You Horizontal Alliance, Me Vertical Alliance

"May I ask what method?" Gongsun Miao asked.

"The Gongsun family is not the only family that doesn't want the Chen family to rise up."

Gongsun Mang revealed a meaningful smile. "The rise of the Chen family will definitely invade the interests of the surrounding families."

"Now that the Chen family has obtained another demon general, their combat strength has increased significantly. I'm afraid the other families can't sit still either."

"How about this? Go to the Feng and Liu families and discuss the marriage alliance. I don't think the Feng and Liu families will miss the opportunity to join forces to deal with the Chen family."

"At that time, the alliance of the three families will only need to wait for the effects of the offering to dissipate before they can destroy the Chen family."

At this point, a ferocious glint flashed across Gongsun Mang's eyes.

Destroying the Chen family was something that the two brothers had been thinking about day and night.

"Wonderful. Patriarch, I'll take action immediately." Gongsun Miao smiled and left in a hurry.

A few days later, the news of the marriage alliance between the Gongsun, Feng, and Liu families completely blew up Nanyang County.

All the forces, big and small, gathered their gazes here and kept thinking about what the three families wanted to do.

"What else can we do? Isn't it just targeting our Chen family? Hmph! Family Head, I suggest that we take the initiative to attack. We'll defeat one family first, and the other two families will naturally be obedient."

Chen Xuan smashed the mahogany chair and sat down. Then, he stood up and angrily asked Chen Yang for permission to fight.

"First Elder, calm down. Our Chen family needs time right now to digest the inheritance, how will we be able to figure out how to start a war with the other families."

Chen Yang waved his hand and gestured for a servant to bring another chair over. Then, he comforted Chen Xuan to sit down.

"Then tell us what to do, Family Head. We'll do as you say."

After calming down, Chen Xuan also understood that now was not the time to fight. He immediately looked at Chen Yang.

"The Gongsun, Feng, and Liu families have surrounded our Chen family, and the Endless Mountains are to the south."

"The Gongsun family's Horizontal Alliance is done very exquisitely."

Chen Yang recalled the Chen family's geographical location and could not help but admire this plan.

"Still, the plan isn't unbreakable."

A glint flashed across Chen Yang's eyes. Then, he stood up and pointed at the map hanging on the wall behind him.

"Look, our Chen family is to the south of the Feng family, and the Li family is to the north."

"If we form an alliance with the Li family and the north and south pressure the Feng family together, the Feng family will definitely not be able to take it."

"Moreover, the Liu family and the Feng family also have some competition for resources. I believe the Liu family is also very willing to see the Feng family suffer. At that time, this alliance will definitely collapse."

"Perhaps the Feng family will even turn towards our Chen family. Hmph! If the Gongsun family wants to use Horizontal Alliance to target us, then we'll use Vertical Alliance to crack it!"

The more Chen Yang explained his plan, the more confident he became.

Playing Vertical and Horizontal Alliance, he could not ask for more.

"In that case, First Elder… Sigh, what kind of expression is that?" Just as Chen Yang was about to arrange the alliance, he realized that the elders were looking at him strangely.

Suddenly, Chen Yang had a bad feeling. "The Li family has no conflict with our Chen family, right?"

"It's not a conflict. There are just some small gaps," Chen Xuan said.

Hearing this, Chen Yang heaved a sigh of relief. As long as there was no grudge.

It didn't matter if there were gaps. As long as there were enough benefits, any gaps could be smoothed.

Immediately, Chen Yang picked up his tea and took a sip. "What kind of gap?"

"It's nothing. Their Ancestor Xue has a conflict with our Patriarch," Chen Xuan said indifferently.

"Pfttt!"

Chen Yang spat out the tea in his mouth and looked at Chen Xuan in disbelief. "This is called a small gap?"

Chen Yang was floored. A conflict between the two Ancestors was no different from forming a death feud.

At the same time, Chen Yang was also a little puzzled. What was his Patriarch's zodiac? Why did he have a conflict with that Ancestor?

"It's not what you think. It's really a small conflict." Seeing that Chen Yang had misunderstood, Chen Xuan quickly explained.

"What exactly is the conflict?"

"Listen to me." Chen Xuan sorted out his thoughts and said, "When Ancestor Xue was young, she once had a crush on our Patriarch."

"The Patriarch also made a promise to Ancestor Xue at that time, but our Chen family was working hard to become a ninth-grade family at that time, and the Patriarch had no choice but to come back to oversee it, so they lost contact."

Chen Yang understood. So that was the case. The conflict was indeed not big. The two Ancestors had probably gotten over it.

However, seeing that Chen Xuan was still not finished, Chen Yang couldn't help but shiver. "Could there be more?"

"Naturally there will be a follow-up."

Oh no!

Chen Yang's heart skipped a beat. Whatever he was afraid of came true.

"Ancestor Xue is also a person who values relationships. After breaking through to the Genesis Realm, she quickly left the Beastmaster Sect and found our Patriarch to continue their relationship."

"But Family Head, you also know that in the entire Nanyang County, I've never heard of any Ancestor marrying into another family."

"Because of this, the ancestor rejected Ancestor Xue. As a result, there was some conflict between the two of you. Ancestor Xue swore to never see our ancestor again."

After hearing the story of the two ancestors, Chen Yang only had one thought in his mind. The ancestors were really sentimental people.

If it were anyone else, not only could they marry a beauty, but they could also accumulate strength for their family. They would have agreed happily long ago.

However, for the sake of Ancestor Xue's family, and at the same time, our Patriarch did not want Ancestor Xue to bear the reputation of being ungrateful and betraying the family. He reluctantly rejected Ancestor Xue.

Perhaps it was because of this that Ancestor Xue would fall in love with our Patriarch.

"I heard that the person guarding the Li family is this Ancestor Xue. This may be a little difficult." Chen Yang sighed.

"We have to give it a try even if it's difficult. After all, the Gongsun family has already taken action. If we don't retaliate, we'll be annexed by the Gongsun family sooner or later," Chen Xuan said.

"Sigh! In the end, it's because our Chen family isn't strong enough. If we had another Genesis Patriarch, this wouldn't be the outcome."

"Among the ten ninth-grade families in Nanyang County, only the Chen family has just one Genesis Patriarch. The other families have at least two Genesis Ancestors," Chen Yang said with a bitter smile.

As if seeing that Chen Yang was blaming himself, Chen Xuan comforted him. "Family Head, you've already done enough."

"In the end, it's because our family doesn't have enough resources."

"You have to know that in the Great Qian Dynasty, if you want to establish a ninth-grade family, you have to have two Genesis Ancestors."

"And because our Chen family's Patriarch's strength far exceeds others, an exception was made and we became a ninth-grade aristocratic family. However, in terms of family accumulation, we were far inferior to other aristocratic families."

Chen Xuan's words were true. The reason why the Chen family could become a ninth-grade family back then was because of the Chen family's Patriarch's punches.

On the day the Chen family was established, the Chen family's Patriarch fought four Genesis Ancestors alone. He was still not at a disadvantage and even had a slight advantage.

The Patriarch was so powerful that the Chen family won the honor of a ninth-grade aristocratic family, but they just did not have the corresponding foundation.