Spoils of War and Their Impact

"A great victory!"

Li Ditu put away the formation disk, and the Mist Cloud Formation lost its effect.

This was a resounding victory. Not a single Li Clan Cultivator had been injured, and they had even wiped out a band of Loose Cultivators.

"Everyone did very well."

"Qianqing's idea was the key. Once the Mist Cloud Formation was set up, those Loose Cultivators scattered like headless flies."

"This kid is impressive! Hahaha!"

All the Li Clan Cultivators involved in the plan to eliminate the Loose Cultivators knew that Li Qianqing had arranged this operation. The Patriarch had even personally issued an order emphasizing it, which was enough to show how highly he regarded Li Qianqing.

"An idea still needs people to carry it out. It was everyone's contribution," Li Qianqing replied to all the Li Clan Cultivators present.

The Li Clan Cultivators all found Li Qianqing's words very pleasing.

After eliminating the Loose Cultivators, it was time to divide the spoils.

Generally speaking, whoever killed a Loose Cultivator received that person's belongings.

If one killed a Loose Cultivator alone, all the spoils belonged entirely to oneself.

Of course, the specifics could not be generalized. Li Ditu had controlled the Mist Cloud Formation and trapped the Loose Cultivators, so normally, he could have claimed a share of every Loose Cultivator's belongings. However, he had given up that right. Li Ditu had already said so while setting up the spirit formation: he would be responsible for controlling the Mist Cloud Formation, while everyone else should perform their best. He did not need any of the spoils from the Loose Cultivators they killed.

As for Li Qianqing and Li Qianyin, Li Qianqing took only one Low-Grade Spirit Stone and nothing else.

He had not taken a Low-Grade Spirit Stone merely as a token gesture. There had only been one Low-Grade Spirit Stone in the Storage Bag of that Qi Refining Sixth Layer Loose Cultivator.

The remaining artifacts were useful to Li Qianyin, while the miscellaneous items were useless to anyone.

Loose Cultivators rarely carried many spirit stones. They consumed whatever resources they plundered as quickly as possible before going out to plunder more, so the most valuable things on them were usually artifacts that could be used in battle.

If a Loose Cultivator practiced a standard cultivation technique that the Lineage did not possess, it could be exchanged for a considerable number of Contribution Points.

Li Qianyin watched Li Qianqing eagerly as he removed the Loose Cultivator's Storage Bag.

"Yinyin, this is for you." After taking out one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, Li Qianqing handed the Storage Bag to Li Qianyin. "There are some damaged artifacts inside. You can try repairing them and see whether you succeed."

An Artifact Refiner capable of forging artifacts could naturally repair them as well. However, repairs were not guaranteed to succeed. If they failed, the artifact would be completely ruined.

"Qianqing-ge, you took too little." Li Qianyin understood that Li Qianqing was looking out for her.

"He only had one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Otherwise, all the Low-Grade Spirit Stones inside would have been mine."

As he spoke, Li Qianqing crouched down and tore a Jade Pendant from the corpse of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer Loose Cultivator.

"This thing seems pretty good. Yinyin, see if it's useful."

Li Qianqing tossed the Jade Pendant to Li Qianyin.

The Jade Pendant was made from First Order High-Grade Clear Jade Stone and had a mind-clearing effect.

Within the Mist Cloud Formation, Li Qianqing had immediately seen that this Jade Pendant could expand the Loose Cultivator's field of vision and help him escape the Bewildering Formation more quickly.

With his expanded vision, he had learned of Li Qianyin's movements in advance. Without this Jade Pendant, the Loose Cultivator's reaction might not have been so quick, and Li Qianyin's chance of succeeding in her attack would have been greater.

"Qianqing-ge, this is made from Clear Jade Stone, and First Order High-Grade Clear Jade Stone at that. Though it's not very large, it's a good thing."

"Mhm. If it's good, keep it safe." Li Qianqing nodded as he listened to Li Qianyin's explanation.

Having already developed divine sense, First Order High-Grade Clear Jade Stone was completely useless to him. It would need to reach Second-Order Low Grade to be of use.

Li Qianyin could not put the Jade Pendant down. "Thank you, Qianqing-ge!"

The other Li Clan Cultivators found Li Qianqing's concession entirely normal. First, Li Qianqing cared deeply for Li Qianyin and essentially treated her as a younger sister. Second, he had discovered and killed Li Qianbao, helping the Li Family avoid a loss, so the Lineage had given him additional generous rewards.

The spoils from the other Loose Cultivators mostly went to the Li Clan Cultivators who had killed them.

Li Liling would soon return to Changqing Mountain.

Li Dizhong, meanwhile, would stay behind with Li Ditu to guard Changle Mountain.

Changle Mountain required at least two Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivators to guard it, one of whom had to be at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer. This was the Li Family's standard deployment for Changle Mountain. After all, Changle Mountain possessed two Micro Spirit Veins and accounted for a considerable portion of the Li Family's annual resource output.

The Li Family's minor crisis had been completely resolved, and they had even eliminated a band of Loose Cultivators.

By the time Li Qianqing, who had earned the greatest merit, arrived at Changqing Mountain, he had already received his reward: a full five thousand Lineage Contribution Points, along with twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

For someone at the Mid-Stage Qi Refining level, these rewards were extremely generous.

But to Li Qianqing himself, these visible rewards amounted to nothing. What mattered was the hidden impact.

After this incident, once he broke through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, he would essentially become part of the Li Family's core upper ranks. The other Li Clan Cultivators would have no objections, and the outside world would see it much the same way.

The Li Family's next great crisis would come six years later. It would involve a Miniature Spirit Mine and the other two Foundation Establishment Clans of Xiangshui Prefecture, the Huang Clan and the Jiang Family.

Li Qianqing had set himself the goal of reaching the Qi Refining Seventh Layer within four years if possible. The sooner he entered the Li Family's core upper ranks, the greater his influence within the Li Family would become...

Early August.

More than two months had passed since the Li Family eliminated the Loose Cultivators.

The matter of the Li Family promptly discovering a traitor and then annihilating a band of Loose Cultivators without suffering a single injury had already spread through the Cultivation World of Xiangshui Prefecture.

While many Qi Refining cultivation families applauded, they also began carefully investigating whether their own families had traitors.

If a Foundation Establishment Clan produced a traitor and the traitor succeeded, it would suffer badly. But if one of their Qi Refining cultivation families had a traitor who succeeded, their entire family might be wiped out outright.

Several of the more formidable Loose Cultivator bands in Xiangshui Prefecture possessed the ability to destroy Qi Refining cultivation families, but unless the timing was right, they would never act.

Qi Refining families had connections with one another, and some were even directly affiliated with Foundation Establishment cultivation families. Loose Cultivators had to seize the right opportunity if they wanted to strike.

After the Li Family wiped out a band of Loose Cultivators this time, the Loose Cultivators of Xiangshui Prefecture would behave themselves for a while.

In Tongyang County, the Li Family's business had improved considerably because of this incident.

Loose Cultivators were hated by everyone, and many Rogue Cultivators despised them even more bitterly.

If they encountered Loose Cultivators on the road and could not escape, then if they lacked the strength, death was essentially their only outcome.

Loose Cultivators had no intention of letting lambs join them.

"The Li Family did well! They wiped out a nest of parasites. It's deeply satisfying!"

"The one who discovered the problem was someone from the Li Family's Qian generation. I think his name was Li Qianqing... Yes, Li Qianqing! He's also the Li Family's new alchemist."

"It's a pity his spiritual root talent is somewhat lacking. If he had a Dual Spiritual Root, the Li Family would be overjoyed."

"Three Spiritual Roots are already quite good."

"That's only quite good for people like us. The Li Family is different—they're a Foundation Establishment Clan!"