"Chengcheng's House of Paradise is still so crowded after three days." Zhou Ziyun commented as she looked out of the window.
She was situated on the top floor of the building directly opposite the House of Paradise. It was one of the many properties belonging to the Zhou Clan. The bottom floors were filled with high-end shops while the top floors served as a private residence of the clan. Her office just happened to overlook the House of Paradise next door.
Lin Qingcheng was her dear sister. They were very close and spent a lot of time together. But they retained their strong competitive spirit from the first day they met. Zhou Ziyun was the smarter one and worked harder. Her sister had great natural talent and a strange but overpowered physique.
They had bet on who would first reach the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm. Zhou Ziyun had won that one. Her reward was a wonderful game in the hot spring together with her master and Chengcheng. It had been an amazing night, teasing Chengcheng until she couldn't bear it anymore.
Afterward, they made another bet on who would reach the Lesser Realm of Spiritual Growth first. Of course, Zhou Ziyun wanted to win this one as well.
"I didn't think she could keep going. How many preliminary disciples have they accepted so far?" She asked.
Zhou Lai, who was standing at the large desk that was covered in books and notes, coughed and answered, "Reporting to clan head, they have accepted eleven in the last three days."
"Hmm, that's a lot less than I was expecting. Looks like Chengcheng will be occupied with this for many more days. What about the others?" She asked.
"Reporting to clan head, these days, third disciple Wu Qianyu has taken up residence within the House of Paradise. Her nominal disciple, Nalan Wan'er, is with her."
"Hmm, have they gone back to Blackrock City since that incident?"
"No, clan head."
"Speaking of which, who did you choose as the replacement for governor?"
"…" Zhou Lai's face flashed with a pained expression before he recovered, "My youngest son, Zhou Wangliang. My oldest, Zhou Wanli, and his sons have disappointed clan head too many times. I swear, Zhou Wangliang won't let you down. He is far more clever and reliable."
Zhou Wanli's two sons were Zhou Guanyu and Zhou Guanming, the first and second governors of Blackrock City respectively. They had both caused problems for the sect and the clan. They were currently not given any important tasks to keep them out of trouble.
"Zhou Lai, do you think I should have done more for them? After all, they are my cousins."
Zhou Lai quickly bowed, his body trembling, "I dare not ask the clan head to do such a thing. Guanyu and Guanming were muddleheaded and made poor decisions. They offended the immortal lord's first disciple and third disciple. It was lucky that they managed to keep their heads."
"Fine, let's drop the subject. They can stay home for a few years to reflect. Then, they can get back to managing some smaller businesses. The Zhou Clan is still small. I won't be cruel to our people."
"Thank you, clan head. Thank you!"
Zhou Ziyun waved her hand, emphasizing that she didn't want to talk about that anymore, "Anyway, I know that the ice sisters are cultivating at the Great Smoky Mountains and that Bei Yingluo is at Drifting Sand City for her Bei Clan at the moment. Anything to report about the others?"
"Nothing to report on First Elder Jasmine. Nothing to report for the tenth disciple Long Yifei. A reminder for clan head, there are less than two months until the end-of-term festivities and examinations."
Zhou Ziyun nodded, "I know."
Zhou Lai continued, "There is recent news about the twelfth disciple Peng Lingxi. There is a huge dust storm across the Great Hui Desert so she has returned to sect. She is also residing in the House of Paradise at the moment."
"Oh, seems like everyone's here. I will have to find time to stop by." Zhou Ziyun mused out loud.
She still didn't know too much about Peng Lingxi and wanted to understand her. The only thing clear to everyone was that Peng Lingxi knew their master when he was a mortal. What was even more astonishing was that she had fallen in love with him at first sight and had held those feelings for all these years!
Zhou Ziyun wasn't jealous. If anything, she was impressed. A straightforward and devoted person like Peng Lingxi was great to have as a friend and terrible to have as an enemy.
After this, Zhou Lai continued speaking, giving reports on various matters of the sect and of the Zhou Clan. He reported on the actions of each of the elders until his voice was hoarse.
"Alright, everything is fine. Tell the elders to continue their good work. As for the additional migrants flowing into the city, have Zhou Weizi organize more patrols for the city guards."
Zhou Weizi was one of the elders of the clan and the one with the highest cultivation besides herself. He had improved greatly in the past three years and was now at the 8th Level of the Spirit Initiate Realm. He was the governor of Thousand Flower City, perhaps the most important position that any elder could hold at the moment.
"Yes, clan head. I will pass the word." Zhou Lai said.
Zhou Ziyun waved her hand. Zhou Lai bowed and retreated out of the room before closing the door. Once it was silent, Zhou Ziyun stayed out of the window for a long time, contemplating various matters. She only stopped when a strange insect appeared out of nowhere and started buzzing around her head.
It was a fat bee the size of her thumb covered entirely in black fuzz. It was a void bee.
The creature landed on her desk and started performing an intricate dance, crawling on the wooden surface in circles, going here and there. This was not the normal void bee dance but a special one known by special bees. They had been specially trained by the void bee queen using the human intelligence it had gained as a part of Chen Wentian's soul realm. This allowed certain people like Zhou Ziyun to understand the special code.
What the void bee reported was worrying. Several mysterious groups had arrived in the past months and weeks in Thousand Flower City. One of them was masquerading as a restaurant. Another was using a medicinal herb shop as a front. More had slipped in while pretending to be affiliated with various insignificant mortal organizations.
Were they other Spirit Lord Realm sects? Or were they sent by other Spirit King Realm sects? The worst possibility was that they were sent by their enemies in the Martial Brilliance Continent, including the Yang Clan of Great Waves.
She sighed. So many eyes were on their little sect. It made her feel suffocated.
"Oh, an interesting person?" Zhou Ziyun muttered, "Has been traveling around the city… and likes to take notes in public… are they stupid or are they trying to play a trick on us? It doesn't matter, nothing can escape our nets."
She had confidence in her master. He had Chen Mo's shadow anchors. He had the void bee queen and several hives of void bees. It didn't matter how many people their opponents sent; they were unable to hide, not in this city.
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