well!
After a long sigh, Zhao Sheng said with a worried look on his face: "Guiyuan Sect is in a precarious situation right now. It seems that it will become the target of public criticism! I have to find a way out!"
Zhou Zhongyu was very puzzled. "Brother Zhao, the Guiyuan Sect is currently the most powerful sect in Central Continent and is flourishing! Why are you so pessimistic about it?"
"Brother Zhou, have you ever heard of anemia?"
"I've heard a little bit about it!"
Zhao Sheng then explained in detail the relationship between blood deficiency and Guiyuan Sect, and did not hide the fact that the "Blood Soul Sutra" would shorten one's lifespan.
Zhou Zhongyu was shocked after hearing this. Only then did he understand why Zhao Sheng wanted to find a retreat in advance.
"Brother Zhao, have you also practiced the Blood Soul Sutra?" He finally couldn't help but ask.
Zhao Sheng smiled bitterly and nodded, "Otherwise, with my inferior aptitude of four spiritual roots, how could I have cultivated to the seventh level of foundation building?"
"Haha! To put it bluntly, it means exchanging my life for cultivation! I don't even know how many years I can live." Zhao Sheng lifted his completely white hair and smiled bitterly at himself.
"Brother Zhao." Zhou Zhongyu looked at his drinking buddy with great sympathy.
Zhao Sheng, on the other hand, was very casual and asked directly, "Brother Zhou, please be frank. Will your Zhou family accept this guest official?"
"Accept it! Of course I will! Brother Zhao is a great cultivator in the late stage of foundation building. My family's cultivation level is less than five fingers higher than Brother Zhao's. If I don't accept it, wouldn't I be a fool and an idiot!" Zhou Zhongyu quickly agreed.
"I still have some trivial matters to take care of. In half a month, I will go to Hongyangzhou to pay you a visit!"
"Then I'll simply not go back to Hongyangzhou for the time being. I'll wait for a month and then set off together with Brother Zhao." Zhou Zhongyu said with great surprise after hearing this.
Zhao Sheng smiled slightly when he saw this, but did not say anything to refuse the other party's kindness.
Half a month later, after Zhao Sheng finished dealing with the affairs of Fengyu Hall, he and Zhou Zhongyu took a shuttle and left the Moon Spring Oasis.
Hongyangzhou and Yueliangquan are about 8,000 miles apart.
Unlike the Moon Spring, which is only thirty miles in radius, Hongyangzhou is roughly oval in shape, with a diameter of more than a thousand miles. It has a flat terrain, fertile land, and the oasis has a population of over ten million.
Because it was the dry season and black sandstorms were raging, it took Zhao Sheng and his companions seventeen days to finally reach Hongyangzhou.
After entering Hongyang Island, the wind and sand suddenly decreased, and the speed of the flying boat quickly increased to the maximum speed. In just a quarter of an hour, it flew over five or six hundred miles and arrived at a bustling oasis city.
Zhoucheng is one of the rare above-ground cities in the Tianhuang Territory. Although the city area is not large, it has a population of nearly one million, and more importantly, most of the people there have the surname Zhou.
The Zhou family's ancestral home is located in the most central and prosperous area of Zhou City, and the residence occupies nearly half of the entire city.
Looking down from the sky, one can see a layer of khaki light covering the Zhou family's ancestral home. Occasionally, streaks of light would appear on the light shield, containing a faint and powerful pressure.
Driven by Zhou Zhongyu, the flying boat easily passed through the defensive light shield and landed in a large mansion in the building complex below.
After that, things went very smoothly!
With Zhou Zhongyu as the guarantor and Zhao Sheng's innocent identity.
The Zhou family was overjoyed at the voluntary joining of such a late foundation building cultivator!
After Zhao Sheng paid a visit to the head of the Zhou family, Zhou Yingze, he immediately became the chief guest official of the Zhou family. As for his spiritual salary and other treatment, there is no need to elaborate on it.
In addition, the Zhou family specially set aside a piece of land for Zhao Sheng around Zhou Zhongyu's mansion and built a luxurious mansion according to Zhao Sheng's opinion.
After becoming the chief guest official, Zhao Sheng instantly became a "hot commodity" in the eyes of the Zhou clan.
The Zhou family's foundation-building cultivators came to visit one after another, not to mention presenting various precious treasures. In their conversations, they either implicitly or explicitly expressed their intention to win over and show goodwill.
When it comes to "winning over" and showing goodwill, Zhao Sheng is very good at maneuvering, maneuvering between several major branches of the Zhou family. On the surface, he appears to be impartial and does not offend anyone, but he is secretly leaning towards the branch of the head of the family.
It didn't take long for Zhao Sheng to establish himself as a generous and kind person in the Zhou family.
Don't forget, Zhao Sheng is not only good at making wine, he is also a talisman master with superb skills.
In just half a year, he gave away no less than twenty second-level true talismans.
In addition, various unique spiritual wines were sent out like water. Not only all the foundation-building cultivators of the Zhou family were given gifts, but even some Qi-refining juniors received gifts from Zhao Sheng.
Faced with such a generous and approachable "guest official", the Zhou family felt like they had found a treasure.
Some people with dark thoughts even murmured secretly that the "chief guest official" had no children and would not live for many more years.
After he dies, all his belongings will become the Zhou family's.
Therefore, the Zhao Mansion soon became very lively, and those who were building their foundation in the Zhou family brought their younger generations to visit, hoping that Zhao Sheng would accept them as disciples.
This move was exactly what Zhao Sheng wanted, and he accepted everyone who came to him.
The Zhou family is not stupid.
After Zhao Sheng joined the Zhou family, the head of the family, Zhou Yingze, immediately secretly sent people to Xuantie City, Guiyuan Sect, Tianzhu Mountain and other places to inquire about Zhao Sheng's life experience.
Half a year later, the spies returned one after another to report, and the result was just as Zhao Sheng had said, their life stories were absolutely true.
Haha! Zhao Sheng has been planning to destroy the Zhou family for nearly sixty years. How could a mere spy possibly discover his flaws?
From then on, although the Zhou family could not completely trust him, they would not deliberately hide anything from Zhao Sheng except some family secrets.
Of course, Zhao Sheng was very sensible and kept his duty as a guest official. He would not deliberately inquire about the Zhou family's affairs.
However, his reputation as a wine lover and an even better wine giver became more and more solid in the Zhou family's hearts, and finally he and Zhou Zhongyu were called "the two wine-loving friends."
…
A year later,
Great Yong Dynasty, Yongjing.
On this day, the Wanbao Auction House was crowded with people. Looking around, they were all cultivators who were rarely seen in normal times, and there was not a single mortal.
Every year in the first month after the rainy season arrives in Tianhuang Territory, Yongjing will hold the annual Wanbao Trade Fair.
Every year, it attracts countless immortal cultivators to Yongjing to participate in this rare event in the Tianhuang Territory.
The Wanbao Auction House is the main venue of the Wanbao Trade Fair.
There are rumors...
"No need to spread rumors! This Wanbao Auction House is owned by the royal Mo family! The spiritual stones they earn every year are like mountains and seas!"
In an elegant room of a restaurant facing the street, Zhou Zhongyu looked at the bustling crowd below and said to Zhao Sheng with envy on his face.
Zhao Sheng chuckled and said calmly, "The Mo family has a Nascent Soul Patriarch in charge. The Wanbao Auction House is nothing to worry about. The entire Great Yong Dynasty belongs to the Mo family. We can never compare. Unless the Zhou family can produce a thousand-year-old Nascent Soul!"
Zhou Zhongyu rolled his eyes when he heard this, but did not continue the conversation.
Zhao Sheng glanced at him slightly, with an inexplicable light flashing in his eyes.
"By the way, why did the Patriarch insist on dragging me to Yongjing? Don't you know that I'm very busy?"
Hearing his elder brother's complaints, Zhou Zhongyu suddenly smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Zhao, you've spoiled your precious disciples to the point of utter despair! The patriarch couldn't stand it any more, so he brought you to Yongjing. And you can also be a hidden hand for the family."
"Hidden hand? What hidden hand? Is there something at home that is inconvenient to take pictures of?" Zhao Sheng asked with an inexplicable light flashing in his eyes and a slightly curious expression.
"That's right! Brother Zhao, please look!"
As he spoke, Zhou Zhongyu handed over a folded piece of paper.
Zhao Sheng took it, opened it, and saw four bold characters written on the first line: "Golden Ring Spirit Earthworm".