Returning to the Clan

"Good! Another one—and one with Li Clan blood at that!"

Hearing Li Tongya's gentle voice from the platform, Ye Chengfu sprang up from the ground as if struck by lightning. He stared excitedly at the flustered Ye Qiuyang on the platform, as though he wanted to throw back his head and laugh three times.

"Since your surname is Ye, who is your father?"

Li Tongya asked with a smile.

"Ye... Ye Chengfu."

Ye Qiuyang glanced at Ye Chengfu below the platform, who was waving his arms about, and answered timidly.

"Congratulations, Brother Chengfu."

Following the child's gaze downward, Li Tongya smiled and greeted him.

"Many thanks, Immortal Master!"

Ye Chengfu did not dare put on airs. Though the corners of his mouth could not stop rising, he clasped his hands excitedly and replied with utmost respect.

Li Tongya smiled and shook his head, testing the remaining few one by one before declaring aloud, "The rest have no such fate. Those in charge, remain behind. Everyone else, return to the village."

The crowd below stirred for a while, sighs of regret rising and falling. After the clamor continued for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they each left the village in different directions. Li Yesheng, standing beside Li Tongya, stepped forward and said:

"You three overseers, come with me to the Li Clan compound to compare the land deeds and accounts."

Chen Erniu and the other two naturally agreed at once and followed Li Yesheng toward the Li Clan.

Li Tongya stepped down from the platform, looked at the wildly excited Ye Chengfu and the Liu Shi Clan Elder from Jingyang Village, and said softly:

"Come with me, everyone."

Ye Chengfu hurriedly nodded. As they walked, he pulled his child tightly into his arms. Tears streamed down his face as he could only murmur:

"Good, good."

Ye Chengfu and Ye Qiuyang offered incense in the Ancestral Hall and knelt to kowtow with utmost reverence. Before all the Li Clan members, they returned to the clan surname.

"Clan Head!"

As the eldest direct descendant of the Li Clan, Li Mutian naturally sat high in the seat of honor in the courtyard. Following custom, the two first served Li Mutian tea, then knelt before him and listened respectfully.

"Qiuyang is also a descendant of our Li Clan. Since he possesses a spirit aperture, he must naturally be taught a cultivation method."

Li Mutian accepted a Wooden Slip and said softly, "The clan grants you the Azure Origin Nurturing Wheel Method. You must cultivate diligently, honor the clan and Adhere to Dao, be kind to your kin and harmonious with the clan. Under no circumstances may you reveal the secrets of immortal arts and draw the covetous eyes of others."

Now Li Qiuyang, the youth, bowed and answered with a firm gaze, "I will remember the Clan Head's teachings."

"You will follow Xiang Ping to the Spirit Fields of Jingyang Village. Cultivate with him in your daily life. Until you have formed the Profound Scene Wheel, you are not to leave."

Li Mutian nodded and made the arrangements.

"Yes!"

Li Qiuyang rose and accepted the Wooden Slip from his hand. Still only eight or nine years old, he turned around with a trace of tears in his voice and choked out to his father, Li Chengfu, "Father, your son will go cultivate with the main family."

"Good, good! You mustn't worry about matters at home. In a few days, Father will carry clothes and daily necessities to the Jingyang Small Courtyard for you. Cultivate well—just cultivate well..."

Li Chengfu nodded again and again, his eyes red as he exhorted him.

"Come, Qiuyang."

Li Xiangping smiled gently, took Li Qiuyang's little hand, nodded to his father Li Mutian, and headed out the door.

"Chengfu, you should go pack up as well. In a few days, move your household here behind the village."

Li Mutian coughed, speaking with a frown.

Li Chengfu repeatedly agreed. Seeing the expressions on the two men's faces, he hurriedly took his leave.

Once Ye Chengfu had rushed out and gone far away, Li Mutian said in a deep voice, "Take that Liu Family girl with you for now and teach her in Li Jing Small Courtyard. If she forms the Profound Scene Wheel one day, there is no need to teach her spells yet."

"Father's arrangements are excellent. Let Li Clan members watch over the Liu Family's Jingyang Village, while their immortal cultivator is moved to Li Jing to be watched. That will keep them from growing too powerful."

Li Tongya spoke in admiration, deeply impressed.

"It is still too early."

Li Mutian narrowed his eyes, took a light sip of clear tea, and continued:

"Without the Mirror Fragment's aid, and with no cultivation resources or pills to speak of, will these children even form the Profound Scene Wheel in a year?"

"Far more than that!"

Li Tongya shook his head and explained, "I have read the Azure Origin Nurturing Wheel Formula. The dharma power cultivated through it is likely weak and floating, and its circulation carries many burdens as well. It will take more than three years to form the Profound Scene Wheel."

"Exactly. Since the Azure Origin Nurturing Wheel Formula is inferior in both attainment and speed, there was no real need to guard against anything. Still, one should always keep a card up one's sleeve."

"Father is right."

Li Tongya nodded and gently set down the tea in his hand. Seeing Li Mutian gazing into the distance as if lost in thought, he gave a bitter smile, clasped his hands, and took his leave.

Li Mutian sat alone in the seat of honor in the courtyard in silence. Only after a long while did he sigh softly.

"Not ruthless enough..."

Xu Wenshan had managed Li Daokou for more than four months. He had assigned all the clerks their duties, and the village men had been brought into complete submission.

Xu Wenshan had originally managed trade caravans, so managing a tiny village was naturally no challenge for him. The surnames in Li Daokou were mixed, and though the situation was complicated, there were also fewer restraints from great clans. Within a month, Xu Wenshan had the entire village firmly in his grasp.

Yet once he had leisure, Xu Wenshan began pondering how to earn some merit before the main family and overshadow Chen Erniu. Simply sitting in the village collecting rents and balancing accounts truly underestimated Xu Wenshan's abilities.

Listlessly flipping through the map in his hands, Xu Wenshan stared blankly into space.

Speaking of Chen Erniu, the division of farmland and water sources between the two villages had always caused endless friction. Xu Wenshan naturally enjoyed sparring with him. Was it not the case now that whenever the Li Daokou villagers mentioned Chen Erniu's Li Chuan Mouth, they gnashed their teeth and wished to punch him?

Only with an enemy would they be willing to gather around me, Xu Wenshan! he thought smugly.

Furthermore, when Xu Wenshan had managed caravans, he had always disliked seeing his subordinates become too friendly. He would invariably stir up a few conflicts between them.

Xu Wenshan simply did not believe that the Li Clan had no informants in these villages. Judging others by himself, he naturally had to keep contending with Chen Erniu, so the main family would enjoy the show.

"I've already beaten Chen Erniu by far too much."

He muttered to himself, his thoughts returning to the map spread before him. As he looked at the crooked Gu Li Road marked upon it, an idea suddenly struck him.

Why not return to my old trade?

He slapped his thigh, thinking in delighted surprise:

The villages are trapped along this Gu Li Road. Goods cannot circulate, and every household farms and weaves its own clothes, living self-sufficiently. I, Xu Wenshan, worked this road for over twenty years—can I not do the same here?

Now that the main family has entered the Immortal Dao, these mortal goods are neither here nor there. Better to open up the mountain roads and sell all this grain and silk. Perhaps we can exchange them for jade and Spirit Objects. That would finally be of some use.

At this thought, Xu Wenshan could no longer sit still. He called over several clerks who had fled disaster alongside him and explained the matter. The moment they heard it, they all clapped their hands and cheered.

"I'll go speak to the main family in detail at once!"

Xu Wenshan laughed heartily and headed out with the clerks.