By the time Zhou Ping rushed back home, the government officials had already departed, but he found two unexpected figures waiting in the main hall.

"Uncle Sun, Uncle Wang, what brings you both here?"

The visitors were the patriarchs of the other two major households in Baixi Village, the Wang and Sun clans.

The Wang patriarch was a portly elder, while the Sun patriarch bore a deceptively kindly countenance. Since both families had kinsmen serving as functionaries in the county seat and heavily relied on one another, their bond was the closest among the village's four great houses.

Zhou Hong sat in the hall as well, exchanging quick glances with Zhou Ping to signal that he had no idea what these two old foxes wanted.

As for Zhou Minghu, he had been ushered into the rear courtyard the moment he crossed the threshold. He was the Zhou family's second immortal master and the future pillar of the clan; his status absolutely could not be exposed to outsiders.

"We came today to reveal a certain matter to your house, and to hear what your family plans to do about it," the Wang patriarch said, his expression grave.

"May I ask what matter Uncle Wang refers to?" Zhou Ping replied, feigning bewilderment. What could possibly compel two clan leaders to arrive in tandem with such solemnity?

"The Liu family likely has an immortal master!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the Zhou brothers' pupils contracted, and a flash of simulated panic crossed their faces.

"How could the Liu family suddenly produce an immortal master?" Zhou Hong cried out, staring at the two elders in stunned disbelief.

In truth, his mind was racing. If the Liu family truly had a cultivator, how had these two found out?

Moreover, by bringing this news to the Zhou family, they clearly intended to drag them into a coalition against the Lius. Now that the secret was out, whether the Zhou family participated or not, they were irrevocably entangled.

Should the Liu family catch wind that the other houses were plotting against them, the Wang and Sun clans could easily shift the blame onto the Zhous.

'They are forcing us onto a sinking ship,' Zhou Ping thought, a surge of annoyance rising within him.

He shouldn't have listened to their preamble. His family only needed to develop in obscurity for a dozen years until Minghu attained sufficient cultivation. At that point, they would naturally suppress all petty troublemakers without taking such reckless risks.

But since the Wang and Sun patriarchs had already laid the cards on the table, he had no choice but to play along.

As for informing the Liu family to curry favor? That was out of the question. Even leaving aside whether the Lius would believe him, sitting idly by while a rival house grew powerful was a recipe for disaster.

After all, progress in the Spirit Awakening Realm was remarkably swift. No matter how poor one's spiritual roots were, a decade of cultivation could bring a person to Zhou Ping's current level. If the individual possessed exceptional talent, they might even catch up within a year or two.

Minghu's aptitude was mediocre, and his growth would require time. They had no way of knowing the potential of the Liu family's hidden cultivator.

Yet, for the Liu family to confirm someone possessed spiritual roots within a few short months-without any proper testing methods or prior knowledge of the Dao-meant that individual's affinity for the elements must be extraordinary. Otherwise, they could never have sensed the Spiritual Qi so rapidly.

Zhou Ping locked eyes with the Wang patriarch and asked slowly, "Uncle Wang, how did your houses come by this information?"

The portly elder smiled faintly. "Your house established itself late, so you haven't yet dealt with the standard rot that plagues larger clans."

"In the future, you will understand. When a clan grows massive and the lineage multiplies, it invariably produces parasites and loose-lipped fools. Liu Quan may be shrewd, but he cannot guard against human nature and gossiping tongues."

Zhou Ping remained silent, but he took the meaning. Someone within the Liu clan had let a few words slip.

He silently deduced that Liu Xiu had likely smuggled a cultivation manual from the military, or perhaps Liu Ming had found a channel within the prefectural city. Deprived of a proper testing formation, the Liu clan could only have their youths blindly attempt to sense the Spiritual Qi to weed out those with talent.

However, the more people involved in such an endeavor, the greater the likelihood of exposure.

In a settlement as small as this village, a single muttered complaint or careless boast could easily draw the attention of a vigilant observer.

The Sun patriarch stepped forward, his voice dropping. "Look at how the Liu family conducts themselves these days-always cloaked in secrecy, with guards posted throughout their estate in the dead of night. There is undoubtedly a massive secret hidden within their walls. Does your house truly intend to sit on its hands?"

Zhou Ping lowered his gaze, contemplating the two old foxes. They had approached his family because they wanted to eradicate the Liu clan and seize the cultivation technique for themselves. Given the Zhou family's current modest standing, these elders likely believed the Zhous would pose no threat to them in the short term.

"Uncle Wang, Uncle Sun, what are your intentions?" Zhou Ping inquired after a long silence. "If the Liu family truly harbors a cultivator, what do you propose we do?"

The two elders exchanged a chilling look before turning back to the Zhou brothers. A single, ruthless word cut through the air.

"Kill."

Though Zhou Ping had already anticipated their answer, a phantom tremor still stirred his heart.

He had risen to power because he already possessed cultivation, and the other houses were loath to sacrifice dozens of mortal lives to hunt him down. Furthermore, the Zhou family lacked numbers, so the other clans had chosen to tolerate their ascent.

In their calculations, once Zhou Ping reached the end of his lifespan, the Zhou family would have few descendants to carry on the legacy. Under their collective suppression, the family would naturally wither away.

As for the Zhou family producing a second immortal master? The odds were virtually non-existent in their eyes. After all, the county town was teeming with the progeny of immortal masters, yet rare was the child who inherited a fate for cultivation.

But the Liu clan was a different matter entirely. They were already a populous and wealthy house; if they secured an immortal master of their own, the balance of power in Baixi Village would be utterly shattered.

Thus, the most logical recourse was to eliminate the Liu family's cultivator before he could mature.

A dead prodigy was no threat at all.

Zhou Ping's lips parted, his gaze turning dark. "How do we execute this? Do we target only the cultivator, or do we eradicate the entire Liu lineage?"

"Perhaps... we could merely force the cultivator to take his own life," the Wang patriarch murmured, a trace of hesitation softening his voice.

No matter how ruthlessly he squeezed the local peasantry, he was still a son of the soil who had grown up alongside Liu Quan. Ordering the slaughter of dozens of souls from a familiar clan gave him pause.

"Then we might as well drop the matter entirely," Zhou Ping remarked, immediately taking the opportunity to sit back down. If they abandoned the plot here, it would suit his purposes perfectly.

"Old Wang!" the Sun patriarch barked, his face twisting in anger. "This is no time for womanly compassion! In this business, you either pull the roots entirely or you do not strike at all! If you merely force one man to his grave, do you expect to sleep soundly in the years to come?"

He knew that if they only eliminated the cultivator, they would forge an irreconcilable blood feud with the Liu clan that would endure for generations. Only by wiping them out down to the last soul could they guarantee peace for their descendants. Furthermore, their ultimate objective was the cultivation manual; did Wang truly believe the Liu family would hand over their heritage out of gratitude for a partial slaughter?

"I have kinsmen serving in the military ranks, and I have made discreet inquiries," the Sun patriarch whispered darkly. "Aside from Liu Xiu, the other youths the Liu family sent to the army perished long ago."

"The rumor that Liu Wu is highly favored in the ranks is nothing but a fiction cooked up by the Lius to intimidate us."

Zhou Ping's heart sank to the depths. He knew there was no avoiding the coming storm, yet he pressed one last time. "Are Uncle Sun's words absolute?"

The Sun patriarch's expression grew fiercely rigid as he swore a vow. "If I speak falsely, may my Sun lineage be utterly extinguished from this earth!"

Zhou Ping stared deeply into the old man's eyes for several breaths before turning his gaze toward the Wang patriarch.

"Uncle Wang, where do you stand?"

The portly elder's face contorted with bitter reluctance before hardening into venomous resolve. "We kill them all. Not a single soul is to be spared!"

Zhou Ping let out a soft sigh. With a subtle flick of his fingers, he channeled a thread of Spiritual Qi, silently dragging three heavy wooden chairs across the floor until they formed a tight circle. "Uncle Sun, Uncle Wang, since the matter is decided, please sit. We shall deliberate on this slowly."

This simple display was merely the lowliest form of the Artifact Control Skill, but he utilized it now to plant a seed of awe and terror in the minds of the two elders.

As expected, the manifestation of immortal arts thoroughly startled the two old men. It simultaneously reinforced their conviction to destroy the Liu clan and deepened their dread of the Zhou family's hidden depths.

The three gathered in a tight huddle, whispering their stratagems in hushed tones. Meanwhile, Zhou Hong remained seated at a distance, his mind occupied by far darker projections.

If the Wang and Sun houses could force the Zhou family into a bloody alliance to destroy the Lius today, what was to stop them from turning on the Zhous tomorrow?

How could he be certain this entire affair wasn't a elaborate trap designed to lure his brother into an ambush, leaving their family foundation ripe for the picking?

A wave of anxious irritation washed over Zhou Hong. He turned to call for a servant to bring tea, only to remember that he had ordered all the attendants to the rear estate before the guests arrived.

Before long, the three men finalized the finer details of the campaign.

To ensure the total annihilation of the Liu clan, they selected a date six days from now, during the height of the spring plowing. At that time, regardless of how vigilant the Lius tried to be, their clansmen would be forced to labor in the fields. By nightfall, they would be bone-weary, their senses dulled by exhaustion.

When the hour passed midnight, the Wang and Sun families would each deploy twelve hardened men, while the Zhou family would send Zhou Ping alone. Together, they would put the entire Liu lineage to the sword under the cover of darkness.

Once the two patriarchs departed, Zhou Hong stepped forward, his brow furrowed with deep anxiety. "Brother, could this truly be a snare set by those houses to destroy us?"

Zhou Ping let out a weary sigh. "It is highly possible, but we have no path of retreat."

He was acutely aware of the danger, but the moment the two elders disclosed the secret, the trap had already sprung. Staying neutral would be the height of folly, while warning the Liu family and allowing them to prosper was equally suicidal.

Their only recourse was to establish countermeasures beforehand, ensuring that the remaining houses would be too terrified to move against the Zhou family after the dust settled.

Zhou Ping turned to his brother. "Where is Changhe?"

"In the rear courtyard."

Zhou Ping walked directly to the back of the estate, where he found Zhou Changhe amusedly watching over young Zhou Chang'an. Pulling his nephew aside, Zhou Ping spoke in a tone of absolute gravity. "Changhe, pack your belongings immediately. I am escorting you and Minghu to the county town within the hour. Unless you receive an explicit message from my hand, you are never to return to this village."

"Uncle, what has happened?" Zhou Changhe asked, his confusion turning to alarm.

Zhou Hong, who had followed closely behind, calmly explained the grim reality to his eldest son. The young man's brow knitted tightly as he looked at the two elders with profound sorrow.

He understood completely. Zhou Ping was sending him and the family's young prodigy away to preserve their bloodline. If the other houses truly intended to betray them, the Zhou family's incense would not be extinguished, and there would still be someone left to exact vengeance in the future.

Zhou Ping drew a pouch containing one hundred taels of silver from his robes and pressed it firmly into Zhou Changhe's palm, his voice heavy with emotion. "Remember this well: once you reach the county town, trust no one. Minghu possesses a fate for immortality, and you are steady and mature beyond your years. If we meet with disaster here, take Minghu east to seek out the Pingyun Huang Clan, or find refuge within another cultivation house. Whatever happens, you must survive..."

Turning back to his older brother, Zhou Ping added, "Brother, in two days' time, have your wife take Changxi back to the Lin Family Village under the guise of visiting relatives. Tell her to remain there for an extended period."

"Once this matter is concluded, if I am fortunate enough to survive, I will not linger in the village. Only when I am absent will those two houses hesitate to act against our home."

As the old adage went, a wily rabbit maintains three burrows. Zhou Ping was desperate to leave his family a thread of hope. Were it not for the fact that Chang'an was too tender in years, his parents too frail to travel, and Nianqiu heavy with child, he would have emptied the entire estate.

Yet he also knew that if too many people vanished at once, it would sound the alarm.

Zhou Changhe was a registered scholar in the county town, so his departure would raise no eyebrows, and a daughter-in-law returning to her maternal home was standard practice. But if any more members of the Zhou house fled, even a blind man would see through the ruse.

"I understand," Zhou Hong replied, his heart weighing like lead. "Brother, you must exercise the utmost vigilance and husband your strength. Do not fall into the traps of those treacherous dogs. As long as you draw breath, even if the rest of us perish, our house can still be avenged."

Zhou Changhe quickly gathered his pack, bowed low to bid farewell to his mother and grandparents, and led Zhou Minghu out through the rear exits under Zhou Ping's guard. Behind them, Madam Lin and Madam Huang watched their departure with tearful reluctance, entirely oblivious to the dark undercurrents driving the sudden journey.

Only Chen Nianqiu, staring at the retreating figure of Zhou Minghu until he vanished from sight, puckered her brow. Though Zhou Ping claimed the boy was merely going to the county seat to broaden his horizons, a mother's intuition whispered that something was terribly amiss.

Meanwhile, within the grand compound of the Sun estate, the patriarch listened to his scout's report, a look of profound disappointment settling over his features.

In truth, he had caught wind of the Liu family's potential cultivator half a month ago. He had intentionally delayed revealing it until today because Zhou Changhe had only returned to the village two days prior.

With Changhe's return, all ten members of the Zhou core lineage, along with their three maids and four servants, were finally gathered in one place.

His original design was to use the chaos of the Liu clan's massacre to slaughter the Zhou family simultaneously. With both rivals eliminated, Baixi Village would belong entirely to the Wang and Sun houses. Armed with the seized cultivation manual, they could screen their own descendants for spiritual roots, ensuring an era of unprecedented glory.

Yet Zhou Ping had personally escorted Zhou Changhe and the young boy away, while ordering Madam Lin to depart with her child, effectively shattering the perfect trap.

'No matter,' the Sun patriarch thought, his gaze turning icy as he stared out at the distant horizon.

As long as they thoroughly eradicated the Liu clan and secured the immortal cultivation manual, the primary objective would be achieved. And if Zhou Ping happened to perish during the bloody work on that night of annihilation, it would be an even better outcome.