The side hall of the Ancestral Hall was also called the Council Hall.
Chen Yu sat in the main seat. At this moment, Chen Wenchao, Ling Yunxiao, Chen Cong, Mu Lingyun, and Chen Hanxin were all present. Chen Wu sat in the back row. Chen Yu had Chen Xiaojun sit beside him, below Ling Yunxiao, which was his father's seat. At this moment, Grand Elder Chen Hong and Young Clan Leader Chen Xun were both not in the village.
This was clearly a meeting convened because of what had happened yesterday. As for why Chen Xiaojun was there, Chen Yu said that a child who could say "all under heaven bustle for profit; all under heaven hustle for profit" was qualified to sit in and listen. Besides, there was something today that concerned him as well.
The others all gave Little Xiaojun meaningful looks.
Seeing that everyone had taken their seats, Chen Yu began to speak. "Everyone's here. Let's begin. How did the aftermath of yesterday's matter go?"
Chen Wu replied, "Yu Bo, I followed the remaining Gale Wolf Pack. They've retreated back to Qianqiu Ridge on Shaolin Mountain. There are no longer any large-scale soul beast groups near Black Moon Forest."
"What do you all think of this matter?"
After sweeping his gaze around, Chen Yu stopped Ling Yunxiao from speaking and said, "Xiao'er, you speak first."
Chen Xiaojun thought for a while, then said, "As for this incident, there are only three possible reasons. First, some little idiot thief provoked the Gale Wolf Pack and lured them over here. Second, someone did it deliberately. Third, something happened deep in the mountains that we don't know about."
The crowd fell silent for a while. Chen Xiaojun continued, "It probably wasn't the first reason. Even if some little idiot thief did provoke them, it would only have been a portion of them, not such a huge wolf pack moving out together. Were they not going to guard their den? As for the second reason, our Chen Family lives here in seclusion. Do other forces know that?"
Chen Yu smiled faintly and said, "Chen Wu, demonstrate it for Xiao'er."
Chen Wu activated his Seven Kill Sword martial soul. The Seven Kill Sword had a bright silver blade, a blue spine, and beautifully curved guards on both sides. It had a simple, ancient texture to it, a longsword radiating clear blue light and giving off a bluish-green, limpid hue. In the end, it transformed into a large azure sword with an enlarged blade, straight guards, and an extended crossguard.
Even though Chen Xiaojun had always been clever and full of Spirit Qi in front of his elders, he was still dumbfounded at this moment.
Chen Yu smiled and said, "Our ancestors felt that since a Martial Soul Avatar could be energized and enlarged, and could have all kinds of Soul Power secret techniques added to it, then could another layer of packaging be added on top of the martial soul itself? Like putting a Sword Sheath over it. In the end, they developed this secret technique, which we call 'Sword Sheath.'
This is one of the reasons we've been able to live in seclusion so steadily. In the eyes of the locals, we are the mysterious 'Azure Steel Sword Chen Family,' a small Advanced Martial Soul family. We can also be considered one of the prominent families of Five Mountains County, so it's generally not very likely that local forces know.
In this county, aside from your Grandma Mu's Mu Family, which has been close to us for generations and knows that we are the Seven Kill Sword Chen Clan, the other families probably don't know.
Though we're usually quite cautious, as for whether those large forces know, or how many of them know, grandfather isn't too certain either. After all, we moved here several hundred years ago."
I was wondering how the Chen Family could possibly hide it. The moment they activated their martial souls, the truth would be exposed. damn it, sure enough, it wasn't that simple. They even used Sword Sheath. A Transformer, huh? The heritage of a Thousand-Year Aristocratic Family really is unfathomable. Chen Xiaojun worked hard to digest this.
"If that's what grandfather says, then the second reason, that someone did it deliberately, probably isn't very likely either.
For one thing, we've hidden ourselves well all these years, and I haven't heard of any conflicts with nearby forces.
If it was one of those major forces, there'd be no need. Though the wolf pack was strong, it wasn't much of a danger to us. They wouldn't be that stupid and alert us by beating the grass to scare the snake.
Looks like the third reason is more likely. I ran into a Gale Wolf the day before yesterday. It might have been part of their forward scouts probing the area.
Also, although the Gale Wolves and Black Wind Wolves don't get along, launching a sneak attack on the Black Moon Wolves on this scale was clearly a deathblow meant to wipe out their clan.
It was probably to seize territory or for some other reason. There's a higher chance that something went wrong in the mountains."
Ling Yunxiao nodded and said, "Yu Ge, Xiaojun's words make sense."
Chen Wenchao stroked his beard, casting him an approving look.
Chen Yu slowly began to speak. "According to Old Black, recently it had been feeling uneasy, so it strengthened the wolf pack's vigilance. Although it didn't expect a large-scale attack and was caught somewhat off guard, it was still able to react quickly, gather, and join the battle. Old Black said that feeling of unease was probably some dangerous message coming from far away in the mountains.
How about this, Wenchao, send more people into the mountains to take a look. Be careful. If you don't have enough manpower, borrow some from Yunxiao. Lingyun, contact your maiden family and ask whether they've noticed anything unusual on their side."
Mu Lingyun came from another city within Five Mountains County, Azure Lotus City beneath Azure Lotus Peak, one of the Five Mountains. They inherited the Plant System Advanced Martial Soul, "Azure Lotus." The Mu Family was a prominent family in the county, and in Azure Lotus City, it could be said that they alone dominated.
"All right, Big Brother," Mu Lingyun answered.
"Understood, Yu Ge," Chen Wenchao also said at once.
"Wenchao, regarding the Pegasus soul beast that Xiao'er wants to look for, how did your inquiries go?"
"Yu Ge, I asked Ma Kui. He said that in the northern part of the Xie Luo Mountain Range, about two hundred li into the mountains from Babel City in the Hagen-Dazs Kingdom, there's a small basin. Inside it is a place called the Wild Horse Plains, where there are all kinds of horse-type soul beasts, including a Pegasus Group. Two days ago, I had Cheng Yun find Ma Fan in Hagen-Dazs and go scout it out first." Ma Kui and Ma Fan were from the Crimson Blood Horse Ma Family, generations-long followers of the Chen Family.
"Tomorrow, I'll take Xiao'er there directly. Give me the geomantic map. The two of us will go and return quickly. During this period, I'll have to trouble you all to hold down the fort at home."
A note here: the Xie Luo Mountain Range was the third-largest mountain range on the continent, running east to west for over two to three thousand kilometers. Even at its narrowest from north to south, it was still more than 100 kilometers, or over 200 li. In longer areas, such as the end of the mountain range, it formed the famous Barak-Southern Corridor Pass, more than 400 kilometers long, together with the Heaven Cloud Mountain Range opposite it. This could also be abbreviated as Ba Nan Pass. (PS: You can simply understand it as the Celestial Dynasty's broadly defined Qinling range: starting from Kunlun in the west, passing through Longnan and southern Shaanxi in the middle, and reaching the Dabie Mountains of Hubei, Henan, and Anhui, as well as Zhangbaling near Bengbu, in the east.)
The Xie Luo Mountain Range could roughly be divided into western, central, and eastern sections. With these three sections as natural boundary lines, it divided the Hagen-Dazs Kingdom, Fasinuo Province, and Balak Kingdom.
Each section had countless branch ranges. There were two to three hundred large and small ones that could be named, such as the Five Mountains of Five Mountains County, while Babel Mountain within Hagen-Dazs was likewise one of them.
As for your Recommendation Tickets and bookmarks, I rubbed my hands in anticipation. Hehehe.
Before you continue