Therefore, Zhou Mingde’s rationale also made sense.
Zhou Chun heard it and remained silent.
"The other items will be kept by me for now, and these three Ascension Orders will be for you to handle, Zhengchun."
Zhou Mingde glanced at him and quickly made arrangements for the rewards.
The recipe itself was acquired through Zhou Mingde’s personal adventure, and logically, the rewards belonged entirely to him.
Therefore, no matter how he arranged them, it wasn’t excessive.
At that time, Zhou Chun had no objections and took the three "Ascension Orders" from his hands and left alone.
Returning to the Central Peace Hall, looking at the "Ascension Orders" in his hand, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but show a contemplative expression.
The Zhou Family had long reached a consensus, clan members with acceptable Spirit Root Aptitude were to be kept from sects as much as possible, unless they themselves had a strong desire.
Thus, the "Ascension Orders" were actually quite difficult for the Zhou Family’s clan members to use.
But Zhou Chun knew that for many Loose Cultivators and small families, these were items they would break their heads over to get.
Small families with just one Foundation Establishment Cultivator, or those that had never even had a Cultivator reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, simply lacked the ability to secure Foundation Establishment Pills for their younger clan members, let alone Spirit Ascension Fruits and such Foundation Establishment Spirit Items.
So even if a few clan members with decent aptitudes emerged, to avoid delaying their future prospects, they had no choice but to send them to major sects like the Green Lotus Temple, hoping that these younger members would prosper and, in turn, benefit the family.
However, unless they had top-tier Spiritual Root Aptitude, it was not easy for typical mid-tier aptitude cultivators, even after passing the Green Lotus Temple’s disciple selection, to get a chance at Foundation Establishment with a Foundation Establishment Pill.
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And an "Ascension Order" could allow a disciple who joined the Green Lotus Temple to directly obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Therefore, to seize this potential game-changing opportunity for their families, those small families would definitely be willing to pay a heavy price for it.
As for those Loose Cultivators, it went without saying that if they could obtain an "Ascension Order," they would willingly bankrupt themselves.
"The family doesn’t lack Spirit Coins right now, so there’s no hurry to sell these items. Let’s just keep them for now and see if there’s a use for them later," Zhou Chun thought.
After pondering for a long while and still unsure of how to use these Ascension Orders, he could only store them in the Family Treasure Vault for later consideration.
Meanwhile, as Zhou Mingde was feeling pleased with the rewards given by Green Lotus Temple, the situation he worried about finally occurred.
In the northern part of Jingguo Country, within the Lingzhou territory, a cyan rainbow suddenly shot in from beyond the country’s borders at high speed, entering Jingguo’s airspace.
If there was a Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator present, they would surely recognize that the cyan rainbow was actually the sword light emitted by a cyan-green Flying Sword.
At that moment, standing on the cyan-green Flying Sword, was a cyan-clad middle-aged man with a feminine face, along with a beautiful woman in a red dress.
The red-dressed woman was none other than Ruan Hongzhuang, the Purple Mansion Cultivator from Qi Country who had managed to escape from Zhou Mingde’s clutches.
As soon as the Flying Sword entered Jingguo’s airspace, the feminine-faced middle-aged man on the sword spoke indifferently, "We are now in Jingguo. Taoist Friend Ruan, do you know where the mountain gate of that Zhou Family is located?"
Hearing his words, Ruan Hongzhuang quickly answered respectfully, "Senior Liu, please rest assured, although I do not know the exact location of their family mountain gate, a Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator who has tamed a rank three Demon Beast like Zhou Mingde must have some reputation here in Jingguo. If I inquire in the marketplace, I should be able to find out."
Gleaning from her address to him as ’Senior,’ it was not difficult to guess that the cyan-clad middle-aged man was indeed a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.
"Then let’s head to the nearest marketplace first," the middle-aged man said, glancing at Ruan Hongzhuang, agreeing with her suggestion.
He then used a secret technique to conceal his cultivation level, disguising himself as a late-stage Purple Mansion Cultivator.
This concealment was difficult to fool a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, but most Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators found it hard to see through his real cultivation level.
And while a strange Purple Mansion late phase Cultivator was also somewhat conspicuous, it wasn’t as shocking as a Golden Core Stage Cultivator would be.
Afterward, the two of them sought out people to inquire about the location of the marketplace and began gathering information about the Zhou Family from within the marketplace.
Just as Ruan Hongzhuang had said, Zhou Mingde and the Zhou Family now had a small reputation in Jingguo Country.
By asking around the marketplace, they quickly learned some general information about the Zhou Family.
They also learned about the double cultivation ceremony recently held by the Zhou Family.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately frowned and said, "Something’s not right. According to what Taoist Friend Ruan said, as well as the accounts of the cultivators here, the Clan Leader of the Zhou Family is only at the mid Foundation Establishment stage. How then could he wed a Purple Mansion Phase female cultivator from a Golden Core family? And it happened right after they returned from Yang Kingdom!"
"Does Senior Liu mean to suggest that the Clan Leader of the Zhou Family was able to marry a Purple Mansion Phase female cultivator from a Golden Core family because he offered up the Golden Core Stage Cultivator’s relics he had obtained from the Underground Mausoleum in the Yang Kingdom to that Golden Elixir Cultivator from the Su Family?"
Ruan Hongzhuang immediately caught on and, with a slight change in her expression, spoke the middle-aged man’s unspoken words.
"Apart from that, I cannot understand why a Purple Mansion Phase female cultivator from a Golden Core family would choose a mid Foundation Establishment stage cultivator as her Dao companion!"
The middle-aged man nodded, his expression grim as he admitted this point.
Seeing this, Ruan Hongzhuang’s face also turned ugly.
The reason she was able to persuade this middle-aged man to come and help her take revenge was precisely because she used the relics from the Golden Elixir Cultivator in the Underground Mausoleum as a bargaining chip.
If Zhou Mingde had offered up the treasures he obtained from the Underground Mausoleum to a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, then the middle-aged man before her would definitely not make a move.
After all, he himself had only been at Core Formation for less than a hundred years; bullying a Purple Mansion Family was manageable, but facing a famous Golden Core Stage Cultivator of many years was certainly not his match.
Let alone that this was in Jingguo, where they were on someone else’s territory.
But having managed to convince the middle-aged man to agree to help her take revenge, of course she didn’t want him to back down now.
At the same time, she believed he certainly wouldn’t want to make the trip for nothing.
Therefore, after gritting her teeth, she quickly said, "Perhaps as Senior Liu said, Zhou Mingde established a connection with the Su Family by offering up treasures. However, the treasures he offered must not be all he has!"
"And the relics of Taoist Friend Shen are also with him. He certainly wouldn’t have offered up that Talisman Treasure, the Primordial Bowl!"
When she mentioned the "Primordial Bowl," she deliberately emphasized her tone.
It turned out that when she had previously spoken to the middle-aged man about her experiences in the Underground Mausoleum, through her description, the middle-aged man had recognized the origin of the Talisman Treasure used by Shen Borong and conveniently explained it to her.
According to the middle-aged man, that "Primordial Bowl" Talisman Treasure was crafted from the famous "Primordial Bowl" Dharma Treasure of a Golden Core late phase Cultivator from Qi Country over six hundred years ago.
At that time, the Golden Core late phase Cultivator became known as the foremost Golden Core individual in Qi Country due to this "Primordial Bowl" Dharma Treasure.
After his death, the "Primordial Bowl" Talisman Treasure he had created also became an object of contention among many cultivators, with even many at the early phase of Golden Elixir fighting for it.
It was unknown by what fortunes Shen Borong managed to obtain such a powerful Talisman Treasure.
When the middle-aged man learned that Shen Borong had a "Primordial Bowl" Talisman Treasure, he was quickly tempted by Ruan Hongzhuang’s request.
After all, with such a powerful Talisman Treasure as a guarantee, even if Zhou Mingde had not obtained anything good in the Underground Mausoleum, it would still be worth it for him to make a move.
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Hearing Ruan Hongzhuang bring up the "Primordial Bowl" Talisman Treasure again, even if he knew her intentions, the middle-aged man truly did not want to give up so easily.
After pondering for a moment, he nodded and said, "Taoist Friend Ruan makes some sense. Let’s first head to Lanzhou. Once there, we’ll gather more information before making a decision."