Chapter 950: Chapter 950: Cooperation with the Shi Family
Within three days, the entire Martial Realm north of Qian Shui submitted to Liu Zixuan.
The sentence was extremely simple, but precisely because of that simplicity, it left the Shi Family Patriarch and Shi Ke so shocked they were at a loss for words.
According to the current division of the Martial Realm’s territories, there were at least four Celestial Dao Alliance Sub-Branches in the north.
Annex four in three days?
Just going head-to-head with these four alone already sounded like some wild fantasy. Don’t forget, the moment a single Sub-Branch was wiped out, the Celestial Dao Alliance Headquarters would know. Before they even moved on the other three, the experts from the Celestial Dao Alliance Headquarters would be on their way.
Given that, how could Liu Zixuan and his people possibly pull it off!
Unable to help himself, the Shi Family Patriarch forced a dry laugh. "Lord Xuan, that joke of yours really isn’t funny at all."
"Do I look like I’m joking?" Liu Zixuan smiled with a teasing glint.
"Though the true strength of the Celestial Dao Alliance is all gathered in the south, these four in the north are no pushovers either. Even if you don’t count our Shi Family, there’s still the Zhong Family, the He Family, and the Lv Family. The Zhong Family’s predecessor was one of the Four Great Clans, and the He Family and Lv Family are among the Eight Great Powers. Of these three, as far as I know, each currently has an Emperor Realm expert sitting in town, and that Lv Family’s old ancestor has also been handling matters in the clan these last few days."
The Shi Family Patriarch shifted the topic, frowning as he said, "What’s more, these Sub-Branches are closely connected with Headquarters. The moment something happens, support from the Celestial Dao Alliance will be very fast!"
Liu Zixuan lit a cigarette, took two drags, and smiled. "Patriarch Shi, you don’t need to worry about how we do it. Since I dare boast, I have the confidence to see it done. Right now, what I need is your stance. Among these four, your Shi Family is included..."
"I understand what you mean."
The Shi Family Patriarch sighed at his words. "To be honest, neither I nor our family’s old ancestor want to offend either side, but right now we belong to the Celestial Dao Alliance in name. If you skip over my Shi Family and go straight for the next, the Zhong Family, the Celestial Dao Alliance will definitely start suspecting something."
"Lord Xuan, let me speak for my big brother."
Shi Ke opened his mouth. "You mustn’t spare any of the four, but when you come to the Shi Family, I hope you won’t harm our foundations. That will be enough."
Originally, Liu Zixuan had thought this Shi Ke rather unremarkable, but hearing such a decisive statement from him made Liu Zixuan give him a second, longer look.
It seemed this Shi Ke had more decisiveness and a greater sense of the bigger picture than the Shi Family Patriarch.
Liu Zixuan gave Shi Ke a meaningful look, then smiled. "Since you’ve said so, I’ll show my sincerity as well. I won’t personally go to the Shi Family. You’ll do it yourselves."
"We do it ourselves?" The Shi Family Patriarch and Shi Ke both showed an awkward expression.
Without question, if they wanted to avoid arousing the Celestial Dao Alliance’s suspicion, they would have to stage a bitter-meat act.
But if Liu Zixuan personally made his move, the Shi Family could, in the future, choose the winning side; and if they had to retreat, they could still give the Celestial Dao Alliance an explanation.
If they did it themselves, though, it meant personally killing some of the Shi Family’s own Martial Artists.
This wasn’t Liu Zixuan’s sincerity at all; it was Liu Zixuan’s scheme!
Once the Shi Family agreed, it meant binding themselves tightly to Liu Zixuan. In name they were still people of the Celestial Dao Alliance, but in the shadows they had already thrown in with Liu Zixuan.
If Liu Zixuan won, everything would be easy to say. If he lost, the Shi Family would definitely be exterminated by the Celestial Dao Alliance.
No one was stupid. If Liu Zixuan could wipe out the other three, why would the Shi Family only suffer a partial loss?
So this was the choice Liu Zixuan was giving them.
After hesitating for a moment, Shi Ke looked up and said, "Big brother, Lord Xuan isn’t wrong. We shouldn’t harbor any wishful thinking. If we want to gain, we have to pay the price. This is a high-stakes gamble—what we’re betting is whether the Shi Family’s future will be glorious, or end in annihilation."
The Shi Family Patriarch nodded and looked at Liu Zixuan. "Lord Xuan, since you trust us, we’ll do it ourselves. That way, in the shadows, this counts as cooperation between us."
Liu Zixuan smiled and extended his hand. "I don’t want to give empty promises, but I will say this: those who’ve cooperated with me have never been disappointed!"
"Pleasure working with you!" The Shi Family Patriarch shook Liu Zixuan’s hand firmly.
"Since we’ve decided to work together, to wipe out the other three as soon as possible, I’ll have Shi Ke go with you. With him leading the way, it’ll be much easier to get inside those three families, and they’ll also lower their guard somewhat."
"All the better!" Liu Zixuan said with a smile.
This was exactly the line he’d been waiting for from the Shi Family Patriarch. Shi Ke’s status in the clan clearly wasn’t beneath that of the Patriarch; he was probably very close with that Shi Family old ancestor as well.
With him taking the lead, it would be much easier for Liu Zixuan and the others to work.
Don’t forget, although Liu Zixuan’s reputation within the Celestial Dao Alliance was huge, very few had actually seen him in person. With Shi Ke guiding them, they could directly charge into the core areas of those three families, use the tactic of ’capture the king to catch the thieves,’ and swiftly take them down, leaving the Celestial Dao Alliance no time at all to catch their breath!
"It’s getting late. We’ll head for the Zhong Family now. Don’t make any moves on your side yet. We’ll send word once we’re inside the Zhong Family." Liu Zixuan rose as he spoke.
"I understand."
Liu Zixuan’s intent was simple: to give the Celestial Dao Alliance an illusion. It would look like Liu Zixuan had dispatched a large force, enough to simultaneously deal with two families, thus building momentum and creating the illusion that Liu Zixuan’s side was extremely powerful!
With that, Liu Zixuan and the other two left the restaurant together and sped toward the Zhong Family.
And back in the restaurant where they had been, an old man suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The Shi Family Patriarch rose respectfully. "Old Ancestor, are we really going to cooperate with Liu Zixuan?"
"It’s not about true or false. It’s that we have to." The Shi Family old ancestor’s expression turned a bit strange, and he gave a wry smile. "Of course, you must think I’m staking the entire Shi Family to gamble alongside Liu Zixuan, right?"
"Yes. After all, no matter what, Liu Zixuan’s side is still a bit weaker." The Shi Family Patriarch muttered.
The Shi Family old ancestor waved his hand. "You’ll understand my good intentions in time. All right, head back to the clan now. Do everything as Liu Zixuan said. I have to hurry back to the Celestial Dao Alliance, or they’ll get suspicious. It’s not yet the time to completely tear off our mask with them!"
In a flash, the Shi Family old ancestor’s figure vanished from where he stood.
With the old ancestor’s words, the Shi Family Patriarch’s confidence grew a great deal. Muttering to himself twice, he rushed back toward the clan.
An hour later, outside the Celestial Dao Alliance’s Zhong Family Sub-Branch.
Sitting in the car, Shi Ke pointed at the residence ahead. "That’s the Zhong Family Sub-Branch. Since the Celestial Dao Alliance was founded, all its industries have been brought under unified management, so all the elites they have left are gathered in this residence. I’ve been here before. Inside, there are about seven or eight Imperial Realm Martial Artists, two Half-Step Emperor Realm experts, and as for that Zhong Family Squad Leader, he’s just broken through to the Acquired Emperor Realm!"
"Looks like what they got from the Relic Pearl has really boosted the overall strength of the Celestial Dao Alliance." Liu Zixuan said with a smile.
"Exactly. In the past, most of these Patriarchs were Half-Step Emperor Realm or Imperial Realm. Now they’ve all improved a lot!"
"Get out of the car." Liu Zixuan’s lips curved slightly as he spoke with a smile.
