After returning from obtaining guidance from the Ancestor of the Su Family, Zhou Chun visited, one by one, the major Cultivator clans within the territories of Lanzhou, Yunzhou, and Lianzhou.
Given the reputation of the Zhou Family at present, these Cultivator clans might not readily accept his invitation, but they would certainly not refuse him entry.
Originally, Zhou Chun had also wanted to invite the Elixir Li Family and the Formation You Family into the fold.
But after being advised by the Ancestor of the Su Family, he immediately abandoned this idea.
The reason the three families had initially separated was that Green Lotus Temple would not allow the emergence of a force with three Golden Core Stage Cultivators under its command.
Inviting the Li Family and You Family now might arouse the suspicion of Green Lotus Temple, which could be counterproductive.
True to Zhou Chun’s expectations, few major Cultivator clans agreed to his invitations on the spot.
Those who were more amiable mentioned they would discuss with their family’s high-level members before making a decision.
The less amiable ones directly declined with various reasons. Find your next read on freewebnovel
Seeing this situation, Zhou Chun was not discouraged, but simply returned home to organize the results of his visits, separating the families he felt he could possibly invite to ponder further on the art of persuasion.
Over the course of the following year, Zhou Chun, in addition to his original tasks, focused his efforts on planning the joint martial arts contest.
After a year of hard work, this effort had finally made some good progress.
"Fragrant Musk Deer scent, Dragon Scale Horse foals, Blue Lotus Fruits, Water Repelling Beads... Zhengchun, you really are willing to spend some serious capital!"
In the cave dwelling, Zhou Mingde looked at the list of prizes for the martial arts contest that Zhou Chun handed him and was somewhat surprised as well.
The prizes listed were some of the Zhou Family’s most precious Spiritual Objects, seldom sold under normal circumstances.
Especially the Fragrant Musk Deer scent, which the Zhou Family had always been stockpiling, only intending to use it in the future to exchange for some other valuable Spiritual Objects.
Zhou Chun was now willing to take out three taels as the first prize for the event, which really was a considerable expense.
"There’s no choice, you can’t trap a wolf without risking your child. If we don’t offer these highly attractive items as prizes, why would other families be willing to send their talented descendants to participate in the martial arts contest?"
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Zhou Chun spread his hands and expressed the rationale with some helplessness.
Cultivators generally aren’t known for getting up early without prospect of profit; nobody wants to waste time on something that has no benefits attached.
It seemed like the joint martial arts contest the Zhou Family was planning to hold, in the eyes of the leaders from other families, was merely a way for the Zhou Family to show off their influence and have their own family be the backdrop to accentuate the Zhou Family.
Without close ties to the Zhou Family, they naturally did not want to willingly play this supporting role.
So initially, persuading these families did not go smoothly for Zhou Chun.
But after a subsequent conversation with a Clan Leader of one family, he had an epiphany on where to channel his efforts to succeed.
That led to the prize list currently in Zhou Mingde’s hands.
Having explained the reasoning to Zhou Mingde, Zhou Chun also added, "With these items as rewards, our clan’s younger generation will take the martial arts contest even more seriously. I think they certainly do not wish to see their family’s treasures snatched away by others right under their noses!"
"I hope it turns out just as you say, Zhengchun. If it really serves as an incentive for those younger members, these resources will not have been spent in vain!"
Zhou Mingde sighed softly and nevertheless agreed to Zhou Chun’s list of prizes.
"It definitely will be!"
Full of confidence, Zhou Chun replied and promptly left to continue his preparations.
Indeed, once he approached the families again with this sincere list of prizes, things went much smoother than before.
Several families that became interested were now willing to discuss the rules of the martial arts contest with him.
Thus, after another half year of hard work, Zhou Chun finally managed to set the joint martial arts contest in stone.
Persuaded by his repeated efforts, sixteen Cultivator families agreed to participate in this event, outside of the Zhou and Su Families, with six major clans having Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators and ten other various-sized families.
Among these sixteen families, four of them, such as the Wang Family of Hongyao Valley and the Sun Family of Golden Maple Ridge, had always had good relations with the Zhou Family.
The other families were ones that had gradually established relations with the Zhou Family over the years.
Unlike the rules of the previous five-family joint martial arts contest, the rules for this event were much simpler.
According to the rules, as the host, the Zhou Family would send out thirty Clan Members to hold the fort, while the other families would act as the challengers.
The number of challengers was unlimited, but the battles would all be one-on-one.
The more Zhou Family Cultivators a challenger defeated, the higher their points would be. However, points would not accumulate if the same Zhou Family Cultivator was defeated multiple times by Cultivators from the same family.
In other words, even if a family defeated all the Zhou Family’s defenders, they could only gain a maximum of thirty points.
In the end, the family scores would determine the rankings for the martial arts contest, and the relevant prizes would be distributed accordingly.
It is worth noting that only those with a score above twenty-five points would receive the Zhou Family’s true first-place reward. Even the lowest ranking would receive a consolation prize substantial enough to make their participation worthwhile.