The four great families were respectively the Ouyang Family of the north, the Ling Family of the south, the Zhuge Family of the east, and the Sima Family of the west!
The Ouyang Family occupied half of the spirit veins across the entire Great Qian, making a fortune every year from the production of spirit crystals.
It could be said that half of the spirit crystal consumption in the entire Great Qian was supplied by the Ouyang Family.
As for the southern Ling Family, they supplied an even more staggering sixty percent of the medicinal pills in Great Qian.
The western Sima Family originated from artifact forging, which was even more terrifying, controlling the supply of eighty percent of the spirit artifacts and supreme treasures in Great Qian.
As for the eastern Zhuge Family.
In fact, the relationship between the Zhuge Family and the imperial family was relatively good compared to the other three families.
The ancestors of the Zhuge Family were the right-hand men and top strategists of the founding Martial Emperor of the Great Qian Divine Dynasty. After the founding of Great Qian, the ancestor of the Zhuge Family served as the prime minister of Great Qian.
Today, two-fifths of the officialdom throughout Great Qian consisted of people from the Zhuge Family or those related to them.
Take the current prime minister Di Wu Suifeng, for example—although he did not bear the surname Zhuge, he was indeed a man of the Zhuge Family.
However, despite the fact that the Zhuge Family and the imperial family shared a good relationship.
Lu Chen knew clearly that in the future, the Zhuge Family would likewise join forces with Lu Xuan to place the Azure Emperor and all members of the imperial clan under house arrest in the name of purging the monarch's side.
Therefore, in Lu Chen's eyes, the Zhuge Family, just like the other families, damn well deserved to die.
With Emperor Fengdu, a Heavenly Human Realm powerhouse, around, destroying the four great families is easy, but subduing them is probably going to be a bit difficult.
Lu Chen sighed inwardly and spoke.
Yet the next moment, a cold expression appeared on Lu Chen's face.
If they are unwilling to submit, then they must all die.
At this moment, Lu Chen's little face was filled with extremely dense Killing Intent.
Meanwhile, in the Ling Mansion of the southern Ling Family, Ling Baitang, the sixth young master of the Ling Family, sat on a chair with a rather pale complexion, playing chess with the opposite party: the head of the Ling Family, father of the Spirit Consort, and Ling Xuntian.
Several formidable auras were concealed around Ling Baitang and Ling Xuntian, every single one of them a Heavenly Phenomenon Realm powerhouse.
However, at this moment, sweat continued to pour all over Ling Baitang's body, and a terrified expression appeared on his face.
"Father, you say... that bizarre assassin can really kill me under these circumstances? Can I survive?"
Ling Baitang was around thirty years old, an age when one should stand firm, but right now he was as terrified as a dog.
"Hmph, what is your father worth? Half-step Land Immortal Realm, and there are even Ling Family Attendants all around us, every one a Heavenly Phenomenon Realm powerhouse.
With such a terrifying lineup, even if a Land Immortal Realm powerhouse comes, don't even think about succeeding."
Ling Xuntian let out a cold snort, a gloomy expression surfacing on his face.
In two days, two biological sons had died; anyone would suffer a mental breakdown in his shoes.
The atmosphere at the scene was somewhat heavy.
Just as Ling Xuntian and Ling Baitang were deep in thought while playing chess.
A trace of subtle spatial fluctuation suddenly appeared right before the two men.
Feeling this spatial fluctuation, Ling Xuntian jerked his head around.
All around them, a total of five Heavenly Phenomenon Realm powerhouses revealed their figures in a split second.
"Friend, since you're here, why bother hiding and covering up? You killed two of my sons, the least you can do is let me know who my Ling Family has offended."
Ling Xuntian stood up and spoke with a gloomy expression.
"Hehe!"
As Ling Xuntian's voice faded, black ghostly Yin qi suddenly permeated the spot, and in an instant, the entire space turned bone-chillingly cold.
At that moment, a figure wearing a Hundred Ghosts Night Parade Black Robe and a terrifying mask appeared.
"Everyone, apologies. My Netherworld Underworld operates on only one principle: we take people's money and eliminate disasters for them. Offense taken!"
The newcomer was none other than Emperor Fengdu.
After all, he was working for Lu Chen.
The Ling Family had made extremely thorough preparations this time, and Emperor Fengdu feared there might be an omission in the mission, so he decided to execute it personally.
As Emperor Fengdu's voice fell, a streak of Black Light pierced straight toward Ling Baitang.
"Father, save me!"
At this moment, Ling Baitang genuinely felt the threat of death, turning pale as he spoke while trembling uncontrollably.
"Hmph, arrogant."
Seeing Emperor Fengdu make his move, Ling Xuntian let out an angry, cold snort.
The next moment, Ling Xuntian and the five Heavenly Phenomenon Realm experts surrounding him simultaneously charged at Emperor Fengdu.
"Hmph, kneel down for me."
Facing these six figures, Emperor Fengdu showed not the slightest bit of panic.
With a cold snort, a terrifying sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling suddenly echoed from within Emperor Fengdu.
In an instant, the entire Ling Mansion seemed to transform into the Netherworld Underworld.
Yet, facing Emperor Fengdu's single command to kneel, Ling Xuntian and the other six felt as if the sky had collapsed, pressing down ruthlessly upon them.
With a crisp snap, the legs of all six Heavenly Phenomenon realm experts, led by Ling Xuntian, fractured completely, and they dropped straight to their knees on the ground.
Swish...
At that moment, a crisp sound rang out, and a bloody line suddenly appeared across Ling Baitang's neck. The next second, with a dull thud, he collapsed to the ground.
"No..."
Watching his own son die right before his eyes, and feeling that he—a dignified cultivator at the ninth heaven of the Heavenly Phenomenon realm and a half-step Land Immortal Realm expert—was simply no match for Emperor Fengdu, Ling Xuntian felt his entire being on the verge of collapse as he let out a frantic roar to the heavens.
"Everyone, see you tomorrow. Don't rush, your Death-summoning Talisman is also on the way and will reach you soon."
Gazing at the pale-faced Ling Xuntian kneeling on the ground, Emperor Fengdu spoke in a hoarse voice.
The next moment, Emperor Fengdu vanished directly from the spot.
Left behind in his place, with a clatter, was a bizarre black token.
On the front, Death-summoning Talisman; on the back, Underworld!
"The person just now was at least at the Land Immortal Realm."
"An assassin of the Land Immortal Realm—when did such a terrifying assassin organization appear in the Eastern Cang Region?"
Ling Xuntian spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Family head, rather than brooding over this, we'd better investigate quickly who hired the Underworld assassins to wreak havoc in our Ling Family."
At the side, Third Master Ling of the Ling Family—a Heavenly Phenomenon Realm fifth-heaven expert and Ling Xuntian's younger brother—spoke with a complicated expression.
"Who was it? Who?!"
Ling Xuntian's face turned livid as he gnashed his teeth.
"Who has our Ling Family offended during this period?!"
Ling Xuntian roared in a hoarse voice.
"Family head, the Eleventh Prince, Lu Chen..."
At that moment, a Heavenly Phenomenon Realm powerhouse at the side spoke in a low voice.
As the words fell, Ling Xuntian froze in his tracks.
"Tomorrow—tomorrow at the Eleventh Prince's engagement banquet, this old man will go personally. I must investigate this to the very bottom."
Ling Xuntian clenched his fists and roared.
"Family head, what about the fifth young master? Tomorrow, it's the fifth young master's turn..."
Another well-meaning reminder at the side pushed Ling Xuntian straight to the brink of a mental breakdown.
"Tell the fifth one to flee immediately. Run as far as he can right now and go into hiding."
Ling Xuntian gnashed his teeth.
"No, wait. Tomorrow I'll take the fifth one to the imperial palace. Let's see if that assassin dares to assassinate him right in front of the Azure Emperor, on the day of the Eleventh Prince's great joy!"
Suddenly, inspiration struck Ling Xuntian, and a trace of a bizarre smile appeared on his face as he spoke.
Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace, when the Spirit Consort saw the red slip for the third time, everything went black before her eyes and she fainted on the spot.
"Empress..."
Instantly, the entire Spirit Marvel Hall descended into utter chaos.
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