Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 23 The Way of Beast Taming

Li Xiangming offered a series of suggestions in response to the situation where the Li family had no one available, which Li Qianxiong found quite agreeable.

Soon, the conversation turned to the topic of "lack of power".

"Although our Li family has acquired Danggui Mountain, we have also lost Hengyue Sect as our backer, which is a hidden danger."

At this point, Li Xiangming couldn't help but ask, "What is our relationship with the Bailu Sect?"

Bailu Sect is currently the dominant force in Pu County. Perhaps because the Golden Core cultivator has not yet arrived, Bailu Sect does not yet have the strength to control the entire Pu County.

However, for other cultivation forces, the White Dew Sect is already a behemoth.

"Three years ago, Hua Lun, an inner elder of Bailu Sect, promised to take care of our Li family. However, in the years since then, we have only corresponded with each other and rarely returned."

Li Qianxiong shook his head. Hua Lun was only saying that out of respect for Xuanli Zhenren; in reality, he didn't care about the Li family at all.

Xuanli Zhenren is a Golden Core cultivator from the Hengyue Sect. He is of the same generation as Li Huinan and they have known each other for decades. He is the Li family's biggest backer in the Hengyue Sect.

However, Master Xuanli was too far away to reach him, and with the Li family having broken away from Hengyue Sect, this connection could no longer be used; otherwise, it would be ungrateful.

“We have no business dealings with the Bailu Sect, and we have not interacted with them for the past hundred years. It is normal for the Bailu Sect to look down on us. Even if the True Man Xuanli personally wrote a letter, it would not change the Bailu Sect’s mind.”

Li Xiangming pointed out the crux of the matter: mutual benefit is the foundation for the two families to support each other, just like the Li family and Green Cloud Cave in the past.

When the relationship ended, even the Green Cloud Fairy and Li Qianxiong, who used to call each other brother and sister, grew to hate each other.

"But our Li family is not even stable yet, so where would we get the benefits to share with the Bailu Sect?"

Li Qianxiong smiled wryly. He recalled the third point Li Xiangming had made: financial worries. It really hit the nail on the head.

The Li family is currently operating at a loss. With only two stores in Pushui Market, the spirit stones they earn are negligible. Li Qianxiong didn't even ask Li Qianhe to hand them over, but instead saved them to start other stores later.

On this side of Danggui Mountain, people eat and horses eat, and monthly stipends are paid out. The only visible harvests are some spiritual fields and medicinal fields.

There are also sporadic productions of pills, talismans, and magical artifacts, but these are not even enough to satisfy the needs of the family, let alone generate any profit.

The reason the Li family was able to survive was because they had a foundation. They sold their century-old business in Hao County, which would allow them to hold on for at least another ten years.

“Don’t we still have a few shops in Pushui Market? Instead of renting them out, why not choose two to cooperate with Elder Hua? Elder Hua has extensive connections and should be able to secure a good supply of goods. We’ll take care of the management, and we can share the profits. We’ll just earn a meager living.”

Li Xiangming suggested.

Upon hearing this, Li Qianxiong rubbed his temples, feeling excruciating pain.

“Let me think about it. The shops in Pushui Market are the old man’s life’s work.”

The Li family had long anticipated that Pu County would fall into the hands of Heng State. The Pu Shui Market, which they had initially established, had considerable potential, so they made preparations in advance, spending a lot of money and effort.

The fact that this dowry was given to Hua Lun was something that not only the clan elders but even Li Qianxiong felt extremely unwilling about.

Seeing this, Li Xiangming stopped trying to persuade him. He knew that the interests involved were very complex, and these were things that Li Qianxiong should consider.

So he changed the subject: "Power comes not only from above, but also from those around us. As the saying goes, two fists can't beat four hands. If you want to gain a foothold, you need friends. We should return to the mountains. We are now 'lonely people,' which is also a great hidden danger."

Even if they manage to win over the Bailu Sect, all the Bailu Sect can do is enhance the Li family's prestige; they will not be driven by the Li family.

Those who truly integrate into the Li family circle and become part of the Li family's power are actually the surrounding neighbors.

“I already have plans for this. Over the past two years, I have been sending people to explore the surrounding terrain and have made contact with many families and sects.”

Li Qianxiong didn't elaborate, so Li Xiangming didn't ask any further. Since the family had already taken this step, it shouldn't be a problem to win over a few allies.

Then Li Xiangming shifted the conversation to the topic of finance, which made Li Qianxiong ponder.

Indeed, the biggest problem for the Li family now is their poverty, a phenomenon that didn't just arise after they moved to Pu County.

This has been the case for the past century.

However, since the Li family had previously made a lot of money in the market thanks to Hengyue Gate, they didn't take it seriously.

Li Xiangming knew that "making money" was just an illusion. The Li family used Hengyue Sect as a backer to sell other people's goods and make a profit. Did that mean the Li family was rich?

Does not.

The supply of goods from outsiders is very unstable. They might make a fortune one or two years ago, only to have it suddenly cut off, leaving the Li family to clean up the mess. The only way to support their development is to continuously explore new supply channels and accumulate wealth gradually.

As a result, the Li family had to expend a lot of manpower and energy to maintain this distribution network.

Compared to the costs incurred, the benefits gained were not substantial.

In Li Xiangming's view, this model is not problematic, but it cannot be the main one. The Li family should have a pillar industry that generates stable income.

Otherwise, like now, once they leave Hengyue Sect, they are instantly reduced to their original state.

Former close partners, upon realizing that their goods were no longer under the protection of Hengyue Sect, all made excuses, fearing that the Li family would not be able to sell them.

In fact, others' concerns are not unfounded. If the Li family withdraws from the Hengyue Sect circle, they will have goods but no outlet.

Even if Green Cloud Cave were willing to transfer the spiritual herbs to the Li family, Li Qianxiong would not dare to accept them, otherwise he would not be able to sell them and his allies would become enemies.

"In the past, your second great-uncle trained a group of weapon refiners in order to improve the family's weapon refining skills and earn spirit stones in return, but..."

Li Qianxiong didn't continue. Considering the current state of the Li family, Li Xiangming knew that the plan had failed.

"Later, the family changed their approach and hired two alchemists as instructors, training a total of six alchemists."

At this point, Li Qianxiong sighed. The Li family had paid a heavy price for these six alchemists, but in the end, they all failed in their alchemy endeavors and were unable to make any further progress.

The Li family's alchemy room can now only produce some very basic pills.

Upon hearing the follow-up, Li Xiangming fell silent. It turned out that what Li Chengzhi meant by the flourishing of alchemy and artifacts had such a historical origin.

However, it is clear that the Li family is neither suited for alchemy nor for weapon crafting.

Once bitten, twice shy.

After two fruitless efforts, the Li family naturally became more cautious.

They didn't even dare to vigorously develop other areas, for fear of suffering huge losses.

"What does the patriarch think of beast taming? Pu County is full of monsters, and there will be no shortage of beast taming sects in the future. We are close to Puyin Mountain, so we have a first-mover advantage."

The art of beast taming aims to subdue demonic beasts and transform them into spirit pets that can understand human speech. These spirit pets are quite valuable and are also a way to make money.

Moreover, those monsters that are difficult to tame or have no value in taming can be sent to be slaughtered and turned into spiritual food, which can also be sold.

This is an entire industry chain.

Although it takes a long time to develop and is not as profitable as elixirs, magical artifacts, or talismans, if done well, it can still solve the Li family's poverty situation.

"Puyin Mountain is not easy to conquer."

Li Qianxiong hesitated. Everyone knew that Puyin Mountain was full of demonic beasts, and demonic beasts could be sold for money. Such a gold mine, yet no one had any interest in Puyin Mountain.

The reason is that a large number of demon cultivators still roam Puyin Mountain.

Back then, the demons of Nanbin were defeated and routed, forced to retreat to the edge of Caiyun Sea.

However, a large number of demon cultivators were unable to escape and were trapped in Shun'an Prefecture.

After being surrounded and exterminated, only one in ten of these demonic cultivators survived. The rest fled to Qishan Mountain in Qixian County, Wumu Mountain in Qingshui County, and Puyin Mountain in Puxian County.

Don't underestimate this "one"; it's a behemoth compared to the Wuliang Sword Sect's allied forces and to the current "dismal" state of Pu County, where cultivators are scarce.

Putting aside other matters, there are no fewer than a hundred demon cultivators in the Bone Fusion stage in Puyin Mountain.

Deep within the mountains, there are even powerful demons at the Tribulation Core stage.

If all these demon cultivators were to appear, they could easily plunder Pu County. However, they chose to feign death because of the remaining power of the Boundless Sword Sect.

After all, even demon kings at the Divine Realm level died tragically at the hands of the Boundless Sword Sect, and a large amount of their homeland was taken away. So what if they harbored hatred? Could they defeat the Boundless Sword Sect?

They couldn't even get past the Wuliang Sword Sect, let alone the Hengyue Sect.

(End of this chapter)