The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

Outside the Chu family compound, Chu Xiu stomped his foot, expanded his divine sense, and used the technique of observing qi.

In an instant, every little thing that happened in the entire Chu family mansion was reflected in his mind and he knew it like the back of his hand.

He then mingled among the crowd watching the ceremony and quietly entered the Chu family's residence.

Through divine sense, Chu Xiu finally learned the true reason for the Chu family's current prosperity.

The first ancestor of the Chu family was the first city lord who established this city of Yu.

Before his death, he built a secret mausoleum for himself, and within the secret realm, he dispersed his life's Reincarnation Realm magic power into unclaimed spiritual energy, filling it with abundant spiritual energy.

He also left behind all the cultivation techniques, rare treasures, and other resources he had acquired throughout his life in the secret realm of the tomb, as a reward for the future prodigies of Yucheng to complete the various trials within the secret realm.

Today is the Chu family's once-in-a-century ancestral worship day.

It is also the day when the trial of the Chu family's ancestral tomb begins!

Legend has it that this secret realm trial was originally reserved exclusively for the people of Yu City.

However, after the death of the first ancestor of the Chu family, no second Reincarnation Realm expert appeared among the four major families that controlled Yu City.

This caused Yu City's status in the Southern Continent to plummet. Under the coercion and enticement of other top forces in the Southern Continent that had experts at the Reincarnation Realm, Yu City was forced to open its secret realm trial qualification to all the young talents in the Southern Continent.

"The secret realm of a Reincarnation Realm expert's tomb..."

Chu Xiu's mind was mostly on the secret realm trial.

He is now eager to improve his strength, and one of the fastest ways to do so is to seize treasures!

However, before the trial in the secret realm begins, there is an unexpected event.

The young master of the Li family, the most powerful family among the human race in the Southern Lands, actually forced the eldest daughter of the Chu family to marry him in front of everyone today!

Today, many talented young people from both inside and outside Yu City, and even from the entire Eastern Continent and Southern Continent, will surely come to Yu City to participate in the secret realm trial.

The young master of the Li family was using this grand occasion as an excuse to promote his engagement with the eldest daughter of the Chu family!

Chu Xiu looked at the old man behind the arrogant young master of the Li family.

The aura contained within this old man was several levels stronger than that of the Lin family's Supreme Elder in his normal state.

But judging from the way the old man stood behind the young master of the Li family, at his beck and call, it seems that this powerful cultivator at the peak of the Transcendent Realm, who would be the head of a family in Yu City, was actually just the young master of the Li family's bodyguard.

Chu Xiu couldn't help but click his tongue.

Truly worthy of being the largest family among the human races of the Southern Continent...

Why would the young master of the powerful Li family fall for a mere young lady from the Chu family of Yucheng?

Just as Chu Xiu was deep in thought, a report suddenly came—

"The Supreme Elder and the Eldest Young Master of the Lin Family have arrived!"

coming!

Chu Xiu looked over upon hearing the sound and saw the crowd parting to make way for Lin Qingyao and Lin Chongyang, who entered the Chu family compound one after the other and went into the main hall.

"Only the two of them?"

Chu Xiu had some doubts, and with a thought, he extended his divine sense beyond the Chu family compound.

as predicted!

Within a ten-mile radius of the Chu family, numerous powerful figures from the Lin family were lying in ambush, most of whom were at the Breaking Void Realm, and there were also several at the Transcending Truth Realm.

It seems that the Lin family is truly going to use the pretext of their young master's shattered dantian to wage a life-or-death struggle against the Chu family!

However, with the addition of the Li family from the Southern Lands to the current situation, how should the Lin and Chu sides deal with it?

Chu Xiu stroked his chin and grinned.

"The situation isn't chaotic enough yet... Let me stir things up even more!"

Inside the Chu family hall.

Li Yunhao, the young master of the Li family, stared unabashedly at Chu Xuanling's graceful figure, scanning her back and forth like a hunting dog admiring its prey that it would soon catch.

Relying on the strength of his own Great Protector, who was at the peak of the True Realm, he showed up uninvited on the day of the Chu family's ancestral worship ceremony, wanting the entire Southern Continent to know that the eldest daughter of the Chu family in Yu City was his!

"Young Master Li, the marriage contract you signed with Xuan Ling three years ago should be fulfilled three years from now. Why are you using this to pressure me today?"

Behind Chu Xuanling, Chu Yan, the current head of the Chu family, stepped forward and protected Chu Xuanling behind him.

Now everyone in the Chu family understands that Chu Xuanling is the one who will lead the Chu family out of Yucheng in the future.

Even though the current head of the Chu family, Chu Yan, is not closely related to Chu Xuanling by blood, he is willing to protect Chu Xuanling for the sake of the Chu family's future.

"Patriarch Chu, if I said that I insist on marrying Ling'er after the Chu family's ancestral trial ceremony, what would you say?"

As soon as Li Yunhao finished speaking, the Great Protector behind him took a step forward, emanating his aura of the Perfected Transcending Truth Realm, which pressed down on Chu Yan, the head of the Chu family, like Mount Tai, causing his body to bend downwards and making it difficult for him to breathe.

With a cultivation level of only the eighth level of the Transcendent Realm, Chu Yan naturally found it difficult to stand safely under the pressure of the Transcendent Realm's peak.

Chu Xuanling's face was extremely ugly, and just as he was about to reprimand someone, an old voice rang out from the backyard of the Chu family:

"Does the young Li family really think my Chu family has no one to rely on?"

Along with the words came another burst of magical power from the Perfected Crossing Realm. It collided with the magical pressure pressing down on Chu Yan's head. After a whirlwind of magical power, the two canceled each other out and vanished into nothingness.

Chu Xiu, who was among the onlookers, only felt the two gusts of wind collide and dissipate, but he could not detect any fluctuations in magical power.

The level of control that a True Realm Perfection expert has over magical power is terrifying!

Chu Xiu asked himself, if he were to face that oppressive aura, the magical fluctuations it generated would definitely overturn the entire Chu family hall...

"The Supreme Elder!"

Chu Xuanling stood up in surprise and welcomed an elderly woman into the hall.

"How did you manage to leave the pass?"

The Supreme Elder of the Chu family patted Chu Xuanling's hand kindly and said, "If I don't step in, you might be bullied by this junior from the Li family!"

The Chu family's Supreme Elder turned his head and looked at the Li family's Great Protector behind Li Yunhao, sneering, "Old Ghost You, tsk tsk, you're still alive, and you've even reached the Perfect Realm!"

The Li family's chief protector, whom the Chu family's supreme elder called "Old Ghost You," chuckled: "You old woman haven't even kicked the bucket yet, so there's no need for us to be in such a hurry to die."

"Hmph!" The Supreme Elder of the Chu family snorted coldly, looking at Li Yunhao, "Young man of the Li family, it seems you really intend to force my Chu family to fulfill the marriage agreement ahead of schedule today?"

"Elder, as far as I know, your Chu family only has you, a powerhouse at the peak of the Transcendent Realm, while my Li family has more than just Protector You..."

Li Yunhao's face was grim. "After the trial, I, Li Yunhao, am determined to marry Chu Xuanling!"

"Your Chu family has no choice but to marry into the family, whether you like it or not!"

"Otherwise, I will make your Chu family disappear completely from the Southern Continent! As for the secret realm of your ancestor's tomb, my Li family will take care of it!"

Secret realm?

Hearing this, Chu Xiu suddenly had a thought that wouldn't go away.

Could the Li family's true purpose be some relic from the tomb of the Chu family's ancestor?

Sure enough, Li Yunhao suddenly changed the subject:

"Or, if your Chu family is willing to hand over the ten-thousand-year-old mysterious ice beneath your ancestor's remains to me, I can leave Yu City today and will never mention the marriage again for three years!"