I planted the spiritual roots for my people, and they bestowed upon me a body inscribed with incense

After saying goodbye to Xu Qingfeng, Li Yuan did not go to Magistrate Tang's banquet, but waited downstairs for Li Daqiang, who had finished attending the banquet.

Xu Qingfeng has already told Li Yuan how to test his spiritual roots. Now, Li Yuan's biggest wish is to go home and check on his father, brother, and mother.

After waiting for a while, Magistrate Tang came out with his arm around Li Daqiang's shoulder.

Upon seeing Li Yuan, Magistrate Tang immediately addressed him:

"Brother Li, have you finished your talk with Lord Xu?"

Li Yuan nodded, and then said:

"Many thanks to Magistrate Tang for the recommendation. I will visit you again another day."

Magistrate Tang understood Li Yuan's meaning, helped Li Daqiang over, and then said:

"Haha, you're right. Let's get together another time when we're free."

After exchanging a few polite words, Li Yuan helped Li Daqiang leave. Only after Magistrate Tang had gone far away did Li Yuan open his eyes.

"How's it going, Yuan'er? Did you gather any useful information?" Li Yuan nodded and then said:

"Father, let's go home first. I'll examine you to see if you have spiritual roots before we talk."

Upon hearing this, Li Daqiang's eyes lit up.

"Until the very end, Li Daqiang still held onto the hope that he possessed spiritual roots, after all, who doesn't want to live forever?"

After returning home, Li Yuan called his mother and younger brother into the room. Looking at the three of them, Li Yuan felt a little uneasy.

Li Yuan gathered his magical power in his hands and gently channeled it into Li Daqiang's body, directing it towards Li Daqiang's dantian. After the magical power had circulated once in Li Daqiang's dantian, Li Yuan shook his head at Li Daqiang.

Seeing this, Li Daqiang understood Li Yuan's meaning. He then stepped aside. Even though he roughly knew he didn't have a spiritual root, when he finally confirmed it, a sense of desolation still rose in his heart.

Next up were Li Tong and Zhang Shi. Unfortunately, neither of them had spiritual roots. Zhang Shi was quite open-minded and didn't feel too sad about the lack of spiritual roots. As for Li Tong, Li Yuan chose not to tell him for the time being, since Li Tong didn't really like cultivating with his brother anymore anyway.

After testing his family's spiritual roots, Li Yuan quietly went to the temple to cultivate. No amount of comforting from Li Yuan could help; he believed his father would soon recover.

After learning that the Li family had a hermit, Magistrate Tang sent people to deliver many gifts to the Li family on the third day after the banquet. Li Daqiang accepted them all, since he wanted to get closer to the Li family, so there was nothing wrong with it.

After cultivating in the temple for a long time, Li Yuan took out the book "An Introduction to the World of Cultivation" that Xu Qingfeng had given him.

It took Li Yuan half a day to read through everything inside, and only then did he truly understand what the cultivation world was like.

The small bell and the blood-red sword in his hand were both low-level magic weapons, worth a few spirit stones. Spirit stones could be used to assist in cultivation, and the pure spiritual energy on them could accelerate the cultivator's cultivation speed.

At the same time, Li Yuan also learned what Zhou Zhengtian had said about why the Xu family was the overlord of Qingshan County. The reason was simple: the Xu family was the only cultivation family in Qingshan County.

For this reason, the Xu family has always dominated Qingshan County.

Besides, there was only Li Yuan left. Li Yuan knew that cultivators were hard to find, but he never imagined they were this hard to find. However, what Li Yuan didn't know was that the rare spirituality that others possessed was currently lying in the three-colored pearl within Li Yuan's body.

At the same time, Li Yuan also confirmed the old Taoist's identity; he was a cultivator from the Xu family, because Li Yuan saw a small bell on Xu Qingfeng that was exactly the same as the old Taoist's.

What Li Yuan didn't know was that the reason there was only one immortal cultivation family in the entire Qingshan County was partly due to spiritual roots and opportunities, but also because of the Xu family.

The Xu family certainly understands the principle that two tigers cannot share one mountain. Moreover, resources are limited, so it's inevitable that the Xu family will make a move. The only question is how they will do so.

After reading "An Initial Encounter with the World of Cultivation," Li Yuan put it away and continued cultivating. Li planned to go to the market of rogue cultivators in Daqing Kingdom, which Xu Qingfeng had mentioned, after he broke through to the third level of Qi Refining.

This market for independent cultivators brings together all the independent cultivators in the entire Daqing Kingdom, so if Li Yuan wanted to gather the materials for refining array flags from the "Thousand Rivers Gathering Pulse Technique," he would have to make a trip there.

After sorting things out, Li Yuan began to clear his mind and focus on cultivation. Seeing Xu Qingfeng stuck between the third and fourth levels of Qi Refining for so long, Li Yuan finally understood how difficult the path to immortality was.

Shortly after Li Yuan and Xu Qingfeng parted ways, in a mountain residence in Qingshan County, Xu Qingfeng stood beside an old man with white hair.

"Patriarch, a few days ago at the banquet hosted by the magistrate of Luoshan City, I encountered a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining. Do you think he has anything to do with the death of the third brother?"

The white-haired old man glanced at Xu Qingfeng.

"Regardless of whether there is any connection, this person must be eliminated. He is only at the second level of Qi Refining. I will wait until his cultivation level is higher before taking action. Perhaps he can even help me advance to the next level."

"You need to build a relationship with her first, and then you'll have to lure her out."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingfeng nodded and then left the courtyard.

A month later, Magistrate Tang was also transferred from Luoshan County to Qingshan Prefecture.

The day after Magistrate Tang left, in the courtyard of County Assistant Mo Yifan.

"Second Uncle, the brothers have been assembled. As long as you give the order, I will bring you the head of the Li family patriarch in three days."

County Magistrate Mo Yifan nodded, and then said:

"Just take two good men and wipe out the Li family. Be careful and don't leave any trace. I think the Li family has a good relationship with the Zhou family. If something goes wrong, it will be hard to clean up the mess."

Mo Longtou then said:

"Don't worry, Second Uncle, I will definitely handle this matter properly." With that, Mo Long leaped away from the courtyard.

Two days later, while Li Yuan was cultivating in the temple, a sudden noise outside startled him. Upon seeing this, Li Yuan quickly jumped onto the roof beam, then concealed his aura and remained motionless.

At this moment, Mo Long arrived at the temple with four burly men.

One of the henchmen spoke to Mo Long, who was in charge:

"Boss, I heard this bandit-suppression captain has close ties with the county officials. Will we get into trouble if we make a move?"

Seeing this, another henchman slapped the speaker on the head and then said:

"What are you talking about, trying to compare your relationship with the boss? The boss's surname is Mo. Last time, our Black Wind Mountain failed because the boss wasn't there."

Mo Long glanced at the speaker, who quickly shut his mouth and stopped talking.

Then Mo Long addressed the two people who were speaking;

"Since you two love to talk so much, you two go and scout the village first. When you come back tonight, you two will lead the charge, understand?"

Seeing Mo Long's gloomy face and the murderous aura between his brows, the two nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, boss." After saying that, the two of them jogged out of the temple.

At this moment, Li Yuan on the roof beam also realized that the seven people below were bandits from Black Wind Mountain. After glancing at the leader, Mo Long, Li Yuan discovered that the man's martial arts cultivation had reached the second-rate level.

If I were to make a move now, I would have a 90% chance of winning. After all, I don't yet know how to control the flying sword magic weapon that I snatched from that old Taoist priest, otherwise I would definitely annihilate them all.

Moreover, Li Yuan wasn't sure if the people in the temple had any backup plans. After thinking it over, to be on the safe side, Li Yuan decided to go back and inform his father first.

Immediately, Li Yuan used his spiritual power to quietly withdraw from the back of the temple, and then rushed home.

Soon, Li Yuan found Li Daqiang, who was practicing martial arts.

"Father, Black Wind Mountain has come to cause trouble for my Li family. They are in the temple where you and I rested. They are a second-rate man with some third-rate martial artists."

Upon hearing this, Li Daqiang quickly picked up the horse-slaying sword from the corner and then said:

"Hmph. They actually dare to come from Black Wind Mountain."

"Since they've come looking for trouble with the Li family, we'll certainly give them a proper welcome. Yuan'er, let's go to the temple and intercept them."

After saying that, Li Daqiang picked up his horse-slaying sword and left the courtyard. Seeing his father's decisive action, Li Yuan quickly followed.