Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 164: 117. Two somewhat capable fools

The upheaval in Zhaoyang had passed six months ago, and with the orders of Sikong Yue, Zhaoyang, which lacked both a County Lord and Magistrate, could truly be called Hou's City, without any concessions.

The businesses of the Hou Clan had thoroughly permeated every corner of Zhaoyang County. Without competition, the output of iron ore and medicinal herbs climbed higher and higher, continuously sold to the prefectural city, bringing massive profits.

Not just that, the business of the Hou Clan had also extended to Tongling Prefectural City. On the surface, there was the Zhaoyang Escort Agency opened by Wang Gong, while secretly, there was the Qinglong Association, which was renowned in four counties. The revenue from these two sectors was extremely substantial.

Particularly since the uprising of demons in March, the entirety of Tongling had plunged into panic. Only Zhaoyang County remained unscathed, attracting a huge population to converge here. In just half a year, the population of Zhaoyang had exploded from 320,000 to 600,000.

What's more critical was that all the families in the prefectural city were uneasy, but the Hou Clan, keeping to themselves, found the business ever easier to conduct, and their expansion accelerated rapidly.

In such a grand environment, the Hou Clan was indeed making a fortune. The vast amounts of silver they accumulated brought not only a sharp increase in the number of martial artists in the clan but, with the support of various elixirs and spirit materials, their cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds every day.

Firstly, Second Elder Hou Yucheng and Third Elder Hou Yuling had officially broken through to the Gathering Evil Phase last month. Far away in Tongling, Fourth Elder and Old Fifth had also reached the peak of the Gathering Evil Phase and had made considerable reputations in the prefectural city.

Then there were Wang Gong, Zhang Kong, Su Li, Xiong Nutao, Gao Cheng, Gao Hu, Hou Fei, Hou Ying, and Hou Cun, all nine of whom had just broken through to the Coagulate Gang Realm this month.

The number of warriors in the Gang Qi Realm within the clan had suddenly reached thirteen.

Finally, the number of warriors in the clan had swelled from around a thousand at the end of last year to 2,219, a growth of nearly double.

Among them were 176 at or above the Seventh Level of Body Opening, over 500 at or above five levels of body refinement, and over 700 at or above three levels. The remaining more than 900, though only initially stepping onto the Martial Path, were also advancing rapidly in their cultivation, thanks to the strong resources supplied by the family.

Hou Yuxiao looked at the two thousand people emerging from all directions and showed a trace of satisfaction in his eyes. Last month in Wanyang County, Hou Yucheng had already informed him about the family's situation.

A Grandmaster was known as a foe of a thousand men. Although the two thousand warriors might pose a threat to Chen Yuhe and Liu Fufeng, they had another eleven Dan Embracing Phase masters. Logically, Hou Yucheng shouldn't be this arrogant.

"Is this what you rely on, how ridiculous!"

Although Chen Yuhe was initially shocked, he quickly recovered and with a stern tone, he spoke.

As he spoke, the True Qi within his body converged sharply, drawing the longsword from his waist as a vigorous momentum swept across all directions in an instant.

Whoosh...

Suddenly, a crossbow arrow shot out from behind Hou Yucheng with a force splitting gold and breaking stones. Chen Yuhe raised his eyebrows, swept his longsword horizontally to deflect the crossbow arrow, and sensing the terrifying power, his expression abruptly changed drastically.

Boom!

The crossbow arrow, deflected to the side by him, shot to the ground and exploded violently, creating a small crater about half a meter in diameter as if it were a small cannonball.

"A Ten-Stone Crossbow, five hundred racks, how can the small Hou Family possibly afford this?"

Chen Yuhe exclaimed in shock, causing the faces of everyone but Zhao Qingxue, Monk Buzheng, and Tong Hu to be filled with horror.

Among the world's crossbows, classified by weight, the highest could reach up to a hundred stones.

Ordinary crossbows ranging from one to five stones could only threaten warriors of the Tenth Level of Body Opening and required a warrior of the Body Opening First Layer to operate them. Even so, a Five-Stone Crossbow would cost at least a thousand silver taels.

Those between five and ten stones, which required a warrior of at least Three Levels of Body Opening to operate, could threaten a Warrior of the Gang Qi Realm if their number exceeded one hundred, with prices ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 silver taels.

And a Ten-Stone would qualify as a powerful crossbow requiring the cultivation of five levels of body refinement to operate. Once the quantity surpassed a hundred, even a Grandmaster wouldn't dare face it for long. Given such potency, the price was a staggering five thousand silver taels each.

In the crowd of two thousand warriors, there were five hundred holding Ten-Stone Crossbows, which signified a shocking implication.

Five hundred Ten-Stone Crossbows, that's 1.5 million silver taels...

How could the Hou Family, a minor third-rate clan newly elevated at the beginning of the year, have so much money?

Let alone others who were clueless, even Tong Hu, who had only visited Zhaoyang last year, now exhibited a hint of shock in his eyes.

He was the Young Sect Master of the Tianding Sect. Even as a second-rate force, their sect had only around a thousand Ten-Stone Crossbows.

The Hou Family, five hundred racks, how could it be possible?

"Obstinate fools, all of you get out of Zhaoyang!"

Hou Yucheng roared at the people, clearly enraged by Chen Yuhe's attempt to strike earlier.

And Chen Yuhe, already humiliated several times by Hou Yucheng, now had difficulty maintaining his composure and showed a dark intent. Exchanging glances with Liu Fufeng beside him, both men's eyes flashed fiercely, evidently understanding each other's intentions.

"To catch the bandits, first capture their leader!"

Both men were less than ten meters away from Hou Yucheng, their True Qi simultaneously aroused. They leapt from their mounts and made a fierce move, hoping to capture the leading Hou Yucheng before the crossbow arrows were shot.

In the night sky, Liu Fufeng's hands generated two clusters of starlight that flashed three times. In an instant, his body reached the left side of Hou Yucheng.