Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 76 Shock
Upon hearing this, Chi Jingtong remained silent.

He knew, of course, that taking it to the market would cost a lot of manpower and time.

The proceeds would not be more than what was gained from selling it to the Li family.

But at least it means that the Chi family has its own sales channels.

Once the Chi family passes through the hands of the Li family, the lifeblood of the Chi family will be completely in their hands.

After all, how many spirit stones you earn in a year is entirely up to the Li family. How can you possibly rebel against them?

After hesitating for a long time, Chi Jingtong sighed silently and finally agreed to Li Xiangming's request.

Circumstances are beyond our control; who made me end up like this?
Even if the Li family harbors ill intentions, they are not someone the Chi family can afford to offend right now.

After the two sides reached an agreement, Chi Jingtong hosted a banquet for Li Xiangming and his companion.

Li Xiangming also saw the younger generation of the Chi family, only a handful of them, mostly teenagers.

The highest level of cultivation is only the third level of Qi Refining.

No wonder Chi Jingtong worked so hard, even abandoning the arrogance of an eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator, and treating this greenhorn whose cultivation level was impossible to discern with utmost respect.

The Chi family's wings are too weak; without the protection of the Li family, it would be almost impossible for them to establish themselves in Pu County today.

Li Xiangming knew that the rogue cultivators who were eyeing Xiaolan Valley had come from Dahuang Town.

The further you go, the more people there are.

The landscape of Puxian County is quietly changing.

Halfway through the banquet, Chi Jingtong learned that Li Xiangming was the head of the Li family's accounting office. He was very surprised and quickly asked, "I wonder if the envoy is married?"

"Haha, our manager is young and promising, but he is not yet married. The Chi family has taken a liking to him, so we should hurry up."

Li Qianfu added fuel to the fire.

Upon hearing this, Chi Jingtong was overjoyed and beckoned to a little girl in the hall: "Youyan, come here."

At the same time, he whispered to Li Xiangming, "What does the envoy think of my granddaughter?"

Looking around, Li Xiangming saw that Chi Youyan had a high nose bridge, a well-defined face, delicate and smooth skin, and a pair of bright and sparkling eyes, making her very pleasing to the eye.

Judging from his age, he was at most fourteen or fifteen years old, and you could still see fine hairs on his face.

"Young Miss Youyan has a beauty that could shame the moon and flowers, but she is too young and not suitable to be with a junior."

Li Xiangming chuckled to himself. Having received ideological education in his previous life, he naturally wouldn't accept a young girl.

Moreover, as a member of a family of cultivators, he has no say in his marriage unless Chi Youyan is willing to be his concubine.

But the Chi family hasn't gone that far yet.

Chi Jingtong was somewhat disappointed that he had not been able to become related to Li Xiangming by marriage.

But he didn't show it, only saying that he would wait a few more years and would definitely bring Li Xiangming and Chi Youyan together.

Li Xiangming neither confirmed nor denied this.

Chi Jingtong's idea was very clear to him: he wanted to use the marriage alliance to bind the Chi and Li families together, so that he could benefit from their powerful connections.

But he chose the wrong person.

Even if the Li family agrees to a marriage alliance with the Chi family, they would never choose me.

Sometimes, a monk's marriage is also a resource.

Even if the Li family were to use Li Xiangming's resources, they should at least choose a well-established Foundation Establishment power.

The Chi family is clearly not qualified.

After leaving the Chi family, Li Xiangming took Li Qianfu to the Ji family in Qingfeng Ridge in the southeast.

The Ji family has a much stronger foundation than the Chi family, with two late-stage Qi Refining cultivators and more than ten early- and mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

Moreover, the Ji family was lucky enough to find an existing mountain stronghold in Qingfeng Ridge and claim it as their own.

Kaoshanchou is a kind of spiritual wood. Its wood is solid yet flexible, and can be used to make gun shafts or arrow shafts. In short, it has many uses.

Furthermore, due to the long growth cycle and rarity of the Kaoshanchou, a typical Kaoshanchou can sell for 50 spirit stones.

It is considered a very valuable spirit wood.

It is precisely because of this that the Ji family has been coveted by many other cultivators.

In particular, in the last two years, the number of cultivators from outside Pu County has been increasing day by day, which has caused great concern to the Ji family. In the end, they chose to take the initiative to rely on the Li family.

Because the Ji family actively sought to become dependent on the Li family, the treaty signed between them was almost equal.

There is only one condition: the Ji family must pay the Li family two mature, high-quality grains of rice every year.

Li Xiangming and Li Qianfu also inspected the Ji family's backing.

"How many years does it take for this thick mountain porridge to mature?"

"Reporting to the envoy, it will take at least a hundred years."

The head of the Ji family was named Ji Hexuan. He was dressed as a middle-aged scholar and was very respectful to Li Xiangming and his companion.

It takes a hundred years to grow, and the Ji family offers two as tribute each year, which is quite a lot. Li Xiangming didn't ask for anything more, but he set his sights on the Ji family's cultivators and asked, "Qingfeng Ridge doesn't seem to have any spiritual veins, does it?"

Ji Hexuan paused for a moment, then replied, "No."

A spiritual vein is a blessed land that is connected to the spirits and is favored by heaven; the small Qingfeng Ridge naturally does not have this qualification.

“Our Changyang Valley is rich in spiritual energy, so perhaps the Ji family could send two people there to cultivate permanently.”

"really?"

Ji Hexuan said with delight,

"Of course it's not free. How long your Ji family disciples cultivate will be recorded. At the same time, your family will send cultivators to my family to help them make up for the lost time."

Upon hearing this, Ji Hexuan's surprise vanished.

Isn't this so-called assistance just serving as labor for the Li family?

At that time, the Li family will definitely make the Ji family cultivators work like slaves.

"I won't force you. Patriarch Ji, you can decide for yourself."

Seeing his hesitation, Li Xiangming pretended to be displeased.

Ji Hexuan dared not offend the Li family cultivators, and beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

"Is there a cultivation level restriction for the cultivator my family sent to assist your family?"

"You can achieve Qi Refining Level 3 or above."

"Let me think about this."

"can."

Li Xiangming was quite easygoing with the Chi family because they couldn't do without him. Appearing with a gentle demeanor would make it easier for them to win him over.

The situation is different when dealing with the Ji family.

Seeing that Ji Hexuan did not agree on the spot, Li Xiangming hinted to Li Qianfu.

Sure enough, at the subsequent banquet, Li Qianfu praised the extraordinary qualities of the younger generation of the Ji family.

"I've heard that young friend Ji once fought a Thousand-Machine White-Headed Centipede?"

The "young friend" that Li Qianfu mentioned is named Ji Shiyu, who is recognized as a genius among the younger generation of the Ji family.

The Thousand-Machine White-Headed Centipede was an extremely ferocious monster that was active on the battlefield of Nanbin in the past. After reaching adulthood, it became enormous, possessing immense strength and the ability to spray poisonous mist, making it very difficult to deal with.

If anyone in the Ji family, whose generation name is Shi, could fight such a monster, they would truly be considered extraordinary.

"It's just a cub, barely reaching the mid-stage of the Spirit Awakening realm, nothing to brag about."

Ji Shiyu waved his hand, looking completely nonchalant.

But the two members of the Li family could see the smugness in his eyes.

Li Qianfu laughed loudly: "The Thousand-Machine White-Headed Centipede has killed many of our Heng Kingdom's comrades in the past. Young friend Ji was able to eliminate one of them, which can be considered as avenging the heroes who died on the battlefield."

Upon hearing this, Ji Shiyu was even happier.

Li Qianfu immediately suggested that Ji Shiyu and Li Xiangming have a match.

"Isn't this bad?"

"It's alright, let's just consider it a friendly spar between the two families. Xiangming is a talented young man of the Li family, ranking nineteenth in the family. Young friend Ji, you must bring out your full strength."

Li Qianfu used a misleading statement here. Ji Shiyu thought that Li Xiangming was only ranked nineteenth in strength among the Xiang generation of the Li family, yet he had to use all his strength. Ji Shiyu felt insulted and somewhat displeased.

In addition, the younger members of the Ji family had long been dissatisfied with their family's dependence on the Li family, and they all rushed to accept the challenge.

Ji Shiyu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist and jumped out despite Ji Hexuan's signal.

"Fellow Daoist Li, please enlighten me."

Li Xiangming's wicked scheme succeeded. He smiled slightly, and the two walked to an open space not far away and got into a fighting stance.

Ji Shiyu used a magic sword, while Li Xiangming was unarmed.

The two attacked almost simultaneously, but Li Xiangming's overwhelming magical power instantly engulfed Ji Shiyu.

"A late-stage Qi Refining cultivator?"

Ji Hexuan, who was standing nearby, was taken aback and quickly stepped in to stop him.

But before he could make a move, Li Xiangming withdrew his magic power in time.

Ji Shiyu was left standing there, stunned.

"Li Daoyou's demeanor is admirable."

Ji Hexuan gave a wry smile. He never dreamed that Li Xiangming, who was so young, would have the cultivation level of the late stage of Qi Refining.

They also understood the Li family's purpose in coming: to intimidate the Ji family.

(End of this chapter)