Then I Won't Stand on Ceremony!

"Third Uncle, this... is the 'important matter' you spoke of?"

In a private room at the restaurant, Li Ye asked with an expressionless face.

Though the food and wine before him gave off an enticing aroma, he showed no intention of picking up his chopsticks.

He looked ready to sweep out in a huff at the slightest disagreement.

In fact, after sitting down and hearing what his third uncle had to say, Li Ye really had considered getting up and leaving.

He even regretted making the trip.

The Devil Cultivators had just been wiped out, the Purple Profound Sect's power was like the sun at high noon, and Bandit Cultivators were disappearing into hiding. For the moment, the cultivation world of Huan Kingdom seemed calm and peaceful.

At this time, his Lineage had sent someone to ask for a meeting, saying they had a matter to discuss.

Li Ye had figured he might as well see what bullshit they had to spout and take a look around the market while he was at it.

He had never imagined that he had still overestimated how low these people could sink.

"What do you mean, 'this'?"

The middle-aged man Li Ye called Third Uncle frowned.

"Zongyin has middle-grade wood and fire Spirit Roots. Though they fall a little short of high-grade Spirit Roots, once he cultivates the Burning Wood Instruction, wood and fire will nourish each other, and the difference will not be so great!"

"With such aptitude, and cultivation conditions in the Purple Profound Sect far better than the Lineage can provide, he has great potential to break through and become our Lineage's second great Foundation Establishment cultivator if we give him further support..."

"When that happens, our Lineage will surely rise to an even greater height!"

"Is a matter concerning the future pillar of our Lineage not important enough!?"

At this point, anticipation and excitement appeared on the man's face, and he looked at Li Ye with displeasure.

His gaze was full of reproach for Li Ye's failure to see the bigger picture!

"So that's why you all think you can open your mouths and demand that I give up my cultivation resources, connections, and even my own cultivation opportunities to support him?"

Seeing the man's attitude, Li Ye sneered.

"Never mind how you treated my father's branch while he was alive. When did you ever show me the slightest consideration after he died?"

"Oh, right!"

He shook his head, as though remembering something.

"Although my father and I were rather down on our luck, our branch still had a rightful share of the Lineage's property..."

"But when word of my father's death reached me and I returned, you had divided almost all of our share of the assets among yourselves, apart from what was secretly hidden at home!"

"You left me only a few plots of land in name, and even took over farming them on the grounds that I was in the sect and couldn't tend to them... yet to this day, I haven't seen so much as a single grain of spirit rice!"

"I can't even hold on to what belongs to my own family in this Lineage... Third Uncle, tell me, with a Lineage so 'loyal and righteous,' how do you expect me to put its greater good first?"

Li Ye smiled as he asked, his tone both mocking and seemingly sincere.

Having said his piece, he felt refreshed in body and mind, as though he had just bitten into an ice-cold watermelon in the sweltering heat of summer.

Although Li Ye often complained about the mess his predecessor had left behind,

in truth, after inheriting everything from him, Li Ye had come to identify with him and regarded them both as the same person.

Since that was the case, he would naturally seize the chance to settle every grievance his predecessor had suffered.

As for the Lineage...

It would be a good start to give this old bastard who had come knocking a thorough scolding!

"You..."

Scolded so mercilessly by a junior of his own family, Third Uncle, who had arrived full of confidence, turned pale and flushed by turns.

Rage surged straight to his head, and his Sixth Layer of Qi Refining presence was on the verge of erupting.

At the last moment, however, he forcibly restrained himself and suppressed it.

He did not dare do anything out of line!

Li Ye stared straight at the man without showing a trace of panic from beginning to end. When he saw that the man really had swallowed his anger, he was even a little disappointed.

This restaurant was directly operated by the Purple Profound Sect itself in the market.

If Third Uncle dared make trouble here, not even the Li Household's status as a Foundation Establishment Lineage could protect him!

The flush gradually faded from Third Uncle's face. Seeing the undisguised disappointment on Li Ye's face, he gritted his teeth.

"Li Ye! Don't forget that you only entered the Purple Profound Sect thanks to the Lineage's support and recommendation!"

"My father paid for that with benefits!"

Li Ye replied disdainfully, "Which one of you didn't take a cut back then? Isn't it ridiculous to bring that up now?"

Third Uncle was struck speechless, and the way he looked at Li Ye changed.

When had this fellow become so sharp-tongued and unwilling to yield an inch?

The middle-aged man seethed and wanted several times to lose his temper, only to find that he could do nothing to this nephew who wore the mantle of a Purple Profound Sect disciple!

But Li Zongyin was the whole Lineage's most promising Foundation Establishment seed, and he belonged to Third Uncle's own branch.

The Li Household's Foundation Establishment Ancestor had once suffered severe injuries, leaving him with somewhat less vitality and a shorter lifespan than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

His decline had gradually become apparent over the years.

The Li Household urgently needed a young Foundation Establishment cultivator to uphold the Lineage's foundation!

As long as Li Zongyin broke through to Foundation Establishment, Third Uncle would be able to seize control of the Lineage in a very short time.

His branch would also rise above the other clansmen and gain more power and resources!

For the sake of his branch's bright future, he had to provide Li Zongyin with the best conditions he possibly could.

And Li Ye recently seemed to have become quite close to Cai Shiwei, a rising star among the Purple Profound Sect's disciples. Given Cai Shiwei's potential and status, his future was certain to be boundless.

If Li Ye introduced them and they established a connection with Cai Shiwei, even the benefits that slipped through his fingers would greatly improve Li Zongyin's chances of reaching Foundation Establishment, and there would be opportunities to seek even more in the future...

For a small family like theirs, the temptation was enormous and hard to give up!

A little impatience ruins great plans...

I'll humor this brat for now. Once Zongyin has made contact with Cai Shiwei, I'll kick him aside!

It won't be too late to teach this brat to show respect to his elders then!

His eyes darted about. Third Uncle took a deep breath and asked in as mild a tone as he could manage,

"Li Ye, what will it take for you to support Zongyin?"

"Support?"

Li Ye smiled. "What you want isn't my support at all. You want to make contact with Cai Shiwei, don't you?"

Third Uncle's expression shifted slightly.

Li Ye nodded. "Looks like I guessed right!"

Every one of those fellows in the Lineage had accumulated some wealth. If this man had really come for Li Ye's meager possessions, he would never have swallowed his anger time and again.

And as for anything of unique value Li Ye possessed, this was probably all there was.

His smile widened.

"In that case, let's not talk about the greater good of the Lineage... Let's make a deal!"

"What do you want?"

Third Uncle frowned, increasingly unable to tell what medicine this brat was selling in his gourd.

"Inheritances!"

Li Ye said decisively, "I want the Lineage's inheritances for talismans, pills, artifact refining, formations... all the hundred arts of cultivation. That includes the ones your branch has secretly tucked away, Third Uncle!"

"That's out of the-"

"Just the first-tier portions will do."

Before Third Uncle could flatly refuse, Li Ye added those words in a mild tone.

As for the higher tiers, it would not be too late for him to take them personally after he reached Foundation Establishment!

Third Uncle fell silent. A moment later, he gave Li Ye a long look.

"I'll discuss this with the others in the Lineage when I return..."

With that, he immediately rose and pushed the door open, leaving.

Li Ye glanced at the closed door, his gaze calm.

Even if those people in the Lineage were eager to establish a connection with Cai Shiwei, they probably would not accept all of his lion-sized demands.

But as long as he could obtain some inheritances in those arts, they would serve as an introduction and accomplish his purpose.

"Since you came knocking yourself... then I won't stand on ceremony!"

He glanced at the table full of delicacies, picked up his cup, and drained it in one gulp. Then he strode away.