Rapid Development

[Your clansmen have successfully repelled the invasion of the disaster victims.]

[Obtained Incense +300!]

With the death of the Hu Family Ancestor, this invasion had come to a complete end.

No.

Or perhaps, it had only just begun!

In the Li Family Ancestral Hall, the descendants of the Li clan were gathered. Only that boy Li Yaozu was outside dealing with the surviving disaster victims; those victims had not joined the group that forcibly broke into the Li Family grounds, and Li Dalong seemed to have other arrangements for them.

And at this moment.

A surviving cultivator had already been tied up with ropes. Facing the members of the Li family and the massive Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python, he was trembling in fear!

"This unfilial descendant is useless, forcing the Ancestor to take action personally. Please, Ancestor, punish me!"

Li Dalong, accompanied by his wife and children, kowtowed toward the Ancestral Tablet.

At this moment, Li Xiang, sitting before the screen, had no intention of blaming the Li family members.

Their performance this time had truly satisfied Li Xiang, though he still frowned slightly. "I should first ask about the Tailin Hu Family; they have already come to cause trouble twice."

He clicked on the avatar of the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python and typed—

Ask about the situation with the Hu Family.

In an instant, the Temple Guardian Beast received the message conveyed by Li Xiang. It actually bowed its body toward Li Xiang's tablet in a human-like manner before speaking to the Li family members.

"Hiss~ Sss~"

Compared to its previous roars, the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python now spoke in soft, low, serpentine hisses.

"???"

Listening to the sounds coming from the game, Li Xiang scratched his head, inexplicably reminded of the voice Voldemort used to communicate with snakes in Harry Potter. "Am I the Voldemort of this situation?"

"Is the Ancestor conveying instructions?"

Li Dalong immediately realized that the Temple Guardian Beast, the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python, was relaying Li Xiang's orders!

Xu Cuihua was, after all, a Beast Tamer.

After merely closing her eyes and contemplating for a moment, she clearly understood the message conveyed by the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python. "The Ancestor says we must resolve the trouble caused by the Hu Family!"

"Please rest assured, Ancestor, this child will certainly handle this matter properly!"

Li Dalong understood immediately.

Despite his rough appearance, Li Dalong was actually meticulous. He quickly began to interrogate the captured cultivator for precise intelligence.

The cultivator was spineless; before Li Dalong could even finish his questioning, he had already spilled everything he knew.

Listening to the cultivator's account.

Li Xiang also began to ponder.

It turned out that during this ten-year drought, the cultivators of Tailin Town had been helping with relief efforts. However, this time, the Hu Family Ancestor had deliberately withheld porridge from the disaster victims, inciting the starving masses to test the Li family, which led to the invasion.

As one of the Four Great Families of Tailin, the Hu Family had four ancestors, all of whom were Foundation Establishment Realm experts who had been in seclusion for years, possessing deep foundations.

"My lords, it is impossible for you to go to the Hu Family for revenge!"

The cultivator's face turned pale. "The Four Great Families of Tailin are the foundation of the town. Although they occasionally have minor frictions, they have always maintained a cooperative relationship to prevent outsiders from seizing their resources. Furthermore, the Mayor of Tailin Town will not allow the town to fall into chaos. If you dare to move against the Hu Family, the Mayor will declare you rebels!"

"Hiss~ Sss~"

The massive head of the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python suddenly appeared before the cultivator, scaring him so badly he nearly wet his pants. "Don't... don't eat me, I've told you everything. I can even devise strategies for you. I..."

"I have turned over a new leaf!"

Xu Cuihua, however, knew that the Temple Guardian Beast was not intimidating the cultivator. She smiled and stepped forward. "Do not be afraid. Our Ancestor just wants to ask: will Tailin Town come to retaliate because we killed the Hu Family Ancestor?"

"No, they won't!"

The cultivator hurriedly said, "With the Hu Family Ancestor dead, they wouldn't dare send anyone even if they had eight hundred guts. The other three families are surely gloating and won't invite trouble upon themselves, though they won't let you enter the city to kill. The Hu Family will be even more terrified. But you must be careful—they might not dare to break in, but as long as you lack the protection of this python lord, they will strike at you!"

Hearing this, everyone's expressions turned grave.

"Damn it, we're being blockaded."

Li Xiang muttered to himself. After learning the current situation of the Li family, he accelerated the game's time flow and instructed the Li family members to be cautious in the coming days and to avoid going out unless necessary.

Immediately after.

Li Xiang began to check the spoils of this battle. A total of thirteen cultivators had been annihilated.

The Li family members had never possessed any magical artifacts, but this time, the ground was littered with dropped equipment!

[Obtained loot: Human Skin of the Hu Family Ancestor.]

[Obtained loot: Spirit Breath Flying Sword (Magical Artifact)]

[Obtained loot: Black Storage Ring (Magical Artifact)]

[Obtained loot...]

"Thanks to the Hu Family for sending over the startup capital for our family's development!"

Li Xiang watched the development within the game with a face full of smiles.

The members of the family had truly upgraded their gear!

Previously, Li Dalong would carry two large broadswords, but now, the guy was carrying a strange, cyan-colored weapon with spearheads on both ends, walking on the road toward the Silver Iron Forest.

[Silver Ring Yin Hand Double-Headed Snake (Mid-grade magical tool)]

[Can be split into two, connected by a chain. Crafted by extracting venom from the mouths of a hundred Silver Ring Snakes daily and soaking it in ironware infused with spiritual energy for forty-nine days. From then on, this magical tool can autonomously generate Silver Ring Snake venom, stored within the twin spears. When true qi enters the spears, it can summon the snake spirit to assist!]

Looking at Li Dalong's magical tool, Li Xiang felt a bit envious.

This type of magical tool was clearly made with ancient craftsmanship; in the world he currently lived in, such tools were already very rare. Most people used magical tool pistols, magical tool bombs, magical tool mechs... For thousands of years, technology and cultivation had long since slowly merged.

As for Li Yaozu, he was using the 'Spirit Breath Flying Sword' obtained from the Hu Family Ancestor.

[Spirit Breath Flying Sword (High-grade magical tool)]

[Forged from high-grade Spirit Breath Stone, it can absorb the spirit of heaven and earth into the sword for one's own use. This sword has a spirit and possesses its own sword-controlling technique; even those who have not learned sword-controlling techniques can use it to kill invisibly.]

Li Xiang had already witnessed this sword.

With a whoosh, his Ancestral Tablet had been smashed to pieces...

The other members of the Li Family also possessed magical tools, but unlike the father-son duo of Li Dalong and Li Yaozu, who preferred fighting and killing, the others had other matters to attend to.

Time passed quickly.

The Li Family did not recklessly go to Tailin Town to stir up trouble. Although Tailin Town would occasionally send people to harass them, they would end up dead before even getting close to the Li Family's compound.

[19th year of the Li Family.]

[Half of those who invaded the Li Family compound that year survived. Receiving the Li Family's charity, they reclaimed farmland outside the Li Family's territory, gradually forming a village...]

Regarding this matter, Li Dalong had asked him for advice.

It was Li Xiang who had let Li Dalong spare these people; slaughter was always the worst possible strategy.

The Li Family possessed enough spirit beasts, which could use their innate talents to summon water to irrigate the farmland, and their manure was the best fertilizer!

In this year of great disaster, the refugees sheltered by the Li Family could farm and raise chickens and ducks; after paying taxes, it also saved the Li Family members time on agricultural work. In this way, in the near future, the food they produced could also support the spirit beasts driven by the family!

Moreover...

These refugees were also decent labor.

At this moment, outside the Li Family compound, a large area of fertile land had already been reclaimed. Between the fields, livestock could be seen running happily, and the refugees, once thin as sticks, were gradually putting on weight, with smiles blooming on everyone's faces.

Not only that.

After acquiring nearly five hundred laborers, the Li Family compound had undergone a complete transformation.

The courtyard they had once built with stones had become a structure of blue bricks and white tiles, covering an area of a thousand square meters, looking quite magnificent. Occasionally, one could see a few spirit beasts leaping on the walls or soaring above them.

Even so, villagers were constantly grinding stones, and once they ground the stones into regular shapes, they began paving them flat on the ground outside the Li Family's territory!

The once lonely Li Family.

At this moment, it really had a bit of a trend of gradually developing into a great family; the area centered around the Li Family was also beginning to become lively and prosperous.

"Ancestor, hurry and look, the big tree I planted in the Spirit Beast Garden has blossomed!"

While Li Xiang was still admiring the development of the Li Family, a joyful voice in the Ancestral Hall interrupted his thoughts.

He saw Li Yaoqing hopping and skipping as she ran into the Ancestral Hall.

"Beast Blood Fruit Tree? Is there finally some movement?!!"

Li Xiang was overjoyed.

He hurriedly clicked on Li Yaoqing's avatar, and the Ancestral Tablet followed her perspective to the Spirit Herb Garden!

Sure enough.

On the towering Beast Blood Fruit Tree, bright red flowers were blooming!

"Awesome!"

After the Beast Blood Fruit Tree was brought back, there had been no movement, and Li Xiang had been worried that he had planted the thing wrong. Now, he finally saw hope!

[Beast Blood Fruit Tree]

[Status: Having been irrigated by the blood of hundreds of human corpses and nourished by the blood of cultivators, it has absorbed enough nutrients. The fruit it bears this year will be even more vibrant!]

"??????"

Clicking on the Beast Blood Fruit Tree and seeing the status information, Li Xiang was dumbfounded. Then he looked at Li Yaoqing, who was standing under the big tree, looking very innocent and gently stroking the fruits with a face full of tenderness, "My dear, you are really too 'criminal'."

Ever since that invasion incident, he hadn't paid much attention to how the Li Family members disposed of the corpses.

Now he understood!

Hundreds of corpses had actually all been bled by this little girl to nourish the Beast Blood Fruit Tree!

This kind of thing was something Li Xiang didn't even dare to imagine.

If he dared to do this in reality, he would be condemned by the entire nation the next day...

"Hmm... but the result is good."

Li Xiang cast a skill on the spot, bestowing a 'Love from the Ancestor' upon Li Yaoqing.

"Thank you for the reward, Ancestor!"

Feeling the warmth spreading through her body, Li Yaoqing immediately knew that the mysterious Ancestor was watching over her. A joyful smile bloomed on her face, "From now on, Yaoqing will definitely cultivate the Beast Blood Fruit Tree to be even bigger for the Ancestor... no, Yaoqing will cultivate many, many Beast Blood Fruit Trees!"

"Don't go doing anything unscrupulous just to grow trees... otherwise, our Li Family, with our meager strength, will be branded as Devilish Cultivators, and I really won't be able to cover for you."

Li Xiang wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He checked the time in the game world; the next decade was arriving soon. He raised an eyebrow, "Hasn't Grandma Ling come to knock on the door yet? It seems I'll have to go over and see if my things are ready."

He had long since prepared for this Bestowal!

Just as Li Xiang stood up, his antique phone rang in his pocket.

The caller—Uncle Han from the law firm.

"Has Uncle Han finished handling my family's affairs so quickly?" Li Xiang's eyes lit up. Only with a steady stream of pocket money from the family could he play games with peace of mind!

He answered the phone.

Just as he was about to speak, Li Xiang was completely stunned.

"Little Li, I'm afraid I really can't help you with this favor. Your new family head took a spaceship overnight and fled with the entire Li Family..."

Li Xiang was dumbfounded.

After a long while, he spoke as if in a trance.

"Damn it, I haven't even boarded the ship yet!"