56: Chapter 56 The Four Great Families, Achieving Instantaneous Explosion

[Chu Sheng lay on the riverbank, gasping for air for a long time, before struggling to stand up.]

[He looked back at the rushing river. On the opposite bank, the figures of pursuers could be faintly seen pacing, seemingly afraid to cross the boundary.]

["Yan Kingdom..." he muttered, "I actually ended up here."]

[The demon refining pot was still scorching hot. The Remnant Soul of the Red Python inside had swallowed a Ninth Grade of Qi Induction expert and seemed quite satisfied, as its struggles had diminished.]

["Old buddy, that was well done."]

[Chu Sheng patted the demon refining pot, "Once I'm settled, I'll feed you more good things. Maybe I'll even find you a female snake."]

[The demon refining pot rolled over.]

["See how good I am to you."]

[Chu Sheng turned and walked toward the small border town.]

[The town was named Ferry Town, named because it was the essential ferry crossing from the eastern region of the Yan Kingdom to the Tianfeng Kingdom.]

[Chu Sheng found an inconspicuous small inn in town to stay and first treated his injuries.]

[Three days later, he had a general understanding of the Yan Kingdom.]

The Yan Kingdom spanned thousands of kilometers and was divided into four regions: East, West, South, and North.

Each region was guarded by one of the Four Great Families.

The Zhao Family in the East, the Qian Family in the West, the Sun Family in the South, and the Li Family in the North.

Each family had a Condensing True Essence ancestor and deep-rooted influence, so even the royal family had to show them some respect.

The royal family resided in the center, with the capital city, Yan City, located in the middle of the kingdom.

The current King of Yan was old, and the crown prince, Ji Yuanzhao, was the legitimate heir.

However, he was weak in character, and with a cultivation level of Half-Step Condensing True Essence, he could not control the situation.

The other princes were backed by the Four Great Families, and the factional struggles had been fierce, fighting openly and covertly for over a decade.

The Yan Kingdom also had two special factions.

One was the Wen Xin Hall Branch.

Wen Xin Hall was a top-tier righteous cultivation faction with its headquarters in Central Province and branches spread across various countries.

The branch in the Yan Kingdom was small in scale but had an aloof status; it did not interfere in state affairs, only taught the Dao, imparted knowledge, and resolved disputes in the cultivation world.

To put it plainly, it was an entity that existed purely for the love of it, and no one dared to provoke it.

The second was a third-rate sect.

The Beast Sect.

This sect specialized in beast taming and navigated between the Four Great Families and the royal family, offending no one and receiving respect from all.

Everything else was just minor, insignificant sects not worth mentioning.

Chu Sheng organized this information.

"Four Great Families, factional struggles, weak crown prince... Have I been dragged into a vortex of power struggles? Or a vortex of palace intrigue?"

He suddenly remembered the jade pendant the Old Man of the Pavilion Guard had shoved into his hand before dying.

The crown princes token.

"That old guy..."

Chu Sheng's mouth twitched, "He shoved a ticking time bomb into my hands before he died."

"The crown prince, Ji Yuanzhao..."

He muttered, "Half-Step Condensing True Essence, weak personality, being suppressed by his brothers. If I defect to him, what good could come of it?"

"Forget it, I won't think about that for now."

He shook his head, "The most urgent priority is to improve my cultivation."

[He was currently at the Fifth Stage of Qi Guiding. He might be able to get by in this border region of the Yan Kingdom, but if he went to a place like the capital, he would just be cannon fodder.]

[Chu Sheng took out the demon refining pot, opened the lid, and peeked inside.]

[The Remnant Soul of the Red Python was curled up at the bottom of the pot. Seeing the lid open, it raised its head slightly: 'Is there anything else to eat?']

["Don't be impatient," Chu Sheng sneered, "I'll refine you first."]

[He sat cross-legged and activated the refining power of the demon refining pot.]

[The patterns on the pot lit up. The remnant soul struggled violently, emitting a silent screech, but most of its power had already been refined previously, and it had no strength to resist.]

[A trace of pure beast energy escaped from the pot and surged into Chu Sheng's body.]

[Chu Sheng's whole body shook, and he felt the spiritual energy in his dantian begin to boil.]

[On the night of the third day, Chu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes!]

[Sixth Stage of Qi Guiding!]

["Finally broke through."]

[He clenched his fist, "If I encounter that Ninth Grade of Qi Induction expert again, I can trade a few blows even without the Crimson Python."]

[The Remnant Soul of the Red Python inside the pot was even weaker, reduced to a faint wisp, without even the strength to struggle.]

[Chu Sheng closed the lid and patted it: "Don't worry, I won't finish refining you yet; I still need you to guard the door."]

[After the breakthrough, Chu Sheng continued to gather information.]

Staring at the simulation screen, Chu Sheng began to analyze.

The Four Great Families were locked in fierce factional struggles.

The crown prince was weak, but his cultivation level of Half-Step Condensing True Essence was actually the highest among all the princes.

Why couldn't he control the situation?

Because the Four Great Families were backing the others; no matter how strong he was alone, it was useless.

He was currently at the Sixth Stage of Qi Guiding; if he defected to the crown prince, what could he gain?

Perhaps a reward, then be assigned an idle position, or maybe even be targeted by the other princes' spies and die without knowing how.

Helping someone in need is better than helping someone who is already successful.

But with his cultivation, he couldn't even count as charcoal; at most, he was a matchstick.

"Hard cultivation? Too slow. Devouring people? The demon refining pot can devour, but who to devour? I can't just kill everyone I see."

The Many Children, Many Blessings path...

This was the original intent of the Many Children, Many Blessings trait, which required high-quality cultivation partners.

But where could he find high-quality cultivation partners?

The daughters of the Four Great Families?

Those were for their political marriages; would it ever be the turn of an outsider like him?

He suddenly thought of a place.

The Beast Sect.

This third-rate sect, which navigated between the Four Great Families and the royal family, specialized in beast taming and held an aloof status.

He had the demon refining pot, which naturally suppressed spirit beasts; if he could infiltrate the Beast Sect...

["Right, the Beast Sect... This place might be a breakthrough."]

[He put down the intelligence in his hand and looked out the window.]

[Outside the window, the night was deep, and in the distance, rolling mountain ranges could be faintly seen.]

[That, it was said, was the territory of the Beast Sect.]

[Key decision triggered: Stranded in the Yan Kingdom, where should he go?]

[1. Go to the Beast Sect to try his luck. Use the demon refining pot as a stepping stone; he might be able to secure an identity and plan slowly.]

[2. Infiltrate the capital and contact the crown prince. The risk is extremely high; he might only get a reward, or more likely, be targeted and die without a burial place.]

[3. Hard cultivation or devouring people. Practice hard in the border forests or hunt and refine spirit beasts to slowly improve his cultivation.]

[4. The Many Children, Many Blessings path. Find high-quality cultivation partners and improve quickly through bloodline feedback. But he was unfamiliar with the Yan Kingdom; where could he find a partner?]

Chu Sheng looked at these four options and fell into deep thought.

Hard cultivation was too slow, and devouring people was too risky.

Many Children, Many Blessings... He didn't even have a reliable cultivation partner right now; he couldn't just go to a brothel, could he?

What kind of good spiritual roots could the children born from that have?

"Contacting the crown prince... that's suicide. With his cultivation, in that vortex of power, he wouldn't even count as cannon fodder."

"The Beast Sect..."

The Beast Sect specialized in beast taming; with his skills, he might actually make a name for himself if he went there.

"Choose 1."

Chu Sheng made his decision, "Go to the Beast Sect and try my luck."

[In the scene, Chu Sheng stood up and packed his bags.]

[He took one last look in the direction of the great river outside the window.]

[On the other side of the river was the Tianfeng Kingdom, the Qinglan Sect, the missing Lin Bufan, whose fate was uncertain, and his wife who was still waiting in Jin Xiao City.]

["Wait for me."]

[He muttered, "Once I find a way, I will come back to get you."]

[He turned around, pushed open the door, and stepped into the night.]