Chapter 388: Chapter 373: The Girl Lu Xuewei [One More Chapter]
"What? You want your daughter to join my Zhou Family?"
In Qianyang Cave, upon hearing the intention of Patriarch Lu, Zhouyang’s face showed a moment of surprise; the divine light in his eyes receded as he called out in astonishment.
Then he frowned, gazing skeptically at the kneeling Patriarch Lu on the ground, and his daughter whom he had forcibly pulled to kneel, his eyes full of suspicion.
It was not without reason that he felt this way, as this matter was indeed too suspicious.
To know that this little girl named Lu Xuewei was an Upper-Grade Spiritual Root Cultivator with an ice attribute, a talent even superior to the best current Zhou family talents like Zhou Guangxiang and Xiao Ying.
The number of cultivators with exotic spiritual roots like ice, wind, and thunder was itself much smaller than those with the Five Elements attributes, not to mention that Lu Xuewei had a top-grade spiritual root talent.
For a small clan like the Lu Family to produce such a genius descendant was akin to smoking rising from their ancestral tomb in good fortune.
With such a genius emerging, the small Lu Family could very well rise to become a Foundation Establishment Clan capable of lasting for hundreds of years.
In this situation, Patriarch Lu suddenly expressed the wish to send his daughter into the Zhou Family. How could Zhouyang not suspect hidden motives?
His expression darkened, and he looked at Patriarch Lu with a stern tone, "Speak your intentions clearly! Don’t think you can play any tricks before me, that will only make you suffer!"
As his rebuke ended, the pressure of a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator descended upon Patriarch Lu.
The slightest release of pressure from a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator was enough to overwhelm a cultivator at the eighth-layer Qi Cultivation Stage like Patriarch Lu.
His body, already kneeling on the ground, suddenly sank further, his head knocking onto the ground as he cried out in terror, continuously kowtowing, "Elder, please quell your anger, please quell your anger!"
While urging Zhouyang to calm his anger, he didn’t dare hide anything and quickly recounted everything in detail.
It turns out the Lu family had a shallow heritage and had always been under the Zhou Family’s protection, unaware of the harshness and cruelty of the cultivation realm.
This patriarch of the Lu family, who had a daughter in old age at over ninety, was overjoyed by the birth of a daughter with top-grade spiritual root talent. He thought the Lu Family could leap to become a Foundation Establishment Clan based on this, so he held a big feast to celebrate with cultivators from friendly clans like the Zhou Family.
This news of a small Lu clan having a daughter with top-grade spiritual root talent quickly spread across the cultivation realm of the Baisha River Oasis, even reaching the ears of the Yellow Sand Sect.
As a result, as soon as his daughter began cultivation, her progress was no secret, and he was nearly overwhelmed by all the suitors who nearly broke down their doorstep.
Patriarch Lu certainly wouldn’t marry off the daughter who bore the hopes of the clan, but a small Qi Cultivation Clan like the Lu Family rejecting so many Foundation Establishment Clans’ "good intentions" was bound to invite trouble.
Even so, Lu Family, though small, had the advantage of not having any external industries, so even if other Foundation Establishment Clans were angered, they weren’t afraid of them targeting the Lu Family.
However, when some clans explicitly and implicitly threatened that if the Lu Family didn’t marry off his daughter, their cultivators wouldn’t be able to leave home, or return if they did, Patriarch Lu became panicked.
The Zhou Family, despite its strength, also had cultivators disappearing when they ventured out, demonstrating the instability of the cultivation realm.
If other clans were determined to target the Lu Family, with just their few cultivators, stepping beyond the doorstep meant courting death.
Even under such pressure, Patriarch Lu believed he could hold the fort by simply ensuring the family cultivators didn’t leave home, or having them accompany the Zhou Family’s to ensure safety when they did.
However, when the Chen Family of the Purple Mansion Clan also proposed marriage, and the hegemon of the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, the Yellow Sand Sect, sent people to recruit his daughter, Patriarch Lu could no longer bear it.
The Chen Family and Yellow Sand Sect were both behemoths that could squash the Lu Family with a flick of a finger.
The Zhou Family they relied on would unlikely offend two friendly allies for such a small clan.
Moreover, even within the Zhou Family, there were those eyeing his daughter’s physique, with many Zhou Family cultivators openly and covertly expressing the desire for marriage ties.
Patriarch Lu truly despaired in this situation.
If Zhouyang hadn’t returned, he would have had no choice but to send his daughter to the Yellow Sand Sect under the pressure, at least there she could secure a Foundation Establishment Pill, and no one would force her into marriage.
But Zhouyang returned at just this time and spread the news of the Zhou Family’s stable channel for obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills.
Upon hearing this news, Patriarch Lu immediately made his decision to bring his daughter to the Zhou Family, seeking the most reliable support for her.
Compared to the Chen Family and Yellow Sand Sect, Patriarch Lu naturally had more faith in Zhouyang, as without Zhouyang’s adherence to promises in the past, the Lu Family wouldn’t exist, nor would his daughter have been born.
"Xuewei’s biological mother is also a mortal woman of the Zhou Family, and she also carries the Zhou family’s bloodline. As long as Elder Zhou agrees to accept Xuewei as an apprentice, I can decide to let her take her mother’s surname and become a member of the Zhou Family!"
The Patriarch Lu looked up at Zhouyang with a face full of hope and spoke with a complex tone about his true purpose.
When he said these words, his heart was bleeding.
If there was even the slightest possibility, he wouldn’t want to send his daughter, who is crucial to the Lu Family’s prosperity, into the Zhou Family.
Zhouyang somewhat understood the feelings of the Patriarch Lu.
Back then, when Zhang Yunpeng visited the Jade Spring Peak of the Zhou Family and discovered Zhou Guangxiang, a child with Top-grade Spirit Root Talent, he also wanted to poach Zhou Guangxiang into the Yellow Sand Sect as a disciple.
At that time, he, like the Patriarch Lu, unhesitatingly rejected Zhang Yunpeng’s "kind offer".
The only difference was that the Zhou Family, though weak at that time, still had the presence of Zhou Minghan, Zhou Xuanhao, and him, Zhouyang, as Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
They were unwilling to send the family genius into the Yellow Sand Sect, and even someone like Zhang Yunpeng, a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator, couldn’t forcibly take anyone nor retaliate against the Zhou Family over this matter.
But the Lu Family was different. The Lu Family, a small clan without even Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, was not recognized as a clan under the protection of a sect like the Yellow Sand Sect.
The ancestor of the Zhou Family, Zhou Yuquan, was once a cultivator of the Yellow Sand Sect, and the family’s ties with the Yellow Sand Sect were deep. The Yellow Sand Sect wouldn’t do anything too excessive for fear of chilling the hearts of other families.
However, for a small clan like the Lu Family, founded by Qi Cultivation Stage Loose Cultivators, the Yellow Sand Sect wouldn’t need to do anything directly. Just by spreading the word that the Lu Family was not within the range of vassal clans under the Yellow Sand Sect’s protection, many would be willing to take action against the Lu Family.
"Being weak is a sin!"
Zhouyang sighed internally, but his eyes sparkled with light, and he was quite tempted by Patriarch Lu’s proposal.
He originally had no intention of taking on apprentices, but if taking on an apprentice could net the Zhou Family an Ice Attribute Top-grade Spiritual Root Cultivator, then perhaps accepting an apprentice was not out of the question.
Top-grade Spiritual Root Cultivators are rare, even in places like the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm. Even Golden Core Stage Cultivators seldom refuse such a good thing.
It should be known that the teacher-disciple relationship in the Cultivation Realm is significant. Once established, any achievements the disciple makes reflect gloriously on the master, bringing substantial benefits.
Especially in major sects, many cultivators gain influential positions by taking on a promising disciple.
Lu Xuewei has Ice Attribute Top-grade Spirit Root Talent; with some luck and if Zhouyang is willing to invest resources, her chances of establishing a Purple Mansion in the future are considerable.
A Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator is important, even to a Golden Core Clan.
What’s more, Lu Xuewei is a female cultivator, and judging by her current charming appearance, she is likely to grow into a stunning beauty.
Such a stunning beauty, also a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator, if she marries in the future, could bring a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator son-in-law, or even a Golden Core Stage Cultivator son-in-law to the family!
His mind swiftly calculated all aspects of taking on an apprentice, and he realized that taking Lu Xuewei as a disciple seemed profitable from every angle.
As for whether taking Lu Xuewei as a disciple would offend the Chen Family and the Yellow Sand Sect, he did not care.
With his current power and the Zhou Family’s current influence, even if the Chen Family and the Yellow Sand Sect united, they would not be a match for him and his servant Xu Song.
Moreover, the Lu Family is under his Zhou Family’s vassalage; he was already lenient in not holding the Chen Family and the Yellow Sand Sect accountable. They both should be too embarrassed to trouble him on this matter.
Having made up his mind, Zhouyang fixed his gaze and, with a serious expression, looked at the Lu father and daughter, saying, "Since you Lu Family boy made this request, it naturally does not fall on deaf ears, but in my life, Zhou never forces anything upon others, to avoid any future rift in the mentor-student relationship. Your daughter must consent to this herself!"
Cultivators are not Demon Cultivators; even if predestined affinity is not emphasized, it must follow the principle of voluntary consent.
Just as Master Cyan Yang, a Master Nascent Soul, left the choice to Zhouyang when he wanted to take him as a disciple.
Similarly, even though Zhouyang has agreed to accept the daughter of the Patriarch Lu as a disciple, whether the apprenticeship can be successfully established depends on whether this young girl Lu Xuewei agrees.
Upon hearing this, the Patriarch Lu was first slightly taken aback, then his face showed admiration and emotion. He quickly urged his daughter beside him, "Xuewei, why are you still standing there? Quickly, go and pay your respects to the master!"
"Know that Elder Zhou is a legendary figure in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm. Being able to be apprenticed to him is a fortune accumulated over several lifetimes!"
"Didn’t you say you wanted to learn the skill of Sword Flight? By becoming Elder Zhou’s disciple, you will definitely become a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator in the future, and then you’ll be able to learn the skill of Sword Flight!"