Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains-Chapter 513 - 242, Hexi Hou Mansion

In the year 1323 of the New Yu Era, October 15th, Tongling County

The demonic chaos of last year’s Rakshasa Festival inflicted indelible, massive damage upon Tongling County. The population of the Prefectural City plummeted from nearly two million to just over four hundred thousand; not a single soul survived in Baiye County, and Yulin County also suffered considerable damage, with only Zhaoyang County remaining unscathed.

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As heavy as the pain brought by demons was, just like the deepest wounds that heal gradually with the passage of time, Tongling County slowly regained its vitality after more than a year of the Hou Clan’s governance.

Although the population had not yet recovered to its previous level, the city’s buildings were densely packed and orderly. Shops and residences abounded with signs of life, and more and more pedestrians could be seen on the streets. Particularly as the conflict in Hedong dragged on, many citizens and martial artists from Wanyang, Longxiang, and Yangping counties, brought their families and relocated here, accelerating the population growth in Tongling.

"Yun Ye, I thought the Demon Sect only operated without appointing County Magistrates and Deputy Magistrates in the Hexi prefectures. I didn’t expect that Tongling would be the same. Isn’t Tongling part of Xingnan Prefecture? Do they have no objections to this?"

At the Tongling Sacred Heart Residence, two young men dressed in red armors befitting soldiers sat by a window. One of them looked out with curiosity in his gaze, questioning his companion across from him.

"Prefectural Governor Peng Yuhu of Xingnan is currently at war in Hedong with Master Fanyin; he probably has no time to worry about this place. Even if he wanted to, this decision was made by Master Fanyin. Would he dare to oppose the Master?"

After speaking, Cheng Yunye paused for a moment, then continued while looking out the window towards the left side of Shengxin Residence: "Moreover, the establishment of the Hexi Prefecture is now common knowledge. It’s certain that Tongling will be carved out and joined with Wanyang, Longxiang, and Yangping to form the new Hexi Prefecture. The Prefectural Governor will undoubtedly be our family head. By then, our family head will be an equal to Peng Yuhu, so why would he take the risk of defying the Master and offend our Hou Clan?"

Hearing this, the other man nodded, and his gaze followed the line of sight of the Cheng surname youth, just catching sight of a massive mansion located to the left of the Shengxin Residence. It was hard to tell the exact size of the mansion from their viewpoint, but the mere sight of the three to four-meter-tall main gate was enough to arouse his envy.

The gate was a vibrant vermillion, decorated with carved dragons and phoenixes, adorned with gold, silver, pearls, and jade. There were also two golden columns, each enough for three people to embrace, rising over ten meters high on both sides of the gate. Ordinary people might think that those columns were merely coated with a layer of gold paint, but those with keen eyesight could tell that the columns were actually made of pure gold.

The combined weight of the two columns must have been several thousand kilograms, which meant that just the two columns at the entrance of the enormous residence were worth a hundred thousand taels of gold. One could only imagine the number of rare treasures within.

The words "Hexi Hou Mansion" stood out boldly above the residence, drawing the eyes of all passersby, who would stop and glance sideways. Looking at those four characters, their faces invariably showed a hint of reverence.

On each side of the great gate stood five tall and burly soldiers in black armor. Among the passersby were some Loose Cultivators with considerable strength, who already held the gate in awe. When they realized that even the lowest cultivation level among the soldiers was at the Seventh Level of Body Opening, their expressions changed.

Warriors above the Seventh Level could serve as the backbone of any third-rate power, but in the Hou Clan, they were merely gatekeepers...

"Those gatekeepers are soldiers of the Zhaoyang Army, aren’t they? Their vitality and spirit are decent enough, but they are no match for us. Even if their cultivation levels were overlooked, if it came to a battlefield confrontation, our Red Flame Army could likely crush them, even with ten times their number," one of them said confidently.

Cheng Yunye nodded slightly and responded: "The Zhaoyang Army not only has lower cultivation than ours, but they also have not trained in the Crimson Flame Military Code. Although my Red Flame Army has just over three thousand men, we would easily overpower them. However, please be discreet Brother Ding. The relative strength of Zhaoyang and Red Flame doesn’t matter in the end; they both belong to our Hou Clan."

"That’s true!"

Ding Cheng nodded, as if something came to his mind, and he asked in a low voice, "Yun Ye, last month the Commander gave you five Yuan Gang Beads. When you return to Baiye County this time, your cultivation should be close to breaking through, right?"

"I will certainly break through when I return to the Baiye military camp!"

Seeing Cheng Yunye’s confident response, envy flashed across Ding Cheng’s face.

"With a breakthrough to the Gang Qi Realm, you’ll have a chance to compete for a squad leader position. As a squad leader, just the salary alone is five hundred taels a month, plus three Condensing Gang Pills, and the opportunity to select two third-rate Martial Arts and one second-rate Martial Art from the clan’s armory. Tch, tch..."

Cheng Yunye was already aware of these benefits, but his face still showed exhilaration upon hearing them again. He could take the silver taels for granted, but the three Condensing Gang Pills and the Martial Arts, especially a second-rate Martial Art, genuinely made his eyes gleam.

He and his sister Cheng Yundie came from a background that was neither high nor low. The Longxiang Cheng Family was a minor third-rate clan. Their father was also a Warrior of the Gang Qi Realm, and they had some access to martial world Martial Arts and Spirit Pills, so they understood well the value of a second-rate Martial Art. Before the Cheng Family was wiped out, there were only three Martial Arts that had just made the cut, and Cheng Yunye had never even seen a second-rate Martial Art.

But soon, he would be able to practice a second-rate Martial Art!

If only he could break through to the Gang Qi Realm, competing for a squad leader position in the Red Flame Army wouldn’t be difficult at all.