The night was deep, and on Cyan Ping Mountain, Zhouyang, as usual, lit a lamp to read late into the night, studying the artifact refining insights written by the old clan leader when he was at the Tier Two Refiner stage, preparing himself for his future promotion to a Tier Two Refiner.
According to the records in the artifact refining insights by the old clan leader Zhou Minghan, once a Tier One Refiner achieves a success rate of over thirty percent in crafting Tier One High-grade Spiritual Artifacts, they can attempt to refine Tier Two Spiritual Artifacts.
An Artifact Refiner must reach Tier Two levels of refinement skills to rely on their Artifact Refining Skill to earn Spirit Stones. Otherwise, continuously crafting Tier One Artifacts, even with a hundred percent success rate, would at best break even.
Therefore, besides those amateurs among the Loose Cultivators, normal clans and sects train their Artifact Refiners to transition to Tier Two once their success rate for Tier One Artifacts exceeds thirty percent.
However, the value of spiritual objects for refining Tier Two Spiritual Artifacts is already quite high. Even a Foundation Establishment Clan like the Zhou Family would typically provide only thirty free sets of materials when nurturing a Tier Two Refiner. If these thirty sets are exhausted without success, the Refiner must pay out of pocket to improve their Artifact Refining Skill.
Zhouyang currently only has a success rate of less than twenty percent for crafting Tier One High-grade Spiritual Artifacts. He still has some time before attempting to become a Tier Two Refiner. Yet, when Elder Zhou Quan last delivered materials to him, he already brought the thirty sets of materials for Zhouyang's attempt to become a Tier Two Refiner.
Perhaps because he failed fewer times when he first became a Tier One Refiner, the old clan leader Zhou Minghan believed his talent in artifact refining was pretty good, thus he received no special preferential treatment this time; everything was done according to clan rules.
As he burned the midnight oil studying until predawn, Zhouyang suddenly had a feeling, as if he heard a buzzing sound.
His heart stirred, and he quickly left the room to look towards the source of the buzzing sound, his expression changing instantly.
He saw that the source of the buzzing was indeed the main array banner of the "Cloud Sea Light Splitting Array" planted outside the door. At this moment, the banner seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, shaking violently.
"This is the Spirit Mountain of our Yuquan Zhou Clan, who dares to intrude?"
He shouted loudly, quickly moving forward to grip the array banner, channeling magical power to stabilize the array, and utilized the array's power to search for the figure of the intruder.
Yet, before he could find the intruder, he heard a "whoosh" sound, and suddenly felt a hand silently rest on his back.
"Xiao Jiu, don't be alarmed, it's just a little test from me,"
Hearing this familiar voice, Zhouyang felt his tense body relax to the extreme. He turned around to see who it was and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Great-Grandfather, do you have some objections against your grandson? I'm timid; I can't handle being startled like this by you!"
It turned out that the person suddenly breaking through the array in the middle of the night was none other than the Zhou Family's old clan leader Zhou Minghan, who was originally stationed at the Yuquan Lake Oasis.
"Hehehe, Xiao Jiu, are you blaming the old man? Do you know how alarmed I was when I heard from Quan'Er that you almost broke into the Poison Fire Scorpion King's lair?"
Old clan leader Zhou Minghan laughed heartily while speaking, but his words made Zhouyang's heart race.
"Do you know the high expectations I have for you? Do you know how high the expectations of the entire Zhou Family of dozens of cultivators are for you? Carrying the expectations of so many people, not only are you not cultivating well in the mountains, but you also ran into the Desert Sea to chase demon beasts, keeping it from me and the clan. Do you know how much of a blow it would be to the Zhou Family if something were to happen to you?"
"Does the Zhou Family currently lack an ore vein, a spirit mountain?"
"No! What the Zhou Family currently lacks is a qualified heir, a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator who can take over after my demise and uphold the Zhou Family's estate!"
"You say you're timid, but I think not only are you not timid, but rather reckless and fearless!"
Such serious words from the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator Zhou Minghan were as penetrating as the time Zhouyang used the Tier One Magic "Pure Sound Technique" to speak to those mortal miners, shaking him to his core, making him retreat continuously, unable to utter a word in defense.
"Great-Grandfather, please calm your anger. Grandson realizes his mistakes, Grandson truly knows he was wrong!"
His face was pale as he hung his head, not daring to meet the old clan leader's stern gaze, repeatedly pleading for mercy.
After all, he was the most valued younger generation, and it was difficult to be too harsh. Seeing Zhouyang like this, the anger in old clan leader Zhou Minghan's heart gradually subsided.
His expression softened, and he spoke calmly, "Stand up. If I truly wanted to punish you, I would have already sent someone to bring you back to the clan. This time, I'm just giving you a lesson. As a member of the clan, when you act, you mustn't just consider yourself. You should think more for the clan, for your family. For whom do your parents toil every day at the marketplace? Do you really not know?"
"Grandson understands. Grandson will definitely remember the teachings of great-grandfather and will never make the same mistake again!" Zhouyang raised his head, with a hint of tears in his eyes but a firm expression, clearly having genuinely absorbed the old clan leader's words.
Seeing this, old clan leader Zhou Minghan's eyes flashed with relief, though he waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Enough, let's not talk idly. I can't leave the clan for too long. While there's still time, refine an artifact in front of me, let me see your technique and skills. If you have any issues in your cultivation, you can also discuss them with me."
Great-grandfather still cares for me!
Zhouyang was delighted, knowing that today's ordeal was over. Without saying much, he quickly took out the artifact refining cauldron and materials and began refining on the spot.
This time, he was completely focused, adopting the attitude he had in his past life when preparing for leadership inspections. He successfully completed the entire refining process in one go, producing a Tier One High-grade Spiritual Artifact, the Profound Steel Shield.
"Please advise, great-grandfather."
With the artifact completed, Zhouyang, without wiping the sweat from his brow, quickly handed it to the seated old clan leader Zhou Minghan.
Unexpectedly, the old clan leader Zhou Minghan took the artifact, didn't even look at it, and immediately released a burst of sword qi, slicing the artifact into several pieces. Then, he moved the fragmented artifact before his eyes, pointing out the oversights and mistakes in Zhouyang's refining process one by one.
"Look here, these chaotic crack patterns indicate that you didn't purify the impurities in the metal thoroughly. This little impurity seems insignificant for the artifact's use but actually lowers its stress resistance, making this a weakness in the artifact!"
"And the technique you used during refining..."
In technical skills like artifact refining and alchemy, having a teacher makes a world of difference compared to not having one.
Before receiving the hands-on guidance of the old clan leader Zhou Minghan, a Tier Three Refiner, no matter how much Zhouyang studied countless artifact refining classics or reviewed the old clan leader's compiled refining insights repeatedly, he still had many errors during refining he couldn't recognize.
In such situations, even when he failed, he wouldn't know where he went wrong. Finding the points of failure by himself would require many attempts.
However, the oversights he couldn't recognize or uncover were immediately evident to the old clan leader Zhou Minghan, like lice on a monk's head, nothing could escape his notice.
Consequently, the points of failure that might have taken him countless trials to discover were effortlessly highlighted by the old clan leader, who not only pointed them out but also explained solutions.
Through this face-to-face guidance, Zhouyang's artifact refining skills underwent a rapid transformation. He felt that once he absorbed the knowledge taught by old clan leader Zhou Minghan today, he would be ready to aspire to become a Tier Two Refiner.
After instructing Zhouyang in artifact refining, old clan leader Zhou Minghan answered some of his cultivation-related questions and then departed quietly, just as he had arrived.
Although the old clan leader didn't mention where he was headed, Zhouyang knew he must have gone to the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein discovered by him and Elder Zhou Quan.
Indeed, a day after the old clan leader left, Zhouyang received a Sound Transmission Talisman from him.
In the Sound Transmission Talisman, the old clan leader informed him that there was indeed a Tier Three Low-Grade Spiritual Vein and a Tier Three Poison Fire Scorpion King at the Red Flame Iron Ore Vein, advising him not to approach that area further, but didn't specify how to deal with the matter.
Old clan leader Zhou Minghan didn't say much, and Zhouyang didn't ask further about the issue. The situation involved a Tier Three Demon Beast, out of the scope for Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators like them, and determining how to handle it was certainly beyond his knowledge compared to the old clan leader.
He did feel somewhat regretful for Elder Zhou Quan since until the ore vein was formally mined, they couldn't receive the dividends from discovering it. With the elder's age, it might be difficult for him to hold out until the mining officially commenced.
Two more years passed in this manner, and the task Zhouyang was assigned to guard Cyan Ping Mountain reached its conclusion.
Having guarded Cyan Ping Mountain for five years, he greatly longed for Yuquan Lake Oasis, the sights on Jade Spring Peak, the sweetness of Jade Spring Lake water, and the parents he hadn't seen for seven or eight years.
Thus, when the family elder sent to replace him, Seventeenth Uncle Zhou Xuanzhao arrived, he hurriedly completed the handover and, amidst the youngest elder's grumbling, eagerly returned home.