151: Chapter 151 Family Prestige Rises, Influence Expands

The magnificent events of yesterday still lingered in everyone's hearts. As the night receded and sunlight spilled before the Chen Family's mountain gate, a new day began.

The sun rose, its light shining on the plaza before the Chen Family's mountain gate. Five mechas stood there, their shells gleaming. The green patterns on them were still flickering, like marks left behind from last night's battle.

The ground was still slightly warm, and the air smelled of scorched earth. A few faint lines in the sky were left behind by the Flying Boats after they departed. Everyone said those were the marks carved out by experts when they left.

A thin young boy pointed at a crater in the ground with an excited face, saying, "Look, this must have been smashed out by a sword from a Golden Core powerhouse!"

The person next to him curled his lip. "Forget it. This was caused by the mecha's shoulder cannon overcharging when it landed, which blew up the buffering Formation. Engineer Lin said so."

"That's still awesome! If I could pilot a mecha, I wouldn't care if it blew up or not—I'd fire a shot first!"

The two began to argue, and others joined in the commotion.

Someone mimicked the way Chen Xiaodao drew his sword, raising a hand and shouting, "Vwoom—!"

Another immediately said, "Stop pretending! Do you know his left leg's meridians were all severed at the time? Being able to stabilize the mecha even then—that's true skill!"

As everyone was talking, the projection suddenly lit up. The screen displayed a replay of yesterday's battle.

Everyone fell silent, staring at that green light that pierced the night sky—Chen Xiaodao's final strike, where the five mechas fired together, broke the Formation, killed the enemy, and decided the victory in a single move.

"Do you think... the big Sects really won't dare to provoke us anymore?" a girl with a headscarf asked, squatting on the ground, her voice very soft.

The man beside her smiled, his eyes filled with both tears and pride. "It's not that they don't dare, it's that they don't want to. I heard the Three Great Sects even want to propose marriage Alliances and have already prepared the betrothal gifts. The Chamber of Commerce also cleared the debts from ten years ago, saying it was a gesture of sincerity."

"Really?" someone interrupted, not quite believing it.

"Who knows, but that's what everyone's saying." The man shrugged.

As soon as this was said, the crowd became lively. Someone slapped their leg and laughed. "It should have been like this long ago! Before, when we delivered Spiritual Ore to their doors, they ignored us. Now they know how to bow their heads?"

"Don't be too happy," an old man's voice came from the corner.

Everyone turned to look. The white-haired old man slowly stood up and placed his tea bowl on the stone steps without spilling a drop of water.

He looked at the group of young people and said, "A tall tree catches the wind. Just as we have become strong, don't forget the days three years ago when we were still eating tree bark in the cellar. Now that they greet us with smiles outside, they might just be testing us."

The atmosphere suddenly cooled down.

A youth abruptly looked up, his eyes burning with fire. "So what if they're testing us? We relied on ourselves to dig out the Spiritual Vein, build the mechas, and fight off the Insect Tide. Which step was gained by begging? They are afraid because we are faster than them!"

"Being fast doesn't mean being stable." The old man looked at him, his voice not loud, but each word carried weight. "You can use a mecha to blow up a mountain, but how do you manage people's hearts? How do you set the terms of a covenant? How do you distribute resources? For these things, having cannons alone is useless."

The youth's face flushed red, unable to say a single word.

At that moment, a person walked out of the Main Hall. He walked very steadily, and with every step he took, the Runic Bricks beneath his feet would glow. Chen Wuwang had arrived.

He walked to the stone tablet and took out a Jade Slip. With a light tap, seven messages floated in the air.

"Two groups of Loose Cultivators have proposed to join the Artifact Refining Workshop. They clearly stated they aren't here for refuge, but to learn technology. This is feasible, but a contract must be signed, and the results must be shared."

"The West Ridge mineral vein is open for cooperative exploration. We need to send an engineering team to inspect it, and they must be escorted by three mechas. Doing this isn't to guard against thieves, but to let everyone know we're here to cooperate, not to seize territory."

"The breeding data for the Medicinal Field can be shared. Old Lin has already organized the basic materials. It can be traded, but core varieties cannot be given away."

"The medicine workshops of two Sects want to share the Drying Formation. This is fine; we can rent it to them and charge based on Spiritual Qi to ensure fair trade."

On the last item, he paused for a moment, his voice lowering slightly. "We received an anonymous letter proposing the establishment of a mutual protection mechanism—if anyone makes a move, everyone revolts together. The letter wasn't signed, but based on the spiritual fluctuations, it comes from one of the Seven Sects of the North."

After he finished speaking, he put away the Jade Slip and looked at everyone. "Prestige isn't given by others; it's something we've built step by step. Now, it's our turn to decide where to go."

The crowd fell completely silent.

They were no longer a small Family that people looked down upon, but a power capable of influencing the situation.

But precisely because of this, the choices became harder.

"Family Head!" a young man stood out, his voice excited. "Since everyone wants to get close to us, why not integrate the surrounding small families? We can set the rules, collect tributes, and build an Alliance! Let the entire Eastern Region know that the Chen Family calls the shots!"

"No!" another person immediately objected, slapping the table as he stood up. "Expanding before our Foundation is stable is the same as putting ourselves over a fire! Do you think the big Sects will sit by and watch us swallow up power? Once they act, we'll be attacked from both inside and out, and we won't last three days! We should first build enough mechas and train more pilots before talking about the outside world!"

"Then how long do you plan to wait? Until others block all our paths?"

"At least until we are stronger than we are now!"

The argument began again, growing more and more heated.

Chen Wuwang did not stop them. He had someone bring over a stone tablet and used a charcoal pen to record the points.

Each branch took turns to speak: strengthening defense, expanding resources, raising status, cultivating talent, introducing technology, establishing covenants, guarding against counterattacks...

The seven suggestions—he recorded them all.

Then he picked up the charcoal pen, circled these seven points on the stone tablet, and wrote four words: 'Basic Consensus of the Alliance.'

"These things cannot be done by one person, nor can they be done by one small Family." His voice was steady yet clear. "But what if we do them together with those who are willing to change?"

He looked up, his gaze firm. "Tomorrow, we will convene a meeting of nearby friendly powers—not to beg them, but to talk about mutual benefit."

Once he said this, all the arguing stopped.

Not because of an order, but because they finally understood the direction.

It wasn't expansion, nor was it retreat; it was redefining their way of survival with the Chen Family as the center.

The crowd began to disperse, but no one went home.

The young people ran to the Artifact Refining Workshop to ask the technicians how the mecha repairs were going and when the parts could be replaced.

The middle-aged people were in the Communication Pavilion checking the attendee list, repeatedly confirming the identity of every envoy.

The elders sat together, discussing in low voices how to write the diplomatic protocols—"The etiquette must not be lacking, but the bottom line must be held."

Chen Wuwang stood on the steps of the Main Hall, holding the Jade Slip engraved with the meeting draft.

The wind blew his hair, and his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye reflected the sunlight, flashing with a hint of warmth.

A Clan Elder came over to report, "The list has been checked. Seven powers have confirmed their attendance, and they are all waiting for us to state our position."

He nodded but didn't speak.

In the distance, the youths were practicing their footwork on the plaza, their feet landing on the Runic Bricks with rhythmic, orderly steps.

They were learning the movements of the guard Formation; though clumsy, they had a surge of momentum.

A mecha slowly rose and hovered in mid-air, its green patterns flowing like an open eye.

He knew that the real test would begin tomorrow.

At this time, in a forest dozens of miles outside the mountain gate, a black-robed person put away a Shadow-Peeking Mirror and asked the person beside him in a low voice, "Are they really going to build an Alliance?"

"More than that," his companion sneered. "They are establishing rules—from now on, this land won't be ruled by whoever has the biggest fist, but by whoever masters the technology, whoever leads the cooperation, and whoever has the right to speak."

The black-robed person was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Do you think... we will be the ones invited, or the ones excluded?"

No one answered.

The wind blew through the treetops, and a leaf fell, gently pressing against the ground.

At the same time, deep within the northern snowfields, seven blue lamps lit up inside an ice cave. One of them faced south, trembling slightly.

On a lonely island in the East Sea, a one-armed old man put down a chess piece and looked at the sky, whispering softly, "The Chen Family... has finally awakened."

Morning light filled the mountain gate; a new day had begun.

It was not the end, but the beginning.