Chapter 757 Strain in relationship

Chapter 757 Strain in relationship

Even having fallen far from grace and already split into different groups, the Song family etching its survival on the hinterlands bordering the Deer Mountain Range to the north still had the reserves that one would expect of a former ruling clan of a rank 2 empire. They had two palace realm experts in their midst, and a few treasures and trump cards that gave them enough bargaining power against the four families i.e. the Zhou family, the Chu Family, the Meng Family, and the Shi family.

The four families each had at least one palace realm expert with the Zhou family having three, counting the Zhang clan's founder, who was their retainer at the time. Despite having more cultivators than the Song family, the four chose to ally with them rather than try and dominate them, owing to the family's capabilities.

While the report didn't have the exact details of their cooperation and vaguely pointed toward it, other than the abilities the Song family showed, the reason the other families chose to ally with them likely had to do with them neighboring the Deer Mountain Range. The Song family likely knew more about the area than they did, and having someone familiar with it would prove beneficial when venturing into it.

When it came to the agreement from the Song family's side, Yang Qing felt that they may still harbor thoughts of having a resurgence and reclaiming that which they lost, either by going back to the now Deng dynasty and taking the empire back or by building from scratch, using the Deer Mountain Range as their foundation.

There was no better place than it as its riches matched those of rank 2 territories. If the Song family hoped to establish another Song dynasty then there was no better place.

Yang Qing's eyes glittered as a thought struck his mind.

"The plan to conquer the range back then, was it the king's design or did someone fuel that desire in him?" muttered Yang Qing, as he scanned the jade slip to locate the information during that time.

"Mmh, it could have been them.." said Yang Qing as he finished through the information.

The king back then had also been one of the talents of the golden era, being a well-established spear user, whose spear intent was rumored to puncture through even the sturdiest of defenses below the domain realm, like a hot knife through butter.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

From the slip, it described him as someone gifted with both the pen and the spear. The kingdom grew by leaps and bounds under his care, and it wasn't solely because numerous talents had appeared at the same time. He inspired all. The deep sense of togetherness, and patriotism that Yang Qing noticed when he was there had been forged by him as he bridged the gap between the commoners and the aristocrats of the kingdom making all sides feel integral to the kingdom.

However strangely enough as inclusive as he was, the slip suggested he had distanced himself from the Zhang family. It wasn't overly overt, but it was enough for those with keenness for such things to notice the difference in treatment he afforded them. The report didn't contain the specifics of why they were treated that way, but it did mention that the king was in turn shown to be close with the Song family at the time who also had a genius in their midst skilled with formation arrays.

The Chu family on the other hand was located in the territory of the Diamond Body Sect, which bordered the Blue Sapphire Empire. The Shi family made a connection with them through the many dealings they had with the organizations located there.

As for the Meng family, it belonged to an uncharted zone called the Palace Valley. It was formerly a place that housed a rank 2 clan, which ended up offending someone they shouldn't have, and had all their members slaughtered to the last woman, man, and child as a consequence of it. It wasn't only the clan members that were destroyed in the process, as their entire clan ground was destroyed to smithereens, turning it into a desolate place.

However, the rest of its territories were left untouched much to the joy of the countless organizations that paid tribute or were once surbodinate to that clan. With no one to lord over them, they sought independence, and domination over each other, giving rise to the Palace Valley, a place stacked with countless rank 3 organizations all trying to dominate the other of which the Meng family had been one of them, but decided to move when they created one too many enemies, and their survival at the area hanging on a thread.

And lastly, the Zhou family, who were prominent in the Plum Blossom kingdom, however, they ended up supporting the wrong prince for the throne which left them in a difficult position when the Emperor announced a different prince as his successor. Realizing the predicament they had been in, they decided to plan their exit fast, while they were still able to.

They had sufficient foundation to deter the crowned prince from acting against them, with the Emperor still there to keep him in check, but who knew when things would take a turn for the worse? Rather than wait for the inevitable blade that was hanging above their heads to fall, they decided to cut their losses, leave the kingdom, and start over somewhere where they didn't run the risk of being besieged and slaughtered overnight, as a lesson to others.

That was how they set their sights on the Deer Mountain Range, though Yang Qing still wondered if they had already decided on the Deer Mountain Range, or was that something they decided after they had left the Plum Blossom Kingdom.

His working theory on the mysterious figure lurking within the kingdom may have known about the true picture of the range, hence their reason to reside there, which was why he suspected the mysterious figure to be from one of the founding families, being one of the earliest people to have stepped foot in that place.

Yang Qing read through all the information on the Zhou family before he shook his head in doubt.

"It doesn't seem likely that it was one of them. Maybe the king's grandfather might know about how they came to decide on the Deer Mountain Kingdom. He was also alive during that battle back then, maybe he knows why the king from that time threw a cold shoulder to the Zhang family.

From what I've read about them, even after their founder was released from his service and allowed to start a family of his own, along with receiving a lot of support from the Zhou family, no matter how much their reputation grew, the Zhang family never stepped out of bounds, never showed any ambitions for the throne, through it all even if they were one of the most powerful families,I can't help but feel like they still acted like the retainers to the Zhou family, which explains why they have so many martyrs if compared against the other families.

Something may have happened back then..."