aware of the incident back then and now hold a grudge against our Zhou Family!"

Zhou Daoyi furrowed his brows and instantly understood why Zhou Chun was looking at him, mumbling to himself in a low voice.

"Oh, the family of the late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator who was killed by the Fire Divine Jackal?"

Zhou Mingde’s expression shifted as well, recalling the incident Zhou Daoyi had told him about.

Then his face darkened, and he said coldly, "How audacious of the Zhang Family of Tiantai Mountain, to not appreciate our mercy for letting bygones be bygones, and instead, they dare to bear a grudge against us!"

Having finished, he nodded repeatedly to Zhou Chun and said, "Thank goodness, Zhengchun, that you intercepted and brought him back in time. Otherwise, once the Zhang Family receives the news, they will definitely spread it intentionally, which would cause significant trouble for our Zhou Family!"

"Indeed, at this critical juncture, we absolutely cannot let anyone know that our Zhou Family possesses a third-order Flood Dragon; otherwise, we definitely can’t hide it from the spies of the Dragon Transformation Sect!"

Zhou Daoyi also nodded in agreement, acutely aware of the severe consequences should the information leak.

Hearing them speak this way, Zhou Chun’s expression changed, and he couldn’t help but ask, "From what you both are saying, does that mean your mission outside was successful?"

Upon hearing his question, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi exchanged a look, then they both smiled slightly and said, "Indeed, the mission was a success, the target fell on the spot, utterly annihilated!"

"That is truly excellent news! Undoubtedly, this is the best possible outcome!"

Zhou Chun couldn’t help but clap his hands in approval, visibly delighted.

Zhou Mingde then sighed deeply and said, "Yes, now that this operation is over, our Zhou Family will no longer be at others’ mercy, and we can finally develop our family in peace and quiet!"

Then he said gravely, "That’s why the matter of the third-order Flood Dragon must be kept strictly confidential for as long as possible!"

"Naturally, after Zhou Zhenghuan’s lesson, the other Clan Members will understand the seriousness of the situation and will not dare to divulge this matter anymore," Zhou Chun said, then inquired in a low voice, "What about Tang Hu and those three informed Loose Cultivators? How should they be dealt with?"

Yet, upon hearing this question, Zhou Mingde looked at him and asked in return, "What do you suggest? Zhengchun, how do you think they should be dealt with?"

"If it were up to me to decide, Tang Hu deserves death for his crimes, and the Zhang Family needs to be warned; thus, it would be best to send his head to the Zhang Family as a warning!"

"As for the other three informed Loose Cultivators, it’s either execution or mercy, which is up to the Supreme Elder to decide!"

Zhou Chun locked eyes with Zhou Mingde and resolutely voiced his proposed course of action.

After hearing his suggestion, Zhou Mingde asked again, "The former is straightforward, but what do you mean by either execution or mercy for the latter?"

"Killing them needs no explanation, simply eliminate all of them indefinitely!"

"If not for execution, then I ask the Supreme Elder to personally use the Soul-Seizing Secret Technique to erase their recent memories; that way, the secret could still be kept."

Zhou Chun concluded his answer and gave a respectful bow, adding, "If possible, I would prefer mercy, as the capture of those individuals caused quite a commotion already, and many in the family are aware that we’ve captured people. If we kill them now, and if the matter were to leak in the future, I fear it would greatly damage the family’s reputation."

After listening to his speech, Zhou Mingde couldn’t help but sigh softly and said, "Alas, Zhengchun, everything about you is commendable, but you are just too kind-hearted sometimes, too upright!"

Am I really that kind-hearted?

Zhou Chun, hearing Zhou Mingde’s words, couldn’t help but smile wryly to himself.

He had killed quite a few people and even once actively launched sneak attacks to assassinate others. The list of other dishonorable deeds he had done was endless.

He himself didn’t think he was a good person.

Yet, Zhou Mingde now claimed that he was honorable and too kind!

But he couldn’t explain anything at the moment; he could only deeply sigh and say, "This junior simply does not want to become a purely selfish person."

Hearing his words, Zhou Mingde was also slightly taken aback, then he couldn’t help but exchange a glance with Zhou Daoyi beside him.

Finally, with a complex look, he said to Zhou Chun, "Alright, in light of your kindness, this old man shall take the trouble to erase the memories of those people."

The Soul-Seizing Secret Technique that could erase someone’s memories could only be performed by Cultivators who had opened their Purple Mansion.

But for Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators, it was also a secret technique that they would not lightly cast.

Because there was a risk of backlash with this technique—if the will of the person being cast upon was too strong, the caster could fail and harm their own Divine Soul.

Thus, Zhou Mingde agreeing to use this technique for Zhou Chun truly meant he was taking on some risk.

Zhou Chun understood this as well.

Therefore, he hurriedly bowed in thanks and said, "Many thanks to the Supreme Elder for accommodating me."

"Alright, you may go back now and calm everyone down. After a few days of rest, I will summon you to bring those people over for the procedure," Zhou Mingde replied, waving his hand and indicating he could leave.

After Zhou Chun left, he looked at Zhou Daoyi and said, "Next, you also take care of the Green Flood Dragon. If it doesn’t work out, just let it hibernate and sleep—we cannot allow it to reveal itself and leak any information."

"Yes, I will be careful," Zhou Daoyi nodded, acknowledging he understood.

Seeing this, Zhou Mingde waved his hand again and said, "Then you should also go back and rest for now. Zhengchun will be entering seclusion to switch to a new Cultivation Technique; you will need to handle the family affairs in the meantime."

A few days later, after resting well, Zhou Mingde personally used the Soul-Seizing Secret Technique to erase the past month’s memories of three Loose Cultivators.

Because the memory loss could not be hidden, Zhou Chun also truthfully informed the three individuals, and out of his own pocket, he gave each of them a hundred Spirit Coins.

Knowing that they had been involved in the secret affairs of the Zhou Family, the three of them were terrified, and they didn’t dare to pursue the matter of their erased memories at all.

Furthermore, with the compensation of Spirit Coins provided by Zhou Chun, they all expressed that they would keep the secret and would not mention the matter to others.

In fact, even if they did mention it, it would be of no use.

Unless they succeeded in Core Formation in the future, the erased memories would likely never be restored.

After dealing with the situation, Zhou Chun also ordered someone to send Tang Hu’s head to the Zhang Family at Tiantai Mountain as a warning.

"What? Our mole was discovered and killed by the Zhou Family!"

At Tiantai Mountain, the Clan Leader of the Zhang Family, Zhang Kaida, saw the head presented before him, and his face underwent a drastic change.

Tang Hu was indeed someone he had sent to the Zhou Family to gather intelligence, and he had provided the Zhang Family with a lot of information about the Zhou Family before.

But he had never expected that the mole would be discovered so quickly and returned to him in such a manner.

"The Zhou Family, what a Zhou Family! How ruthless of you!" he muttered through clenched teeth, immediately ordering people to take the head away for his daughter to mourn and bury, then went to report the matter to the Purple Mansion Cultivators of the family.

The Zhou Family’s warning was certainly a deterrent, and he had to take it seriously.

Several days later, a Zhang Family Cultivator arrived at the Zhou Family’s Jiufeng Ridge with a thousand Spirit Coins as compensation.

However, by this time, Zhou Chun had already begun his seclusion to switch to cultivating the Golden Cauldron Profound Technique, and the person who received them was the Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, Zhou Daoyi.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om