This is the Family Summoning Order!
Only when the family faced a grave crisis or had something extremely important to announce would this bell be rung.
And it rang nine times in a row!
This was the highest-level summons!
In an instant, the entire Zhang Family erupted into a frenzy.
Family Head Zhang Yunshan, who had been watching the flames in the Pill Refining Room, twitched his hand, and a whole batch of fine pills turned straight into useless dregs.
But he had no time to mourn the loss. His expression changed dramatically, and he shot toward the Main Peak as a streak of light.
"What happened? Has the Old Ancestor emerged from seclusion?"
"Could the Demonic Path have attacked?"
"Quick! All elders at Foundation Establishment Realm and above, hurry to the Assembly Hall!"
Countless streaks of light rose from every corner of the East Mountain Islands, carrying panic and confusion.
They all converged on the family's Assembly Hall.
Inside the hall.
The atmosphere was so heavy it was as if the air had congealed.
Zhang Yunshan sat in the first seat below the main one, cold sweat covering his forehead.
He looked at the Old Ancestor, seated in the main seat with his eyes closed as he rested, then at his son Zhang Chen, standing beside the Old Ancestor with his gaze lowered. His heart was in turmoil.
Could Chen'er have caused some earth-shattering disaster, making the Old Ancestor so furious that he intended to enforce the family rules?
That didn't seem right. The Old Ancestor's complexion looked... rather rosy, actually.
Dozens of family elders arrived one after another, each afraid to even breathe too loudly.
The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
When the last elder hurried in and took his seat, Zhang Tianzheng finally opened his eyes.
His gaze swept across the hall, carrying a pressure that made everyone's heart tremble.
Everyone held their breath.
They waited for news that might determine the family's fate.
Was it war? Were they evacuating?
Or was the Old Ancestor about to announce that his time was running out?
Zhang Tianzheng cleared his throat. His expression was solemn as he slowly began:
"I called everyone here today for one reason."
The crowd pricked up their ears, their hearts in their throats.
The Old Ancestor pointed at Zhang Chen beside him and said gravely, "Chen'er is eighteen this year. He's not a child anymore."
Everyone: "???"
"For the sake of growing our family, for the sake of my Zhang Family's Eternal Foundation."
Zhang Tianzheng paused, then declared in an unquestionable tone:
"I've decided that, starting today, the entire clan will devote its strength to finding consorts and taking concubines for Chen'er!"
"The primary requirement is excellent aptitude. The more, the better!"
"This matter is to be listed as a top-secret family mission, with the highest... priority!"
When his words fell, the hall sank into complete silence.
Every elder, including Zhang Chen's own father, Zhang Yunshan, was utterly dumbfounded.
Three big characters were written on every face:
"Huh? That's it?"
The silence in the Assembly Hall lasted for a full quarter of an hour.
This was probably the most baffling high-level meeting in the Zhang Family's several hundred years of history.
Nine rings of the bell, an emergency summons—and all of it just to find an eighteen-year-old Young Master a wife?
If the speaker hadn't been the Nascent Soul Old Ancestor who had ruled the family for hundreds of years,
the elders would have wondered if they were still dreaming.
"Old Ancestor..."
Great Elder Zhang Yunhai, Zhang Chen's Second Uncle, stood up with great reluctance.
He still had two Explosive Flame Talismans in his hand, ready for battle.
Now he didn't know whether to put them away or keep holding them.
"Are you certain this is... a strategic mission of the highest priority?"
Zhang Tianzheng didn't even lift an eyelid. His voice was as steady as a mountain. "What? Do you question my decision?"
"I wouldn't dare!"
Zhang Yunhai shuddered in fright and hurriedly put away the talismans. "It's just... could this be a little too frivolous? The Demonic Path is rampant, and the family's businesses have suffered damage. Shouldn't we use our resources to prepare for battle and repair the formations..."
"Instead of doing something like finding consorts?"
Zhang Tianzheng cut him off with a cold laugh.
He stood up and swept his gaze over everyone present.
Although he had restrained nine-tenths of the pressure belonging to a Great Cultivator at Nascent Soul Realm, the remaining tenth was still enough to leave these Golden Core and Foundation Establishment juniors struggling to breathe.
"I know what you're thinking. You think I've grown senile."
"But what the hell do you know? The first priority of a family's legacy is to carry on the bloodline!"
"Chen'er is the only direct-line descendant of my Zhang Family. If anything happened to him, or if he had no children, then even if I risked my life to wipe out the Demonic Path, the Zhang Family would still be left without an heir!"
Although this argument was unreasonable, it really was one of the "great truths" of the Cultivation World that no one could refute.
Standing to the side, Zhang Chen watched his Great-Grandfather's righteous expression and couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up in his heart.
Ginger really was spicier when it was old. With that huge hat of "carrying on the bloodline" coming down, who would dare say a word against it?
Seated below, Family Head Zhang Yunshan finally came to his senses.
The usually stern father now looked at his son with eyes full of guilt.
As he saw it, the Old Ancestor must have done this because his son's aptitude was too poor and he had no hope of advancing in cultivation. So the Old Ancestor had simply given up on treating him, letting him enjoy himself while he was young and, as a bonus, leave an heir to the family.
They were giving up on this character build and getting ready to start a new one.
"The Old Ancestor is right!"
Zhang Yunshan slapped his thigh and shot to his feet, his eyes reddening. "Chen'er's had a hard eighteen years. He's been forced to cultivate every day, and he still hasn't made much progress."
"Since that's the case, he might as well start a family! I, Zhang Yunshan, am the first to support this!"
He swept out his hand, his spirit soaring. "I've decided... to open the family's Inner Treasury! We'll take out those few treasured Youth Preserving Pills, along with those Top-grade Magic Tools we seized a few years ago. We'll bring them all out!"
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