Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 594 The Cao Family Arrives to Help
"Brother Li, have some tea!"

In the secluded study, a woman in a simple white dress lowered her eyes, her slender hands holding a celadon teacup. Her lightly made-up face was exquisitely beautiful in the candlelight.

Looking at her delicate face, Li Xiangming couldn't help but rub his temples.

More than half a month has passed since I returned from Jiming Mountain.

He didn't have a moment's rest during that time.

The first priority is to deal with the entanglements of the Bailu Gate envoys.

These days, Li Xiangming has learned about the current predicament of Bailu Sect from Fairy Lingluo.

It is said that the Mang Sect completely sealed off the entrance and exit to Pubei—Dahuang Town. The Bailu Sect repeatedly launched military campaigns to attack, killing and wounding hundreds of people. The upper reaches of the Pu River were almost destroyed.

Even so, the Mang Sect did not yield. On the contrary, their momentum grew stronger and stronger, at one point spreading the flames of war from the northeast of Puxian County to Zhanggongling, right behind Bailumen, which was astonishing.

Why has the Mang Sect always been the largest sect in Zhangning Prefecture?

This involves the core principle of Mangjiao (a form of education) – education for all!
Most sects only open their gates once every three to five years, and each time they only recruit good seedlings with spiritual root aptitude of medium grade or above. Moreover, the number of places is limited, and fate plays a role.

What would those "unworthy" people who are not qualified to enter the immortal mountain and Taoist sect, but whose spiritual roots have been detected, think?
Perhaps some people are willing to give up their dream of immortality and return to their hometowns to farm.

But there are countless people who are unwilling to accept this! They spend the rest of their lives seeking divine guidance and divination.

In reality, only a very small number of people can truly embark on the path of enlightenment.

However, the Mang Cult broke this situation—as long as someone can find a branch of the Mang Cult, regardless of gender, age, or aptitude, they can join the Mang Cult and practice its popular techniques.

Moreover, anyone who claims to be a disciple of the Mang Cult can be considered a member of the Mang Cult.

Even if they are evil cultivators!

This ideology has created the massive following of the Mang religion.

Of course, there are also significant problems.

For hundreds of years, the Mang Cult has never had an absolute core. Its various branches and countless followers have completely ignored the headquarters.

The headquarters also ignored those branch sects that didn't communicate or interact with them. Often, a small Qi Refining sect could easily defeat the "Mang Sect" and make them cry for their parents and run away in disarray.

Nobody takes the cult seriously!
The followers of the Mang sect did not care about their background.

It wasn't until Hou Xianbo became the leader that the Mang Sect underwent a complete transformation. A large number of talented individuals emerged at the headquarters, and the branch sects scattered elsewhere also showed a tendency to move closer to the headquarters.

When the Mang Sect declared war on the Bailu Sect, it caused a huge uproar.

Those who were unaware of the changes in the Manchu religion invariably ridiculed it for overestimating its own abilities.

However, when Master Xuanling took action, he was still unable to eradicate the Mang Cult, and this sentiment suddenly reversed.

The cultivation community in Puxian County was astonished to find that a steady stream of cultivators were pouring in from the other three counties of Shun'an Prefecture, like hungry wolves pouncing on their prey, eager to take a bite out of the fat sheep that was Bailu Sect.

Are all these people really "disciples of the Mang Cult"?

Li Xiangming expressed his doubts.

The Mang Sect is definitely not the only force that wants to see the Bailu Sect fall, or rather, to cut off the Hengyue Sect's interests in Shun'an Prefecture. For one thing, the Qixuan Sect in the neighboring Qingshui County won't let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by.

Even the Cao family of Qingliang Mountain might be part of it.

The rebellion of the Mang Cult has become a turning point in the fate of Pu County. However, the Bailu Sect is still concerned about punishing the Zhenhun Sect and maintaining its status as the "overlord" of Pu County.

Li Xiangming naturally disagreed with this.

Even if the Bailu Sect were to join forces with the Li family and be determined to attack the Zhenhun Sect, they might not be able to send out a sufficiently powerful lineup.

Could it be that we're relying on the Li family's full support?
If the Li family could avoid directly offending the Bailu Sect, Li Xiangming would have already turned them away. Fortunately, Hua Lun is greedy by nature and reluctant to give up the interests of Baicaofang. With his deliberate efforts to win him over, he has already gained momentum to speak up for the Li family. Once he returns to the Bailu Sect, he can delay things for a while longer.

With the Mang Sect and the Bailu Sect weighing heavily on his shoulders, Li Xiangming's decisions inevitably became more radical.

Before the envoys from the Luo and Xu families and the Lingwu Sect could arrive, he ordered Li Xiangyu to lead the Demon Suppression Camp to quickly occupy Changning City, effectively turning Changning City into the alliance headquarters.

Subsequently, he ordered the Mingqiao and Jiangyun divisions to begin clearing out the demonic beasts in the vicinity, and also dispatched the largest number of Yanji divisions to Jinqianling.

The alliance of Gushe, with the Li, Xu, and Luo families as its foundation, is already taking shape.

As for the Huang family of Jinqianling, whose strength has been greatly reduced, one more or one less makes no difference.

Therefore, the Yanji Division did not go there for negotiations at all.

When that old fellow Huang Zhenyi came to see him, his face was ashen, as if he had swallowed a dead fly. But in the end, he still chose to "compromise" and accepted a Vermilion Bird Token worth five thousand spirit stones. Unexpectedly, the Huang family was unwilling to pay the money and instead sent more than twenty family disciples to join the Demon Suppression Camp.

Li Xiangming followed the same method and had the Demon Suppression Camp move to Baolong Valley.

Left with no other choice, the Chen family joined the alliance and received a Vermilion Bird Token as well. However, they only sent ten members of the Chen family, and the remaining expenses were paid in spirit stones or materials as collateral.

With the Demon Suppression Camp's flags flying over Jinqianling and Baolong Valley, Xiaolangu couldn't sit still any longer.

Chi Laiyong and Mao Jingze both came to see him, expressing their willingness to join the Demon Suppression Camp on behalf of the Chi family and Green Cloud Cave.

The Chi family is small, but that kid Chi Laiyong secretly "hides" a group of Mad Lion Demon Hunting Team members and his old subordinates in the Demon Suppression Camp. Together with the Chi family members, there are as many as fifteen people.

Li Xiangming naturally wouldn't let these people be used by the Chi family, so he rearranged them and stuffed them into the Demon Suppression Camp as members of the Li family.

As for Green Cloud Cave, they only sent out five people.

However, Green Cloud Cave has cultivators like Luo Changqing who have reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, and even Yin Feng, whose cultivation level is the lowest, has reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, making it far superior to the Chi family in terms of the quality of its cultivators.

Li Xiangming allowed them to receive a Xuanwu token as independent individuals. This also marked the first public appearance of the Green Cloud Cave in Pu County.

Li Xiangming's appropriate toughness actually accelerated the pace of the alliance's expansion. He immediately stopped focusing on the Xiaolan Valley area and directly issued "Hero Orders" to his vassals on behalf of the Li family.

In the past two weeks, they have received responses from more than ten forces, including Pangjiabao and the Ji family of Qingfengling.

Despite these smaller factions uniformly purchasing only the lowest-level Xuanwu Tokens, the alliance still reaped considerable rewards, acquiring over seven thousand spirit stones and a large amount of supplies. The Demon Suppression Camp also inevitably received a batch of cultivators, further strengthening its ranks.

According to Li Xiangyu's report, the Demon Suppression Camp has restored the structure of the four divisions: Mingqiao, Jiangyun, Panque, and Yanji, with a total of 327 people. All of them are at least at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and there are even Foundation Establishment cultivators like Li Xiangyu and Jiu Daoren.

Besides the Demon-Suppressing Camp, the Imperial Workshops were also implementing their plans systematically. Dozens of talented individuals from various fields gathered together.

Although Madam Xu was dissatisfied with Li Xiangming's insistence on setting up the headquarters in Changning City, she was very concerned about the work of the Imperial Workshop and personally came to Changning City to supervise the refining of magical artifacts and elixirs.

Chi Youyan, who originally stayed at Yiyuan Peak to study alchemy, was also ordered to come to Changning City.

But Chi Youyan not only followed the orders of the Li family, but also received instructions from the Chi family. These days, instead of refining pills, she went to his side to serve him.

In the past, Li Xiangming might have taken it in stride.

But now, already incredibly busy, he also has to appease Ding Xia and Fairy Lingluo, leaving him utterly exhausted. Chi Youyan's appearance will only worsen the situation.

Chi Youyan had been observing Li Xiangming's expression. Seeing that he had a headache, she felt wronged and bit her lip: "Brother Li, do you dislike Youyan that much?"

“Youyan, I’ve always thought of you as a younger sister,” Li Xiangming said slowly.

Chi Youyan suddenly straightened up, her eyes misting over: "That's just your excuse. If Youyan got married now, would you feel happy?"

Li Xiangming was taken aback.

If Chi Youyan gets married.

Was he relieved or sad?

After a moment's thought, Li Xiangming let out a gurgling sound.

He didn't want Chi Youyan to get involved in his relationship, and the reason was actually quite simple.

The Chi family was his pawn, while Chi Youyan was a carefully prepared bait by the Chi family.

All pieces, whether black or white, can be discarded!
But if he swallows the honeyed bait, this chess piece will come to life. If the Chi family had no one, it would be fine, but there is a mature-beyond-his-years like Chi Laiyong.

Over time, his control over the Chi family will inevitably decline significantly.

How could he possibly agree to something like that?

Later, he developed feelings for Chi Youyan, but it wasn't romantic love. Chi Youyan trusted him, and he trusted this innocent and lively girl, so he gifted her the art of water-based alchemy. In his heart, he believed that Chi Youyan should dedicate herself to alchemy and forge her own path rather than become a sacrifice for her family.

However, Chi Youyan cannot escape the constraints of her family. Even if she doesn't get entangled with him, she will still be married off by the Chi family.

He had never thought of this before!
Hearing this suddenly now, I feel a bit resentful.

Of course, he could force Chi Youyan to stay by his side, but what right would he have to do such a thing? As her "elder brother," would he prevent her from getting married?
Seeing that Li Xiangming remained silent, Chi Youyan assumed he had nothing to say and turned away in disappointment.

Just as she was about to step out of the study, Li Xiangming suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

When Li Xiangming saw Chi Youyan's tearful face, his heart trembled. He wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said softly, "Go to the Imperial Workshop to refine pills, and wait for me while you're at it, okay?"

Chi Youyan sniffed and gave a barely perceptible "hmm".

Li Xiangming saw her off and sighed as he watched her retreating figure.

Chi Youyan might not even like him that much; her frequent attempts to contact him stemmed more from pressure from her family. For example, her sudden mention of marriage today likely came from Chi Laiyong or Chi Laiyi, who had said some harsh words to her. For Chi Youyan, since she was going to marry anyway, she might as well stay by his side and help the Chi family rise to prominence.

The Chi family...

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment, then sat back in his chair and looked through the battle reports on the table.

The Demon Suppression Camp was certainly not idle in Changning City. For the past half month, its various departments had been launching continuous attacks, focusing on advancing southward. The furthest they had reached was only five hundred li away from Meiling, where the Geng family was located. The Junping Division under the Tiaoyu Hall followed closely behind, setting up a "post station" every two hundred li, stationing one cultivator and two Fire-Scaled Steeds at each station.

Eleven or twelve makeshift "post stations" were far from sufficient to support the long logistics line from Changning City to Meiling, a distance of three thousand miles.

But at least we can contact the Geng family now.

Li Xiangming pondered. Li Qianxiong and the others had been heading south for a full month. Regardless of the battle situation, the pills and talismans they carried must have been almost completely used up.

The Geng family has been bogged down in the battlefield for a long time and is unable to resupply effectively.

To maintain stability on the front lines, we still have to rely on the Li family.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Nineteenth Brother!"

A handsome young man pushed open the door and entered, then cupped his hands in greeting: "Our clan is inquiring about the envoy from the White Dew Sect."

Li Xiangming looked at the travel-worn Li Xiangcheng, asked him to sit down, brewed a pot of hot tea, and then replied, "I've already sent him away."

Li Xiangcheng breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

Li Xiangming smiled and asked in return, "Is everything alright at home?"

"Everything is fine, except..."

Li Xiangcheng hesitated for a moment.

Li Xiangming frowned instantly. Seeing this, Li Xiangcheng immediately said, "The Cao family has sent more people. This time there are more than thirty people. The leader is called Cao Fuyu."

"Cao Fuyu?"

Li Xiangming's expression suddenly changed.

Cao Fuyu is no ordinary cultivator of the Fu generation; he is Cao Minghui's eldest son and the young master of the Cao family!
What is the purpose of such a person's sudden visit to Danggui Mountain?

Li Xiangcheng seemed to sense Li Xiangming's confusion and shook his head: "I don't know either, but the Cao family intends to send their people into the Demon Suppression Camp, including two Foundation Establishment cultivators!"

Two Foundation Establishment cultivators?

Li Xiangming gasped.

Cao Fuchun and Cao Fuyu are both Foundation Establishment cultivators. With the addition of two more Foundation Establishment cultivators, wouldn't the Cao family have sent four Foundation Establishment cultivators?

Thinking of this, Li Xiangming's face turned particularly ugly.

The Cao family has not given up on supporting him to become the head of the family, and is even confident that he will succeed. Otherwise, they would not have sent Cao Fuyu, the young head of the family, to personally take charge of the overall situation.

He certainly longed for outside help.

However, the Li family is not like the Chi family, which can be easily manipulated. The Cao family's actions will only backfire and create obstacles for him in his efforts to gain the trust of his clansmen.

Most importantly, how long can the Cao family cultivators stay?

It will take at most three to five months.

It's impossible for the Li family to replace its head in a short time. To avoid wasting time and opportunities, Cao Fuyu and his associates will undoubtedly be plotting something shady behind his back.

Everything they do is directly related to themselves.

Li Xiangming became increasingly uneasy, his expression constantly shifting.

After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "Xiangcheng, go back and tell my father that the Demon Suppression Camp needs as many Cao family cultivators as possible. Make sure they leave Dangui Mountain as much as possible."

Li Xiangcheng paused for a moment, then nodded.

He didn't understand what Brother Nineteen meant, but Brother Nineteen was always right.

Li Xiangming was still uneasy. Four Foundation Establishment cultivators from other families were at Danggui Mountain, while he only had Li Qianxiao, who was seriously injured and bedridden, at home. This was terrible.

He immediately went out and instructed Xu Zhilan to gather all the members of the alliance.

The Demon Suppression Camp desperately needs a formidable enemy!
He had to get the Demon Suppression Camp moving.

(End of this chapter)