Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 189 Discussion of Daishan

"Senior Brother, I don't want to go back to Lingwu Sect."

"what?"

He Jing was shocked and suddenly grabbed Jiang Liang's shoulder: "Little Liangzi, what nonsense are you talking about? Your master raised you since you were a child. Does that mean I can't even say a few words to you?"

Jiang Liang's eyes were deep, revealing a hint of determination: "I have never had the slightest dissatisfaction with my master. I just feel it is time to go down the mountain to gain experience and seek a breakthrough."

He gently spread his hand, a wisp of magic power swirling around his fingertips: "My cultivation has stagnated for several years. Staying in the sect any longer would only be a waste of time."

He Jing sighed deeply upon hearing this.

Jiang Liang was raised by Master Lingwu from a young age, so his talent goes without saying.

However, his and his second junior brother Pei Wen's talents were no less than Jiang Liang's.

Normally, the resources distributed by Master Lingwu are often divided into three parts for everyone to enjoy together.

As the senior disciple, He Jing never bullied his two junior disciples.

Therefore, the three of them had a very good relationship and all of them reached the seventh level of Qi Refining, and were hailed by outsiders as the Three Heroes of Lingwu.

However, as Master Lingwu moved to Puxian, the Lingwu School expanded rapidly, growing from four people to more than sixty.

Master Lingwu had no choice but to start thinking about the future of the sect and looking for a successor.

In fact, Master Lingwu had already decided on his successor.

He Jing is undoubtedly qualified, has made significant contributions, and possesses exceptional cultivation. As the eldest disciple, he is the perfect candidate to become the sect leader.

But Pei Wen didn't think so. He believed that he was only two years behind He Jing in the sect, and in other aspects he was even better than He Jing.

Therefore, Pei Wen always tried to impress the Venerable Lingwu.

Master Lingwu naturally understood Pei Wen's intentions and could also see the characteristics of his two disciples.

He Jingwen is gentle and humble, and treats people with courtesy. He has many supporters in the sect. Pei Wen is intelligent, flexible and adaptable, and is also a good candidate for sect leader.
In order to select the best leader, Master Lingwu always wanted to observe for a while longer and never expressed his opinion.

This gave Pei Wen even more hope, prompting him to continuously strive for resources and cultivate loyal followers.
Jiang Liang, caught between the two, was repeatedly courted.

Jiang Liang didn't value the sect leader that much; he simply didn't want to harm either side, so he remained neutral.

However, this neutral stance has made him increasingly marginalized in the allocation of resources within the sect, and he is often caught up in frequent sect missions from which he cannot extricate himself.

Naturally, one's cultivation level will not make significant progress.

Given this predicament, it's understandable that Jiang Liang felt disheartened.

"Where do you want to go?"

He Jing did not try to persuade Jiang Liang to stay. He knew that Lingwu Shangren's rebuke was just the fuse.

Jiang Liang actually chose to leave because he and Pei Wen were vying for the position of young sect leader.

But he couldn't give up the power and status that rightfully belonged to him, and he couldn't bring himself to ask Jiang Liang to stand on his side—even if he did, Jiang Liang would definitely refuse.

Therefore, He Jing naturally had no way to persuade Jiang Liang to stay—from a personal perspective, he also did not want Jiang Liang to stay at Lingwu Sect and delay his path to enlightenment.

"I might go to Pushui Market to take a look, or I might ask a few acquaintances for recommendations on good places to go."

"Does Master agree?"

He Jing couldn't help but ask.

"Keep it a secret for me for a while, and I'll formally resign after he calms down," Jiang Liang said in a low voice.

Seeing that Jiang Liang was determined to leave, He Jing's expression seemed both hesitant and relaxed: "Then take care."

"Yes, take care, Senior Brother."

After exploring the last part of Changyang Valley, the two parted ways.
-
"Xiang Ming, the Soul Suppressing Sect has been defeated."

At the Monkey Valley camp, Li Xiangguang burst in, holding a letter in his hand.

After Li Xiangfeng led his demon-hunting team away from Monkey Valley, Li Xiangming urgently needed a capable person by his side. Li Xiangguang was quite clever, so Li Xiangming took a liking to him and kept him by his side as his adjutant.

Soul Suppressing Sect?
Li Xiangming was taken aback, took the letter, and began to read it carefully.

After a long pause, Li Xiangming frowned. "Only a few cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining died?"

Although the Soul Suppressing Sect and the Li family are both Foundation Establishment forces, their sizes are completely unequal.

The Li family has only two hundred cultivators, while the Zhenhun Sect has nearly a thousand disciples.

Any cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining would be extremely valuable to the Li family, but to a major sect like the Soul Suppressing Sect, they would be just so-so.

The death of a few people is far from a serious injury.

To truly hurt the Soul Suppressing Sect, one must at least kill one or two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Where did the news come from?"

"It was delivered by Zhao Jindou."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming nodded.

According to his agreement with Zhao Jindou, the Li family guaranteed Zhao Jindou's position at the Puyinshan Guild Hall, and Zhao Jindou was to provide Li Xiangming with some mainstream or less secret information about Daishan.

As a local strongman in Daishan, Zhao Jindou's information is unlikely to be false.

"It seems that my family called me back because something happened in Daishan."

Li Xiangming murmured to himself.

"Is the head of the household going home?"

Li Xiangguang said in surprise.

"That's right, I received the summons today, asking me to go back and report on my duties."

Li Xiangming knew that the report was just an excuse. When he led the Cao family uncles and nephews into danger, he had only passed on a few pieces of intelligence.

His family did not allow him to return home.

Li Xiangming is currently reforming the animal trapping house and is only halfway through the project. Asking him to go back would be unreasonable.

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiangming instructed, "I'll temporarily entrust all matters concerning the Tianzhu Demon Hunting Team to you. If you have any questions, ask Uncle Qian Su and Xiang Hua."

"I?"

Li Xiangguang was somewhat uneasy.

Li Xiangming looked at him and smiled slightly: "Don't go into the mountains before I come back. Just guard Monkey Valley."

"clear."

Li Xiangguang breathed a sigh of relief and then withdrew.

Watching Li Xiangguang's receding figure, Li Xiangming fell into deep thought.

Currently, Li Xiangguang's performance can only be described as mediocre. He leads his own people with timidity and lacks the necessary decisiveness and courage, which is far from Li Xiangming's expectations.

Although as an adjutant, Li Xiangguang's daily work mainly consisted of relaying messages and receiving guests.

It may seem simple, but it is actually very important.

Li Xiangguang not only had to participate in Li Xiangming's major decisions regarding the Demon Hunting Guild and the Puyin Mountain Hall, but also had to be responsible for supporting the independent demon hunting groups, such as Lü Mao, who had close ties with Li Xiangming.

This means that Li Xiangguang's work scope is wide-ranging and places high demands on his abilities.

Li Xiangguang is far from reaching that level now.

However, Li Xiangming also saw Li Xiangguang's potential. This kid was still very young, three or four years younger than Li Xiangming, which meant that he had plenty of time to learn and improve.
-
The next day.

Li Xiangming braved wind and rain to rush back to Tailai Peak.

The disciples of the Gongweifang guarding the foot of the mountain discovered him and brought him to the Changlinfang.

Since it was Changlinfang, it was just an ordinary meeting.

Without hesitation, Li Xiangming walked straight into the lobby.

Unexpectedly, there were already more than a dozen people scattered around the hall, almost all of whom were familiar faces to Li Xiangming.

Needless to say, the head of the fourth branch of the family also returned, as did Li Chenggeng, the Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed at the northern mine.

In addition, Lee Kyeon-shih of the State Service Bureau and Lee Sang-yu of the State Guard Bureau were also present.

"Xiangming, you're back just in time. Please sit down." Li Qianxiong, sitting at the head of the table, waved his hand.

"Yes."

Li Xiangming cupped his hands in greeting to those around him, casually chose an empty seat, and asked, "Patriarch, why did you summon me back in such a hurry?"

"Something happened at Daishan."

Li Qianxiong's expression turned serious. "Take a look at this first."

As he spoke, a jade pendant flew toward Li Xiangming.

Li Xiangming took the jade pendant and probed it with his divine sense; it indeed contained information about Dai Shan.

Not long ago, the Zhenhun Sect attempted to destroy the spiritual fields under the jurisdiction of a subordinate family of the Shengyi Sect, which was located on the border of the war.

This move brought disaster upon the disciples of the Soul Suppressing Sect, because these spirit fields were all traps.

The moment the disciples of the Soul Suppressing Sect made their move, they activated the array hidden in the spirit field.

What happened next was simple: Shengyi Sect besieged the enemy and attacked their reinforcements. They used an array to trap a small group of Zhenhun Sect disciples, then attracted reinforcements. After a fierce battle, they severely injured one Foundation Establishment cultivator from Zhenhun Sect and killed four Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivators. Other Qi Refining mid-to-late stage cultivators were not counted.

The Soul Suppressing Sect has always been superior to the Victory Intent Sect due to its stronger foundation, but this is the first time it has suffered such a great loss.

This move may indicate a shift in the balance of power in Daishan, which explains why the family attaches such importance to it.

"Look at this again."

Li Qianxiong tossed over a second jade pendant, on which Li Xiangming saw the unique mark of the Flying Fox Cave.

"The Maojing mine vein?"

Li Xiangming's eyes flickered. The jade pendant mentioned that Flying Fox Cave had discovered a vein of Maojing (a type of mineral) a hundred miles away from its base.

This crystal is a high-grade spiritual mineral in the cultivation world. It can efficiently conduct magical power and is an indispensable material for refining high-grade magical artifacts. It is even more precious than lapis lazuli.

If Feihu Cave could acquire this mineral vein, becoming rich would be a piece of cake.

However, the mine has now been seized by the Mountain Moving Sect. The Flying Fox Cave is too weak to compete, yet it is unwilling to accept this, so it wants to invite the Li family to jointly seize the mine.

Once the mission is accomplished, Flying Fox Cave is willing to transfer half of the profits from the Maojing Mine to the Li family.

This was no small gain. After receiving the news, Li Qianxiong took it very seriously and immediately sent people to negotiate with Feihu Cave to ascertain the specific situation of the spirit mine. At the same time, he summoned the senior members of his family to repeatedly discuss whether to help Feihu Cave.

All the people present were there because of the Maojing mine.

It wasn't because Shengyi Sect gave Zhenhun Sect a sound beating.

Li Chengzhi stroked his beard and asked, "Xiangming, you've always been decisive. Do you think the family should step in to help Feihu Cave reclaim this mine?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming was somewhat stunned.

The clan elders actually asked for his opinion.
Based on the current selection of people appearing in Changlin House, Li Xiangming easily came to the conclusion that he had unknowingly become a high-ranking member of the family.

Perhaps it's because of the animal trapping enclosure!

Li Xiangming thought to himself, "The Beast Capture House is the largest military force in the Li family on the surface, even stronger than the Guardian Hall."

As the person in charge, even if he did nothing, he should still have an important position and a voice.

Thinking of this, Li Xiangming couldn't help but sigh. He had done a lot in the past, such as taking charge of the accounting office and promoting the development of the beast taming lineage in his family. But at that time, he could only be considered a middle-level manager, and he could only express his thoughts through the head of the family.

Things are different now.

Upon hearing Li Chengzhi's question, Li Xiangming glanced at Li Qianxiong and, seeing his composed demeanor, replied, "Xiangming knows very little. Perhaps we should wait for everyone to speak freely before I offer my opinion."

"That's fine too."

Li Chengzhi did not press for details, but instead discussed the matter with the others.

Everyone started talking at once, and the atmosphere quickly became lively.

“We helped Feihu Cave before, and if we help them again this time, Feihu Cave will inevitably become arrogant and demanding, which will not be conducive to the cooperation between the two families. I suggest that the Li family not help them.”

Li Chengdian got straight to the point and stated his opinion.

"No, it is precisely because my Li family provided timely assistance that Flying Fox Cave repaid our kindness with kindness, which made the cooperation between the two families even smoother."

Li Chengweng shook his head.

“That’s right. If you don’t take what Heaven has given you, you will suffer the consequences. According to the news from Daishan, the Maojing mine is quite large. Even if we only get half of the profits, it will be enough to improve the current financial situation of Danggui Mountain.” The speaker was Li Chenglu from the fourth branch of the family.

"The Mountain Moving Sect is not to be trifled with. If we help the Flying Fox Cave, we will inevitably have to fight the Mountain Moving Sect. What will happen to the casualties during that battle?"

Li Chengdian still opposed it.

"How far is the Mountain Moving Sect from Flying Fox Cave? The reason they were able to occupy this Maojing mine is because the Mountain Moving Sect has always stationed people near Flying Fox Cave. But the one with the geographical advantage is still Flying Fox Cave, which is within a hundred miles."

“If we reach Daishan and take up residence in Feihu Cave, we will have the advantage of terrain. I think we should not worry about our casualties, but rather about their losses.”

"well said!"

Several people stood up to show their support.

After a debate, Li Xiangming got a general idea of ​​what was going on and also learned that most of the people present were in favor of helping Feihu Cave seize the mineral vein.

"Xiangming, what do you think?"

In the end, Li Qianxiong still posed this question to Li Xiangming.

Li Xiangming thought for a moment and replied, "I am against sending troops."

"Oh? Why?"

"Firstly, the situation in Daishan is complicated. If we help Feihu Cave seize the Maojing Mine, we will have to guard the Maojing Mine to prevent the Mountain Moving Sect from counterattacking. In that case, the Li family will most likely be exposed."

"Although the Soul Suppressing Sect suffered a defeat, its strength remains. The Mountain Moving Sect is a key ally of the Soul Suppressing Sect. If we attack the Mountain Moving Sect, it is very likely to provoke a strong retaliation from the Soul Suppressing Sect, and we may even be forced to stand on the side of the Victory Intent Sect and be completely drawn into the Dai Mountain conflict."

"Secondly, although the Maojing vein is precious, don't we also have several other veins such as lapis lazuli? These veins haven't even been mined yet, and we're already eyeing the Maojing vein far away in Daishan, engaging in cross-regional operations. I think that's inappropriate."

"Moreover, my Li family's crafting skills are not yet capable of producing high-grade magic weapons. The existence of the Maojing Mine is merely icing on the cake for us. At most, we can only mine and sell the ore, but we have to take such a huge risk, which is not worth it."

Li Xiangming laid out his thoughts in one breath, and the uncles and great-uncles around him fell into deep thought.

"Xiangming's concerns are valid. If we get bogged down in the quagmire of Mount Dai because we help Feihu Cave, we will suffer a great loss."

Hearing Li Xiangming's consideration, Li Chenglu softened his stance somewhat.

"The problem is, if we don't help Flying Fox Cave, it's impossible for them to take back the mine on their own. At that time, the Mountain Moving Sect will establish a stronghold at the Maojing Mine and completely control Flying Fox Cave. All our efforts last time will have been in vain."

"That's right. With the death of Feihu Cave, our Li family has lost an ally and also lost all our spies in Daishan."

(End of this chapter)