Eternal Beast Taming Family

Inside a hidden palace in the capital city of Jingyuan Dynasty.

Inside the palace, on both sides were stands made of black wood, arranged in five tiers from top to bottom. On each tier, bronze oil lamps were placed at regular intervals.

Inside the lamp's wick.

Each bronze oil lamp has a plaque in front of it, engraved with the name of a member of the Jingyuan royal family.

At this moment, on the most conspicuous black wooden support directly in front of the main hall, two lamps went out one after another.

The nameplates in front of the lamps are engraved with the names "Jingyou" and "Jingchuan".

There weren't many oil lamps on this shelf to begin with, so when two of them went out in quick succession, they instantly attracted the figures hidden in the shadows to emerge.

It was an old man whose face was obscured, his voice murmuring, hollow as if coming from a grave.

"Another elder of our royal family has passed away. No new elders have been born for a hundred years. In just over ten years, the number of elders who have passed away has exceeded the number on one hand."

"Could this... be the calamity of nirvana for my Jingyuan royal family?"

The old man walked shakily to the oil lamp, his withered, claw-like hands gently pressing on the two extinguished lamps, and closed his eyes to sense them carefully for a moment.

A moment later, it slowly opened its eyes. Half of its pupils seemed to have melted, transforming into layers of light that merged with the whites of its eyes, creating a somewhat terrifying sight.

"How could this direction be so far away? I'm afraid we can't send anyone to investigate in the short term."

He remained silent for a moment, then, illuminated by the dim lamplight, slowly walked to the palace gate.

There was a large bell at the palace entrance. The old man gently tapped the bell twice.

The somewhat mournful sound of the bell instantly resounded throughout the upper city. The sacrificial bell was rung twice, and it could only be rung when an elder or a prince passed away.

Upon hearing the bell toll, the entire city must wear mourning clothes and entertainment and celebrations are prohibited.

The old man stood at the entrance of the hidden palace, his eyes looking out of the palace, as if he could see the nobles and subjects still indulging in pleasure in the upper city.

"The city's prosperity is increasingly like a castle in the air. The city is showing signs of decline. With one of the four elders gone, the remaining three should emerge together to take over the dynasty and save the crumbling edifice."

As he spoke, he clapped his hands rapidly on the sacrificial bell a few times, and a sound completely different from the mournful bell tolling earlier rang out. The sound was urgent, as if urging something on.

The entire city was bewildered by the urgent tolling of the bells. They had no idea what the bells meant and were in a state of confusion.

From three corners of the upper city, beams of light, seemingly capable of piercing the heavens and earth, appeared, followed by three figures that appeared to suppress the city.

"Ancestor Hengyue, why have you awakened us all at this time? Has a powerful enemy appeared, plunging our royal family into a crisis?"

"Where is the enemy? I need a war to restore the royal family's prestige."

"After all these years, the three of us have been awakened at the same time. It seems the situation is more complicated than we imagined."

Three voices echoed slowly from heaven and earth, seemingly unconcerned that their words might reveal some royal secrets.

Jing Hengyue, the master of the Everlasting Lamp Hall, took a step and arrived at the center of the entire upper city.

"The royal borders have fallen, the frozen plains have spread for thousands of miles, and the dynasty's fortune has been reduced by more than half."

Before Wang Zu had fully recovered from his injuries, the Thousand Spirits of Shangcheng disobeyed the king's orders, and the True King's Mansion of Yuhai obeyed orders but not summons. In just over a decade, the dynasty had lost eight senior clan elders.

This is a critical moment for the dynasty's survival. The three are awakened to quell the internal strife, restore the royal family's prestige, and continue the legacy of our ancestors.

Jing Hengyue recounted the various predicaments the royal family was currently facing, and the three elders who had just awakened seemed quite alarmed, as if they had not realized that the situation was so critical.

One of them looked around for a moment, then asked, "Why hasn't Jing Yu appeared?"

Jing Hengyue sighed softly, "He awoke before you, but he is now outside the dynasty. His body and soul seem to be trapped and he cannot return to the dynasty for the time being."

The old man seemed to have an exceptionally clear understanding of the current life status of every member of the royal family.

The other three could not hide their astonishment upon hearing the news.

"Outside the dynasty? Jing Yu is on the verge of breaking through to the King Realm. Could it be that he has encountered a King-level being?"

"There's no need to worry about that now. The three of you are tasked with purging the dynasty from within, gathering its fortune, and helping the King Ancestor recover from his injuries. Everything else can be dealt with once the King Ancestor awakens."

"Yes, Ancestor Hengyue."

……

One year and three months later.

The first snow of the year fell gently on Wandao Mountain.

On the mountainside of Wandao Mountain, a huge platform juts outwards, with various buildings standing on it and pedestrians thronging the area. Looking down from the mountaintop, one can only feel the bustling atmosphere of the world.

This is the Wandao City that the Chu family has newly built in the past two years.

Most of the population came from Blackrock City, and many were relatives, family members, or friends of the first five hundred people to migrate there.

Over the years, the Chu family naturally sent out many caravans led by intelligent source beasts to conduct exchanges and interactions with nearby cities.

Because of the exquisite craftsmanship of the items in Wandao City and the complete range of spiritual materials produced there, these caravans bearing the name "Dao" are very popular in the neighboring cities.

Moreover, the source beasts leading the caravans are all of the domain level, so in the cities they have encountered so far, no one has directly attacked or plundered them.

At the mountaintop, inside the Chu family residence.

Amidst the swirling snow, Chu Shengyuan stumbled straight into his grandfather's courtyard.

"Grandpa, Grandpa..."

Chu Jingyu placed the business documents he was holding on the table, glanced at Chu Shengyuan, who was being kept at home and causing trouble every day, and...

With a helpless sigh, she said, "If you're choking, go get some water. What are you making such a fuss about here so early in the morning?"

Faced with his grandfather's words, Chu Shengyuan stopped awkwardly, pursed his lips, and thought to himself, "Far away from home, things are better than near home." After staying at home for so long, even his grandfather had started to dislike him.

Hmph, then why keep him from going out?

But then, as if remembering something, Chu Shengyuan raised the corners of his mouth.

"I just went to the ancestral hall and asked Ancestor Chu. He said that my luck has almost recovered and I can go out now."

"Oh, let's wait another month and see."

Chu Shengyuan was taken aback. "Didn't you say I could go out once my luck had recovered? Why do I have to wait another month?"

Chu Jingyu stood up from his seat. "A month from now, when we're assembling the troops, if you're not there, I'll exclude you from the competition."