At dawn, a frantic pounding rattled the clinic's front gates.
A moment later, a young boy came rushing inside in a flurry.
"Young Master, Young Master Yuqi has come to visit you," Granny Lin announced, her expression none too pleasant.
Oblivious to Granny Lin's sour look, Zhou Yuqi hurried straight into the inner room.
"Fuyou, how is Little Sister Maomao doing?"
The gaunt boy drew the bed curtains shut, then turned around to reveal a face marked by a sleepless night.
He stared intently at the round-faced, robust Zhou Yuqi, as though trying to read something from his expression.
Zhou Yuqi said anxiously, "This morning, I heard people saying someone rushed into Clan Elder Haibo's clinic in the middle of the night. As soon as I heard it was you two, I hurried right over to see how you were."
Zhou Fuyou asked abruptly, "Who was saying that?"
Zhou Yuqi blinked in surprise and answered instinctively, "Yin Siniang and a few servants. Why?"
Zhou Fuyou fell silent.
Yin Siniang was the middle-aged woman who had delivered the tonic on behalf of Seventh Uncle's household.
Her station was much like Granny Lin's in their own household: a maidservant brought along as part of a dowry.
Thirty years ago, the Zhou clan had established its rule over Bailu Marsh.
Seven years ago, the Zhou family of Bailu Marsh, the Lin family of Qingtong, and the Yin family of Hanjiang Valley forged an alliance and initiated preliminary cooperation.
The specifics of their cooperation were extensive, one key aspect being marital alliances.
A large number of low-tier clansmen had entered into intermarriages among the three families.
In this regard, the Zhou family gained the most, taking in numerous female cultivators from both the Lin and Yin families.
Zhou Fuyou's mother hailed from the Qingtong Lin family, while Zhou Yuqi's mother came from the Hanjiang Valley Yin family.
Because they shared similar backgrounds and had been born in the same year, Zhou Fuyou and Zhou Yuqi played together often and grew especially close.
Whenever they got carried away playing, they would stay to eat or sleep at each other's homes.
Their parents also interacted frequently, exchanging small gifts from time to time.
Thus, Seventh Uncle's household having Yin Siniang deliver tonics a few days ago was nothing out of the ordinary. It had happened before, so no one had scrutinized it thoroughly.
Yet it was precisely that single lapse in vigilance that had led to disaster.
Zhou Fuyou had been willing to believe Clan Elder Haibo's claim that his sister had merely consumed his tonic by mistake, overburdening her delicate constitution. But after taking the Fire-Purging Pill and vomiting that bizarre poison, he no longer believed those tonics were harmless!
Above all, they had arrived at the clinic only late last night—how could Seventh Uncle's household have known first thing in the morning?
Had Yin Siniang been keeping watch over their home all along?
Was this purely her own doing, or had Seventh Uncle and his wife orchestrated it?
"Fuyou, what on earth happened?"
A puzzled voice sounded beside his ear, jolting Zhou Fuyou back to his senses.
"Nothing. Maomao was just feeling unwell. We'll be heading home in a bit."
Relief washed over Zhou Yuqi, and a smile broke across his face as he repeated, "As long as she's fine, as long as she's fine! Little Sister Maomao's health is too frail. You were careless as her older brother—you have to take proper care of her from now on!"
"Mm."
Zhou Fuyou nodded faintly, his gaze lingering on Zhou Yuqi.
The boy's smile was genuine, carrying the untainted innocence unique to a child.
*He probably doesn't know anything,* Zhou Fuyou thought to himself.
Outside the clinic, the rain fell without pause, as though it would never cease.
The Zhou clan's cultivators seemed long accustomed to it.
It was only because clan resources were currently tight; otherwise, a grand formation would have been erected long ago to ward off this bone-chilling spring rain.
By midday, the rain finally began to slacken.
With Granny Lin holding an umbrella and Zhou Fuyou carrying the sleeping Maomao on his back, they stepped out of the clinic.
The round-faced Zhou Yuqi trailed behind them, intending to walk them home.
Yet as soon as they passed through the clinic's front gates, Zhou Fuyou suddenly spoke.
"Yuqi, you don't need to walk us. Head on home."
Zhou Yuqi was stunned.
Before he could say anything, his good friend, aided by the servant, had already carried his sister out into the curtain of rain, their silhouettes gradually blurring into the distance.
...
The Zhou clan possessed an eight-hundred-year heritage in the Northern Sea.
At the height of their prosperity, their cultivators numbered over ten thousand, and their total clansmen exceeded a hundred million. They had far outstripped ordinary Nascent Soul upper sects, standing on par with secular mortal dynasties.
Tragically, when they fled the Northern Sea as refugees, merely a few dozen survivors remained.
It could only be described as catastrophic!
Only after arriving in the Central Plains and resting for over a century had they managed to regain some of their vitality.
Yet the number of core clansmen was still not very large.
Here, "core clansmen" referred to those who possessed the ability to cultivate and held an official generational seniority name, rather than the collateral branches who did not even warrant a generational character.
Counting down from the Old Ancestor, Zhou Yunshen, there were only five members in the second generation, who were now the five Golden Core Masters of the Zhou family.
The third generation numbered around a hundred.
Zhou Fuyou's father, Zhou Bohan, was one of them, belonging to the "Hai" generation.
Moreover, having successfully attained Foundation Establishment, he enjoyed a respectable standing within the Zhou family today.
Consequently, Zhou Fuyou's household not only had a private courtyard of their own, but also possessed an impressive second-tier mid-grade grotto-dwelling, more than sufficient to support the daily cultivation of the married couple, Zhou Bohan and Lin Jingshu.
Aside from Granny Lin, the household employed several mortal servants unable to cultivate to attend to their daily needs and chores.
With Zhou Bohan and his wife away on a mission, Zhou Fuyou had become the head of the household in both fact and name.
Upon returning home, he settled his little sister in bed first, instructing Granny Lin to watch over her closely, before retreating to his favorite spot: the Yinlü Water Pavilion.
He needed to be alone right now.
Over the course of a single night, the sudden upheaval had utterly exhausted the young boy's mind. The turmoil in his thoughts far surpassed anything he had experienced in the four years since his earliest memories.
Standing at the edge of the pavilion, his unfocused gaze drifted among the green duckweed in the water as he spaced out in silence.
Gradually, his focus sharpened, and his expression hardened with resolve.
Turning around, he left the Yinlü Water Pavilion and made his way toward his father's study.
...
"Brother... Brother... Brother!"
The little girl woke with a sudden start, fine beads of sweat covering her forehead.
Granny Lin gently wiped away the sweat with a handkerchief.
Zhou Qingyu clutched the old woman's hand in fear. "Granny, where's my brother?"
"Don't be afraid. He's here."
"I want to see Brother!"
"But..."
"I want to see him, wah..."
As she spoke, Zhou Qingyu burst into tears.
Helpless, Granny Lin bundled the little girl in thick garments, scooped her into her arms, and carried her out of the room.
After inquiring with the servants outside, Granny Lin showed a hint of confusion, but under the little girl's persistent urges, she still carried her toward Zhou Fuyou's location.
Before long, Granny Lin arrived at a study.
Unlike the poetic elegance of the Yinlü Water Pavilion, this study was dominated by deep reds and blacks, exuding a solemn air.
At the desk, a young boy was engrossed in perusing a scroll of bamboo slips.
"Young Master, Miss Qingyu is awake."
Snapping out of his concentration, Zhou Fuyou took the squirming little girl from Granny Lin's arms.
"Maomao..."
Once nestled in his embrace, the little girl broke into a bright smile, as if nothing had happened the previous day.
Granny Lin looked upon the brother and sister with tender affection, but then the corner of her eye caught the bamboo scroll resting on the desk.
*The Returning to the Sea Scripture.*
Granny Lin's face instantly drained of color. "Young Master Fuyou! How could you disregard the Master and Madam's warnings and touch a Qi Refinement manual before reaching the proper age?"
Holding his sister, Zhou Fuyou replied calmly, "I haven't cultivated it. I'm only reading it."
Granny Lin let out a sigh of relief, though her expression remained grave.
"Young Master, cultivation for our kind depends on spiritual roots, natural aptitude, and above all, age. Without spiritual roots, one cannot cultivate at all; without sufficient physical constitution, cultivating will only harm the body. And all of this is predicated on reaching the appropriate age."
"You aren't even twelve yet. Your body hasn't fully matured, your meridians and acupoints have yet to take shape, and whether you even possess spiritual roots has not manifested. You must never attempt to cultivate early!"
"Otherwise, at best, it will hinder your future Grand Dao; at worst, it could cost you your life on the spot!"
Zhou Fuyou raised an eyebrow, grasping the gravity behind the old woman's words.
If the mildest consequence was impairing his future Grand Dao, the hazards of cultivating prematurely were abundantly clear.
He offered reassurance, saying, "Don't worry, Granny. I've simply read too many martial scriptures, Daoist canons, and regional chronicles. I was just passing the time out of boredom."
Granny Lin scrutinized the boy, an uneasy feeling lingering in her heart.
In the end, she warned again, "Cultivating prematurely brings endless troubles. Keep that in mind, always!"
Zhou Fuyou managed a smile and offered a few more reassuring words before Granny Lin finally relaxed.
He then played with his sister for a while. Not long after recovering from her sudden illness, the little girl grew weary, and Zhou Fuyou had Granny Lin take her back to rest.
Before leaving, Granny Lin reminded him, "Young Master, you have been awake for a full day and night as well. I'll have the servants prepare warm food and hot water. Eat something and get some rest early."
"Alright. Thank you for worrying about me, Granny."
Zhou Fuyou did not object to her arrangements. She was his mother's trusted confidante and had watched the two siblings grow up with her own eyes.
Though a servant in name, she was treated no differently than an elder.
After eating the piping hot food and freshening up, Zhou Fuyou took a long, deep sleep.
Yet upon waking, he stepped once more into his father's study.
From the bookshelf, he pulled down the *Returning to the Sea Scripture* that he had not finished reading the day before.
This was the Zhou clan's introductory Qi Refinement manual, passed down for generations. It was widely sold even in the Northern Sea cultivation world.
Above it was presumably the Foundation Establishment manual, the *Ten Thousand Streams Scripture*, followed by the Golden Core manual, the *Surging Waves Scripture*, and finally the Nascent Soul manual, the *Boundless Scripture*.
In truth, these formed a complete, unified cultivation method. However, to prevent higher-grade arts from leaking, the ancestors had intentionally divided it into four parts corresponding to four realms, granting access only to clansmen of the requisite stage.
Strung together, their names evoked the poetic imagery of ten thousand streams returning to the sea, surging with boundless waves.
The Old Ancestor himself practiced this very art. Its strength lay in forging vast, profound Dharmic powers on par with a boundless ocean, while its flaw was painfully slow progress and arduous breakthroughs.
For Zhou Fuyou, even the Qi Refinement portion, the *Returning to the Sea Scripture*, proved somewhat difficult to parse.
Yet it was merely difficult, not impossible!
At two, he had mastered reading, writing, and eloquent speech; at three, he had memorized and grasped poetry and verse.
By four, no longer satisfied with ordinary literary works, he had begun delving into martial scriptures and Daoist texts related to cultivation.
Now, with half a year left before turning six, he could rightfully be said to have read thoroughly through the Daoist canon!
With such a literary foundation, coupled with what he had absorbed while growing up beside his parents—two Foundation Establishment cultivators—he truly could, without any instructor, painstakingly comprehend this foundational Qi Refinement manual word by word.
However, recalling Granny Lin's warning from the day before, he firmly suppressed the urge stirring restlessly within his heart.
Taking a break, Zhou Fuyou cast his gaze across the bookshelves.
They held not only common texts distributed by the Zhou clan, but also volumes his father had gathered, as well as works his mother had brought from the Lin family. His mother, Lin Jingshu, came from a modest clan under the Tianyuan Dao Sect, and the arts she practiced belonged to the Dao Sect's orthodox lineage. The classical texts she had brought along were all the more remarkable.
Had the Tianyuan Dao Sect not been absorbing former guest elders from the Star Gate, they likely would never have relaxed their restrictions regarding such texts.
*With so many books, I should simply read and learn more!*
The boy murmured softly to himself, his mind calm and unhurried.
Outside the study, the rain pattered incessantly against the forest foliage.
...
Ever since the incident where Zhou Qingyu had "succumbed to excessive tonic and collapsed," time seemed to slow down.
From then on, Zhou Fuyou hardly stepped outside. On the few occasions Zhou Yuqi came looking for him, he was turned away at the door.
Nothing major occurred within the clan, aside from word that Second Grandfather Zhou Junxiao was planning the development of Bailu Marsh.
Bailu Marsh was vast, spanning over three thousand li. Within its bounds, not only had a new fourth-tier spirit vein formed, but there was also an abundance of small, scattered spirit veins.
However, due to the noxious bogs and miasma, large portions of Bailu Marsh remained undeveloped.
Moreover, the Zhou clan had few members, and a contingent of their powerhouses had been dispatched on a sea-patrol mission issued by the Tiannan Dao Palace, causing the marsh's development plans to be repeatedly postponed.
Yet the sea-patrol mission would not last indefinitely; it was rotated among the various clans across the Tiannan Continent. Furthermore, because the Zhou family had been conscripted additionally on short notice, their term was slated to conclude in about half a year.
Half a year was merely a blink of an eye for a cultivator.
Yet for small children, it felt agonizingly long.
"Brother, when are Father and Mother coming back?"
"Soon. It should be in the next few days!"
"Yay! Maomao hasn't heard Father tell stories about the outside world in so long, and I haven't eaten the White Jade Soup Mother makes in forever."
"Go play outside, Maomao. Brother needs to read."
"I won't go out! You read, Brother, I promise I won't make a peep."
Zhou Fuyou let out a helpless smile, then returned to the book in his hands.
This was a Qi Refinement manual titled the *Dew Cicada Art*, derived from the concept of "morning dew fading swift, a cold cicada sipping the meager."
Its philosophy of cultivation reflected precisely that.
Most cultivators in the world possessed mediocre talent, struggling their entire lives without ever touching higher realms, their lifespans as fleeting as morning dew or a cold cicada.
Hence, some chose to take shortcuts, cultivating arts that offered rapid progression.
The *Dew Cicada Art* was one such method. It was even a rare all-attribute manual that ignored spiritual root alignments, allowing anyone to practice it.
Yet its shortcomings were glaring: while one's realm advanced rapidly, their Dharmic powers fell far short of peers at the same cultivation stage, and the chilling energy it generated could easily damage one's meridians and dantian.
Rumor had it that this art originated from the Northern Sea and very likely belonged to the former overlord of the Northern Sea, the Yuan Demon Sect.
In other words, it was a demonic art!
If Zhou Fuyou had to choose, he would far prefer solid, steady manuals like the *Returning to the Sea Scripture*, the *Evergreen Art*, or the *Thick Earth Mantra*.
*No need to rush!*
*After turning six, I should nourish my body, practice elementary body-refining methods, take medicinal baths, and build up a strong physique. Then at twelve, my spiritual roots will be tested, and Father and Mother will naturally choose a suitable art for me.*
Zhou Fuyou closed the book and tucked the *Dew Cicada Art* away into the most secluded corner of the shelf.
Half a month later.
The entire Zhou clan was abuzz with commotion!
The clan powerhouses participating in the sea patrol were finally returning.
Zhou Fuyou's household was no exception. Early in the morning, carrying his little sister and accompanied by Granny Lin, he arrived at Coral Town to wait.
Coral Town was a small settlement near the Zhou family estate.
Most of its residents were mortals devoid of spiritual roots.
As the Zhou family grew and branched out over time, it was inevitable that countless mortals without spiritual roots would be born.
Among them, the clever and fiercely loyal would remain in the clan compound to serve the cultivators, but the vast majority of mortals would be sent to Coral Town.
In time, Coral Town's population would swell from a small town into a sprawling city, perhaps even converging with mortals from other cultivation clans to form something akin to a secular petty kingdom.
Zhou Fuyou paid little mind to such things. He simply stood in an open clearing, gazing into the distance.
A delighted voice called out from nearby.
"Fuyou, you're here too!"
It was Zhou Yuqi.
Zhou Fuyou offered a brief greeting, but upon noticing the middle-aged man beside Zhou Yuqi, a look of puzzlement crossed his face.
"And this is?"
Zhou Yuqi explained briefly, "A mortal Xiantian expert found from Coral Town. He's temporarily looking after me when I go out."
Zhou Fuyou glanced around, then asked, "Where is Yin Siniang, then?"
A look of sorrow appeared on Zhou Yuqi's face. "Half a month ago, Siniang accidentally inhaled the miasma from Bailu Marsh. The treatment was delayed, and she unfortunately passed away."
Zhou Fuyou froze.
Half a month ago?
Wasn't that precisely when word arrived that the clan's powerhouses were finishing their mission and returning to Bailu Marsh?
Of all times to die, why did Yin Siniang pass away right at that moment?
Furthermore, while the miasma in Bailu Marsh was formidable, as long as one did not venture deep inside and made use of the clan's detoxifying pills, succumbing to it was by no means that easy.
While he was lost in suspicion, cheers erupted around him.
The shouts rose from a murmur into a deafening roar.
Far away in the sky, a tiny black speck was rapidly drawing near.
Soon, that black speck filled everyone's vision.
It was the Zhou clan's Coral Flying Boat!
*Boom!*
The massive flying vessel touched down in the open clearing of Coral Town, stirring up powerful gusts of wind.
Figure after figure emerged from the vessel, and the waiting Zhou clansmen rushed forward in warm welcome.
Only Zhou Fuyou, his sister, and Granny Lin stood frozen in place, gazing blankly ahead.
They did not see the figures they were looking for.
Not until an older, gentle-mannered woman walked up to them.
"Elder Shuzhen!" Granny Lin bowed respectfully and began to speak.
Yet Golden Core Master Zhou Shuzhen merely sighed. Her gaze settled upon Zhou Fuyou and the little girl he held by the hand, and meeting their expectant eyes, she spoke softly.
"Your parents unfortunately perished during the mission. My condolences."
Chapter 1029