Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 192 Whistleblower
"Xiangxin, Xiangzhen, and Jihu, you must cultivate diligently."

On Tailai Peak, Li Xiangming earnestly gave instructions to several children.

"Uncle Nineteen, when are you coming back next time?"

Li Jihu asked eagerly.

"do not know yet."

Li Xiangming patted the other person's head and sighed.

After three days of intense discussions, the family finally decided to send troops to Daishan.

This time, in order to catch the Mountain Moving Sect off guard, the family sent a very impressive lineup, with Li Xiangren as the commander and Li Xiangyu as the deputy, leading ten elite cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining to compete for the Maojing mine.

Originally, the second wife did not agree to Li Xiangyu going out, but when Li Xiangyu heard that Li Xiangren was going to take action, he couldn't sit still and repeatedly asked to fight. The second wife couldn't persuade him and had no choice but to let him go.

Li Xiangming guessed that Li Xiangyu wanted to see the abilities of Li Xiangren, who had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

In fact, Li Xiangming also wanted to know the gap between himself and Li Xiangren, but unfortunately, he was in charge of the animal trapping room and had to return to Puyin Mountain after the meeting.

In addition to these twelve people, the family also arranged for Li Chengkang as backup and Li Chenggeng as a second line of support, stationed 500 li and 1000 li away from the Maojing mine, respectively.

But Li Xiangming thought that he probably wouldn't need these two people.

Maojing Mine currently has only one mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator and several late-Qi Refinement cultivators.

According to the plan, it was supposed to be Master Duyin of Flying Fox Cave who would lure away the Foundation Establishment cultivator. Then, the disciples of Flying Fox Cave would launch a feigned attack on the mine to expose the guards inside. Finally, Li Xiangren and others would deliver a thunderous blow.

As long as the intelligence from Flying Fox Cave is accurate, Li Xiangren can deal with those Qi Refining stage disciples of the Mountain Moving Sect as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

Li Xiangming's opposition to sending troops to Daishan was never due to his fear of failing to capture the Maojing Mine, but rather to his concern about the dissatisfaction of the Zhenhun Sect behind the Banshan Sect.

Admittedly, the Li family could have gotten close to Shengyi Gate and forcefully taken over the mine.

But what about the future?

The Zhenhun Sect sees the Li family as a thorn in their side, forcing the Li family to rely even more on the power of the Shengyi Sect to protect the mine.

If you need something from someone, you will inevitably be controlled by them.

Entering Daishan is easy, but getting out is difficult.

However, these were not things that Li Xiangming could consider.

As a newcomer, he could at most clarify his own position.

After returning to Monkey Valley, Li Xiangming began his cultivation.

His current cultivation is mainly divided into three parts. The first part is meditation and breathing exercises, which is an indispensable step for any cultivator who wants to improve their cultivation. The difference in talent is basically reflected in this. At the same time, this is also the most time-consuming part.

The second part is the refining of the Weeping Spirit Desolate Sky Rope. Magical artifacts are of great importance to cultivators because they can transmit magical power, meaning that cultivators can use them to cast spells.

This alone is enough to give cultivators wings.

As is widely known, magical power originates from spiritual energy.

Spiritual energy is divided into five elements, but cultivators can breathe in and out any of them. However, because it is difficult to guide the breathing in of spiritual energy other than the main spiritual root, most cultivators can only breathe in and out one type of spiritual energy.

However, even if a cultivator stubbornly breathes in secondary spiritual energy, it can still improve their cultivation level.

Because no matter what kind of spiritual energy it is, after circulating through the microcosmic and macrocosmic orbits, it will only generate pure magical power, that is, magic power without attributes.

The ability to draw non-attribute mana is convenient and quick to use.

However, the cultivation world was not satisfied with the power of attribute-less magic. Some people tried to stimulate different spiritual apertures with magic to produce changes, thus creating the prototype of magic.

In the beginning, magic was just a technique for studying magical power in the cultivation world. However, as this technique matured, cultivators discovered that they could use different combinations of spiritual apertures to produce different effects of magical power, and thus the Five Elements Magic came into being.

In ancient times, the casting of Five Elements spells was very complicated because cultivators had to guide non-attribute magic power to stimulate specific spiritual apertures, turning it into attribute magic power. Then, through several spiritual apertures, the attribute magic power would produce the effect the cultivator desired.

It sounds simple, but it's actually not easy, because cultivators need to guide too many spiritual apertures. The more powerful the spell, the more complex the combination of spiritual apertures required.

Therefore, in order to allow cultivators to concentrate on completing this step, incantations came into being—cultivators chant incantations, allowing their magical power to follow the intonation of the incantation to guide the spiritual aperture, and finally release the spell.

As the cultivation world developed, various combinations of spiritual apertures were discovered. While maintaining their power, spells became increasingly lightweight and incantations became shorter, mostly becoming mere formalities.

The appearance of ritual implements directly undermined the value of incantations.

Because magical artifacts are made of special materials, they are treasures forged by weapon refiners who carefully select spiritual materials from the cultivation world. The higher the level of the magical artifact, the more it can affect magical power.

For example, a fire-attribute magic artifact, after a cultivator infuses it with magic power, will naturally strengthen or transform that magic power. In other words, when a cultivator wants to cast a spell, he no longer needs a rigorous combination of spiritual apertures, but can use the magic artifact itself to replace part of the spiritual apertures, thus reducing the casting time of the spell.

In addition, magical artifacts can also store magical power.

For example, the Qin family's spiritual weapon, the Ganglong Spear, contains a massive amount of high-level magical power. Qin Zhengru can easily kill cultivators of the same level by casually wielding the Ganglong Spear.

However, this magical power was not born out of thin air, but was gradually accumulated through the continuous nurturing of the Ganglong Spear by its successive owners.

The Weeping Spirit Desolate Sky Rope originally possessed immense magical power, but due to the great battles it endured, most of it was lost, and it lost its master and was sealed away for a hundred years, leaving it with no magical power at all.

What Li Xiangming is doing now is not only imprinting his divine sense to make the connection between the Weeping Spirit Desolate Sky Chain and himself closer, but also constantly injecting magic power into it and carefully nurturing it.

The third part is to study the Illusionary Moon Manual.

The Illusory Butterfly left such a deep impression on Li Xiangming that even without guidance in the art of illusion, he did not give up easily.

Just as Li Xiangming was deep in thought, Li Xiangguang burst in.

"A letter from the steward, delivered by Chi Laiyong."

"Lai Yong?"

Li Xiangming was surprised. According to the rules, Chi Laiyong only needed to report to him once a month. It had only been a few days before he contacted him. It must be that something had happened to the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Team.

Li Xiangming immediately took the letter and examined it carefully.

However, they discovered that it wasn't the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Team that had run into trouble, but rather that Lü Mao and the others had found someone following Zhang Zhi'ang, and that the person following him was closely related to Ge Yi.

"interesting."

Li Xiangming lit a flame at his fingertips, burned the letter, and instructed Li Xiangguang, "Immediately notify Zhao Jindou and have him come over."

"Yes."

Since Ge Yi was following Zhang Zhi'ang, he must have intended to do something inappropriate to Zhang Zhi'ang.

There was no direct grudge between the two, so Ge ​​Yi's actions were likely instigated by Zhang Mazi.

Desperate, Zhang Mazi hoped to eliminate Zhang Zhiang and his associates to relieve his own pressure.

Li Xiangming sneered. Since Zhang Mazi didn't play by the rules, he might as well lure him out.

However, things took an unexpected turn for Li Xiangming.

Li Xiangming had just begun his preparations when Li Xiangguang brought over a thin young man, saying he had important intelligence to report.

"What's your name?"

Li Xiangming stared at the other person, his gaze sharp.

“Little…little Wei Fei.”

Wei Fei's cultivation level was not high, and facing Li Xiangming, who deliberately revealed his aura, he couldn't withstand the pressure and quickly prostrated himself on the ground. "Wei Fei..."

Li Xiangming muttered something to himself before speaking, "If I remember correctly, you're from the Lion Demon Hunting Group, right?"

"Your memory is excellent."

Wei Fei's face turned pale. He never expected that the head of the Li family would know about someone as insignificant as him.

Little did he know that Lü Mao and his gang had now joined Li Xiangming's ranks. As the number one enemy of the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group, the Lion Demon Hunting Group, Li Xiangming knew the name of every member of the group.

"Why did you come to see me?"

Li Xiangming asked calmly.

"I'm here to expose Boss Ge, no, Ge Yi, for plotting something with Zhang Mazi."

Wei Fei looked nervous, but his tone of voice remained relatively calm, suggesting he had done a lot of mental preparation.

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming did not speak immediately. Just as the Lion Demon Hunting Team was about to enter his trap, Wei Fei took the initiative to come to his door, which made him feel intrigued.

Half an incense stick's time passed quietly, and Wei Fei knelt on the ground, his body trembling slightly.

Seeing that the other party was about to lose his composure, Li Xiangming asked calmly, "Ge Yi and Zhang Mazi are plotting something. Who are they plotting against? Me?"

Wei Fei was stunned for a moment before replying, "It's not you. They don't have the guts either. They're targeting Zhang Zhi'ang, Old Man Wu, and the others."

"Then why didn't you tell them, but instead came to me?"

"This……"

Wei Fei was caught off guard. Zhang Zhiang and others were capable henchmen of the Puyin Mountain Guild Hall, while Li Xiangming was the owner of the guild hall. If he wanted to inform on someone, he would naturally go to Li Xiangming, so as to maximize his interests.

But he couldn't say that, because the existence of the Puyin Mountain Guild Hall was unknown to the outside world, and Li Xiangming's identity as the manipulator behind it was an even more closely guarded secret.

Given Wei Fei's status and position, he shouldn't have been qualified to uncover such a secret.

If he reveals these secrets to Li Xiangming, it will undoubtedly expose how he learned this information.

When pressed for details, Wei Fei could only admit that he had heard it from Zhang Mazi.

But wouldn't doing this be an admission of guilt, revealing that you are also part of this conspiracy?
In an instant, Wei Fei broke out in a cold sweat.

"Get up now."

Seeing that his intimidating aura was effective, Li Xiangming's expression softened.

Since Wei Fei came here to inform on the truth, regardless of his purpose, he deserves to be called a traitor who has abandoned darkness for light.

He will not pursue his past, at least not in the short term.

Skipping over that topic, Li Xiangming continued, "Tell me how you obtained the intelligence, and what Ge Yi and Zhang Mazi's specific plans were."

"That day, Zhang Mazi came to see Commander Ge... to discuss leaving Puyin Mountain. The commander didn't want Zhang Mazi to leave and offered to resolve Zhang Mazi's troubles by force."

"Later, we realized that Zhao Jindou was a tough nut to crack, so we decided to get rid of Zhang Zhiang and the others first. Ge Yi has been keeping an eye on them for the past few days and is almost ready. We might make our move tonight."

"tonight?"

Li Xiangming's expression was grave. He hadn't expected Zhang Mazi and Ge Yi to be in such a hurry. If he had received the intelligence later, they might have really killed Zhang Zhi'ang.

As a result, the Puyinshan Guild Hall will also suffer heavy losses.

This is definitely not the situation Li Xiangming wanted to see.

"Did Ge Yi go too? What is their personnel distribution like?"

"Because there are three targets, Ge Yi has basically mobilized all his manpower. There are four people each at Old Wu's and Madam Feng's places, mainly at the mid-stage of Qi Refining; Ge Yi personally leads a team of six people at Zhang Zhi'ang's place."

Li Xiangming frowned, more concerned about Zhang Mazi's whereabouts: "Where is Zhang Mazi?"

"Zhang Mazi has disappeared."

Wei Fei looked like he'd seen a ghost: "I was responsible for staying behind to guard Zhang Mazi, but Zhang Mazi disappeared from my side without me even noticing."

Disappeared?
Li Xiangming was taken aback.

There are plenty of people like Ge Yi in Puyin Mountain.

It will not significantly affect the operation of the Puyinshan Guild Hall.

But Zhang Mazi was different. He was very business-minded and had both money and connections, which was enough to squeeze the living space of other itinerant merchants in the guild hall.

This is why everyone was willing to help Zhao Jindou drive away Zhang Mazi.

But this key figure slipped away at this crucial moment.

Li Xiangming's gaze was sharp as a knife as he scrutinized Wei Fei: "You just used the word 'guard,' does that mean Ge Yi doesn't completely trust Zhang Mazi?"

Wei Fei was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, "We used to have a very good relationship, but now..."

Hearing half of it, Li Xiangming already understood perfectly.

Previously, the two cooperated without any worries, their interests were closely intertwined, and their relationship was naturally good. Now, Zhang Mazi is being besieged by Zhao Jindou and others in Puyin Mountain, and all his channels and networks have been cut off. Ge Yi's goods cannot be sold, and he cannot be resupplied, which is extremely distressing.

In fact, Ge Yi could have abandoned Zhang Mazi and instead sought new traveling merchants to cooperate with.

However, Ge Yi and Zhang Mazi had too much cooperation, and the accumulated profits were too high.

As the saying goes, it's hard to go from extravagance to frugality, so Ge ​​Yi naturally wanted to struggle a bit more, attempting to use his most proficient skill—martial arts—to help Zhang Mazi break the deadlock.

But fearing that his efforts would be in vain, he secretly arranged for Wei Fei to keep an eye on Zhang Mazi.

Zhang Mazi was also very clever. He knew that even without Zhang Zhi'ang, or even without Zhao Jindou, as long as the Puyinshan Guild Hall and the Li family were still there, he would not be able to expand his influence.

Therefore, Zhang Mazi had already made a plan. Since Ge Yi intended to take action, he went with the flow, letting Ge Yi assassinate Zhang Zhi'ang and the others, while he himself escaped from Ge Yi and Li Xiangming's sight and ran away in the chaos.

However, his running away almost scared Wei Fei out of his wits.

Ge Yi assassinated Zhang Zhi'ang and others in order to protect Zhang Mazi.

As a result, Zhang Mazi escaped, so even if Ge Yi succeeded in the assassination, it would have been a wasted effort.

So, what crime should Wei Fei, who acted as the guard, be charged with?
If the assassination fails and the matter is exposed, the Lion Demon Hunting Gang will inevitably face severe retaliation from the Li family head and the Puyin Mountain Guild, and Wei Fei's fate will be even more tragic.

Therefore, Wei Fei is currently in an extremely difficult situation.

He didn't intend to betray Ge Yi, but in order to protect himself, he had no choice but to go all the way and sell Ge Yi out while there was still time.

Having figured these things out, Li Xiangming fell into deep thought.

Zhang Mazi has stayed in Puyin Mountain for so long because he was restricted by Ge Yi.

If he really wants to leave, this price war can finally come to a relatively complete end.

As for Ge Yi, as a member of the Demon Hunting Group, his focus on itinerant merchants has broken the rules, which Li Xiangming cannot tolerate.

He must take measures to maintain the order and reputation of the Puyinshan Guild Hall.

(End of this chapter)