Your Circle is So Messy!

However, this matter only spread within the Qiangu Clan.

The reason was that Leng Yaozhu had intervened, suppressing the incident directly.

Even Qiangu Dongfeng would grant Leng Yaozhu this favor over such a trivial matter.

Therefore, he also chose not to pursue it, and the incident was thoroughly buried.

It was precisely because of this that many realized Qiangu Qingzhou, a member of the Qiangu Clan, was actually standing on Leng Yaozhu's side.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, this was already a blatant confrontation.

Yet Chen Zhou did not speak; he simply kept his head lowered in silence, feigning an appearance of deep inferiority.

Watching Chen Zhou's demeanor, Qiangu Chengfeng let out a cold snort.

He had originally wanted to find an excuse to provoke Chen Zhou and beat him up to assert his authority as a cousin.

But seeing the youth's submissive look, he didn't make a move.

Little did Qiangu Chengfeng know that while Chen Zhou kept his head down, the smile on his face was becoming impossible to hide.

The harsher his words were today, the more satisfying the slap in the face would be tomorrow when Chen Zhou defeated, or even killed, Qiangu Zhangting in front of everyone.

Having just boasted that Qiangu Zhangting was the clan's number one genius, being immediately defeated or even crushed right after would bring about an unimaginable shock.

Chen Zhou had originally been debating whether to do this, as it would be equivalent to fully aligning himself with Leng Yaozhu.

But after some thought, he decided it was worth a try.

The true core ancestors and elders of the Qiangu Clan, including the former clan head, Qiangu Dieting, had one primary goal: to ensure the Qiangu Clan controlled the Spirit Pagoda.

Although Qiangu Dieting was Qiangu Zhangting's own grandfather, he did not care much about these internal squabbles.

He only wished for someone from the Qiangu Clan to control the Spirit Pagoda; as long as it was a clansman, he didn't care if the successor was Qiangu Zhangting or Qiangu Qingzhou. This truly terrifying Limit Doulu did not mind.

As for the fact that Chen Zhou's inherited martial soul was not the Coiling Dragon Staff, what did that matter?

As long as Chen Zhou's Water Dragon Martial Soul was strong enough, the Qiangu Clan would be perfectly willing to accept it as a new inherited martial soul.

Both Leng Yaozhu and Qiangu Dongfeng could see this.

This was also the reason why Leng Yaozhu had invested in Chen Zhou early on.

She was deeply dissatisfied with Qiangu Dongfeng and the entire Qiangu Clan, yet she dared not truly offend them.

After all, a family with three Limit Doulu was not to be trifled with.

However, if she could leverage her own strength and recruit a truly talented member of the Qiangu Clan to become the new Spirit Pagoda Master, it would be a viable path.

No one knew if Qiangu Qingfeng was dead or alive, and he had no interest in the Spirit Pagoda, as his only goal was to improve his own strength.

As for Qiangu Dieting, he was even less of a concern; the old clan head no longer managed affairs and only cared about the inheritance of the Spirit Pagoda.

In this situation, Leng Yaozhu only needed to deal with Qiangu Dongfeng.

Once she could pull Chen Zhou to her side and use his name to oppose the Qiangu Clan, the effect would be excellent.

Qiangu Zhangting was completely oblivious to this, which was exactly why he was so anxious to suppress Chen Zhou.

But Chen Zhou realized it, and he understood that no matter what he did, the subsequent suppression and retaliation would only be more severe.

Seeing Chen Zhou keep his head down the entire time, Qiangu Chengfeng made a few more sarcastic remarks before feeling bored and ending the conversation.

On the other side, the voice of the young woman was much gentler.

She was Qiangu Qingsong, a young lady from a branch family of the Qiangu Clan, and her status was equally high.

"I am very happy that everyone could attend Cousin Qiangu Zhangting's banquet. I hope you all eat and drink well."

"We are all one family; I hope we can help each other, grow together, and face challenges together."

The woman's voice was gentle and carried no aggression, which won the favor of many in the younger generation of the Qiangu Clan.

After the two finished their speeches, Qiangu Zhangting spoke up to announce the official start of the banquet.

The group began to feast, exchanging flattering words with one another.

They boasted about each other's achievements, praising and deferring to one another.

Yet, not a single person spoke to Chen Zhou.

However, even though no one spoke to him, many gazes remained fixed on Chen Zhou.

It was clear they were waiting for Chen Zhou to initiate a conversation so they could harshly reject him and slap his face.

Chen Zhou had long since seen through these petty intentions.

He simply pretended to be unaware, maintaining an air of inferiority and keeping to himself.

The banquet ended quickly, and everyone seemed quite happy.

As the cars returned to the Qiangu Clan's residence, Chen Zhou's expression remained calm.

He would spend the night cultivating, and tomorrow, he would participate in the competition.

Chen Zhou was naturally interested in the hundred-thousand-year soul bone, and he had already come to view it as his own.

As night fell, Chen Zhou lay down on his bed early, slowly drifting off into a dream.

In the dream, Neuvillette was still absent, though Chen Zhou did not mind.

He sat cross-legged in silence, closing his eyes to meditate and slowly increase his soul power.

With a cultivation speed at least 240 times faster than normal, Chen Zhou's soul power rose rapidly.

An ordinary person would need at least a month, or even half a year, to gain one or two levels.

Chen Zhou only needed a few days to achieve the same.

However, to avoid appearing too exaggerated or being treated as a test subject, Chen Zhou had always remained relatively restrained.

This time, he did not have to wait long before Neuvillette appeared.

Looking at his teacher, Chen Zhou stood up calmly.

"Come on, Teacher, let's continue our practical training. I want to polish my techniques today, as I'll be entering the Riot Spirit Ascension Platform tomorrow."

As Chen Zhou spoke, he took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on Neuvillette, who returned the look.

But this time, Neuvillette's figure vanished instantly, reappearing right in front of Chen Zhou.

The scene unfolded so suddenly that Chen Zhou was killed before he could even react.

Neuvillette demonstrated this near-teleportation ability, along with the skill of manifesting his form in mid-air, dozens of times.

Every time he appeared, Chen Zhou was killed.

At first, Chen Zhou was bewildered, but as he watched the movements repeated, he finally grasped what Neuvillette intended.

The man was teaching him a technique—a technique for close-quarters surprise attacks.

Controlling water was not limited to just natural mountains and rivers.

One had to remember that living beings also contained water, especially the human body, which was composed of over 50% water.

In such circumstances, the water flow within a human body could also be manipulated.

By leveraging this advantage, Chen Zhou could achieve an effect akin to teleportation.

If he studied and pondered it carefully, he could achieve even more than just teleportation.

Things that were originally difficult could also be accomplished with ease.