Cultivation: From General Laborer to Immortal Venerable Section 42

This included all peripheral forces controlled by the three families, all of whom were conscripted.

For example, the Iron Mountain Gang, where Hong San was located, had the Sun Family as its backer.

Before the mobilization, the leader of the Iron Mountain Gang, the three deputy leaders, and the hall masters of the thirteen halls were all summoned by the Sun Family and assigned attack missions.

The other two major powers did the same.

Hong San, upon receiving the news, looked bewildered, with a hint of fear.

Would the Red Leaf Square, which had been peaceful for a hundred years, also face turmoil?

The conflict between the Four Great Clans aimed at eradicating the other families.

They, as peripheral forces, would inevitably be used as cannon fodder.

The Lin Family was ranked second, possessing extremely formidable strength.

He didn't know how dire the situation was for the Lin Family, but his Iron Mountain Gang would definitely suffer heavy losses.

With such a large gathering of forces, the Lin Family would naturally not be unaware.

However, it was too late.

When the three families had discussed this previously, only the family heads and Foundation Establishment elders were involved, so the news had not leaked.

When the Lin Family head received the news from his informants, he couldn't believe it at all.

After all, since the founding of the Red Leaf Square, the Four Great Clans had been united for five hundred years.

To suddenly hear that three families were going to attack his own, no one would believe it.

However, with continuous reports from his informants, the Lin Family head had no choice but to believe it.

He made a decisive move, activating the family's grand formation within their stronghold.

At the same time, he struck the signal bell, which chimed twelve times.

Countless Lin Family disciples heard the sound, their expressions turning from bewilderment to shock.

They rushed towards the stronghold at full speed.

According to Lin Family rules: three bell chimes meant gathering the clan for discussion!

Six bell chimes meant a great enemy was approaching!

Nine bell chimes meant a matter of life and death!

Twelve bell chimes meant the clan was facing destruction!

Night!

Zhou Xun had just returned home to Green Willow Alley not long ago.

He had made three large bowls of spirit rice and a plate of monster beast meat, and was currently feasting.

After all, he had been training with flying artifacts for the past few days, enduring hardships and living rough, which was extremely taxing.

Suddenly, a commotion could be heard from the distant street.

Faint shouts accompanied it:

"The Lin Family has betrayed the alliance, their crime is unforgivable! The Wu, Sun, and Li Families of the Red Leaf Square have jointly decided to attack the Lin Family. Anyone who encounters a member of the Lin Family may act against them!"

On the street outside, streams of spiritual light of various colors shot through the air.

The person at the forefront wore a dark green spiritual armor.

He looked at the direction of the Lin Family stronghold with a cold expression and murderous intent.

He had been suppressed by the Lin Family head for many years.

In recent years, the Lin Family, under Lin Anshuo's leadership, had been flourishing, and their strength was now close to that of his own Wu Family.

He, on the other hand, had failed to curb the Lin Family's development, and the family elders had been quite critical of him.

If it weren't for his elder brother, who was at the peak of Foundation Establishment and stationed outside, he would have likely been ousted from the position of family head long ago.

In comparison, Wu Zongheng had always been somewhat displeased.

Fortunately, with his elder brother's help, he had reached Foundation Establishment, while Lin Anshuo was still at the peak of Qi Refining, which allowed him to regain some balance.

There were as many as four Foundation Establishment cultivators responsible for attacking the Lin Family stronghold.

The Wu Family's First Elder, Second Elder, the Wu Family Head, and the Sun Family's Second Elder.

"Everyone, listen to me. Tonight, the greatest threat to our attack on the Lin Family stronghold is Lin Yuanru, who is at the peak of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment!" During the journey, Wu Zongheng explained the attack plan for the night.

Lin Yuanru was the Lin Family's First Elder. This elder had made significant contributions to the Lin Family's current prestige. At the age of one hundred and forty, he was at the peak of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Even within the current Wu Family, excluding Wu Zongdao, who had reached the perfected stage of Foundation Establishment, the highest-cultivated Wu Family First Elder was also at the peak of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Leave him to me!" an old man with white hair, over sixty years old, said.

He was the current Wu Family First Elder, Wu Guangxiao.

"I'll trouble Fourth Uncle to tie down this person. After Eleventh Uncle and Elder Sun and I have dealt with the others, we will come together to deal with Lin Yuanru!"

The middle-aged man nodded slightly, settling on the strategy.

Zhou Xun's expression tightened upon hearing the shouts.

After a moment's thought, he had a rough idea of what was happening.

The Lin Family had been extensively refining Fire Barrier Pills recently, and the sole purpose of these pills was to help cultivators resist the intrusion of fire elemental energy.

Places that could possess large amounts of fire elemental energy were either lava regions, some kind of fire-attribute spiritual mine, or a special region filled with fire elemental energy.

For example, the Ten Great Forbidden Zones rumored in the cultivation world—the Fire Hell—was such a region.

For the Lin Family to spend such a price to refine Fire Barrier Pills, it naturally couldn't be an ordinary lava region.

And special regions were usually not easy to hide, having long been discovered by cultivators.

The most likely possibility was some kind of fire-attribute spiritual mine.

The Lin Family's strength had been growing steadily over the years, and it was likely closely related to this spiritual mine, selling it in exchange for cultivation resources.

With abundant resources, the Lin Family naturally produced many talented individuals.

And the reason the three great clans were attacking the Lin Family this time was likely also for this spiritual mine.

However, there was one point Zhou Xun hadn't figured out yet.

If it were just about the spiritual mine, the three clans could have simply forced the Lin Family to hand it over, and it wouldn't have led to such a devastating calamity.

There were probably other reasons involved.

Regardless, this was something that Zhou Xun, a mere mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, could hardly intervene in.

This conflict affected the entire Red Leaf Square; no one could escape it.

He found himself caught in the middle, like a small boat on a stormy sea, his fate uncertain.

Not to mention, as an alchemist of the Danbao Pavilion, he was undeniably a member of the Lin Family's faction.

This identity was known to all his neighbors and townsfolk.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xun felt a sense of urgency.

Alchemists were known for their wealth, and it was inevitable that some people would try to take advantage of the situation.

"This happened so suddenly, and the people in Green Willow Alley haven't reacted yet. I need to leave quickly!"

So, he changed his clothes, put on the "Thousand Faces Mask," disguised himself as a middle-aged martial artist, and brought two storage bags. He didn't bother packing anything else and hastily left.

At the Lin Family's stronghold, in a secret chamber.

Lin Anshuo had quickly finalized all the contingency plans.

He activated the protective formation, ensuring the clan's territory couldn't be breached in a short time.

Next, he arranged for the clan's "seeds of life" to be divided into multiple groups. He assigned late-stage Qi Refining cultivators from the family, each leading a few "seeds of life," to find opportunities to break out.

"Anshu, if you fail in your duties, the future of the family will be entrusted to you!" Lin Anshuo said with a grave expression, addressing a young man who resembled him by six or seven parts. At the same time, he handed him a storage bag.

This person was Lin Anshuo's younger brother, Lin Xueying's uncle. He had medium-grade spiritual root aptitude, and at just over thirty years old, he was already at the peak of Qi Refining.

"Brother, don't worry!" The young man nodded solemnly and took the bag.

"What about Xueying?" The young man recalled his niece and felt a flicker of worry.

"I've already made arrangements. You may go!" Lin Anshuo tidied his younger brother's collar and then patted his shoulder.

"Yes!" The young man nodded and turned to leave.

He stopped after only a few steps, turning back with eyes full of tears:

"Big brother, stay alive!"

This parting might be their last.

"Mm, go!" Lin Anshuo smiled faintly, his face filled with warmth, gazing deeply at his younger brother's retreating figure.

After arranging the backup plans, Lin Anshuo rejoined the Lin Family's Grand Elder and Second Elder.