34: Chapter 34 Foundation Establishment Ceremony, Division of Territories

As all the forces arrived, the Chen Family's Foundation Establishment Grand Ceremony officially began.

Chen Xuanyi sat in the primary seat, flanked by Foundation Establishment Cultivators from several other Foundation Establishment Families, namely the Li Family, Zhao Family, Wang Family, and Zhou Family.

Among them, the Li Family, Zhao Family, and even the Zhou Family had all previously contacted the Chen Family. As for the Wang Family, the person who came was Wang Zeqing, also a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. At this moment, his heart was filled with emotion; in just the blink of an eye, the outside world had changed so drastically. Just as the Zhang Family was uprooted, two more Foundation Establishment Families emerged. Most importantly, this Chen Family had been destitute just a few years ago, yet now they had reached their level.

No matter what they thought inwardly, Chen Xuanyi's Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment was a fact.

Only after the Qi Refining Families presented their generous gifts did it become the turn of these Foundation Establishment Families.

Among them, the congratulatory gift presented by the Li Family was the most precious. As a Family deeply rooted in Qinghe County for a full millennium, the Li Family was different from the other families. Over this past millennium, the Foundation Establishment Families had changed countless batches, yet only the Li Family still stood tall and unshaken.

What they offered was a three-hundred-year-old Qingxin Lotus, a Rank 2 Low Grade Chiyang Stone, and one thousand Spirit Stones, with a total value of three thousand Spirit Stones.

The Zhao Family came next, presenting gifts worth about two thousand Spirit Stones in total. Then came the Wang Family with generous gifts worth one thousand Spirit Stones, followed by the Zhou Family with the shallowest Foundation, worth five hundred Spirit Stones.

As for those Qi Refining Families, they basically gave anywhere from a few dozen to over two hundred Spirit Stones. Even some Loose Cultivators sent treasures worth dozens of Spirit Stones. Although the value was not high, the key was the large quantity.

The generous gifts sent by these families were worth nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones in total.

This was the first time the Chen Family had received such valuable generous gifts, and all the Chen Family Cultivators felt a sense of glory.

"Congratulations to Fellow Daoist (Senior) Chen on successfully achieving Foundation Establishment."

"Fellow Daoists and Juniors, you traveled thousands of miles to attend Chen's Foundation Establishment Grand Ceremony; you have my thanks." Chen Xuanyi wore a slight smile as he swept his gaze across all the Cultivators present one by one.

"Not at all, not at all. Senior Chen inviting Juniors like us to witness the ceremony is already showing us great respect." A Qi Refining Cultivator stepped forward and respectfully said; he came from the Cuiwei Mountain Liu Family, a Qi Refining Family surrounding Qingyang Mountain.

Logically speaking, after the major Foundation Establishment forces divided their territories later, their Liu Family was destined to be classified under the Chen Family's territory. Therefore, jumping out first to take a stand now would definitely be beneficial for their Family's future development.

Of course, some of the remaining Loose Cultivators also had this idea. A portion of them hoped to establish their own Family to continue their Bloodline. However, the resources of Qinghe County had long been divided up, and they lacked sufficient resources and human connections to build a Family. Now that two Foundation Establishment Families had appeared consecutively, the cultivation forces in Qinghe County were bound to expand further, even developing toward the Monster Mountain Range.

Chen Xuanyi exchanged pleasantries with these Cultivators and then announced the start of the banquet.

Not long after the banquet started, a new force arrived.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, congratulations!" The person who arrived was none other than Lin Feng.

As soon as Lin Feng appeared, everyone at the entire banquet instantly quieted down, and even several Foundation Establishment Cultivators stood up to greet him.

"Who is this person?" A Cultivator at the banquet asked.

"It seems to be... the prized pupil of Master Lingxiao from the Xuantian Sect!" The Cultivator beside him wore a look of utter shock after recognizing the person.

"What?!" The surrounding Cultivators looked over in unison, their eyes filled with shock.

"It's a good thing I expressed my loyalty early. I didn't expect the Chen Family to actually command respect even from the Xuantian Sect." Liu Wuqian said excitedly. He could imagine that his Family might truly become the most supreme existence among the Qi Refining Families because of their stance today.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, if not for your assistance, I truly wouldn't have been able to achieve Foundation Establishment." Chen Xuanyi said with a sincere gaze, bowing to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng stepped forward to support him and smiled, saying, "Fellow Daoist Chen, it was just a small effort, not worth mentioning."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with him, Lin Feng had his subordinates present the treasures.

After instructing his Family members to accept them, Chen Xuanyi opened the box to take a look and found that it was actually a set of Rank 2 Low Grade Formation and a Rank 2 Low Grade Magical Artifact. These treasures happened to resolve the urgent needs of the Chen Family and Chen Xuanyi.

Zhou Mingsui watched with envy from the side. Advancing to a Foundation Establishment Family together with the Chen Family—let alone getting a set of Rank 2 Low Grade Formation, even if he wanted to buy a Rank 2 Low Grade Magical Artifact, he had no idea how long it would take.

The few others were also stunned by Lin Feng's extravagant gesture.

"Since the gifts have been delivered, Lin will no longer disturb you all. I shall take my leave." Lin Feng planned to leave right after delivering the gifts, as if he had some important matters to attend to.

Chen Xuanyi tried to persuade him to stay for a few more words, but in the end, like everyone else, he watched the other party leave.

After Lin Feng left, the banquet continued.

Chen Xuanyi and the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators did not dine with the others; instead, they had Clan Chief Chen Xuanlin take charge of receiving the various Family forces, while he himself accompanied several Foundation Establishment Cultivators to converse in a deep courtyard.

"The Zhang Family's territory will be shared equally by your two families. The Zhou Family was originally on the Zhang Family's territory, and the Zhou Family also contributed effort to eliminate the Zhang Family, so it is only right that the Zhou Family occupies seventy percent of the Zhang Family's territory," Zhao Huaiyi proposed.

Zhou Mingsui and Chen Xuanyi did not speak, but they also felt it should be this way. Firstly, the Chen and Zhou families were newly-risen Foundation Establishment Families, and neither Family alone could swallow the former Zhang Family's territory. Secondly, Lin Feng's relationship with the Chen Family forced them all to take it seriously; no one dared to offend the Chen Family at this critical juncture. Moreover, historically, newly-risen Foundation Establishment Families also took over the territories of previous Foundation Establishment Families.

Of course, Zhou Mingsui would also feel somewhat dissatisfied because their Family had made a significant contribution to destroying the Zhang Family, whereas the Chen Family had done nothing at all. However, it was impossible to voice this aloud; the other families dared not offend them, let alone their Zhou Family.

Seeing that no one objected, Zhao Huaiyi continued, "The Zhang Family was jointly eliminated by my Zhao Family and the Zhou Family. The Zhou Family has already obtained seventy percent of the territory, so my Zhao Family also needs to obtain a certain amount of resources. How about this: the Chen Family will give two thousand Spirit Stones to my Zhao Family, and all the territory south of the Wu Family will belong entirely to the Chen Family."

Although they were wary of Lin Feng, it didn't mean they wouldn't fight for their own interests. If they decided not to take a single bit of interest just because the Chen Family had someone behind them, what about the future? The two families were in close proximity, and conflicts of interest were bound to arise eventually.

At this moment, Li Chengtian of the Li Family also spoke up, "How about this! The Chen Family currently needs enough Spirit Stones for development. My Li Family will repay the Spirit Stones they owe on their behalf, and the Chen Family can just pay it back in installments over twenty years."

Hearing this, several people looked at Li Chengtian. None of them expected that the Li Family would actually help the Chen Family to this extent.

Chen Xuanyi said gratefully, "Thank you, Brother Li, for your assistance. My Chen Family will not take advantage of you regarding the annual interest; we will definitely return it in full."

Li Chengtian nodded and said no more.

The general direction was thus settled among the five families. As for whether the Chen and Zhou families wanted more territory, they would have to rely on themselves.

Next, the few of them discussed some detailed issues, and after about an hour, they completely finalized the entire process.

For the Chen and Zhou families, the gains obtained this time far exceeded their imagination. Just the several Qi Refining Families on the Chen Family's territory had to offer hundreds of Spirit Stones in tribute every year, which was already a handsome income. Besides these, one-tenth of the market share belonging to the former Zhang Family in the Qinghe Market was also divided equally between the Chen and Zhou families. Since neither Family had a Foundation Establishment Cultivator available to guard it, this share could already be considered very good.

Thinking back to those years, when they were themselves a Qi Refining Family, they also had to hand over thirty percent to the Zhao Family every year. Now their positions had reversed, and it was the Chen Family's turn to collect the tribute.

However, only after chatting with the other few people did Chen Xuanyi and Zhou Mingsui realize that the several Foundation Establishment Families in Qinghe County also had to hand over tribute every year, and the force collecting this tribute was none other than the Xuantian Sect.

Of course, through these few people, they also learned about some other matters—for instance, every ten years, the Xuantian Sect also had to pay tribute to the Yuxu Sect, one of the eleven Golden Core forces of the Great Yan Country.

The Yuxu Sect was the truly supreme force in the entire Great Yan Country. To the five major Foundation Establishment Families of Qinghe County, it was a genuine behemoth. Not to mention how many Golden Core Cultivators there were within the sect, there were no less than dozens of Purple Palace Cultivators alone.

Any random one of them could uproot the five major Foundation Establishment Families of Qinghe County; how could this not make them tremble with fear?

Having negotiated everything properly, the several people took their leave and departed.

Chen Xuanyi's expression was grave. He hadn't expected that after becoming a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he thought he stood at the apex of everyone, only to find that it truly fulfilled the saying: there is always a mountain higher than another. The Family was still too weak, or rather, Qinghe County was too small, and everyone's horizons simply couldn't keep up.