Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 239 Zhang Min
"Sister?"

Li Xiangming strode over and came to a female cultivator wearing a light-colored long dress.

The female cultivator was beautiful, with skin as smooth as cream, a straight nose, and red lips and white teeth. When she saw Li Xiangming, she smiled gently and said, "I came in a hurry and haven't had a chance to congratulate Junior Brother Li on his marriage yet."

"It really is Senior Sister!"

Li Xiangming was a little excited and hurriedly asked, "When did they arrive? Why didn't I receive any notification?"

The woman before him was named Zhang Min. She was a disciple of the Green Cloud Cave and one of the few friends he had made in the Green Cloud Cave.

However, Zhang Min was much older than him, so rather than saying that the two had a mutual relationship, it would be more accurate to say that the senior sister was taking care of him unilaterally.

When Li Xiangming was in Green Cloud Cave, he was often ostracized. It wasn't that the other disciples disliked him, but rather that they felt that a family disciple like him was an outsider.

Everyone serves Green Cloud Cave, but after you come of age, you must return to your own family.

So what's the point of our intersection?

Based on this, even though Li Xiangming's aptitude and cultivation were quite good, few people in Green Cloud Cave were willing to take him along.

Zhang Min, on the other hand, has a gentle personality and is very good at taking care of other people's feelings.

Seeing that Li Xiangming was isolated, he often came to visit him.

Zhang Min was the seventh in the cave and one of the four true disciples under the Green Cloud Fairy. She had a high reputation in the cave. Thanks to her deliberate care, Li Xiangming's isolation in the sect was alleviated, and he was able to spend ten years in peace.

Therefore, Li Xiangming has always respected this senior sister.

Several months ago, he sent out wedding invitations to his sect, with Green Cloud Fairy and Zhang Min receiving only one each.

However, after such a long time without any news from Green Cloud Cave, Li Xiangming originally thought that no one would come.

"I infiltrated this place posing as a rogue cultivator; your family probably doesn't know my true identity yet."

Zhang Min covered her mouth and smiled, a hint of playfulness flashing in her eyes: "I was planning to give you a surprise, but unfortunately you found out beforehand."

"Just being able to see you in person, Senior Sister, is already a wonderful surprise."

Li Xiangming was very happy, but suddenly he noticed that Zhang Min's hair was tied up, no longer the long hair that reached her waist that he remembered.

"Senior sister, you also have a cultivation partner?"

Li Xiangming couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Min chuckled and said, "Of course, not long after you left the sect, I became your third senior brother's Daoist partner."

"I see."

Li Xiangming sighed. Zhang Min was the most beautiful woman in Green Cloud Cave, but now she's taken. It must have made so many people heartbroken and weeping.

"How is Master's health?"

Li Xiangming followed up with the question.

"not good."

When Zhang Min brought up this topic, her expression darkened slightly.

Li Xiangming was somewhat surprised, as Fairy Green Cloud was indeed injured before he left Green Cloud Cave.

However, according to his observation, the injuries were not serious.

The reason it hasn't healed is largely due to the fact that Fairy Green Cloud's attempt to forcibly break the mirror failed.

Ten years have passed since then.

"Old wounds have healed, but new wounds have appeared."

Zhang Min sighed and said, "My master was recently defeated in a magical duel and was seriously injured."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming frowned and said with a wry smile, "Is Master's temper still the same as before?"

Despite being a woman, Fairy Green Cloud has a very bad temper.

Even after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, he still frequently engages in combat with others.

It should be understood that the spells and magical artifacts cultivated and refined by cultivators of their level are far beyond what the Foundation Establishment stage's own power can withstand.

If we don't move, nothing will happen; but if we do, there will inevitably be casualties.

"That's just how Master is; we disciples can't persuade him otherwise."

Zhang Min gently shook her head, looking at Li Xiangming with a soft gaze, her tone tinged with helplessness: "Speaking of which, when we were doing business with your Li family before, Master's temper was a little milder."

Li Xiangming's heart skipped a beat. What did those words mean?
Zhang Min's attendance at the wedding banquet was a pretense; her true purpose was to sell spiritual herbs for her sect's Green Cloud Cave.
As expected, Zhang Min continued, "The Li family has been based in Pu County for more than ten years. The grandeur of today's wedding is rare in the world, which shows that the foundation is solid. I wonder if the Li family has a large demand for spiritual herbs?"

The Li family's business dealings with Green Cloud Cave have a long history.

For more than a decade, at least 80% of the spiritual herbs in Green Cloud Cave were sold to the Li family, if not all of them.

The Li family then sold these medicinal herbs to the Hengyue Sect.

Hengyue Sect is large enough to consume most of the herbs themselves, and it has many vassals. By slightly controlling the flow of spiritual herbs, they can digest them all.

In this way, Green Cloud Cave sold all the spiritual herbs, the Li family earned the middleman's profit, and Hengyue Sect and other forces alleviated their demand.

All three parties got what they wanted, so it was a win-win situation.

But all of this came to an abrupt end when the Li family moved to Danggui Mountain.

When Hengyue Sect learned that the Li family was moving, they naturally stopped purchasing spiritual herbs from the Li family and instead looked for new partners.

With Hengyue Sect's prestige and market presence, this was an easy task; people were scrambling to sell them spiritual herbs.

The Li family themselves didn't need the spiritual herb, so they left without any hesitation.

The Green Cloud Cave was the most heartbroken, for losing the Li family meant losing Hengyue Sect, their number one financial backer.

Since then, life at Green Cloud Cave has gotten worse day by day.

Before Li Xiangming returned home, Fairy Green Cloud asked him several times, hoping he would continue to sell the spiritual herbs to the Li family.

However, Li Qianxiong made excuses and talked about other things, his meaning was self-evident.

Green Cloud Fairy was also an arrogant person, and the business between the two families vanished as a result.

They thought that Green Cloud Cave had found a new buyer in the past ten years, but unexpectedly, it still set its sights on the Li family.

Li Xiangming sighed softly, then remained silent in thought.

Li Qianxiong had initially refused the spiritual herbs from Green Cloud Cave, citing his unstable foundation.

Now that the Li family has become the leading cultivation family in Pudong, it is indeed inappropriate to use this as an excuse.

However, the Li family simply couldn't handle the spiritual herbs from Green Cloud Cave.

The Li family was originally from outside the area, and their foundation in Zhangning Prefecture was not as strong as that of the Green Cloud Cave.

The reason why Green Cloud Cave can rely on it is simply because it is a vassal of Hengyue Sect.

When Hengyue Sect needs to purchase spiritual herbs, they naturally give priority to their own members.

It just so happens that the Li family has connections with people who possess spiritual herbs, which caught the eye of the Hengyue Sect, making the Li family appear to have great power and influence.

However, after leaving Hengyue Sect, the Li family immediately revealed their true colors.

Even if you have the spiritual herbs, there's nowhere to sell them.

As a result, Li Qianxiong naturally dared not continue to cooperate with Green Cloud Cave.

Even now, the Li family's strength has grown, with Li Xiangren and Li Qianxiao successively establishing their foundations.

The demand for medicinal herbs has indeed increased.

However, this growth is completely disproportionate to the large supply that Green Cloud Cave had hoped for.

Moreover, Puyin Mountain itself produces spiritual herbs, and in addition to capturing monsters, the beast-catching station also harvests spiritual herbs and medicines from the mountain.

In addition, the Li family's exchange with traveling merchants in Monkey Valley yields a considerable amount of spiritual herbs every month, which is more than enough for the Li family's alchemy workshop and Qingyang Temple.

As for the Shen family of Fengmo Island, who were acquainted with the Li family in the past, and the Cao family of Qingliang Mountain today, they have their own well-established channels for spiritual herbs.

Self-sufficient, no need to seek from outside.

In the end, it all comes down to the Li family's shallow foundation.

There are too few partners.

Under these circumstances, purchasing the spiritual herbs from Green Cloud Cave would be a burden for the Li family.

Although the price of medicinal herbs is stable, large fluctuations are rare.

But this is precisely because each family cultivates too many low-level spiritual herbs.

The Li family won't lose money by buying these medicinal herbs at a low price; they can eventually sell them off gradually.

But time is money. Based on Li Xiangming's understanding of the family head, Li Qianxiong would never exchange spirit stones, which were originally sufficient for circulation, for a batch of surplus spirit herbs and then offer them to the uncontrollable independent cultivators in the market.

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment and asked in a low voice, "The Li family is far away in Pu County. It takes several months to travel back and forth. Why doesn't Master cooperate with the local sects and families in Hao County?"

"Why not? The problem is that this year's deals have already been finalized."

Zhang Min looked worried and sighed, "Those families are unwilling to buy more spirit herbs, but Master is injured, and the spirit stones in the cave have been almost all spent."

"Did you spend all the spirit stones you earned from the spiritual herbs in Green Cloud Cave over the course of a year?"

Li Xiangming was taken aback. "Half a year."

Zhang Min shook her head slightly, "Although the production of spiritual herbs has not changed, only half of them have been sold, so it is actually only equivalent to half a year's income."

Li Xiangming fell silent. Even if a Foundation Establishment power earned spirit stones in half a year, it would still be an astonishing amount.

However, Green Cloud Cave was already in dire straits and even considered selling the remaining spiritual herbs to the Li family to alleviate their immediate crisis.

Needless to say, there must have been serious overspending.

"Master, is her injury serious?"

Li Xiangming confirmed again, and Zhang Min no longer concealed anything, frankly admitting that Fairy Green Cloud had been seriously injured and gone into seclusion. Green Cloud Cave was in chaos, and the disciples were running around trying to find a healing pill that could cure their master.

"The only medicine that can suppress Master's injuries is at least a second-tier pill like the Ice Vein Pill or the Yellow Dragon Pill."

Zhang Min's tone revealed a hint of anxiety and helplessness.

In the cultivation world, the classification of elixirs is not based on their effects or rarity, but rather on the difficulty of their refining.

Common second-tier cultivation pills, such as the Spirit Gathering Pill, are generally priced at 20 spirit stones per bottle.

The Qi-Nourishing Pill that Li Xiangming ate in the Tihu Cave was twice as expensive, costing about 40 spirit stones per bottle.

However, the Herbal God Pill can be sold for 50 spirit stones each.

If sold as a whole bottle, it would cost at least 600 spirit stones.

It is more than ten times different from the Spirit Gathering Pill and the Yuan Nourishing Pill.
But in fact, they are equally difficult to refine. The Green Sheep Taoist could not refine the Grass God Pill, nor could he refine the Spirit Gathering Pill.

The reason for such a large price difference is due to the issues of materials and the success rate of pill production.

Besides the rarity of the materials used in refining Ice Vein Pill and Yellow Dragon Pill and their low success rate, they also have an additional premium label—they can save lives.

It is said that a single Ice Vein Pill can be sold for around 500 spirit stones.

A single Yellow Dragon Pill costs at least seven or eight hundred spirit stones.

Furthermore, these healing elixirs are not available for sale in any of the major shops in the market.

Because these are all heirloom treasures that people acquire without thinking.

Once it's out there, it'll be snapped up immediately, and there won't be a chance for the next person to buy it.

Only when holding medium to large-scale auctions will auction houses deliberately set aside one or two items to be auctioned together with other treasures in order to enhance their reputation. This is also the only way that independent cultivators can buy healing pills of the second rank or above.

However, the price of the elixirs acquired through auction is, as one can imagine, extremely high.

Ordinary independent cultivators have absolutely no chance of getting involved.

Back then, Chi Jingtong was seriously ill and only needed an Ice Vein Pill to save his life.

However, the Chi family couldn't raise 500 spirit stones. Chi Jingtong also understood that even if he had 500 spirit stones, he might not be able to buy the Ice Vein Pill. That's why he was willing to give up his life and dedicate the rest of his time to the Chi family.

Zhang Min's eagerness to sell spirit herbs is undoubtedly a way to collect spirit stones in preparation for Fairy Green Cloud to purchase these expensive healing elixirs.

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment, then sighed and said, "Master is in trouble, and I have an unshirkable duty to help. However, I cannot make this decision on my own. I will report the truth to the head of the family. Whether it succeeds or not depends on the decision of the higher-ups in the family."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Min nodded.

Seeing her disappointment, Li Xiangming added, "No matter the outcome, I will speak up for my master and Green Cloud Cave."

"Thank you very much, Junior Brother Li."

Zhang Min then smiled and chatted with Li Xiangming about their childhood.

After a conversation, the two became much closer.

However, Li Xiangming could sense the subtle attempt to win her over, and he couldn't help but sigh. The innocent and caring senior sister he once knew had now become mature, shrewd, and deep-thinking.

Of course, he himself is not the same as before.
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The Li family held an unprecedentedly grand wedding for Li Xiangming, which not only demonstrated the Li family's influence but also reflected Li Xiangming's status.

This gave some people the opportunity to get close to the Li family through Li Xiangming in order to seek personal gain.

In no time, wherever Li Xiangming went, all sorts of business opportunities, chances, and requests came one after another.

These things may seem unimportant, but you can't help but write them down, just in case they're true.

There's too much to say, and it's hard to tell what's true and what's false.

Li Xiangming was already exhausted after spending less than two hours on the field.

Li Xiangcheng noticed his cousin's predicament and stepped forward to help him drink, while advising, "Why don't you go and see your sister-in-law first? Xiangzhen, Jihu, and I are enough here."

Li Xiangming knew that Li Xiangcheng meant well, so he nodded, then told Li Chenglu that he planned to return to Fengming Tower to rest.

Since Li Xiangming and Cao Yanjun's wedding ceremony, Li Chengkang has left, and Li Chenglu is currently officiating at the wedding.

Li Chenglu has always been very concerned about the marriages of his fourth son's brothers.

Just then, a black wind suddenly swept in from the horizon, attracting the attention of everyone present.

"It's a foundation-building cultivator!"

someone exclaimed.

"Where did this Foundation Establishment cultivator come from? He doesn't look like he's from the Li family."

The people in the audience were buzzing with discussion.

Li Xiangming frowned and was about to take a few steps to check the situation when he ran into Li Xiangren.

"Brother, it should be Liu Xiong Yu!"

Li Xiangming said in a low voice.

"Ah."

Lee Sang-in nodded without saying anything more.

But his expression was solemn, his eyes were sharp, and his magical power flowed within him, clearly indicating that he was prepared to deal with any unexpected situation.

Li Xiangren was not the only Foundation Establishment cultivator in Changyang Valley. Li Chengkang, Li Qianxiong, and others also sensed the sudden fluctuation of magical power and appeared one after another, staring at the source of the black wind.

In the black wind, a figure gradually became clear, and sure enough, it was Liu Xiongyu.

His appearance made the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Li family tense up, and the atmosphere immediately became tense.

"Three Foundation Establishment cultivators came out to greet me? No, four."

Liu Xiong Yu remained calm and composed, glancing briefly at Qingyang Daoist standing on the Li family's side.

"Why does Chief Liu grace us with his presence?"

Li Xiangming asked calmly.

He didn't think Liu Xiongyu was there to cause trouble; the Li family was well-prepared for such a grand event.

Liu Xiongyu was self-aware and would never take risks lightly.

"I'm just here to offer my congratulations. After all, we've known each other for three years. Aren't you going to welcome me?"

Liu Xiong Yu gave a half-smile.

Li Xiangming's lips twitched. Liu Xianyi and Qin Zhengru were just disgusting to him, but Liu Xiongyu had threatened his life many times.

If we're talking about people he's wary of, Liu Xiongyu is the one he fears most.

How could he possibly welcome that?

However, one shouldn't hit a smiling face, and Li Xiangming was unwilling to ruin the wedding banquet because of Liu Xiongyu, so he forced a smile and said, "Guests are always welcome, as long as they follow the proper etiquette."

"I'm glad you're here. This is my gift to you."

As he spoke, Liu Xiong Yu threw down a deer antler.

Li Xiangming took it, his gaze sharpening; the antlers clearly came from the Wind-Riding Cloud Deer.

The Wind-Riding Cloud Deer is a rare monster in Puyin Mountain. Once it reaches adulthood, it possesses the cultivation level of the early stage of Bone Fusion.

And they come and go like the wind, making them impossible for ordinary people to hunt.

Of course, the Wind-Riding Cloud Deer is a treasure from head to toe.

The half of the deer antler in his hand alone is worth a hundred spirit stones.

After receiving the congratulatory gift, Li Xiangming's expression softened slightly, which at least indicated that Liu Xiong Yu hadn't come to cause trouble.

"Why don't you come down and have a couple of drinks, Chief Liu?"

Li Xiangming extended the invitation.

"No."

Liu Xiong Yu's eyes flickered; his relationship with the Li family could hardly be described as friendly.

Some time ago, he was pursued by the Li family at the Foundation Establishment stage, and it was only thanks to his superb escape skills that he was able to escape.

In the sky, he was confident that even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't catch up with him.

As soon as he sat down on the ground, four Foundation Establishment cultivators surrounded him, leaving him with no way to escape.

"I've come here to take Ma Wu and Gao Can away. These two are of no benefit to your Li family, so why detain them?"

(End of this chapter)