"You should head back first! Be safe on the road!"

Outside the Welcoming Hall, Jiang Chen softly cautioned Yan Hu and the others.

"Okay!"

"Farewell to Jincheng!"

After bidding farewell to Jiang Chen, Yan Hu, Qingyuan Yingzi, Li Tianchong, Wang Zongming, and Song Wanqiu left the Yue Family.

After seeing off the guests, Leng Ming held back Zhou Liecheng, and Li Tianchong detained the Zhou Family Patriarch, leaving everyone in the Zhou Family on the square to watch Leng Ming and Zhou Liecheng spar.

Jiang Chen and the others took the opportunity to go to Yue Shaoting's attic.

"Young Jiang, did something happen?" As soon as they sat down, Old Master Tang looked at Jiang Chen with a solemn expression.

Jiang Chen nodded slightly and swept a glance over everyone before saying gravely, "Next month, the Zhou Family is holding an ancestral ceremony. Who among us will attend?"

"The Zhou Family's ancestral ceremony?" The crowd was puzzled at first, then shook their heads one after another.

Old Master Tang explained quietly, "The Zhou Family belongs to the Martial Arts Forces of Jiangbei, and they are also a family power. When the Zhou Family holds an ancestral ceremony, only the hidden families of Jiangbei and some Martial Arts Families from the northwest would attend, not even the people from the Six Great Sects of Jiangbei, so it's even less likely for us to go."

"I see!" Jiang Chen frowned slightly.

"Mr. Jiang, they really are problematic. At the banquet, I felt several intents to kill directed at you. They came from their table!" Yue Shaoting spoke heavily.

"What? The Zhou Family wants to kill Young Jiang?!"

"Did the Zhou Family invite Mr. Jiang to the ancestral ceremony just to kill him?"

"These bastards, they dare!"

Old Master Tang and the others exclaimed in surprise. They had just been through an alliance and then celebrated Elder Yue's birthday. They hadn't expected anyone to reveal murderous intentions at such a banquet, so they hadn't noticed.

"I felt it too."

Jiang Chen spoke softly, "However, it wasn't the Zhou Family members, but from four of their offered vassals."

Lou Family Patriarch raised his eyebrows. "Aren't they still from the Zhou Family?"

"No!"

Jiang Chen shook his head slightly, "Don't you find it odd? You all came to celebrate Elder Yue's birthday bringing your own direct family members, but the Zhou Family, though many direct descendants from four generations came, brought four vassals along. Isn't that too unreasonable?"

"No, Mr. Jiang, you do not know. The Zhou Family is different from our other families. They are controlled jointly by the Zhou Family people and their vassal team!" Yue Shaoting explained softly.

"Vassal team?" Jiang Chen was taken aback and looked at Yue Shaoting with surprise.

Yue Shaoting patiently continued, "Mr. Jiang, are you aware of the division of Martial Arts Ranks?"

"Martial Arts Rank divisions? You mean ordinary Martial Arts, Ancient Martial Arts, and Soul Martial Arts?" Jiang Chen guessed.

"Correct!"

Yue Shaoting nodded, "The Zhou Family are descendants of the Zhou Dynasty, the family of King Wen of Zhou, who killed King Zhou of Shang and almost wiped out Soul Martial Arts!"

"What? The Zhou Family is also the ruling family of a dynasty?!"

Jiang Chen was startled and glanced reflexively at Pu Liang.

Pu Liang continued softly, "I will explain. There is likely no one more familiar with the history of the Zhou Family than our Huangluo Clan, after all, every ruler's family has felt the need to strictly guard against the Zhou Family!"

"Strictly guard against the Zhou Family?" Jiang Chen looked puzzledly at Pu Liang.

Pu Liang nodded slightly, "Yes, strictly guard! In the past, the Zhou Family destroyed all the Soul Martial Arts they could find, but they themselves retained numerous extraordinary Soul Martial Arts they had selected."

"When the rule of the Zhou Family was ended, the dynastic successors paid a heavy price. It can be said that the victory was piled up by lives lost. Ten thousand lions besieging a hundred or so of the Zhou Family resulted in the Zhou Family nearly annihilating their attackers but still not emerging victorious."

"In the end, a mysterious person appeared, who stopped the Zhou Family and persuaded them to willingly give up their rule. In fact, the Zhou Family knew that they had lost the people's hearts and that a change of dynasty was inevitable, and since they couldn't defeat the mysterious person, they withdrew to the northwest."

"The successor ruler then felt Threatened by the power of Soul Martial Arts, launched another purge of Soul Warriors nationwide, and burned all the Soul Martial Arts techniques stored in the Zhou Family's vaults, leaving only the Purple Qi Donglai Secret, a cultivation technique reserved for the ruler's family, the one we in the Huangluo Clan practice now. Later…"

Through Pu Liang's narration, Jiang Chen learned the history of the northwest Zhou Family.

The Zhou Family's withdrawal was regarded as a hidden danger by the ruling families, so each ruling family kept a strict watch on the Zhou Family, always ready to seize the opportunity to eliminate them!

At the time, the Zhou Family was powerful and withdrew only because they had lost the people's trust. In terms of strength, they were not inferior to the ruling families.

Until a thousand years ago when the Blood Venerate incident erupted, the Zhou Family led the Martial Arts Forces of the northwest in a bloody battle. When the Blood Venerate disappeared, and the Blood Blade Sect scattered, the Zhou Family also suffered heavy losses, and as the leading Martial Arts Force of the northwest, they nearly got wiped out by the Blood Venerate.

After the Blood Venerate incident, the ruling families saw an opportunity to destroy the Zhou Family. Sensing danger, the Zhou Family had to resort to using Soul Martial Arts to attract some people from the Martial Arts Forces to become Zhou Family vassals and protect the Zhou Family.

Still, a war broke out, and the entire Martial Arts policy of the northwest got involved in that battle.

That battle was like a mini-siege of the Blood Blade Sect, except the target was the Zhou Family, and the besiegers were the ruling families at the time.

When other Martial Arts Forces received the news and came to support, the Zhou Family had already been breached, its vaults burnt down, and all the Martial Arts manuals incinerated. By then, the Zhou Family's vassals were slain, and the only survivors were a few children aged six or seven.

Just as the ruling families were about to ignore the other Martial Arts Forces and go for total eradication, the descendants of the same mysterious person who had persuaded the Zhou Family to relinquish power appeared.

The appearance of this descendant rallied the Martial Arts Forces in a fervor, forcing the ruling families to abandon their plan for extermination.

Later, this person raised the Zhou Family's children, arranged their ancestral Soul Martial Arts based on the children's descriptions, and taught them the techniques.

When the children grew up wanting to restore the Zhou Family, the mysterious person's descendant declared they wouldn't help and told them to rely on themselves. Then, the descendant vanished.

The young members of the Zhou Family conferred and, following their elders' method, organized a simplified version of their ancestral Soul Martial Arts. Using this simplified version, they attracted a group of people and established the vassal team.

With the help of the vassal team, they regained control of the northwest Martial Dao World, a lineage that continues to this day.

Such is the Zhou Family of today!

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