156: The Zhao family was shaken!

"Qian'er was the future hope of our Zhao Family!"

"He died so inexplicably, and we're just going to let it go?!"

Zhao Ji sat in the main seat, his face dark as water. He let out a heavy sigh: "Madam, calm down! This matter... how could it be so simple? The Ascend to the Summit Sect was able to resurrect Fairy Li Meng; their methods are beyond what we can fathom!"

"A reckless retaliation might bring a disaster of total destruction upon our Family!"

"Total destruction?" Madam Zhao snapped her head up, her eyes filled with resentment and disbelief: "Resurrecting a True Immortal? You actually believe such nonsense?"

"Dao wounds are irreversible, and remnant souls eventually dissipate—this is the fundamental principle of Heaven and Earth!"

"Who in the Lower Heaven could reverse this?"

"That Ascend to the Summit Sect must be putting on a deceptive show!"

"I think you've all just been scared out of your wits!"

"The Family supports you Elders and Guest Elders, yet at the critical moment, not a single one of you dares to speak up for my son!"

"You are all useless!"

A highly Senior clan Elder frowned and spoke: "Matriarch, please appease your anger! This matter concerns the survival of the Family; it is no longer a private grudge."

"Regardless of what means the Ascend to the Summit Sect used, it is a fact that Fairy Li Meng has been resurrected. What that implies is self-evident! We must plan carefully. Perhaps... we should ask the Old Ancestor to decide."

"Ask the Old Ancestor?"

Madam Zhao acted as if she had caught a life-saving straw, saying sharply: "Yes! Ask the Old Ancestor! The Old Ancestor is a supreme, Immortal True Immortal! If he knew Qian'er was killed, how could he sit idly by?! He will surely strike out to flatten that Ascend to the Summit Sect and avenge Qian'er!"

Just as she finished speaking, a terrifying aura, as vast as a sea of stars and as majestic as a divine prison, suddenly descended upon the hall!

Space distorted slightly as an elderly man wearing a magnificent robe and possessing a majestic countenance appeared silently before everyone.

He was the Zhao Family's pillar of stability—the Immortal True Immortal Old Ancestor, Zhao Shanhe!

"Old Ancestor!"

Everyone bowed in unison, showing extreme respect.

Zhao Shanhe's gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on the hopeful face of Madam Zhao. He spoke slowly, his voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable authority: "You are right. This Immortal... is indeed angry."

Madam Zhao was overjoyed to hear this.

However, Zhao Shanhe's next words made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar: "What This Immortal is angry about is that I failed to purge the household sooner! To the point that I let that wretched creature Zhao Qian commit such an act of Killing an Immortal and Seizing a Soul—an act that defies the Laws of nature and enrages both gods and men!"

"He has ruined the reputation accumulated by countless ancestors of my Zhao Family in a single stroke!"

"Now, more than half of the Qinggu Heaven Domain is laughing at my Zhao Family! They are denouncing my Zhao Family for lack of discipline!"

"How can you ask This Immortal not to be angry?!"

"Old Ancestor!" Madam Zhao screamed: "Qian'er is of your Bloodline! Even if he had a thousand faults, his crime did not warrant death!"

"Now that he has died tragically away from home, instead of avenging him, you are blaming him?"

"Where in the world is the logic in that!"

Zhao Shanhe's gaze turned cold: "His crime did not warrant death? Attacking the remnant soul of Ruoshui True Immortal is a great taboo in the cultivation world!"

"What kind of figure is Fairy Li Meng? Back then, she traversed the Heaven Domain and protected Qinggu, earning the respect of all living beings!"

"Even when This Immortal sees her, I must observe the etiquette of a Junior and call her Senior!"

"That beast Zhao Qian, blinded by greed, actually dared to commit such a rebellious act. He deserved to die!"

"His death was brought upon himself!"

"Fine! A fine 'brought upon himself'!" Madam Zhao acted as if she were crazed, pointing at Zhao Shanhe and the Elders: "I see through it now! From top to bottom, your Zhao Family is nothing but cowards!"

"Timid as mice! My son is dead, yet you don't dare to take revenge; instead, you all join in to blame him!"

"Zhao Ji! I was truly blind to marry such a heartless and ungrateful person like you!"

"If your Zhao Family doesn't dare to act, my Meng Family will!"

"I don't believe that if my Meng Family uses the power of the entire clan, we still won't be able to deal with a deceptive Ascend to the Summit Sect!"

After saying this, Madam Zhao swept a venomous gaze across the room, turned into a streak of light, and rushed out of the hall, clearly heading back to her maternal Family to bring reinforcements.

"Foolish woman! Utterly stupid!"

Zhao Shanhe watched the direction in which the woman from the Lin Family left, a flash of severity in his eyes: "With such a Heart-Nature, she will sooner or later harm the entire Zhao Family! Zhao Ji, you are the Family Head; I hope you do not act foolishly!"

Zhao Ji's expression shifted, eventually turning into bitterness as he bowed: "The Old Ancestor sees clearly. I... I know what's important."

An Elder said worriedly: "Old Ancestor, the Matriarch's maternal Family, the Meng Family... their strength cannot be underestimated. In Canglan Continent, apart from Taiqing Academy, almost no power can rival them."

"If the Meng Family is truly incited, I'm afraid..."

Zhao Shanhe snorted coldly: "The Meng Family? Hmph, if they seek their own death, no one can save them!"

"Go and do two things immediately."

"First, in the name of the Family, announce to the Qinggu Heaven Domain that Zhao Qian's rebellion against human ethics and his act of killing an immortal to seize a soul is an atrocious crime. From this day forward, he is expelled from the Zhao Family genealogy, and his life or death has nothing to do with the Zhao Family!"

"Second, immediately prepare a generous gift—treasures that can best reflect my Zhao Family's apologies and sincerity!"

"This Immortal will personally go to the Ascend to the Summit Sect to... apologize to Fairy Li Meng!"

"Old Ancestor, must we really do this?"

There were still Elders who harbored doubts: "The matter of resurrecting a True Immortal's remnant soul is simply too inconceivable. Does someone in the Lower Heaven... truly have such means?"

Zhao Shanhe's gaze was profound, revealing a hint of awe: "Dao wounds are irreversible, and remnant souls eventually dissipate; this is common sense. But the Universe is mysterious, and there are always existences that exceed common sense."

"The power behind someone who can reverse such Laws is no longer something we True Immortals of the Lower Realm can fathom."

"This Immortal even suspects... that this Ascend to the Summit Sect is not a Sect of the Lower Realm. Its roots might originate from... the Upper Realm!"

"The Upper Realm?!" Hearing this, the Elders all turned pale with shock, and no longer had any objections.

"Go and prepare quickly!"

Zhao Shanhe flicked his sleeve and turned away, his figure gradually fading, with only a final warning echoing in the hall: "Do not let a single private grudge bring... a disaster of eternal damnation upon my Zhao Family!"

...A few days later, in the capital of the Xuanji Immortal Kingdom.

Above the firmament, the sea of clouds churned.

A giant immortal ship slowly broke through the cloud layer and appeared in everyone's field of vision.

The immortal ship was surrounded by phantoms of Luan birds, with banners fluttering and an extraordinary aura, immediately drawing the attention and awe of countless Cultivators in the capital.

"What a grand immortal ship! Which great power has arrived?"

"Looking at this style and aura, it definitely doesn't belong to an ordinary Sect. It's likely an ancient immortal clan living in seclusion!"

"Eh? I feel like This Immortal ship looks a bit familiar, as if I've seen it somewhere before..."

"..."

Inside the imperial palace, Empress Xuanji, who was reviewing memorials, felt something. Her phoenix eyes lifted slightly as she looked toward the horizon.

Her figure blurred, and she appeared above the imperial city as a streak of light, blocking the path of the immortal ship. Imperial immortal light flowed around her, and the pressure of the Early Stage True Immortal was held back but not released. Her voice was cold and majestic.

"I wonder which immortal clan Fellow Daoist has arrived at my Xuanji Immortal Kingdom?"

The immortal ship's radiance retracted, the hatch opened, and a group of Cultivators dressed in luxurious clothing with steady auras filed out.

At their head was an elderly man with white hair and beard, a lean face, and wearing a black cloud-patterned Daoist robe. His cultivation had surprisingly reached the Mid Heaven Immortal stage. He took a step forward and bowed respectfully to Empress Xuanji, maintaining a very low posture.

"This old man is Zhao Xuanming, the Great Clan Elder of the Zhao Family from Canglan Continent. Might Your Excellency be Her Majesty the Empress of the Xuanji Immortal Kingdom?"