In the journey of cultivation, the years pass unnoticed, indifferent to the succession of seasons.
In the blink of an eye, Zhouyang has been guarding the Spiritual Vein in the Haoyang Cave for eight years.
Through eight years of arduous cultivation, his cultivation has successfully advanced another level, reaching the Eighth-Layer Qi Cultivation, with only a step away from the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation.
For a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator, eight years isn't particularly long, nor is it very short.
For Zhouyang, eight years only raised his cultivation from the Seventh Layer to the Eighth Layer, but for the entire Zhou Family, these eight years have seen great changes.
Firstly, Elder Zhou Quan and Elder Zhou Dan, who guarded the Haoyang Cave's Spiritual Vein with Zhouyang, have successively passed away sitting in meditation; these elders' lifespans were already near the limit for Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators, and after sustaining internal injuries in the battle against the Poison Fire Scorpion King, they soon passed away.
Because they cultivated in the same Spiritual Land, Zhouyang witnessed with his own eyes the slow journey of the elders' lives toward their end.
At that time, when he saw the two elders lose all their magical power overnight, their once healthy and rosy faces suddenly covered with wrinkles and all their hair and teeth falling out, he was profoundly shaken.
He had thought that having lived two lives, he would be more open about matters of life and death, but when he saw the powerful elders, who were laughing and joking with him the day before, have their lives ended overnight, he was afraid!
Cultivators wield great power from within; a Ninth-Layer Cultivator can easily slaughter thousands of mortal soldiers with bare hands.
Yet once the lifespan runs out, they are no different from ordinary mortals, ultimately unable to withstand the power known as "time."
If one does not establish the Foundation Establishment, a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator's lifespan limit is only a hundred and twenty years; without achieving longevity, even a Golden Core Ancestor with a lifespan of a millennium will face the day of meditation and death!
Longevity!
Longevity!
Longevity!
It was after witnessing the meditation death of the two family elders due to exhausted lifespan that Zhouyang's desire for the word "longevity" intensified like never before.
He longed for eternal life; he didn't want to one day, like the two family elders, see his century-long cultivation dissipate overnight and die helplessly in endless regret and unwillingness.
He knew what the two elders regretted in their final moments.
Elder Zhou Quan and Elder Zhou Dan had opportunities to challenge the Foundation Establishment Stage, but they feared the exceedingly high risk of failure and death, lacking the courage to step into that realm, thereby severing their path to longevity.
Perhaps prior to meditation death, the elders didn't perceive their past choices as mistakes; after all, compared to those who died at fifty or sixty in front of the Foundation Establishment stage, they lived nearly twice as long.
Yet at the moment of meditation death, the elders surely regretted, their final unwilling and regretful expressions told Zhouyang they regretted!
Zhouyang doesn't want to regret!
He doesn't want to eventually die in endless unwillingness and regret like the elders.
Therefore, he resolved that as long as there remains any chance to further advance his cultivation in this lifetime, regardless of how difficult or perilous the path ahead, he will never forgo that opportunity.
This unwavering determination enabled him to smoothly advance from Seventh-Layer Qi Cultivation to Eighth-Layer Qi Cultivation in less than five years, and then after another three years, he reached the peak of Eighth-Layer Qi Cultivation, merely a step away from Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation.
Of course, Zhouyang's rapid cultivation progress not only attributed to his own efforts and the particular harmony of the Haoyang Cave's Spiritual Vein with him, but also to the elixirs given by his father, Zhou Xuanhao, before he left.
At that time, Zhou Xuanhao specifically called Zhouyang aside and gave him three kinds of Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Pills, each providing an effect equivalent to six months of self-cultivation, and he consumed twelve pills in eight years.
To speak of this, it's the first time Zhouyang frequently used elixirs to enhance his cultivation.
Prior to this, he consistently followed his father and the old Clan Leader's advice, never leveraging the power of elixirs to boost cultivation unless at the very brink of breakthrough.
The reason being, although elixirs can significantly enhance a cultivator's magical cultivation, they also leave behind "Erysipelas" in a cultivator's body, which if accumulated excessively or over long periods and is not timely refined away, can fill a cultivator's magical power with impurities, affecting future realm breakthroughs, and more so harm a cultivator's body, reducing lifespan.
For Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators, the dangers of "Erysipelas" are particularly severe. If one consumes excessive spirit pills to enhance cultivation before the Foundation Establishment, yet fails to timely refine away "Erysipelas," even consuming a Foundation Establishment Pill later on, the success rate in achieving Foundation Establishment will be greatly reduced.
In the Cultivation Realm, those predecessors of cultivation sects or cultivation families with a strong heritage make it a point to explain the dangers of "erysipelas" to their juniors from a young age. They also strictly control the distribution of elixirs to prevent anyone from succumbing to the temptation of rapid cultivation improvement and taking reckless risks.
Only those fortunate loose cultivators without any guidance from elder mentors would happily purchase a large number of spirit pills to enhance their cultivation, unaware of the dangers of "erysipelas", thinking that this would allow them to catch up to those cultivation geniuses who have superior aptitude.
Little do they know that by taking this step, they have already completely lost the hope of catching up to others.
In the past, Zhouyang rarely consumed spirit pills, and the tiny amount of "erysipelas" in his body was long refined through years of arduous cultivation. Therefore, Zhou Xuanhao was confident in giving him spirit pills to consume.
Unfortunately, even so, Zhouyang accumulated substantial "erysipelas" due to repeatedly consuming elixirs over these eight years, leading to a cultivation barrier that prevents him from breaking through to the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation stage in the short term.
However, according to Zhouyang's own estimate, this amount of "erysipelas" is unlikely to affect his future path. As long as he refrains from consuming this type of cultivation-enhancing spirit pill over the next ten years or so, the residual erysipelas in his body will naturally be cleansed by the infusion of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi after he establishes his foundation.
"Eight years have passed, and this [Earth Element Spirit Milk] is about to be formed. I wonder what father has in mind!"
Within "Haoyang Cave", Zhouyang looked at the milk-yellow stalactite pillar in the stone chamber with complex emotions.
The milk-yellow stalactite pillar was like superior jade, warm and exuding a faint glow. Zhouyang, who stayed here day and night, could clearly sense a familiar energy gathering and strengthening within the pillar. This energy was not unfamiliar to him; it was precisely the Earth Vein Spiritual Qi he had once absorbed.
According to the records of the [Earth Element Spirit Milk] he read over the years in the "Record of Wondrous Treasures of Heaven and Earth" given by his father, Zhou Xuanhao, once the Earth Vein Spiritual Qi within the stalactite pillar gathers and strengthens to a certain point, the [Earth Element Spirit Milk] will overflow from the surface of the stalactite pillar.
This [Earth Element Spirit Milk], apart from the effects the old clan leader mentioned, is also a precious spiritual object that can enhance a demon beast's cultivation. The reason that [Poison Fire Scorpion King] became a Tier Three Demon Beast was likely due to devouring large amounts of [Earth Element Spirit Milk].
Zhouyang previously didn't know whether to advise his father, Zhou Xuanhao, to use [Earth Element Spirit Milk] to impact foundation establishment. But now, after witnessing two elders of the Zhou family consummate due to lifespan exhaustion, he hopes his father can take a risk.
Of course, as a son, even if he has this thought, he certainly won't say it aloud, only secretly hoping that his father can figure it out.
"I wonder how my second uncle and others are doing with oasis construction. Now that I can't break through my cultivation, I'll practice artifact refining while helping them with oasis construction!"
Setting aside his concerns about his father Zhou Xuanhao's foundation establishment, Zhouyang's heart stirred, feeling the urge to take action.
Over these years, although the Zhou family successively lost three elders of the "Guang" generation, Zhou Qian, Zhou Quan, and Zhou Dan,
there were also four "Xuan" generation cultivators, Zhou Xuantai, Zhou Xuanbin, Zhou Xuanlin, and Zhou Xuanyan, who successively broke through to the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation stage, taking over the positions of the deceased "Guang" generation elders, increasing the number of elders to nine.
While Zhouyang was in closed cultivation, the elders of the Zhou family also explored the reserves of the nearby Red Flame Iron Ore Vein near the "Haoyang Cave" spirit vein. This ore vein turned out to be a relatively rare large-scale ore vein!
This discovery delighted the Zhou family cultivators who knew the inside story. If not for the Zhou family's current lack of Foundation Establishment cultivators capable of overseeing the "Haoyang Cave" spirit vein, the old clan leader would've likely organized a large-scale development effort immediately.
Even so, after discussions among the Zhou family elders, the family migrated thousands of mortals from the Yuquan Lake Oasis to the "Haoyang Cave" spirit vein and built a large earthen city on the surface for these mortals to live in.
Of course, the official story was that these people were relocated to the Qingping Mountain Oasis, and the Zhou family intended to increase iron ore extraction.
With the arrival of these thousands of mortals, the "Haoyang Cave" spirit vein finally became more lively. Under the assistance of the newly promoted elders, Zhou Xuantai and Zhou Xuanyan, the Zhou family mortals and cultivators worked together to redirect the underground dark river's water to a low-lying area in the desert, creating an artificial lake of several hundred square meters.
With the lake established, Zhou Xuantai and others organized Zhou family mortals to carry water on their shoulders and hands to irrigate the sandy land and plant drought-resistant plants, then used accelerating magic to cultivate these ordinary plants.
It's worth mentioning that plants stimulated by cultivation magic cannot survive long, and the fruits and grains they produce are not suitable for mortal consumption.
However, once these stimulated plants dry and die, they can be used to fertilize the soil.
The cultivators of the Boundless Desert Sea, after years of experimentation, have long devised a complete oasis construction plan. As long as the geographical conditions are suitable, turning the desert green isn't mere fantasy with enough labor and resources.
Feeling restless, Zhouyang immediately left the closed stone chamber; outside, in the empty underground cave, only his Fifth Uncle, Zhou Xuanbin, remained, sitting with eyes closed in meditation.
At "Haoyang Cave", of the four Zhou family cultivators, aside from Zhouyang, the remaining three were already at Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation, unable to enhance their magical power any further.
Therefore, to avoid disturbing Zhouyang's cultivation, they usually cultivated outside in the cave and took turns daily to provide guardianship for Zhouyang during his cultivation retreat.
Such treatment for Zhouyang was unmatched within the Zhou family.
Feeling the heavy weight of expectations, Zhouyang knew he must succeed in foundation establishment to live up to the efforts of these family elders.