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

Upon arriving at the mountain courtyard, the mortal residence of the Sun family below was already adorned with festive red ribbons. Not long after Li Yuan and his companion arrived at the foot of the mountain, a cultivator from the Sun family emerged.

"Are you two from the Li family of a small fishing village, or the Luo family of Suiyun County?"

Upon hearing this, the two were surprised. They hadn't expected that even a junior member of the Sun family would recognize them. It seemed that the Sun family's decision to establish their clan here was not a spur-of-the-moment thing.

Seeing the two nod, the younger member of the Sun family, with a respectful expression, led them to the side of the road and said:

"Please follow me, seniors. The patriarch has arranged a place for you to rest. We will begin our meal at noon." After saying this, the fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator from the Sun family led Li Yuan and his companion to a courtyard. There was another person sitting in the courtyard, who was none other than Xu Daoqian.

To their surprise, Xu Qingfeng did not come in person.

Since the two men were not familiar with Xu Daoqian, Li Yuan and Luo Tong greeted Xu Daoqian and then returned to their respective rooms to rest.

In Luo Tong's room, the sword that Luo Tong had been holding suddenly slipped from his grasp and flew into the air, but Luo Tong was not surprised at all.

"Luo Tong, the Li family patriarch who was with you earlier is no ordinary person. I didn't expect him to be raising a tuntian python."

Upon hearing this, Luo Tong asked in confusion.

"You're saying that the white snake Brother Li possessed was a Heaven-Swallowing Python?"

A phantom image suddenly appeared from the sword floating in the sky.

"Even if it's not the Devouring Python, it's still a descendant of its bloodline. It's just that the white snake hasn't awakened its bloodline yet, otherwise that little Li family wouldn't be able to control this Devouring Python."

Then he looked at Luo Tong.

"Also, I sensed a scent of incense from that Li family patriarch. You should be careful, your two neighbors are not simple. One cultivates demonic arts and creates karma, while the other seems to have a lineage of incense offerings."

Upon hearing this, Luo Tong's face turned ugly. He couldn't contain his anger when he thought about how he had accompanied the evil cultivators to find other evil cultivators. However, since the Luo family couldn't expose the Xu family's strength at the moment, they could only hide for the time being and be even more careful.

Soon it was noon, and everyone was taken to their seats.

The clan has many rules, which not only promote its own lineage and spirit, but also invite the gods of the surrounding world to a banquet. This series of complicated procedures took a full two hours.

The Sun family's banquet was not limited to just a few families from Qingshan County; they also invited many families from Longling County and Huaihai County.

After the banquet, both Li Yuan and Luo Tong were shocked. The Sun family was so powerful that there were more than ten cultivators among them, including the old patriarch of the Sun family who was at the peak of Qi Refining.

Besides Sun Xuan, there was another cultivator from the Sun family at the eighth level of Qi Refining, named Sun Huo.

In addition, the Sun family has extensive connections, with many families from Longling County and Huaihai County coming to offer their congratulations.

Only at the very end did Li Yuan understand why the Sun family had such extensive connections. It turned out that the old patriarch of the Sun family, who was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, was actually a genuine first-level alchemist.

Besides the border beast tide, the Sun family came to Jiuhua Mountain for another reason: there was actually a miniature fire vein on the summit of Jiuhua Mountain. This news was spread by the Sun family themselves and could not be faked.

The reason for spreading this news is that the Sun family patriarch will begin endless alchemy, and as long as it is a first-grade pill, two sets of materials will definitely produce one pill.

The Sun family does not ask for spirit stones as a reward, but if the refining fails, there is no compensation. Even if the refining is successful, it is not successful if the old patriarch of the Sun family says it is not successful.

Of course, this is just a metaphor. Under normal circumstances, as long as you prepare two sets of materials, you will definitely be able to produce the elixir.

This news also made Li Yuan and other local immortal clans uneasy. Even if the Sun family would take benefits, they wouldn't damage their own reputation. This was much more cost-effective than directly buying pills.

In particular, some rare elixirs are simply unavailable on the market, and Daqing has some control over these key elixirs.

After the Sun family's ceremony was completed, the banquet slowly began. Many cultivators who knew the strength of the Sun family chatted with the Sun family patriarch, and some even took out medicinal herbs on the spot to try to refine pills.

Although the old patriarch of the Sun family did not appear to agree, Sun Xuan accepted all of them. If it were not for the old patriarch's instruction, Sun Xuan probably would not have dared to take on this business.

The banquet ended in a lively atmosphere. No one in Qingshan County objected to the Sun family, so from this day forward, the Sun family officially established their Immortal Clan in Qingshan County.

After the banquet ended, Li Yuan had no intention of staying any longer. After asking Luo Tong and learning that he had other matters to attend to, Li Yuan headed towards the small fishing village.

With no one at home to oversee things, Li Yuan was still somewhat worried.

Apart from himself, no one in the Li family is currently at the late stage of Qi Refining. Li Daqiang is still at the fifth level of Qi Refining, and there is still some distance to go before reaching the sixth level. As for Liu Yue'er and his mother, they are at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Li Shouqian and Zhou Tian were both at the second level of Qi Refining.

Back in the small fishing village, another day had passed. Calculating the time, it was time to pay taxes this year. Just as they descended from Zhushan, Liu Yue'er had already packed up the spirit rice to be paid, waiting to deliver it to the Ministry of Revenue where Zhang Xuan was located in Qingshan County.

Li Yuan originally intended to escort them himself, but then he thought of something more important and had to let Li Daqiang take them to Qingshan County.

There's nothing wrong with having Li Daqiang deliver it, and there's no fear of being intercepted on the way.

It is no exaggeration to say that if anyone dared to intercept the taxes of Daqing, then the next day, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from Daqing would personally investigate until the person who intercepted the road was found.

As for Li Yuan, he still sent spirit rice, but this time he sent it to Prince Qinghe.

The Li family now possesses peak Qi Refining combat power, enough to sever ties with Prince Qinghe. However, Li Yuan still prepared to send the full amount of spirit rice to Prince Qinghe, considering it a good farewell.

Soon, the two groups of people, filled with spirit rice, began to head in two different directions. Li Yuan did not bring many people with him on this trip to the residence of Prince Qinhe. He only brought a few people to transport the goods, and as for the cultivators, there was only Li Yuan.

As for the white snake, Li Yuan still had it coiled on his arm. If Prince Qinghe really turned hostile on the spot, Li Yuan would have no problem escaping with the white snake by his side.

As for what happens after he escapes, if Prince Qinghe really chases him to the small fishing village, Li Yuan will immediately bring up the iron mine matter again. At that time, Li Yuan will want to see how Prince Qinghe will handle the situation.