Creation of the Universe

Chu Tiankuo did not dare to delay and quickly handed over the most important family tree with both hands.

The Chu family has a long history, and naturally has accumulated more than ten volumes of family tree. What he holds is just one of them.

These genealogies record the ups and downs that the Chu family has experienced over the past few hundred years, including both setbacks and glories. All important events are written into the corresponding sections of the family members.

Shen Zhan and Chu Qiu hoped that they could find the clues they wanted through these contents.

"Now I'm going to give you an important task," Shen Zhan said, turning to Chu Ruxuan and Chu Rumeng. "That is to search for records about destiny in the family tree. Pay special attention to any mention of destiny or sacred trees, and don't miss any."

"Yes!"

Ruxuan and Rumeng answered, then walked aside and began to read it carefully.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chu Qiu asked Chu Tiankuo, "I remember there should be an exquisite nine-aperture artifact stored in the family treasure pavilion, right?"

Chu Tiankuo responded and said, "Yes, there was indeed one before."

"Before? What do you mean? Is it no longer in the hands of the Chu family?"

Shen Zhan was particularly concerned about the whereabouts of Linglong Jiuqiao, so Chu Tiankuo immediately added, "Linglong Jiuqiao was sent to the Red Shirt Bandits' camp a few days ago along with other gold, silver, and jade artifacts as Rumeng's dowry."

"I see. It seems like we have to wipe out the Red Shirt Bandits this time. We must recover the Linglong Nine Apertures as soon as possible."

Chu Qiu's friendly expression suddenly revealed a hint of murderous intent.

Seeing Chu Qiu and Shen Zhan so anxious to find the Linglong Jiuqiao, Chu Tiankuo volunteered, "Sir, although Zhu Tong is dead and you've driven away those red-shirted bandits, they must still be entrenched in the Qichuan Ancient Road. If we want to get the Linglong Jiuqiao back, I'm afraid we'll have to kill them all first.

I still have dozens of guards in my house, plus the people I can recruit in the city, there must be hundreds of people. I am willing to lead everyone to follow the elders and go together to wipe out the Red Shirt Bandits.

Although the elder has great magical powers and naturally does not need our help, we must at least make things go smoothly this time, so that more people will know that our Donghai Chu family is still the pillar of protection for Floating Cloud City!"

Chu Tiankuo was quick-witted and immediately thought of using this opportunity to restore the Chu family's prestige and reputation, which would greatly help him regain the hearts of the people who had lost due to the marriage with the Red Shirt Bandits.

Shen Zhan agreed and said, "Well, that's a good idea. You can also arrange for people to spread the news in the city, saying that the Chu family is playing a big game. They are using the pretext of marrying their daughter to paralyze the Red Shirt Bandits and lure the bandit leader Li Wangxuan into the Chu Mansion to wait for an opportunity to eliminate him."

"What do you think, Chu Qiu?"

"Brother, you have already thought about everything for our Chu family. Leave the hard work to me."

Chu Qiu did not hesitate and ordered Chu Tiankuo to gather his men and head straight for the Qichuan Ancient Road. They had to retrieve the Linglong Jiuqiao, which was being used as a dowry, as soon as possible to avoid any further complications.

On the other side, Shen Zhan stayed in the Chu family mansion and continued to look for the connection between the Chu family and the sacred tree. Looking at the family tree piled up in front of him that was more than a meter high, he thought that this would be a time-consuming and laborious task.

"My benefactor, please have some tea."

Chu Rumeng brought a cup of fragrant tea and handed it to Shen Zhan.

The faint fragrance of tea was refreshing. Shen Zhan took it and took a sip, and he knew that this tea must be very precious, and only the famous families in Donghai were qualified to enjoy it.

However, for the Chu family, if their fortune continues to decline, the situation of the entire family will become increasingly difficult, and they may not be able to enjoy such luxurious refreshments in the future.

"found it!"

“I think I found it!”

Chu Ruxuan suddenly cried out excitedly. She was holding a thick family tree in her hand. On one of the pages, she finally found a clue related to the sacred tree.

Shen Zhan walked over quickly to check the content. There was a passage that recorded that a certain generation of ancestors of the Chu family specially transplanted a sacred tree forest on the south side of the Qichuan Ancient Road.

At that time, the ancestor of the Chu family spared no effort to collect dozens of sacred trees from all over the world, forming an entire sacred tree forest in the hope of changing the fortune of Floating Cloud City and protecting the people here.

Chu Rumeng exclaimed, "Aren't sacred trees extremely rare? To have been able to find so many back then is incredible!"

"Yes, this is enough to prove how terrifying the Chu family's financial resources and power were at that time. It would have been impossible to accomplish this without a strong foundation."

Only after continuing to read did Shen Zhan learn the whole story.

It turned out that the Chu family's fortune was not directly related to the Shenmu Forest, but that Fuyun City and the Shenmu Forest had established this inseparable relationship. The Shenmu Forest was lush and leafy, constantly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so Fuyun City would also benefit and its fortune would flourish forever.

But once the sacred forest is damaged or destroyed, Floating Cloud City will suffer as well.

Chu Rumeng asked, "Then what's going on? Since the rise and fall of Shenmu Forest has nothing to do with the fortune of our Chu family, why is the Chu family constantly declining?"

This question finds its answer in the following pages.

"A hundred years ago, a war broke out on the Qichuan Ancient Road. Thousands of innocent people were killed on the spot, and blood flowed like a river. Afterwards, the soldiers buried the bodies of these people on the spot, right in the Shenmu Forest. As a result, the resentment of these people who died in vain accumulated over time, causing the sacred trees in the Shenmu Forest to wither and die one after another.

After the Chu family discovered this problem at that time, they also tried to remedy it, but Fuyun City lost its fortune and suffered a series of natural disasters and man-made disasters. The once prosperous city gradually became a dead city shrouded in dark clouds.

In order to save the people in the city, the Chu family made a very extreme yet noble decision, which was to exchange the Chu family's luck with the luck of Floating Cloud City. This was equivalent to using the Chu family's luck for the next hundred years to save the fate of tens of thousands of people in Floating Cloud City.

When Chu Ruxuan and Chu Rumeng heard the truth from Shen Zhan's mouth, they were so shocked that they were speechless. This silence lasted for a long time.

As descendants of the Chu family, they were naturally proud of their ancestors' brave act of stepping forward to protect Fuyun City, but at the same time they were also surprised that the Chu family at that time could make such a huge determination.

You must know that once the fortune changes, the glory that has continued for hundreds of years of the Chu family will gradually fade, and will eventually come to an end one day.

After closing the family tree, Shen Zhan told the sisters Ruxuan and Rumeng, "Your Chu family's ancestors had good intentions, and I admire them very much. Now that I have uncovered the truth of this matter, we must try to save the Chu family's fortune. We can't let it continue like this."