"Taoist Friend Wen graces us with his presence, Zhou is remiss for not welcoming you from afar. Please, forgive me."
"To have Taoist Friend Xie visit in person is to glorify our humble Zhou Family. I urge you to take the seat of honor here."
"Taoist Friend Wen arrives at the perfect time. That item Zhou promised you last time was just prepared a few days ago; please come this way."
Within Jiufeng Ridge, Zhou Chun greeted clan leaders with a beaming smile one by one into the guest hall.
Before the start of the martial arts tournament, it was necessary for these clan leaders to meet to discuss the order of appearances in the tournament.
Since the Zhou Family was hosting this joint martial arts competition, naturally, it was Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, Zhou Chun, who sat at the head of the room.
Once everyone from the seventeen visiting clans had taken their seats, Zhou Chun was the first to raise the Honey Flower Tea, prepared by the female cultivators of his clan, and toasted everyone, "First and foremost, welcome to the Zhou Family. I offer tea in place of wine to honor all Taoist Friends."
Having said that, he drank all the tea in his cup.
Seeing this, the others certainly wouldn’t refuse the gesture, and they all returned the salute with a smile and drank down their tea.
With so many families gathered here today and after having reported to Green Lotus Temple, they had no reason to worry about the Zhou Family poisoning the tea.
"How is it, do Taoist Friends find our Honey Flower Tea to their liking?"
Once everyone had finished their tea, Zhou Chun asked about their impressions with a gentle smile.
Although he had not yet completed the bloodline optimization of the Jade Spirit Bee, thanks to the cooperative agreements signed with many families, the Zhou Family’s production of Spirit Honey had significantly increased over the years.
Furthermore, the Qingning Tea Tree saplings that Zhou Mingde had requested from Spirit Beast Manor had grown over several decades and were now capable of producing tea in small quantities.
Therefore, the Zhou Family had once again started producing Honey Flower Tea.
Upon hearing Zhou Chun ask about the Honey Flower Tea, an older man with half-white hair immediately showed a delighted countenance and commented, "The fragrance is captivating upon a whiff, and the taste is pleasantly sweet upon a sip. It lingers on the lips and teeth, truly an uncommon and exquisite tea!"
A middle-aged man in a black long robe also nodded slightly, "Indeed, this Honey Flower Tea may not have the miraculous effects of our Su Family’s Nurturing Spirit Tea, but it is still an exceptional Spiritual Tea. If the Zhou Family has any surplus, Su and the Su Family would be willing to purchase some at a high price to serve to guests!"
It turned out this man was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Su Family, named Su Yudong, and also the clan brother of Su Yuzhen.
This time the Su Family had sent him to lead seventeen Qi Refinement Realm clan members to the Zhou Family for the joint martial arts competition.
Hearing his words, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but smile, "If Brother Su likes it, I will send some to you later. However, our production of Honey Flower Tea is not high at the moment, so large-scale sales are not feasible."
After some light-hearted banter, Zhou Chun brought up the main issue, throwing out the matter of the fighting order for each family.
According to the rules, each Zhou Family cultivator would have some time to rest and recover mana and spirit after their fight.
But as the tournament dragged on, families who entered the stage later would undeniably have an advantage.
Therefore, to achieve better results, it was undoubtedly better for one’s family’s cultivators to fight later.
In the face of this matter, aside from Su Yudong who seemed indifferent, the other families showed no intention of yielding.
In the end, the order had to be decided by drawing lots.
After the drawing of lots was completed, Zhou Chun and others left the hall and headed for the arena.
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The arena for this joint martial arts competition was set up at the martial arts field behind Pagoda Peak, which had been remodeled by the Zhou Family.
When Zhou Chun and his group arrived, cultivators from eighteen families had already been sorted into their respective sections around the arena.
At that moment, as the fifteen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators flew into the venue together, the gaze of hundreds of cultivators converged on them.
"Su Family’s young ones, today is your day to shine. Now let’s see you test the abilities of the Zhou Family’s Taoist Friends!"
Facing the gaze of numerous cultivators, Su Yudong looked at the seventeen younger generations he had brought from the Su Family and loudly issued the command.
At his words, a young man with a few freckles on his face immediately stepped forward, "Let me take the first match, uncles and brothers, please don’t fight me for it!"
Zhou Chun looked over, and the young man seemed to be just over twenty, with a cultivation level of merely the seventh layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Sending someone of such an age and cultivation level, it was clear that the Su Family intended for this to be a formative experience for him.
Looking at the ten Zhou Family mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, even the one with the lowest cultivation was at the seventh layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, but he was considerably older, already thirty-seven years old.
Hearing the words of the young man with freckles, an older man in the Su Family’s ranks could not help but show a wry smile and patted his head, "Mingqi, since you want to go first, we will let you. However, be careful and don’t make a laughing stock out of our Su Family in front of all the Taoist Friends."
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"Uncle Chen, don’t worry, I will definitely not let our Su Family down!"
The freckled young man replied confidently and immediately stepped onto the arena.
On the arena, a gray-robed young man was sitting cross-legged, with a Silver-Backed Black Bear Demon Beast lying next to him. The beast’s aura revealed that it was a first-grade, top-quality Demon Beast.