Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1389 - 1382: The Three Great Aristocratic Families

Chapter 1389: Chapter 1382: The Three Great Aristocratic Families

Cultivators who had their Dantians blasted away didn’t just lose their ability to fight; many died on the spot. That’s because their Dantians are somewhat similar to Magic Crystals: once they explode, they produce sharp and keen fragments that inflict fatal damage on the organs.

This was why those cultivators hit by the Yuanzi Gun exhibited such excruciating pain. The explosion of the Inner Core wasn’t particularly painful, but the agony came from the fragments destroying the organs. Many couldn’t withstand it and died instantly, and even those who did manage to survive wouldn’t live much longer.

If one were to categorize according to the Kyushu cultivation schools, Yuanzi weapons would probably be considered lower third-rate Star-shattering, viewed as a faction everybody would want to punish. Witnessing this scene, Cheng Ziang and the others could finally understand the fear and resentment of the Kyushu cultivators towards Star-shattering.

It took less than five minutes for Cheng Ziang and his group to join the battle before those two hundred or so people retreated like a receding tide. With just five minutes of assistance, they had inflicted serious casualties on these cultivators, with over one hundred dying on the spot. It could be said that Cheng Ziang and his two companions had eliminated nearly half of the enemy with their own strength.

However, the Demon Clan’s army also suffered significant losses in this battle. In less than ten minutes of engagement, the troops designated to withstand the assault had lost over four hundred soldiers. One could only imagine the fighting power of these cultivators.

Having completed the initial probing, Yunji decided to retreat. At this moment, the Nine Thousand Battalion also lost the will to pursue. Seeing the Demon Clan’s army begin to pull back, they held their ground, neither launching an attack nor retreating voluntarily.

The news of the frontline setback quickly reached Linglan’s ears back in Big South East Peace City. This time, Linglan was cautious and didn’t rashly charge in as before. Instead, she launched a probing attack to understand the true combat strength of the Nine Thousand Battalion.

It wasn’t that the Demon Clan’s army had never encountered the Nine Thousand Battalion, but they could only defeat them when allied with the Beast Head Tribe. Now that the Beast Head Tribe had been driven back to the North, relying solely on the strength of the Beast-Ear Race would probably be troublesome in dealing with the Nine Thousand Battalion.

Because of this, Linglan decided to convene a Cabinet meeting to discuss future strategies, considering whether to re-engage the Beast Head Tribe in the war, which, admittedly, sounded rather unscrupulous.

Although Luo’er had been arranged to lead public opinion work, as a well-informed Western Continent advisor, Linglan still invited him to participate in the Cabinet meeting discussions and sent Zisu to invite him.

In fact, Linglan also planned to invite Zhuyan Yu to the meeting, but she had clearly expressed no interest in the internal affairs of the Demon Clan. It should be said that Luo’er was her spokesperson. Any matters should be taken up with Luo’er instead of disturbing her.

Zisu quickly found Luo’er and explained the situation to him. Upon hearing that Cheng Ziang and his group were safe and sound, Luo’er breathed a sigh of relief.

"It’s clear that you care a lot about them," Zisu said with a smile upon seeing Luo’er’s relieved expression.

"Of course, I consider them part of my family," Luo’er replied.

"What about me?" Zisu blurted out, perhaps on an impulse. When she realized her faux pas, the words were already out, and her cheeks flushed while she meekly lowered her head.

"Don’t you have a good sister?" Luo’er smiled, seemingly unperturbed by her reaction.

"Mm-hmm..." Zisu coughed awkwardly and then muttered with her head bowed, "Sorry..."

"Regarding the three great aristocratic families, what do you know? Can you tell me about them?" Luo’er cleared his throat, deciding to change the subject.

"Oh, about these three families..." Zisu took a deep breath and said seriously, "They are the Yichuan Clan from Jiangzhou, the Zixia Clan from Lingzhou, and the Dangyang Family from Tong State. We should be grateful that these are only moderately powerful clans and not the kind with immense size."

"What do you mean?" Luo’er queried curiously.

"In the Dongsheng Empire’s Kyushu, each state has one immensely powerful aristocratic family that virtually controls the entire state and can even influence the policies of the Dongsheng Court. The three families we encountered are not of such immense size," explained Zisu.

"Then which are the immensely sized families?" Luo’er asked with curiosity.

"Taking the three states we’ve just mentioned as examples," Zisu said, "Jiangzhou is dominated by the Fengyu Clan, which is the Fengyu of the Fengyu Kingdom; the giant among Tong State is the Luzun Clan; and for Lingzhou, it’s the Yinyue Clan. The huge clans of these states are almost set in stone, so you just need to know their surnames and which state they belong to in order to identify if they come from major families."

"I see..." Luo’er nodded in understanding.

"Among these aristocratic families, the one that deserves the most attention is probably the Yichuan Clan, although they are not the giant of Jiangzhou, their origins are no small matter." Zisu continued.

"How so?" Luo’er asked, tilting his head.

"The Yichuan Clan of Jiangzhou may be a minor noble family, that is undoubtedly true, but that does not mean that the Yichuan Clan should be viewed merely as a minor noble family," pausing for a moment, Zisu said seriously, "the Yichuan Clan is one of the most powerful aristocratic families of the Dongsheng Empire, with their main territory in Yin State, which is also where the imperial capital of Shengyuan Qilan is located."

Taking a deep breath, Zisu went on, "The Yichuan Clan almost controls the political direction of the Imperial Court, their aristocratic family firmly grasps the Cabinet, and they are intermarried with the royal family, you could say their power is immense, influencing both the government and the common people. Should they so desire, the Dongsheng Empire could launch another invasion of West Outer Heaven at any moment."

"Then..." Seeing Zisu’s serious expression, Luo’er also couldn’t help feeling worried.

"But you don’t need to worry," seeing Luo’er’s concerned look, Zisu revealed a smug smile, and said to him with a smile, "We’re dealing with the Jiangzhou Yichuan Clan, not the Yin State Yichuan Clan. They’re just a side branch of the Yichuan Clan, not the orthodox line, so there’s no need to worry about retaliation from the Yin State Yichuan Clan."

"But they are still from the Yin State Yichuan Clan..." Luo’er asked hesitantly.

"Don’t worry," Zisu consoled, "the relationship between the Jiangzhou Yichuan Clan and the Yin State Yichuan Clan isn’t good, so even if the Jiangzhou Yichuan Clan suffers a setback, the Yin State Yichuan Clan wouldn’t care."

"Why are you so sure?" Luo’er asked curiously.

"If the Jiangzhou Yichuan Clan and the Yin State Yichuan Clan were on good terms, they would have merged clans," Zisu explained, "If they are amicable but do not merge, then Jiangzhou’s real giant, the Fengyu Clan, would be extremely wary."

"Why?" Luo’er asked, puzzled.

"Well," Zisu said, "these giants really care about their own territories. For a giant to control a state is almost an unwritten rule agreed upon by all of Kyushu’s giants. Imagine if the Yin State Yichuan Clan sent a side branch to Jiangzhou to claim land, what would happen if they later merged?"

"If that were the case, then part of Jiangzhou’s land would be annexed into the territory of the Yin State Yichuan Clan," Luo’er suddenly realized.

"That’s right, so the Fengyu Clan of Jiangzhou would be very cautious around them, and the Jiangzhou Yichuan Clan must go out of their way to show their disconnect from the main family, just so they can barely stay in Jiangzhou without being targeted and ostracized by the Fengyu Clan. But living under someone else’s roof is never a long-term solution, which is probably one of the reasons they’ve fled to West Outer Heaven," Zisu nodded and said.

"So that’s how it is, I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable about the political situation within the Dongsheng Empire," Luo’er couldn’t help but comment.

"Heh," Zisu laughed softly, shrugging somewhat helplessly, "My sister has entrusted all the work of intelligence analysis and organization to me, probably hoping that I will take over the main duties of the Maoyou Clan."

"If they are driven out of West Outer Heaven, what will become of them?" Luo’er continued to ask.

"What else can they do but obediently retreat to Kyushu and quietly live as a humble family," Zisu shrugged, pausing before continuing, "But the Yichuan Clan will most likely seek refuge with their main family. After all, having a powerful backer to lean on is always much better than those humble ones."

"Hmm, I see," Luo’er nodded lightly, falling into a deep thought.

"What, do you have an idea?" Seeing Luo’er deep in thought, Zisu couldn’t help asking out of curiosity.

"I think I might have found a way to deal with these three major aristocratic families, just not sure if it’s viable," Luo’er mused.