Eternal Immortal Clan: It All Started When I Married My Junior Sister!

183: Thirty years have passed in the blink of an eye!As soon as those words were spoken, Chen Qiao’s eyes suddenly lit up.

”Brilliant!”

”If we have the title of a regular army, not only can we go to the wilderness with a justified reason, but we can even directly requisition that city and force that Chen Xu to act as cannon fodder!”

”When the time comes, we can kill him without anyone knowing, seize the tai xu realm stone, and who could say anything?”

”This is called driving the tiger to swallow the wolf, killing with a borrowed knife!”

The two looked at each other, and their originally gloomy moods finally improved a bit.

Although the plan had been delayed, as long as the person was still there.

As long as that piece of fat meat was still there, they would never let go.

”Let’s go, back to assemble the troops first.”

Liu Jing straightened his back and smoothed out his messy robes.

He regained his usual high-and-mighty Hall Master demeanor.

”This time, not only must we survive, but we must also use this war to move our positions in the Sect up another notch!”

Two streaks of light soared into the sky and disappeared into the snowy sky... In the Beiming Wilderness, Tianxuan City.

Inside the training room in the backyard of the City Lord’s Mansion, Chen Xu slowly finished his cultivation.

The purple-gold light flowing on the surface of his body receded into his body like a tide, finally condensing into a magnificent purple-gold battle armor on the tiny Nascent Soul in his Dantian.

”Peak of the Early Void Refining Stage...”

Chen Xu opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

”Still too slow.”

Chen Xu shook his head, his face not showing much joy.

Although to others, stabilizing his Realm at the Peak of the Early Stage in just one month was already god-like speed, for Chen Xu, who had a strong sense of crisis, it was far from enough.

He stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff muscles and bones.

”Father, have you finished your seclusion? I have an important matter to discuss.”

Chen Xu straightened his robes and pushed open the door.

He saw Chen Daoxuan standing in the courtyard with a hurried look, clutching a transmission jade talisman emitting a red light.

”What’s wrong? Why such a panic?” Chen Xu asked.

”Father, something big has happened.”

Chen Daoxuan stepped forward quickly and handed the jade talisman to Chen Xu: ”This is news that our spies stationed outside just risked their lives to send back.”

”Over at Tianyu Holy Land... it seems a change has occurred.”

Chen Xu took the jade talisman and sent his Divine Sense into it.

The next moment, his brows furrowed sharply.

The information in the jade talisman was very chaotic, obviously sent in a great hurry by the messenger.

They might even have been in extreme danger at the time.

But the core content was very clear.

”Tianyu Holy Land has issued a Level One Combat Readiness Order...”

”All Elders outside are being recalled...”

”Large-scale military mobilization to the south...”

”Yishan City... Ancient Demon Race invasion?”

Chen Xu put down the jade talisman, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He had originally thought the spy would report a massive attack on Tianxuan City by Tianyu Holy Land, or perhaps the discovery of a Body Integration Stage expert’s tracks.

He never expected the plot to take this turn.

”Ancient Demon Realm invasion?”

Chen Xu rubbed his chin and murmured to himself, ”This is truly... heaven helping me.”

Although he didn’t know much about the history of the Spirit Realm, he knew from the fragments of ancient texts in the Lower Realm what the Demon Race was like.

They were a pack of mad dogs.

Once they bit someone, they wouldn’t let go until death.

Since Tianyu Holy Land was now being bitten by this pack of mad dogs, they certainly wouldn’t have the spare hands to deal with a ”small” murderer like him in the short term.

”Father, is this news reliable?”

Chen Daoxuan was somewhat incredulous. ”That’s a Holy Land; how could it suddenly face a war of this scale?”

”It should be real.”

Chen Xu crushed the jade talisman, his eyes flashing with sharp light. ”A Level One Combat Readiness Order creates too much commotion to hide. Although our spies’ cultivation isn’t high, they have a good eye for things.”

”For us, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Chen Daoxuan’s eyes lit up. ”Father means we can take the chance to...”

”Take the chance to run away?”

Chen Xu gave him a sidelong glance. ”That’s a coward’s behavior.”

”I mean, we can take the chance to develop!”

Chen Xu paced back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his mind racing.

”With Tianyu Holy Land’s attention tied up in the south, their northern defenses will inevitably be empty. Those eyes that were originally fixed on us will likely all be looking toward Yishan City now.”

”This gives us an extremely precious vacuum period.”

”This period might be a year, three years, or even longer.”

”As long as we make good use of this time to thoroughly digest the resources from the Lower Realm and double the Family’s strength, by the time they finish their war and turn back to deal with us...”

Chen Xu gave a cold laugh, a surge of powerful confidence rising within him.

”By then, it’s not certain who will be dealing with whom!”

Chen Daoxuan was also stirred by his father’s words.

Indeed!

What they lacked most right now was time!

With time, and relying on his father’s System and the complementary resources of the two Realms, the Chen Family’s growth speed would absolutely be terrifying.

”However, we cannot let our guard down.”

Chen Xu stopped his pace, his expression becoming serious again. ”Even if their main forces don’t come, it doesn’t mean there won’t be small maneuvers.”

”The fact that Tianyu Holy Land could invite The Black and White Elders shows that their obsession with the tai xu realm stone is very deep.”

”This kind of trouble is the most difficult to deal with.”

”Dao Xuan, pass down the orders.”

”First, the entire city remains on alert; the city-protecting array must not be closed, and the number of patrol teams is to be doubled.”

”Second, speed up the plundering... no, the mining of surrounding resources.”

Chen Xu corrected his phrasing. ”Since the Holy Land has no time for this area, we won’t be polite about some of the peripheral mineral veins that originally belonged to them.”

”Third, and most importantly.”

Chen Xu looked at Chen Daoxuan with a grave tone. ”Have Dao Chu look into the ancient records in the Lower Realm regarding the Demon Race, especially concerning Devilish Qi erosion and methods to counter it.”

”Although the fires of war are in the south right now, if the Holy Land can’t hold out, this fire will eventually spread through the entire Spirit Realm.”

”We must prepare for a rainy day, so we aren’t caught completely off guard if the Demon Race attacks here.”

”Yes! I will get right on it!”

Chen Daoxuan took the order and turned to leave.

”Wait.”

Chen Xu suddenly called him back.

”Does Father have any other instructions?”

Chen Xu took out a Storage Pouch from his robe and tossed it to Chen Daoxuan.

”These are a batch of Realm-Breaking Pills I’ve recently refined; the effects are good and there are no side effects.”

”Take them and distribute them to the clansmen stuck at Bottlenecks, especially those promising seedlings who just came up.”

”Tell them not to be stingy with them.”

”Now is the time to race for time; as long as they can increase their cultivation, they can eat the Medicinal Pills like food!”

Chen Daoxuan took the Storage Pouch, and with a sweep of his Divine Sense, he felt his hand sink.

The quantity of pills inside was enough to drive a medium-sized Sect crazy.

”Thank you, Father!”

Watching Chen Daoxuan’s departing back, Chen Xu stood in the courtyard, looking at the southern sky that seemed dyed blood-red.

Although separated by billions of miles, he seemed to smell the scent of blood drifting on the wind.

A chaotic era has truly arrived.

But for the Chen Family, this was both a crisis and an unprecedented opportunity.

In this great reshuffling sweeping the Spirit Realm, Chen Xu would not only survive.

He would also lead his hundred thousand clansmen, stepping over the bones of their enemies, to reach the summit step by step.

To become the true Dominator of this Spirit Realm!

Spring went and autumn came; heat and cold alternated.

For a Mortal, thirty years might be half a lifetime, enough to turn youthful faces gray and turn grand ambitions to dust.

But for long-lived Cultivators, these thirty years were merely a slightly long seclusion.

Or perhaps the time spent tending the furnace fire to refine a batch of great pills.

However, these past thirty years, for the entire Northern Region of the Spirit Realm and even the broader Central Continent...

...were a period of turbulent history worthy of the records.

The sky of the Northern Region, during these thirty years,

Was shrouded in ominous blood-red and black mist for nearly half the time.

Since the moment Yishan City was breached and the iron cavalry of the Ancient Demon Realm stepped into the Spirit Realm,

This catastrophe snowballed larger and larger.

Eventually, it evolved into a full-scale war sweeping across several major regions.

Tianyu Holy Land, which once considered itself invincible and viewed the Beiming Wilderness as its own backyard,

Suffered greatly during this war.

At first, Vice Holy Master Gu Qingfeng could still rely on the Holy Land’s foundations to organize several decent counterattacks,

Attempting to block the demon army at the Sunset Plains line.

But the brutality and tenacity of the Ancient Demon Race far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Those demons didn’t care about casualties at all; they were like an endless swarm of locusts—as soon as one batch died, an even stronger batch would immediately surge up from behind.

Moreover, Devilish Qi had a natural erosive effect on Spiritual Qi, so when human Cultivators fought on battlefields filled with Devilish Qi,

They could often only exert seventy percent of their full strength.

In just ten years, half of the three thousand subsidiary Sects under Tianyu Holy Land were wiped out.

The Mortal cities within their jurisdiction were even worse off, with nine out of ten houses empty—a truly tragic sight.

By the fifteenth year, the main legions of Tianyu Holy Land were nearly crippled.

Even the haughty Gu Qingfeng was severely injured in an exchange with a Demon Sovereign of the Demon Realm.

He was forced to retreat to the Holy Land’s main Sect, activating the Sect-protecting array and cowering inside.

Seeing that the Northern Region’s barrier was about to collapse completely and the demon army was about to drive straight into the heart of the Spirit Realm,

The other six Holy Lands finally couldn’t sit still.

Everyone understood the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth will feel the cold.

Thus, on a certain wind-and-snow-filled night, reinforcements from the other six Holy Lands finally arrived at the front lines.

This was not just to save Tianyu Holy Land, but also for self-preservation.

With the seven Holy Lands joined together, they finally managed to barely stop the momentum of the collapse, establishing a ten-thousand-mile defense line in the southern part of the Northern Region, forming a stalemate with the Ancient Demon army.

But this stalemate was also built upon the blood of countless Cultivators.

While the Northern Region was fighting heatedly and corpses were strewn everywhere, Tianxuan City, located deep in the Beiming Wilderness,

Was like a safe harbor in the storm.

During these thirty years, it underwent a nearly insane, wild growth.

In Tianxuan City, on the Star-Gazing Platform atop the City Lord’s Mansion,

Two figures stood side by side,

Overlooking this giant city that remained brightly lit even in the middle of the night.

The person on the left wore a brocade robe and had a steady expression; although there were a few strands of frost in his hair,

It only added a few more points of authority to his demeanor as a superior.

It was none other than the Grand Manager of the Chen Family, Chen Daoxuan.

The person on the right was one who traveled year-round between the two Realms.

Chen Daochu exuded an air of capability and a murderous aura.

”Big Brother, look at this city.”

Chen Daochu pointed at the myriad of lights below that stretched to the horizon, his voice carrying an irrepressible pride. ”Thirty years ago, this place was just a large military camp of a hundred thousand people, surrounded by desolate mountains and wilderness.”

”Now, the registered permanent population alone has exceeded five million. The city walls have been expanded ten times, and the foundations of the city’s protective array have been replaced three times.”

Following his finger, the current Tianxuan City was no longer what it used to be.

The former city of a hundred miles had now transformed into a colossus spanning a thousand miles.

Crisscrossing streets spread out like a chessboard, and towering pavilions rose into the clouds in neat rows.

In the sky above the city, countless floating spirit islands were connected to the ground via rainbow bridges.

Those were grotto-heavens specifically for high-level Cultivators to reside and Cultivate in.

A population of five million might not seem like much compared to those super-cities in the Spirit Realm that often had tens or even hundreds of millions of people.

However, the quality of Tianxuan City’s population was terrifyingly high.

This was thanks to the stable talent pipeline from the Lower Realm and the Chen Family’s investment of resources regardless of cost.

Among these five million people, almost everyone could Cultivate.

Even a vendor selling spirit tea on the street had a cultivation level at the Qi Refinement Stage.

”Yes, five million...”

Chen Daoxuan lamented, but the worry in his eyes had not completely faded. ”As the population grows, so does the burden.”

”While the fighting outside is so tragic right now, our place is a paradise. It’s inevitable that people will become envious and hateful.”

”Envious?”

Chen Daochu sneered, and a heart-palpitating aura suddenly erupted from his body.

That aura was as condensed as steel, causing the surrounding space to tremble faintly.

Early Void Refining Stage!

In these thirty years, with the help of the massive resources provided by his father and the almost cheat-like blessing of the ”Family Luck.”

Chen Daochu had not only broken through the shackles of the Soul Transformation Stage.

He had even stepped through the gates of the Void Refining Stage in one go!

”Right now, the Northern Region is a mess, and Tianyu Holy Land can barely take care of itself. Who has the energy to bother with us?”

Chen Daochu said domineeringly, ”Even if someone is truly jealous, they’d better weigh whether their teeth are hard enough!”

Chen Daoxuan smiled slightly, and his own aura also flared out and retracted.

He was also at the Early Void Refining Stage, and his aura was even deeper and more enduring than Chen Daochu’s.

”Second Brother is right, but we must not be careless.”

Chen Daoxuan turned around and cast his gaze toward the south. ”Have you seen the recent intelligence? The hands of the Central Province have reached out.”

At the mention of the Central Province, Chen Daochu’s expression became a bit more solemn.

The Spirit Realm was vast and boundless, divided into the four regions of East, South, West, and North, as well as the core Central Province.

Compared to the four regions, the Central Province was the true Holy Land of cultivation, where Spiritual Veins converged and ancient orthodoxies stood in great numbers.

Even Mahayana Stage old monsters were not few in number.

”Are you talking about the Ascension Gate?”

Chen Daochu frowned.

”Correct.”

Chen Daoxuan nodded. ”Half a month ago, the Ascension Gate joined forces with the three major clans of the Central Province. Under the banner of eliminating demons and defending the Dao, they dispatched a vanguard into the Northern Region.”

”On the surface, they’re here to support the seven Holy Lands in resisting the demons!”

”But in reality, any discerning person can see that they want to take advantage of the fact that the major powers in the Northern Region have been severely weakened to get a piece of the pie, or even... to redraw the map of power in the Northern Region.”

This was the cruelty of the Cultivation World.

There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests.

The Ancient Demons hadn’t even been driven away yet.

And the internal calculations of the Human Race were already being made loudly.

”The leader of the Ascension Gate is said to be one of their Grand Elders, a terrifying existence at the Late Body Integration Stage.”

Chen Daoxuan sighed. ”With this fierce tiger coming in, the waters of the Northern Region will only get muddier. Although our Tianxuan City is in a remote corner, such a large piece of fat meat is bound to be targeted by them.”

Hearing this, Chen Daochu fell silent for a moment, and then a look of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

”Soldiers will be blocked by generals, and water by earth.”

”In the past, we might have only been able to hide like turtles. But now...”

He looked toward the deepest part of the City Lord’s Mansion, into the Forbidden Ground, his eyes full of fanatical admiration. ”As long as Father takes that step, I don’t care if it’s some Holy Land or the Ascension Gate!”

”In front of our Chen Family, they’ll all have to be polite!”

That was the Chen Family’s stabilizing force, the spiritual pillar for these five million people.

Chen Daoxuan also looked in that direction.

A smile of anticipation appeared on his originally solemn face.

”Yes, Father has been in seclusion for three years.”

”Calculating the days, it should be about time for him to emerge.”

...Tianxuan City, Inner City Forbidden Ground, Discussion Hall.

Usually, this was the hub where the Chen Family issued orders, but today, the atmosphere in the hall was exceptionally solemn, even carrying a hint of murderous intent.

There were no busy deacons or Disciples coming and going; only nine huge seats were arranged in a circle.

In each seat sat a mighty figure with an unfathomable aura.

If an outside Cultivator saw this scene, they would probably be scared to the point of their Dao Heart collapsing.

Because the nine people sitting in this hall were all, without exception, at the Void Refining Stage!

Sitting in the first seat on the left were the two brothers, Chen Daoxuan and Chen Daochu, who had just come down from the Star-Gazing Platform.

Next to them was a burly man with a giant saber on his back.

Tyrant Saber.

In these thirty years, he had almost killed all the Yao Beasts in the depths of the wilderness. Through countless life-and-death battles, his Saber Intent had finally reached Major Achievement, and his cultivation had steadily stepped into the Peak of the Early Void Refining Stage.

His evil aura was so heavy that even Cultivators of the same rank dared not look him in the eye.

Opposite him sat a woman in blue.

Elder Lan Shuyao of the East Sea Sword Sect.

The East Sea Sword Immortal of back then was now the Pavilion Master of the ”Sword Washing Pavilion” in Tianxuan City.

Her Sword Dao had become increasingly pure; sitting there, she was like a peerless divine sword hidden in its scabbard.

Her sharpness was restrained, yet omnipresent.

Beside her lay a palm-sized,

entirely emerald-green little turtle.

Don’t be fooled by the harmless appearance of this little turtle as it slowly munched on a thousand-year-old spirit fruit.

This was a genuine ancient variant—the Black Water Dragon Turtle.

In the Spirit Realm, its Bloodline talent had completely awakened, and its defensive power was perverted.

Even a full-strength strike from a Late Void Refining Stage expert would find it difficult to break its shell.

And in the corner, there was a figure completely shrouded in a beast-skin cloak.

It was the Beast Sovereign who commanded ten thousand beasts—Xiao Hei!

Though he rarely spoke, his entire body emitted a poisonous gas that made Void Refining Cultivators’ hearts palpitate.

The last one was a woman in a pink dress with a gentle appearance.

Yet her brow carried the majesty of one who could mother the world—Murong Zhuyun.

As one of the first wives to follow Chen Xu and having given birth to several exceptionally talented children for the Family.

Under the System’s Luck feedback, her cultivation progress had also been incredibly rapid, and she had actually entered the Void Refining Stage.

Add to that Chu Xuan and Immortal Master Yuqing.

This was the current foundation of the Chen Family!

A full nine Void Refining Stage experts!

Looking across the entire Northern Region, besides those few Holy Lands with ten-thousand-year heritages.

Which other power could produce such a luxurious lineup?

This was the fruit of Chen Xu’s ”Many Children, Many Blessings” strategy over the last thirty years.

As well as the results of his frantic plundering of resources.

”Everyone.”

Chen Daoxuan was the first to break the silence. His gaze swept over everyone as he said in a deep voice, ”There is only one reason for calling you all here.”

”The Spiritual Qi fluctuations from Father’s side have already reached a critical point.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present subconsciously held their breath.

Even the Black Water Dragon Turtle, which was munching on the spirit fruit, stopped its movements.

It widened its small, mung-bean-like green eyes.

”Is it finally going to start?”

Tyrant Saber gently stroked the handle of his saber, his eyes burning with Battle Intent. ”My great saber has long been thirsty. As long as the Family Head can break through, even if the Ancient Demon Emperor himself comes, I’ll dare to go up and give him two slashes!”

Elder Lan Shuyao of the East Sea Sword Sect nodded slightly, her voice cold and clear. ”I have checked all the nodes of the city’s protective array; there are no issues. I have ordered the three thousand Sword Cultivators of the Sword Washing Pavilion to be ready at all times. If any foreign enemy dares to cause trouble at this time, they will surely never return.”

”It’s not just foreign enemies.”

Chen Daochu added, ”The order within the city must also be maintained.”

”Father’s Breakthrough will inevitably cause a huge commotion, and it’s unavoidable that people’s hearts will be unsettled. I have already arranged for the law enforcement team to place the entire city under martial law. Anyone who dares to spread rumors at this critical juncture will be executed without mercy!”

Everyone’s nerves were strained to the limit.

Breaking through from the Void Refining Stage to the Body Integration Stage was a massive chasm.

Once crossed, it would be like a fish leaping into the vast sea.

One would truly stand at the top of the Spirit Realm’s pyramid.

Body Integration, as the name suggests, is the perfect Fusion of the Nascent Soul and the Physical Body, and the Divine Soul and the Heaven and Earth Dharma Idol.

At this Realm, the Cultivator themselves is the embodiment of rules, and their Lifespan explodes to fifty thousand years.

With a simple gesture, they can tear through the Void Realm and move mountains and seas.

For the current Chen Family, this was not just an increase in Realm.

This was the key to whether the Chen Family could transform from a nouveau riche power in a remote corner.

Into a true regional overlord.

As long as Chen Xu became a Body Integration mighty figure, Tianxuan City would have the qualification to speak as an equal with the Holy Lands.

Even those ’crossing-river dragons’ from the Central Province, if they wanted to move against the Chen Family,

would have to weigh the wrath of a Body Integration mighty figure.

”Madam.”

Chen Daoxuan looked at Murong Zhuyun. ”Regarding the backyard, I’ll have to trouble you to put in more effort. Those young younger brothers and sisters will need you to soothe them.”

Murong Zhuyun nodded, her expression gentle yet firm. ”Don’t worry, the inner household won’t fall into chaos. If anyone dares to cause trouble for my husband, I will not be lenient.”

Just as everyone was discussing various defensive details.

A strange fluctuation suddenly came from deep underground.

”Buzz—”

There was no deafening roar, only a sort of shudder that seemed to come from the depths of the Soul.

The tea cups in the hall shook slightly, and the surface of the water rippled in layers.

Following that, within the entire Tianxuan City, whether it was Cultivators in seclusion or Mortals walking on the streets.

All felt as if the surrounding Spiritual Qi had received some kind of summons.

It began to converge frantically toward the direction of the City Lord’s Mansion.

In the sky, the originally clear night was instantly churned.