Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

```

He reported all the clues and suspicions to Zhou Mingde in their entirety.

Just like Zhou Daoyi's intense reaction when he first heard Zhou Chun's suspicion of Zhou Zhengkang as the suspect,

Zhou Mingde was also extremely shocked and incredulous when he heard that his most favored junior might be the clan traitor.

Especially since he had no direct impression of Zhou Chun, only knowing of the young clan member for his top ten finish in the youth competition of the five great cultivation clans and as the discoverer of the Red Shine Iron Mine.

Now, hearing Zhou Daoyi suspecting and determining Zhou Zhengkang to be the clan traitor based merely on the conjecture of a twenty-something junior, he too felt it was absurd and was infuriated.

"Just because there is a teapot in Zhengkang's study that had Honey Flower Tea brewed in it, you suspect him of betraying the clan and harming an elder, Daoyi, do you not find this matter absurd?"

"And what about that junior you mentioned, how do you know he is not slandering Zhengkang out of jealousy for his treatment within the clan, envious that Zhengkang is about to take the Foundation Establishment Pill and establish his foundation?"

"Without any actual evidence, you suspect a clan 'Foundation Establishment Seed' like this, is that reasonable?"

Zhou Mingde glared at Zhou Daoyi with a look of shock and anger, his tone very intense.

No wonder he was like this.

After all, Zhou Zhengkang, being the descendant of his own elder brother, had been cherished like his own future generation since childhood, and he had placed great expectations on him.

Now, to hear Zhou Daoyi suspect his most cherished junior of betraying the clan without any solid evidence, how could he not be utterly outraged?

But Zhou Daoyi, having had several 'two hours' of calm reflection in the "Central Peace Hall" beforehand, faced this expected reaction with a very composed demeanor.

Instead of rushing to argue, Zhou Daoyi met his gaze with a solemn face, saying, "Uncle Ancestor, please calm down first; I know how much you cherish Zhengkang. Over the years, my attention and support for him have been no less than yours, and you cannot deny this!"

On hearing this, Zhou Mingde suddenly opened his mouth but was unable to retort.

Twenty years ago, shortly after he had broken through to the Purple Mansion Phase, he was busy familiarizing himself with this realm, diligently practicing spells, and indeed had no time to take care of Zhou Zhengkang, only being able to ask Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi to take care of him on his behalf.

Later, after the Zhou Family took root in Jiufeng Ridge, he was fully aware of his own importance to the family, feeling a great sense of responsibility, so he continued to practice diligently and had no time to specifically care for Zhou Zhengkang.

Plus, by that time Zhou Zhengkang had already grown up, and it was enough for Mingde to occasionally bestow some treasures on him and impart some guidance.

Now, unable to refute his own words, Zhou Daoyi was set in his mindset and continued, "You said we have no evidence to suspect Zhengkang, which is clearly not correct."

"Zhengkang happened to leave the clan on the same day Jiahui left, and it was shortly after Jiahui had left that he came to me saying he wanted to go out to ease his mind, this timing of leisure is too coincidental!"

"And the time Zhengchun saw him coming out of the Spirit Beast Pavilion, wasn't that shortly after the Green Lotus Temple's disciple recruitment ended, and only a few days after you and I lifted the house arrest on him?"

"At that point in time, to go to the Spirit Beast Pavilion, was that also to pass the time leisurely?"

"Plus, the scent of Honey Flower Tea that Zhengchun smelled in his study, both you and I know that in a place like a study, tea is only drunk alone, and that teapot must have been freshly brewed with tea not more than a day old!"

"And that was just after Jiahui had gone missing for over ten days."

"You also said that you have not given him much Honey Flower Tea, and the Spirit Beast Pavilion only has Spirit Honey for sale, not directly selling Honey Flower Tea. So where did his Honey Flower Tea come from, can you explain it for him?"

"And one more thing, from the time he returned from his time out until today, he has asked me several times when he can get the Foundation Establishment Pill. If it wasn't because we suspected him before, I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but now I dare not disregard the motive behind his inquiries!"

It was clearly visible that with every point Zhou Daoyi made, Zhou Mingde's expression darkened, and his anger waned.

By the time Zhou Daoyi finished synthesizing all the intelligence, the anger on Zhou Mingde's face had almost completely dissipated.

Zhou Daoyi's words were not yet done, as he quickly continued, "I believe I understand Zhengkang quite well. He has good talent and aptitude, but because of this, it has fostered his pride. He has always believed that his future achievement will certainly not be limited to my current realm and may not even be limited to the Purple Mansion Phase!"

"Of course, there's nothing wrong with that. If a young person doesn't have aspirations, they can't really be called young. Who hasn't been overly ambitious in their youth?"

"But you know, uncle ancestor, the setback he received from us preventing him from joining the Green Lotus Temple was great, he even felt we were obstructing his path!"

"Certainly, both you and I know, once he establishes his foundation and gradually understands how difficult it is to open the Purple Mansion and how rare spiritual objects that are useful to those in the Foundation Establishment Stage are, he will naturally come to terms with these things. So we didn't take his immature thoughts too seriously."

At this point, Zhou Daoyi couldn't help but give a bitter smile and a deep sigh, "But now, it looks like the foolish acts you and I would not believe him capable of doing, he might indeed be capable of! Things that normal people would not do, there will always be abnormal people who do them!"

```