"Three stone carvings?" Teng Qingshan's eyes immediately lit up, and Li Jun beside him also showed a flicker of delight.

A full three stone carvings—provided nothing unexpected occurred, these three carvings would absolutely help him break through the last hurdle and step through the gateway to the Void Realm. The expression that dawned on Teng Qingshan's face instantly brought worry to the three parties present—the Wu family, the Tantai clan, and the Fu family. Yan Baishou, however, couldn't help but rejoice inwardly.

The legendary strongest Martial Saint, 'Teng Qingshan,' truly favored the stone carvings of the Thirty-Six Styles of Mountain Splitting. It was indeed not an empty rumor.

Suddenly—

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The ground trembled faintly. Everyone inside the room couldn't help but turn to look outside. The faces of the Tantai clan, the Wu family, and others were far from pleasant; clearly, more families had arrived!

"Hmm?" Fu Dao, however, let a look of joy show.

That cavalry contingent was unusually orderly. They halted where the Tantai clan and the Wu family had paused, and then the two young men leading the group dismounted their war-beasts, swiftly running over. They had evidently also noticed the large crowd gathered inside the room. As the two reached the doorway, they bowed respectfully.

"Fu Yunchan, Fu Yufeng, paying respects to Mister Teng."

The two youths bowed deeply as they spoke.

"Fu Yunchan? Fu Yufeng?" Teng Qingshan's heart stirred. "Both named Fu?"

Fu Dao, who had been seated around the table, chuckled warmly. "Sir, this Fu Yunchan is the current head of our Fu family. This Fu Yufeng is also a standout among the younger generation of our Fu family. I rushed ahead for fear that you might be invited away by other families before I could arrive, so I traveled alone first. They are slightly slower than me."

In truth, the difference in time was only the span of brewing a cup of tea.

But... at the speed of those high-grade war-beasts, the time it took to brew tea covered over a hundred li.

"Haha, now, the Wu family, the Fu family, and the Tantai clan all have several people present. Only I came alone, haha..." Yan Baishou laughed out loud.

"Mister Teng, bringing more people doesn't matter, but among those present, Brother Yan, you are the best prepared, with a full three stone carvings... Tsk tsk, Brother Yan, you truly have capability. I admire you, admire you," Wu Baiwei, seated next to the female Martial Saint, said with a smile. Yet, this single statement caused a faint hostility to arise in the other two families present toward Yan Baishou.

After all, Yan Baishou held the strongest trump card.

"Everyone, please be seated," Teng Qingshan said with a faint smile.

At this moment, the three from the Fu family, the two from the Tantai clan, the two from the Wu family, and the one from the Yan family, added to Teng Qingshan and Li Jun, totaled ten people gathered around the table.

"Mister Teng," Tantai Qing looked at Teng Qingshan with a bright smile. "Our Tantai clan has come with the utmost sincerity. Although we only have one carving, regarding other conditions... please, Sir, name your price. I believe our Tantai clan will satisfy you." To be persuaded so gently by such an exceptionally beautiful woman, most men would have foolishly nodded by now.

Teng Qingshan hadn't had time to speak.

Whoosh—

The curtain at the side door flew open. Xiao Ping stood delicately at the entrance, her gaze sweeping over the table before fixing intently on one person—the young man named 'Fu Yufeng.'

"Hmm? Xiao Ping, come here," Li Jun called out with a smile.

In Li Jun’s heart, all these guests were outsiders; Xiao Ping was the sister she had spent countless days and nights with recently.

Xiao Ping, however, stared fixedly at Fu Yufeng, who, being a handsome young man, was completely bewildered by her gaze and looked back at her questioningly. Then, Xiao Ping’s eyes reddened.

"Third Brother!" Xiao Ping suddenly cried out.

Whoosh!

Fu Yufeng stood up in astonishment, equally staring at Xiao Ping, observing her carefully, and then said hesitantly, "You... you... are you Little Sister?"

Tears slipped down Xiao Ping’s cheeks, dripping onto the floor. Following the shout of 'Third Brother,' she rushed toward Fu Yufeng and threw her arms around him, sobbing loudly.

"What's happening?" Everyone present was completely stunned.

Teng Qingshan and Li Jun also watched the scene unfold in shock.

Fu Yufeng closely examined the girl embracing him, looking at her features... The girl’s face faintly overlapped with the memory of a clever little girl. Fu Yufeng abruptly rolled up Xiao Ping’s sleeve, and sure enough—there was a very faint birthmark on Xiao Ping's left wrist.

"Little Sister, you really are Little Sister! Little Sister, Third Brother has finally found you, finally found you!" Fu Yufeng tightly embraced Xiao Ping as well, tears streaming down his face.

"Third Brother!"

"Little Sister."

These long-separated full siblings were now weeping in each other's arms inside the room where the great families were vying to invite Teng Qingshan.

"Yunchan, this young girl and Yufeng are...?" Fu Dao asked in surprise.

Fu Yunchan beside him whispered, "This young girl is likely a survivor of our Fu family's Northern Marquis branch, just like Yufeng. The Northern Marquis branch suffered a brutal massacre back then, almost wiped out entirely. Most women and children were sold to brothels or became slaves; the men were almost all killed. We only managed to find three survivors later, including Yufeng. To think... there was one more, and she was with Mister Teng."

Fu Dao nodded in sudden realization.

The Fu family was an ancient clan with an extremely long history, but this ancient family had suffered several catastrophic blows. To prevent the entire clan from being annihilated, the ancestors scattered several branch lines. This way... even if one branch was destroyed, the others could still carry on the lineage.

And these various branches secretly supported one another.

When the Northern Marquis branch was attacked and massacred, the other branches learned of the news too late. In the end, they only managed to find three survivors, among them Fu Yufeng.

"Third Brother, Third Brother," Xiao Ping looked up at Fu Yufeng, asking anxiously, "What about Father and Mother? And Big Brother, Second Brother, and Elder Sister Lian and the others..."

"They are all dead."

Fu Yufeng murmured softly.

Xiao Ping stiffened, standing rooted to the spot foolishly.

When she was young, she was the darling of the family, and being very intelligent, many of her older clan brothers and sisters adored this lively child. When the disaster struck, it was a dark night. Xiao Ping only saw several of the clan guards die, and then she was captured and sold off as a slave.

She didn't know... how many people in their clan died that night.

Although she knew their family was finished, perhaps some clan members survived? After all, she herself was alive, and now her Third Brother had appeared before her; perhaps other relatives were alive too.

But the result was...

"All dead?" A look of agony surfaced on Xiao Ping's face.

Teng Qingshan and Li Jun now understood what had happened. Clearly, Xiao Ping had found her kin, and... it seemed the rest of her relatives were dead. In fact, when Teng Qingshan and Li Jun first brought Xiao Ping along, they had already suspected... Xiao Ping’s origins were certainly not ordinary.

"Why don't the few of you wait here for a moment," Teng Qingshan spoke up.

The representatives of the assembled families all responded with smiles.

"Xiao Ping, and this young brother, let's talk in the inner room." Teng Qingshan and Li Jun led Xiao Ping and Fu Yufeng into the adjacent room together.

Inside the room.

Xiao Ping and Fu Yufeng sat to one side. Xiao Ping inquired about many things while Fu Yufeng answered, simultaneously stroking his sister's head with affection. The disaster from all those years ago had matured Fu Yufeng considerably; he had worked hard and struggled to achieve his high position in the current Fu family.

In his heart, that disaster had always remained a nightmare, a source of pain.

Now, he had finally met his lovely little sister. Seeing the scar on her face, Fu Yufeng guessed... his sister must have been sold as a slave. What torment had that little princess-like figure endured after becoming a slave? Thinking of it, Fu Yufeng felt his heart ache.

"Uncle," Xiao Ping finally regained her composure and looked apologetically at Teng Qingshan.

"Uncle is happy for you," Teng Qingshan replied with a gentle smile.

Li Jun also looked at Xiao Ping with warmth.

Xiao Ping nodded. "Uncle, Sister Xiaojun, there are many things I never told you. The disaster back then was my greatest nightmare; I never wanted to speak of it. Today, I want to tell Sister Xiaojun and Uncle that my real name is 'Fu Yuping,' and I was from the Fu family of the Northern Marquis city. Sister Xiaojun, Uncle, please don't be angry that I kept this hidden from you."

Northern Marquis City was one of the 108 ordinary cities on the Duanmu Continent.

"Fu Yuping?" Li Jun immediately pulled Xiao Ping into an embrace, her own eyes slightly red with empathy.

"Sister isn't angry, how could I be angry?" Li Jun felt overwhelming compassion. She knew the pain of a clan being massacred, and Fu Yuping was different from her; Fu Yuping was just a small child when it happened, an absolute nightmare for a young infant.

Perhaps she didn't even want to recall the memory, let alone recount it to others.

And on top of that, she had endured being sold as a slave... the suffering and torment must have been unimaginable. The first time they saw Fu Yuping, the nine-year-old looked like a child of six or seven, which spoke volumes about the hardship of her life.

"It's better now, Xiao Ping, you’ve found your Third Brother," Teng Qingshan comforted from the side.

In the guest reception room.

The Wu family, the Tantai clan, the Yan family, and the Fu family—all four factions waited anxiously, none of them at ease.

"Mister Fu Dao, your Fu family is quite lucky. Even a young girl from your Fu family managed to follow Mister Teng," Tantai Huayan remarked with a laugh. "Perhaps Mister Teng will favor your Fu family because of that little girl." Although he said this, the others did not entirely agree.

In their view, Fu Yuping was merely a maidservant to Teng Qingshan.

Would the decision regarding something as critical as the Fire Flow Iron Ore vein be influenced by a mere servant girl?

Whoosh—

The door curtain was pulled open. Teng Qingshan, Li Jun, along with Fu Yufeng and Fu Yuping, walked out together.

"Everyone, sit down," Teng Qingshan said, sitting down with a smile. "I am quite happy today; Xiao Ping has found her own brother. Ah, let's continue... I hadn't asked yet, Yan Baishou, which three styles did your Yan family prepare in your three stone carvings?"

Yan Baishou immediately replied, "The Sixteenth Style, the Twenty-Third Style, and the Twenty-Fourth Style."

"Oh?" Teng Qingshan’s eyebrows flickered slightly.

The Sixteenth Style would be quite useful to him, but currently, he struggled even to study the Seventeenth through Twentieth Styles, let alone the Twenty-Third and Twenty-Fourth Styles.

"Mm," Teng Qingshan nodded, then spoke, "I have made my decision."

The representatives of the four great families looked towards Teng Qingshan, their hearts suspended in anticipation.

"Mister Teng, may we ask which family you have chosen?" Tantai Qing’s voice was very melodious as she looked at Teng Qingshan expectantly.

Teng Qingshan smiled faintly. "The Fu family."