When he left the small building in the middle of the lake, Xu Ning couldn't help but glance back, in addition to the traces of a fight on the shore, there were more slaughters!

The morning dew, the birds, the lake, after the cruel struggle of mankind, all returned to normal.

Shangguan Yunba's death heralded the decline of a family, but judging from the reactions of others, things were even more complicated, on the way to the patrol prison, no one spoke, and the silence was pregnant with a more confusing atmosphere.

The Lin family had already withdrawn and went to Shangguan's house to rescue Lin Yue, in order to avoid a commotion caused by the larger fight, Xia Zhiyuan asked a team of patrols to follow.

Although the ruins of the Shangguan family have become a certainty, there are tens of thousands of people up and down the entire family, and if the Lin family forcibly invades or causes a fight, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, the Dongzhou royal family has long issued many similar orders, and for the evil incidents in the big family, only themselves and related people will be held accountable, and the others will not be blamed in the past. And Lin Wushu would not be stupid enough to go against the entire Shangguan family, and under the supervision of the imperial patrol, he entered the place where Shangguan Yunba lived, and behind him was the tall and majestic ancestral hall.

As soon as Xu Ning and the others returned to Qingfeng City, they found that there was already a lot of discussion in the streets and alleys, and most of the restaurant industries in the city that belonged to the Shangguan family were also closed.

"The news spreads so fast!" Xu Ning sighed.

"Good things don't go out, bad things spread thousands of miles, I'm afraid the Shangguan family will have civil strife next." Xu Aotian sighed and said.

"Oh, grandfather. Why? ”

"Although Shangguan Yunba and Yunliang have been subdued, there are still hundreds of branches and collateral lines, they are all helping the Shangguan family to take care of the industry, and now that the two Shangguan brothers are gone, no one is in charge of the overall situation, and disputes are inevitable."

"After all, it's the same clan and the same root, so there shouldn't be any big mess!"

"Ning'er, you are too naïve. There are 10,000 people, and there is no boundary! Everyone is selfish, the so-called same root and the same lineage. It is only in the common interest that a positive effect can be expressed. Rats leave a sinking ship. I'm afraid there will be a bloody fight in order to compete for interests! It seems that Xia Zhiyuan, the old ghost, is going to be busy for a while! ”

Xu Aotian glanced at Xia Zhiyuan, who was walking in the front, shook his head, and frowned.

"For the sake of a lot of interests, but the love of blood? Such people. It doesn't deserve to be called the same root and the same vein! ”

Xu Ning also frowned slightly. It's not just the Shangguan family. In fact, isn't the same situation faced by the Xu family? Every big family is the same, they look powerful and inviolable on the outside, but in fact they have their own ghosts. Unscrupulous for their own ends.

Human nature is really a difficult thing to figure out.

A moment later, in the council hall on the side of the patrol prison, Xu Ning stood behind his grandfather, and on either side sat the five largest families in Qingfeng City.

At first, everyone didn't speak, as if they were waiting for something, this feeling was extremely boring, and Xu Ning couldn't help but want to ask questions a few times. But Xu Aotian, like the other patriarchs, had a lot of worries between his eyebrows, and Xia Zhiyuan was even more anxiously pacing around.

When it was almost noon, a person who looked like a patrol guard rushed in, handed over a brocade box to Xia Zhiyuan's hand, and left in a hurry.

Xu Ning found that everyone's eyes were shining with a strange brilliance at this moment!

"These people, they must have discussed it in advance, and they actually hid it from me! Could it be that I am also the target of exploitation in this incident? Xu Ning looked at these people in front of him with great dissatisfaction.

"Smack!" After the brocade box was opened, Xia Zhiyuan let out a sigh of relief, sat on the chair in the middle, showed a smile on his face, and nodded at everyone.

A feeling of relief spread across everyone's faces, Xu Ning couldn't hold back any longer, and asked loudly, "Everyone, what are you planning?!" Is it to be detrimental to the Shangguan family? ”

It's really strange to say, it was obvious that he smashed Shangguan Yunba's conspiracy, and now, he has to come forward to protect the interests of Shangguan's family.

"Ning'er, don't be rude!" Xu Aotian's face sank and said.

Xu Ning still had a trace of anger on his face, and twisted his head to the side in disbelief.

"Okay, Patriarch Xu, don't blame Xu Ning, this matter is not our right first, and we shouldn't hide it from him. But-" Xia Zhiyuan glanced at Xu Ning and said meaningfully: "Only in this way can we protect things from being damaged!" Xu Ning, we are here to prevent Shangguan Yunba from jumping off the wall in a hurry, so don't complain anymore. ”

Xu Ning was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant.

"Old Ghost Xia, since you have said this, let's make it clear to Ning'er!" Xu Aotian said coldly to him.

It seems that his grandfather did not deliberately play himself, but was forced to do so.

Xu Ning's gaze hit Xia Zhiyuan's body again.

"Okay, there are no outsiders today, so I'll just sort out the things of thirteen years ago again!" Xia Zhiyuan said.

Thirteen years ago? Xu Ning vaguely remembered that his grandfather had mentioned it once, could it be that this secret had appeared thirteen years ago?

Song Yun, the current patriarch of the Song family, Lin Wuving, the head of the Lin family, Duanmu Shangpu, the head of the Duanmu family, and Zhao Wu, the head of the Zhao family, all glanced at each other and nodded.

Xia Zhiyuan let out a long sigh and told about what happened thirteen years ago-

Thirteen years ago, Qingfeng City was at its peak, and the Dongzhou Imperial Family announced that the jurisdiction of the city was abolished, and only the power to collect taxes and levy troops was retained. In other words, the people who really talk in the city are the families.

Not only Qingfeng City, but almost all cities are the same, the reason why the Dongzhou Imperial Family is doing this is because there are more and more martial vein cultivators in the empire, and excessive suppression will arouse dissatisfaction, and it will consume a large number of troops if it is suppressed first.

Simply cooperate with the major families and let them help maintain order.

At that time, there were a total of seven families in Qingfeng City, in addition to the Xu family, the Zhao family, the Song family, the Duanmu family, the Lin family, and the Shangguan family, there was also one that was the largest, that is, the Ouyang family!

The Ouyang family has a thriving population and many masters, so it is naturally the target of the Dongzhou royal family, and it is allowed to reclaim wasteland and multiply in the south of Qingfeng City. The Ouyang family's largest industry was the mining and forging of purple iron ore, a metal that was an important material for building weapons for soldiers in the imperial army, so the Ouyang family amassed a lot of wealth in a short period of time.

Although other families have also developed rapidly, such as the Xu family, relying on the talisman materials of the Qilin Mountain Range, the refining of pills, etc., they have also become the heroes of the prominent side, but they are not comparable to the Ouyang family!

If the development of a qiē continues, the Ouyang family should be even bigger now!

There are unforeseen circumstances in the sky, and people have good and bad luck!

It all started with a mining of purple iron ore, which was originally just a very ordinary mining, but a shocking secret was discovered!

The Li Gong of the Ouyang family found a giant stone egg from the mountain, shaped like a dragon egg, with an extremely hard shell, but inlaid with various colorful gemstones. The subordinates didn't dare to open it lightly, and hurriedly notified the Ouyang family patriarch at that time, Ouyang Zhantian.

Ouyang Zhantian ordered his subordinates to transport the stone eggs back to Ouyang's house, he had already reached the second rank of the marshal realm at that time, and after coming into contact with this strange stone egg, he unexpectedly felt dizzy! At that time, he was shocked, thinking that it was a bad thing, and immediately notified the other six family patriarchs at that time to come to discuss together.

At that time, none of the family patriarchs knew such a thing, but they found a very peculiar rule, the higher the level of the martial vein, the stronger the rejection reaction with this stone egg, and after getting closer, there was a feeling of dizziness and panic.

The patriarchs of the families who were still alive at that time were Xu Aotian, Lin Wudi, Duanmu Shangpu and Zhao Wu, and there was another person, Xia Zhiyuan.

Xia Zhiyuan was just an ordinary patrol at that time, and his identity was much weaker than that of the patriarchs of various families. However, as a representative left by the Dongzhou royal family, it is mainly to pass on news.

In the Soul Continent, there is actually a material existence that competes with the martial vein cultivation exercises, this is naturally not a trivial matter, after discussion, the Seven Family Patriarchs decided to break it and find out!

But that's easier said than done!

The gems on the shell of the stone egg were not only beautiful and precious, but also so strong that ordinary swords could not cut through them. The Invincible Forest forcibly bombarded with the power of the martial vein, but the power was swallowed up and returned in full, and he almost became disabled!

After tossing for a long time, everyone was still at a loss, and when they were discussing how to deal with it outside, the stone egg actually cracked on its own!

It turned out that Ouyang Zhantian had a little granddaughter at that time, and she slipped into her grandfather's room naughtily for a while, and felt that the stone egg was beautiful and beautiful, so she touched it casually, but she didn't expect it to crack!

The little girl thought she was in trouble, and she cried! When everyone rushed in, the power to repel the martial veins in the stone egg completely disappeared, and a colorful strange bird pattern faintly appeared in the palm of the little girl's hand, as if the gem color on the shell of the stone egg had all been absorbed by her.

The stone egg cracked, revealing an ancient map of human skin, along with eight oddly shaped keys of varying lengths!

The big one is like a dagger, and the small one is no different from an ordinary key!

When I opened the human skin map, there was an unbelievable look in the eyes of the eight people, including Xia Zhiyuan!

"The key of the eight directions, open the gate of heaven and earth, the treasure hall of the dragon tower, and the holy glow of the hall full of gold and jade!"

At the top of the human skin map, there is a small line of reddish-brown paint written in this line, maybe blood!

The Key to the Octopus!

In fact, you don't need to look at other things on the map, these four words alone are enough to shock everyone.

It was an ancient legend that circulated in the Dongzhou Empire, and it was almost forgotten! (To be continued......)