Casualties!

Whoosh!

Flying at full speed under the Great Elder, the two covered the five or six li in a few dozen breaths and arrived at the clan hall.

"Father!" The moment Li Qingyuan landed, he rushed anxiously toward his father.

"Father, you're hurt?" Li Qingyuan's eyes reddened with worry.

Li Dingzhou rubbed Li Qingyuan's head and forced a hearty laugh. "Don't worry. Your old dad is tough as nails. I won't die so easily."

"Cough, cough!" Li Dingzhou tugged at his injuries, his mouth twitching as he began to cough.

"Hiss." Pain made his eyelids twitch, and he sucked in a cold breath.

Li Qingyuan worried for his old dad. His father's waist and ribs were injured, and there were deep claw marks on his thigh. The wounds were nearly three cun deep and had already reached the bone.

The Great Elder stepped forward. "Nephew Dingzhou, this old man will treat you first."

Buzz!

The Great Elder circulated the Great Spring Technique. Pure wood-attribute spiritual energy excelled at regulating one's breath and healing injuries. Nourished by the spiritual energy, the bleeding soon stopped and the wounds scabbed over.

Afterward, the wounds were cleaned, medicine applied, and bandages wrapped around them.

Once Li Dingzhou's injuries had been treated, the Great Elder continued channeling energy to heal the others. Blood-Stopping Talismans and pills such as Blood Stopping Pills were used, followed by bandaging.

This time, even the Second Elder had been injured and needed medicine and bandages.

The clan's Hunting Team had ten members in total.

The Second Elder led the team, at Qi Condensation Fifth Layer.

There were three Qi Condensation Fourth Layer members, including Li Dingzhou and two others.

The remaining seven were all at Qi Condensation Third Layer.

Including Li Dingzhou, the clan now had only six Qi Condensation Fourth Layer cultivators.

Among them, Li Ding'an was responsible for leading the other Qi Condensation Third and Second Layer cultivators in guarding the clan's Origin Iron Stone mine, overseeing its mining, defense, and sales.

Li Dingfang was in charge of the spirit fields, which were equally important.

Li Dingqian was responsible for raising the clan's Spirit Beasts, another important source of income.

For the clan's development, for the clan to grow ever better, from the Clan Leader and the two elders down to Immortal Seedlings over ten years old, everyone was contributing their own strength to the clan.

Li Qingyuan looked around and asked, "Father, where is Uncle Dingyuan?"

"Uncle Dingyuan had been serving in the Hunting Team lately too, hadn't he?"

Sorrow filled Li Dingzhou's face. He let out a long sigh and said, "Yuan'er, your Uncle Dingyuan, he..."

"Alas!" Li Dingzhou sighed heavily.

"Come, let's go to the clan ancestral hall." Li Dingzhou's face was filled with grief.

Before long, people arrived one after another and gathered at the clan ancestral hall.

The moment Li Qingyuan reached the ancestral hall, he heard heart-rending cries.

"Father, wake up! I'm Qingqing, I'm Qingqing..."

"Father, look at me, look at me! Sob, sob, sob..."

"..."

Li Qingyuan's body shuddered. Staring blankly at the scene before him, he said in disbelief, "Uncle Dingyuan is... is gone!"

Besides Li Qingqing, there was a woman around thirty years old, weeping so hard she could barely speak, tears falling like rain as her cries rang shrill and mournful. "Li Dingyuan, wake up!"

"You can't die! If you die, how are this widow and orphan supposed to live?!"

"Li Dingyuan... my Brother Yuan..."

She was Uncle Dingyuan's wife, Qingqing's mother, Luo Dong'er.

"..."

In the main hall of the ancestral hall lay a corpse already covered by a white cloth.

Qingqing was crying. Auntie was crying. The clan members wore sorrowful expressions.

Li Qingyuan could not stop his own tears. "Uncle Dingyuan..."

Uncle Dingyuan had been very close to his father. Their two families often visited one another and were as close as brothers.

When he was little, Uncle Dingyuan often took him and Sister Qingqing out to play. Whenever he returned from down the mountain, if Sister Qingqing had something, he would have a share as well.

"Qingqing..." Li Qingyuan stepped forward, not knowing how to comfort her.

Before life and death, all consolation and all words were pale and powerless.

Li Dingzhou's eyes reddened once again. In a low voice, he said, "During this hunt, we encountered four Mid-Stage First-Rank Demonic Beasts."

"The Second Elder held one back."

"Your father risked his life to hold back one."

"Cousin Dingxue and Cousin Dingming, both at Qi Condensation Fourth Layer, each led a team and held back one apiece."

Li Dingxue and Li Dingming were precisely the clan's Qi Condensation Fourth Layer cultivators, slightly younger than Li Dingzhou.

Li Dingzhou added, "During the battle, your Uncle Dingyuan was killed. A Demonic Beast bit off one of his arms, and he was also struck in the head. His grave injuries could not be healed."

"At the final moment, the Second Elder paid a certain price to slay one Demonic Beast."

"Then, with the Second Elder joining in, your father and the Second Elder joined forces to kill the second Demonic Beast. Only then did we turn the tide and wipe out all four Demonic Beasts."

Li Qingyuan's expression changed. "Four Mid-Stage First-Rank Demonic Beasts?!"

Mid-Stage First-Rank Demonic Beasts corresponded to Mid Qi Condensation, to cultivators at Qi Condensation Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Layer.

There had been four of them.

Still shaken, Li Dingzhou said, "Fortunately, none of those four Demonic Beasts were comparable to a human cultivator at Qi Condensation Sixth Layer."

"Otherwise, the clan's Hunting Team would have been nearly wiped out. Even your father would have been buried in the jaws of beasts."

Li Qingyuan was frightened in retrospect as well. "Hunting Demonic Beasts is actually this dangerous."

Li Dingzhou said faintly, "When mortals fight, when two nations clash, blood still flows into rivers and corpses pile up like mountains."

"We cultivators fight for resources, for Spirit Stones, for strength. We battle heaven, battle earth, battle people—conflict is destined never to cease."

"Our Li Immortal Clan discovers three to five Immortal Seedlings every year, yet the number of clan cultivators has always remained at fifty or sixty. It is difficult for us to grow stronger."

"Now you know why, don't you?" Li Dingzhou looked at his son.

Li Qingyuan took a deep breath. "Your son understands."

The clan gained Immortal Seedlings every year, but at the same time, cultivators died and were injured every year.

Li Dingzhou said, "Hunting is not the only danger."

"The clan's other members face danger as well when they travel outside to sell Origin Iron Stone, Spirit Rice, Spirit Medicine, and Spirit Beasts."

"Although Willow Crane Island has a Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan stationed here, it is far from peaceful. Bandit Cultivators who kill and seize treasures have always been active, specifically targeting the weak."

Li Qingyuan's expression froze. The world outside was so dangerous.

Li Qingyuan thought, Until I have a way to deal with Late Qi Condensation Cultivators, I absolutely will not go out unless I have to.

At this moment, Li Qingyuan's mother, Chen Xiuyun, stepped forward.

She helped Luo Dong'er up and comforted her softly. "Sister Dong'er, stop crying. Be careful not to cry yourself ill."

"You still have Qingqing. She is Brother Dingyuan's greatest hope, and she is your family's future."

"Mm." Auntie lowered her head in grief, tears streaming down her face as she held Qingqing tightly.

Looking at Li Dingyuan's corpse, she swore in her heart, Brother Yuan, rest assured. I will raise our Qingqing to adulthood and make her a true Immortal Master.

At this moment, the Clan Leader said loudly, "Li Dingyuan of the Li clan gave his life for the clan. His name shall be inscribed in the clan's immortal register, he shall enter the ancestral hall, have a memorial tablet erected, and receive the incense offerings of his descendants."

"All clan members shall mourn him for three days."

Clan Leader Li Guangao looked at Qingqing's small, frail figure before finally announcing:

"Li Qingqing, surviving daughter of Li Dingyuan and a Family Immortal Seedling, shall have the period during which the clan provides resources free of charge extended from three years to five years, in accordance with clan rules."

Li Dingyuan had sacrificed himself. His daughter was an Immortal Seedling, yet she had lost her father's guidance and support. The clan should rightfully shoulder Li Dingyuan's share of responsibility.

Because Li Dingyuan had sacrificed himself for the clan.

The Li Immortal Clan had always been united, sharing glory and disgrace.

At that moment, the meaning of the words "family clan" took tangible form.

A sense of belonging and warmth welled up in Li Qingyuan's heart. I really like this warm clan that Huddles Together for Warmth.