lcionline Chapter 455 1
Chapter 455 1
Li Xuanxuan was not some obedient Noble Family child who grew up cultivating on an Immortal Mountain. The elder had rolled around in the dusty, worldly affairs for decades and saw things clearly.
Upon meeting, Kong Yu immediately brought up his late senior brother, then spoke of the kindness of yielding the path—clearly a person unable to hold in sorrow, innately self-pitying. No need to ask; after waiting a dozen breaths, Kong Yu indeed spoke up:
"To speak frankly, the Kong Clan suffered deeply from the events in Yu Fu County."
"My grandfather died because of it; that year, while out collecting Spiritual Objects, he entered Xu Country's Shui County and lost his mind, wandered about in a daze, and instead of just looking for some far-off tavern, he had to insult a young man."
"That youth merely sneered and left. Half a year later, he attacked our Clan, killed my grandfather, and even our great-grandfather—a dignified Foundation Establishment Peak Immortal Cultivator—was driven off by a mere Qi Cultivator!"
Li Xuanxuan felt like he was hearing a storyteller, disbelief in his voice:
"How is that possible!"
"Why couldn't it be possible!"
Kong Yu's face was full of gloom; he clenched his teeth till they clicked, lowering his voice:
"His own son was killed before his eyes; he, his mind confused, even played some 'hold an incense stick' game with the youth—and lost, becoming a laughingstock ever since!"
"Tell me, isn't that ridiculous?!"
He burst out laughing—a bitter, twisted sound—and spoke quietly:
"All those sent out from home became fools, one by one fed to him and made into his sustenance. In the end, even our Foundation Establishment Peak great-grandfather died at his hands, and that youth trampled our family's Immortal Mountain, dissolved the Kong Family, then went north."
"What about Changxi Perfected Person?"
Li Xuanxuan's mouth was dry as he listened, quickly asking.
Kong Yu answered in a low voice:
"Later Changxi Perfected Person broke through and returned, but our Kong Clan's three hundred years as a Noble Family fell to ruins within three years, gaining the name 'Incense Stick Noble Family.' Changxi Perfected Person, terrified, moved away from Xu Country, which led to the later Xuan Yue Sect."
"Ha…"
Li Xuanxuan listened, cold sweat down his back, sighing in agreement, thinking to himself:
'No wonder Xuan Yue Sect is so downtrodden; all the strong clansmen died one after another back then, and they haven't recovered even now…'
Kong Yu's face was full of heartache, only answering:
"Our Kong Clan's disaster—every paper is marked with 'helplessness' all over. Who knows, at that time, what unspeakable despair our ancestors felt."
"That incident caused a huge uproar in Xu Country; everyone knew. Those clansmen who escaped blended into other clans and became even more widely known."
Li Xuanxuan was moved by his words, softly asked:
"That person back then… did he have a name?"
Kong Yu spread his hands and smiled:
"His name? A minor Cultivator like me wouldn't dare speak of it."
Li Xuanxuan was immediately struck silent; listening along the way, he suddenly felt something off and murmured:
"Since he's such an untouchable figure, why make it so well-known? It does nothing for your family—the only way to preserve later generations is to forget this…"
'Spread everywhere like this, isn't it practically announcing to that great man that the Kong Family harbors deep hatred?'
Li Xuanxuan added silently in his heart, but Kong Yu gave him a long look and replied:
"A minor Cultivator like me dares not speak, dares not hate, dares not avoid the topic. Bringing it up means recounting every detail from beginning to end. There's no other reason—just to perpetuate the tale, to please that man and hope to survive."
"After all, that man painstakingly wrote it into a storybook; the wider it spreads, the Kong Family becomes the monument to his rise, and he'll be more reluctant to see us perish."
"But when even the villain forgets the story, who watching the show will find it interesting?"
Kong Yu's voice was low and sombre.
......
Li Family.
Year's end was approaching; snow fell in thick flurries, and the day came to collect tribute.
Li Yuanping checked the households—Li Family now governed Five Peaks and eighteen towns, supporting a population of 320,000. Add in the 280,000 from Eastern Shanyue, and that made a full 600,000.
This six hundred thousand owed itself to Li Yuanxiu, Li Yuanjiao, and Li Yuanping, three brothers who'd spent decades migrating people from the densely populated Lijing and Huaqian regions to the newly acquired Huazhong and Jade Court Mountains, and the demon disaster driving people to flee from East Bank's families and the Yu Family to the Li Family—leading to the present situation.
"Six hundred thousand!"
The Five Peaks lands were second only to the deep forests in richness, with miles of fertile fields; far superior to Fei Clan's remote mountains, but even so, sustaining six hundred thousand had reached its limit.
Thanks to this, the Li Family may have just a handful of Qi Cultivators, but among all the clans they had the most Fetal Breathing Cultivators. With Five Peaks establishing the "Evening Mansion" system, registered Fetal Breathing Cultivators had surged from just under two hundred last year to well over three hundred now.
Li Yuanping saw it clearly: First, as soon as the Prestigious Families saw benefit, they let their own trained cultivators join the Li clan registry; second, Loose Cultivators saw profit and immediately came to pledge themselves.
"Nothing but money moves the heart!"
Pale-faced, Li Yuanping showed a cold smile:
'Outsiders and Prestigious Families must have at least half their Fetal Breathing Cultivators unregistered—just waiting to see if I, Li Yuanping, play tricks, hoping to snatch the fat off once it falls!'
He looked over the records, speaking softly:
"Once you're registered… you're no longer free!"
"Invite everyone in!"
Li Yuanping gave orders; Dou Yi immediately went to summon them, soon seeing a long line of cultivators filing in. At the front were An Zhiyan and Tian Zhongqing—the An and Tian families had made the biggest contributions and naturally led. Behind followed Chen, Xu, Ren, Xu…
"This time, Tian Family did the most for the demon disaster."
Li Yuanping glanced at those gathered and said softly:
"Tian Zhongqing—appointed Feng Qian of Huaqian Mountain as Feng Qian."
Tian Zhongqing wasn't surprised at Li Yuanping's assignment.
Li Yuanping's mansion system was set with "Feng Mu," "Feng Qian," and "Feng Zheng" as three leaders.
"Feng Zheng" oversaw the Array Plate, always someone from the Li Family's direct or collateral line. Their cultivation might be weak, but with the array in hand, as long as they checked on it occasionally, they could cultivate in peace.
"Feng Mu" was only handled by Fetal Breathing Cultivators, with three departments below managing tax, common affairs, and supervision, backed by dozens of Fetal Breathing Cultivators—a mentally and physically taxing role, but never a place for someone of his sort.
"Feng Qian" was the territory-guarding Qi Cultivator, responsible for slaying demons and suppressing evil; strongest in might and most free of duties—Tian Zhongqing, just forty, was at the right age to improve his cultivation level.
"Xu Gongming as Jade Court Mountain's Feng Qian, Xu Shumu as Huazhong Mountain's Feng Mu, Xu Gongyu as Wutu Mountain's Feng Mu, Shamo Li as Wutu Mountain's Feng Qian…"
Li Yuanping only promoted the elders and heroes of the demon disaster, each peak commanded by one Qi Cultivator, three miscellaneous Qi, and dozens of Fetal Breathing Cultivators. Most Fetal Breathing Cultivators were usually dispatched to farm or handle common affairs and did not remain on the mountains.
Once the main positions were filled just enough to function, he stopped reading out the rest.
The gathered cultivators all looked over expectantly; Li Yuanping bundled up his documents and spoke gently:
"The clan's cultivators are still not enough. Once each peak's Fetal Breathing Cultivators are filled, Yuanping will further promote those who contribute."
Li Yuanping saw their uncertain faces, smiled:
"There are only so many posts per peak—they're assigned based on cultivation level and merit. Each post comes with a Magic Artifact, Elixir allowance, and a Cave Mansion; even the clan struggles to bear the burden."
With those three conditions, all the Guest Elders, Prestigious Families, and branch lines below immediately grew red-eyed. These days, Devil Cultivators run rampant; once someone leaves, don't expect to come back—the clan's the only source for Magic Artifacts and Elixirs.
The Li Family was poor, and their cultivators poorer still. Even though positions on the peaks came with Magic Artifacts, lose the job and the artifact must be returned—but for many families, even one artifact was lacking.
More so Elixirs and Cave Mansions, both essential for growing one's cultivation—a breakthrough just a little earlier might gain one a century of extra life. Such temptation was impossible to abandon…
Li Yuanping could see every eye below flickering with greed and uncertainty. He nodded, waved them out.
'The Serpent Demon Cave Mansion is even bigger than I thought—the direct lineage lacks no Cave Mansions for cultivation, so these mountain Cave Mansions will be thrown to them… Magic Artifacts lying idle are still idle; all it costs is a little clan stipend and Spirit Pills.'
Li Yuanping exhaled, glancing over the sparse petitions on his desk, preparing to expand the Jade Courtyard Guards and Clan Head Courtyard.
"More stipends again… Spirit Rice, Spirit Stones, Spirit Pills—which isn't in short supply? The bottom of Wangyue Lake has far too few Spiritual Objects; if only we could freely enter Da Li Mountain…"