From tedious lessons on common cultivation knowledge to the techniques of navigating the world and dealing with people.
Whenever he wanted to slack off and skip class, his father would always say that once he turned six and had his spirit root tested, he would enter the Ten Directions Sect to cultivate.
By then, it would be too late to receive a systematic education in these matters.
He understood what his father was saying, but in his heart, he didn't care.
His father was an elder of the North Long Peak in the Ten Directions Sect, a high-ranking cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage.
His elder brother, Zhou Mao, possessed the talent of high-grade dual spirit roots. At only seventy-nine years old, he had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage and had hope of forming a core within a hundred years.
Once he turned six and finished testing his spirit root, he could be like his brother—entering North Long Peak and serving under his father.
At that time, with his father, the family head, protecting him in the Zhou family, and his brother, a progeny disciple, looking after him in the Ten Directions Sect, plus the sect itself as his backing, who would dare to bully him?
He heard from his second uncle that cultivation was arduous.
Looking at his father and brother, if they weren't busy with family or sect affairs, they were either meditating, cultivating, or out on trials. There was never a moment of rest.
After a cursory observation, he deeply agreed and praised his second uncle's insight.
He decided then and there that he had to make the most of the years before he turned six, while he didn't have to cultivate, and enjoy himself thoroughly.
Who would have thought that while he was still planning how to sneak out of the Zhou Manor to play for a day with a theatrical troupe in the mortal dwellings of Conghe City...
Before he could implement his plan, his father returned heavily injured. He barely had time to say a few words to him, only managing to entrust the family head's seal to his brother, Zhou Mao, before entering the family's forbidden area to go into secluded cultivation.
The heavy responsibility of the family suddenly fell onto the shoulders of Zhou Mao, who was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage.
Misfortunes never come singly; when it rains, it pours.
When the tiger is away, the monkeys reign supreme.
Without his father, a late Nascent Soul cultivator, to suppress them, the highest-ranking member of the Zhou family's direct line was his second uncle, who was at the middle Golden Core stage.
Zhou Fei never expected that the second uncle, who usually showed him so much care and affection, would take advantage of his father's grave injury to seize power in the family.
To secure that power, he even intended to drive the two brothers to their deaths.
It just so happened that when the Ten Directions Sect was founded, it was led by great families and assisted by rogue cultivators working together.
To maintain the balance between the families and the sect, the founding patriarchs established the sect's ancestral precepts.
The sect must not interfere in the internal affairs of the families, and the families must not allow their internal affairs to interfere with the development of the sect.
Below this were several supplementary sect regulations.
Because of these ancestral precepts, since the second uncle's methods against them left no traces and there was no evidence, they couldn't even seek protection from the sect's Enforcement Hall.
In the early days of the Zhou family's rise, there had been an incident where a collateral branch seized power, causing internal strife.
That incident had a massive impact on the family. Powerful cultivators and promising juniors died or were crippled, to the point where the family was nearly wiped out and its lineage severed.
It was only because of a brilliant talent from the direct line who rose powerfully during that chaos and stabilized the situation single-handedly that the Zhou family managed to survive.
The Shocking Thunder Platform was also something he had refined himself.
Later, upon his ascension, to prevent such an event from happening again, he used a secret technique to establish a bloodline curse for the family—
First: Under no circumstances shall a collateral branch seize power from the direct line.
Second: Family resources shall be distributed among the younger generation, whether from collateral branches or the direct line, based on their cultivation aptitude.
In the cultivation world, strength is respected. Most cultivators who found sects or develop families do so, in the end, for resources.
The Zhou family's past internal strife was actually caused by the long-term unfair distribution of resources between the collateral branches and the direct line.
This ancestor established the bloodline curse. The first rule forcibly eliminated the possibility of a collateral branch seizing power, allowing the Zhou family to develop steadily.
The second rule completely solved the problem of unfair resource distribution, fundamentally eliminating the possibility of internal strife.
Given the Zhou family's situation at the time, this bloodline curse was extremely beneficial to their development.
However, even the best-laid plans have a flaw. That ancestor never imagined that years later, a member of the Zhou family's direct line like the second uncle would emerge—someone who loved power more than longevity and who would seize the perfect opportunity to nearly succeed in a coup.
In the Zhou family, the collateral branches followed the instructions of the direct line for all matters, large and small.
Because of this bloodline curse, as long as the family resources were distributed fairly and the direct line's management didn't show signs of chaos, the collateral branches could not intervene, even if the direct line fought until the heavens collapsed.
It was precisely because of the Ten Directions Sect's ancestral precepts and the Zhou family's bloodline curse that Zhou Fei and Zhou Mao were forced into such a difficult struggle for survival.
At that time, the five-year-old Zhou Fei couldn't see through all of this. He only knew that ever since his father was heavily injured and went into seclusion, his entire life had changed.
It became full of crises and dangerous situations.
That change lasted for seventeen years.
In all these years, every time they encountered danger, it was his brother who pulled him back, protecting him with a strength that wasn't even considered powerful.
He had once been unable to accept reality, crying, throwing tantrums, and harboring resentment in his brother's arms.
He had also collapsed in his brother's arms after suffering countless grievances and escaping death several times.
Later, he grew from a carefree child into a venomous snake, skilled in calculation and adept at lurking in the shadows.
He was finally able to reach out from under his brother's wing and lend a helping hand.
Since his father's accident when he was five, his brother had raised him single-handedly.
His brother loved him and protected him; in his heart, he held his brother in the highest esteem.
Being able to help his brother brought him immense joy.
But now, his brother was telling him that it was his own incompetence and that he hadn't taken good care of him.
How could that be?
It wasn't like that!
He suddenly clenched his fists, turning his head to stare intently into Zhou Mao's eyes, his own rims turning red.
"Brother..."
Meeting his bloodshot eyes, Zhou Mao's heart trembled.
He reached out and ruffled Zhou Fei's hair, just as he had when Zhou Fei was a child, interrupting him.
"Fei'er, listen to me."
Zhou Mao spoke slowly, "You have already done very well to reach this point."
"However, a large carriage without a crossbar, a small carriage without a yoke pin—for a person to stand in this world, they cannot escape the word 'integrity'."
At this point, Zhou Mao paused, carefully observing Zhou Fei's expression.
Seeing that he was listening, he continued, "You made an agreement with those five children to exchange the Shocking Thunder Platform for their help."
"Since both sides agreed in advance and they fulfilled their part of the deal as promised, you should also fulfill the agreement."
"This is the practice of integrity."
Zhou Mao's words didn't carry any intense emotion; he simply analyzed it for him word by word.
Zhou Fei was no longer a young child. He hadn't completely forgotten the family's teachings from his youth; he actually understood everything his brother was saying.
It was just that... he hadn't done it.
"I know you understand all this."
"It's just that over these years, calculating has already become your habit, a part of your life—as natural as meditating to absorb spirit energy."
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