With Li Dalong's assurance, everyone in Zhien Village felt the Li Family's authority. He won over nearly everyone and boosted the family's prestige.
[Incense +100!]
"That guy's really starting to look like a man in power."
Watching Li Dalong cut such an imposing figure in front of everyone, Li Xiang felt a little pleased.
Though he was pulling the strings behind the scenes and guiding the Li Family's development, the people of Zhien Village knew nothing about him. Someone with leadership skills was essential.
At present, after years of nurturing, Li Dalong was the only person in the Li Family with decent leadership ability. Little by little, he was growing from a hunter into a qualified clan head.
Time passed quickly in the game.
Li Xiang opened the map. Thirteen white dots had appeared outside Zhien Village!
As the game developed, its map had changed as well. The game system seemed to determine who was on your side, marking allies in green. Neutral parties, meanwhile, were marked in white.
Those deemed hostile were marked in red, like the area around the Hu Family in Tailin Town.
"Ancestral Patriarch, people from the Wang Family of Tailin are here!"
As soon as the Wang Family members appeared, Li Dalong hurried to the Ancestral Hall to kneel and pay his respects. With practiced ease, he tucked Li Xiang's tablet into his pocket. "Please bless us, Ancestral Patriarch!"
As Li Dalong put it,
he was taking the Ancestral Tablet into battle with him.
On the road toward the Li Family's settlement behind Zhien Village,
a party of thirteen dressed in splendid clothes approached. At the head were an old man and a middle-aged man: Wang Chaoyuan, the Wang Family's clan head, and the family's Third Elder, who had been in seclusion for many years.
"I didn't expect the Li Family to grow to this scale in such a short time." Wang Chaoyuan gazed at the sizable buildings, his expression grave.
"Hmph. They just happen to have an expert who can kill the Hu Family Ancestor. Their foundations are still shallow!"
He said that, but the Wang Family's Third Elder was just as cautious. "We shouldn't enter the Li Family's settlement later. I'm worried they've set an ambush. After all, we killed their people at the Black Iron Mine. This will be our first time dealing with the Li Family."
"However foolish the Li Family may be, they wouldn't make an enemy of us over one measly Qi Refining first-level cultivator and three ordinary people."
Wang Chaoyuan said with certainty, "The Li Family has only just begun. They're already at odds with the Hu Family, and for now they wouldn't dare go anywhere near Tailin Town. My guess is that their clan head, Li Dalong, wants to use this incident to establish trade with our Wang Family. He might even want to develop the Black Iron Mine together with us."
As he spoke,
Wang Chaoyuan's gaze grew deep. "Third Elder, this is an opportunity for us, too. The Hu Family's business keeps growing, and Tailin Town has no need for four great families. If we can use the Li Family to wipe out the Hu Family, then invite them to settle in Tailin Town alongside the Su and Chen Families, we can slowly devour the Li Family..."
When he finished, the two Wang Family members exchanged a glance, each seeing the other's cunning.
But soon,
every Wang Family member turned pale!
When they arrived at the Li Family's settlement, there was no one there to welcome them. All they saw was...
four coffins laid out in front of the Li Family's gate, and white mourning cloth draped all over it!
A cold wind swept by.
Every Wang Family member felt a chill deep in their bones!
"Coffins? This is bad—we've been tricked! Those Li Family lunatics never intended to negotiate with us. They're going to kill us!"
"Shameless, despicable! Do they not care about their family's reputation? Who would dare visit the Li Family after this?!"
"What kind of people use such a vile trick?!"
The Wang Family members panicked.
Even Wang Chaoyuan, who had been so sure of victory, looked livid.
When the Li Family invited him to discuss business, he had considered every possibility. He'd even planned to use the invitation to set up a grand scheme that would swallow both the Hu and Li Families whole.
But he'd never imagined that the Li Family would be so plain and straightforward.
They had no intention of breaking through Tailin Town's blockade. They had simply wanted to lure the Wang Family here and avenge one measly Qi Refining cultivator and three ordinary people!
"Bastards! Run! Split up and run!"
Realizing how badly he'd miscalculated, Wang Chaoyuan gritted his teeth and shouted to the others, "Third Elder, gather the four great families when you get back and destroy the entire Li Family!"
The Third Elder said nothing and fled in one direction.
He had already spotted a gigantic figure emerging from the Li Family: an enormous python, with Li Dalong standing atop its head and holding the Ancestral Tablet!
That man was looking right at him with a scornful smile!
"Tsk, tsk. They've got some nerve."
Watching the screen, Li Xiang wore an amused expression. He couldn't help wondering what the Wang Family members were thinking.
At first, when he had asked Li Dalong to invite the Wang Family, he'd only been testing the waters.
His main plan had been to have Li Dalong kill every Wang Family member at the Black Iron Mine, slaughtering each new batch as they arrived.
But he'd never expected...
the old Wang Family to be so earnest.
If you invited them, they really would come!
"I was planning to lure the Wang Family to the Black Iron Mine and kill a few important figures, until they were scared stiff." Li Xiang shrugged helplessly. "Well, there really are fools of every kind."
He gave it no further thought and switched to the screen.
The battle had already begun!
The Wang Family members had no courage to fight. They scattered in every direction, but they had underestimated the Li Family's strength and preparations!
The Wang Family's strongest, the Third Elder, had reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. Somehow, the old man moved like a phantom, speeding toward Silver Iron Forest.
With the Li Family's current strength, no one could stop him.
To be sure, the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python was powerful, but its speed was a glaring weakness. Its enormous size also made it less nimble than human cultivators.
[Ancestral Patriarch's Fury] x5!
Li Xiang used the skill without hesitation.
"Not one of you is getting away!"
Five Ancestral Tablets appeared before the Third Elder and shot straight toward him. The moment they got close, they began to self-destruct.
Amid the thunderous explosions,
"What are these things? Magical artifacts?!"
The Third Elder had lived for a hundred and fifty years, yet he had never seen anything so strange. He could clearly sense that the tablets contained no spiritual energy, and yet their destructive power was astonishing!
No matter how fast he ran, the tablets seemed fast enough to block his way.
"Wow, he's quick."
Li Xiang grinned. The great thing about the skill was that he could use it through the screen. As long as the Third Elder was still on the map, Li Xiang could move his mouse and intercept him with pinpoint accuracy!
Before long,
Li Dalong finally caught up with the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python!
The spirit beast-ranked Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python was now far stronger than before.
"Shyaaa!"
With a furious roar, arcs of lightning flashed between its downward-curving horns. A cage of lightning formed around the Third Elder.
The spirit beast's innate skill—
Thunder Cage!
"You're insane! You dare attack the Wang Family? The whole of Tailin Town will turn against the Li Family. You won't be able to take a single step!" Feeling the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python's terrifying aura, the Third Elder gritted his teeth, desperate for a chance to survive.
"Hiss~ sss~"
After communicating with the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python many times, Li Dalong had learned to understand some of what it meant. Looking at the Third Elder trapped inside the Thunder Cage, he laughed disdainfully.
"Our Ancestral Patriarch is a little curious. When you came after us, where was all this concern?"
"Over one Qi Refining cultivator and three ordinary people?" The Third Elder still couldn't believe it.
"Ordinary people?"
Li Dalong shook his head, his expression darkening. "You really are cut from the same cloth as the Hu Family. A few years ago, they used disaster victims to test our Li Family. Now your Wang Family doesn't care about ordinary people's lives either! Once upon a time, your ancestors were ordinary people too. Since you've forgotten that, I'll send you to the Underworld to ask them yourselves!"
"Well said!"
Li Xiang gave a thumbs-up in front of the screen.
Seeing that Li Dalong had his opponent under control, he immediately switched to another view.
Elsewhere,
Wang Chaoyuan, that "far-sighted" clan head, was fleeing for his life.
He had never been so humiliated in his life.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Two arrows shot at him. A beautiful eighteen-year-old girl was riding a giant eagle and firing at him with an iron bow.
A mere Qi Refining fifth-level cultivator was chasing him around like a rat!
Even worse was the burly man on the ground, riding a tiger and shooting arrows at him.
"Hahaha! Clan head of the Wang Family? That's all the courage you've got? Aren't you afraid people will laugh their teeth out?"
"You dared to come to our Li Family, and I thought you had some real ability. Turns out you're just plain stupid!"
"Fine, you're stupid—but are you really too scared to face me and my sister, two Qi Refining fifth-level cultivators?"
Wang Chaoyuan nearly spat blood. That had almost broken him!
But he didn't dare stop. He knew perfectly well that these two weaklings wouldn't be chasing him so recklessly if they were trying to get themselves killed. This was another trap set by the Li Family to deal with him!
"He doesn't even turn around when we insult him?"
Li Xiang frowned and looked at the other icon beneath the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python's portrait in the game interface: a robot!
Then he clicked it.
"Whoosh!"
[Releasing War Puppet!]
In an instant, the space ring in Li Yaoqing's hand flashed brightly, and a giant mecha appeared in the sky!
Flames burst from the back and legs of the Psionic Mecha, propelling the War Puppet into the air!
"Flying always consumes the most spiritual energy."
Li Xiang pursed his lips. He'd kept the puppet in the space ring the whole time. Otherwise, there was no way Li Yaoqing and Li Yaotie could have chased a Foundation Establishment Early Stage expert.
The War Puppet consumed spiritual energy, especially while flying. It could replenish its energy automatically, but restoring it completely would take at least half a month. He'd originally wanted to conserve some spiritual energy, but who could have guessed that Wang Chaoyuan would seem to have gotten smarter?
"What is that?!"
The moment the War Puppet appeared, Wang Chaoyuan felt the terrifying pressure behind him. When he turned around, the mech's enormous frame made him jump in fright!
Then—
"Boom!"
Flames burst from the War Puppet's mecha, and it shot toward Wang Chaoyuan like a rocket.
As it flew, the weapons on its back shifted, and two enormous gun barrels took aim at Wang Chaoyuan!
Though it was in autonomous mode,
the War Puppet still had rudimentary combat abilities!
"Crackle!"
As dazzling light flared at the muzzles, a purple longsword appeared out of thin air in the War Puppet's right hand. It was a lightsaber formed from laser light, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud!
"Boom!"
"Not good!"
The Laser Cannon fired in an instant. Wang Chaoyuan's eyes bulged as he pulled out a bronze bell, an artifact that had been with him for years. The bell rang, instantly enveloping him.
But the next moment—
"Boom!"
The instant the Laser Cannon struck the bronze bell, the sound it made was like a death knell tolling for Wang Chaoyuan!
The artifact that had saved his life so many times was as thin as paper.
Dust billowed into the air.
The next moment, the War Puppet streaked across the sky, lightsaber in hand. It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
Wang Chaoyuan's body, split in two at the waist, fell from the dust cloud toward the ground.
His gaze was despairing. He seemed to have something weighing on his mind, as if he simply couldn't understand why he'd been foolish enough to come to the Li Family in the first place...
"Th-this is the might of the Ancestral Patriarch?"
Li Yaoqing and Li Yaolong stared at the figure in the sky, awe written all over their faces.
A one-shot kill!
Before you continue