Chapter 43: Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, Destined for Greatness!

An epic war between two great sects—no one could predict what the future would hold.

Yet Li Xiang knew clearly that if the Li family wished to preserve itself, or even profit, amidst a catastrophe that might last a century, strength remained paramount. Without it, by what right could the Li family speak of anything else?

However, the looming threat of danger also served as the greatest catalyst for human progress.

[Amidst the news of the war between the two sects, all your descendants have sensed an unseen peril. Determined to ensure the family's survival through this calamity, they have begun to cherish every fleeting second, seizing every opportunity to strengthen the clan.]

[Your family has acquired the trait: Steely Determination.]

[Until the crisis ends, your clansmen's cultivation speed increases by 10%, their comprehension increases by 10%, and they will find it easier to seize opportunities for family development. Henceforth, the descendants of the family shall remember this crisis, permanently enhancing the effectiveness of "Steely Determination" by ten percent.]

A buff!

Li Xiang's tense mood began to ease. The revenge buff had vanished after the trouble at Tailin Town was resolved, but now the Li family had once again gained a collective trait.

"As expected, regardless of the nature of the challenge, opportunity coexists with it."

Forget the emergence of game traits for a moment.

Even Li Xiang himself had a sudden epiphany!

He slapped his thigh hard.

"That's right! If I stop viewing this matter as a danger and instead treat it as an opportunity, everything changes!"

Li Xiang instantly locked his gaze onto the screen.

Admittedly, the war between the two sects would plunge the Li family into unpredictable danger.

Yet, as Li Yaowen had previously mentioned, under such circumstances, the two major sects would be entirely preoccupied with fighting each other, leaving them no time to meddle in other affairs. Because of this, certain factions or individuals would inevitably exist who could fish in troubled waters and reap unexpected benefits.

Then...

Why should the Li family wait for others to fish in troubled waters, rather than becoming the hunter themselves?

"The train of thought is suddenly crystal fucking clear."

Li Xiang immediately intended to have the Purple Thunder Sun Python summon his descendants.

Just as he clicked on the avatar of the Purple Thunder Sun Python, planning to voice the realization he had just attained,

he froze.

His descendants had walked into the ancestral hall.

After paying their respects as usual, Li Dalong beamed with joy. "Old Ancestor, today when Yunbing emerged from his cultivation inside the Direct Death Heavenly Coffin, he said he was constantly beaten by the zombies on the first level at first. Later, when he took the initiative to launch an attack, the path toward the end of the first level became much easier."

"So he asked this unworthy child: why can't our Li family take the initiative ourselves amidst the calamity of the two sects' war?"

"Old Ancestor, this child does not know whether this foolish boy's words make sense or not. Please enlighten us!"

"......"

Li Xiang's smile gradually faded, and with a numb expression, he stared at Li Yunbing on the game screen—it was precisely this fellow, with his innocent eyes and a face that screamed, 'I am an idiot, come trick me!'

For a long time, he did not move.

On the screen, Li Dalong, having received no response from Li Xiang, grew somewhat anxious, almost wishing to urge him: *Old Ancestor, please say something.*

"I actually thought of the exact same thing as Li Yunbing, the family resident who gets tricked every day?"

Gritting his teeth, Li Xiang clicked on the avatar of the Purple Thunder Sun Python.

[Good.]

After entering the text, the members of the Li family received the response from the Purple Thunder Sun Python and immediately burst into jubilation.

"The Old Ancestor has agreed! Hahaha!"

"I told you Yunbing isn't stupid; he can come up with useful methods too."

"Grandsons, follow me."

***

Li Xiang gritted his teeth and pinched the flesh of his thigh hard.

Calm down!

He absolutely must remain calm; he must not smash the keyboard!

Then, glancing at the time flow rate on the screen, Li Xiang felt a wave of comfort.

"It's fine. Why am I doubting myself? Many days have passed in the game world; I thought of it quite quickly myself."

"Yes, exactly. My descendants thinking of the same thing I did—I should be happy. This proves he has grown up."

"I want to smile!!!"

Just as his voice trailed off,

his phone rang. When Li Xiang answered, Boss Qi's delighted voice came through, "Young Master Li, I've sold everything off, and made a huge profit—"

"Boss Qi, do you think I look like a fool?"

"Ah? Why are you suddenly asking that?" Boss Qi's voice choked for a moment, followed by a solemn tone: "I know my surname is Qi and my reputation wasn't great before, but Young Master Li can rest assured. I swear on my life that ever since I started cooperating with Young Master Li, I have never taken a kickback."

"Hahaha."

Li Xiang finally revealed a smile. "Talking to smart people is always simple."

After hanging up the phone, Li Xiang finally felt at ease.

***

[After deliberation, your family has decided to take advantage of the chaos in Taiqing to secretly eradicate the Tingfeng Martial Pavilion. Li Dalong and his wife set out together, borrowing the spiritual beast 'Wind-Shadow Bright-Spirit Bird' from the Silver-Iron Forest.]

Li Xiang munched on melon slices while observing this special operation.

As he played deeper into the game, Li Xiang came to understand that every special operation had a specific reason behind it—

either a major event threatening the Li family, or an event yielding benefits.

Though he had been continuously monitoring the development of the Li family's forces,

Li Xiang was well aware of this particular situation.

The Tingfeng Martial Pavilion, located within Tingfeng Town of Taiqing County, boasted a strongest member who was merely at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Though this minor sect, sustained solely by a Foundation Establishment practitioner, was weak,

the Li family still spent two months preparing to eradicate the Tingfeng Martial Pavilion, even leveraging the connections of the Tailin Su family. The reason was that this Tingfeng Martial Pavilion swore allegiance to the Xuanwu Gate; without thorough preparations and careful evasion of the Xuanwu Gate's eyes and ears on all fronts, the Li family would likely encounter no small amount of trouble.

Their ultimate goal was to obtain the high-grade auxiliary magical treasure within the martial pavilion—

[The Martial-Practice Spiritual Pearl]

[Practitioners at the Foundation Establishment stage can rely on their comprehension to engrave cultivation techniques onto the spiritual pearl for others to study.]

The utility of this item seemed ordinary at first glance, but the Li family had gone to such great lengths because they learned that after decades of experimentation, the Tingfeng Martial Pavilion had placed the Martial-Practice Spiritual Pearl atop a structure similar to the cultivation rooms in Zhi'en Village, which could further accelerate a cultivator's cultivation speed within those rooms!

By now, the Li family had already begun dismantling those ten cultivation rooms, combining them into a large-scale cultivation room, and had prepared a dome structure to place the Martial-Practice Spiritual Pearl upon it.

Soon.

In the dead of night, Li Dalong and his wife, leading the spiritual beast, headed toward the Tingfeng Martial Pavilion perched on a small mountain outside Tingfeng Town.

Amidst the cluster of archaic buildings, murderous intent arose instantly in the night veil!

Holding a low-grade spiritual weapon, Xu Cuihua inherently possessed the capability to battle a peak Foundation Establishment expert. Coupled with the Wind-Shadow Bright-Spirit Bird—which was no larger than a sparrow yet untraceable—there was not a single entity within this minor sect capable of withstanding even a single blow from them.

The Tingfeng Martial Pavilion merely had a pavilion master at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment and two elders at the early stage.

The Li couple and their spiritual beast even clearly knew which location to go to and whom to kill, evidently possessing a well-laid plan and clear targets. They had thoroughly investigated the Tingfeng Martial Pavilion; it was truly a dark and windy night fit for murder.

Their actions were nothing if not crisp and decisive!

Just as he intended to switch screens to check on his other descendants,

Li Xiang's hand resting on the mouse paused.

He saw the Li family members rapidly inflicting heavy injuries on the Tingfeng Martial Pavilion's master, dragging him alive to a cliff edge dozens of miles outside the mountain, where Li Dalong tightly seized the man's throat.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Li Xiang furiously munched on his melon, catching the complex expression in Li Dalong's eyes—was it hatred, relief, or a sense of liberation?

"Do you still remember who I am?" Li Dalong's voice was hollow and slightly trembling.

"Friend, I don't know... I don't know how I might have offended you all? Let's talk this over. Do you want the Martial-Practice Spiritual Pearl? Just take it. I... I have plenty of spiritual stones; I can give you all the spiritual stones and everything valuable our pavilion owns!"

The Tingfeng Martial Pavilion master was no fool either. Knowing that this group dared to strike without fear of the Xuanwu Gate backing him, he resolutely chose to beg for mercy, hoping to preserve his life.

"You don't remember."

Li Dalong sighed deeply. "Calculated, it has already been forty-nine years. You don't remember me, but I remember you."

"You... Who are you?!" The pavilion master grew increasingly terrified.

Ignoring him, Li Dalong spoke to himself:

"Your Tingfeng Martial Pavilion claimed within Tingfeng Town to be an upright sect, but in truth, it was filth personified. Back then, you were at the peak of Qi Refinement, just as you were founding the Tingfeng Pavilion. Oh, right, you had another identity as well—a human trafficker who stole other people's children to sell."

"You..."

The pavilion master wanted to speak, but veins bulged on his forehead; Li Dalong was choking him so hard he could make no sound, and with a casual wave of his palm, he crippled the pavilion master's dantian!

"Children with good aptitude, you would sell to major sects."

"Children with poor aptitude, you would use as cultivation cauldrons!"

Li Dalong calmly severed the pavilion master's limbs.

"Do you know? Back then, when the twelve of us cauldrons reached the age of twenty and were about to be used by you to culture insect Gu, in order to survive and escape that demonic cave of the Tingfeng Pavilion, I was the only one who left alive. To this day, I still remember my companion shouting for me to run fast!"

*'Run fast... Ah-Gou, you must escape...'*

"I escaped, and my companions died. I could only follow the memories of my childhood to find my former home, but all I saw were the graves of my parents. The thatched cottage at home was abandoned, with only the ancestral tablets remaining."

"When you kidnapped me, I was still only called Ah-Gou, and the fortune-teller hadn't even given me a proper name yet."

"I knew I lacked the ability, but in my dreams, I wanted you dead, and your pavilion ruined!"

Li Dalong let out a long breath. As Xu Cuihua placed her hand gently on his shoulder, he offered a reassuring smile to the worried woman, then stared coldly and relentlessly at the pavilion master. "Now I am no longer called Ah-Gou. The nameless little dog who once lost his family and fled with his tail between his legs finally has a name: Dalong. Remember me in your next life—my name is Li Dalong!"

"Everything of the past should finally be laid to rest."

Li Dalong truly let go. He placed the pavilion master at the foot of the cliff, borrowed the spiritual weapon from Xu Cuihua, flew down, and unleashed a barrage of frantic bombardments until the pavilion master's flesh and blood mingled completely with the filthy soil.

Watching everything on the screen, Li Xiang felt as though he were standing right beside Li Dalong, chilled by the cold wind of the midnight hour.

The melon in his hand suddenly lost its appeal.

It was also the first time he realized that Li Dalong's past had been so tragic. Perhaps this was the reason Li Dalong had attained the trait 'Striving for Self-Improvement', and why he constantly sought transformation after acquiring cultivation techniques, yearning for a better life.

Many years ago, the Li family had already possessed the strength to help Li Dalong exact his revenge.

Yet Li Dalong had never sought vengeance, perhaps because he long knew the Tingfeng Martial Pavilion had a powerful backer, suppressing his hatred for the sake of the family's development. Even today, it was only because the family required the Martial-Practice Spiritual Pearl that Li Dalong likely would still not have risked everything for personal desires.

Accompanied by the echoing roars within the game screen—

[Your descendant Li Dalong has shattered the inner demons suppressed for many years, and his trait 'Striving for Self-Improvement' has undergone a metamorphosis—]

[Trait: Destined for Greatness!]

[Your descendant Li Dalong has broken through—]

[Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment!]