Strike Directly and Wipe Out the Entire Clan!

"Hm?"

"There's a fluctuation of soul energy?"

The sudden fluctuation surprised Xiao Ze, and his gaze couldn't help but settle on Xiao Yan.

"Is it Elder Yao?"

He murmured, but said nothing aloud, his expression still calm.

Just as Xiao Yan was about to grit his teeth and agree, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Don't talk nonsense. When did this old man ever say he would take Xiao Yan as his disciple?"

"I only said I was willing to take him as an honorary disciple!"

Xiao Zhan smiled ingratiatingly beside him. "It's all the same, it's all the same."

"Either way, he'll be by our honored ancestor's side..."

Xiao Ze: "..."

Hearing that he would only be taken on as an honorary disciple, Xiao Yan felt relieved.

Compared with becoming a formal disciple, being an honorary disciple was undoubtedly something he could accept.

To him, although Elder Yao was only a soul, he was still a teacher on Xiao Yan's path of cultivation. Xiao Yan wasn't willing to switch masters.

"It's my honor that our honored ancestor is willing to guide me!"

"I'm deeply grateful for your kindness, honored ancestor!"

Xiao Yan turned and spoke respectfully to Xiao Ze.

With his hands behind his back, Xiao Ze graciously accepted his thanks.

"All right, Yan'er. You've only just recovered from your injuries, so you shouldn't do anything strenuous. Get back in bed and rest a while longer."

"I still have things to take care of, so I won't disturb you any longer."

Seeing his son lively and vigorous again, Xiao Zhan's worried heart gradually settled. After a few final words of advice, he led his people out of the room.

As soon as he stepped outside,

a surge of anger rose in his heart.

"Jialie Clan, since you show no mercy, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"You were the ones who started this fight!"

He swept out his sleeve and immediately decided to convene a clan-wide assembly.

They would discuss how to retaliate against the Jalie Clan!

The council hall.

All the Xiao Clan's senior members had gathered.

They listened to their clan leader, Xiao Zhan, speak.

"That old Jialie scoundrel has gone too far! Not only has he been encroaching on the businesses in the Xiao Family Market these past few days, but today he even let his son publicly injure mine!"

"His actions show complete disregard for the Xiao Clan!"

"Elders, I've summoned this meeting to discuss how we should deal with the Jialie Clan..."

"What suggestions do you have?"

Xiao Zhan's booming voice echoed through the hall. After hearing him, all the Xiao Clan members present wore grave expressions.

From the clan leader's words, it seemed he intended to fight the Jialie Clan?

An elder rose to his feet. "Clan leader, how exactly do you intend for us to retaliate against the Jialie Clan?"

"Should we use force or business tactics?"

Xiao Zhan sat firmly in his chair and said in a low voice, "Both!"

"The Jialie Clan has gone too far. If we don't fight back, they'll only grow more brazen!"

Another senior member of the Xiao Clan asked worriedly, "Clan leader, do you mean to start a full-on war with the Jialie Clan?"

"Wouldn't that... be unwise?"

Xiao Zhan glanced at him and snorted. "Unwise? What's unwise about it?"

"That old Jialie scoundrel is already riding roughshod over the Xiao Clan!"

"And you're still here talking about what's unwise?"

"What, can't the Xiao Clan fight back?"

A sharp gaze fell on the senior member. Xiao Zhan's powerful aura pressed down on him until he could barely breathe, and cold sweat immediately broke out across his body.

The next moment,

Xiao Zhan's voice drifted into his ear. "Sixth Elder, as far as I know, you've been rather close to one of the Jialie Clan elders!"

"In fact, one of your wife's female cousins seems to have married that elder's grandson..."

"Sixth Elder, don't you think that's rather unwise for the Xiao Clan?"

At those words,

the Sixth Elder's face went pale. Cold sweat covered him in an instant, and he cried out, "C-Clan leader, please believe me! I've never betrayed the Xiao Clan's interests!"

"It's true I've been close to an elder of the Jialie Clan, but I did it all for the sake of the Xiao Clan's business!"

"I, Xiao Qi, swear I have never betrayed the Xiao Clan!"

He quickly raised his hand and swore an oath. His frightened voice echoed through the hall.

"Hmph! You'd better be telling the truth. If I find out you betrayed the Xiao Clan, I'll cut off your dog's head to uphold the clan's rules!" Xiao Zhan's voice suddenly rose.

The pressure of a Five-Star Great Dou Master instantly filled the hall.

His powerful Dou Qi weighed down on everyone's shoulders, making their hearts tremble.

Everyone understood.

Xiao Zhan seemed to have made up his mind to go to war with the Jialie Clan.

Just as the atmosphere in the hall grew tense,

the Great Elder, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke in a leisurely tone. "I agree with the clan leader's proposal!"

His words immediately drew surprised looks from many of the senior members present.

Even Xiao Zhan, the clan leader, looked at him in surprise.

The Great Elder's standing in the Xiao Clan was second only to Xiao Zhan's.

That wasn't just because he was the oldest. He was also one of only two Great Dou Masters in the Xiao Clan!

His Two-Star Great Dou Master strength couldn't compare to Xiao Zhan, a Five-Star Great Dou Master, but in Wutan City, he was still an absolute powerhouse.

In a way, he represented the entire Xiao Clan.

Like most clans, the Xiao Clan had many factions. The two largest were undoubtedly Xiao Zhan's and the Great Elder's.

More often than not, the two sides couldn't see eye to eye.

So the Great Elder's agreement with Xiao Zhan's proposal came as a surprise to everyone.

As the others wondered why, the Great Elder explained his support for the clan leader.

"The Jialie Clan has indeed gone too far these past few days."

"Most notably, business in the Xiao Family Market has shrunk by a full thirty percent!"

"According to my investigation, most of the losses were in the pharmacies."

"From the information we've gathered, the Jialie Clan seems to have joined forces with a First-Rank Alchemist. The Jia Lie Pharmacy has now taken a sizable share of our market..."

"It's even gradually earned a reputation as the largest pharmacy in Wutan City."

"If we don't respond, there may soon be no place for the Xiao Clan in Wutan City."

Profit!

That's right. The Great Elder's fundamental reason for supporting Xiao Zhan's move against the Jialie Clan was profit!

Lately, with the help of the First-Rank Alchemist behind them, the Jialie Clan had seized a great deal of business from the Xiao Clan's pharmacies in the market.

If things continued this way, the balance of power between Wutan City's three great clans would be broken.

Would the Xiao Clan then have to survive at the other side's mercy?

The Great Elder couldn't accept that, no matter what.

So going to war with the Jialie Clan had become urgent!

With the Xiao Clan's number one and number two both speaking up,

the entire clan was officially united in its opinion.

Now that they had decided to stand against the Jialie Clan, all that remained was to come up with a foolproof plan.

For a while,

the entire council hall buzzed with chatter.

The senior members began offering their opinions.

Some suggested ambushing the Jialie Clan's merchant caravans to cut off their supplies.

Others proposed assassinating the Jialie Clan's younger generation to extinguish their hopes for the future.

Still others recommended gathering the clan's experts and storming the Jialie Clan's door to force them to back down.

And so on—

There was no end to the wildly varied suggestions.

The discussion gave Xiao Ze, who had remained silent at the side, a headache.

Seeing that no one could agree, he finally lost patience and roared, "What are you all arguing about?"

"It's just one little Jialie Clan. Why are you all going around in circles?"

"In my view, we should strike directly and wipe out the entire clan!"

"Wutan City is too small to hold three great clans!"

"..."