Chapter 137: Chapter 101: The Clan Leader’s Reward, Green Frost Cave [Please Subscribe]_2

At least sixty percent of the Green Lotus Temple’s disciples come from Lianzhou.

Because of this situation, Zhou Chun became much more low-key after entering Lianzhou, fearing that he might inadvertently offend a cultivator who happens to have a high-ranking relative within the Green Lotus Temple.

Also due to this, the public order in Lianzhou is exceptionally good. It’s not to say there are no bandit cultivators who commit murder for loot, but such incidents are incredibly rare.

After traveling through Lianzhou for two or three more days, Zhou Chun finally arrived at the location of the Green Lotus Temple’s mountain gate, the Green Lotus Mountain Range.

The Green Lotus Mountain Range stretches a thousand miles and is one of the most famous mountains and rivers in the whole of Jingguo Country.

The entire mountain is owned by the Green Lotus Temple, with many cultivation caves carved out by its cultivators spread throughout. Outsiders are not allowed to enter the mountain without being led by a disciple of the Green Lotus Temple.

To visit relatives and friends within the Green Lotus Temple, one can only proceed to several designated mountain visiting sites to deliver letters, which are then passed on by disciples specifically responsible for relaying messages within the temple.

However, since the number of disciples tasked with receiving visitors and messages at these spots is limited, and there are many outsiders visiting the temple’s cultivators everyday, getting one’s letter delivered with priority depends on both parties’ cultivation levels and status.

If it’s a Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator coming to visit, their letters are naturally given top priority in being delivered.

If it’s a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, barring any higher-level cultivator jumping the queue, their letters would also be arranged with priority.

For a Qi Refinement Realm cultivator like Zhou Chun, even though he was visiting Liu Shiyun, an inner sect disciple of the Green Lotus Temple, the priority for his letter’s delivery would still fall to a later position.

Of course, if one wanted to increase the priority, it was very simple, just pay more money.

Money makes the world go round, right?

“Three Spirit Coins will ensure that your friend receives the letter within three days. If you pay five, I can guarantee delivery by tomorrow!”

Inside a Taoist hall at the foot of the Green Lotus Mountain, where guests were received, an old Taoist priest stroked his beard with his left hand and raised his right hand, gesturing to Zhou Chun as he stated the fee with a faint smile.

From his manner, it was clear this was common practice.

Zhou Chun even suspected, no, he was certain.

If he didn’t pay, even if the messenger disciples were free, they wouldn’t deliver his letter anytime soon.

They would surely leave him hanging for at least seven or eight days!

Therefore, although he was quite displeased with this blatant extortion, he had no choice but to pinch his nose and accept it.

He immediately reached into his storage pouch at his waist and took out five Spirit Coins, handing them to the old Taoist: “Here are five Spirit Coins, please accept them, Taoist friend.”

Seeing this, the old Taoist quickly pocketed the Spirit Coins and then smiled contentedly, “Hehe, rest assured, Taoist friend, your letter will definitely reach the intended person tomorrow.”

“Thank you for your troubles, Taoist friend.”

Zhou Chun responded, then immediately picked an empty room from the rows outside the Taoist hall to temporarily stay in.

At least these Taoist priests had some conscience; they didn’t charge extra for the rooms, which were available for anyone to stay in as long as there were vacancies.

While waiting in the hall, Zhou Chun observed coldly as he saw quite a few people who were reluctant to part with three or five Spirit Coins, being nonchalantly dismissed and ushered out of the hall by the old Taoist or other receptionists, leaving them no choice but to come to the rooms here to stay for the time being.

It was, in fact, quite understandable for them not to part with their money easily.

The common cultivators of the Zhou Family, for example, when their family welfare and allowances were translated into Spirit Coins, only amounted to an income of three to five Spirit Coins per month.

Why should one’s hard-earned money from a month of labor be so easily taken by others?

The Green Lotus Temple assigned these outer sect disciples the task of passing messages, and they weren’t without their task rewards!

It’s a natural human sentiment to hold tightly onto hard-earned money.

Isn’t even Zhou Chun, whose pouch holds more than a thousand Spirit Coins, filled with dissatisfaction when parting with his money?

But paying really does work!

Zhou Chun waited for less than two days, and Liu Shiyun had already received the letter and hastened to see him.

Upon meeting, Liu Shiyun immediately showed contrition and bowed to him, saying, “The temple’s rules are complicated, and Taoist Friend Zhou has been kept waiting for a long time; I apologize to Taoist friend here.”

She obviously knew about the conduct of the message-receiving disciples here.

Zhou Chun naturally wouldn’t take out his anger on her, and immediately smiled, shaking his head as he said, “Since it’s a rule, how could I blame Taoist Friend Liu!”

“It’s good that Taoist Friend Zhou understands.”

A hint of relief appeared in Liu Shiyun’s eyes, and she then invited Zhou Chun, “My father has already prepared some light tea and simple food at home, please, Taoist Friend Zhou, accompany Shiyun to the cave dwelling for a chat.”

“Then Zhou somewhat ruefully accepts the gracious invitation.”

Zhou Chun gave a light smile and readily agreed.

Then, led by Liu Shiyun, he and her together controlled a flying artifact and flew into the Green Lotus Mountain Range.

Because she had her own master’s lineage, the place where Liu Shiyun now lived and practiced was not within the areas where the Green Lotus Temple cultivators congregated, but with her master on a Spirit Mountain within the Green Lotus Mountain Range.

Therefore, Zhou Chun couldn’t enter the true gate of the Green Lotus Temple and see the scenery within the great sect of Jingguo Country.

He and Liu Shiyun, who was controlling a ribbon-shaped magic artifact, flew around the edge of the Mountain Protection Array surrounding the sect’s gate, took a detour of one or two hundred li, and only then entered the Green Lotus Mountain Range which was not obstructed by arrays.

From a height of two to three hundred zhang in the air, Zhou Chun looked down and saw group after group of Demon Beasts hunting and playing in the continuous mountains below, and he could also clearly see some magical fruits and Spiritual Medicines gleaming with spiritual light being guarded by Demon Beasts.

What he saw didn’t seem like it was within the territory of a great sect’s gate in the Cultivation World, but more like it was in some wild and primitive land.

“The Demon Beasts inside the Green Lotus Mountain Range are deliberately bred by the Sect, mainly to hone the outer sect disciples,”

“Those Spiritual Medicines and magical fruits in the mountains are also recorded by the Sect, and they cannot be picked at will.”

“Each month the Sect will send people to check these.”

In front of Zhou Chun, the leading Liu Shiyun seemed afraid that he would be puzzled by these things and couldn’t help but softly explain them to him.

In fact, Zhou Chun knew about this; after all, the Sanjue Sect where he used to be was also like this, just not as grand as the Green Lotus Temple.

But he didn’t elaborate further and just pointed with curious fascination to an area not far ahead enshrouded in mist and spiritual light, asking, “Are those places veiled by fog and spiritual light from the arrays the cultivation caves of the Sect’s senior cultivators?”

“Yes, according to the rules of our Sect, as long as one is an elite disciple of the Sect, they may choose an unoccupied place in the mountains to build an independent cultivation cave,”

Liu Shiyun nodded lightly, revealing a look of envy as she answered.

The independent cultivation caves she spoke of were not like those of loose cultivators, crudely hollowed out with just a few stone chambers in the mountains.

Rather, they were true Cultivation Caves equipped with Spirit Cleansing Formations and Mountain Protection Arrays.

For example, the caves Zhou Chun now saw.

When these caves were selected for location, they would choose branches or nodes of spirit veins from the Green Lotus Mountain Range, essentially places where the spiritual energy was much denser than other areas.

Then they would invite the Sect’s Array Masters to lay down top-grade Mountain Protection Arrays and Spirit Cleansing Formations, creating a private cultivation space entirely their own.

These caves could even be inherited from master to disciple for generations, continuing on for hundreds or thousands of years!

Some caves with a long heritage, even if there was an interruption with nobody outstanding enough to inherit them, the Green Lotus Temple would not let them go to waste, and would specially select sufficiently exceptional sect disciples to inherit and continue the lineage.

Thus, after many years, there are now more than a hundred large and small independent cultivation caves still in operation within the Green Lotus Mountain Range.

In this way, after flying for several hundred li within the Green Lotus Mountain Range with Liu Shiyun, Zhou Chun finally arrived at the cave dwelling where her master cultivated.

This cave dwelling, named “Green Frost Cave,” had been established for five to six hundred years and was opened by the master of Liu Shiyun’s master’s master, with already three generations having passed down.

The dwelling centered on a Spirit Peak, encompassing the surrounding three auxiliary peaks and some streams, ravines, and forests. It covered roughly two-fifths the size of Jiufeng Ridge.

Liu Shiyun’s master, his disciples, and the cultivator relatives of the disciples all lived within this dwelling.

In total, this vast dwelling currently accommodated less than thirty cultivators!

Because of the use of a more efficient Spirit Cleansing Formation, the cultivators maintaining the operation of this dwelling needed a minimum of only five people.

At the same time, with a Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator in charge, even if they were attacked by several Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators, the dwelling’s Mountain Protection Array could hold up for a significant period, more than enough to wait for other Green Lotus Temple Cultivators to come to the rescue.

It can be said that such a dwelling is a cultivation family with a Sect-like scale!!