Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 121 The Geng Family's Visit
Liu Xianyi's spell is called Hao Ri Jin Tong (Golden Eyes of the Sun), and it has the effect of intimidating the soul.

Of course, as he said, once it is used, it consumes a huge amount of mental energy, leaving no time for anything else.

In a battle where every second counts, one generally dares not use such tactics casually.

However, Li Xiangming was different. He had Nie Rong by his side, and could send Nie Rong to entangle the enemy and buy himself time.

Therefore, Li Xiangming was pleasantly surprised when he first saw this spell, and kept trying to find out more about it along the way.

He also played a trick, not taking Liu Xianyi back to the Li family immediately, but instead locking him up in the camp where the animal trapping house was located.

Unaware of what was happening, Liu Xianyi assumed an accident had occurred, which increased his stress.

Li Xiangming then took the opportunity to give a warning, repeatedly mentioning "the golden eyes of the sun".

Liu Xianyi was no fool; how could he not know Li Xiangming's intentions?
He immediately ordered Li Xiangming to conceal his and Qin Zhengru's true identities from anyone outside the Li family's upper echelons.

Li Xiangming readily agreed to this.

The two reached an agreement: Liu Xianyi no longer needed to worry about news of his capture spreading far and wide, and Li Xiangming also acquired a new spell, so both were satisfied.

However, despite having the new spell, Li Xiangming did not dare to practice it immediately.

After all, his agreement with Liu Xianyi was just a gentleman's agreement; who knows if there's anything wrong with "Hao Ri Jin Tong"?

At least we need to have Nie Rong practice before we can talk about it.

Back in Changyang Valley, Li Xiangming briefly met with the staff of the accounting office to learn about the progress in Xulong Township.

After learning that everything was proceeding smoothly, Li Xiangming began to think about the Blackwater Serpent in Puyin Mountain again.

Last time we gave up halfway, this time we absolutely can't miss it.

After thinking it over, Li Xiangming, wanting to be on the safe side, approached Li Xianghua and asked him for help.

"Taming spirit pets?"

Upon hearing the purpose of the visit, Li Xianghua hesitated slightly: "I have official duties to perform and cannot be away from home for too long."

Like Li Xiangming, Li Xianghua was also the head of a department, specifically the patrol office of the Shouyu Hall. He usually didn't have much to do, but he couldn't leave Tailai Peak at will.

"It will only take half a month."

Li Xiangming assured him that although he hadn't seen the Blackwater Serpent with his own eyes, he believed Tang Xueyan wouldn't lie to him.

This time it was much easier to find than last time.

"Alright then, let me know when you're leaving."

Li Xianghua did not refuse again. Mutual help among relatives is also a family tradition.

"Then thank you in advance, Brother Thirteen."

Li Xiangming was very happy to receive Li Xianghua's promise.

What he was concerned about was not Li Xianghua's cultivation level, but his identity as a formation master.

As long as the formation is set up to lure the Blackwater Serpent into the formation, victory is almost guaranteed.

Next, Li Xiangming planned to go to the animal trapping room to find Li Xiangru.

He was more familiar with Li Xiangru, and the latter had the advantage of his position, so there shouldn't be any problem.

But as soon as he left Changyang Valley, the people from Shouyu Hall found him and brought someone he hadn't expected with them.

"Brother Li, it's been a long time."

Geng Shiheng bowed.

"Fellow Daoist Geng?"

Li Xiangming was surprised, not expecting Geng Shiheng to appear at Danggui Mountain.

As if sensing Li Xiangming's confusion, Geng Shiheng explained, "An elder from my family visited your home, so I came along."

"I see."

Li Xiangming nodded, his mind involuntarily recalling the Qin family's attempt to arrange a marriage alliance.

If the Qin and Li families were to form a marriage alliance, the Geng family would definitely be the most panicked.

Don't be fooled by the Liu family's current claims that they want to mediate between the two families. After the talks, can't they start fighting again?
Who knows if this is just a delaying tactic?

The Qin family had barely arrived when the Geng family followed closely behind, demonstrating that the peace talks had not reassured either side.

As expected, Geng Shiheng carefully inquired about the Li family's attitude, while subtly indicating that the Geng family also wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Li family to take things a step further. Suddenly, the Li family became a hot commodity.

When Geng Shiheng probed him, Li Xiangming gave ambiguous answers, listing a lot of the benefits of marriage alliances while also frankly admitting the various difficulties involved.

In short, the Li family, the Qin family, and the Geng family all have a chance.

Whether it will succeed remains to be seen.

Geng Shiheng listened anxiously, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Li Xiangming glanced at him. He was, after all, a semi-high-level executive. How could he easily reveal his family's thoughts?
In any case, the Li family will benefit from any marriage alliance.

As for binding the Li family with marriage ties, that's impossible.

This can be seen from Li Qianxiong's refusal to let Li Xiangping marry into the Qin family.

Although Li Qianxiong claimed he was unwilling to make decisions for Li Xiangping, as long as Li Xiangping acknowledged that her surname was Li, she would not be able to escape the control of the Li family.

If the Li family truly desires an alliance with the Qin family, Li Xiangping will have no choice but to marry him.

But the truth is, the Li family did not want to get involved in the conflict between the Qin and Geng families.

Therefore, even if a marriage alliance is arranged, it will most likely involve descendants from a branch of the family.

Didn't you see that you weren't forced to do anything?

The Geng family, being too close to the situation to see clearly, arranged for Geng Shiheng to probe their intentions.

Li Xiangming took the opportunity to inquire about the peace talks between the Qin and Geng families, and also to learn about the Liu family of Jimuyan, who acted as the intermediary.

After a long pause, Li Xiangming seemed to be deep in thought.

The Qin family of Red Stone Valley is an old and established family in Zhangning Prefecture, whose members are skilled in spear fighting and weapon crafting.

The Liu family of Jimuyan also originated from Zhangning Prefecture. It is said that their ancestors inherited the alchemy skills of the Changqing Sect and were skilled in alchemy.

The two families had already met in Zhangning Prefecture. The Liu family liked to buy magic artifacts from the Qin family, and the Qin family was also used to purchasing pills from the Liu family.

Therefore, the two families have intermarried for generations and have a very close relationship.

After the outbreak of the Nanbin War, the two families fought together and each seized a piece of land. At the same time, like the Li family, they voluntarily moved to Puxian.

Of course, the original spiritual vein was not abandoned, but left to the branch.

But not long after they moved in, the Qin family had a conflict with the Geng family.

It turned out that the Geng family had discovered many rare mineral veins on their own land.

However, the Geng family is skilled in controlling ghosts, but they have no inheritance in weapon crafting and do not know how to mine.

After fiddling around for a while, they forcibly started digging, almost damaging these precious mineral veins.

Seeing this, the Qin family next door felt distressed and hoped to cooperate with the Geng family to develop these mines together.

After careful consideration, the Geng family agreed to the proposal.

However, the two sides only cooperated briefly for a few months.

Because the Geng family discovered that the Qin family could process the spirit ore to a higher level of quality.

This superior spirit ore squeezed out the market share of Gengjia spirit ore.

Unable to sell their spirit ore, the Geng family had no choice but to package the ore and give it to the Qin family, thus becoming a source of raw materials.

This situation naturally aroused strong dissatisfaction from the head of the Geng family.

The Qin family spent only a small amount of spirit stones to buy the Geng family's ore, then processed it into spirit ore and sold it at a high price, making a profit of more than ten times.

What if the spirit ore were then refined into magical artifacts?
What kind of benefits would that bring?

With this ebb and flow, the Qin family's strength will only grow stronger.

Faced with such neighbors, the Geng family could not sleep peacefully.

Ultimately, the Geng family decisively terminated their cooperation with the Qin family and stole the Qin family's technology to improve the Geng family's mine.

Leaving aside the processing of spirit ore, the Geng family has gradually become more professional in mining alone.

All of this was unbearable for the Qin family.

(End of this chapter)