The Yi clan’s residence.

Because of the death of the head of the Yi clan, white cloths hung everywhere and a sorrowful silence filled the residence.

But in the guest hall, the atmosphere was a little solemn.

Yi Qiushui sat in the main seat in the guest hall with Yi Qianji beside her. Below were many figures, and it was obvious that all the important people of the Yi clan were all gathered here.

Zhou Yuan sat at the end seat of the table. He originally planned to rest alone, but after Yi Qiushui persistently invited him to come, he had to come over to take a look.

He scanned the hall until his gaze finally fell on the lower left side of Yi Qiushui where three people sat. One was a powerful and imposing middle-aged man and beside him were a young man and a woman.

The body of the young man was slender, and he had a handsome face. He seemed to have quite a presence.

Next to the young man was a younger maiden dressed in a red dress. The maiden was beautiful and exuded a youthful energy.

They weren’t part of the Yi clan but were from the Mysterious Eagle Chamber of Commerce in Xuanzhou City. The middle-aged man, called Liu Tianying, was the leader of the Mysterious Eagle Chamber of Commerce.

As one of the top forces in Xiaoxuan Prefecture, the Mysterious Eagle Chamber of Commerce wasn’t in any way inferior to the Yi and Qiu families.

The young man and the maiden, Liu Zhixuan and Liu Ming respectively, were Liu Tianying’s eldest son and daughter.

It could be seen that the Mysterious Eagle Chamber of Commerce had a very good relationship with the Yi clan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have shown up in the Yi clan’s residence at such a time.

“Uncle Liu, it’s so late, I’m sorry to trouble you to come over,” Yi Qiushui said softly.

Liu Tianying waved his hand. “I was good friends with old Yi, you don’t need to be so polite with me. You also should know why I have come here today?”

Without waiting for Yi Qiushui to respond, he furrowed his brows and continued, “Niece Qiushui, now isn’t the time to start a Prefecture Lord battle with the Qiu clan. You should wait awhile. As long as old grandfather Yi proposes to appoint you as Prefecture Lord to the Elder Committee of Tianyuan Region, that will be enough to confirm your position. Why give the Qiu clan this opportunity?”

Yi Qiushui shook her head, saying, “Uncle Liu, although Grandfather is an elder in Tianyuan Region, I am certain the Qiu clan will be prepared. From the news I heard, they had also spent a huge amount to bribe some important figures of the Elder Committee. So Grandfather is bound to experience obstruction if he were to do so.”

She explained, “The most important thing for us now is to deal with the Prefecture Lord battle in seven days. As long as we win that battle, our Yi clan will seize total victory and Grandfather’s proposal will go smoothly.”

Yi Qianji sighed, his expression turning solemn. He said, “It won’t be easy to win the Prefecture Lord battle. For this battle, Qiu Long had even summoned back Qiu Ling, who was training at the Heavenly Spirit Sect. It is clear that he will do everything he can to win.”

The moment the name Qiu Ling came out, the young people in the hall all turned serious. It was clear that his name had put a lot of pressure on the younger generation of Xiaoxuan Prefecture over the years.

A sweet laughter suddenly sounded from the silent group. “It’s just Qiu Ling. What’s there to worry about? Sister Qiushui, both sides need to send out five people in the Prefecture Lord battle. Aren’t there two places among the five people to be sent out that can be external assistance?

“Hey, what about my older brother? In the entire Xiaoxuan Prefecture, only you, my brother and Qiu Ling were able to open up eight Divine Dwellings.”

All the people turned their heads to see the red-clothed maiden beside Liu Tianying promoting her brother with a sweet smile on her face.

Liu Zhixuan, sitting next to the girl in red, helplessly shook his head. He then turned to Yi Qiushui and chuckled, “Qiu Ling is indeed a strong enemy, but if Qiushui needs help, I am willing to travel through a mountain of swords and a sea of flames for you...”

His unrestrained remark drew some snickers in the hall.

A faint smile crossed Yi Qiushui’s oval face, as if she couldn’t hear the meaning in Liu Zhixuan’s words.

Liu Zhixuan, who had been staring at her all this time, was slightly disappointed when he saw her response, but his eyes were still bright and blazing. He knew how difficult it was to win the flower of the Yi clan, but he had never given up over the years.

“Niece Qiushui, Zhixuan has also stepped into the advanced Divine Dwelling stage. If the Yi clan needs it, he can take one of the external assistance places.” Liu Tianying also smiled.

He was well aware of his son’s feelings towards Yi Qiushui, and he was also very satisfied with Yi Qiushui, so he naturally wanted to help him.

Yi Qianji nodded and said to Yi Qiushui, “Zhixuan is indeed pretty strong, and he isn’t in any ways weaker than Qiu Ling. With his help, you will feel much more relaxed.”

Yi Qiushui pondered for a moment, and ultimately didn’t reject Liu Zhixuan’s good intentions. After all, the Yi clan really had to go all out in order to deal with the Prefecture Lord battle.

“Then thank you, brother Liu.” She turned to Liu Zhixuan and expressed her gratitude.

Liu Zhixuan smiled, but he could tell that Yi Qiushui was still keeping a little distance from him from the way she addressed him.

“Our Yi clan has two Divine Dwelling experts who fit the criteria and are at the advanced stage as well, but unfortunately, they both only opened up six Divine Dwellings,” Yi Qianji stated.

“You are now only missing one person. Do you need help to find another person for the external assistance place?” Liu Tianying asked. “If so, we can help contact the Mysterious Eagle Chamber of Commerce.”

Everyone fell into deep thought. The Prefecture Lord battle this time was set at the Divine Dwelling stage, so they needed to search for powerful Divine Dwelling experts as much as possible.

However, now that the relationship between the Qiu clan and the Yi clan had deteriorated to this state, the advanced Divine Dwelling stage experts in Xiaoxuan Prefecture with a little fame would most likely be too afraid to get involved. Moreover, if they weren’t strong enough, they would just waste the quota.

Sitting at the end seat, Zhou Yuan didn’t utter a word and just quietly sipped his tea, as if he had been forgotten. Although he supported Yi Qiushui in becoming the Prefecture Lord, he wouldn’t volunteer himself since it would be troublesome and he wanted to avoid it if necessary.

However, while Zhou Yuan was daydreaming, he felt a pair of bright eyes fix on him.

So, he helplessly pursed his lips and lifted his head to meet Yi Qiushui’s gaze.

Yi Qiushui was looking at Zhou Yuan with a smiling expression, her eyes sparkling with a trace of hope and anticipation.

However, in the face of her vivid eyes, Zhou Yuan remained expressionless and continued to sip tea, as if he couldn’t understand Yi Qiushui.

At that moment, everyone in the hall also noticed this and followed Yi Qiushui’s gaze to see Zhou Yuan sitting at the end seat.

Yi Qiushui had given a brief introduction about Zhou Yuan at the beginning, so they all knew that he had defeated the famous Xu Feng of Xiaoxuan Prefecture and seemed to be quite capable.

However, the people involved in the Prefecture Lord battle needed to be the best experts of the advanced Divine Dwelling stage. Even Xu Feng wouldn’t be eligible to participate, let alone Zhou Yuan who was at the intermediate Divine Dwelling stage. Would he not be too unreliable?

Moreover, what left them speechless was that Zhou Yuan continued to sit there when faced with Yi Qiushui’s gaze, and he showed no intention of getting involved.

Thus, some young men and women of the Yi clan secretly curled their lips. Although Zhou Yuan might be capable, he wasn’t courageous enough. Was this because he feared he would anger the Qiu clan?

The atmosphere turned slightly awkward.

“He’s just at the intermediate Divine Dwelling stage, but he’s already so arrogant.” A clear, crisp voice broke the awkward silence, and Liu Ming shifted her gaze to Zhou Yuan.

She was slightly annoyed by Yi Qiushui’s attitude towards Zhou Yuan. Yi Qiushui didn’t seem excited when her brother offered to help, but why did she attach so much importance to an ordinary youngster of the intermediate Divine Dwelling stage?

How was he eligible to participate in the Prefecture Lord battle?

In Liu Ming’s eyes, Liu Zhixuan was absolutely the strongest among the younger generation of Xiaoxuan Prefecture. Even compared to Qiu Ling, he wasn’t in the slightest inferior. If Zhou Yuan was compared to her brother, the difference between them would be like the gap between a firefly and the moon.

Liu Zhixuan was also staring at Zhou Yuan. He had no other meaning but was just a little perplexed.

Zhou Yuan ignored Liu Ming’s taunts and continued to sip his tea.

But Yi Qiushui suddenly smiled. She didn’t appear angry because of Zhou Yuan’s attitude. She instead bit her red lip and asked, “Brother Zhou Yuan, why don’t you name your price?”

Zhou Yuan suddenly put down the teacup and took out a piece of paper under many stunned gazes. There were numerous valuable materials written on it.

“Qiushui is so straightforward. If the Yi clan gives me these things, I’ll be your external assistance,” he said bluntly.

In the hall, the crowd fell into a long period of silence when they saw the list of materials that seemed to have been prepared long ago.

They didn’t know what strength Zhou Yuan possessed, but his shamelessness seemed to be extraordinary...