Chapter 9: Island in the Lake

Tiemu Mountain is extremely important to the Zhou family.

There is a first-grade upper-grade spiritual vein on the mountain, where a large number of black ironwoods grow, ranging from first-grade lower-grade to second-grade lower-grade. The highest-quality trees have reached the second-grade middle-grade, which is an excellent material for refining.

The Yang family started out by refining weapons, and they have a great demand for refining materials.

For many years, the sale of magic tools has been the pillar industry of the family, and the annual income from the sale of magic tools accounts for 70% of the family's total income.

And the materials needed for refining can be supported by Tiemu Mountain. It greatly reduces the burden on the family and does not need to purchase a large amount of materials from other families.

Therefore, the family has always been very concerned about Tiemu Mountain, and a total of two elders have been sent to Tiemu Mountain all year round.

They are the third elder Zhou Changyuan and the fifth elder Zhou Changhai, both of whom are at the ninth level of Qi Refining and are the backbone of the family.

Only occasionally return to the family at important moments such as ancestor worship. In Zhou Daocheng's impression, he rarely saw his grandfather since he was a child.

After being reminded by Zhou Changyuan, Zhou Daocheng calculated the time and found that it was almost the end of the year, and it was the annual family ancestor worship day.

The so-called family ancestor worship is mainly to worship ancestors, settle accounts, look back on the past and look forward to a better future. It has been a tradition of the Zhou family for many years.

"Hey, Daocheng, where is the girl from the Zhao family? Isn't she living with you?"

Zhou Changyuan suddenly looked into the house and did not see Zhao Yunzhi, so he asked with a little doubt.

Zhou Daocheng accepted a Taoist partner, and Zhou Changyuan must know it. Even without the nod of his grandfather Zhou Changyuan, the head of the family Zhou Changyi would not dare to make a decision for Zhou Daocheng without authorization.

Zhou Daocheng was at a loss for words, so he made up a reason: "Miss Zhao and I are still young, and we should focus on cultivation at present, so Miss Zhao set up a small courtyard in the back mountain and lived separately from me on weekdays."

"Not bad!"

Zhou Changyuan patted his shoulder with satisfaction, and a trace of relief flashed in his eyes, "You have such a mind at a young age, and you will definitely achieve great things in the future!"

After a few simple conversations, Zhou Daocheng called Zhao Yunzhi and returned to Tianchi Mountain with Zhou Changyuan to worship their ancestors.

At noon, most of the Zhou family cultivators had returned to the Tianchi Mountain ancestral temple, and the ancestor Zhou Changyi summarized the income and expenditure of the Zhou family this year.

"...This year, the Zhou family's total income is more than 92,000 low-grade spirit stones, including the income from the sale of first-level magic tools, the income from the market shops, the income from hunting monsters, and the income from various garrisons..."

"The total expenditure is more than 67,000 low-grade spirit stones, including the purchase of magic tool materials, elixirs, talismans, etc., as well as the salary of family members."

"In general, the net income this year is 25,000 low-grade spirit stones."

Hearing this number, many elders of the older generation frowned and their faces became a little ugly.

The sixth elder Zhou Changguang couldn't help asking: "Brother, this income has increased a lot compared to last year, why is the net income reduced? Is there something wrong with this account?"

Someone else echoed: "Yes, uncle, in previous years, the family's expenditure was mostly below 50,000 spirit stones, why is it as high as more than 67,000 this year?"

"It is indeed much lower than in previous years."

"..."

Family income and expenditure are the foundation of the family, so the slightly older members of the family are very concerned about these data.

Although the net income of 25,000 spirit stones is not a small number, many people know that this is only a figure on the books, and it is difficult to save so much.

After all, a large family needs to buy some expensive resources with the spirit stones accumulated at the end of the year.

For example, it is necessary to purchase some second-level cultivation resources for Zhou Yonghan, the head of the Zhou family and the only foundation-building expert.

Or the purchase of some family businesses, such as shops in the market, also requires a lot of spirit stones.

These expenses are indispensable and consume a lot. In the end, the spirit stones that can actually be accumulated may not even be 10,000 spirit stones.

For a small foundation-building family like the Zhou family, there is another most important thing that runs through the whole process, which requires the efforts of generations to complete: buying foundation-building pills!

If you want to maintain the identity of a foundation-building family, the inheritance of foundation-building cultivators cannot be broken, and you must ensure that there are foundation-building experts sitting in Tianchi Mountain in every era.

Therefore, every few decades, the family needs to raise a large amount of spirit stones to buy foundation-building pills, which will almost consume all their savings.

If you succeed in breaking through, it will be fine, and it can extend the life of the Zhou family for a hundred years!

If the breakthrough still fails after using the foundation-building pill, then the efforts of decades will be in vain.

Just like ten years ago, the family purchased a foundation-building pill, almost breaking their bones, trying to add another foundation-building master to the Zhou family.

Unfortunately, in the end, the second elder failed to break through due to an unstable foundation and a problem with his mentality, and decades of accumulation turned into clouds.

This forced the Zhou family to tighten their belts and live for the next few decades. Many family elders have not received salaries for many years, and their strength is difficult to improve.

This is not the worst case!

If the Zhou family cannot produce another foundation-building master before the death of the third uncle, it will lead to a gap in the foundation-building period cultivators, and the Zhou family will change from a foundation-building family to a Qi training family.

At that time, if you want to raise 50,000 low-grade spirit stones again with the income of the Qi training family, it will not only take more than ten years to complete, but it may take more than 30 years.

Moreover, this is still a situation where the weather is good and there are spirit stones accumulated every year.

If the family is hit or targeted by hostile forces, like the Zhao family, it is likely to fall into a situation where income is not enough to cover expenses.

Therefore, whenever there is any fluctuation in the family income, the elders will be extremely vigilant.

Facing the doubts of the crowd, Zhou Changyi's face did not change, and his voice was calm: "Quiet, this matter is about to be notified to everyone, just listen quietly."

"Hmm? There are other important things to announce?" Zhou Daocheng raised his head listlessly, and aroused interest.

Zhou Daocheng really had no intention of asking about the previous high-sounding talks and the trivial matters of the family, so he had already wandered away.

"When the hunting team went out to hunt monsters, they accidentally discovered a lake with spiritual energy, in which there was a first-level middle-grade spiritual vein."

After speaking, all the members of the Zhou family showed a happy expression, and their eyes all looked at the head of the family, and the silent atmosphere became active.

A new station means brand new resources, which can bring more income to the family and provide more positions for the clan members.

Zhou Changyi continued, "But it was not only our Zhou family's hunting team that discovered it, but also the people of the Mo Yunshan Qi family. I have discussed with them and used 5,000 low-grade spirit stones to obtain the ownership of this island in the lake."

"Mo Yunshan Qi family?"

The information of this family emerged in Zhou Daocheng's mind. This is also a foundation-building family. There are two foundation-building masters in the family, and their strength is slightly stronger than that of the Zhou family.

Moreover, the Qi family also has the inheritance of immortal cultivation skills and is good at refining pills.

The Zhou family and the Qi family are far apart, and there is no trading relationship or major conflicts. It can even be said that they are not familiar with each other. They are two families that live in peace.

The other party is willing to give up the spirit vein this time because it is too far away from the base camp and it is really inconvenient to manage.