Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

The wealth of the Hou Clan is enormous, and even Hou Yuxiao, the Family Head, is not entirely clear on the extent of it, only Old Fifth is most acquainted with it. However, judging by the Hou Clan's rate of expansion over these short four years, one can imagine it's absolutely astonishing.

Setting aside the current revenue of the Hou Clan, just the fortune seized after they rounded up all influential forces in the Hexi Four Counties recently is a vast number, not to mention the tax revenues now controlled by the Hou Clan from the four counties, and the income from the Qinglong Association and the Escort Agency businesses, which have already expanded early on, are countless each year.

With the growth in wealth came a rapid expansion of the family's power. With the establishment of the Martial Registry in Hexi and the dissolution of dozens of influential forces, in less than a year, the number of Hou Family Warriors has skyrocketed to over five hundred thousand, and the number of troops in Baiye Camp has also increased from the previous one hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand.

When Hou Yuxiao returned from the north at the beginning of the year, Baiye Camp was composed of the Zhaoyang Army of one hundred and thirty thousand and the Red Flame Army of twenty thousand. In just ten months, the Zhaoyang Army increased by forty thousand, and the Red Flame Army expanded to thirty thousand.

The expansion of the numbers is secondary; it's mainly the unprecedented upgrade of the soldiers' weapons and war horses that matters.

The recent battle of Chishui County was a good test of the current level of the Red Flame Army. With such combat power, and with Old Fifth there, Hou Yuxiao could basically rest assured about the situation in the Prefectural City.

After the Shen Clan's army retreated, the Hou Clan took over Chishui County. In just a couple of days, the Martial Registry was implemented here. After all, it's just a county town with less than ten thousand martial artists. The only third-rate force offered hardly any resistance and obediently disbanded the day Hou Yucheng came knocking.

New Yu Era 1325, early December the eighth

Hou Yuxiao was meditating in the Chishui County Office when Hou Yucheng came rushing in excitedly. Seeing Hou Yuxiao open his eyes, he immediately said with great gusto, "Big brother, news has come back from Old Fifth!"

"Speak!"

"On the sixth, the Shen Clan's army attacked the Prefectural City from both the east and the west. The east was led by Shen Guyun with twenty thousand elite troops responsible for the assault, while Wan Renjue personally led three thousand elites from the Xiong Yun Gang to defend against the enemy; on the west, it was Shen Feitian leading an army of one hundred thousand to attack the city, assisted by three disciples of Master Yuan Kong from Leiyin Temple, Buyan, Buyu, and Buangry, among whom Buyan is a Second Rank Mystic Realm Master. The defense on our side was led by Wan Renfeng and Wan Renshan with a force of one hundred and fifty thousand."

"What was the outcome?"

"The Shen Clan is formidable, attacking on both flanks. Shen Guyun directly breached the city gates, twenty thousand cavalry overpowering the thirty thousand elite of the Xiong Yun Gang without any chance to fight back, and he personally killed Wan Renjue. The west also almost fell, but luckily Old Fifth came to the rescue just in time, or else the Prefectural City might have changed hands."

Hearing these two pieces of news, Hou Yuxiao was not the least bit surprised, except when he learned that Wan Renjue was killed, a faint gleam appeared in his eyes.

"Those eighteen thousand soldiers cobbled together by the Xiong Yun Gang were only about seven thousand strong, no match for the large army of the Shen Clan, not to mention the two thousand elite trained in the heavenly army's manual. What about Shen Feitian?"

"Hehe, Fourth Elder personally took care of him. After Old Fifth saved the west gate, he chased the remaining seventy thousand of the Shen Clan into the city, just in time to join forces with Shen Guyun's twenty thousand elite, pushing out nearly ninety thousand people from the Prefectural City with the regrouped forces of the Xiong Yun Gang. By now, Shen Guyun has probably already retreated to Jinling to regroup."

He also let go of those three monks from the Leiyin Temple."

"Good!"

"There's more. Just as big brother predicted, with Wan Renjue's death, Old Fifth gave a little push, and Wan Xingyun has already taken over as Gang Leader. Now we just have to wait for the news from Jinling. With the death of Shen Gufan and his son, without any surprises, Shen Guyun will also take the position of Head of the Shen Family, and with that..."

"The whole of Xingnan Prefecture will be ours!"

Hou Yuxiao stood up, gazing toward the direction of Jinling in the west, his expression commanding. Shen Guyun taking over as Head of the Shen Family was more certain than Wan Xingyun, with no chance of an accident. One controlled the area outside the Prefectural City including Jiujun and Yuzhao, and the other controlled Jinling, Yunxiang, and Yinling, but behind the scenes, both listened to him. With this, in effect, all five counties of Xingnan Prefecture now belonged to the Hou Clan.

"With the territory of two prefectures and nine counties, my Hou Clan has two hundred thousand troops, the Shen Clan has one hundred and twenty thousand, plus at least another one hundred and fifty thousand from the Xiong Yun Gang. This brings the strength under my Hou Clan's control to a total of four hundred and seventy thousand troops. Big brother, even if Leiyin Temple comes, we have the power to fight, right?"

Hearing Second Elder's summary, Hou Yuxiao did feel slightly uplifted, but his brows were still slightly furrowed, and he gently shook his head.

"You underestimate Leiyin Temple too much. The eleventh Holy Land, capable of standing toe to toe with the Rakshasa Holy Sect, the foremost of the Chan Sect, has been in Jizhou for over a thousand years alongside Qinjian Villa's Zhou Xuan. Any one of these facts is enough to demonstrate the power of Leiyin Temple. Without an army of five hundred thousand, dreaming of challenging Leiyin Temple is a fool's errand."

Hou Yucheng had an idea in his heart, and he uttered those words more to boost morale. Thus, he was not surprised by Hou Yuxiao's response and only solemnly said, "So what do we do? Although the specifics of Leiyin Temple's southward move are unknown, according to Old Fifth's message, since Yuan Kong's three disciples have already appeared in the Prefectural City, it is estimated that the people of Leiyin Temple are not far off. We must act sooner rather than later."