562: misfortune

Sunlight scattered, illuminating Zhou Changyuan's chiseled face.

He was tall and slender, with deep, expressive eyes, dressed in a white robe, his features bearing a six-tenths resemblance to Zhou Luo.

As he said this, his expression was calm, and his whole demeanor was light and airy, quite similar to Zhou Luo.

In a trance, Xu Changsheng felt as if he saw Zhou Luo's Shadow.

He snapped back to his senses, his face sinking as he said, "The Li Family are ambitious wolves. If you cooperate with them, be careful you don't bury the Zhou Family."

Just like Lin Xi, the Li Family's attitude towards the Zhou Family had been gradually changing over the years.

If the Li Family before was a docile dog that occasionally wagged its tail.

With Zhou Luo and Zhou Chang Le entering secluded cultivation, although they remained docile, they no longer wagged their tails, instead drooping them, looking ready to bite at any moment.

Especially after the Li Family hitched their wagon to the Azure Origin Sect, it made them even more audacious.

No matter how influential Zhou Luo was, he ultimately could not contend with an Immortal Sect.

By then, if the Li Family truly plotted against the Zhou Family, even if Zhou Luo came out of seclusion, he might not be able to do anything to them.

"Uncle Chang Sheng, are you questioning me?" Zhou Changyuan countered.

"You should know what I'm talking about," Xu Changsheng replied.

Zhou Changyuan, however, was unconcerned. He walked past him with his hands behind his back towards the outside, his voice drifting back lightly: "The Li Family, a Family on the verge of collapse, is not qualified enough."

"When Father comes out of seclusion, he will surely see that only one Immortal Family remains in the entire Qingyuan Domain."

"And that is our Zhou Family."

As he said this, his voice was very calm, and combined with the highly ambitious content, it made his whole person appear extraordinarily imposing.

Xu Changsheng sighed slightly, not saying anything more.

A month later, the news that Zhou Changyuan had replaced Lin Xi as the new Zhou Family Head instantly spread throughout the entire Qingyuan Domain.

Regarding this matter, those Elders who did not participate in the decision naturally had quite a few complaints.

Especially those foreign-surname Elders, like Lin Ze, Tenth Elder and the others, who felt there was something fishy about this matter and demanded to see Lin Xi.

But Zhou Changyuan stated that Lin Xi had already gone to the Immortal City for secluded cultivation, preparing for a Breakthrough, and was inconvenient to see anyone.

Some people went to the Immortal City to verify, and the result was a positive answer.

Facing this matter, Shu Hongliu, the person in charge of the Zhou Residence, surprisingly did not object.

From then on, Zhou Changyuan's position as Family Head gradually became solidified.

And after he became Family Head.

The Zhou Family changed its previous steady and cautious style, and a new round of expansion began within the Family.

The first target was naturally the Zhang Family.

Three years later, the Zhang Family was forced to hand over both of their cities, completely degenerating into a small Family that could only occupy wild valleys, and the elites within their Family were absorbed by the Zhou Family.

As soon as this matter occurred, the other Cultivators were all greatly startled.

In just one "Nian", they swallowed a Immortal Family. This Zhou Family truly lives up to its reputation as the largest force in the Qingyuan Domain below the Immortal Sects.

What was abnormal was that the other two major Longevity Families surprisingly had no objections to this.

Another five "Nian" passed.

Zhou Changyuan personally went to the Wang Family and met with Wang Lang, the current Wang Family Head.

No one knew what the two of them talked about.

They only knew that after this meeting, although the Wang Family remained in their own cities, the people in charge of both cities all became Zhou Family members.

This also meant that the Wang Family was also annexed by the Zhou Family, becoming a Immortal Family in name only.

In the eighth "Nian" since Zhou Changyuan became Family Head, only two major Longevity Families remained in the entire Qingyuan Domain.

Anyone with discerning eyes knew that the annexation of the Li Family seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

However, unexpectedly, the Zhou Family made no further moves in the following Time.

On the contrary, the Li Family, taking advantage of the Zhou Family's consolidation of these two major Families, quietly occupied several Spirit Mines.

As soon as this matter occurred, the Zhou Family disciples were naturally extremely dissatisfied.

But since Family Head Zhou Changyuan did not speak, their dissatisfaction remained just that.

And just as Zhou Changyuan felt the Time was ripe and wanted to make a move on the Li Family.

He was suddenly struck by a potent poison and fell into a coma.

Not only him, but soon, other high-ranking members of the Family also successively fell victim to the poison and slipped into comas.

The poison was fierce, and even though the Family tried every method, it was ineffective.

Coupled with the fact that top disciples like Zhou Chang Le were in secluded cultivation attempting to break through to the Golden Core stage.

This led to the entire Zhou Family being left without a leader for a Time, causing widespread panic.

Seeing this, Lin Xi had no choice but to step forward again.

She had originally intended to wait until Zhou Luo came out of seclusion to deal with these matters.

But the sudden large-scale poisoning of the Family's high-ranking members made her realize the seriousness of the situation.

Just as she was busy dealing with internal Family affairs, Jiang City suddenly announced its separation from the Zhou Family, forming its own faction.

This incident was like a bolt of lightning striking among the Zhou Family disciples.

One must know that Jiang City was a key target of the Zhou Family's support, with significant effort invested.

Moreover, many Zhou Family disciples were in charge of important industries in the city.

At this critical juncture, why would it suddenly announce its separation from the Zhou Family?

Lin Xi was also completely baffled.

Currently, Jiang City had activated its city-protecting formation, allowing only entry but no exit, making it completely unknown what exactly had happened.

The only thing known was that the current person in charge of Jiang City had been replaced by a Second-Order Alchemist named Hua Ruofeng.

At the moment Jiang City declared its independence, the Zhang Family, which had been suppressed by the Zhou Family, suddenly rose again, snatching back the two cities that had been previously taken, and immediately announced that they would become a vassal of the Li Family.

The Zhou Family was shaken once more.

They had not expected the Zhang Family to make a resurgence, and moreover, to decisively side with the Li Family.

Facing this matter, although the Family's high-ranking members were poisoned, in order to demonstrate the Family's prestige, Lin Xi did not hesitate and dispatched Family Cultivators to retake the cities.

However, unexpectedly, the Li Family made a high-profile announcement that the Zhang Family had become their subordinate, and attacking them would be a provocation to the Li Family.

At the same Time, Li Family Cultivators began to station themselves in those cities and resisted the Zhou Family's Cultivators.

If one were to look solely at the surface strength, the Li Family should, in theory, be no match for the Zhou Family at all.

But as the war between the two Families erupted, the Zhou Family was surprised to discover that many powerhouses of unknown origin appeared on the battlefield.

These individuals claimed to be Li Family disciples, and when they attacked, they were incredibly overbearing, leaving the Zhou Family completely outmatched.

This Immortal Family, considered by many Cultivators to be second only to the Azure Origin Sect, suffered a setback for the first Time.

After multiple unsuccessful attacks, Lin Xi had no choice but to order the Cultivators to retreat and strictly guard the remaining cities.

Maple Leaf City, in the Zhou Residence.

Lin Xi returned to her Family Head seat, her face solemn, her brows furrowed with deep worry.

Below her, a few people were scattered about, all high-ranking Elders of the Family.

The entire Zhou Family, excluding the high-ranking Elders guarding other cities, still had over fifty members.

But now, only a dozen or so could make it to the main hall.

They all lowered their heads, remaining silent.

"Family Head, it's been confirmed, the poison was administered by the Li Family," Xu Changsheng walked in and said coldly.