Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 400 Baiqi Hall

"By the way, you have another important mission on your trip to Puyin Mountain this time."

Li Qianxiong suddenly said.

"What mission?"

Li Xiangming raised an eyebrow.

Li Qianxiong's expression was somewhat subtle: "Do you still remember that kid who came back with Xiang Ping?"

"Do you care about Tianyou?"

Li Xiangming blurted it out.

He wasn't actually familiar with Li Xiangping, and knew very little about her—the two had only met a few times when they were children.

At the Foundation Building Ceremony, Li Xiangming saw the other party's true face but did not recognize her. However, Li Xiangping was a celebrity in the Li family.

This is because Li Xiangping is Li Qianxiong's biological daughter.

It is well known that it is relatively difficult for cultivators to reproduce, and this is especially true for those with higher cultivation levels.

It is especially difficult for two cultivators to have a child together.

Some male cultivators, in order to pass on their lineage or enjoy the pleasures of family life, will deliberately take mortal wives and concubines to increase their fertility.

However, the consequences of doing so are also obvious: very few of the children born will have spiritual roots.

It is extremely rare for someone like Li Xiangming's father, Li Qianhe, to have three spiritual root seeds in half a lifetime.

As the head of the Li family, Li Qianxiong was not short of women, and even the elders encouraged him to take wives. However, from beginning to end, Li Qianxiong only gave birth to one spiritual seed, Li Xiangping.

It's easy to imagine how much Li Xiangping was cherished by Li Qianxiong.

However, Li Xiangping is independent by nature and doesn't like staying at home. She has a wandering spiritual master who travels all over the world, so she often goes out for three to five years at a time.

Li Qianxiong complained a lot about this, but there was nothing he could do, so he could only let it be.

Every time Li Xiangping returns home, she causes a sensation.

Because of her exceptional talent and rapid progress in cultivation, she often brought surprises to her family. Some well-meaning people even recommended her as the leading figure of the third branch of the family.

This time, Li Xiangping returned to the family, not only advancing to the ninth level of Qi Refining, but also bringing back a suitor, instantly igniting public opinion within the family.

Even Li Xiangming heard a lot of gossip.

Knowing that the news had reached Li Xiangming, Li Qianxiong grumbled unhappily, "This Guan Tianyou is just a pretty boy. His cultivation is only at the seventh level of Qi Refining. He is far inferior to Xiangping."

Li Xiangming chuckled: "The patriarch objects to them being together?"

"Of course we oppose it. Unless this kid marries into our Li family, there is absolutely no way they can be together."

Li Qianxiong hummed and hawed.

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming's heart stirred.

Even if he agreed to marry into the family, it at least shows that Li Qianxiong recognized Guan Tianyou's character.

So, do these two really have a chance to get together?
For some reason, Li Xiangming suddenly thought of Qin Zhengyi.

According to the marriage system of aristocratic families, even if Li Xiangping is talented, she still has to get married, since the Li family does not rely on her to manage the overall situation.

Of course, as the daughter of the family head, her Daoist partner was destined to be no ordinary person.

Back when the Qin and Geng families were still having minor squabbles, Li Qianxiong, at the Qin family's request for a marriage alliance, actually intended to marry Li Xiangping to the Qin family, and the chosen one happened to be Qin Zhengyi.

That's why Qin Zhengyi recognized Li Xiangping at a glance on the high platform of the Foundation Building Ceremony.

However, Li Xiangping had no recollection of him—most likely because she was dissatisfied with this arranged marriage and hadn't even glanced at Qin Zhengyi's portrait.

In short, the two should have had a marriage.

It was only because of Li Xiangping's personality and Li Qianxiong's deep love for his daughter that the marriage fell through.

If this marriage goes through, will the Qin family still see the Li family as a potential threat? Will the Tongbei Sect still instigate the Huang family to annex the Chen family, and continue to hunt down Li Xiangcheng in order to frame the Geng family?
If none of these things existed, Li Xiangming wouldn't have taken action to destroy the Tongbei Sect, thus igniting the conflict between the Qin and Li families. Thinking of this, Li Xiangming quickly shook his head, dispelling the distracting thoughts from his mind.

There are no "what ifs" in life!

Even if the marriage between Qin and Li brings peace to the Li family, it may not necessarily be a good thing.

Because the time of peace is short-lived.

When the Li family became related to the Qin family by marriage, it meant that the Li family had to give up the Geng family.

Without the support of the Li family, the Geng family might have been completely swallowed up. At that time, the Qin family would grow stronger, and looking around, only the Liu family and the Li family would be left as in-laws.

What choice should the Qin family make?

Can the Li family really rest easy?
Through Li Qianxiong's introduction, Li Xiangming gained a deeper understanding of Guan Tianyou.

This kid has quite a background. His father, Guan Dongqing, is a famous second-tier weapon refiner and also the head of the Hundred Weapons Hall.

This Hundred Weapons Hall is not a cultivation force in the traditional sense, but a secret organization of weapon refiners who band together for mutual support.

Of course, this secret refers to the fact that Baiqitang does not disclose information to the public.

But when they joined forces, they distributed orders with great efficiency.

Other weapon refiners might take three to five months to deliver a finished product after receiving an order, but they can refine one or two months, and the quality is quite good.

In addition to crafting magical artifacts for orders, Baiqitang also crafts its own artifacts and then sells them in its shops.

In conclusion, although Baiqitang has only been established in Pushuifang for two or three years, it has already accumulated a considerable reputation.

Guan Tianyou can also be considered a second-generation ancestor.

Li Qianxiong did not elaborate on his connection with Li Xiangping.

However, Guan Tianyou's visit to Dangui Mountain this time was not for marriage into the family, but rather to undertake an important task assigned to him by Baiqi Hall: to purchase a batch of refining materials from the Li family of Dangui Mountain.

Pu County is teeming with demonic beasts, making it a haven not only for beast-taming cultivators but also for weapon-refining cultivators who see an opportunity there.

Guan Dongqing's decision to forgo the bustling Dendrobium Market and instead visit Pushui Market was partly due to this reason.

In Puxian County, the place that produces the most monster materials is undoubtedly Puyin Mountain.

Therefore, more than half a year ago, Baiqitang had sent people to Puyin Mountain to purchase materials related to monsters.

They assumed that, as the source of materials for monsters, the goods from Puyin Mountain would be cheaper than those from Pushui Market.
However, prices in Puyin Mountain have long been controlled by the Puyin Mountain Guild Hall.

The weapon refiners at Baiqitang were somewhat lacking in business acumen, and within just a few days, Zhao Jindou and his group had taken everything from them.

Zhao Jindou saw that Baiqitang's inventory of refining materials was running low, and that they had a lot of orders in hand, so he took the opportunity to raise the price of monster materials several times over.

Upon seeing this, the weapon refiner from Baiqi Hall flew into a rage and slammed the door shut as he left.

But as soon as he stepped outside, he immediately regretted it, because almost all the monster hunting groups had raised the price of monster materials, and the price was rising several times a day, which completely stunned him.

In the end, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and swallow his pride, buying a batch of expensive monster materials from Zhao Jindou and taking them back.

Since then, Baiqitang has never dared to purchase goods from Puyin Mountain again.

However, the local shops in Pushui Market praised the cheap monster materials from Puyin Mountain, leaving Baiqitang completely bewildered.

After making several inquiries, they learned that these monster materials all came from the Li family.

It just so happened that Guan Tianyou knew Li Xiangping, so Guan Dongqing quickly instructed his son to go to Li's house to check on the situation.

After hearing this, Li Xiangming slowly asked, "How many spirit stones did Guan Tianyou bring?"

Li Qianxiong took a sip of tea and replied, "It's said they're placing an order for 500 spirit stones. If all goes well, they'll likely cooperate with us further."

"That's easy."

Li Xiangming could vouch for this matter. Although five hundred spirit stones worth of demon beast materials seemed like a considerable amount, there were thousands of demon hunters on Puyin Mountain who could easily assemble them.

(End of this chapter)