I create patterns, regardless of your level of expertise.

"What does this have to do with me?"

Li Hao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. This was the first time he had heard this news today. How did it relate to him?

Zhou Luo looked at Li Hao with a hint of resentment and said, "Originally, Shui Lan Palace was also afraid that the royal family and Qingyun Sect would get involved in this matter, so both of our families tacitly agreed to keep it strictly confidential."

"The Water Ripples Palace has won over Gao Yuanfan, but has not yet taken action because it is afraid that things will get too big and attract the attention of the royal family and the Qingyun Sect."

"Unfortunately, the whole country has been focused on that matter recently, and the royal family and the Qingyun Sect are directly involved in it."

"Shui Lan Palace probably thinks that at this time, no matter how fiercely our two families fight, the royal family and Qingyun Sect will not be able to care and have already begun to make moves."

Li Hao was stunned: "Then...it's my fault?"

Zhou Luo hurriedly replied, "Of course I wouldn't dare blame you, senior, but the Zhou family is indeed on the verge of disaster."

At this point, he took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.

"Judging from your current aura, senior, it seems that you have already reached the Five Tribulations of Heaven and Man. Given your rate of improvement, it will probably not be long before you break through to the Core Formation stage and begin to touch the barrier of the Yin Yin stage."

"At that time, that shady locust wood will also be of great use to you, senior. Therefore, I humbly request your assistance!"

After Zhou Luo finished speaking, he clasped his hands in a fist and knelt down, looking extremely sincere.

Drinking soup is a luxury.

He planned that, even in the worst-case scenario, Li Hao would force him to reveal the location of the secret realm, and he would then go there alone to seize it, leaving the Zhou family alone.

If that's the case, then Shui Lan Palace will have no reason to attack the Zhou family again, and the Zhou family's crisis will be resolved.

It was all for naught; at least the Zhou family was still around.

If Li Hao is a good person, given things have come to this, he wouldn't even dare to hope of getting the Yin Huai wood.

There should be other treasures in that secret realm. If the Zhou family can get a share of the spoils, that would be a stroke of good fortune.

Now, the outcome is entirely up to Li Hao.

There was a few seconds of silence before Li Hao finally spoke.

"Now that things have come to this, let's call out your Third Elder first."

Zhou Luo was startled and quickly asked, "What do you mean, senior?"

Li Hao said, "You yourself said that your breakthrough is risky. If you don't shout it out now, what if you die?"

"I didn't come here looking for some kind of yin-yan wood; I came to ask for his help. Who am I supposed to turn to if he's dead?"

"Should we go find Gao Yuanfan? Hmm... that doesn't seem like a bad idea."

On the contrary, he only wanted a male to achieve the Core Formation stage. Since the Water Ripples Palace was all women, he ruled that out. The rest were all members of the royal family, which he found repulsive.

That leaves Gao Yuanfan and the third elder of the Zhou family.

Zhou Luo's face flushed red upon hearing this, and he hurriedly said, "Senior, please calm down! I, I'll go and call him out right away."

Just as he was about to leave, Li Hao called him back: "Wait."

"I know it's dangerous to be forcibly pulled out of seclusion, so please send this immortal totem to him."

As Li Hao spoke, he handed over an immortal totem.

Zhou Luo had never seen this thing before, but he had heard a little about what had happened to the Lei family.

It's said that Lei Yuexin was able to drive the Lei family patriarch to the brink of collapse because of her life-saving magic weapon that could revive him time and time again. Could it be this?!

Such a life-saving treasure is so precious that the entire Zhou family couldn't find a single one!

Zhou Luo's breathing suddenly became rapid. He carefully took it and asked, "Senior, may I ask about this Undying Totem...?"

Li Hao nodded in affirmation: "Yes, it's a life-saving item with no side effects."

Life-saving items are already rare, and those without any side effects are even rarer. Zhou Luo trembled upon hearing this, and the immortal totem in his hand almost fell to the ground!

Such a precious treasure, and you just gave it to him so casually?!

Just as they were in shock, a powerful aura suddenly erupted from the direction of the back mountain.

The two of them looked in the direction from which the aura was coming.

Upon sensing this aura, Zhou Luo's expression changed drastically.

"Oh no, it's the Third Elder! He's about to break through!"

I've been adjusting my mindset and preparing for a breakthrough in the past few days. Now that I'm starting to break through, I can only go all out and charge forward, or fail to break through.

The chances of success were already low, and now with Li Hao's help, there was absolutely no need to take any risks. Why did they have to start breaking through at this crucial moment?

"Senior, I..."

Zhou Luo was immediately anxious and wanted to apologize and go over.

Li Hao understood and said, "Go ahead, I'll go with you."

The situation was urgent, so Zhou Luo didn't hesitate and immediately used his movement technique to rush towards the place where the Third Elder was in seclusion on the back mountain.

This Zhou family head was also at the Three Difficulties realm, and his realm was slightly higher than Li Hao's, but his speed was not as fast as Li Hao's.

The two of them traveled together to the back mountain and landed outside the entrance of a cave.

At the entrance of the cave ahead, several interwoven formations guarded the entrance, isolating the people inside from all external disturbances.

Zhou Luo was about to go in when Li Hao suddenly called out to him.

"Don't go, it's already started."

"If you distract him at this moment, you will surely lose."

Zhou Luo looked anxious, clutching the immortal totem tightly in his hand.

"But, but..."

Li Hao scoffed, "With your mentality, you call yourself the head of a family? You're nowhere near as good as Song Baicheng."

Zhou Luo was truly helpless; he had no choice but to panic at this moment.

Now the Zhou family relies entirely on this Third Elder to carry the burden. Apart from him, the remaining members of the Zhou family at the Fifth Difficulty Realm are not even as good as the Lei family.

Just when the great crisis was about to be resolved and the future was looking bright, the Third Elder ran into trouble because of his breakthrough. For the Zhou family, that was no different from the sky falling.

Li Hao said again, "Don't worry, with me here, he'll be fine."

Hearing Li Hao do this, Zhou Luo, no matter how flustered he was, could only force himself to calm down.

However, at this very moment...

Two powerful auras suddenly erupted outside the city, followed by two streaks of light, one yellow and one blue, rushing towards this direction.

The two figures stopped in the sky not far away. One was a muscular man wielding a large sword, and the other was a graceful and beautiful woman wearing a light blue dress.

At this moment, both of them had a triumphant smile in their eyes.

"Hehe, it wasn't for nothing that we've been lying in wait nearby for nearly ten days. Zhou Hongtu really couldn't resist breaking through."

"If this breakthrough fails, let's see what your Zhou family will use to compete for the treasures in the secret realm!"

The burly man, carrying a large sword on his shoulder, laughed freely.

Upon seeing the two of them, Zhou Luo's face suddenly turned deathly pale.

"Gao Yuanfan, Shui Yuelu? What are you doing here?!"

They had clearly received confirmation that Shui Yuelu was willing to use the secret techniques of Shui Lan Palace to help Gao Yuanfan advance to the second level of Core Formation in order to compete for the Yin Huai Wood.

That is why the Third Elder was able to go into seclusion without worry.

But how did these two end up here?

As they spoke, several more streaks of light rushed in from various parts of the Zhou family mansion; they were all experts at the fifth level of the Heavenly Realm within the Zhou family.

They all came up behind Zhou Luo. Although they didn't know Li Hao, they didn't ask him anything since he was standing with Zhou Luo.

And now is not the time to worry about that.

"Master! Fifth Brother is missing!"