Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 205 The Sixth Foundation Establishment

Xixiang City.

After seven or eight years of continuous construction, the city has become quite developed, with a reasonable layout and a population of nearly 20,000 households.

Li Xiangming and Li Jihu walked along the wide road and eventually arrived at Li Xiangyan's home.

At Li Xiangming's suggestion, Li Xiangyan's family moved to Xixiang City.

Li Xiangming secretly gifted him one hundred taels of gold and arranged for one of Li Xiangyan's elder brothers to hold an important position in the city's government office.

Nevertheless, Lee Sang-yeon's father was still not satisfied.

The old man, who had been farming for many years and was already in his early fifties with white hair, did not value money or power. He only wanted to ask for the return of his son's remains.

But this is impossible. According to clan rules, Li Xiangyan can only be buried on Tailai Peak, alongside other clan members who possess spiritual roots.

Mortal blood relatives are, of course, the most important family members for cultivators.

However, once you go up the mountain, you will be a mountain dweller for life, separated from the mundane world.

At most, Li Xiangming and Li Jihu will return some of Li Xiangyan's belongings and help the old man erect a cenotaph.

"Uncle Nineteen, will I end up like Xiangyan, unable to go home?"

Li Jihu was depressed, and his family members were also ordinary people surnamed Li from Changtai Township.

If it weren't for Lee Sang-yeon's recent death, he would have been away from home for almost ten years.

In fact, the Li family did not explicitly prohibit cultivators from contacting mortals. There were quite a few cultivators' family members on Tailai Peak, and it was impossible for all of them to be spiritual root seeds.

Nevertheless, once a cultivator truly embarks on the path of cultivation, who doesn't seize every second?
In the stillness of the night, one may miss loved ones, but as dawn breaks, one breathes in spiritual energy and circulates it throughout the body, and before one knows it, another day has passed.

The concept of time differs between cultivators and mortals. Mortals can accomplish a great deal in a day or two, while in the same amount of time, cultivators may only be able to refine a negligible amount of magical power.

Even to the cultivator himself, this trace of magical power is insignificant, but cultivation level is gradually accumulated from these inconspicuous magical powers.

Throughout their lives, cultivators refine their magical power day after day, year after year. How could they possibly care about worldly family ties?
Especially for branch disciples like Li Jihu, since they came up the mountain, they have been spurred on by the elders of other branches. The effort they put in to reach the sixth level of Qi Refining by the age of eighteen is definitely no less than that of Li Xiangming back then.

"Home is on the mountain, and we are all your family."

Li Xiangming offered a brief word of comfort. He couldn't articulate the profound wisdom and righteousness that Li Qianxiong had conveyed through a series of brainwashing words, but family cultivators, having bypassed the hardships of seeking the Dao, could smoothly embark on the path of cultivation simply by virtue of their bloodline, even without doing anything else.

Whether it's Li Xiangming, Li Jihu, or Li Xiangyan, they are all beneficiaries of this system.

Since you enjoy the benefits, you must also bear the corresponding risks and costs.

At least from the perspective of lower-level cultivators, families bound by blood ties are more friendly than sects.

After hastily handling Li Xiangyan's funeral arrangements, Li Xiangming returned to Tailai Peak without stopping.

Since he brought back news of the Purple Shade Cave, it has caused an uproar in his family.

In the past few days, almost all the senior members have been ordered to return to the family and await the decision of the family head and elders.

On the mountain, a young man with a full beard waved and shouted, "Xiangming!"

Li Xiangming turned around and was immediately stunned: "Fourth Brother? Aren't you still recovering from your injuries?"

Li Xiangru laughed heartily: "My body is fine even if I rest for another ten years. Anyway, it won't hinder my mobility, so I'm going out for a walk."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming felt somewhat guilty. If he hadn't invited Li Xiangru to hunt the Blackwater Serpent, Li Xiangru wouldn't have suffered such serious injuries.

Li Xiangru has survived, but his foundation has been damaged, and it is unknown whether he will have another chance to successfully rebuild his foundation.

Li Xiangru himself seemed quite open-minded, and even punched Li Xiangming on the shoulder, half-jokingly saying, "You're quite capable, kid, reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining so quickly."

"lucky."

Li Xiangming smiled, but he didn't feel happy. The next step after reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining was Foundation Establishment, but he still had no clue how to do it.

Once upon a time, his greatest wish in Green Cloud Cave was nothing more than a Foundation Establishment Pill. He believed that with a pill in hand, he could achieve Foundation Establishment.

When faced with setbacks in reality, I also fantasized that even without Foundation Establishment Pills, I would still strive to establish my foundation.

However, now, with the Foundation Establishment Pill given by the Green Sheep Taoist, the dream of achieving Foundation Establishment has been shattered.

If the evil green-robed man goes berserk during his Foundation Establishment stage, even if he eats Foundation Establishment Pills like candy, it will be of no use.

"The patriarch asked me to summon you to the Changlin residence," Li Xiangru explained his purpose. "Now?"

Li Xiangming was somewhat surprised. During this period, Li Qianxiong had been extremely busy, dealing with the Changyang Valley market, Yu Chong's rebellion, and negotiations with surrounding forces, all of which required the family head to personally intervene.

Now, the Ziyin Cave has become the family's top priority. In the past few days, Li Qianxiong has been discussing the details with the elders at the clan council. It has been a long time since the Changlin branch meeting was held.

"Perhaps it has something to do with you."

Li Xiangru lowered his voice, "You may not know this yet, but your uncle has reached the Foundation Establishment stage."

"what?"

Li Xiangming was taken aback, then exclaimed with delight, "So, our family now has six Foundation Establishment cultivators?"

"That's right!"

Li Xiangru sighed, "My eldest uncle was once the leader of the main branch of the family, and he was also the first cultivator of the Qian generation to attempt Foundation Establishment."

"But he was unlucky and failed his first attempt at Foundation Establishment. Not only him, but several of his uncles of the Qian generation with excellent talent also failed to establish their foundations. Only the patriarch had an epiphany on the battlefield and successfully entered the Foundation Establishment stage."

"It was because of the successive failures of my uncle and others that the family decided to focus on cultivating our generation of people with the character 'Xiang' in their names."

"Now that my eldest uncle has finally overcome his hardships and established his foundation, I wonder if the other uncles will have such an opportunity."

The uncle Li Xiangru mentioned refers to Li Qianxiao. As the eldest brother of the Qian generation and a direct descendant of the first branch of the family, Li Qianxiao is equivalent to Li Xiangren of the Qian generation.

According to the original trajectory, the current head of the Li family should have been Li Qianxiao.

However, Li Qianxiao failed to establish his foundation, and the fact that the eldest branch of the family had controlled the family for two generations aroused dissatisfaction among the second, third, and fourth branches.

Ultimately, Li Qianxiong, who had successfully established his foundation and made outstanding contributions on the battlefield of Pushui, was promoted to the position of family head.

Li Qianxiao, who missed his chance, chose to bury himself in his studies and kept a low profile until a few years ago when he was appointed as the head of the Internal Affairs Hall, which brought him back into the public eye of most of the family.

"There will be a chance."

Li Xiangming casually remarked that there have only been two Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Li family's Qian generation to date.

It's worth noting that even in such a simple cultivation environment, the Cheng generation has produced two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Surely the Li family can't keep going backwards as they get older, can they?

Li Xiangru, however, was not so optimistic. He believed that the Foundation Establishment stage was uncertain; aptitude and cultivation were merely stepping stones, and mindset and luck were also very important.

However, he wouldn't dampen the clansmen's hopes for more Foundation Establishment cultivators to emerge from the family, so he changed the subject, saying, "My uncle was previously the head of the Internal Affairs Hall. Now that he has achieved Foundation Establishment, he will most likely be sent to guard the Maojing Mine. With his departure, someone will inevitably have to take over the position of head of the Internal Affairs Hall..."

Li Xiangru didn't spell it out, but Li Xiangming already understood what he meant.

If Li Qianxiao is going to Maojing Mine, there will definitely be significant personnel changes in his family in a short period of time.

However, only a handful of people are actually qualified for important positions.

No matter who fills the vacancy, there will be an open position.

Li Xiangming, who had an outstanding record in the animal trapping room and was an absolute confidant of the family head, was undoubtedly one of the candidates for these positions.

"What did the patriarch say to you?"

Li Xiangming blinked.

Li Xiangru chuckled: "How could that be? Given the patriarch's personality, no one knows what he's thinking until the very last moment."

"Too."

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment and realized that he had no chance of winning the position of hall master.

The reason is simple: the inner and outer halls encompass almost all of the family's operational structures.

The position of hall master is of utmost importance, but my qualifications are still somewhat lacking.

Unless Li Qianxiong sends him to guard a single-function branch like the Yutang.

However, his family needs him to manage Puyin Mountain, so it's unlikely he'll be transferred away from the Foreign Affairs Hall.

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiangming decided not to speculate and followed Li Xiangru into the Changlin Room.

(End of this chapter)