The crowd followed Du Er and stepped into the gates of the Zhou Family.

Once inside the Zhou Family's mansion, Zhu Bufan truly realized the meaning of "high walls and a large mansion". Following behind Du Er, they twisted and turned, passing through pavilions and courtyards, turning this way and that, making even Zhu Bufan feel dizzy and unable to tell north from south.

Along the way, Zhu Bufan and the others were captivated by the various decorations in the courtyard, which were luxurious yet elegant, solemn but not dull.

All the while, Du Er kept talking, enthusiastically explaining the layout of the Zhou Family mansion.

"The Zhou Mansion covers an extremely large area, exceeding a hundred miles, with countless rooms. These are divided into suites, superior rooms, middle rooms, lower rooms, and inferior rooms according to the status of their owners and the privileges they enjoy! The suites are the most luxurious, each an independent courtyard with all amenities, incredibly extravagant. Living in one grants many privileges!"

"Sigh, what's the use? People like us, who are from a collateral line, what qualifications do we have to live in such luxurious independent courtyards?" Upon hearing this, many couldn't help but sneer.

"Haha, you're mistaken! Whether you can live in the best room is not based on the purity of your bloodline, but... strength! If your strength is sufficient to meet certain requirements, you can receive corresponding benefits!" Du Er said logically. "Ladies and gentlemen, here, everything depends on strength. As long as you have enough strength, in the Zhou Family, whatever you want, you can have it! You might not know, but the competition within the Zhou Mansion is fiercer than you imagine. All young children in the Zhou Family, including those from the main family, collateral lines, and even the descendants of servants, are separated from their parents at ten years old, living alone in inferior rooms, and that's when the competition begins." At this critical point, Du Er paused.

"What competition? Tell us quickly!"

"Yes, hurry up and tell us, stop keeping us in suspense!"

Everyone anxiously questioned him, even Zhu Bufan narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Du Er.

"Cough, cough..." Du Er coughed twice before continuing, "Challenges, stage by stage challenges, inferior rooms challenge lower rooms, lower rooms challenge middle rooms, and so on. As long as you are strong enough, even a servant's descendant can live in the highest-grade suite."

Upon hearing this, the youths from Nanli City had their eyes blazing with fire, their fighting spirit fully ignited in an instant.

Du Er glanced at the crowd, capturing their expressions, and seeing those young men and women become enthusiastic fighters because of his words, he couldn't help but feel a touch of pride.

However, Zhu Bufan's face didn't show a hint of fluctuation. He had already deeply understood this principle! Simultaneously, Zhu Bufan coldly snorted to himself, "Servant? Hmph, without good cultivation methods, proper guidance, or cultivation conditions, how many servant descendants can surpass the young masters and misses in the sky? It's too unrealistic!"

Noticing Zhu Bufan's unchanged expression, Du Er paused slightly, marveling at Zhu Bufan's maturity of mind, unaffected by his provocation.

Along the way, Zhu Bufan and the others encountered many groups of handmaidens and guards. These newcomers didn't interest them much; they merely whispered among themselves and continued with their tasks.

"Now, I will take you to the location of the inferior rooms. The other collateral families have arrived there already, and you will be arranged there as well."

Training Ground

The Zhou Family training ground spans dozens of acres, divided into several areas. Besides open space, there are countless training equipment, various weapons, stone mortars, stone locks, sandbags, and more.

Although it was already afternoon, the training ground was bustling, with the sound of strong winds occasionally echoing through the area.

The most attention-grabbing area was the eastern section, where at the periphery was a group of martial artists dressed in black armor. Though there were only a dozen or so, they were practicing some eerie formation. Their spears seemed alive, thrusting, stabbing, chopping... This was secondary; most frightening was their coordination.

Watching their practice, a scene unfolded in Zhu Bufan's mind - the very formation the group practiced now, with fierce killing intent and gale-like sharp winds emanating from the blade edges.

"If it were me, how would I withstand it?" Zhu Bufan couldn't help but wonder silently.

Just as Zhu Bufan had this thought, a cloud of mist abruptly rose, appearing within the formation of those few men.

Zhu Bufan focused his gaze and found that the person in the arena was himself.

Yet, in an instant, this phantom formed from blue mist was scattered by the surrounding whirlwind and spear shadows. As Zhu Bufan felt a shift in his thoughts, another phantom formed of mist appeared again.

This time, however, as soon as Zhu Bufan's thought shifted, the phantom began to resist according to his intent. Zhu Bufan was surprised to find that the mist-formed phantom not only possessed all the abilities of Zhu Bufan but moved with incredible speed, fluidity, and without the slightest hindrance, flowing like clouds and water, allowing the phantom to exert three hundred percent of Zhu Bufan's power.

Even so, under the combined attack of these several Eighth Rank martial artists, Zhu Bufan couldn't withstand more than ten moves before being harshly scattered again. Just as Zhu Bufan intended to regroup his thoughts, he felt a light tug on his body.

"Young Master Feng... Young Master Feng..." Du Er looked at Zhu Bufan, seeing his eyes burning brightly, staring fixedly at the practicing Black Armored Guards. Du Er couldn't help but secretly laugh, "Heh heh, surely a country bumpkin who's never seen the world!"

"Hmm!" Snapping back to reality, interrupted by Du Er, Zhu Bufan felt a sense of unfulfilled regret. But now was not the time for distraction.

Sensing Zhu Bufan's interest in the Black Armored Guards, Du Er smiled slightly and said, "These Black Armored Guards are one of the Zhou Family's three great Iron Guards, but they rank last!"

Although Du Er's voice was low, the elder in plain clothes, instructing the Black Armored Guards nearby, seemed to hear it. He suddenly turned his head, and his eyes shot straight at Du Er, like two sharp arrows piercing the heart.

Even Zhu Bufan felt this person's gaze was like a flaming torch, with an intense killing aura. The bit of killing intent on the bald scarred head from before was nothing compared to a thousandth of this person's. Zhu Bufan glanced over and felt the hairs on his body stand on end, his heart suddenly tightening.

Under the elder's gaze, Du Er, who was only a Third Rank martial artist, couldn't withstand it. His heart trembled, his legs softened and nearly gave way, and he quickly lowered his head, daring not to meet the elder's eyes again, dragging Zhu Bufan away quickly.

"That was close, almost offended him!" It was not until they were a good distance away that Du Er patted his chest, calming himself.

"Du Er, who is this person? How can he have such terrifying killing intent?" Zhu Bufan asked quietly.

"That old man is an extraordinary figure. He is the instructor of the Black Armored Guards, specializing in training them for the Zhou Family! His status is incredibly high, akin to a guest elder of the Zhou Family! It's said that in his younger days, he was a general who killed countless enemies, hence the heavy killing aura," Du Er explained in a low voice, not forgetting to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

"What about the three great Iron Guards?" Zhu Bufan continued to ask. According to the information obtained from Zi Yu, although the three great Iron Guards of the Zhou Family were mentioned, the details were not thorough, just briefly touched upon.

"The Zhou Family's three great Iron Guards are ranked as the Blood Armor Guard, Silver Armor Guard, and lastly the Iron Armor Guard. Among them, the Blood Armor Guard is the most mysterious, directly controlled by the Family Head. The Silver Armor Guard is in the hands of Young Master Xiaotian, while the Black Armor Guard is jointly controlled by the Elder of Punishment and Elder of Transmission!" Du Er explained.

"Who is Zhou Xiaotian, to have control over the Silver Armor Guard?" Zhu Bufan was shocked, showing a curious expression on his face.

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