Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 377 Return
Tang Xueyan looked at Li Xiangming quietly without saying a word.

Seeing this, Li Xiangming waved his hand: "Lai Yong, you may step back."

"Yes!"

Chi Laiyong respectfully withdrew from the main hall, and the scene fell silent once again.

Li Xiangming broke the silence: "What do you want to say?"

Tang Xueyan took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I know why you asked me to stay. I will guard Xiaolan Valley for you. Once your agreement with the Chi family is over, you can hand Nie Rong over to me."

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment. Tang Xueyan used the word "give" and even called Nie Rong by his name. It seemed that the trip to Daishan had shattered her illusions and made her start to take Nie Rong's identity as a "human puppet" seriously.

The art of puppetry is profound and sophisticated. While powerful puppets do exist, puppets like Nie Rong, which can speak, understand complex commands, and possess a certain degree of independent judgment, are extremely rare in the world.

When he demanded Nie Rong from Hou Xianbo, Madam Zhen was extremely angry, which is enough to prove Nie Rong's special nature. Even Li Chengkang praised Nie Rong as a "perfect" human puppet.

Li Xiangming naturally valued and cherished Nie Rong, intending to have him act as his "protector".

However, his cultivation progressed far beyond expectations, and he later obtained the strange beast "Black Water Serpent," leaving Nie Rong with almost no use for his skills. He was assigned to Xiaolan Valley to protect the safety of the Chi family members.

Years later, Nie Rong lost Madam Zhen's protection, and his cultivation level dropped to the eighth level of Qi Refining, no longer possessing the prowess he once had.

Nevertheless, Nie Rong's value is undeniable, and Li Xiangming could easily find an excellent puppeteer to repair Nie Rong's injuries. As far as he knew, the corpse-driving craftsman of the Five Scattered Sect was a good puppeteer.

In this way, Nie Rong can still be a powerful weapon in his hands.

However, the value of a living person is naturally much higher than that of a puppet.

Tang Xueyan served him in Changyang Valley, Xiaolan Valley and Puyin Mountain. Regardless of her merits, she certainly put in a lot of hard work.

He cannot ignore this point!
After a moment's thought, Li Xiangming finally nodded slowly: "Ten years. You only need to guard Xiaolan Valley for ten years, and then you can take Nie Rong with you. Of course, if you are willing to stay, we will welcome you to either Xiaolan Valley or Changyang Valley."

"Thank you!"

Seeing that Li Xiangming agreed, Tang Xueyan thanked him expressionlessly, then turned and left.

Li Xiangming hesitated for a moment before asking, "Don't you want to know how Nie Rong became like this?"

Tang Xueyan paused, turned around and glanced at Li Xiangming: "It's not important anymore."

After saying that, she didn't linger.

Li Xiangming remained silent. He saw a deep sorrow in Tang Xueyan's eyes, a sorrow that was shocking to behold.

This unfortunate woman was not indifferent to Nie Rong's plight; she simply knew that there was no way to salvage the situation.

Or rather, the two goals that kept her alive—avenging Madam Zhen and finding the missing Nie Rong—were either almost impossible to achieve or had already been "achieved," and she didn't want to kill herself because of the truth.

Watching her desolate figure recede into the distance, Li Xiangming sighed softly. People like Tang Xueyan were not uncommon in the cultivation world, and he, with the support of his family, was already extremely fortunate.

"Head!"

Several shouts brought Li Xiangming back to his senses.

He walked out of the main hall and saw Luo Changqing, Yin Feng and others returning, but his gaze was immediately drawn to Li Xiangcheng in Yin Feng's arms.

"Sect Leader, we're back!"

"Xiangcheng is alright!"

Yin Feng carefully laid the unconscious Li Xiangcheng flat on the ground.

Li Xiangming immediately stepped forward, checked the area, then breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Did something happen?"

"I almost didn't make it back!"

Yin Feng, still shaken, recounted his experiences on the road in detail.

After a long pause, Li Xiangming frowned and asked carefully, "Are you saying that the Tongbei Sect is hunting down Xiang Cheng?"

Yin Feng nodded hurriedly, "That's right, and they're all like madmen, very difficult to deal with. Even Senior Brother Fang suffered a great loss."

Li Xiangming turned his gaze to Fang Renkui, stretched out his palm, and rubbed his shoulder with powerful water-based magic.

After a short while, Fang Renkui exhaled a breath of stale air, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Sect Leader!" Li Xiangming tossed him another bottle of Hundred Herbs Pills and instructed, "Don't move around too much recently, just focus on recovering from your injuries."

"Yes!"

Next, Li Xiangming followed the same method to help Li Xiangcheng regulate his breathing.

After several attempts, Li Xiangcheng vomited a mouthful of blood and remained unconscious.

A flash of anger crossed Li Xiangming's face: "What about the Huang family? Have they gotten involved?"

"No, that's not it. The guy who saved Xiangcheng seems to be surnamed Huang. Let him come up!"

Yin Feng beckoned, and soon a pale-faced cultivator was pushed over.

He was probably in his forties or fifties, with fair skin, a plump figure, and a somewhat noble appearance. However, now his hair was disheveled, his eyes were purple, and his right arm had disappeared down to his shoulder, making him look very miserable.

"This humble one, Huang Zhencan, greets... greets the sect leader!"

Li Xiangming sized him up and asked, "Are you a cultivator from the Huang family?"

Huang Zhencan lowered his head and said weakly, "That's right. The Huang family wanted to protect the Li family members, but the Tongbei Sect insisted on killing them all. I saw that the situation was critical, so I stepped in to save them and escaped from Baolong Valley. I only regret that the pursuers kept coming. I really did my best!"

After saying this, Huang Zhencan covered the wound on his right arm and burst into tears.

After a moment of silence, Li Xiangming waved his hand: "Take him down to rest."

"Yes!"

Someone took Huang Zhencan away, and Li Xiangming suppressed his anger and continued to find out more details.

When he heard that the Tongbei Sect disciples had self-destructed and used Blood Escape, his brows furrowed into knots.

Putting aside Blood Escape, self-destruction is something even cult members wouldn't do.

What exactly is the background of this Tongbei Sect?
"Didn't you manage to capture a single prisoner?"

Li Xiangming glanced at the group of Green Cloud Cave disciples.

Yin Feng replied in a low voice, "Senior Brother Long said that these people were too dangerous. In order to avoid casualties, everyone fought with all their might, so no one was left alive."

Where is Long Yang?

"Senior Brother Long said he would stay behind to cover the rear and should return later."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming had no choice but to turn his attention to Li Xiangcheng.

They originally thought that bringing Li Xiangcheng back would be an easy task.

He only came over as a precaution.

But to their surprise, the Tongbei Sect's ambition and audacity far exceeded their expectations.

These people are actually plotting against Li Xiangcheng!
Li Xiangcheng only has the seventh level of Qi Refining cultivation, so he can't influence the situation in Baolong Valley. He shouldn't be of much value to the Tongbei Sect, at least not worth the "Sect Leader" leading a dozen people to hunt him down.

The only thing about this kid that deserves attention is his identity as a member of the Li family.

In other words, the Tongbei Sect's pursuit of Li Xiangcheng was very likely because he shared the surname Li.

This is far from what the Li family had envisioned.

Thinking of this, Li Xiangming's expression darkened again. "Xiao Feng, let everyone go and rest for a while. You might have to go through all that trouble."

Yin Feng paused for a moment, then nodded.

The disciples of Green Cloud Cave gradually dispersed.

Li Xiangming carried Li Xiangcheng back to his room and treated his injuries again.

It's unclear how much time passed before Li Xiangcheng coughed a few times and slowly opened his eyes.

Upon seeing Li Xiangming before him, Li Xiangcheng froze for a moment, then threw himself at Li Xiangming, weeping bitterly, "Nineteenth Brother, Ling'er... Ling'er, she..."

(End of this chapter)