Chu Xisheng's attitude toward Zhou Xiongba was entirely different.
"Three-Fingered Divine Shocker" Zhou Xiongba was not only Zhou Liangchen's father, but had also shown Chu Xisheng tremendous kindness in the past.
Several doses of secret medicine he had taken early on had come from the Linhai Zhou Clan.
And that Blood-Yazi Battle Diagram was now tattooed on Chu Xisheng's back.
"Uncle Zhou."
Not only did Chu Xisheng send a stream of astral force through the air to stop Zhou Xiongba from performing a formal obeisance, but he also rose and strode over to take Zhou Xiongba's hand.
His eyes held a hint of helplessness and remonstrance. "Uncle, you are my elder. There is no need for such ceremony. You really didn't have to-"
Chu Xisheng's words carried a double meaning: the Linhai Zhou Family had no need to insist on joining the Iron Banner Gang.
Zhou Xiongba broke into an involuntary laugh, untroubled. "Propriety cannot be discarded. Without rules and measures, neither squares nor circles can be drawn. How could I accept all the Iron Banner Gang's benefits with an easy conscience? Otherwise, how could the brothers of the Iron Banner Gang accept it wholeheartedly? The Zhou Family ought to contribute to the Iron Banner Gang and the Banner Chief's great undertaking."
The Linhai Zhou Family's many businesses now depended entirely on the Iron Banner Gang's protection to hold on in Linhai Commandery.
Their trading houses and merchant vessels likewise needed to fly the Iron Banner Gang's banner to travel unimpeded along the lower Divine Splendor River.
The key was that Chu Xisheng and the Formless Divine Sect stood behind the Iron Banner Gang.
Signs of unrest were gradually emerging throughout the world.
As the Extreme Eastern Ice City marched west, turmoil repeatedly erupted across the Divine Land, and many