Chapter 45: In the Li Family, There Is a Son Named Li Yunlin

Half a month had passed since Li Yaoqing left Zhien Village.

Sitting in his room, Li Xiang took a deep breath.

He could feel that, in the wake of the war between the two sects, Taiqing County was growing increasingly chaotic. This was also the reason why the usually cautious Li Dalong had risked going to the Thunder-Fire Demon Cave.

Everyone in the Li family knew this:

Only by constantly growing stronger and elevating the family's strength at the fastest possible pace could they prevent the family from being swallowed by the fallout of the war between the two sects!

"As the founding patriarch of this family, it's about time I exerted some effort myself."

While keeping an eye on the progress within the game and noting that only one day remained until the Li family's grand quinquennial ancestral ceremony, Li Xiang allowed the time in the game world to flow normally.

He dialed Boss Qi's number.

"Boss Qi, can you come to my house within an hour? This time, I'll give you 200 blood fruits, plus some new items. But I hope you can bring me what I asked for."

Shortly after—

Scarcely five minutes had passed when the doorbell rang.

Stepping out of his room and opening the front door, Li Xiang caught sight of Boss Qi's breathless face. "200 pieces? Quick, I have a client who wants them! And new items—they won't be any worse than the blood fruits, right? My clients are extremely picky."

"Don't rush. Come in and have a cup of milk tea first."

Li Xiang chuckled and shook his head. What did he mean by picky?

He could tell that Boss Qi's clients must be utterly enamored with those blood fruits.

Yet, in truth, the beast blood fruits were hardly worth mentioning to the Li family at all!

Leading Boss Qi into the house and handing him a cup of milk tea, Li Xiang reached out his hand. "Show me what I asked for first."

"Oh, my dear young Master Li, let me make this clear first: I did manage to get the things. But you must promise not to fool around with them. If you want to mess with some classmates or something, just give me a word. As for messing with Old Lady Ling, once we've earned enough spirit stones, dealing with her is just a matter of minutes, isn't it?"

Boss Qi grumbled, yet he still pulled out a spatial ring and tossed it to Li Xiang.

Ignoring Boss Qi's advice, Li Xiang glanced at the contents of the ring and frowned. "Only two?"

"Yes, two." Boss Qi shrugged. "Those things aren't easy to get, and besides, where was I supposed to find more in such a short time? I had to pull strings with an extremist organization just to get them for you."

"How many more can you get?"

Li Xiang realized he had been somewhat overly optimistic. It was already quite remarkable that Boss Qi could procure contraband; expecting even more was perhaps asking too much.

Boss Qi pondered for a moment. "I'll make some more connections. You know as well as I do that you can never get a fixed guarantee with this kind of stuff. But I can promise you that the next batch won't be any smaller than this one."

"Good."

Not pushing the matter further, Li Xiang smiled and said, "Have some milk tea first, Boss Qi. I'll go to my room and get your things."

With that, Li Xiang retreated into his bedroom and hurriedly accelerated the time flow within the game.

On the screen:

The descendants of the Li family were gathered in the ancestral hall, kowtowing before his spirit tablet. The sacrificial offerings they had prepared for this journey were already neatly arranged in front of the incense burner on the altar!

[Year 50 of the Li Family: The once-a-decade grand ancestral ceremony begins!]

[Your descendants offer sacrifices to you—]

[First-tier beast blood fruits, 200 pieces!]

[Golden Spirit Powder, 20 portions!]

[Sun-Enhancing Powder, 10 portions!]

[You choose to claim them!]

Moments later, the sacrificial items materialized on Li Xiang's desk.

Without a moment of delay, Li Xiang placed the spatial ring directly into the bronze incense burner, where it emitted a crisp, metallic chime.

[Detected that you are bestowing a blessing upon your descendants, granting—]

[Heavenly Star Spirit Seeker X2!]

Having completed the transfer, Li Xiang immediately stepped out of his bedroom—Boss Qi was still waiting outside!

......

"The things young Master Li gave me are potions?" Boss Qi blinked. "New products from the Li Corporation?"

"Correct."

Li Xiang pointed to the Golden Spirit Powder. "Increases Golden Spirit Roots by 1 to 8 points."

"What?!!"

At these words, Boss Qi's eyes widened. Had he not been facing Li Xiang—and knowing that the Li family had previously produced heaven-defying elixirs—he would never have believed it. "Are there any side effects? Is it as defying of the natural order as your family's Heavenly Mystery Spirit-Replenishing Pill?"

He was well aware of the Li family's Heavenly Mystery Spirit-Replenishing Pills; such elixirs were practically impossible to obtain on the open market.

While this Golden Spirit Powder might not match the raw efficacy of the Heavenly Mystery Spirit-Replenishing Pill, it was still an equally miraculous existence!

An increase of 1 to 8 points, specifically tailored for Golden Spirit Roots—he could well imagine how crazy wealthy young masters with single golden roots would go over this.

"Yes, no side effects. I'm giving you twenty portions; I hope you can sell them for a good price."

Li Xiang was thoroughly satisfied with Boss Qi's reaction. The stronger the reaction, the harder Boss Qi would be able to push the prices.

"Twenty portions?" Boss Qi's joy flared anew. "Then what about the remaining ten..."

"Sun-Enhancing Pills."

Noticing Boss Qi's expectant gaze, Li Xiang made a gesture in the air with his hand.

His expression at the moment was somewhat mischievous. He first gestured a length of about one centimeter with his fingers, then—under Boss Qi's astonished gaze—expanded the dimensions larger and larger, moving on to the diameter...

"With effects like these, permanent and completely free of side effects, I'm sure Boss Qi has some friends who are in dire need of them, right?"

Hearing this, Boss Qi swallowed hard. After a moment of hesitation, he asked with a solemn expression, "Young Master Li, let me ask you this: if I happen to have a friend... well, I truly do have a friend who can't last very long normally, could he, after using this..."

"Yes. It will increase his duration by at least that long."

Li Xiang held up three fingers.

Boss Qi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Three hours???"

"What on earth are you imagining? Three hours? An ox would plow the field to ruins!" Li Xiang's facial muscles twitched. "At least three minutes."

"Well, that works too, I suppose."

Boss Qi's expression showed a trace of disappointment, but it quickly melted into a wide grin. "Young Master Li, I guarantee I can sell these out completely."

Li Xiang nodded slightly. "In the days to come, we will have many collaborations. But as you know, my family is not suited to step into the public eye. Therefore, I hope to establish a company in your name. That way, my storage of spirit stones and tax issues will be resolved. With your circles, you should be able to handle this."

"I'll give you an extra 3% cut."

As Li Xiang once again raised three fingers, the flicker of hesitation that had crossed Boss Qi's mind vanished entirely.

Li Xiang continued, "After that, the company's daily operational expenses will be deducted from the accounts. Oh, and here is a list of things I want. I hope you can use the company to procure them for me."

Boss Qi took the long strip of paper.

He furrowed his brow once more. "Elixirs, cultivation techniques, talismans, war puppets... and all of them extremely rare grades."

Yet Boss Qi dared not inquire too closely; after all, these were items demanded by the formidable Li family. He even harbored a faint suspicion that the Li family had secretly slipped away from Earth to find a new habitable planet and build a completely new world.

"Can it be done?" Li Xiang asked.

Rousing himself from his thoughts, Boss Qi pondered for a moment and said, "The kinds of things young Master Li is asking for will likely have to be sourced from ancient civilizations. Well, I have many friends who research the ancient eras, and some even dig through deep-sea trenches or extraterrestrial planets for relics left behind by past epochs. I'll see if I can get items of this caliber, though it might take a considerable amount of time."

"Thank you."

Li Xiang nodded slightly.

He knew that the millennial spiritual Qi resurgence had allowed this world to develop so rapidly precisely because they had unearthed the legacy of ancient civilizations.

As he walked Boss Qi out, Boss Qi suddenly stopped.

"Oh, young Master Li, when I was passing through your villa district, I happened to run into your teacher. He seemed to be begging Grandpa Chen, the security guard, to find you. He was rambling on about begging you to participate in the school tournament. I looked into it, and the guy seems to be at the False Core realm..."

"He tracked me all the way to my doorstep?"

Li Xiang rolled his eyes. "Tell him to stop pestering me. I'll help out, all right?"

Boss Qi grinned. "True enough. Against a mere False Core realm practitioner, young Master Li stepping in will undoubtedly settle the matter."

"Who said I was going to fight? I don't even want to step out of my front door."

Li Xiang shrugged. "Here, Boss Qi, do me a favor. Before the tournament starts, go lock that False Core guy up, and let him go after the matches are over."

"......"

Boss Qi left Villa No. 1 in Xiejiazhuang with a speechless expression, suddenly feeling that he himself was quite an upright and righteous person by comparison.

......

[The 50th Anniversary Grand Ancestral Ceremony of the Li Family has concluded!]

[Congratulations! Your descendants gathered together, received your blessings, and are filled with boundless gratitude.]

[Obtained Incense +300!]

Looking at the incense points approaching 30,000 on his ledger, Li Xiang estimated that by continuously supporting the Li family's development, he would likely reap substantial rewards after another twenty years or so passed in the game world.

Of course, this assumed he didn't squander large amounts of incense points within the game.

[Special Event]

[Li Yaozu, leading the Black Blood Hall, moves stealthily through the night, preparing to intercept the 'Heavy-Gathering Sand'—a mineral resource being escorted by the Qingping Lan family—in collaboration with the Qingping Gu family.]

Scarcely had the grand ceremony ended when the Li family swung into action.

Li Xiang knew of the Qingping Lan family; they were longtime adversaries of the Gu family. And now, the Gu family—who had once helped the Li family save the Silver Iron Forest—had become the Li family's allies, cooperating frequently.

Presently, the Qingping Gu family also harbored ambitions of carving out their own fortunes amidst this chaotic era.

"Even a cautious family like the Qingping Gu family is muddying the waters at a time like this?" Li Xiang felt the rising tide of chaos in Taiqing County all the more keenly.

Fortunately, he had just sent supplies over to the Li family, which would enable them to exert some strength of their own.

In the game:

Zhien Village was not facing any troubles at the moment and continued to consume the resources it had previously acquired. The cooperation between Li Yaozu and the Gu family was proceeding smoothly.

Li Xiang decided to check on his two descendants who were away.

He saw that Li Yaoqing had already reached the gathering point of the Leaving Heaven Sect, assembling in Tingfeng Town, where Li Dalong had once annihilated the Listening Wind Martial Pavilion. There were currently around fifty people gathered, but they had not yet launched their operation, choosing instead to wait for more reinforcements to join the demon-slaying expedition.

Li Yaoqing's temperament was one that never courted trouble and preferred to keep a low profile; for now, he was entirely safe.

Li Xiang clicked on Li Yunlin's avatar.

The map shifted.

[Leaving Heaven Sect]

The scene appeared inside a mountain cave. In particular, a milky, viscous pool teeming with spiritual Qi made it clear at a glance that this was no ordinary place, filling the entire cave with dense mist.

And Li Yunlin, who had only left the Cliff of Repentance seven years ago—

Was now suspended mid-air above the spiritual pool, cross-legged in meditation!

Opening Li Yunlin's past logs, Li Xiang learned that for the past seven years, Li Yunlin had lived in the Leaving Heaven Sect purely as an outer disciple—appearing utterly unremarkable, yet never ceasing his cultivation for a single day.

He had been waiting. Waiting until he reached the peak of Qi Condensation.

Once he reached that threshold, he could claim the spiritual pool left behind by his master, break through to Foundation Establishment, and astonish the world with a single brilliant feat!

"Boom!"

Suddenly—

An explosion of Qi erupted beneath Li Yunlin, scattering the spiritual liquid of the pool as the ambient Qi within the cave surged into his body.

He opened his eyes, and twin flashes of fiery light burst from his pupils!

At his dantian, a nascent flame materialized from within his body.

A roaring inferno bloomed around him, swiftly vaporizing the remaining liquid in the spiritual pool until nothing was left in the cave save for raging, dancing flames!

Foundation Establishment, achieved!

"Twelve years."

Li Yunlin murmured softly.

"Twelve years have passed since Master died. When I came here, I was merely a youth; now, I am nearing thirty."

"And the two sects are at war."

His voice grew increasingly cold, his gaze burning like torches. "Today, armed with the physique of the Nine-Spirit Strange Flame, I emerge from seclusion, re-enter the inner sect, and reclaim everything that belonged to my master. I want everyone in the Leaving Heaven Sect to know—the Li family has a son—"

"Li Yunlin!"