Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 382 Focus
"Master!"

The pageboy in front shouted, his voice filled with panic.

The young man with disheveled hair slowly flew over, surveyed the dilapidated mountain stronghold before him, and casually asked, "Are there any survivors?"

The pageboy swallowed hard and replied, "There are no survivors, nor any dead."

Upon hearing this, the young man with disheveled hair landed on the ground, touched the wooden gate of the village that had been damaged by the impact of the great force, and walked forward a dozen steps until he encountered a small grass struggling to grow from the messy soil, at which point he stopped.

"Master, what is this?"

The pageboy was puzzled to see the young man with disheveled hair kneel down and silently watch the grass.

"nothing."

The young man with disheveled hair stood up and said calmly, "Killing is easy, but cleaning up is difficult! Judging from the moisture level of the soil and the growth rate of the grass, the Tongbei Sect was destroyed in less than two days. But our opponents cleaned up very well. Not only were the corpses gone, but the smell of blood and the residual magical energy also disappeared. With such a cautious attitude, Zeng Sheng's death was not unjust."

"Then what do we do?"

The pageboy turned pale. The Tongbei Sect had been destroyed, and the master's eyes looked like he had swallowed a person whole!
The master was already dissatisfied with the fourth young master. If they returned empty-handed this time, it was unimaginable how angry the master would be!

"It's alright, I brought the Netherworld Ancient Mirror with me."

The young man opened his palm, revealing a mirror the size of a palm.

The mirror was dark and gloomy, but as the young man infused it with his magic, a hazy beam of light shone on the grass.

Suddenly, the grass in the mirror disappeared, turning into a flat piece of land.

Immediately afterwards, a massive flood swept in.

The snake demon in the water lashed its tail wildly, causing all the gray-clad youths around it to cough up blood and stagger backward.

"Black Water Snake?"

The young man blurted out, his eyes flashing with shock.

Even the carefully controlled magical power began to fluctuate.

The beam of light from the mirror was affected and disappeared instantly, leaving the mirror surface dark again.

"Young Master, what is the Black Water Serpent?"

The pageboy couldn't help but ask.

The young man with the loose hair pondered for a moment before replying, "It is a strange beast recorded in ancient books. It has the ability to change its size and is especially good at water escape. For the past five hundred years, I have only heard that such a strange beast is distributed in Caiyun Sea. I did not expect it to appear in Pu County."

"Is it great?"

The pageboy was still puzzled.

The young man with the disheveled hair shook his head: "Powerfulness is secondary; after all, even the most powerful demonic beast is still just an animal. But I've never heard of anyone subduing the Blackwater Serpent. If this beast were used by humans..."

The young man didn't say the rest, but a deep sense of apprehension flashed in his eyes.

Monsters are naturally stronger than humans. Even cultivators who have achieved success in their cultivation cannot compare with monsters in terms of physique.

Even magical power of the same level is often inferior to demonic power.

Why is it that the cultivation world of Heng Kingdom is able to seize large tracts of demon land from the demon race of Nanbin?

There are many reasons, but the most important one is strategy!

Most monsters are less intelligent than humans and are accustomed to acting on instinct.

Although the instincts of demonic beasts endow them with powerful combat strength, a Qi Refining cultivator may not fight you with Qi Refining level magic power, but rather with talismans and magic weapons that even Foundation Establishment cultivators fear as their trump cards.

With the help of external forces, this Qi Refining cultivator was also adept at summarizing tactics and setting traps.
His demonic opponents, however, had absolutely no concept of these things.

Secondly, unity is crucial.

Human cultivators would never impulsively engage in hand-to-hand combat with demonic beasts.

For example, demon hunters consist of seven or eight, or even a dozen or more, cultivators who hunt a demon beast whose cultivation level might be lower than any one of them.

The success rate of such monster-hunting activities is self-evident.

However, monsters tend to prefer to be alone, and the more powerful the monster, the more so.

Among them, there is no concept of "those who are not of our kind must have different hearts".

Perhaps there are, but the races of monsters are ten thousand times more complex than those of humans.

Hatred between ethnic groups is no less intense than hatred between humans.

The idea of ​​uniting all the monsters is simply a pipe dream.

Another very important point is that the growth time of demonic beasts is much longer than that of human cultivators.

Aside from a few exceptional cases, it takes at least three to five hundred years for a normal demon beast to reach the Bone Fusion stage.

Five hundred years is enough for a cultivator with exceptional talent to reach the Nascent Soul stage.

Nascent Soul cultivators and Bone Fusion demon cultivators are not equal beings at all.

The monsters could only retreat in defeat.

However, the history of demonic beasts is longer than that of cultivators, and their lifespan is far beyond that of humans.

Even among the demon race of Nanbin, there are many demon kings who have lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Their intelligence is no less than that of humans, and they can even take human form, learn knowledge from the human world, and use talismans and magical artifacts just like human cultivators.

In this way, the advantage that human cultivators relied on "external objects" vanished.

However, their physical strength and magical power are inferior to theirs.

Only by relying on numbers can one gain the upper hand.

However, due to limitations in "qualifications" and "resources," humanity cannot always produce high-end combat capabilities.

In certain cultivation regions, human cultivators may not have produced any Nascent Soul cultivators or those at a higher level for hundreds or thousands of years. However, demon cultivators are different; they do not have the concept of "aptitude," or rather, "bloodline power" is their "aptitude."

High-ranking demon cultivators can increase their demonic power even if they lie still, as long as they have enough time to practice breathing exercises.

Similarly, demonic beasts do not have the concept of "spiritual root".

Although humans have a strong reproductive capacity, only a small portion of them become cultivators.

As long as a demon beast has an environment rich in spiritual energy to breathe in, it can naturally become a "quasi-demon". With just a flash of inspiration, it can vaguely recall the cultivation method that remains in its bloodline and become a demon cultivator.

This has resulted in the number of demonic beasts being many times greater than that of cultivators.

Even though human cultivators have exhausted their wisdom and developed the cultivation world into such a vast place, they are still competing with demonic beasts for living space.

While the cultivation world of Heng Kingdom had driven the demon race of Nanbin into a corner, there were countless stories of demons destroying human habitats in other countries and regions.

The Blackwater Serpent is undoubtedly a high-level demonic beast with great potential!
This thing, left to grow in the wild, may take hundreds of years to mature.

It is too early to be wary.

However, if it falls into the hands of a cultivator, with the support of the art of beast taming, the situation is quite different.

Once the Blackwater Serpent reaches the Bone Fusion stage or even the Core Formation stage, and with the assistance of human cultivators, how many people in the entire Pu County, and even Zhangning Prefecture, could deal with it?

The disheveled youth let out a soft sigh: "It seems our opponents are far stronger than we imagined. We must find them no matter what. The Netherworld Mirror can't be used again for a while. A-Wang, let's go check out Treasure Dragon Valley." "Yes!"

The pageboy named A-Wang immediately patted his waist, and a light blue flying boat slowly floated in mid-air. He respectfully extended his hand: "Fourth Young Master, please!"
-
Tailai Peak, Changlin House.

Li Qianxiong sat at the head of the table, listening expressionlessly as Li Xiangming reported on his observations over the past few days.

When he heard that the Tongbei Sect was hunting down Li Xiangcheng, his expression finally changed.

Li Xiangru, observing the situation, said at the right moment: "The Tongbei Sect is so audacious and reckless, their actions must be perverse. The Huang family has been cooperating with them for a long time, how could they not know anything about it? In my opinion, it is only reasonable for Xiangming to step in to protect Baolong Valley and teach the Huang family a lesson."

"A lesson?"

Li Qianxiong snorted: "That old fellow Huang Zhenyi is almost insane. He personally came to our door crying and complaining that hundreds of people have died and the whole clan is grieving. Is this just a lesson? Now the Huang family is demanding that we severely punish the murderers. If we don't do something, he will mobilize the whole clan and vow to fight the Chen family to the death!"

Li Xiangru said speechlessly, "If the Huang family really lost over a hundred cultivators, they probably wouldn't even have time to hide from the Chen family, let alone dare to confront them head-on."

"Even if the Huang family exaggerates their casualties, they are still our vassals!"

Li Cheng sighed and looked at Li Xiangming with his cloudy eyes: "Xiangming, you have acted rashly and killed someone. Where has this left the family's reputation?"

Li Xiangming respectfully cupped his hands and replied, "The casualties of the Huang family are absolutely not what I wanted. It is only because I misjudged people and did not expect that Long Yang would go mad and commit such a massacre! Now that Long Yang has defected to Green Cloud Cave, if the Huang family wants an explanation, I can order Green Cloud Cave to hunt down Long Yang."

Li Chengzhi opened his mouth, then closed it.

The other elders exchanged glances and remained silent.

Li Xiangru continued, "Since Nineteen hasn't shown himself, the Huang family only knows that a group of mysterious cultivators suddenly appeared, but they have no evidence to prove that these people are Xiangming's subordinates. In my opinion, it's enough to just let Long Yang be the murderer."

Li Qianxiong rubbed his temples, annoyed, and said, "You two are singing in unison, treating the Huang family like fools."

Li Xiangru smiled but didn't say anything.

Regardless of the Huang family's attitude, the Li family will not hand over Li Xiangming.

With so many people present, everyone knew exactly what was going on.

The reason for dwelling on this point is simply to give Li Xiangming a warning.

After all, it involves dozens of lives!

Of course, more importantly, the Huang family sent a generous gift, which the Li family not only accepted but also tacitly agreed to let the Huang family replace the Chen family's position.

Just when things seemed to be going well, Li Xiangming suddenly intervened, not only saving the Chen family but also wiping out all of the Huang family's elite forces, causing the Huang family's strength to regress by decades.

The elderly in the family were naturally not very satisfied with this.

Even the head of the family felt that Li Xiangming was being too reckless and arrogant.

At this moment, Li Xianghua said softly, "The Huang family is determined to take revenge. Even if we pretend to hunt down Long Yang, it probably won't satisfy them."

“That’s right. Long Yang is still at large, and the Huang family is still going to attack Baolong Valley. If we don’t help, Xiangming’s intervention will be meaningless; if we do help, it will be tantamount to declaring a complete break with the Huang family, which is also not in our interest.”

After discussing it, everyone quickly became conflicted.

Li Qianxiong looked at Li Xiangming and asked in an annoyed tone, "What are your thoughts?"

Li Xiangming raised his head slightly: "Huang Zhenyi is getting old, it's time for a younger person to take over. I have already instructed the steward to make changes within the Huang family."

Li Qianxiong paused for a moment, then remained silent.

The Changlin residence was also completely silent.

After a long while, Li Qianxiong came to his senses and stared at Li Xiangming with a scrutinizing gaze.

In a daze, he felt that the other person was somewhat unfamiliar.

Once upon a time, the child who was naive and even terrified in front of him had become so shrewd and calculating, able to influence the power structure of Pu County with just a word or a move.

Taking a breath, Li Qianxiong suppressed his thoughts and continued to ask, "So what about the Chen family? Have you reached an agreement with them?"

Li Xiangming nodded: "Yes, the Chen family is willing to pay tribute to us."

That short sentence once again drew the attention of everyone present.

Especially Li Qianyou!

During his tenure as the head of the guesthouse, he had dealings with the Lingwu Sect, the Luo family of Shangqingyuan, and the Chen family of Baolong Valley on numerous occasions.

These three families are all considered to be close neighbors of the Li family.

But the Li family's ambitions naturally extend beyond becoming "allies" with them.

However, despite years of effort, Dianke House could not make these three families bow down to the Li family.

Unexpectedly, Li Xiangming seized this opportunity to subdue the Chen family in one fell swoop, and at the same time extended his reach to the Huang family.

It is foreseeable that once internal changes occur within the Huang family and the new head of the family is promoted by the Li family, the Huang family's embrace of the Li family will undoubtedly become even more solid.

Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem so unacceptable that Li Xiangming took action to eliminate some of the Huang family's elite cultivators.

Of course, most people keep this idea to themselves.

It would be too cold-blooded to say it out loud.

Li Xiangming, unaware of what the others were thinking, said earnestly, "The conflict between the Huang family and the Chen family is nothing more than a minor skirmish. Our real threat is the mysterious force behind the Tongbei Sect."

"A mysterious force?"

Li Qianxiong's eyes revealed a look of inquiry.

Li Xiangming took a deep breath and revealed the whole story of how the mysterious force used the Heart-Eating Gu to control the disciples of the Tongbi Sect, as well as how they lured the Li family's guest elders to rebel.

As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion broke out in Changlin's room.

Li Chenglu was furious: "There's such a hidden story behind Yu Chong's matter! Hasn't this so-called mysterious force been coveting us for years?"

"more than!"

Li Chengdian's face was equally ashen: "Judging from the age of the Tongbei Sect disciples, this means they started targeting our Li family more than ten years ago. What exactly is the background of this mysterious force?"

Seeing everyone's gaze turn to him, Li Xiangming shook his head: "I haven't found any clues about their identities in Baolong Valley or Tongbei Sect, but based on common sense, Tongbei Sect is located south of Baolong Valley, so this mysterious force should also be in Punan."

"Punan?"

Everyone was talking about it.

Suddenly, Li Xianghua spoke up: "Back in the police station, we once rescued several children whose spiritual roots had been stolen."

Li Xiangming looked at him and nodded in agreement: "That's what I think too! Ten years ago, the Mang Sect was selling children with spiritual roots on a large scale, and there were many buyers in Pu County. The white-faced cultivator we killed back then once passed through Danggui Mountain and headed straight for Puyin Mountain. But at that time, Puyin Mountain was deserted, and he only had two routes: going north to Dai Mountain or going south to Meiling."

“If we go to Daishan, it’s much more convenient to take a boat directly up the Daijiang River, without having to go through Danggui Mountain; if we go to Meiling, it just proves that there are buyers to our south. Now, ten years have passed, which is exactly the time when these abducted children have grown up, and it also matches the age of the boy in gray.”

"Therefore, I believe that the mysterious force is most likely the buyer who purchased the children with spiritual roots from the Mang Sect back then. They were able to cultivate more than a hundred children with spiritual roots at once and run the huge Tongbei Sect. Their family business is definitely no smaller than our Li family, and may even be larger! Those who have this ability and are located to our south are either the Geng family of Meiling, the Liu family of Jimuyan, or the Qin family of Hongshigu!"

Li Xianghua immediately interjected, "The Geng family has been mired in war twice. If such a force existed, it would be impossible for them to hide so secretly, nor would they be stationed in Pudong, disregarding the safety of Meiling. This mysterious force is in Punan!"

“That’s right. In any case, the situation in the south is not optimistic. We should shift our focus back from Daishan to protect our interests in Pudong.”

(End of this chapter)