"I can make money now!"
Back in his room, Li Xiang pressed a hand to his racing heart. In both his lives, this was the first time he'd ever made a deal. Those few seemingly casual words he'd exchanged with Boss Qi had nearly wrung his brain dry!
He had to make Boss Qi believe the Li Family behind him was still around, while also acting as if he couldn't reveal a single thing about them. He even had to make sure Boss Qi saw the enormous profits to be made.
At the same time, he had to act as confident as possible.
If he'd let his guard down, things could have turned ugly. Boss Qi might have realized there was no Li Family backing him and grabbed him on his way to school, demanding to know where he'd gotten the goods.
Every step was fraught with danger. It really was a case of a man being innocent, yet guilty of carrying jade!
Still, things had worked out well.
"Hm? Wait."
Li Xiang suddenly realized what the real problem was. "On my way to school? What the hell am I going to school for? I've started a business!"
He stopped thinking about it.
He'd already left everything to Boss Qi. As long as there was money to be made, a businessman like Boss Qi would work himself to the bone for him!
Li Xiang hurriedly turned his attention to the game!
No matter what, he had to keep a close eye on what was happening in the game. The Li Family was still only at the Qi Refining stage, but the things they produced had a unique market among Qi Refiners in the real world. The Beast Blood Fruits grown by the Beast Blood Fruit Tree, in particular, were his ticket to making a fortune!
[Li Dalong led members of the Li Family and villagers from Zhien Village on a hunt, returning with a large haul of spoils.] [Captured demon beast: Berserk Tiger] [Obtained spirit herb: Spirit Gathering Grass] [Obtained...]
On the game screen, Li Dalong and the others had returned with their prey.
Li Xiang watched the Li Family's growing settlement.
He realized that the Li Family could now provide for itself, and had even developed a rudimentary ecosystem!
The villagers of Zhien Village farmed and raised livestock, supplying the Spirit Beast Garden's fifty demon beasts with what they needed.
The demon beasts had their blood drawn by Li Yaoqing every day, which was now enough to support the Beast Blood Fruit Tree's production of first-grade Beast Blood Fruits. The tree bore fruit once every ten years, producing roughly eighty to a hundred Beast Blood Fruits at a time.
By now, after several years of research, Li Yaoqing had started cultivating another Beast Blood Fruit Tree.
"To grow more Beast Blood Fruit Trees, we need more people. More people can farm more fields and raise more livestock."
Li Xiang had figured it out!
He knew exactly how important the Beast Blood Fruit Tree was. It could bring in a fortune, and as long as he had enough Incense, it could even help him break through his current cultivation level!
Li Xiang hurriedly summoned Li Dalong.
"Please give us your instructions, Ancestor!"
Li Dalong reverently kowtowed to the spirit tablet glowing with purple light. He didn't believe in gods or Buddhas; he believed only in his ancestors.
As the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python let out a hiss,
Xu Cuihua hurriedly translated. "Husband, the Ancestor commands us to find more people. That way, we can have more people to cultivate more land, and I can use my Beast Taming Technique to raise more spirit beasts!"
"Dalong understands. The Ancestor truly sees far into the future!"
Li Dalong's eyes lit up. He bowed before Li Xiang's tablet. "Wife, I understand what the Ancestor means now. The Ancestor is even more extraordinary than you said!"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Xu Cuihua and Li Xiang, watching from in front of his screen, both froze.
Li Dalong continued, "The Ancestor wants more than just farmland and spirit beasts! His gaze is far-reaching. He saw that Tailin Town was keeping us down. Once we have more people, we can even become more prosperous than Tailin Town!"
"Then we'll attract merchants and powerful retainers. We... can dominate this region and completely crush Tailin Town before long!"
Li Dalong looked almost crazed. "As expected of the Ancestor! Long live the Ancestor!"
"..."
The peanut Li Xiang had just popped into his mouth fell out as his jaw dropped. After a long pause, he pressed his lips together. "Well... it's not impossible."
The sound of typing rang out.
The Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python let out another low rumble, and a "Love from the Ancestor" landed on Li Dalong, conveying Li Xiang's approval.
Li Dalong immediately set to work.
He sent the elders of Zhien Village out in every direction. In times like these, countless disaster victims would be grateful beyond words for even a single meal.
Li Xiang guessed it wouldn't be long before Zhien Village had a much larger population.
Not long after,
another piece of good news came from the game!
[Qu Xiaoxiao's ten-month pregnancy ended in success, and she gave birth to a son, whom she named Li Yunlin!] [Congratulations! You gained Incense +10]
Li Xiang realized that the stronger the Li Family became, the more Incense he gained each time!
The Li Family's third generation had arrived.
Everyone in Zhien Village held a grand feast to congratulate the Dong Family. The whole Li Family was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and its members gathered around the newborn Li Yunlin in his cradle, delighted by the arrival of a new member.
Li Xiang was just as happy.
This newborn had a better spirit root than anyone else in the Li Family: a Three Spirit Root!
It was still a mixed spirit root, but the rate at which he cultivated was several times faster than that of a Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root!
In the days that followed, the Li Family continued to develop in an orderly fashion.
Li Xiang quietly watched a family grow.
Then he smiled again.
[Li Family Year 23: The population of Zhien Village has reached 1,548.] [Li Yaoqing, a fourth-level Qi Refiner, had spent years cultivating medicinal herbs in the Spirit Beast Garden and studying the section on "special methods of cultivating spirit herbs" in the Manual of Qi Refiner Cultivation. Her efforts finally bore fruit. By chance, she obtained a copy of the Classic of a Thousand Herbs from an old doctor in Zhien Village and refined the first medicinal powder of her life: Blood Coagulation Powder.] [Li Yaoqing has acquired a profession—Ninth-Rank Apothecary!] [Inspired, her Wood Spirit Root value has reached 60. She has broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining!]
"A profession? We have an apothecary now!"
Li Xiang slapped his thigh. There were hardly any apothecaries left in the real world. With the development of technology, the profession had been replaced by cultivation tanks. But that was only one reason. Becoming an apothecary could be even more complicated than becoming an alchemist.
He'd heard that when spiritual energy first returned, apothecaries had once replaced doctors. A powerful apothecary could bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to white bones—or kill someone without leaving a trace!
He immediately clicked on Li Yaoqing's portrait.
At that moment, Li Yaoqing was standing in front of the Beast Blood Fruit Tree, bouncing with excitement as she held a packet of medicinal powder and darted around a large bronze furnace. "It worked! Ancestor, you blessed me! I did it!"
She was only sixteen, at the very start of her youth, but for some reason the Li Family girls didn't like talking to outsiders. Li Yaowen, who spent every day at home reading, was like that, and so was Li Yaoqing.
She wore a simple black robe and tied her hair in a ponytail. Her exposed skin was smudged with dirt. She wasn't as beautiful as Li Yaowen, but had a simple, gentle prettiness of her own.
She spent almost all her time tending the spirit herbs in the Li Family's herb garden.
[Li Yaoqing (Second Generation)] [Profession: Ninth-Rank Apothecary] [Realm: Fifth Level of Qi Refining] [Spirit Root: Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root] [Cultivation Methods: Naqi Technique, Classic of a Thousand Herbs, Gale Step] [Trait: Plant Affinity]
Li Xiang was delighted to see Li Yaoqing growing stronger.
As she developed, more and more villagers with injuries or illnesses came to her for treatment. Her reputation steadily grew, and her apothecary rank continued to rise along with it.
At the same time, Li Xiang gradually began to understand how important Li Yaoqing was!
[Your descendant, Li Yaoqing, cured the hidden ailment of a villager from Zhien Village, "Li Ergou." He can finally sleep with his wife again. The Li Family gained merit. Incense +1]
Aside from special events, descendants' kowtows, and the birth of descendants, Li Xiang had found yet another way to gain Incense!
Li Xiang glanced at his Incense.
As time passed, he had accumulated more than three thousand points.
Soon, he'd be able to control the War Puppet!
[Li Family Year 25: The Li Family discovered a Black Iron vein in Silver Iron Forest. Just as they were preparing to mine it, a cultivator from Zhien Village guarding the vein and three guards were killed!]
A special event!
"Damn it!"
Li Xiang had been thrilled when they discovered the vein.
Though Black Iron was an ordinary kind of iron, it had excellent resistance to oxidation, making it an ideal material for weapons and farming tools in the game world. He'd even discussed with Li Dalong how they would use it. Who could have guessed that it would be snatched away in the blink of an eye?
In the Li Family's ancestral hall,
"Ancestor, please calm your anger. Dalong failed to guard the Black Iron mine. The Wang Family of Tailin Town took it, and villagers from Zhien Village were killed as well. It was my failure. I beg the Ancestor to punish me!"
[It wasn't your fault.]
Li Xiang had the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python relay the message.
He narrowed his eyes. "People from Tailin Town again?"
The Li Family had encountered people from Tailin Town many times. Aside from the Hu Family, the other families had generally kept the peace with them.
But the moment their interests clashed, friction like this was inevitable.
And this time, the fight over the Black Iron mine had drawn blood!
"As the Li Family grows stronger, Tailin Town will see us as a thorn in their side, a thorn in their flesh. It can't be avoided."
Li Xiang remained calm as he typed on the keyboard.
[Go to the Black Iron mine. Kill four of them as well, but leave the other members of the Wang Family alive. Tell them to take a message to the Wang Family: ask their clan head to come meet with us. We can make a big deal together.]
"A... a business deal?" With his wife translating, Li Dalong understood what Li Xiang meant, though he was a little confused.
Li Xiang then explained more of the details to Li Dalong, and Li Dalong's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Soon,
he walked out of the Li Family's gates. The relatives of those killed at the Black Iron mine were already gathered outside, kneeling and weeping.
Li Dalong looked at the villagers gathered in Zhien Village.
"All these years, our Li Family has protected Zhien Village. I hope Zhien Village can always live in peace and happiness, because every one of us is honest, decent, and kind-hearted."
"But things in this world don't always go as we wish. We can't know when someone might bring disaster and terrible news to our door."
"But one thing I can promise you: whoever they are, they will pay a price they can't bear!"
"Maybe today, maybe tomorrow."
"I, Li Dalong, promise you—their nightmare has already..."
"begun!"
Before you continue