Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

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Before departing, after a tender farewell with his wife and child who had come to see him off, Zhou Zhengyong also whispered to Zhou Chun, "Thirteenth brother, I am leaving. If anything truly happens to me, please take good care of Lan'er and help Yujiao to raise him into adulthood."

Hearing this, Zhou Chun's heart sank, and he couldn't help but think of some unpleasant possibilities.

Therefore, he promptly said with earnest, "Brother Yong, don't think like that. You must come back in one piece to take care of them!"

After saying that, he also whispered reassuringly, "Don't worry, as long as I am still in the family, I will never let your wife and nephew suffer at the hands of others!"

"Good, with those words from you, thirteenth brother, I can leave with peace of mind!"

Zhou Zhengyong nodded contentedly and left without any worries.

This time, because Zhou Chun stayed back in the family, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi, upon his departure, handed over all family affairs to him to handle, essentially appointing him as Acting Clan Leader in advance.

This was also his final test!

If he performed well as Acting Clan Leader, then once he succeeded in his Foundation Establishment, Zhou Daoyi would be able to step back into a secondary role, focus on enhancing his cultivation level, and strive for the Purple Mansion.

Zhou Chun was acutely aware of this, so after taking on the responsibilities of Acting Clan Leader, he worked diligently and cautiously, treading on thin ice, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

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This was different from his previous role as the clan's secretary.

Although the secretary was involved in handling family affairs, he mostly dealt with minor matters or those with predefined resolutions.

As Acting Clan Leader, apart from the "acting" part, indicating a non-permanent position, the power and duties were nearly identical to those of the Clan Leader.

This meant that he alone would have to make decisions on significant diplomatic issues with other powers.

A mistake in such matters could lead to a lack of merit or, worse, a grave error.

Therefore, he had no choice but to be extremely cautious and careful.

"Nephew Zhengchun, an associate of mine from the He Family who gets along well with me has recently come to visit. He says he's found a treasure guarded by a swarm of Demon Insects and wants to ask for my help. Could you approve half a month's leave for me?"

One day, while Zhou Chun was at work in the Central Peace Hall, a Family Elder came to see him and explained his request.

Upon hearing the Elder's purpose, Zhou Chun immediately recalled this elder's situation and quickly had an idea.

He said right away, "Uncle Twenty-Three, as an elite clan member, the rules allow you two months of personal leave per year. If you take half a month's leave now, you will have less than ten days left for this year."

The person in question, hearing this, immediately replied, "Of course, I'm well aware of that. So, do you grant me permission, Nephew?"

"Hmm, Uncle Twenty-Three, go ahead with peace of mind, but please take extra care of your safety."

Zhou Chun nodded and immediately issued a travel permit for the guard at the mountain gate to inspect.

According to the Zhou Family's rules, other than the Clan Leader and Elders, all clan members, for personal or official reasons, must report to the Clan Leader before leaving and get a travel document.

Otherwise, not only will the cultivator who leaves without permission be severely punished, but also the clan member who allowed it will share the blame.

This rule was necessary. Without it, if a clan member went missing outside, nobody would know where they had gone or how they disappeared.

Moreover, it helped to assert the authority of the Clan Leader.

Just like now, with Zhou Chun as the Acting Clan Leader, he held such power, and every elder who came to see him had to be polite and dared not show any pride.

Otherwise, he could completely deny them the ability to leave the family.

One must understand that the so-called rules about leave were just regular stipulations, similar to the weekend days off he should have had in his previous life.

But in reality, the Clan Leader could always use reasons such as insufficient manpower or the need for a significant number of people for the family's security to prevent anyone from leaving.

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Perhaps you need to be away for ten days, but I only grant you three, if you overstay, you will be punished for absence without leave, with minor offenses incurring double the time owed in fines, and major offenses resulting in the loss of a year's welfare offerings.

Therefore, unless one has become a Family Elder, as a Family Cultivator, one cannot afford to offend the Clan Leader!

Issuing documents for Clan Members to leave the sect is but one of the daily tasks of the Clan Leader, in addition to hearing reports from various peaks and halls regarding their businesses.

For instance, Hundred Medicines Peak recently plans what Elixirs to refine, how much Spiritual Medicine will be used, how many Elixirs are expected to be produced, and what auxiliary ingredients the family needs to help search for and purchase.

For instance, a certain Demon Beast in the Beast Garden has given birth to new offspring, and we can see which Clan Members are willing to form a contract, or if a Demon Beast has died unexpectedly, how it died.

For example, how many Loose Cultivators the Cultivation Room receives every ten days, the income generated, and how many Loose Cultivators wish to guard the "Spirit Cleansing Pavilion" for the Zhou Family in lieu of paying their debts, and so on.

All these various major and minor matters must be understood and accounted for by the Clan Leader.

Based on Zhou Chun's personal experience, the role of the Clan Leader within the family is comparable to that of an entire feudal dynasty's cabinet, where everything must be clearly understood to avoid any significant oversights.

Thus, a large area inside Central Peace Hall is devoted to storing various documents and records, to facilitate the Clan Leader's timely review and comparison.

Of course, since a family's population and assets are limited, even if the Clan Leader needs to manage so many different affairs, it won't be too much to handle, just a bit busy.

However, Zhou Chun felt that having the Clan Leader manage all these affairs was unnecessary, a waste of the Clan Leader's time, and it also deprived many Clan Members who wanted to manage affairs from feeling involved, hindering the cultivation of more management personnel.

Especially as the Zhou Family continued to grow stronger, with an increasing population and assets, the matters involved would only become more complex, and it would be difficult for a single person to manage everything efficiently.

Therefore, after half a month as the Acting Clan Leader, he had the idea of reforming the administrative system.

However, such thoughts of reform were just that for now; he definitely wouldn't implement them immediately, nor would he rush to mention them.

Any sweeping reform of the family's administrative structure would have to wait until after his Foundation Establishment was successful, and he truly began to take over the role of Clan Leader from Zhou Daoyi.

For now, it was a matter of thinking about which areas needed change and which did not.

These concerns were not too worrisome.

The knowledge accumulated from his past life ensured that any reforms he proposed in this regard would be free of significant errors.

But what Zhou Chun did not expect was that fifty days into his role as the Acting Clan Leader, a major troubling incident presented a challenge to him.

It turned out that on this day, news rapidly spread amongst the Cultivation families of Lanzhou.

It was an announcement from the Green Lotus Temple, claiming that at least one Protector of Dragon Transformation Sect with several Missionary Envoys and numerous Sect Members had infiltrated Lanzhou and Lingzhou, aiming to harass and sabotage their rear areas and strike a blow to the morale of the Cultivators at the frontlines in Yunzhou.

Because it was unknown how long these Dragon Transformation Sect individuals had already been in Lanzhou, or how many there were,

The Green Lotus Temple could only inform the Lanzhou Cultivation families to be on high alert, reduce outdoor activities, and avoid giving the enemy an opportunity to attack.

But while the announcement made it sound simple, putting it into practice was far from easy.

Now, due to the large number of Cultivators who had fled from Yunzhou, the Cultivation families of Lanzhou had all made a considerable profit from the war.

If they ceased outdoor activities and shut themselves away in seclusion now, the loss would be significant.

The key issue is that Lanzhou was not currently a war front, and the enemy had only a small detachment there.

If the entire region's Cultivation families entered seclusion because of this small enemy detachment's infiltration, it could lead to overreacting and play right into the hands of the Dragon Transformation Sect detachment.

Yet if they did not enter seclusion, no one could guarantee their family would not become the target of this infiltrating detachment from the Dragon Transformation Sect.

"Now that the Clan Leader is not here, and I am serving as Acting Clan Leader, I have called upon the Elders today to discuss this matter and seek your opinions before asking for the Supreme Elder to make a final decision,"

Inside Central Peace Hall, Zhou Chun, aware of the gravity of the situation, immediately summoned the three Family Elders of the clan for a collective discussion.