The Zhou Estate was vast, its palaces rising in rows, its buildings clustered together. Pavilions and terraces, spirit springs and cascading waterfalls, exotic flowers and strange plants, rare spirit beasts—all were as plentiful as stars scattered across the sky, visible everywhere. Unusual lakes of deep azure and crimson dotted the grounds, offering a new vista every ten steps, their ethereal beauty untouched by worldly dust.
Spirit trees shimmering with wondrous colors rose like pillars into the heavens, anchoring every corner of the courtyards. Amid their radiant divine glow, sweeping eaves and interlocking brackets were bathed in dazzling light and shadow—sacred, majestic, solemn, like an immortal paradise.
Gazing at the astonishing sweep of ancient, magnificent buildings before him, Xiao Chen felt a surge of awe.
Class divisions truly existed everywhere.
Ordinary beings struggled themselves half to death, unable even to secure food, clothing, shelter, and transport.
Even a blackhearted cultivator like Gray Three, who possessed decent cultivation and amassed wealth by hunting pigs, could only squeeze into a cramped dwelling and scrape by.
Yet a first-rate Ancient Clan like the Zhou Family could undertake lavish construction here, indulging in extravagance to the utmost.
Passing through long, secluded corridors and winding around countless turns, Zhou Lingxia soon brought Xiao Chen to a side hall. It was imposing, standing a full thirty zhang tall and shimmering with flowing colors.
The stone pillars before the hall were carved with inscriptions, cloud patterns, and strange beasts, lending them considerable elegance.
Yet several hundred zhang away, the residences of the direct descendants formed interconnected stretches of buildings a full hundred zhang tall, towering far above those of the collateral branches.
"Miss, you're back? Oh! Why have you brought such a handsome young master with you?"
As Zhou Lingxia approached the hall, its crimson stone doors, gleaming