Chapter 339: Eliminating the Vermin (Part I)

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Wang Xun handed the Green Ruler Sword to the Li family members and said only:

"It is better than I imagined; only one-tenth of the sword intent is gone. Many thanks to you all."

With that, he drove the wind and departed as if fleeing, not daring to say a single extra word. The two brothers looked at each other in dismay; it seemed this man truly refused to be entangled in worldly affairs, and only spoke more earlier because he had a request of them.

The two of them, one cradling the sword and the other holding the green jade box, returned through the rain to the small courtyard on the mountain, where the rest of the Li family was already waiting.

Raindrops pattered on the mountain, and the courtyard was silent. On a smooth, plain table sat a pile of jade bottles, some large and some small, some green and some white, suffused with spiritual energy.

At the other end sat five or six jade bottles, placed there all alone.

"That is about the extent of it..."

Li Li Yuanjiao finished explaining the sequence of events and said in a low voice:

"Currently, seventy percent of the many elixirs in the marketplace flow out from the Mount Qingchi Sect; only twenty to thirty percent come from the Xiao and Yuan families. You all should take a look and decide how to handle this."

The Li family's direct-line cultivators were all present. Li Li Qinghong stood to the side, cradling her spear and saying nothing, while Li Brother Yuanping lowered his head in thought. The few of the Xiyue generation sat kneeling below, their expressions varied.

Seeing that Li Brother Yuanping and Li Li Qinghong remained silent, Li Li Yuanjiao cast his gaze toward the eldest among those below, Li Li Xicheng, signaling for him to speak.

Li Li Xicheng was momentarily lost in thought. Seeing this, he hurriedly straightened his knees and stood up. After pondering for two breaths, he replied:

"In this nephew's view, although these medicines are precious, they are refined using human lives. Our family has always prioritized rectifying family customs and nurturing the people, passing down the path of righteousness. It would be best to discard these medicines..."

Li Li Xicheng had made significant progress while managing affairs in East Shanyue; his speech was much more fluent. His words meant that these medicines should no longer be used, and he had nothing else to add. Li Li Yuanjiao merely nodded and looked toward Li Li Xijun.

Li Li Xijun was dressed in a white robe embroidered with silver trim, looking even more handsome. With red lips and white teeth, he said respectfully:

"In this nephew's view, since our family will not use these medicines, we should send them all to the shops in the marketplace and exchange them for spirit stones at a slightly lower price. This would not only quickly replenish the clan treasury but also generate some buzz."

"Afterward, we should send people to open up channels with the Xiao and Yuan families. Relying on our connections, we can source medicine solely from them in the future, without needing to go through the open market. That would settle the matter."

"Good!"

Li Li Xijun had given a complete strategy after being up for only a few dozen breaths, which made Li Li Yuanjiao's eyes light up. Then, Li Li Ximing, who was at the very edge, also said softly:

"This nephew has yet to break through to the Jade Capital realm and cannot begin refining elixirs. This matter must still rely on the Xiao and Yuan families for a few years. The Eighth Brother's method is thorough, but I have only one doubt regarding these elixirs."

Li Li Ximing paused, pondered for a breath, and looked up, saying:

"Refining elixirs with blood and Qi is rumored to be the method of Daoists who share the same furnace; the quantity and quality of the pills produced are far superior. Could it be that there are only benefits and no hidden dangers? I fear the harm is far greater than anyone realizes."

As soon as he said this, the three people above all raised their eyebrows slightly. Li Li Ximing had, after all, read books on alchemy and understood the Dao of alchemy better than the others. He continued:

"This nephew means that even if... even if it were not related to human lives, we should not go and consume them... Who knows what risks or hidden traps there might be? The elixirs flowing out from the noble families are not as sought after as those from the Mount Qingchi Sect. If it is easy to exchange them, why not do so?"

"Not bad."

The three people above looked at each other, and Li Brother Yuanping smiled.

"You may withdraw first."

The three of them left in response. The courtyard gate creaked shut, and the array isolating the inside from the outside began to operate. Only then did Li Brother Yuanping smile and say:

"The younger generation has made progress."

Li Li Yuanjiao nodded slightly and said:

"Although Li Xicheng spoke without substance, he no longer has his former wooden demeanor. Being willing to learn and grow is always good... On the contrary, our Li Xijun is a man of action."

Li Li Xijun's complete strategy had truly delighted the three of them. Li Li Qinghong cradled her Du Ruo spear, her expression much more relaxed, and she said softly:

"Li Ximing is capable of planning, and Li Xijun is capable of strategy. It is because Brother Ping taught them well."

Li Li Yuanjiao immediately gathered the medicines on the table, thinking about how to obtain a suitable channel from the Xiao family without owing a favor. After much thought, he realized he could only go through Xiao Xiao Yuansi. He said with a smile:

"Our family has taught by example and history for three generations. Our family customs are strict, which is the only reason we can have such descendants."

Having received the blessing of the Dharma Mirror's Profound Light and being encouraged by the children of the Li Ximing generation, the moods of the three had eased significantly. Li Li Yuanjiao let out a long breath, picked up the jade box on the table, and his voice finally held a hint of ease as he said:

"This spiritual root, the 【Wanling Flower】, is finally a Foundation Establishment-level spiritual root. It still requires spiritual spring water for irrigation. There is a spiritual spring on Wan Huaqian Mountain, where it can be planted."

The spiritual spring on Wan Huaqian Mountain had a long history. As early as the Wan family era, the array genius Wan Wan Huaqian had used this spring to construct arrays. Now that it was in the hands of the Li family, this spiritual spring was mostly used to irrigate spiritual objects, hoping to save three or four years of growth time to subsidize the family, which was in the red every year.

"According to Wang Xun, this Wanling Flower cannot be stored in gold or jade. Once it blooms, use wooden chopsticks to clip it off and store it in a bamboo box."

Li Li Yuanjiao gave an instruction, reminding them:

"This flower cannot bear to see people cry; it withers upon hearing the sound of weeping, so you must be careful."

Li Li Qinghong nodded and took it, saying solemnly:

"I will go to guard Wan Huaqian Mountain from now on and watch over this spiritual root."

"What about the two matters we discussed last time?"

Hearing his elder sister ask, Li Brother Yuanping replied immediately:

"They are becoming increasingly arrogant. They have actually started to encroach upon spiritual resources, so I killed a batch to enrich the family's assets."

Li Li Qinghong had never managed the family and was not skilled in power struggles, so she just frowned and asked:

"Why not just kill them all and send our own people to the East Shanyue region? Why keep this group of wild boars?"

"Elder sister."

Li Brother Yuanping gave a soft laugh and replied:

"If we replaced them with our own people, they would just be greedy too. It would also waste the manpower of the Clan Justice Court to supervise them. By then, if the various branches gained benefits and joined forces, it would be hard to kill them, and rooting them out would be troublesome."

"Oh."

Li Li Qinghong frowned upon hearing this, her clear voice saying:

"It's just that when I returned to the mountain this time, I saw that the branches at the foot of the mountain had nothing to do, only caring about taking wives and concubines, playing games, and keeping dogs. I fear this is improper."

Li Brother Yuanping nodded and continued:

"Elder sister can also see it is improper. This group of fellows is just idle and useless. Behind our backs, they use our prestige to be dissolute and shameless, secretly encroaching on civilian fields and scraping away the people's wealth. Some have even colluded with merchants, aiding each other with power and money."

"In the past, there weren't many of them, so the Clan Justice Court could suppress them. Now the family is in dire straits, yet the clansmen are increasing. The cultivators need to free up their hands to cultivate spiritual resources and cannot waste them on these people... This is the second matter in my hands."

He then turned back to pour tea for Li Li Yuanjiao, smiling as he said:

"Regarding the matter elder brother mentioned, I have found an opportunity, but I still need to visit the various families on the East Bank."

He pulled a gray map from the desk and said in a low voice:

"To the north of our family are the two mountains of Mount Huazhong and Mount Yuting, which border the Yu family. To the east of Mount Yuting, it borders the various families on the East Bank. There are two families adjacent to ours: one surnamed Rui and one surnamed Pu."

"Both of these families only have Embryonic Breath cultivators. Their ancestors were enlightened by the Xiao family. They occupy a small, dilapidated mountain and have united with several surrounding families, taking turns to provide cultivators to mine the local Spiritual Jade mineral veins for the Xiao family."

Li Brother Yuanping paused and explained to his elder brother and sister:

"Do you still remember the Ding family?"

"Naturally."

Li Li Qinghong sipped her tea and replied:

"A vassal of the Yuan family, a small clan that serves as a buffer for our Li family, sandwiched between the three families."

"Correct."

Li Brother Yuanping nodded and continued:

"The Ding family at least has several Qi Refining cultivators, and even Ding Ding Xiding at the late stage of Qi Refining. Both families originally paid tribute to the Ding family. Later, when our ancestor broke through to Foundation Establishment, it scared the Ding family's Ding Ding Xiding into coming to pay respects. Even these two families adjacent to us were discarded and dared not be claimed."

"As a result, these two families stopped paying tribute and sent gifts to our family several times. Seeing that our family made no moves, they became free and easy again. These past few years have been quite comfortable, but there have been many conflicts, attacking each other and plundering mortals."

"Plundering mortals?"

Li Li Yuanjiao had an ominous premonition upon hearing this. Li Brother Yuanping had clearly investigated it thoroughly and said in a low voice:

"I also found it strange, so I sent people to inquire about it for a while."

"It turns out the Xiao family only wants that Spiritual Jade ore and never demanded tribute, but the Ding and Yu families do. Therefore, the families on the East Bank have been short of manpower since ancient times, and the tribute is heavy. Mortals are the only thing that doesn't require spiritual energy but produces quite a lot..."

When Li Brother Yuanping said this, everything became self-evident. After all, this was the territory of a demonic sect. Li Li Yuanjiao had heard of this; similar trades of loose cultivators were also done with the Yu family, and some were even accustomed to it, so he just nodded silently.

"I intend to intervene in the lands of the East Bank families, support one or two small clans of Embryonic Breath and Qi Refining, and take this opportunity to conscript more than two thousand people from the branches. The criteria have already been chosen; they are specifically those sneaky playboys and idlers."

Li Li Yuanjiao nodded in sudden realization, his long, narrow eyes filled with satisfaction. Li Brother Yuanping's gray-black eyes were rounder than Li Li Yuanjiao's, similar to Li Li Qinghong's, and equally cunning and shrewd.

"I will deliberately have Li Xicheng lead these troops. Cheng'er is kind-hearted and gentle, unable to bear scolding. These playboys are not good goods to begin with. Once they leave our territory and enter another's, not to mention whether they will obey orders, once they attack the mountain, how many can resist revealing their true colors?"

He sipped his tea and said softly:

"When the time comes, kill a batch, dismiss a batch, and release a batch. Which clan elder or uncle would dare to object to this serious crime? Once this campaign is over, there will be at least forty years of clean administration."

————

Below Yishan City.

"Drip, drop."

After all, being adjacent to the Southern Frontier, Yishan City had quite a lot of rain. The heavy rain fell down, landing in the blood-soaked ground. The mud and blood mixed together, turning into a gray-red mess.

The young man's gray-black eyes stared at the city wall in front of him. His clothes were tattered and covered in mud. From face to feet, he smelled foul, and he looked no different from the crowd of slave soldiers.

"In another half an hour, we can leave the city..."

Jiang Jiang Boqing traveled with his metal-attribute energy, throwing Jiang Yan into Yishan City in one breath. The old man's condition was extremely poor, almost sucking Jiang Yan dry. His cultivation base was seven or eight-tenths gone, and he almost didn't recover.

Jiang Yan landed in the slave soldier camp in the city, lying on a corpse. He lay stiffly for a while before slowly recovering. He raised his head and saw the white grand array in the sky covering the sky and earth, knowing it was the number one city in Jiangnan.

Although his heart was filled with infinite doubts, it was hard to explain them anymore. Barefoot and dejected, he sat in the camp. Jiang Yan was filled with confusion:

"Deceiving my father, killing my mother, just to refine these two witch talismans in my body. Why is it this way in the end?"

Jiang Jiang Boqing was dead. Jiang Yan felt both sorrow and confusion in his heart, not daring to think too much, only understanding that if he stayed in this place, he would be discovered sooner or later.

The grand array in Yishan City was established by the Immortal Sect. It was impossible to break through this array by force. Jiang Yan could only disguise himself as a slave soldier, waiting in the camp for a full half month before encountering monsters attacking the city.

"Truly ridiculous."

Jiang Yan's gaze swept over the crowd of emaciated mortals, immediately seeing through the demonic sect's thoughts, and he secretly said coldly:

"Where is there any defense? It's just to feed the monsters."

"Clang!"

The hole in front of him had just opened when a formation appeared above it. The mind-bewitching formation was activated, and the crowd of mortals took steps, rushing out like madmen.

"Ah, ah, ah..."

Jiang Yan mixed into the crowd, crashing head-on into the bloody maw of a wolf monster. Its teeth flashed with cold light. The crowd of mortals foolishly crashed into it. For a time, blood splashed everywhere, and filth flew about.

He took a detour, not daring to ride the wind, and could only run wildly. He didn't expect this monster to have seen something rare, turning its head to bite him.

"Damn it!"

Jiang Yan was currently injured, but he was not someone this little monster could bully. He slapped the wolf monster, making it stagger, then rode the wind close to the ground, flying south in a sorry state.

On Yishan City.

Liu Liu Zhangdie had long since gone down to the city to maintain the grand array. Li Li Xuanfeng stood holding his bow, while Fei Yize on the side remained silent, quietly watching the surging herd of beasts.

The rest of the cultivators either held bows or long spears, calming their spirits, and rays of magic light lit up on their magic treasures.

Moreover, even if one cultivated sword energy or spear energy, spear energy had a wider range than sword energy and offered more chances of survival. Therefore, except for a few disciples from aristocratic families, everyone held spears in their hands.

The crowd was ready to go, and behind them stood several green-clad cultivators, mostly at the middle and late stages of Qi Refining, standing with their hands behind their backs. They were all disciples of the Mount Qingchi Sect, suppressing the formation here.

"Awoo!"

A large eagle in the distance shrieked, but didn't dare to approach. Looking at the several corpses being eaten on the ground, it must have been shot and killed by Li Li Xuanfeng, so it didn't dare to come forward.

After a while, more than a dozen monsters gathered together, and only then did they dare to swarm up, all rushing toward the city wall.

"They're coming!"

Li Li Xuanfeng drew his bow, and the cultivators busily changed their formation, protecting him in the middle, holding spears and releasing magic spells to block the monsters' pounces. Black demonic arts and magic light collided, emitting bursts of rumbling sounds.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

In just a few breaths, rays of golden light sprayed out from Li Li Xuanfeng's bow, as if each had its own spirituality, drilling into the monsters' eyes, noses, and mouths, hitting them until blood filled the sky and beast fur flew everywhere, causing the Mount Qingchi disciples behind him to nod slowly and say in a low voice to the person on the side:

The person in front of him looked to have a high status and ignored him completely, only looking solemn, slowly frowning, and saying in a deep voice:

"This is... slave soldiers?"

His gaze was fixed tightly below the city. Amidst the countless bloody waves, that slave soldier slapped a wolf monster flying and flew away at an incredible speed.

The surrounding monsters also gathered quickly, swarming toward him, which was quite conspicuous. The slave soldier knew he was exposed, so he simply rode the wind and rushed toward the dense forest in the distance like a shooting star.

This leading Mount Qingchi Sect disciple sneered, pinching a golden ray of magic light in his hand, and was about to release it, when he didn't expect the disciple who spoke earlier to laugh:

"Senior brother, why use a butcher's knife to kill a chicken!"

He waved his green sleeves, turned to the person below, and said with a smile:

"That Li family archer, shoot that thing down."

No draft for the three chapters yesterday, rushing to write...

(End of chapter)