Chapter 322: Even the Huo Family has internal succession struggles

Lu Lu Xingzhou still decided to attend the meeting. After all, Huo Zhang could be considered a key player in this matter, and he should be able to learn something from him.

He didn't bring A Nuo this time, going alone.

Only after leaving did he realize Huo Zhang was also alone, and the place he was taking him to was actually a small eatery, not far away.

Compared to the luxury of places like the Rain-Mist Pavilion that he had seen others frequent, Huo Zhang, who frequented small eateries, was surprisingly approachable and casual.

The two entered a small private room in the eatery. It was dirty and damp all around, lit by an oil lamp, with a few plates of peanuts on the table. The sounds of the owner stir-frying outside and the cooking fumes could reach the room.

"The food here is excellent. No matter what city you go to, the things you find by digging into the alleys are the most authentic, not those Rain-Mist Pavilions." Huo Zhang sat down casually and poured wine for Lu Lu Xingzhou: "I see you’ve had a bitter life since childhood, so you shouldn't be like them, putting on airs. You should be used to eating and drinking in a place like this, right?"

Lu Lu Xingzhou found it quite interesting: "Mm, it's quite good."

Huo Zhang raised his glass to clink with him, and without waiting for a response, drank it himself: "No matter what you think in your heart, we are brothers in reality, right?"

Lu Lu Xingzhou smiled and didn't respond, but he did drink the wine.

In fact, being distant cousins was a fact, so Lu Lu Xingzhou had often deliberately called him Fourth Brother or Sixth Brother before, though in others' eyes, it was purely Huo Shang.

Seeing that he was willing to toast, as if his attitude wasn't as rigid as imagined, Huo Zhang looked pleased and laughed: "The old man has long regretted it, but he just wants to lower his head and apologize or something, and can't bring himself to lose face. Now that you are young and have reached the Third Grade, they regret it even more—when you were in the capital last time, Father even brought gifts to try and reconcile, didn't he? It's a pity he couldn't swallow his pride at the last moment, and all previous efforts were wasted. Now they’re thinking, if they had just lowered their posture a bit more back then, the family would have another Third Grade expert now."

Lu Lu Xingzhou smiled: "The Huo family is full of talent; it doesn't lack one Third Grade."

"It lacks, how could it not?" Huo Zhang said: "There are many Third Grade retainers we've hired, even Second Grade ones! But are they surnamed Huo? Huh? That Yang Yang Dechang, you know him, he’s very capable, right? But his surname is Yang! As for you, can you say you aren't surnamed Huo?"

Lu Lu Xingzhou really couldn't say he wasn't surnamed Huo, and was left between laughter and tears by these words: "Yang Yang Dechang's loyalty to the Huo family exceeds mine, a Huo. Second Young Master, these words are a bit hurtful."

Huo Zhang waved his hand: "That's different! I didn't say he wasn't loyal."

Lu Lu Xingzhou glanced at Huo Zhang. If one were to talk about the Huo family, this person was actually a Third Grade expert himself.

Among the Huo family descendants, only Huo Qi and Huo Zhang were Third Grade. Huo Qi was over thirty-one, and Huo Zhang had turned thirty just last month. They had both broken through roughly a year or two ago. Calculating it, Huo Zhang had broken through at a younger age than Huo Qi. By the common way of judging, Huo Zhang's talent was stronger than Huo Qi's, but not by much.

Lu Lu Xingzhou twirled his wine cup and said leisurely: "Second... Brother, does this mean you still want me to acknowledge my ancestors and return to the clan?"

Huo Zhang said: "The whole family wants it. Who wouldn't? Letting someone with your bloodline wander outside is already a joke, and becoming enemies on top of that is enough to make the whole world laugh. Don't you think?"

"So it was the Grand Tutor and the Marquis who sent Second Brother to persuade me?"

"No, I came on my own."

The two looked at each other, both seeing the amusement in the other's eyes.

Who sent him made a huge difference.

At least in Huo Zhang's own heart, others had grudges with Huo Shang, but he did not. Therefore, he could join forces with Huo Shang to do things others couldn't propose.

He hadn't expected this "Huo Shang" to be so sharp, seeing through his thoughts almost at a glance.

At this moment, the waiter brought the stir-fried dishes, and the two paused their conversation to eat.

Lu Lu Xingzhou praised: "This place's stir-fry is indeed quite good."

"Right!" Huo Zhang was very proud: "My soldiers would come here to eat with friends when they went home. Damn them for not inviting me, but I found out anyway. I came to eat here the next day. Did they think I didn't have money?"

Lu Lu Xingzhou almost laughed out loud: "I know a man surnamed Liu who shares your name. His temperament is the opposite of yours. It made me think yours would be similar when I first saw your name. The contrast is really huge."

Huo Zhang said: "The names in the family all use the 'King' radical, which is actually the 'Jade' radical, hoping we would all be like jade gentlemen. Others are fine, but I could never learn it. Who told them to send me to join the army? But having said that, the other so-called 'jade gentlemen' are all faking it, like monkeys dressed in clothes, looking quite ridiculous. The only one who is truly a jade gentleman is you, the only one without the 'King' radical."

Lu Lu Xingzhou smiled: "I'm faking it too."

"That might be true, you are ruthless."

"That is natural. Some are like jade, some are like mourning."

Since the conversation had reached this point, Huo Zhang stopped pretending and said directly: "You have no grudge with me, but you have grudges with everyone else. Therefore, if you acknowledge your ancestors and return, you would be my most natural ally. Of course I hope you go back."

Lu Lu Xingzhou poured himself a cup of wine, watched the liquid fall, and said faintly: "Are you competing with Huo Qi for the position of Family Head?"

"You could say that..."

"What do you mean 'could say that'?"

"Because Father and Grandfather are both First Grade, with long lifespans. The succession of the Family Head position cannot happen in the near future; it's still a long way off."

Don't look at how it seems like First Grade experts aren't worth much when staying by Ye Tinglan's side, seeing them everywhere. In reality, that was the absolute peak level, gathering the human race's strongest sects, demon kings, visitors from the Ancient Realm, and other top powers. In a general sense, First Grade powers are still the top of the world. A Huo family with two First Grade experts is still one of the strongest powers in the Great Great Qian, enough to make ninety-nine percent of people tremble in fear.

According to the lifespan of First Grade cultivation, they might still be alive even after their children and grandchildren have all died. The so-called succession of the Family Head is naturally different from that of mortals. But worldly affairs seem to play a joke here; when people reach the First Grade, the desire to move toward the Super Grade takes precedence, and having no heart for managing worldly affairs, they gradually hand over power to the next generation, invisibly becoming closer to the succession of mortals.

Grand Tutor Huo Liancheng stopped managing affairs long ago and passed the position of Family Head to his son, Huo Xingyuan. As it turned out, Huo Xingyuan also reached the First Grade in recent years. His sons felt that their father would eventually be like their grandfather, so naturally, they had ideas.

Ideas are just ideas. Before Huo Xingyuan reveals any intention to pass on the position, it can of course only be "could say that," just making preparations in advance.

Huo Zhang added: "I told you just now that I was sent outside to learn martial arts since I was a child, and later joined the army. Does that sound normal? But you are not someone else; you naturally know that the Huo family is a family of martial arts. Sending me outside to cultivate Daoist techniques might be understandable, but what is the point of sending me outside to learn martial arts?"

Lu Lu Xingzhou nodded: "It was probably decided the moment you were born not to let you compete with your eldest brother. Originally, it might have just been to avoid the two sons competing, but later they found that the more children they had, the more ridiculous the original idea became. But since the person had already been sent away, they could only continue the mistake, simply cultivating both the civil and martial branches."