Beast-controlling fairy clan.

Chapter 435: Aftermath [Subscription Request]

Tuyun Ridge.

When the news of Zhou Jiahe's death was sent back to Tuyunling by the messenger of the Tianling Legion, Zhou Jiarui, who was in charge of handling clan affairs, also changed his expression and was instantly filled with grief.

Zhou Jiahe and he were both older generation contributors to the Zhou family's reconstruction and the first core members of the Zhou family.

When the Zhou family first established their mountain gate in Jiufengling, Zhou Jiahe became the master of Baozhi Peak among the nine peaks, and his status was only second to Zhou Mingde, the clan leader and three elders at the time.

At that time, Zhou Chun, the head of the Zhou family, was still a small cultivator at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage.

At that time, the Zhou family had just been rebuilt and there was a lot of work to be done. Zhou Jiahe, Zhou Jiarui and other backbone members of the Zhou family fought side by side for the revival of the Zhou family and contributed their own strength. Naturally, the relationship between them was excellent.

In particular, among the companions who had participated in rebuilding the family back then, seven or eight out of ten are now gone, and only a few of them, the "Jia" generation cultivators who had established their foundation, are still alive.

This made the friendship between them even deeper.

Originally Zhou Jiarui had always thought that he and the other three monks of the "Jia" generation would all be able to have a good life and pass away together in the family with a smile on their faces.

Who would have thought that Zhou Jiahe would be the first to die on the battlefield!

"Thirteenth sister, I am the one who harmed you! I really shouldn't have let you go to the battlefield. You have made enough contributions to the family over the years, and you deserve to enjoy your old age in the family!"

Zhou Jiarui muttered to himself with a sad look on his face, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

At this moment, his heart was undoubtedly filled with self-blame and guilt, and he was extremely sad.

And this is where human nature is most complicated!
The reason why Zhou Jiahe was chosen to go to the battlefield was, firstly, because she had a high level of cultivation and stronger skills than the younger generations, so it would be easier for her to survive on the battlefield; secondly, her potential had been exhausted and her life span was not as long as those younger generations, so she was more suitable from the perspective of family interests.

As the acting patriarch at the time, Zhou Jiarui could only make this decision based on the family's interests.

But now, ten years later, he suddenly received the news of Zhou Jiahe's death. He was in grief over the loss of his relatives and friends, and couldn't help but regret his decision. He couldn't help but miss the many contributions that his cousin Zhou Jiahe had made to the family.

This is by no means false compassion, but rather the complex changes in human nature and human feelings.

Fortunately, Zhou Jiarui was not the only one who learned of Zhou Jiahe's death at the scene. There were also several Zhou family cultivators who assisted him in handling clan affairs.

These people waited for a while, and seeing that he was immersed in grief and unable to recover, they began to diligently remind him and told him that he should report the matter to the clan leader and the supreme elders as soon as possible.

After being reminded by his subordinates, Zhou Jiarui finally regained some sanity from his grief. He then used his magical power to evaporate his tears and hurried to the place where Zhou Chun was practicing in seclusion to report the death.

"What? Thirteenth Aunt died in battle!!"

Inside the cave, Zhou Chun was shocked when he heard the words of Zhou Jiarui who came to report the death, and his body swayed slightly.

Then, just like Zhou Jiarui when he first heard the news, a strong sense of grief rose from his heart, causing him to stagger a few steps.

But he was the patriarch of the Zhou family after all, and a cultivator in the Purple Mansion Stage after all. Although he was extremely sad at the moment, he did not lose his mind like Zhou Jiarui did.

But he was silent for a while with his eyes slightly closed, then he opened his eyes and said softly with a look of grief in his eyes: "I know the situation. Uncle Eleven, please go and ring the funeral bell and announce the death to all the monks in the family. Also, notify all the monks of my Zhou family outside as quickly as possible!"

"Yes, I obey."

Zhou Jiarui responded in a deep voice, and immediately went to the ancestral temple with heavy steps to ring the bell.

Soon, a low bell sounded from the main peak of Tuyunling, echoing throughout the entire Tuyunling, forty-nine times in total!
According to Zhou family rules, if the bell rings nine times, it means the family is facing a major crisis.

When the bell rings twelve, sixteen, or twenty-four times, it means there is a happy event in the family, and the sound of the bell will be melodious and cheerful.

The bell would ring thirty-six or forty-nine times, which meant that an important figure in the clan had passed away. Nowadays, the bell would be rung only when a figure of the Foundation Establishment Stage's level had passed away, and the sound would be low and long.

So when the low bell tolled forty-nine times one after another, all the Zhou family cultivators who were not in seclusion in Tuyun Ridge knew that an elder-level figure in the family had passed away.

Afterwards, some Zhou family monks who had no missions on their hands began to spontaneously gather towards the family ancestral temple, waiting with heavy hearts for the family's top leaders to come and inform them of the specific situation.

Just like that, when dozens of Zhou family cultivators gathered in front of the ancestral temple on Tuyun Ridge, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Chun, the two highest-ranking people in the Zhou family in Tuyun Ridge, descended together to the open space in front of the ancestral temple.

At this moment, the two decision makers of the Zhou family both had extremely heavy expressions, with a hint of sadness in their eyes.

After the two of them landed, Zhou Chun's clan leader first glanced at the many clan members present, and then said in a sad tone: "I want to announce a very sad news to you here. Just half an hour ago, the clan received a piece of bad news. The fifth elder Zhou Jiahe, who served in the Tianling Army for the clan, was killed in the Green Valley of Fengguo two days ago!"

Hearing this, many of the Zhou family cultivators present showed an expression of "as expected", and it was obvious that they had already guessed who the fallen family elder was.

However, some monks who had received kindness from Zhou Jiahe could not help but look sad and sorrowful, and some even shed tears silently.

Zhou Chun paused for a while, waiting for the tribesmen present to digest the news, and then he said again: "Fifth Elder Zhou Jiahe died for the family, and for the entire Tianling world. Although we cannot bring back her body, we must hold a grand funeral for her to commemorate her contribution to the family."

At this point, Zhou Chun's expression suddenly changed, and he said solemnly, "Now, as the clan leader, I order all members of the Zhou family to unconditionally agree to any task from the clan to hold a funeral for the fifth elder Zhou Jiahe. At the same time, all members of the clan should wrap themselves in white hemp for one month to commemorate the spirit of the fifth elder Zhou Jiahe in heaven!"

Hearing his words, all the Zhou family cultivators present responded.

Afterwards, Zhou Chun ordered everyone to disperse, leaving only Zhou Jiarui and a few other foundation-building cultivators to instruct on holding a funeral for the fifth elder Zhou Jiahe.

Given Zhou Jiahe's status and position in the Zhou family, her funeral would have to be a grand affair, with all the families with whom she had connections being notified to send people to watch the ceremony and pay their respects, making for a grand funeral.

However, the war between the two great immortal cultivation worlds is still going on, so it is not appropriate to carry out such high-profile events.

Especially since other families also had important members who were drafted to the front lines and died. If the Zhou family made such a grand celebration, it would create trouble for the leaders of those families.

If they did not follow the Zhou family, it would seem that the family did not value these meritorious clan members. However, if they followed the Zhou family's approach, not to mention the waste of manpower and material resources, it would be very embarrassing if not many of the invited people came.

So after discussing with Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde, they finally decided to hold a funeral for Zhou Jiahe only within the family with the highest standards, and not invite other families to come to watch and pay their respects. Of course, some of Zhou Jiahe's friends during his lifetime must be notified, but as for whether they come to pay their respects, it all depends on their personal wishes.

After arranging a series of things in this way, within two days, Zhou Daoyi also rushed over from Jiufengling after hearing the news.

Then the three senior members of the Zhou family gathered together in Zhou Chun's cave and discussed the follow-up impact of Zhou Jiahe's death.

"Oh, it's such a pity for Jia He. She would have been able to retire gloriously in five years, but I didn't expect that she wouldn't be able to make it to that time!"

Zhou Daoyi spoke first, sighing as he spoke of Zhou Jiahe's misfortune.

"Jia He's death is naturally a great tragedy and loss to the family, but what's more troublesome is that the family has to send more people to continue serving."

Zhou Mingde frowned and said in a heavy tone, "In the past ten years, Jiahe has made many military achievements and accumulated many rewards and military merits that have not been redeemed. If the family does not send someone to replace her, these things she exchanged for her life will be directly taken back and deducted, and then she will really die in vain!"

After hearing what he said, Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun both frowned and were speechless for a moment.

The rules of the Tianling Legion in this regard are undoubtedly very criticized!

For those who died in the legion, if they did not claim the rewards for killing the enemy during their lifetime, then after their death, these things can only be claimed if their family sends someone to serve in the legion. Even people from the same family who were already serving in the legion cannot claim them.

In this way, even if it is to prevent the things accumulated by the predecessors from being taken back by the Tianling Legion in vain, each family will most likely have to send people to serve in the legion to inherit.

However, faced with such disgusting rules, a cultivation family like the Zhou family had no ability to object at all.

Therefore, after a long silence, the clan leader Zhou Chun slowly spoke: "Let the younger generations decide on this matter. Whoever dares to serve in the Tianling Army will have all the rewards and military merits left by the Fifth Elders belong to him, as compensation for the family's support to them!"

"That's fine. If you want benefits, you have to pay a price. It's time for these younger generations to contribute to the family!"

Zhou Mingde nodded slightly and had no objection to Zhou Chun's solution.

Zhou Chun frowned again and said, "Now I am more worried about the Third Elder and the Sixth Elder. They will also retire in five years. We must not let them follow in the footsteps of the Fifth Elder!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhou Daoyi immediately said, "Yes, we really need to find a way to help them. Now those guys on the battlefield have gone crazy fighting for fame and fortune. The intensity of the battlefield is completely different from what it was ten years ago!"

"How about I give the Mountain-Carrying Turtle to the Third Elder? With the Mountain-Carrying Turtle, even if he encounters someone from the 'Seven Demons of the Yuan Demon', he should have a great chance of escaping!"

After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Chun expressed his thoughts.

Ten years ago, he had the Golden-Armored Mountain Turtle save Zhou Daoquan's life from a powerful demon cultivator. That demon cultivator later became one of the "Seven Demons of Yuanmo", but was later squeezed out by someone more powerful.

If there was a golden-armored mountain turtle protecting him, Zhou Daoquan only needed to release it in time to escape. It would be difficult for the "Seven Demons" who were only at the Purple Mansion stage to do anything to him.

But after hearing what he said, Zhou Mingde quickly shook his head and said, "Not appropriate. The Mountain-carrying Turtle is too conspicuous. If Daoquan uses it to escape from the hands of the 'Seven Demons of the Yuan Demon', it will definitely attract the attention of the Jindan-stage cultivators on both sides!"

"Yes, although the Golden Armored Mountain Turtle is powerful, it is too eye-catching. It is not something that a cultivator like Brother Daoquan can possess!"

Zhou Daoyi also nodded, agreeing with Zhou Mingde's statement.

Zhou Daoquan was just an ordinary mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivator who was practicing a method to rapidly improve his magical powers, and his methods had been figured out by his teammates over the past ten years.

If the Golden-Armored Mountain Turtle card were suddenly revealed at this time, it would be difficult for it to withstand the pressure from its own high-level monks.

"Let's send a talisman and some magic talismans to Daoquan. I don't ask him to survive in the hands of a strong man like the 'Seven Demons of the Yuan Demon'. I just hope that he can successfully break through and escape danger when he encounters some dangerous situations!"

Zhou Mingde glanced at the silent Zhou Chun and finally gave his suggestion.

After he finished speaking, seeing that Zhou Chun had no reaction, he could only look at Zhou Chun seriously and persuade him: "I know that you are very powerful now, Zhengchun, and you can't bear to see the elders of the clan being bullied and humiliated, but you are now shouldering the expectations of the entire clan, so you must not act on impulse!"

"As long as you, Zhengchun, can successfully form a golden elixir, our family will be able to return to the ranks of golden elixir families. Only then will our clansmen be able to hold their heads high when they go out in the future. Even if we have to make great sacrifices for this, it is worth it!"

At this point, Zhou Mingde also analyzed with a serious face: "This war is bound to be very long. If the war situation deteriorates further in the future, only the family with a Jindan-stage cultivator in charge can have a certain amount of room for maneuver in the complex situation and have the ability to change the fate of the family!"

“So even if it’s not for your own path, even if it’s for the future safety of hundreds of clan members, Zhengchun, you must keep your mind steady and practice with peace of mind!”

After saying this, he winked at Zhou Daoyi.

After Zhou Daoyi received his signal, he also hurriedly said, "Yes, what the uncle said makes sense. Zhengchun, you have us elders in your heart. We are very happy and relieved. But for the sake of the family's plan and the overall situation, you must not take risks because of us old guys!"

Seeing this, Zhou Chun couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "How could I not understand the good intentions of the two elders? I also know what is important and will not act on impulse."

Then he shook his head and said, "If this war continues like this, the loss to the family will be too great, especially the morale of the people will be hit too hard!"

Hearing his words, Zhou Mingde was relieved, and then he sighed helplessly: "There is nothing we can do about it. The war between the two great immortal cultivation worlds is not something that a small family like us can influence. We have no other choice but to protect ourselves as best as possible!"

"Even so, I am still a little unwilling in my heart. My Zhou family has worked so hard to save up this fortune, but now it is going to be wasted like this!"

Zhou Chun let out a long sigh, feeling quite depressed.

The situation is beyond our control, and that's probably the case.

No matter how strong his personal strength is, no matter how many strategies he has, facing such a situation, he can only sigh helplessly.

This proves the old saying that a weak country has no diplomacy!

In front of the two huge immortal cultivation camps, an immortal cultivation family like the Zhou family is so insignificant.

Maybe it’s just as Zhou Mingde said, only if he forms the golden elixir as soon as possible can the Zhou family’s situation get a little better!
(End of this chapter)