Family Summoning Order, Taking a Wife for Chen'er!

This is a Family Summoning Order!

This bell is only rung when the family is facing a major crisis or when something of extreme importance needs to be announced.

And it rang nine times in succession!

This is the Highest Level of summons!

In an instant, the entire Zhang family was in an uproar.

Family Head Zhang Yunshan, who was staring at the furnace fire in the Pill Refining Room, had his hand tremble, and a perfectly good batch of pills turned into waste instantly.

But he couldn't spare the time to feel the loss. His expression changed drastically, and he transformed into a streak of light, rushing toward the Main Peak.

What is going on? Has the Old Ancestor come out of seclusion?

Could it be that the Demonic Path has attacked?

"Quick! All elders at the Foundation Establishment Realm and above, head to the Assembly Hall immediately!"

Countless streaks of light rose from every corner of the East Mountain Islands, carrying panic and confusion.

They all converged toward the family Assembly Hall.

Inside the hall.

The atmosphere was so solemn that it felt as if the air had solidified.

Zhang Yunshan sat in the first seat below the head, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

He looked at the Old Ancestor, who was sitting in the main seat with his eyes closed, resting, and then looked at his son, Zhang Chen, who was standing beside the Old Ancestor with his eyes fixed on his nose and his heart focused on his heart. His heart was pounding with anxiety.

Could it be that Chen'er has caused some monstrous disaster, and the Old Ancestor is so angry that he wants to carry out family law?

That doesn't seem right... why does the Old Ancestor's complexion look... a bit rosy?

Dozens of family elders arrived one after another, none of them daring to breathe loudly.

The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

When the last elder hurriedly took his seat, Zhang Tianzheng finally opened his eyes.

Those eyes swept across the room, carrying a pressure that made people's hearts tremble.

Everyone held their breath.

Waiting for the news that might decide the fate of the family.

Is it war? Is it evacuation?

Or was the Old Ancestor about to announce that his time was running out?

Zhang Tianzheng cleared his throat, his expression incomparably solemn, and spoke slowly:

"I have gathered you all here today for one reason only."

Everyone pricked up their ears, their hearts leaping into their throats.

The Old Ancestor pointed to Zhang Chen beside him and said in a deep voice, "Chen'er is eighteen this year; he is no longer a child."

Everyone: "???"

"For the sake of our family's growth and the eternal foundation of the Zhang Family."

Zhang Tianzheng paused, then announced in an unquestionable tone:

"I have decided that, effective immediately, the entire clan shall exhaust all resources to select concubines for Chen'er!"

"The primary requirement is excellent aptitude; the more, the better!"

"This matter is hereby listed as a special top-secret mission for the clan, with a priority of... the highest!"

As his voice fell, the great hall descended into a deathly stillness.

All the elders, including his own father Zhang Yunshan, were completely dumbfounded.

Written on everyone's face were three large words:

Huh? That's it?

The deathly stillness in the Assembly Hall lasted for a full cup of tea's time.

This was likely the most baffling high-level meeting in the hundreds of years since the Zhang Family was founded.

Nine bell tolls, an urgent emergency, and it was all just to find a wife for the eighteen-year-old Young Master?

If it weren't for the fact that the one speaking was the Nascent Soul Old Ancestor who had held the reins of the family for hundreds of years.

These elders would have feared they hadn't woken up from their sleep.

"Old Ancestor..."

Great Elder Zhang Yunhai, who was also Zhang Chen's second uncle, bit the bullet and stood up.

He was still clutching two Explosive Flame Talismans he had prepared for battle.

At this moment, putting them away felt wrong, but keeping them out felt wrong too.

"Are you certain this is... a strategic mission of the highest priority?"

Zhang Tianzheng didn't even lift his eyelids, his voice as steady as a mountain: "What? Are you questioning my decision?"

"I wouldn't dare!"

Zhang Yunhai shuddered in fear and hurriedly put away his talisman. "It's just that... wouldn't this be too much of a farce? With the Demonic Path running rampant and our family industries suffering, shouldn't we be using our resources to prepare for battle and repair the formations..."

"Instead of wasting them on some concubine selection?"

Zhang Tianzheng took over the conversation with a cold smile.

He stood up, his gaze sweeping across everyone present.

The pressure belonging to a Great Cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm, though restrained by ninety percent, was still enough to make the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment juniors present feel as if they were struggling to breathe.

"I know what you are all thinking. You think I've gone senile."

"But you don't know a damn thing! When it comes to family heritage, the continuation of the bloodline is paramount!"

"Chen'er is the sole heir of our Zhang family's direct lineage. If anything were to happen to him, or if he were to have no offspring, even if I risked my old life to wipe out the Demonic Path, the Zhang family would still be finished!"

Although these words were sophistry, they were indeed the most irrefutable "great truth" in the Cultivation World.

Zhang Chen stood to the side, watching his great-grandfather's righteous expression, and couldn't help but give him a mental thumbs-up.

Ginger really is spicier when it's old. Once the massive hat of "continuing the bloodline" was placed on them, who would dare to utter a single word of dissent?

Zhang Yunshan, the Family Head sitting at the lower end of the table, finally snapped back to reality.

This usually stern father now looked at his son with eyes full of guilt.

In his view, the Old Ancestor must be doing this because his son's aptitude was too poor and there was no hope for his cultivation, so he had simply given up on treatment, letting his son enjoy himself while he was still young, and incidentally, leave some seeds for the family.

He was planning to abandon the main account and start working on an alt.

"The Old Ancestor is right!"

Zhang Yunshan slapped his thigh hard and stood up abruptly, his eyes slightly red: "Chen'er has had a bitter eighteen years, forced to cultivate every day without showing any progress."

"Since that is the case, he might as well settle down and start a family! On this matter, I, Zhang Yunshan, am the first to support it!"

He waved his hand with great bravado: "I have decided... to open the family's inner treasury! Take out those treasured Youth Preserving Pills, and those top-grade magic tools we seized years ago—bring them all out!"