Chapter 1794: Chapter 1779: Hidden Clan of Xio
As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows.
The Xio Family, controlling the West Patrol under Xio Qiangu, is no exception.
For tens of thousands of years, besides the regular splitting through three generations within the clan, the Xio Family has also supported the establishment of numerous hidden clans through various means and secret methods.
Perhaps the Xio Family realized that their leverage over the West Patrol and Demon Clan intelligence would inevitably lead to a reckoning from the Imperial Family of Great Zhou.
They do not know how long they can maintain this advantage or how long the Xio Family’s prosperity can last.
But undoubtedly, the Xio Family had long been preparing for an unexpected reckoning and decline.
This intelligence was obtained by Ye Zhen from Ma Yuanjin, the Chief of the Inner Affairs Bureau and a confidant of Xio Qiangu within the West Patrol.
Even Ma Yuanjin had only heard rumors of this matter.
It is said that the inheritance of the Xio Family Head involves the Cultivating Vessels and Selecting Generals Skill, where a new Family Head selects qualified direct lineage bloodline members.
They are then assigned to the Xio Family’s Little World.
Among the Ten Thousand Worlds, there exists a Little World operating under the Xio Family’s will, where the Family Head is a god, a supreme being.
Under the influence of the Xio Family, the Little World is in constant warfare, with the entire continent artificially divided into several unequal nations.
The Xio Family’s talented youth are sent directly to this Little World, occupying different positions based on bloodline and cultivation, with resources that do not vary much.
The Xio Family has a detailed set of rules for this distribution.
Then, they engage in ruthless bloody battles by any means necessary.
This battle period lasts for a hundred and twenty years, two sexagenary cycles.
Within these 120 years, any descendant of the Xio Family who manages to unify the world by any means becomes the next Family Head.
They are then taken out of the Little World to undergo cultivating to improve their cultivation level.
However, the descendants sent into this Little World are seven or eight selected from the hundreds of the same generation.
Before being sent to the Little World, they are given advice by elders, familiar with military strategies and alliance skills.
Thus, it is rare for Xio Family successors to unify the Little World within 120 years.
The reason is simple: once one side becomes too dominant, the others will unite against them to seek coexistence.
Most of the time, after two sexagenary cycles of selection, unification is still unachieved, and one to three or four successors typically survive.
The one with the largest territory and strongest influence is chosen as the next Family Head, while the remaining successors have two choices.
If they maintain a good relationship, they may become the next head’s right-hand allies, as surviving the selection indicates strength.
If not, they must release their Divine Soul and engrave the family’s unique secret method on the Innate Divine Soul.
They then change their name, surname, and appearance. The family provides funds for them to carve out their own path.
They can choose to join the military, enter politics, or do business, aiming to establish a small family within a hundred years.
Only by establishing a small family in a hundred years can they reconnect with the main family, the Xio Family, to receive support and continue to grow.
They become a backup, a hidden clan of the Xio Family.
If one day, the Xio Family faces reckoning by the Imperial Family, being eradicated, these branches ensure the bloodline continues, awaiting an opportunity to revive the Xio Family.
Generally, these hidden clans are extremely secretive, with outsiders entirely unaware.
Ma Yuanjin, the Inner Affairs Bureau Chief, knows this because his own Ma Family is a hidden clan separated five thousand years ago.
As the second son of the Ma Family Head, unable to inherit the family estate, and with the Xio Family needing trustworthy people, he was sent to the West Patrol.
Ma Yuanjin learned of this by accidentally following his brother, the family’s heir, into the forbidden land, discovering this in the secret codex.
He then casually informed Ye Zhen.
Ye Zhen felt a chill upon discovering this intelligence.
No wonder the Holy Emperor of Great Zhou was helpless against Xio Qiangu of the West Patrol.
The management skills of the Xio Family are extraordinary, having cultivated for tens of thousands of years, producing numerous hidden clans.
Even if a hidden clan is established every two to three hundred years with a success rate of only 20%, there would still be at least twenty Xio Family hidden clans.
Could twenty ancient families, each with millennia of heritage, all be hidden clans of the Xio Family?
How terrifying is this concealed power?
Fortunately, as Ma Yuanjin claims, this world is full of unexpected events, and world affairs are beyond the Xio Family’s control.
Natural disasters, wars, and social upheaval have caused many hidden clans to vanish or be lost, but even so, the Xio Family still has several hidden clans.
The Chii Clan, the largest noble family in Dachi County of Lanshan County in Weizhou State, is a hidden clan of the Xio Family.
This is the only hidden clan Ma Yuanjin can confirm is of the Xio Family.
After all, the Chii Family is quite an ancient hidden family of the Xio Family, with a legacy of over six thousand years at the very least.
The current Left Assistant of the West Patrol, Chii Jingshan, originates from the Chii Clan of Weizhou.
Due to the long-standing heritage, the Xio Family no longer places significant importance on the secrecy of this hidden clan of the Xio.
Not to mention exchanging businesses in various places with the Xio Family, one-quarter of the leaders in the Heavenly Patrol Divine Hunter of the West Patrol bear the surname Chii.
Of course, nominally, this is because of Chii Jingshan, the Left Assistant of the West Patrol.
But in reality, it’s because the Chii Family is a hidden clan of the Xio.
This Chii Clan is also the only hidden clan of the Xio known to Ma Yuanjin.
At the same time, it’s also Ye Zhen’s target for tonight.
Ye Zhen definitely does not underestimate Xio Qiangu of the West Patrol.
Thus, after slaughtering the Dongxi Clan and destroying Dachang Mountain, relying on Little Cat’s speed, Ye Zhen quickly fled millions of miles in one day.
Even though there were at least four similar counties connected to the Xio Family or its branches within six hundred thousand miles around Dongxi County.
But those were too close, Ye Zhen didn’t dare to act.
Currently, Ye Zhen is in Weizhou, adjacent to Pingzhou, but about one and a half million miles from the Dongxi County City where he acted yesterday.
Compared to the Dongxing Clan, although the Chii Clan of Dachi County is a wealthy family, it is much smaller and less important than the Dongxi Clan.
However, the Chii Clan still has over thirty thousand members who, over the years, have gradually entered important positions throughout the West Patrol.
Although the subterranean spirit vein in Dachi County is not of high grade, it has the advantage of quantity, making it very suitable for planting spiritual medicine.
The Chii Family mainly engages in the spiritual medicine business.
According to Ma Yuanjin, the spiritual medicine produced by the Chii Family is mainly handed over to Xio Qiangu for smuggling with the Demon Clan, accounting for over forty percent of the share.
Though the profits cannot compare to those of the Dongxi Clan, they are definitely substantial.
By now, Ye Zhen has been in Dachi County for three hours, and within these three hours, he has frequently taken action to gather specific intelligence on Dachi County.
Ye Zhen acts swiftly and decisively, and anything below the Dao Realm is easy to handle, but if a Dao Realm expert appears, Ye Zhen would have to use all his strength, exposing his identity.
Therefore, the first thing Ye Zhen needs to ascertain when dealing with this Chii Clan is whether they have a Dao Realm expert holding the fort.
Ye Zhen infiltrated the Chii Family and captured three Chii Family members for soul searching, obtaining the information.
The Chii Family indeed has a Dao Realm expert, an early Dao Realm expert sitting in the post.
However, more than half a day ago, after issuing an order to strengthen vigilance, this Dao Realm expert of the Chii Family hurriedly left and has not returned yet.
Frankly, this is good news.
But it also makes Ye Zhen even more cautious.
The massacre of the Dongxi Clan and the destruction of Dachang Mountain have probably made Xio Qiangu suspect something. Otherwise, a hidden clan like the Chii Clan would not have strengthened vigilance this significantly.
There are as many as eight Realm King Realm experts patrolling at night.
However, as long as there is no Dao Realm expert, whether there are eight or eighteen Realm King Realm experts patrolling at night makes no difference to Ye Zhen.
Because under Ye Zhen, there are a total of fifty thousand Demon Soul Army.
Previously, during the massacre of the Dongxi Clan, the Demon Soul Army under Ye Zhen suffered a total casualty of over sixteen hundred soldiers, ninety-nine percent of whom were Demon Souls in the Divine Communication Realm.
Four Demon Souls in the Dark Palace Realm died, with most being injured, and no officers in the Realm King Realm were killed, but all were wounded.
After all, the Realm King Realm experts of the Dongxi Clan are not weaklings.
For other armies, if most of the generals are wounded, they probably need to recuperate for several days.
But for the Demon Soul Army, as long as there is the War Soul Blood Flag, these are not problems.
The War Soul Blood Flag devoured the divine souls and Blood Evil Qi of all male members of the Dongxi Clan, not only fully restoring the injured troops but also enhancing the abilities of some of them.
Ye Zhen, in order to protect and enhance Hei Jiu, the Corps Leader, improved Hei Jiu’s cultivation to the Fifth Stage of Realm King Realm, and additionally selected five Demon Soul Generals of the Realm King Realm to improve their cultivation to the Fourth Stage of Realm King Realm.
By then, with the support of the War Soul Blood Flag, this Sharp Blade Squad can easily handle martial artists of the late stage of the Realm King Realm.
As for Ye Zhen’s Demon Marshal’s Avatar, due to immense energy consumption, Ye Zhen only enhanced the cultivation of the Demon Marshal’s Avatar from the Seventh Stage to the Eighth Stage of Realm King Realm.
As for the generals in the Dark Palace Realm, with a casual descent of a Blood Light from the War Soul Blood Flag, their cultivation was enhanced by one stage or so.
All things considered, the bloody battle against the Dongxi Clan has led to an increase rather than a decrease in the combat power of Ye Zhen’s Demon Soul Army.
"Just like before, except for non-resisting women and children, slaughter every clan member or resister!"
"Kill!"
The deafening sound of slaughtering reverberated, leaving all the Chii Clan members in Dachi County dumbfounded!
