The three walked to the entrance of the Qin Clan Manor.

The moment they took their first step, several burly men appeared and surrounded the three of them.

"Ouyang Jie! Don't go too far!" Xia Tong's eyes were icy as she looked at the middle-aged man in the green robe who had appeared before her, and she shouted angrily.

Seeing Xia Tong's angry expression, Ouyang Jie showed no fear. Instead, he smiled and stepped forward, saying in a rogue-like manner, "My uncle has already given the order that no one in this Qin Clan Manor may enter or leave."

"Oh? It seems the Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group is determined to be an enemy of my Wanbao Pavilion!" Xia Tong was not afraid and directly brought up Wanbao Pavilion.

"Manager Xia, you're too kind. How could my Iron Blood Mercenary Group be an enemy of Wanbao Pavilion? However, you, Xia Tong, do not represent Wanbao Pavilion!" Ouyang Jie said with a light laugh.

"Get out of the way!" Xia Tong shouted angrily, and then a purple fox's figure swept past behind her.

The sudden burst of power from the fifth level of the Qi Sea Realm caused the Iron Blood Mercenary Group members surrounding them to be forced to retreat repeatedly.

"Deacon Xia Tong, please don't be impatient." Feeling the overwhelming aura emanating from Xia Tong in front of him, Ouyang Jie chuckled as if he had achieved his goal, "With your abilities, Xia Tong, you are probably no match for me."

With a cold gaze, Ouyang Jie unleashed his power as a seventh-level Qi Sea Realm cultivator. The Corrosive Bloodthirsty Centipede behind him slowly rose, its pitch-black toes seemingly laced with deadly poison, constantly releasing black energy.

Seeing this, Shui Qingxi was about to make a move, but Xia Tong stopped her. If they exposed their identities too early, it would disrupt the entire plan. If the Iron Blood Mercenary Group forcibly stormed into the Qin Clan Manor, it would likely cause the deaths of many members of the Tianyuan Qin Clan.

"Ouyang Jie, I've remembered this." Xia Tong threatened, looking at the arrogant Ouyang Jie, before preparing to return to the manor with Qin Xin and Shui Qingxi.

Seeing the three return, Ouyang Jie's lips curled into a triumphant smile, and he snorted dismissively, "Hmph! Trying to pull some tricks on me? You're still too green!"

"Deputy Commander, should we inform the Commander about this?" The burly man next to him asked.

Ouyang Jie kicked the burly man and said unhappily, "What's there to report? Xia Tong is just a steward of Wanbaoge. What trouble can she cause!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The burly man who had been kicked hurriedly retreated, and the others dared not say another word.

As Ouyang Jie made a gesture, a group of burly men dispersed, once again sealing off the entire Qin Clan Manor.

Unable to leave, the three returned directly to the council chamber.

When Qin Lin saw the three return, his eyes were full of doubt. "What's wrong? Did you forget something?"

"Hmph! This Ouyang Jie is going too far!" Xia Tong seemed to be angered, found a chair and sat down, saying angrily.

Seeing Xia Tong's appearance, Qin Lin seemed to have guessed something and said, "It seems that the Iron Blood Mercenary Group is about to make a move. Why don't you lead your clansmen to break through the encirclement and send them away?"

Upon hearing Qin Lin's words, Qin Qianfan took a step forward, and the Heavenly White Tiger behind him roared angrily.

The ever-increasing aura startled Qin Xin. When he looked at Qin Qianfan, he noticed that there were petal patterns on his forehead similar to those on Hua Jin's forehead, which seemed to be a seal that continuously suppressed the surging aura.

"Opening a path to survival shouldn't be too much of a problem!" Qin Qianfan said calmly, his feet seemingly floating in the air.

Yuanfu Realm!

Seeing Qin Qianfan's appearance, Qin Xin was even more surprised. At this moment, he also noticed that the petal patterns between Qin Qianfan's eyebrows were more obvious and emitted a pink glow.

"No need. Revealing our strength too early will only lead to an ultimatum from the Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group," Qin Xin said, shaking his head.

“If we stay, we can be of some help if the Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group manages to break through,” Shui Qingxi nodded in agreement with Qin Xin’s statement.

If they wanted to break through and leave, the three of them had already managed to do so with Shui Qingxi's strength, but doing so might put the Qin Clan Manor in a dangerous place.

Although Xia Tong wanted to leave, seeing Qin Xin and Shui Qingxi like this, she didn't say anything more.

"Then we'll have to stay here for a few more days." Xia Tong knew some things about Qin Qianfan, and with Ouyang Jie around, they probably couldn't leave for the time being, so they could only stay here temporarily.

"Miss Xia Tong, you flatter me. If I had to say, it was my Qin clan that dragged you down," Qin Qianfan replied softly.

After exchanging a few words, Qin Qianfan arranged for the servants to prepare a room.

However, Xia Tong and Shui Qingxi did not go to live there, but followed Qin Xin to his courtyard.

Qin Xin's residence was in a relatively remote area within the mountain villa, and few people usually came here, so he was generally undisturbed.

Entering the courtyard, Shui Qingxi looked at its appearance and smiled lightly, "I didn't expect you to be such a sentimental person. No wonder Qin Xue built a small courtyard that looked almost identical to the one in the inner courtyard's cave."

Xia Tong looked at the boy and girl talking in front of her and felt a little bored and unable to join the conversation, so she went straight into the main room and went to bed to rest.

Qin Xin sat cross-legged in the courtyard and began to cultivate, while Shui Qingxi prepared a tea set and sat down to drink tea, seemingly having some thoughts in mind.

It wasn't until late at night that Shui Qingxi returned to her room to rest.

Qin Xin was the only one left in the courtyard. His courtyard originally only had two rooms, but now both were occupied, and he had nowhere else to go.

After stretching and feeling the vast amount of true energy flowing through his body, as well as the true liquid suspended in his martial pill, Qin Xin finally smiled.

"Is this really a key?" Qin Xin took out the jade pendant fragment, examined it carefully, and murmured softly.

"This jade pendant seems to be quite extraordinary. Something that can cause even your stone to react must be no ordinary object." Danqing's voice suddenly rang out, accompanying Qin Xin's soft murmur.

"Isn't this an ordinary object? Do the points of light on it really mean that my father and grandfather are still alive?" Qin Xin was once again lost in confusion.

Although he didn't have much affection for his grandfather and father, whom he had never met in this world, the blood ties between them still piqued his curiosity.

“It is indeed a soul imprint. You should keep this safe for now; perhaps you'll understand it later.” Seeing that Qin Xin couldn't figure it out for the time being, Danqing said lightly.

An old man and a young man chatted for a while under the cover of night.

According to Danqing's perception, there is more than one Yuanfu Realm expert in the Iron Blood Mercenary Group. This surprised Qin Xin, because he knew that the leader of the Iron Blood Mercenary Group was at the Yuanfu Realm. If there was more than one, it meant that there was someone behind the Iron Blood Mercenary Group.

"Could it be one of Qin Lang's men?" Qin Xin wondered.

Danqing shook his head, unable to confirm the identity of the person behind him. "It's hard to say. Behind that Iron Blood Mercenary Group, that person's strength is probably beyond the Yuanfu Realm."

"You'd better think this through. This crisis in your clan is probably not as simple as it seems," Danqing warned.

Qin Xin had long anticipated this; the Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group alone could not quickly resolve the issue of the two major families in Tianyuan City.

Time was of the essence, so Qin Xin sat cross-legged on the ground and hurriedly began to refine some pills for cultivation and healing, which were now necessities for the family.

As the flames burned in the alchemy furnace, the entire courtyard was bathed in an orange glow, emanating a constant warmth.