Chapter 149

“Outside the door?” Xu Xiao thought deeply. After thinking about it, he understood why Ziyan did this, and he nodded approvingly, “looks like you already know it?”

“We were just guessing. We only asked for a little news in the city. The Yuan family also sent a few cultivators of Qi condensation to chase us, but I felt like they weren’t doing it seriously, it’s like they just did it out of an order and they returned pretty soon.” After pausing for a while, he continued, “father, have you found the traitor at home yet?”

Xu Xiao sneered, “I caught two, both were casual cultivators recruited last year. It seems that since the Yuan family arrived Mo Xin city, it hadn’t planned to act with manners. It started creating troubles soon after they were here.”

“Only two?” Xu Ziyan was surprised, “then what’s up with that mineral vein? It’s an expensive one, those casual cultivators wouldn’t have known, right?”

Xu Xiao tightly frowned again, “that’s what I’m worried about, and I already have someone in mind, but that person has been in the Xu family for many years, and many of their descendants have become part of the family too. If we are at loss, what benefits can he get?”

Xu Ziyan blinked. Neither the memory of his original body nor the novel mentioned about this, and he knew nothing about it. Also, he was wondering if he was the one causing the incident – the result would be unpredictable if so, and if it wasn’t, then the Xu family would surely win!

After all, the original Xu family was destroyed in the hands of the blood demon, Xu Zirong. In this life, his speed in cultivation was much faster than that in his previous life, but he had just reached the middle stage of Qi condensation, it didn’t seem possible if he wanted to kill the whole Xu family…

In other words, according to normal development, the Xu family seemed to be able to continue for many years, and it could only think of appropriate solutions when problems occurred.

Xu Ziyan spread his hands in his heart. The Yuan family would need at least two cultivators above the level of golden core if they wanted to create troubles with the Xu family. Xu Xiao was a cultivator at the early stage of golden core, and the elder Luo guarding the Scripture Pavilion was one who had reached the middle stage of golden core.

On the surface, there seemed to be only two cultivators of golden core in the Xu family, but any families who could continue for so long must have some treasures – it might be a hidden elder or some powerful arrays, even a killing talisman. All in all, without 3 cultivators above the stage of golden core, it’d be entirely impossible to kill the Xu family.

Xu Xiao was lost for a while because of what Xu Ziyan had mentioned just now. After he stopped thinking about it, he then explained to Xu Ziyan about the mineral veins.

The Xu family’s mineral veins were actually discovered a long time ago, but they had not been mined for various reasons.

Now that Xu Ziyan had joined the Liu Guang sect and he’d even become a disciple of a cultivator of nascent soul, Xu Xiao naturally had to consider for his son.

The Xu family didn’t really have a strong background and there weren’t any outstanding treasures either. The only thing that the Xu family could provide to Xu Ziyan would be financial resources.

Xu Xiao understood very well that the higher Xu Ziyan’s level of cultivation was, the higher the status of the Xu family would become. There were fundamental differences between a family with a cultivator of golden core and one with a cultivator of nascent soul.

The treasures of the family secret room would only be used to after the family was destroyed, and they couldn’t be moved so easily. Xu Xiao thought for a while and suddenly thought of the mineral veins in the iron forest that had been ignored for long.

Logically, there shouldn’t be a big argument created for a mineral vein, as a rock of the iron forest wasn’t considered a precious treasure. However, the Xu family had found a hidden mineral vein of essence rock of iron forest, and although the two were similar stuff, their prices were very different.

If this rock from iron forest was grounded into powder, it’d be a really good neutralizer. It could increase some power whether it’s for refining Qi or medicine. If one added a bit of the powder when drawing talisman or arrays, it would make them more stable as well.

Sadly, since it didn’t have a tremendous effect, and it almost had no effects when being compared to high-level medicine and weapons, most of the people using rock powder of iron forest were low-level cultivators.

But the essence rock of iron forest was an entirely different matter. Although its ingredient was the same, its density was a thousand times higher than that of a rock of iron forest. Strangely, no matter how one tried to refine a usual rock of iron forest, he could never turn it into the rock essence of iron forest. Many people who were experts in refining weapons were confused by this.

In any case, the powder of essence rock could be considered as a high-level medicine. In many refining processes of high-level medicine and weapons, the rate of failure usually increased if they were without this powder.

It’s naturally understandable that such a worthy mineral vein interested the Yuan family.

After the incident was revealed at the beginning, Xu Xiao was furious, but the problem still had to be solved. He considered whether to share this vein with the Yuan family, but he did not expect that the Yuan family had such a big appetite. Not only would they have to dominate this vein, but they also wanted to expel the Xu family regardless of how many years they had been living in Mo Xin city.

Of course Xu Xiao wouldn’t accept it, so he fought against Yuan family several times in the city. If this Yuan family wanted to run the city, they’d have to take care of the residents living inside. When the two families fought, the cultivators of the Xu family had to take care of the residents, and perhaps that’s why they lost.

Xu Ziyan frowned slightly, but he was not busy discussing this issue with his father. Ziyan and Jiang Ying were still waiting outside, and he was feeling a certain kind of anxiety in his heart – to a point where he would almost freak out.

Xu Ziyan silently supported his forehead and he could imagine how agitated Xu Zirong would feel. If he still stayed inside, then Xu Zirong would storm in at any moment.

“Ahem, father, Zirong and the others are still outside, I shall bring them in first.”

“Alright, go. Hey, this is for you.” Xu Xiao handed over two jade medals, “these are the two tokens to enter the big array of the Xu house, keep it well.”

“The big array?” Xu Ziyan was startled, as he hadn’t discovered any big arrays when he entered, also…he had already mentioned that there were four of them, so what did his father mean by “two tokens”?

Xu Xiao glared at him, “this big array was set up by the ancestors of the Xu family. People with the blood of the Xu family can of course enter and leave freely. Neither you nor Zirong need any of these. And this array is controlled by elder Luo. You think that you could enter this courtyard without the help of elder Luo?”

Xu Ziyan turned his face silently – as expected, he really couldn’t underestimate anyone. He had been thinking that the Xu family was kind of an outcast in the Xuan Yu realm, but it turned out that there’s such a powerful array hidden in the house.

At the beginning, his Little Square had even hidden its identity from a demon cultivator of nascent soul, but it was discovered by this array.

It seems that in the future, he should be more careful when cultivating. If anything went wrong, he might not be able to save himself.

He gave the tokens to Jiang Ying and Fang Tianrui, also told them about the big array, then turned his head and looked at Xu Zirong carefully.

Xu Zirong frowned slightly when he heard the existence of the big array, but when he saw his brother look at him, he immediately showed a smile, “I’m fine, brother. Don’t worry.”

Xu Ziyan nodded and led them to leap over a wall from a corner. When Jiang Ying and others had all passed by, Xu Zirong lowered his face slightly and looked at the extremely ordinary stone wall with a strange look.

He never knew about this big array of the Xu family, and it even relied on blood to differentiate between enemies and friends. He knew that he had no blood relations with Xu Xiao, but he wasn’t sure what method his mother had used back then, making Xu Xiao believe that Xu Zirong was indeed his son. Unfortunately, the big array wouldn’t be so easy to lie to.

Xu Zirong’s face darkened, and he didn’t know what to do when facing the invisible array.

With his proficiency in the arrays, he didn’t even notice a trace at all. From this point alone, anyone who had set this array was definitely a number one in arrays. That person’s level of cultivation and knowledge in arrays clearly surpassed him, and he wasn’t sure if he could pass through.

“Zirong, what are you doing?” Xu Ziyan turned over and jumped out of the wall again. He had already arranged Jiang Ying and Fang Tianrui to jump through, but he hadn’t seen Xu Zirong who was supposed to follow. Then, he saw that Zirong hadn’t followed them, making him sort of speechless.

“It’s okay…” Xu Zirong frowned, did he want to tell his brother that they weren’t really brothers? And what differences could that make? Even if his brother knew, he still couldn’t solve the problem of the big array, and he’d still be expelled.

It’s not like he could steal anyone’s tokens either, but if he just stormed in, it’d be just like telling Xu Xiao that he’s not really his son.

Based on his understanding of Xu Xiao, he’s already so cold to Xu Zirong when he thought that he’s a son, so what would happen if he found out that Xu Zirong was actually born by his wife and another man? It’d be like slapping directly on his face, and he’d try to kill Xu Zirong at all costs to make this insult disappear.

Xu Zirong was in a dilemma. He didn’t mind destroying his relationship with Xu Xiao, but he had to consider his brother’s feelings as well.

“Why are you still in a daze?!” Xu Ziyan knocked on Zirong’s head. He thought that Xu Zirong couldn’t concentrate, and it’s because he had such complicated feelings towards the Xu family, that’s why out of consideration, he carried Zirong’s waist and jumped over the wall.

Xu Zirong, “…”

Xu Zirong didn’t even have time to react, and he’s already inside the courtyard. He looked at the familiar environment and was completely confused…

Why didn’t the big array react? Was Xu Xiao bluffing? That’s impossible, even if he wanted to lie, he wouldn’t do that to Xu Ziyan, his ideal target of inheritance, right?

“Well, why are you still in a daze now that you’re here already?” Xu Ziyan couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Xu Zirong not concentrating twice.

“Ah? It’s nothing.” Xu Zirong tried to focus. Although he didn’t understand what was happening, it wasn’t really a bad thing.

He knocked on Zirong’s head affectionately, and he wanted to take Xu Zirong to Xu Xiao’s study room.

However, Xu Zirong was still a bit worried at this time, as he was afraid of getting rejected by Xu Xiao.

Xu Ziyan didn’t care about it much. He knew that Zirong had deep issues with Xu Xiao, but he didn’t want to ask for too much as long as Xu Zirong was not aiming at killing Xu Xiao…

After returning to Xu Xiao’s study room, Xu Ziyan discussed the recent situation with Xu Xiao. As Xu Ziyan just came back, Xu Xiao talked most of the time. After a while, he noticed something wrong.

“Judging from the attitude of the Yuan Family, they don’t seem to want to control Mo Xin city. Otherwise, why don’t they care about the wellbeing of the citizens there?”

Xu Xiao paused, “I also had this suspicion, but they have forced our Xu family too much. If they didn’t want to force us to leave, there’s no reason for them to struggle this much with us.”

Xu Ziyan frowned. If it was really because of interest, when the other party found that the danger he faced far exceeded the benefits he could obtain, he would definitely retreat as long as he was not too stupid.

But now the Yuan Family felt completely different to him. According to Xu Xiao’s description, the Yuan Family seemed to want to fight the Xu Family to the end, regardless of any loss there might be.

This was totally unbelievable in Xu Ziyan’s eyes. No matter how valuable the mineral vein was, it would not be more important than the continuation of the family. If the young generation in your family was gone, what inheritance could you expect?

No sensible patriarch would make such a decision, and any sensible family could not tolerate their patriarch to make such a crazy decision.

No matter how impossible it was, this thing happened anyway, the only reason was that – whoever gave the order would be someone that they couldn’t resist!

There was only one such person in the Yuan family, and that was the legendary ancestor of the Yuan family, who’d reached the late stage of golden core!

“The ancestor of the Yuan family?” When Xu Ziyan said his thoughts, Xu Xiao frowned, “then what does he want exactly?”

It is said that the ancestors of the Yuan family had not appeared in front of the tribesmen for many years. Such a cultivator of half nascent soul should be focusing on breaking through, as someone of golden core only had a lifespan of no more than a few hundred years, and if this ancestor of golden core still didn’t break through, he might die then.

“Could it be…” Xu Ziyan’s brows twisted, because he suddenly remembered a plot in that novel.

Bai Hua met a cultivator of golden core in the secret realm. At that time, Bai Hua was also a cultivator of golden core, and the two had an equal status. At the beginning, the old man was very friendly, and Bai Hua acted very respectfully too. Then, when the two were fighting together against a monster of late stage of golden core, Bai Hua got injured and the old man saw some blood of Bai Hua, then he began to act weirdly.

When they faced another danger again, this old man suddenly changed and deliberately hurt Bai Hua. However, he didn’t kill Bai Hua instantly, but he started explaining why he’d do that…

It turned out that Bai Hua was this old man’s grand-grand-grandson…and this old man came to this secret realm as his life was about to come to an end, and he was forced to look for opportunities in this secret realm.

If that was the case, then their cooperation would be beneficial to each other. However, this old man saw a secret spell in a hidden tomb, which was about refining one’s blood relative to break through the current level of cultivation.

At that time, all the relatives of that old man had already died, so he didn’t really care about that secret spell, but God gave him an opportunity and allowed him to see his descendant, so how could he not be pleased?

It’s just the rarest opportunity, a smooth path towards being a nascent soul!

The old man said with excitement and danced with joy. Although Bai Hua was seriously injured, how could he die so easily as a protagonist? He activated the True Dragon Suppression of the dragon-shaped jade pendant, which he could only use once per day. It contained the power of a nascent soul and it successfully defeated the old man, who spat out a mouthful of blood and fell into the same trap with Bai Hua.

Of course, Bai Hua would not let go of this opportunity. He killed the old man with his sword. At this time, Mo Ziyuan, who’d argued with Bai Hua, also returned. He was scared to death after seeing the heavy injuries of Bai Hua, and he vowed to Bai Hua that he’d never mention about wanting Bai Hua to leave Lin Xiaotian.

It was an important plot in the novel. After the shock, Mo Ziyuan agreed to share Bai Hua with Lin Xiaotian, and it also paved the way for the appearance of Xu Ziyan later.

Xu Ziyan suddenly thought of this plot, since this part was described very much in detail in the novel. The old man had said that there were three people when he entered the tomb, and there were two other cultivators. It was a very evil spell as it required someone to refine his blood relatives, and there were limitations too – this blood relative must be a direct one and he must be with spiritual roots as well. It’d be even better if he had a high level of cultivation.

Since there were so many conditions, the old man felt ecstatic when he saw Bai Hua in the secret realm. And as he’s too excited, he became careless and fell into the trap of Bai Hua.

Now, the more Xu Ziyan analyzed it, the more he found this ancestor of the Yuan family suspicious. Like the old man in the novel, they were both at the late stage of golden core and they were both about to die, the only difference was that the old man in the novel easily found his blood relative to refine, and that big master with his spiritual roots destroyed was staying at home obediently.

Combined with the rumor from the Yuan family, that they wanted the Stage of being immortal of the Xu family to resume his big master’s spiritual roots, Xu Ziyan believed more in what he was analyzing…

He’s a cultivator about to die, and when his spiritual roots got destroyed when he got the only chance. If he wanted to survive, the first thing he needed to do was to save this grand-grand-grandson, and the Stage of being immortal of the Xu family had become his only hope.

When Xu Ziyan explained clearly what he thought to Xu Xiao, Xu Xiao’s facial expression turned incredibly dark.

Fighting with a family and fighting with a family that didn’t mind any losses were two entirely different concepts.

If that ancestor of golden core was willing to take the entire Yuan family to bet to continue his life, it would really be a question of whether the Xu family could stop him.

As the saying goes, the mourning soldier would surely win. The ancestor had regarded the Xu family as his only hope, so how could he let the Xu family leave safely?

In modern terms, Xu Xiao always believed that the Yuan family wanted a victorious fight. However, they hadn’t realized that they were going to fight a war of annihilation…

Xu Ziyan finally knew what the Yuan family depended on…they had been planning to fight at all costs possible!

Xu Xiao looked thoughtful, trying to come up with something.

Although Ziyan’s speculation might not be correct, it’s always better to prepare beforehand. He had to prepare for the worst.

“Huh! Does his Yuan family think that the Xu family is so soft? That we will do whatever they need?” Xu Xiao snorted, and he crushed his tea cup into powder, “well, looks like we need to use of the stuff left by our ancestors.”

Xu Ziyan’s heart moved, and he suddenly remembered the jade pendant that he had put inside Little Square.

The Xu family was originally from one of the big realms, and even though the one being expelled didn’t develop extra well, they would have something in hand too. And the Xu family proved this point by their mysterious array.

If the ancestor of the golden core just regarded the Xu family as an ordinary small family, he would suffer a big loss. However, Xu Ziyan preferred it that way – if he could set the Yuan family as an example, people would have to think twice if they wanted something from the Xu’s!

“Enemy attack!” There’s hoarse roar across the sky.

Following a loud bang, the Xu family’s door was split open by a golden light.

“Xu Xiao’er, come out and die!” A middle-aged cultivator with red hair and white robe stood in the air. It was the current patriarch of the Yuan Family – Yuan Feng, and he’s a middle-aged cultivator of golden core.

“As the patriarch, how can you act rashly? Let me meet you then.” An old voice came from the Scripture Pavilion in the backyard, and the elder Luo slowly walked out.

As he moved forward step by step, his old body began to become tall and straight. His usual relaxed style disappeared, and he started looking domineering and aggressive. At this moment, the elder Luo didn’t look like a cultivator, but a general ready to kill in a battle.

“What a domineering spiritual power!” Yuan Feng exclaimed.