Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 348: 184, Organize the Army and Join the Battle_2

Upon hearing this, Li Sanyun nodded and said with a smile to Hou Yuxiao, "Fourth Master is right. The strength of the Yinling Sha Yin Sect and the Jinling Shen Family is indeed not far off from ours. As far as I know, the Sha Yin Sect has five Grandmasters, and the Shen Family should have a bit more, with seven."

Bai Yunfan coughed twice from the side and interjected, "That's not right. The Sha Yin Sect should only have four now. That Deputy Sect Master named Yan Sannu, wasn't he killed by…"

Upon hearing this, Hou Yujie, Hou Yucheng, and Hou Yuling showed little reaction, but Nie Xinchuan and Liu Jianghong couldn't help but glance sideways at Hou Yuxiao.

The four of them were also leaders of their respective forces and were naturally no fools. They could roughly guess the meaning behind what Zhan Taiqing had said outside the city earlier. If Hou Yuxiao had any ties with the Qinglong Association, then he must have known about Yan Sannu's death.

Hou Yuxiao saw their reactions and could only helplessly shake his head. Yan Sannu was killed by Yang Xin, which had nothing to do with him. However, he did not attempt to explain; such matters were rather convenient in maintaining a sense of mystery.

Although he was quite elated, the impact of Zhan Taiqing's earlier slap still lingered, and Hou Yuxiao quickly calmed down.

At present, the Hou Clan in Tongling County was indeed unquestioned, but compared to the Jinling Shen Family and the Yinling Sha Yin Sect, the gap was unmistakably significant—beyond question.

It seemed that the number of martial artists was not far off from the other two families, seemingly only a few Grandmasters short, but the actual situation was far more complex.

The Hou Clan had swallowed four families in just three days. Currently, the internal martial artists were a mixed bunch, coming from four different forces, former Mansion Army soldiers, Loose Cultivators from within Tongling City, and a large portion from the other three second-rate forces that were annihilated. Gathering so many people together and unifying them was impossible in the short term.

In reality, it could be said that the Great Luo Sect was quite unlucky this time. As a hidden pawn of Leiyin Temple in Tongling for many years, it achieved nothing and, to make things worse, Ding Buhai lost his only son,

But to be fair, the failure of the Great Luo Sect wasn't much related to the Hou Clan; it was mainly because the other Holy Lands had trapped Leiyin Temple. Initially, it was thought that Tongling would be the downfall of the Rakshasa Holy Sect, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a major play directed by Huangfu Xing and Ji Yanzhi against Xuzhou, resulting in the loss of the Great Luo Sect—a bitter pill to swallow.

Ding Buhai revolted, and the other Grandmasters of the Great Luo Sect all perished in battles against demons. Otherwise, with their strength, if they had regrouped and defended around the Holy Church in Xuzhou, the Hou Clan might not have emerged as the biggest winner this time.

The Jinling Shen Family and the Yinling Sha Yin Sect were second-rate forces not weaker than the Great Luo Sect, having been established in their localities far longer than the Great Luo Sect. With the Hou Clan's current patchwork state, there was basically no comparability with these two families.

Moreover, the situation in the three prefectures was vastly different. After this battle, even if Hou Yuxiao took some special measures, it would likely take at least three to five years to recover its Primeval Energy, making competition even more impossible.

"Alright, there's no need to overestimate ourselves, but let's not underestimate ourselves either. In the short term, the Shen Family and the Sha Yin Sect are indeed stronger than us, but now that I have all of you joining the Hou Clan, as long as we can unify and stick together, it won't be impossible to surpass these two in the long run!"

It was important to boost everyone's morale at the right time. Hou Yuxiao then raised everyone's spirits and continued, "Besides, what we currently need to be cautious of isn't these two families. My Tongling is situated on the eastern border of Xingnan Prefecture, and the big battle between the two states has already started. Do any of you have any thoughts on this?"

As soon as Hou Yuxiao finished speaking, he saw Li Sanyun and the others wanting to speak and quickly gave them a subtle look. The four of them understood and kept their mouths shut.

Apart from the four, the rest seemed not to understand the implication of Hou Yuxiao's words, looking at him with confusion.

"For instance, should we join the fight and assist the Holy Church in attacking Xuzhou, or should we preserve ourselves, keep our forces in place, and calmly wait for the outcome of the battle between the two states?"

After Hou Yuxiao asked this question, everyone fell silent. He was not in a hurry and simply continued to sit in the main seat, waiting to see who would respond first.

He did not allow Li Sanyun and the others to speak because they had just met with Zhan Taiqing along with him and knew that the Hou Clan had to send troops; their responses would be irrelevant.

His inquiry had two purposes. One was to give the more than sixty people who had just joined the Hou Clan some semblance of a right to participate in managing the family, even if it was just an illusion.

The other was to truly find out what these people thought.

"Of course, we should participate. Those bastards from Xuzhou came to Tongling and killed so many. Their forty-thousand-strong army has been reduced to just over ten thousand. Now is the time when they are most vulnerable.

Moreover, isn't it said that the Xingnan prefectural army has already surrounded Wanyang County? If we join the attack now, even if we can't take a prefectural city, couldn't we at least snag one of those three counties below it? If we delay, it will be too late!"

Unsurprisingly, the first to speak was Hou Yucheng. Although what Second Elder said was in line with his own thoughts, seeing his belligerent expression, Hou Yuxiao could not help but shake his head, seriously doubting whether these words were sincere or if the youngster just wanted to go and fight.