Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 487 Li Chengfeng

Monkey Valley.

The Fairy Abode of Silk and Silk.

Lei Meng, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, paced back and forth, constantly shouting, "Hurry up, move everything over here first."

"Hey you over there, hurry up and move out!"

More than a dozen servants were busy carrying large and small bags of items from the mansion to the carriages at the gate.

A moment later, a graceful figure draped in red gauze stepped out of the mansion, glanced at the scene before her, and frowned slightly: "What's going on so early in the morning?"

Lei Meng quickly stepped forward and explained, "Master Li sent someone to inform us to evacuate the people and supplies from Monkey Valley! Since it was still early, I didn't dare to disturb the master, so I took the liberty of packing my things first."

The Fairy of Silk Robes withdrew her gaze, her brows still furrowed: "And then? Where to?"

"Let's go to Qingyang Temple!"

Lei Meng continued, "It is said that Master Li has already discussed it with Qingyang Daoist, and the old Daoist is willing to help out. We will come back when the situation in Monkey Valley improves."

"is it?"

The Fairy of Silk and Silk fell into deep thought.

Monkey Valley is near Puyin Mountain. When news of the beast tide arrived, there was a sense of urgency, like an army besieging a city and smoke filling the air.

As the saying goes, "When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?"

Due to its geographical location, Monkey Valley was almost certain to escape this calamity.

However, Li Xiangming, as a hardliner defending the valley, refused to announce the retreat and even opened Monkey Valley to create a "prosperous" atmosphere until the valley was infiltrated by someone with ulterior motives, at which point it was closed again.

Its purpose was nothing more than to demonstrate the Li family's determination to defend the valley to the vast number of demon-hunting cultivators. Or, to put it another way, to raise a banner; as long as the banner stands, the demon-hunting cultivators will have a backbone.

But now, Li Xiangming has also been forced to compromise.

After a moment of silence, Fairy Lingluo asked, "Has Uncle Fan returned?"

"Not yet, which is why we must leave first."

Lei Meng lowered his voice: "Monkey Valley is now empty. We all rely on Uncle Fan for protection. Without him, we are in great danger in the face of the beast tide."

"Let's go then."

The Fairy of Silk Silk nodded and then walked out the door.

"Master, where are you going?"

Lei Meng hurriedly followed.

Fairy Lingluo stopped and turned around, saying, "I'll be right back, you don't need to come with me."
-
"The Fairy of Lingluo?"

Li Xiangming put down the jade slip in his hand and rubbed his temples vigorously.

Li Qiansu, who was below the hall, whispered a reminder: "Xiangming, should we retreat as well?"

Li Xiangming opened his eyes, glanced at the other person, and hesitated.

The disciples of the Guardian Hall, who were dispatched to the north, have reported for the third time that scattered demonic beasts are approaching Monkey Valley.

This indicates that a massive beast tide is imminent. Unfortunately, the key force guarding Monkey Valley—the Demon-Suppressing Hall—has yet to return.

Even he felt immense pressure in the face of this situation.

In order to minimize the losses, he had to make the decision to "relocate," evacuating the unrelated cultivators and ordinary mortals from the valley.

But he struggled to decide whether to completely abandon Monkey Valley.

The fall of Monkey Valley will be a heavy blow to the morale of the Demon-Suppressing Camp, and it also means that his grand promises have been completely shattered. Both he and the demon-hunting cultivators have lost their goal; where will their motivation to continue resisting the beast tide come from?
The Li family will most likely force him to return to Dangui Mountain.

Will the Demon Suppression Camp follow him?

probably not!

Even if he racked his brains and won people's hearts, the Li family couldn't support these hundreds of people and ultimately had to let them scatter.

More than that, Li Xiangming was worried about the potential of Puyin Mountain being diminished.

I ask you, who would dare to face a "battlefield" where beast tides could emerge at any moment for an extended period of time?
However, the situation was quite different if Monkey Valley was defended.

The Li family and his prestige will reach an unprecedented peak—even the beast tide cannot harm Monkey Valley, so what place is safer than here?
At that time, demon-hunting cultivators who linger near Puyin Mountain will flock to Monkey Valley, injecting new vitality into this rare commercial hub.

The Li family reaped countless benefits from this.

And his meticulously planned cave dwelling business will soon be launched.

This is an opportunity worth 100,000 spirit stones! It's a crucial step in his rise to power!
However, no matter how he explained the pros and cons, he could not change the fact that Monkey Valley was an enclave.

His plans, three, five, or even ten years in advance, were all based on the fact that the Li family valued the development of Danggui Mountain more, and from beginning to end only sent Li Xiangyu, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, to assist him.

The ones who truly saw the potential of Monkey Valley and tried their best to preserve it were the Lingluo Merchant Guild, which had only recently arrived at Puyin Mountain.

Of course, Li Xiangming also understood the thoughts of the family head and the elders.

To reiterate, Monkey Valley is an enclave. Given the Li family's current strength, they cannot bring the entire area from Danggui Mountain to Monkey Valley under their sphere of influence. Protecting Monkey Valley at all costs contradicts the Li family's business philosophy of "self-preservation and dedicated self-cultivation."

Or rather, protecting Monkey Valley aligns with his overall interests, but not with the Li family's strategic goals. The Li family is willing to sacrifice this small portion of their interests for other considerations.

After pondering for a long time, Li Xiangming sighed and gradually made a decision.

Aside from the beast tide, the threat posed by the Qin family was also a factor he had to consider.

Especially since Qin Zhengzhi was captured alive and is being escorted back to the Li family. The Qin family will be furious when they learn of this, and might even send a powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator to assassinate him.

"Uncle Qian, let's also prepare Taibai Restaurant."

Li Xiangming's deep voice rang out: "Let's go and observe the Taoist priest. If things don't work out, we'll retreat back to Danggui Mountain."

"it is good!"

Seeing that Li Xiangming had finally relented, Li Qiansu quickly agreed and was about to leave.

Just then, a woman wearing a straw hat burst in.

Li Xiangming stood up in surprise: "Miss Tang, the Demon Suppression Camp is back?"

Tang Xueyan was originally one of the first cultivators to follow Green Cloud Cave to support Monkey Valley, but she never expected that she would suddenly fall into a coma after seeing him.

Even with his thick skin, Li Xiangming couldn't bring himself to order a sick person around, so he let her stay in the valley to recuperate.

In the last few days, Li Xiangming had no one else available, so he had to ask Tang Xueyan to come out of the mountains and wait for the Demon Suppression Camp to return south of Monkey Valley.

Tang Xueyan glanced at the excited Li Xiangming and nodded gently: "Less than a hundred li."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Li Xiangming, disregarding his conversation with Li Qiansu, hurriedly went out, summoned the Green Cloud Flying Boat, and headed south.

He quickly located a small team of three.

"Enemy attack!"

Among the three, one seemed to have never seen a flying boat before. Upon seeing a streak of emerald green approaching, he was both surprised and furious, and shouted loudly.

"What are you yelling about? It's not a monster!" The leader immediately shouted, but at the same time waved his hand to signal the other two to disperse, just in case.

Li Xiangming landed on the ground and put the flying boat back into his sleeve. Before he could speak, the leader knelt down and said, "Your subordinate, Xu Jin from the Transport Division, greets the Commander!"

"Xu Jin?"

Li Xiangming was surprised. Xu Jin's cultivation level was not high, so he didn't expect him to have become a sentry leader.

But at this moment, he couldn't care less about that and asked in a deep voice, "Where is your deputy commander?"

Xu Jin quickly replied, "The two deputy commanders are behind us, while our Transport Division is responsible for scouting the way and is therefore leading the way."

Hearing that Li Xiangming and Master Liaoshen were both alright, Li Xiangming breathed a sigh of relief.

Although his main purpose in sending the Demon Suppression Camp south was to mislead the Qin family's Night Owl Hall, he also gave the two men the authority to act as they saw fit.

If the beast tide from the south is weak, the Demon Suppression Camp will inevitably have to fight a major battle.

"Take me to see them, the other two continue with their mission."

Li Xiangming gave an instruction.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jin was extremely excited. How many times could he possibly have the chance to stay by Master Li's side?
He dared not show off too much, and simply told them everything he had seen and heard about the Demon Suppression Camp's southward journey.

Before long, the two arrived at the marching area where the Mingqiao Division was located. Almost all the high-ranking officers of the Demon Suppression Camp were there, and more than a dozen people came out to welcome Li Xiangming's arrival.

Li Xiangming glanced at them, but his gaze involuntarily lingered on an old Taoist priest with gray hair and beard, dressed in a gray-white robe.

"This is Daoist Li Chengfeng!"

Li Xiangyu immediately introduced, then turned to another younger Taoist priest with stubble: "This is Master Li's junior brother, Master Xie Yuantao."

After the introduction, Li Xiangyu briefly recounted what had happened: "The beast tide to the south was huge, with four Bone-Melting Demon Cultivators. After discussing with the others, we all felt that there was no chance to rescue Dingfeng Village. Fortunately, the two Taoist priests were very powerful and rescued hundreds of people from the village without anyone noticing. They also expressed their willingness to go north to fight the beast tide, so I brought them and Dingfeng Village back with me."

Fighting the beast tide?

Li Xiangming gasped. The moment he met them, he could tell that the two Taoist priests were highly skilled.

The gray-haired old Taoist priest gave him an unusually mysterious feeling, like an enlightened master with an ethereal aura.

This kind of temperament is usually only found in the leaders of certain major sects or reclusive elders. How could such a person be willing to help him and the Demon Suppression Camp fight against the beast tide?

Li Chengfeng seemed to notice Li Xiangming's surprise and said with a smile, "Without the cover of your camp, how could my humble skills and those of my junior brother have been concealed from tens of thousands of demonic beasts?"

"Speaking of which, I should thank Commander Li for taking in the people of Dingfeng Village."

Dingfeng Village?

Li Xiangming raised an eyebrow.

He could tell that the two Taoist priests followed the Demon Suppression Camp not out of compassion or because they were bored, but to repay the Demon Suppression Camp for helping them rescue Dingfeng Village.

However, according to Xu Jin's confession, Dingfeng Village was just an ordinary cultivation force. Its leader, Meng Ji, only had the sixth level of Qi Refining. There were fewer than ten cultivators in the village, all of whom were at the early stage of Qi Refining. They would be an eyesore even if they were included in the Demon Suppression Camp.

Why did Li Chengfeng attach so much importance to Dingfeng Village?

Li Xiangming was very curious, but this was clearly not the time to pry into secrets. He suppressed his distracting thoughts, smiled, and cupped his hands in thanks: "I am Li Xiangming from Dangui Mountain. In fact, I am from the same clan as Daoist Li. With the assistance of two Daoists from the Demon Suppression Camp, we have a better chance of winning against the beast tide. On behalf of all the demon hunters from Puyin Mountain, I thank you both."
-
Upon returning to Monkey Valley, Li Xiangming immediately summoned Master Shen and inquired about the events that had transpired during the Demon Suppression Camp.

After half a day, he finally figured out the ins and outs of the matter.

After eliminating traitors like Qin Hai, the entire Demon Suppression Camp was greatly encouraged.

However, Li Xiangyu, Li Qianshi, and other Li family cultivators appeared somewhat anxious and uneasy after learning about Qin Hai's background.

After all, the fact that Qin Hai had been lying low for so long indirectly demonstrated the Qin family's ambition and the power of the Night Owl Hall. Several high-ranking members of the Li family were worried about Monkey Valley and wanted to leave directly.

Master Liaoshen also felt that the consequences of rashly attacking the beast tide were unpredictable, so he did not stop them.

At this moment, Xie Yuantao suddenly appeared and proposed to exchange the "Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation" for the Demon Suppression Camp to take the initiative to attack and lure away an eight-eyed evil crow from the beast tide.

The Demon Suppression Camp then realized that the reason why the beast tide lingered at the gate of Dingfeng Village was entirely due to the "Nine Luminaries Trapping Dragon Formation".

Faced with such an extraordinary formation, Li Xiangyu and Master Liaoshen were naturally very tempted and agreed to Xie Yuantao's deal.

However, Li Xianghua in the camp pointed out a problem after personally observing the "Nine Luminaries Trapping Dragon Formation": the formation was too high-level, so high that no one could control it.

Although the Demon Suppression Camp can easily cast this strange array with the help of the array plate, and has the opportunity to trap thousands of demon beasts, this is limited to half-demons with low intelligence and little demons in the early stage of spirit summoning.

To confuse the Bone-Melting Demon Cultivators and trap them in the array, the person controlling the array must unleash a vast array of transformations.

In other words, this thing can only be fully effective in the hands of a formation master of Li Chengfeng's caliber.

Reminded, Master Liaoshen immediately began to bargain with Xie Yuantao, disregarding the other party's anger and offering only two options.

Either the Demon Suppression Camp will ignore Dingfeng Village and refuse the Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation; or the Demon Suppression Camp will help lure away the Eight-Eyed Evil Crow, and Li Chengfeng will have to hand over the Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation and also go north with the Demon Suppression Camp to help Monkey Valley resist the beast tide.

Of course, this "resistance" of the beast tide was merely a matter of manipulating the formation; the two had no obligation to kill any of the monsters.

After listening for a while, Li Xiangming's focus shifted to another matter: "So, both of them are injured?"

"Yes."

Master Liaoshen nodded: "Although these two are being secretive, it is likely that they are staying at Dingfeng Village temporarily because their injuries are too severe. According to my investigation, they have also taken on a disciple in the village."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming frowned.

The presence of two Foundation Establishment cultivators of unknown origin and severely injured immediately raised concerns.

Who injured them?

Is there a plan to eliminate the problem completely?

If so, will the Li family get into trouble?
Master Liaoshen seemed to guess what Li Xiangming was worried about and couldn't help but say, "We need them! I have seen the power of the Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation with my own eyes. The four Bone-Melting Demon Cultivators were completely outmaneuvered. As long as Li Chengfeng is in the camp, our chances of winning against both the northern and southern beast tides will greatly increase."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming breathed a sigh of relief.

Speaking of troubles, he has a whole bunch right now. As the saying goes, when you have too many lice, you don't feel itchy anymore, so he doesn't care about anything else.

"The beast tide at Puyin Mountain has split into two groups, each about the same size. The southern group has four Bone Fusion Demon Cultivators, and the northern group should be about the same."

Li Xiangming analyzed in a low voice: "We have more than 500 cultivators, mostly in the middle and late stages of Qi Refining. There are two Foundation Establishment cultivators, myself and Xiangyu. Although the two Daoists cannot actively kill the enemy, they can trap at least one or two Bone Fusion Demon Cultivators by simply controlling the Nine Luminaries Dragon Trapping Formation."

“The Lingluo Chamber of Commerce also supports me. Zhang Fan escorted Qin Zhengzhi to Danggui Mountain and will be back soon. In addition, I also have the trump card of Master Qingyang.”

At this point, Li Xiangming looked at Master Shen: "Master, do you think I should continue guarding the valley?"

"We must not only defend, but also take the initiative to attack."

Master Liaoshen replied in a deep voice: "With your current prestige, you should never give up Monkey Valley. Monkey Valley can bring you thousands of spirit stones every month, and hundreds of cultivators are willing to follow you wholeheartedly. Once Monkey Valley is destroyed, all of this will vanish like bubbles."

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment, his gaze gradually hardening.

He had originally planned to give up on Monkey Valley, but things took an unexpected turn when the Demon Suppression Camp suddenly returned, giving him confidence.

Master Liaoshen was right; Monkey Valley was his foundation, which he could not afford to lose.

Since Li Chengfeng's "Nine Luminaries Dragon Trapping Formation" is so powerful that it even gives him the possibility of fighting the beast tide head-on, he must seize this opportunity!

Li Xiangming took out a blank jade slip from his waist, inscribed his divine sense mark on it, and then handed it to Master Shen, instructing him: "Master, give this to Ji Hu and tell him to personally deliver it to Daoist Qingyang. Also, have the commanders and all the captains come to see me."

(End of this chapter)