In the Upper Realm, there is an unwritten saying: 'A thousand-year old family, a ten-thousand-year clan.'

A legacy spanning thousands of years, regardless of its underlying strength, can only be called a family.

Only those who remain immortal through ten thousand years can be called clans.

And the bloodlines of these clans are far more complex than Chu Zheng imagined. Although they all revere the bloodline and maintain this vast clan system, their internal structure is not entirely patriarchal as Chu Zheng expected.

There is another type, the matrilineal clans, where women are the foundation of the legacy families.

These clan bloodlines mostly manifest with naturally born spiritual bodies, and it can only appear in women, such as the Pure Yin Body, Psychic Mysterious Body, and so on.

In these clans, women typically hold power, and they never marry outside the clan, only taking husbands into the family.

In such clans, the rules are often stricter, and a significant emphasis is placed on the bloodline.

The family is connected through the matrilineal bloodline, and the important financial legacies are all passed down through matrilineal heritage. In this system, the continuation of the paternal bloodline is far less significant than the maternal line, making marriage a problem for some men in the clan.

The Zhang Family is such a matrilineal clan, with its foundation not in the Near Immortal Realm, but in the Great Universe.

In their clan, women have a chance to awaken a type of bloodline called the 'Heavenly Spirit Dao Body' at the age of sixteen.

According to the quality of the bloodline, the most outstanding among them can cultivate at a pace that is not inferior to the average Half-step Emperor, which is astounding.

However, this type of bloodline cannot be conceived by males, not even across generations.

In the Great Universe, the Zhang Family is considered a great clan, with Ancient Myths guarding the clan, their influence spread throughout the Star Sea. As a result, many weaker families and sects choose to attach themselves, steadily supplying suitable marriage-aged men.

But even so, fully matured Heavenly Spirit Dao Bodies within the Zhang Family remain few and far between.

"A thousand-year old family, a ten-thousand-year clan..."

Chu Zheng pondered for a moment, without stopping on the street, and proceeded directly towards the center of Heavenly Abyss City.

This giant city, just from its transmission arrays, could reflect its status in Falling Leaves Heaven.

Soon, following the city's strongest spatial fluctuations, he arrived at a plaza situated in the eastern part of the city.

The scope of the plaza was immense, comparable to a plain, with star-brilliant peculiar slabs paved on the ground, forming an enormous complex formation.

At the heart of the plaza stood dozens of gigantic gates, each a thousand meters tall and of various designs, filled not with substance but swirling vortices of shimmering, colorful light.

The gates of space are for travel not within the Great Realm but are cross-border transmission arrays used within the starry sky.

A long queue formed before each gate, with jade platforms nearby, staffed by cultivators from the Zhang Family responsible for registration and fee collection.

As Chu Zheng speculated, Dingyuan City was already connected to the Great Universe, making it possible to break free from the world's barriers and interact with the entire Great Universe from this location.

Chu Zheng approached one of the gates and glanced at a large jade wall standing beside the jade platform, where a price list was delineated using spiritual power:

[Destination: Heavenly Wind Star Domain, Drunken Immortal Star]

[Single person, one-way cost: 340 Immortal Jade]

[Goods/Mounts/Special Items: Additional charge]

[Teleportation Interval: Once every twenty days, advance reservation required, full capacity only]

[Current people: 764/1000]

[Special Reminder: The environment of the Great Universe is complex. If interrupted by uncontrollable external forces during transmission, the Zhang Family cannot guarantee your safety, undertake the risk on your own.]

Three hundred forty Immortal Jade, for most freshly ascended Seventh-rank cultivators, whose wealth is nearly drained by the Ascension Tax, is undoubtedly a steep price, one that would see them struggling and accumulating for hundreds or even thousands of years in the Upper Realm.

Even though Chu Zheng's wealth was ample, this price was not a small sum for him either.

Moreover, there was currently no urgent need for Chu Zheng to enter the Great Universe. He first needed to establish himself firmly in Falling Leaves Heaven, collecting enough information and strength.

Chu Zheng wandered the plaza for some time, spending some Spirit Stones to gather information from various cultivators traveling within the Great Universe.

In the present Great Universe, the myriad races are prevalent, and various Taoist orthodoxy emerged endlessly. The strongest ten forces are called the Ten Great Ancient Clans.

The rankings of these Ten Great Ancient Clans occasionally shift due to certain reasons.

For instance, when an Ancestor Realm lifespan ends, and the Heavenly Fate scatters, or if a new Ancestor Realm emerges within other clans, the rankings would change.

Therefore, some clans with an Ancestor Realm presence still find it challenging to list among the Ten Great Ancient Clans.

Currently, in the Great Universe, only three clans among the Ten Great Ancient Clans belong to the Human Race: the Martial Pavilion of Erosion Sun Lineage, the Immortal Dao Xu Family, and the Feng Family.

Together, these three clans hold over thirty percent of the Heavenly Fate, securing a foundation for the Human Race in the Great Universe.

However, Sun-Eroding Cry severed the Xu Family's Old Ancestor Xumi Sheng and shattered the Immortal Ancestor's Mansion, becoming a mortal enemy with the Xu Family.

Sun-Eroding Cry could have completely eradicated the Xu Family, but for some reason, he left a glimmer of hope, not even moving against the Xu Family's Son of Heaven, preserving half of their Heavenly Fate.

Now, the Martial Pavilion holds one and a half percent of the Heavenly Fate, ranking second in the Great Universe, even above the Star Moon Ancient Clan, which holds double Ancestor Realms.

Ranked first is the Giant God Clan, who likewise holds one and a half percent of the Heavenly Fate, with three Ancestor Realm Perfections within the clan, currently at the height of their power, their influence spanning almost all Divine Kingdoms in the Great Universe.

The Ancient Ancestor Blood Tea within their clan could nearly be considered the strongest individual in today's Great Universe.

Chu Zheng remained unsatisfied with the information, finding it somewhat too generalized.

He turned away from the plaza, thinking to himself when his attention was drawn to a building.

The structure resembled a colossal, impaled sword, entirely black, emanating a heavy, murderous aura.

Above the main entrance hung a massive Mystic Iron plaque, displaying the words 'Martial Pavilion.'

"Martial Pavilion?"

Chu Zheng's heart stirred slightly. He hadn't expected to find a branch of the Martial Pavilion so soon within the Zhang Family's city.

He approached indifferently. There were no guards in front of the Martial Pavilion, the main doors open, faintly emanating a surging vitality wave. Upon entering, the internal space was more expansive than it appeared externally, unfolding the void.

The first floor was a wide hall, akin to a vast martial arts arena, where many martial cultivators practiced and exchanged skills, fists whistling, sword qi crisscrossing, but all constrained within an invisible array's light screen, not affecting others.

All around were various counters selling all kinds of weapons, armor, body tempering elixirs, or slaughter secret techniques.

Chu Zheng's gaze swept across the hall and finally settled at the far end of the hall.

There stood a high platform, on which a life-sized statue was enshrined—a middle-aged man clad in close-fitting armor with a stature as firm as a spear.

The statue exuded a sense of restrained yet sky-piercing sharpness.

Sitting cross-legged beneath the statue was an elder. The elder's hair and beard were all white, with an ancient, rustic face, slightly thin, dressed in gray, with eyes closed, exuding a calm presence, standing out against the bustling environment.

Chu Zheng keenly sensed an extremely powerful vitality dormant within the elder, akin to a dormant volcano. His cultivation was surprisingly at the Eighth Order, truly a Martial Saint.

He must be the Pavilion Master or Elder of this Martial Pavilion branch.

Chu Zheng looked around and walked toward a nearby counter.

Behind the counter stood a burly man, his aura condensed, at the Peak of Tier Five, on the verge of Divine Communication.

Seeing Chu Zheng approaching, the man appeared unchanged: "Fellow Daoist, what do you need?"

"I need some elixirs for body tempering."

Chu Zheng casually replied, examining the medicinal blood spirit materials in the cabinet, his tone relaxed with a hint of casual conversation:

"The Martial Pavilion has a deep foundation with many outstanding talents. I have long heard of their reputation. Are there any recent remarkable young talents emerging, to give this loose cultivator a glimpse?"

"Are you interested in such matters as well?"

Hearing this, the burly man's expression shifted slightly, seeming intrigued, and he spoke in a lowered voice:

"I happen to have an interest in these matters myself, and have collected quite a few secret details. However..."

He paused in his speech: "I wonder how much elixir you wish to purchase?"

Chu Zheng caught his implied meaning, glanced over the counter, and pointed his finger to several items:

"I'll take all of them."