What exactly did Monkey Wine say to them to make these six family heads act so obediently and cooperatively?

Before a day had even passed, the Ten Families Ancestral Shrine had already been dismantled. The Zhou, Chen, Zhao, Sun, Zhu, and Li families each sent a younger generation member who had not yet crossed the bridge to retrieve a branch of incense from the ancestral shrine.

It wasn't that they were putting on airs, but rather that they had already crossed the bridge and were no longer human, so they could no longer carry the incense. They could only have their direct descendants who hadn't crossed the bridge do it.

Not only these six families, but even the esteemed Zhang family and the Undying Wang family also sent people back.

As for the Meng family, which no longer had descendants, a paper figure was used as a substitute to lead a branch of incense out of the city.

The Ten Families Ancestral Shrine, which had suppressed this world for twenty-three years, was torn down without hesitation. Now, only nine empty shells remained, along with the ancestral shrine that still housed its own incense.

An old man guarding the shrine was sweeping the dust in front of it, sighing slowly, "They've all left. What about you, Hu family?"

Hu Ma looked at him and said, "You said last night that you had something you wanted to tell me?"

The old man guarding the ancestral shrine nodded, leaned his broom against the wall, and walked with a stoop to the small hut where he usually lived.

He took out a pot of cold tea, invited Hu Ma to sit down, and said slowly, "Dongxuan is the most intelligent person I've ever met. His intelligence even surpasses his master, even the patriarch of their Da Luo Dharma Sect, but he's a bit too arrogant."

Hu Ma stared at him intently and suddenly asked, "Who are you?"

The Ten Families Ancestral Shrine was the foundation of the Stone Pavilion Alliance and the greatest benefit to the ten families. Someone guarding the shrine here would naturally not be ordinary.

In particular, the old man's attitude when he mentioned National Preceptor Dongxuan showed that his seniority was not low.

"I'm just someone with a very light fate."

The old man guarding the shrine gave a bitter smile and said, "People with light fates are easily forgotten, and it's difficult for them to be touched by magic, so they were chosen to guard the Ten Families Shrine here."

"Of course, people with light fates also have difficulty accomplishing great things. No matter what they want to do, their impact on the world will always be minimal. They can't change anything."

"But you, your fate is so heavy. You're born to do great things. Even if you don't want to, you'll be pushed onto the stage."

"..."

Hu Ma looked at him quietly and suddenly said, "You seem to know a lot about the National Preceptor and the ten families."

"After watching for more than twenty years, it's hard not to understand..."

The shrine's old man smiled wryly, "The ten families can certainly shamelessly say that they have done their best to prolong the life of this world for twenty years."

"But look at all the things they've done, one by one: sealing reincarnation, beheading Ren-Shan, sacrificing the Three Corpses, dismantling the Life Bridge, destroying the Ghost Gate. They've made this world riddled with holes, with smoke rising everywhere. It makes people want to clean it up, but where do you even start?"

Hu Ma kept staring at him intently and suddenly asked, "Since you know they've done so many things, do you know where their confidence lies?"

"Confidence comes from experience."

The old man guarding the shrine said, "Twenty years ago, Dongxuan's vision was higher than theirs, and his abilities were also greater. So, whatever Dongxuan said was what went. He invited them to the Stone Pavilion, made the alliance, invited them to divide up Du Yi's inheritance, and set the stage for immortality."

"For the ten families at the time, there was no reason not to agree!"

"Since there was no emperor in the world, they divided up the emperor's power. They got the benefits, but they didn't have to sit on that seat, so naturally they didn't have to worry about being seen by Tai Sui."

"So, although the ten families have never really been emperors, they have been emperors for twenty-three years. Even though they don't have to be seen by Tai Sui, as long as they've sat on the throne for even one day, many things are different."

"This was the biggest reason Dongxuan was able to convince them in the first place, but now, more than twenty years have passed, and many things have changed."

"..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma wasn't surprised at all. "So, the National Preceptor isn't actually the most capable person in the world now?"

The old man guarding the ancestral shrine heard this, shook his head slightly, and suddenly smiled, "Dongxuan naturally has great skills, a master of all arts. Within the ten families, if they were to truly fight him, I'm afraid none of the family heads would dare to say they were his opponent..."

"But the ten families haven't been idle either. They've seen a lot of things on their respective bridges."

"Speaking of which, Dongxuan's skills may not be weaker than anyone else, but each of the ten families has their own unique abilities that he can't suppress."

"For example, the Meng family can serve that old ancestor well, and they can also invite that old ancestor to possess them. Dongxuan can't deal with that. When the Meng family's old ancestor possesses them, he can only send the god away."

"And in the Shou Sui family, there's the Heaven and Earth Immovable Seal. When it's cast, the golden body is impenetrable, and all magic is ineffective. He can only wait on the sidelines."

"The other families hide themselves even deeper."

"Dongxuan doesn't even know what their true parent formula is now, so how can he dare to say that he can overpower the ten families?"

"Even in the simplest path of spells, it has already become this delicate situation, let alone others?"

"..."

Speaking of this, he sighed softly and said, "Dongxuan originally thought he was bound to win. He calculated everything twenty years ago."

"Now he has realized that not only was he tricked by the Hu family twenty years ago, but twenty years later, even the people he thought he had a firm grip on have long had their own ideas..."

"No matter how great his skills are, is he going to go to the doors of the ten families and make a scene like a shrew?"

"He can only leave, only accept his fate."

"But the ones who truly have ambition are the ten families..."

"..."

At this point, he paused slightly and looked intently at Hu Ma, saying, "Dongxuan only wants to become an immortal. This is the only way he can think of to win when facing Tai Sui. Winning this battle is more important than becoming an immortal itself."

"But some people truly want to become immortals."

"They didn't intervene this time, partly because the White Jade City isn't what they want, and also because they themselves have seen some things from their respective bridges and have greater ambitions."

"Rather than being controlled by a roadblock and having to listen to Dongxuan, they would rather break through the roadblock, step into the Land of Homecoming, and achieve true freedom."

"..."

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

He tilted his head slightly and looked at the old man guarding the ancestral shrine, his eyes now openly revealing his inquisitiveness.

The old man guarding the ancestral shrine also looked at him and said in a low voice, "I'm just reminding you that compared to the ability to carry something on their backs, the ten families' ability to avoid trouble is the greatest."

"The Stone Pavilion Alliance has been the biggest trouble in this world from the day it was established."

"Although the Stone Pavilion Alliance has now become a joke, once something that can make the ten families wary of each other leaves its mark, it's not so easy to erase..."

"..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma also became serious. "What exactly was left in the Stone Pavilion?"

"A human skin bill."

The old man guarding the ancestral shrine didn't hesitate and revealed everything: "The rules written on the human skin peeled from the emperor's body are the foundation of the Stone Pavilion Alliance."

"The emperor's skin?"

Hu Ma's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately felt a little unbelievable. "Isn't that skin in the hands of the Meng family?"

It was not only in the hands of the Meng family, but it had even been smashed by him. And judging from the feel at the time... it was indeed from the emperor's family.

"If you don't make the Meng family really believe it, how would they be willing to act as ghosts and carry that strange thing from the depths of the Yin Mansion that can bring such bad luck that it wipes out families?"

The old man guarding the ancestral shrine gave a cold laugh and said, "That skin is indeed from the royal family, but it belonged to the crown prince, and it was personally peeled off by the National Preceptor and several others and given to the Meng family."

"The real emperor's skin has always been hidden in the Stone Pavilion."

"After all, for Tai Sui, it can be said to be its account book..."

Hu Ma's expression became slightly serious. This was indeed something that the National Preceptor had never mentioned, and the other six families had also tacitly remained silent about. For a moment, he didn't know what use it had, but he couldn't possibly be indifferent to it.

"Just keep it in mind, and don't worry about it too much. After all, your Hu family ancestors knew about the existence of that skin, but they still chose this path."

After the old man guarding the ancestral shrine reminded him, he sighed softly, waved his hand, and said, "Since you've chosen this path, then do what you need to do. There's no need to rush to move the Hu family's incense. I'll take care of it here."

"Just focus on what you need to do. I also want to see the path that your Hu family has gambled on, on behalf of the dead."

"..."

After hearing what he said, Hu Ma realized it, turned his head to look, and saw that the sky was already close to dusk. The whole city was silent, but he didn't know when it had started. Suddenly, in this prosperous and unnaturally lively Shangjing City, there were all kinds of hardships and illnesses.

Some people were walking on the road when suddenly their flesh and blood slowly peeled off. Others, who had been strong and healthy, suddenly fell to the ground, their cries of pain never ceasing.

A heavy mist rose from Shangjing City, vaguely covered with a layer of purple aura.

In the past, although Shangjing City had all kinds of evils, it had vaguely reached a delicate balance. But now, as the incense of the ten families was removed from Shangjing, the purple aura in Shangjing City began to dissipate uncontrollably.

As the purple aura dissipated, Shangjing City, which was supported by the purple aura, seemed like a beauty being stripped of her painted skin, and began to reveal its skeletal appearance.

Even in the Wang family's pharmacy, the door sealing the flesh and blood pill furnace was suddenly shattered, and blood-colored tentacles stretched out, like fierce ghosts from the Nine Hells, groping for something in the human world.

The people in the city also became indifferent at this time, each of them seeming to be much taller, their feet uncontrollably lifting up little by little.

They only used the tips of their toes to touch the ground, as if floating, indifferently wandering around on the streets.

At the same time, the street-cleaning drum suddenly sounded.

The sound of "dong, dong" seemed to carry some kind of mysterious magic, returning the city to an eerie silence.

Hu Ma got up and left the ancestral shrine. Looking back, he saw the old man had picked up his broom and was slowly sweeping the floor. Gradually, a hazy green mist rose up, protecting the small shrine within it.

The demonic mist was layered upon layer, making people feel uncomfortable.

Hu Ma sighed deeply, stepped out, and walked straight down the mountain. The reincarnators were already waiting for him. Everything was ready. This Dharma assembly should begin!

(End of chapter)