Sincerity

Huang Lixin personally came down to receive Li Qianqing, and the two chatted as they walked, arriving at the Huang Clan's reception area.

On the way, what the two discussed was nothing of real substance; some of it was merely polite small talk.

Even though it was only the simplest of conversations, Huang Lixin could sense from their chat an important reason why Li Qianqing had become one of the Li Family's core higher-ups.

He possessed a maturity that did not match his age, a trait generally found only in those with the makings of a family leader.

When Huang Lixin was young, he had been such a person as well.

"Worthy nephew, tell me the purpose of your visit to our Huang Clan," Huang Lixin said directly after sitting down beside Li Qianqing. He did not beat around the bush; this was also the place to discuss proper business.

At the beginning, Huang Lixin had still addressed Li Qianqing as fellow daoist, but as the two spoke more and more, Li Qianqing brought out a set of words about how the distinction between elder and junior could not be muddled, causing Huang Lixin to change that form of address from fellow daoist to worthy nephew.

This was only Huang Lixin's attitude toward Li Qianqing, and did not represent the Huang Clan's attitude toward the Li Family. On this point, Huang Lixin thought that even if he did not deliberately explain it, Li Qianqing surely understood it in his heart.

"Uncle Huang, it is like this. This year, the Sixth Day of the Sixth Month is my Great Grandfather's one hundred and fiftieth birthday. I came this time to invite you to come as guests."

Faced with Huang Lixin's straightforward opening, Li Qianqing naturally had no intention of beating around the bush either, and directly explained his purpose.

For Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, the birthdays at one hundred, one hundred and fifty, and two hundred years old were all very meaningful. Added to that, a core higher-up of the Li Family had personally come to invite them. Even for the Huang Clan, a Foundation Establishment cultivation family, the Li Family had given them more than enough face.

A sufficiently great amount of face represented sincerity.

"Mm." Huang Lixin first nodded, then slowly said, "When the time comes, our Huang Clan will certainly send someone over to offer birthday congratulations."

Huang Lixin did not say it too absolutely. He merely said the Huang Clan would send someone over; he did not say what sort of person they would send.

Sending a Huang Clan member at Early-Stage Qi Refining whom the Huang Clan did not value would also count as sending someone over to offer birthday congratulations.

On this matter, what he, Huang Lixin, could decide was that someone would come. As for exactly who would come, he still had to consult the Huang Clan's Patriarch.

Generally speaking, the Patriarch of a Foundation Establishment cultivation family was a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, unless the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator in the family was especially unsuited to be Patriarch. That belonged to special cases.

"Having those words from Uncle Huang is enough." Li Qianqing nodded in satisfaction, as if the result of his trip to the Huang Clan this time had already reached complete perfection.

Huang Lixin continued, "Does worthy nephew have any other purpose?"

"No, Uncle Huang." Li Qianqing shook his head very purely. "I came precisely for this."

"Very well, then that is that."

Huang Lixin indicated that the topic had already ended. If Li Qianqing then spoke to him about other purposes for coming to the Huang Clan, he would be displeased.

Once they sat in the Huang Clan's reception area, they sat from morning all the way until afternoon, and Li Qianqing even drank several cups of Spirit Tea from Huang Lixin.

Toward a person with a different surname, this was the first time Huang Lixin had chatted so happily.

In the end, when Li Qianqing was about to leave, it was again he who personally saw him off.

After Li Qianqing bid farewell to Huang Lixin, his figure soon vanished from Pingding Mountain's territory.

Next, it will depend on what sort of person the Huang Clan sends over.

The Li Family had already shown enough sincerity. The people the Huang Clan sent would represent the Huang Clan's attitude.

He had gotten along well in conversation with Huang Lixin mainly because he wanted to use Huang Lixin's influence in the Huang Clan to affect the Huang Clan's decision on this matter.

Even if there was only the slightest influence, his efforts would not have been wasted.

Within the Huang Clan, Huang Lixin counted as someone whose words carried considerable weight. Many small matters in the family were decided directly by him.

He left in quite a good mood.

Leaving aside the other Huang Clan members, at least Huang Lixin had displayed an extremely good attitude toward him.

After Huang Lixin bid farewell to Li Qianqing and returned to Pingding Mountain, he went directly to see the Huang Clan's Patriarch.

He told the Patriarch everything about Li Qianqing's visit, as well as Li Qianqing's purpose in coming, exactly as it had happened, without the slightest omission.

"It is rare that the Li Family would come invite us, and even send Li Qianqing over."

Ever since he had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the Huang Clan had become a Foundation Establishment cultivation family in name and reality,

The two Foundation Establishment cultivation families of Xiangshui Prefecture, the Li Family and the Jiang Family, were mortal enemies, but when it came to dealing with their Huang Clan, they had a tacit understanding.

He was very glad that the relationship between the Li Family and the Jiang Family was very poor. If the relationship between those two families had been merely average, upon seeing a new Foundation Establishment cultivation family rise in the same prefecture, they would certainly have joined hands to suppress it, and it would have been overt suppression at that, unlike now, where it was in the dark and the intensity was not very great.

The suppression from the two families had also limited the Huang Clan's development to a certain extent.

"Ancestor, your thoughts are..." Huang Lixin looked at the Patriarch. In the Cultivation World, generally speaking, after four generations, juniors addressed elders as Ancestor.

The Huang Clan's Patriarch, Huang Zhifeng, belonged to the Huang Clan's third generation, while Huang Lixin was already of the seventh generation.

"Li Qianqing is now one of the Li Family's core higher-ups, and the youngest one at that."

A young core higher-up also meant that he would remain in the Li Family for even longer in the days to come. This was also a kind of display of sincerity.

"For Li Qianqing to come personally, the Li Family is already brimming with sincerity. Lixin, you did the right thing. With sincerity like this from the Li Family, no matter what, our Huang Clan must send someone over..."

"Lixin, did he reveal any other purpose in his words?"

Huang Lixin shook his head, indicating that he had not.

When he and Li Qianqing talked about proper business, it had ended very quickly. The proper business was simple as well: Li Qianqing represented the Li Family in making the invitation, and he represented the Huang Clan in agreeing.

The Huang Clan's Patriarch, Huang Zhifeng, thought of many things.

He felt that the Li Family's purpose in wanting to exchange with them should be to deal with the Jiang Family.

As long as the Li Family gave enough, their Huang Clan would not be unwilling to help them deal with the Jiang Family.

But the compensation they wanted, the Li Family was probably unwilling to give. No matter what, their Huang Clan was now also a Foundation Establishment cultivation family. If someone wanted to move them to act, they had to pay enough cultivation resources.

"Ancestor, what sort of person should we send over?" Huang Lixin asked. He felt that, at most, they would send him over.

"If you have any thoughts, you may speak of them." The Patriarch indicated for him to speak.

Huang Lixin pondered for a long time before voicing his thoughts.

"No matter what the Li Family's fundamental purpose is, or whether they do not yet have any so-called fundamental purpose, in any case, we can see their sincerity... If we establish good relations with the Li Family, then in our future development, eighty to ninety percent of the obstructions we face will be smaller. The Jiang Family also will not directly target us. One Li Family is already enough to tie down more than enough of their energy..."

Huang Lixin said a great deal. Perhaps because of Li Qianqing, he basically spoke from the positive side.

He believed that as for the negative side, even if he did not mention it, the Ancestor surely knew it like the lines on his palm.

"Mm, what you said is not bad. For Li Cunliu's birthday, I will personally go over."

When Huang Lixin heard this, he raised his head and glanced at the Patriarch in surprise.