Just as Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi returned to Lingxi Mountain, Nanxia County was plunged into chaos.
The night fell, and Nanxia County seemed as peaceful as ever. Lanterns swayed by the roadside, casting a gentle glow on the green stone streets, with occasional pedestrians strolling by.
Suddenly, a flurry of hurried footsteps shattered the tranquility. A group of burly Martial Artists surged out from the shadows, their faces masked with black cloths, eyes gleaming with menace, as they flooded into the Martial Cultivator workshop.
The leader, a robust figure, held a long blade that shimmered in the moonlight, exuding a chilling aura. His gaze swept across the various shops in the workshop, eyes filled with greed and madness.
"Brothers, our chance to get rich has arrived!"
"Kill!"
In an instant, the workshop descended into chaos. The marauders, like ravenous wolves, smashed open shop doors, slaughtered at will, and seized various treasures in frenzy.
...
In the study of the county government, Lu Jianghua sat with a furrowed brow behind the desk, staring at the Yellow Book in his hand.
This Yellow Book was the register of Martial Arts Families in Nanxia County, recording the population, number of Martial Artists, and cultivation levels of each Martial Arts Family.
Lu Jianghua had been governing Nanxia County for ten years and was well aware of the strength of its various Martial Arts Families. Yet, he was meticulously examining these families’ statuses because he needed to recruit more people from them.
The other residents of Nanxia County were not very clear about the situation in Yu Mountain Town, but he knew very well.
Over the past four years, the Lu family had conscripted nearly ten thousand Innate Martial Artists to go to Yu Mountain Town, but now only less than four thousand remained.
The continuous conscriptions had nearly drained the forces of many Martial Arts Families in the Ancient County, leaving the Lu family almost at the point of having no one to use.
Under such heavy casualties, the many Martial Arts Families harbored deep resentment toward the Lu family.
They would not blame the Nether Prison Sect because it was far from them; they pinned all their hatred on the Lu family because it was the Lu family who sent their elders and relatives to the battlefield.
The accumulation of hatred brought about more chaos.
Some Martial Arts Families lost their pillars of support, while others sought to seize more resources amidst the turmoil.
Due to conflicts among Martial Arts Families, more than seven families had been annihilated in Nanxia County over the past few years.
Yet, despite this, the situation in Nanxia County grew increasingly chaotic, with numerous disputes boiling like a volcanic crater, ready to erupt into even greater turmoil at any moment.
Faced with such circumstances, Lu Jianghua still had to recruit more Martial Artists.
He had no choice because if he did not recruit more Martial Artists, he would have to send his own Lu family forces to the battlefield as cannon fodder.
The Lu family was already lacking in foundation, and if they lost too much strength due to the war, even with Lu Fusheng’s support, they could not prevent the Lu family’s decline.
Therefore, to avoid the Lu family’s downfall, everyone in the Lu family was desperately squeezing those lower-tier Martial Arts Families.
As Lu Jianghua looked at the content of the Yellow Book, his gaze gradually locked onto the Lingxi Yang Family.
In recent years, the Lingxi Yang Family had been thriving. Although they had not expanded aggressively, the Yang family produced a number of Innate Martial Artists.
And the Yang family also had a Yang Zhenshan!
Thinking of Yang Zhenshan, Lu Jianghua felt a bit conflicted.
Yang Zhenshan had deep ties with his Lu family, not only because Yang Zhenshan was on friendly terms with Lan Peng, but also because Yang Zhenshan had helped Lan Peng return Lu Youning to the Lu family.
This was truly a lifesaving favor, and the entire Lu family still remembered this debt of gratitude.
Thus, over the years, Lu Jianghua had never touched the Lingxi Yang Family and even supported them.
But now, should he recruit people from the Lingxi Yang Family?
This time, Lu Jianghua needed to recruit sixty Innate Martial Artists. For now, Nanxia County could still muster sixty Innate Martial Artists, but if more forced recruitment occurred, those Martial Arts Families might truly rebel.
The Yang family could not solve his problem, but perhaps they could help him gather seven or eight Innate Martial Artists.
If the Yang family did not step forward, then his Lu family would have to provide people!
Moreover, Yang Zhenshan alone could count as several dozen Innate Martial Artists.
Therefore, Lu Jianghua actually wanted to ask Yang Zhenshan for assistance.
Yet, he felt doing so would be ungrateful because he knew very well that once Yang Zhenshan went to the battlefield, he’d be treated as cannon fodder by the three major Sects.
As Lu Jianghua was conflicted, a rush of hurried footsteps sounded, quickly followed by his study door being slammed open, and several of his Personal Followers rushed in.
"What are you doing?" Lu Jianghua’s face instantly turned extremely ugly.
"Young Master, something happened!"
The Personal Follower pointed toward the workshop with some panic and said, "Someone is attacking the workshop!"
Lu Jianghua’s face changed drastically, rising to look in the direction of the workshop. He saw under the dim night sky, the position of the workshop was rising in flames, not yet large but sufficient to indicate the workshop’s situation.
"Who is it?"
Lu Jianghua roared in anger.
"We’re not sure yet! But it seems there are many experts!" the Personal Follower said with some trembling.
Although the Nanxia County Martial Cultivator workshop was Lu family’s property, in reality, most of the shops in the workshop were operated by other Families, like the Sun family’s Transmission Spirit Hall, the Beishi family’s Pill Medicine Workshop, the Shentu family’s restaurant, and the Farmer family’s teahouse, and so on.
The twelve Families each had their areas of expertise. They had collaborations and petitions, and each family’s workshop would attract enterprises from other Families.
Nearly every workshop contained at least six different Families’ enterprises, which was an unwritten rule in the Sea of Spirit.
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