Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 254 News
The foal born yesterday by Huolinju is already taking its first steps today.

Led by Cao Yanjun, the group entered a spacious and bright private stable to watch the foals perform.

The foal largely inherited its mother "Qingfeng's" hair color, with a coat of bluish-gray down that looks both neat and pure.

Its tail and limbs, however, are unique, displaying a striking and stunning crimson flame color.

If you were to single out this mother and foal and ask someone unfamiliar with the subject to identify them, most people would probably think that the foal is more fitting for the name "Fire Kirin Horse".

Besides the color of its coat, the foal's facial features also differ significantly from "Blue Phoenix".

"Qingfeng" is entirely grayish-blue, with only a touch of red fur on its forehead, which is its symbol as a member of the Fire-Scaled Steed clan.

The foal, however, had none of this on its face. Instead, it had a "V"-shaped white hair that extended from its brow to its cheek.

There's also a small bulge hidden in the middle of the "V" shape.

"The father of this foal is a Jade Horned Cloud Steed in the middle stage of Spirit Awakening. If nothing unexpected happens, it should also grow a jade horn when it grows up."

As Cao Yanjun introduced the horse, he led the Jade Horned Cloud Steed from the next stable.

"Among the horse demons currently existing in Shifang Valley, only the Jade Horned Cloud Steed can combine with the Fire Scale Steed to give birth to such a unique and different foal."

Speaking of which, this Jade Horned Galloping Horse was actually sold to the Geng family.

At the time, due to its outstanding appearance, its price was comparable to that of a late-stage summoning beast.

However, demonic beasts are not spirit pets after all, so even if they are expensive, they won't be that valuable. The Li family didn't want to offend the Geng family, so they accepted them all.

Unexpectedly, it came in very handy in Cao Yanjun's hands.

After seeing the foal and the Jade Horned Galloping Horse, Li Qianxiong and the others nodded in praise.

Although the foal inherited some characteristics of the Fire-Scaled Horse, overall it inherited more features of the Jade Horned Cloud Horse, especially its iconic jade horn.

In this way, the Li family would have something to say.

What? You're saying our Li family stole your Luo family's Fire-Scaled Steed?

Please take a closer look at this corner!
Whose fiery steed has such long horns?

"Yanjun, you did a great job!"

Li Qianxiong's gaze lingered on the foal, growing more and more satisfied with it.

He knew that once riding pets became common in the family, the family's operational efficiency and strength would be significantly improved.

"It is not enough for new species to be born."

Cao Yanjun shook his head slightly: "We still need to find a way to preserve this breed. After all, we only have one Qingfeng, and Qingfeng is already overburdened. A true riding pet can only be born when the foal grows up and the third generation of foals is born."

"And to have a qualified riding pet, it would probably take several generations of targeted training."

"It's alright. Getting off to a good start is already a great achievement."

Li Qianxiong waved his hand. If they could bring in a second-tier beast tamer and cultivate their own spirit pet breed in three to five years, catching up with those long-established beast taming families, wouldn't they have lived in vain?
The Li family neither belittles themselves nor looks down on others.

In the art of beast taming, the Li family's initial goal was to accumulate experience over a century.

Nowadays, it's not unacceptable to spend 30 to 50 years training your own riding pet.

With Li Qianxiong's support, Cao Yanjun breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that the head of the family would not understand this aspect and would be too eager to achieve results, which would only ruin the current excellent situation.

"By the way, please give the foal a name, Master."

Cao Yanjun suddenly thought of something and respectfully asked, "If nothing unexpected happens, the Li family's future riding pets will develop in the direction it is now."

"Name?"

Li Qianxiong looked at the foal, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, "Let's call it Jade Horned Qilin."

Everyone nodded in agreement. The name was grand, but it symbolized a bright future for the little colt and the Li family.
-
After seeing off the patriarch and elders, Ten Directions Valley quickly returned to peace.

Li Xiangming held Cao Yanjun's hand, feeling happy for her.

Just now, Li Qianxiong promoted her to deputy head of the animal breeding center, the same rank as Li Xianghong.

This is an extremely rare precedent.

Prior to this, no female cultivator in the Li family had held a high position.

The reason is simple: most female cultivators from families marry out through the system of arranged marriages.

The female cultivators they married were of average talent and cultivation level, and were not capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities.

Even Cao Yanjun, despite possessing the aptitude of three spiritual roots, had his cultivation level stuck at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

He was far inferior to Li Xiangming, who was at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she is unlikely to become the deputy head.

However, Cao Yanjun was a special case. The reason why Li Qianxiong chose to abandon the Shen family and instead set his sights on the Cao family was because of this.

The reason is that the marriage partner offered by the Cao family is a second-tier beast tamer that the Li family desperately desires.

Now that Cao Yanjun has successfully cultivated the "Jade Horned Qilin," it once again proves the value of a second-tier beast tamer.

Li Qianxiong naturally wanted to win him over by all means. Although this position as deputy head was unexpected, it was also reasonable.

However, Li Qianxiong also had his own ideas. He appointed Cao Yanjun as the deputy in charge, but only assigned him the task of cultivating the "Jade Horned Qilin". His purpose was self-evident.

The authority over the animal breeding center will not be given to outsiders, even though Cao Yanjun is Li Xiangming's Daoist partner.

Li Xiangming was worried that Cao Yanjun was upset, so he tried to comfort her.

But Cao Yanjun didn't mind at all, because she was a member of the family and knew the family system very well.

If the situation were reversed and Li Xiangming were to marry into the Cao family, even if he were outstanding, it would be difficult for him to enter the Cao family's decision-making level.

The Cao family can trust the children born to the two, but they will not unconditionally trust the son-in-law.

The situation is the same for both.

Moreover, Cao Yanjun himself preferred quiet and was unwilling to travel around for the Li family like Li Xiangming.

For her, being able to enjoy the status and benefits of the deputy head without having to rely on Li Xiangming's resources for cultivation was already enough to satisfy her.

Seeing that Cao Yanjun was understanding of the family head, Li Xiangming breathed a sigh of relief and gently embraced Cao Yanjun.

In the deserted valley, the two poured out their hearts to each other.

After an unknown amount of time, the tranquility of the valley was finally broken.

Tong Wunan rushed in. When he saw the two people huddled together, he immediately lowered his head and coughed.

Cao Yanjun's cheeks flushed, and she gently pushed Li Xiangming away, asking with a hint of embarrassment, "Uncle Tong, what's wrong?"

Tong Wunan shook his head and looked at Li Xiangming: "There's a letter from the son-in-law."

"My letter?"

Li Xiangming was somewhat surprised and stepped forward to take a paper envelope.

The envelope is stamped with a unique flame symbol.

This is the exclusive seal of Changlinfang; no wonder Tong Wunan was in such a hurry.

Li Xiangming's expression was solemn. He opened the envelope and found that it was indeed Xuanwang's paper.

As one probes into it with one's divine sense, fine characters slowly emerge on the Xuanwang Paper.

Li Xiangming's face lit up with surprise after just one glance.

But then he fell into deep thought.

The letter was sent back by someone from the Shi Jin Fang branch of the Li family. The Shi Jin Fang branch of the Li family also had people in Zhangning Prefecture.

These people do some small business; profits and losses are not important. Their goal is to maintain the Li family's influence in Zhangning Prefecture.

After all, the Li family rose to prominence in Zhangning Prefecture. Even if the entire clan moved away, at that time, no one knew whether the Li family could establish themselves in the new environment.

Therefore, the Li family deliberately left themselves a backup plan, making full preparations for their return to Hao County.

However, as Danggui Mountain prospered, these backup plans were gradually withdrawn.

In particular, Li Qianxiong has been pursuing de-Zhangning Prefectureization, and the Li family's influence in Zhangning Prefecture has become extremely low.

Currently, only one or two members of the Li family remain in Hao County as monks of the Shijinfang sect.

They each recruited some subordinates and continued to establish themselves in Zhangning Prefecture through business, acting as the eyes and ears of the Li family.

As the deputy head of the Foreign Affairs Department, Li Xiangming was one of these people's direct superiors.

Therefore, Li Xiangming once issued them a secret mission.

That is to find a treasure to restrain evil thoughts.

A year ago, Li Qianchang from Jinfang, Haoxian City, heard that Green Cloud Cave had been attacked by a group of mysterious cultivators.

This Green Cloud Cave is Li Xiangming's sect, so Li Qianchang has always paid close attention to it.

No matter how much he inquired, he couldn't get any more details. Furthermore, Green Cloud Cave had already closed its gates, and the mysterious cultivator had vanished without a trace.

The matter was thus concluded, and Li Qianchang paid no further attention to it.

However, just two months ago, Green Cloud Cave suddenly contacted Li Qianchang, sending a signal for help.

Li Qian often inquired with concern, but the other party was vague and left quickly.

Suspicious, Li Qian often sent people to Green Cloud Cave to inquire.

The Green Cloud Cave has not had an easy time in recent years. Green Cloud Fairy has been injured several times, and many of her disciples are in distress.

But this time, when Li Qian made the inquiries, he found that Green Cloud Cave no longer looked so gloomy, and many unfamiliar faces had appeared.

Having spent years mingling in the streets, he immediately sensed something was amiss.

But when he investigated further, Green Cloud Cave didn't seem to be in any danger.

Now that Green Cloud Cave has severed ties with the Li family, even if there is a real crisis, the Li family may not necessarily travel all the way to Hao County to help, especially given the current seemingly "unharmed" situation.
Li Qianchang therefore only sent a message home that there might be something unusual about Green Cloud Cave, without mentioning the need for help.

He received a reply from home quickly, which he ignored.

Therefore, Li Qianchang dealt with the Green Cloud Cave matter in a cold and indifferent manner.

In fact, the people from Green Cloud Cave never looked for him again.

But after a while, he thought of Li Xiangming again, thinking that the deputy hall master might be paying attention to the intelligence about Green Cloud Cave.

He then had a sudden inspiration to find an intelligence merchant to inquire about the current situation of Green Cloud Cave.

The man only replied with four words: Enlightenment Spring!
Upon hearing about the Enlightenment Spring, Li Qian was greatly surprised.

This is because it is a famous spiritual water in the cultivation world, and it is said that refining it can greatly enhance a cultivator's comprehension.

Even spiritual water cannot fundamentally improve one's comprehension.

The Enlightenment Spring purifies the mind and eliminates distracting thoughts, enabling cultivators to focus more intently during practice and achieve astonishing enlightenment.

This is exactly what Li Xiangming needs to control his evil thoughts.

Li Qian immediately relayed the news of the Enlightenment Spring back to his family.

Upon seeing this, Changlinfang immediately classified the news as top secret and sent it to Shifang Valley as soon as possible.

"The Enlightenment Spring"

Li Xiangming's eyes were exceptionally bright. Ever since he witnessed Li Xiangyu's Crimson Flame Spirit Fire, he had longed for such a rare and wondrous treasure.

Unfortunately, he was a water cultivator and could not refine spiritual fire.

Spiritual water is even rarer than spiritual fire, and it is nowhere to be found.

Therefore, he dared not have any extravagant hopes.

But now, news has emerged that a spiritual spring for enlightenment has appeared in Hao County.

This was undoubtedly fantastic news for him.

However, the Enlightenment Spring is also related to his sect, Green Cloud Cave.

Thinking of this, Li Xiangming frowned.

He had no doubt that Green Cloud Cave might be in crisis; otherwise, Zhang Min wouldn't have traveled all the way to Pu County to sell spiritual herbs.

But will Green Cloud Cave have spiritual water?
Li Xiangming was skeptical of this.

If Fairy Green Cloud truly possessed the Enlightenment Spring, why would she have lingered in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage for over forty years?

Moreover, the news about the Enlightenment Spring was just one-sided information from an intelligence broker.

This made Li Xiangming even more suspicious of the authenticity of the spiritual water.

However, this information broker was quite interesting; Li Xiangming had heard his name more than once.

Xu Zibu!
It was through this person that Tang Xueyan learned of Madam Zhen's whereabouts.

Li Xiangren also learned from him about the Mangjiao's several outlying strongholds in Puxian County, and eliminated them one by one.

It is said that the Mang Sect was severely damaged by the Hengyue Sect and forced to turn its activities to Puxian County, which was also due to this person's efforts.

Therefore, it is clear that Xu Zibu was absolutely qualified as an intelligence broker.

In particular, his sources of information about the Mang Cult are extremely credible.

The Mang Sect is no simple sect. It not only has a highly accomplished leader like Hou Xianbo, but also a former protector like Liu Xiongyu.

Even among Qi Refining cultivators, there are figures like Blind Luo.

Li Xiangming would be the first to disbelieve that the Mang Cult never retaliated against Xu Zibu.

Even so, Xu Zibu remains at large, demonstrating his considerable abilities.

After reading the contents of the letter, King Xuan's paper spontaneously combusted and turned to ashes.

This indicates that Changlinfang only recorded Li Xiangming's consciousness on this piece of paper.

Cao Yanjun has been married into the Li family for over a year and has a basic understanding of the Li family's system.

She immediately understood the importance of the letter and asked softly, "What happened?"

Li Xiangming held Cao Yanjun's hand, his heart filled with turmoil, but he didn't know how to speak.

Since it involved the Enlightenment Spring, he had to personally go to Hao County to find Xu Zibu and get to the bottom of things.

However, if he told the truth, Cao Yanjun would definitely insist on going with him.

Unfortunately, this Enlightenment Spring is also connected to the Green Cloud Cave.

According to the letter, Green Cloud Cave undoubtedly presents a potential crisis.

Cao Yanjun's cultivation level is limited, and following me would be too risky.

While thinking, Li Xiangming had already woven a lie: "It's nothing, it's just that my master's injuries have improved, and Senior Sister Zhang Min thanked me for sending the Yellow Dragon Pill."

Cao Yanjun frowned slightly. She knew in her heart that if it were just a letter of thanks, it wouldn't have made Li Xiangming so thoughtful.

She looked directly into Li Xiangming's eyes and asked softly, "You're not hiding anything from me, are you?"

"how could be?"

Li Xiangming smiled slightly, picked up Cao Yanjun in front of Tong Wunan, and whispered in her ear, "It's still early, why don't we practice the Lingxi Bihe Xuan Gong for a while?"

Cao Yanjun's face turned red all the way to her neck.
-
Tailai Peak, Changlin House.

Li Qianxiong put down his work and looked at Li Xiangming seriously: "Are you going to Zhangning Prefecture now?"

Li Xiangming nodded and replied, "Xu Zibu can sell information to Uncle Qianchang, and he can also sell it to others. The sooner we go there, the more advantageous it will be for me."

Upon hearing this, Li Qianxiong pondered for a moment.

"Should I have Xiangren accompany you there?"

"Thank you, Master."

Li Xiangming was overjoyed; he had been waiting for these words.

Zhangning Prefecture is different from Shun'an Prefecture, where there are Foundation Establishment sects and aristocratic families everywhere.

There are even quite a few independent cultivators who have already reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Although his trip was only to gather information, he was also worried about unexpected events, and having Li Xiangren to look after him was undoubtedly the best thing.

Li Qianxiong glanced at him helplessly and reminded him, "If the news about the Enlightenment Spring is false, you should come back quickly, as I still have a great use for Xiangren. If it is true, do not act rashly. Send the news back to the family, and we will help you fight for it."

At this point, Li Qianxiong fell silent for a moment, recalling the past: "Back then, Xiangyu's father, because of his eagerness, although he found the Crimson Flame Spirit Fire, he was buried forever in a foreign land."

"Don't worry, Master, I know what I'm doing."

Li Xiangming responded solemnly, saying that since it concerned his life, he was still very cautious.

"Go ahead, I'll cover for Yan Jun, but you'd better send a message back from time to time."

Li Qianxiong waved his hand, knowing that Li Xiangming had long suffered under the evil Green Robe, and had even submitted to Liu Xiongyu for three years.

Now that he has finally found something to suppress his evil thoughts, and it is spiritual water that is extremely compatible with him, how can he restrain himself?

Thinking of this, Li Qianxiong took out a talisman with magical flames burning on its surface from his sleeve and handed it to Li Xiangming: "Take this talisman with you."

Crimson Cloud Talisman?
Li Xiangming was slightly startled. Although the Crimson Cloud Talisman was a second-tier talisman, its power far exceeded that of the Flame Burst Talisman of the same tier, and it was enough to injure most Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Even cultivators in the late Foundation Establishment stage dare not confront it head-on.

However, in actual combat, Qi Refining cultivators rarely have the opportunity to attack Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Nevertheless, Li Xiangming still felt more confident. He bowed and cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you, Patriarch!"

(End of this chapter)