Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 5 Li Qianhe

Li Qianhe returned faster than expected. Li Xiangming had only drunk two cups of tea when he heard hurried footsteps.

"Ming'er!"

"Father."

Li Xiangming stood up, saw the familiar figure, and bowed.

“I received a message from the guards of the market town saying that you have returned, and it really is you.”

Li Qianhe is of medium build but quite handsome. He takes good care of himself and looks only in his thirties or forties.

"Does the guard know me?"

Li Xiangming paused for a moment, recalling the two golden-armored cultivators at the door.

At the time, I thought it was just an ordinary thing, but I didn't expect that they had already recognized me and secretly notified Li Qianhe.

"I asked them to keep an eye out for cultivators coming from the north who carry Hengyue Gate travel documents, and I also gave them information about your appearance."

Li Qianhe explained, then looked Li Xiangming over carefully and smiled.

"I'm relieved to see you're alright. I heard that several cargo ships from Bailumen sank on the upper reaches of the Pu River. I thought you might have been on one of their ships, but thankfully you weren't."

Where is it not?

Li Xiangming gave a bitter smile and recounted his experience on the cargo ship.

"I thought it was monsters causing trouble, but it turns out someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes. This person dared to attack Bailu Gate; they are truly audacious."

Li Qianhe's expression was solemn. Although Bailu Sect only had one Golden Core cultivator, it was still a Golden Core sect.

Moreover, behind Bailu Sect is Hengyue Sect, which has twenty-six peaks, each with a peak master who is a Golden Core True Person. This is only Hengyue Sect's strength on paper.

Offending Hengyue Sect means you won't be able to stay in either Pu County or the entire Zhangning Prefecture and Shun'an Prefecture.

What were the losses at Bailu Gate?

Li Xiangming asked.

"It's still unclear. The information coming in right now is a mix of truth and falsehood. The most reliable version is that some people from Bailu Gate survived, but several ships have sunk."

"That man in black robes seems to be looking for something."

Li Xiangming shared his guess.

"I don't know. It's highly likely they haven't found it, because if Bailu Sect had lost something valuable, they wouldn't be so calm."

"hope so."

Li Xiangming sighed. The smaller the Bailu Sect's losses, the less trouble he would have.

"I am quite curious about this person's background. From your description, he is at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment and was able to defeat two inner sect elders of the White Dew Sect at the same time. He is not simple."

"They even tamed a monster in the Bone Fusion stage, which is quite remarkable."

Li Xiangming continued, "If Bailu Sect wants to investigate the identity of the man in black robes, perhaps they can start by focusing on this."

The cultivation world is not without powerful figures who rise from humble beginnings, but they are few and far between. Those who can cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage are basically all trained by a master.

Within the two prefectures, the number of slightly more powerful beast-taming sects and families can be counted on one hand.

"The matter of the murderer has nothing to do with our Li family, so don't worry about it. But you were there at the time, which is quite troublesome."

Li Qianhe pondered for a moment, then said, "I'll go to Bailu Sect tomorrow to explain the situation. Your background is innocent, so you shouldn't be made things difficult for me."

"Should I go too?"

"No need. You might get delayed indefinitely if you go there. Go home first, and leave the rest to me."

With Li Qianhe's assurance, Li Xiangming was completely relieved.

This is the advantage of having a family; many troubles that independent cultivators would rather avoid are easily resolved in front of family cultivators.

The answer is that my family background is impeccable.

What? Do not believe?

If you don't believe me, come to the Li family's house. We'll talk for two months, and you'll never see them.

Your Bailu Sect is the leader of Pu County. My Li family of Dangui Mountain has also shed blood for Hengyue Sect for decades. Although the incense has been cut off now, the human relationships are still there. If you want to use force, you can only do so if you send your Xuanling Zhenren. Then my Li family will definitely submit.

But that's impossible. The White Dew Sect wouldn't send a Golden Core cultivator for something like this. Besides, True Person Xuanling is still in seclusion at the old site of the White Dew Sect in Zhangning Prefecture and didn't come to Pu County with the sect at all. "You rarely come back to the family this time, so you must cultivate diligently."

Li Qianhe gave a word of advice, then pulled out a small bag from his person.

"This is your coming-of-age gift from your father. Take it. All the monthly allowance you haven't received over the years is inside."

It's a storage bag!

Li Xiangming's eyes lit up. He had long wanted a storage bag, but with his wealth, he simply couldn't afford one.

Upon receiving the small bag, Li Xiangming probed it with his divine sense and his face lit up with joy.

The space inside was small, less than one cubic meter, but it contained more than a hundred spirit stones and over forty bottles of pills.

Li Xiangming took out a bottle, unfurled the cap, and smelled it; it was Huangyadan.

Huangyadan can accelerate the speed at which cultivators refine their magical power, and it is mild and easy to digest, making it popular among cultivators.

However, Huangyadan is not cheap; it sells for 6 spirit stones a bottle in the market.

As a family of cultivators, the Li family purchases Yellow Sprout Pills every month as a monthly allowance for its members.

A cultivator in the early stage of Qi Refining can receive 3 Yellow Sprout Pills per month, while one in the middle stage can receive 6. These many Yellow Sprout Pills were accumulated by Li Xiangming over ten years.

But when he was cultivating in the Green Cloud Cave, he took quite a few Huangya Pills that Li Qianhe gave him.

Facing Li Xiangming's questioning gaze, Li Qianhe smiled faintly and said, "Those were all given to you by me before, so you can save them."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming was stunned and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Li Qianhe actually shared his own resources with him, and he did so for ten years.

“You don’t need to worry. Your father’s talent is mediocre. No matter how many pills I take, I will not be able to establish my foundation. It’s better to support you. Besides, I’m not just sitting around in Pushui Market. I have no shortage of daily cultivation supplies.”

At this point, Li Qianhe recalled the past and sighed, "It was my fault for not being able to stop you from going to Green Cloud Cave back then. Otherwise, with your talent, you would have already reached the late stage of Qi Refining."

Ten years ago, the Li family changed its foreign policy and planned to expand its allies. Li Qianxiong looked for several cultivation forces, including Green Cloud Cave, and they had a very pleasant conversation.

During this period, a number of business dealings arose.

But that wasn't enough. Since the Li family was subordinate to the Hengyue Sect and couldn't make friends openly, they decided to arrange for some of their family members to join these cultivation forces to solidify their relationship.

Who should we send?
The clan elders initially planned to send children from the branch families into the clan—the Li family has a direct lineage and branch families.

The so-called direct lineage refers to the descendants of the four Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Li family who drifted to Zhangning Prefecture more than a hundred years ago. There are four branches in total. The branch lineage refers to the descendants of the other non-Foundation Establishment cultivators. They are not divided into branches and are collectively called the branch lineage.

Back then, the Li family was in dire straits and resources were scarce. The direct line, which had four Foundation Establishment cultivators, controlled most of the power and resources, resulting in a situation where the direct line was strong and the branch line was weak, a situation that has continued to this day.

This situation aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Li family of the branch, but since the branch had not produced any outstanding talents, the conflict did not erupt.

When they heard that the direct lineage was sending children to join sects in other regions, and that the direct lineage was sending children from the branch lineage instead of their own, the branch lineage erupted in anger.

Twenty-odd cultivators surrounded the clan meeting, almost causing internal strife within the Li family.

Li Qianxiong, who is usually bold and outspoken, adopted a rather conservative strategy in this matter. He didn't even use words, but directly brought up the old man of the Li family, Li Huinan.

Li Huinan was the founder of the Li family and one of the four Foundation Establishment cultivators of that time. He also led the Li family in the war against the Nanbin Demon Clan and enjoyed great prestige within the clan.

Unwilling to see the family split and relatives turn against each other, Li Huinan ordered the direct line to make concessions.

If even the head of the most powerful lineage has said this, what else can the others say?

Finally, it was agreed that each of the four main branches would send one child, and the branch branches would send two children in total, for a total of six people to be sent to sects in other places.

Li Xiangming was just 8 years old at the time. He had three spiritual roots, with water as the dominant element, which met the requirements of Green Cloud Cave, so he was unfortunately chosen.

Why is it considered unlucky?

Green Cloud Cave is also a Foundation Establishment power. Its master, Fairy Green Cloud, has been immersed in Foundation Establishment for decades and has extensive connections. Its foundation is not necessarily worse than that of the Li family, which has been based in Zhangning Prefecture for only a hundred years.

The problem is that the six children the Li family sent out didn't genuinely want to join the sect. They were merely pawns used as a means of communication, and would ultimately return to their family.

Fairy Green Cloud was well aware of this, so she only accepted Li Xiangming as a nominal disciple and left him to fend for himself. No matter how well Li Xiangming performed, he would never have a chance to rise in Green Cloud Cave—no sect was willing to pass on its mantle to an outsider.

Thus, having left his family and without the resources of Green Cloud Cave, Li Xiangming faced immense difficulties on his path of cultivation.

Fortunately, he still had his father, Li Qianhe, who would visit Green Cloud Cave every six months to bring him spirit stones and elixirs for cultivation.

Li Xiangming's ability to reach the sixth level of Qi Refining ten years later is not only due to his own diligence, but also largely thanks to Li Qianhe's contributions.

(End of this chapter)