Swordholder

"Hmph, what a joke! Some unknown brat claims to be Chen Yuan from back then, and he thinks he is?"

Chen Qingtian scoffed, "Our family's inheritance isn't based on the hereditary title. Why do we insist on passing the throne to the legitimate son and not to the illegitimate son?"

Chen Jianming hesitated and said, "But the head of the Chen family is, after all, Uncle, and he has the final say on this matter."

Chen Qingtian stared intently at Chen Jianming and shouted, "Are you willing to accept this?"

You are a peerless prodigy with level ten talent and one hundred spiritual apertures unlocked!

"You're only twenty-eight years old, and you've already reached the late stage of the Dharma Body Realm!"

"Tell me, in terms of talent for cultivation, business acumen, and the ability to navigate the pressure from numerous powerful families with ease, besides my elder brother and you, who else in the Chen family can match you?"

These words were so forceful that Chen Jianming clenched his fists tightly!

"Yes, I'm really not reconciled."

He thought to himself silently.

He has managed the Chen family's business for the past ten years, handling every matter, big or small, personally.

At this moment, he was truly unwilling to hand over the power of the Chen family to someone of unknown origin and unknown ability.

He was afraid! The Chen family would be ruined by an incompetent person.

Suddenly, Chen Jianming thought of an absurd possibility: "He might have also reached the Dharma Body Realm; otherwise, how could he have killed so many guards?"

"Hmph, what a joke! Just some country bumpkin from some remote village?"

Chen Qingtian sneered, "I've heard that he has a little demon by his side!"

It was probably that little demon, not him, who killed those Dharma Body Realm guards and officials!

"What? A little demon?" Chen Jianming's gaze turned cold. "Does that kid rely on demonic power?"

"As a human, if you don't follow the righteous path, you will eventually be devoured and killed by the power of evil!"

"Hmph, you know that much!"

Chen Qingtian said coldly, his tone becoming heavier and more resolute, "Therefore, the Chen family must never be handed over to that wild brat! Even if he really is Chen Guoshan's son!!"

Chen Jianming remained silent.

"Alright, you don't need to say anything more. Just leave it to Jianchu to do."

Chen Qingtian patted Chen Jianming on the shoulder and said in a deep voice.

Then, his cold gaze fell on Chen Jianchu.

Chen Jianchu nodded immediately, looking as if he had no choice but to agree.

"No!"

Chen Jianming narrowed his eyes, and his tightly clenched fist slowly relaxed.

Even if I'm not convinced, I'll say it openly and honestly.

He stared at Chen Qingtian and said solemnly, "Grandpa, I disdain using such dirty methods!"

Chen Qingtian stared at Chen Jianming for a long time before letting out a heavy sigh: "Fine, as long as you don't obediently back down, that's fine. Hmph, my grandson, how could he be a coward?"

"Don't worry, if my elder brother can't provide a convincing reason, we'll betray the Chen family!"

Chen Jianming smiled wryly and said helplessly, "Grandpa, you're exaggerating."

Chen Qingtian stopped talking!

He was just saying it.

Just kidding. If it weren't for Chen Qingcang, the Chen family would probably have been devoured by those Xiang clans long ago.

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The Chen family was in an uproar over the news that Chen Qingcang would be holding a ceremony to mark the enthronement of his young master in seven days.

The entire family, including its core middle and senior management, numbering in the thousands, became restless and discussed the matter extensively.

However, the courtyard where Chen Yuan and the other two lived remained quiet and peaceful... No one came to disturb them, and there were not many servants to serve them.

This was Chen Yuan's request, and Chen Qingcang naturally agreed.

"Ah, this feels so good! No wonder you're from a prestigious family!"

Li Wei stretched, walked out of the room, and came to the living room.

At the Chen family's house, the food and sleep were excellent, far better than spending the night in the mountains of Qingshan Village or Wuqiao Town.

Moreover, he and Chen Yuan only discovered in the past few days that the Chen family's residence was not a large mansion in Tianqing County, but rather located on a scenic mountain peak.

The entire area surrounding this mountain is Chen family territory!

There are five mountain peaks in total, each with grand halls standing on top, shrouded in mist, resembling a paradise on earth.

These five mountain peaks, when gathered together, resemble a slightly clenched palm.

In the center of the palm, at the foot of the five mountain peaks, lies a scenic lake—which the Chen family calls "Palm Lake".

On the five mountain peaks, palaces, manors, and medicinal gardens stand side by side.

Even though the moon in the sky was still crimson and the sun was still shrouded in black mist, the Chen family's mountain peak was still filled with spiritual energy, like a paradise on earth.

Li Wei was deeply shocked—the Chen family's territory was actually comparable to a sect's holy land!

No wonder they can be called a family with a thousand-year history.

Suddenly, when Li Wei walked into the living room, he saw Chen Yuan and Nuomi tidying up some books.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

Li Wei asked curiously and immediately moved closer.

"Familiar with the Chen family's senior members and important figures, as well as the major families of Tianqing County, and some important matters."

Chen Yuan stared at the book in his hand and said without looking up.

Soon, his eyes became serious.

"What's wrong?"

Li Wei curiously peeked his head out.

Where Chen Yuan pointed, several eye-catching characters were printed:

[Tianqing County - Family Examination].

"Huh, what's this?"

Li Wei looked on with curiosity.

Chen Yuan handed him the book, gazed into the distance, and slowly narrowed his eyes.

After a moment, he said coldly, "This is a method used by the Tianqing County government to control the number of powerful members of human clans."

Li Wei was taken aback, and then quickly flipped through the book to read the details.

"Damn, it's held every ten years to determine the allocation of medicinal herb fields, spirit rice paddies, mines, and livestock grazing land in Tianqing County, as well as qualifications for ore mining and medicinal herb cultivation, and the number of people from each family qualified to cultivate, etc..."

Li Wei muttered to himself, his eyes filled with shock.

"That's right, and moreover, in this aristocratic family assessment, there is no distinction between life and death."

Chen Yuan said in a deep voice, "In other words, most of the young people who participate in the aristocratic family's grand assessment will be beaten to death."

"If a young scion of a prestigious family is killed in battle, the family will suffer a talent gap and it will take many years to cultivate new ones."

"But if we don't participate, we won't be qualified to cultivate medicinal herbs in Tianqing County. Without herbs, our alchemy business will be completely cut off."

"They don't even have the qualifications to cultivate. The Great Xiang Empire strictly controls the number of human cultivators through this law."

As Chen Yuan spoke, he couldn't help but marvel at the ruthlessness of the Great Xiang Empire and the Tianqing County government's insidious scheme.

This is an open conspiracy by the Imperial government and the Tianqing County government against the four major human families!

It was also a treacherous scheme to prevent the four major families from producing high-level cultivators!

Ore mining is related to weapon crafting.

The qualification to cultivate medicinal herbs is related to alchemy.

Spirit rice paddies are the daily sustenance for cultivators.

Animal husbandry in mountainous areas involves breeding, raising horses, and cultivating ferocious beasts as mounts.

The most important one: a license to practice!

If you don't even have this, then practicing on your own is against the law!

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Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, deeply shocked.

No wonder Wang Feng and those law enforcement guards were so shocked when they saw that I was a cultivator, and they shouted that I had broken the law.

So that's how it is.

Moreover, every qualification and every resource restricted by the aristocratic family assessment is crucial!

Indispensable.

If you don't participate, you're not qualified to get involved in these fields.

If you participate, you will be hunted down by the disciples of the beast-taming families behind the official organization!

"Among the four major human families in Tianqing County, the Chen family refines pills, the Zhang family forges weapons, the Tang family tames beasts, and the Li family suppresses evil..."

At this moment, Li Wei muttered to himself, "Huh, what does this 'suppressing evil' mean?"

Chen Yuan glanced at him, then at Nuomi, and explained, "To suppress evil energy, if someone is invaded by evil energy, they can purchase talismans or array plates from the Li family to control the outbreak of evil energy."

"Oh...I see."

Li Wei nodded slightly, then suddenly looked up, "Damn, A Yuan, after you become the young master, won't you also have to participate in this aristocratic family assessment?"

Chen Yuan stood up, put his hands behind his back, and narrowed his eyes: "That should be the case. Perhaps the old man also has this plan."

Li Wei's eyes widened, and he immediately looked at the other five major beast families recorded in the book:

"The other five major beast-eating families are the Niu family behind the prefect, the Gou family behind the prefectural assistant, the Sun family behind the law enforcement chief, and the Qi family behind the Tianqing Army commander!"

And then there's... the Lu family, the lackeys who run businesses specifically for these officials!

"The Lu family!"

Upon hearing this name, Chen Yuan's gaze grew even colder!

This family is involved in the filthy business of human trafficking!

"They all deserve to die!"

Chen Yuan let out a cold shout and slammed his fist on the table!

boom!

In an instant, the marble tabletop shattered into pieces with his punch!

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