It's normal that these two companies, whose stances have wavered, are now breaking away from their vassalage after hearing about the retreat arrangements.
In comparison, the vassal families in Fengxia are more like partners.
The Yunxiao Sect only entered this area in recent years, and there is no close lineage between them and these vassal families. Most of their disciples, like Ge Liangpeng, only entered the Yunxiao Sect a hundred years ago, and so far no cultivators of the rank of steward or above have appeared.
Therefore, unlike the Zhou and Wang families, they do not have a close line of succession.
The families here have no say in the matter because of the entry of various forces. As a result, they can only seek protection from one side to safeguard their own industries and resources.
Before Lin Xiuyuan arrived, the businesses of the Sun and Chen families had already been impacted by the chaotic situation, with many of their resources being occupied by forces under both the righteous and demonic factions, who also tried to win them over.
The former has already shaken the foundation of the family, while the latter has shaken people's hearts even more.
Now that they've heard about the retreat plan, they naturally don't want to go down the same dark path as the Cloud Soaring Sect.
The other three families happened to each have one or two prodigies who have entered the main peak, almost at the same time as Lin Xiuyuan. They witnessed his rise to prominence and felt he was extraordinary, so they placed their bets on Lin Xiuyuan.
After two or three days of coordination.
The spirit boat took the lead, breaking through the air from the Purple Mountain Herb Garden, carrying most of the Cloud Soaring Sect's deacons, as well as elders from the three families and other figures.
The remaining Yunxiao cultivators and the cultivators from the three families formed hundreds of streaks of light and followed closely behind, soaring into the sky.
Because of the remoteness of this place, no summons for Qi Refining disciples has been issued, and Yunxiao's disciples are mostly Foundation Establishment cultivators.
There are a total of seventy or eighty Foundation Establishment cultivators, who are usually distributed in various resource areas to coordinate matters such as vassal families and external Qi Refining cultivators, as well as harvesting, planting, and mining resources.
Compared to external cultivators, they are elite combat forces; a few of them working together are enough to control a resource area.
So, the number of people is not small, it's enough.
But that only applies in peacetime; in the current situation, it seems extremely inadequate.
This is why Lin Xiuyuan decided to retreat!
Because they simply didn't have the resources to defend their major resource locations.
The resources are too scattered. If attacked, Lin Xiuyuan and other top combatants would have to travel around to put out fires everywhere.
Either he would remain stationed there year after year, leaving Lin Xiuyuan no time to cultivate, or he would not want to spend his sixty-year term guarding the area in this way, as it did not align with his wishes.
Directly confronting those independent cultivator gangs head-on is simply not worthwhile. Their main objective is to acquire and plunder resources, and regardless of how things unfold, those independent cultivator gangs will always profit.
Even if the three major families were to mobilize all their forces, the total number of cultivators capable of fighting would only be five hundred. Compared to the thousands or even tens of thousands of cultivators that a united group of independent cultivators could easily muster, this number would be far too small.
However, in terms of maximum combat strength, although they are still at a disadvantage due to the arrival of the guardian team, the situation is not too dire.
There were originally four Purple Mansion stage deacons in Fengxia, but now only three remain. Tang He has been imprisoned and is awaiting his fate.
Besides He Chengji, there were two other disciples who were also sent by the sect to protect external affairs. He Chengji and Tang He were in charge of internal affairs and coordinated the overall situation.
Those two protectors were leading a group of Foundation Establishment disciples who had already taken up positions at the Heyuan Mine due to the changing situation.
They did not appear in the council meeting or on today's airship.
In addition, with a total of four Purple Mansion cultivators from the three families, plus six protectors, Lin Xiuyuan can mobilize more than ten Purple Mansion stage combatants.
However, the combined strength of the independent cultivator gangs is too great, and there are many more cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage.
This is also one of the reasons why the strategy of retreating was decided.
"Thank you all for supporting my decision. Rest assured, this period will not be long. Once the situation becomes clearer, it will be time to make a comeback. At that time, I will not allow everyone to have less resources than they do now. I cannot guarantee how much more, but I will certainly not disappoint everyone."
A simple banquet was set out in front of him. Lin Xiuyuan raised his glass and looked at the four elderly men in front of him.
Pang Hongbo and He Chengji sat on the left and right, respectively, while the remaining two rows were occupied by the two elders of the Ge family, as well as the elders of the Liu and Li families.
The other guardians were not seated; some were outside holding the fort, while others remained on the spirit boat on alert.
Liu Yuanming, an elder of the Liu family, and Li Hua, an elder of the Li family, both raised their glasses first, saying:
"Of course, a prodigy like Steward Lin just needs some time to make a breakthrough. The current situation is also a bit unpredictable. I believe that Steward Lin will be able to find a breakthrough in the future and reverse the situation in one fell swoop."
"Yes, everyone knows the name of Master Lin, a prodigy. Back then, he defeated the Ghost Spirit Sect in the secret realm. Now he is only facing some rogue cultivator gangs. Although it is not easy to capture them, it will not cause any problems."
“Both of you are absolutely right. Now is the time for Manager Lin to guard the area, and the things he has to do will certainly not be simple. Those rogue cultivator gangs are blind to have chosen our Cloud Soaring Sect as their first enemy.”
The white-haired elder sitting on the left was the eldest elder of the Ge family. After offering a compliment, Ge Yun did not immediately raise his glass, but continued, "My Ge family also wants to follow Steward Lin to 'make contributions and establish a career' for the long-term benefit of the family."
These words seem to have a hidden meaning.
Lin Xiuyuan understood what the other party meant, and immediately raised his glass, saying, "If the guarding period goes smoothly and successfully, our Yunxiao here, including your three families, will be in a completely different state."
After saying that, Lin Xiuyuan gave the elder of the Ge family a look, signaling him to calm down.
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