"Young Master Li, this is the 3,000 Spirit Stones from our last deal, plus the 500-inch LCD screen you asked for."
Boss Qi had already arrived at the Li Family just as Li Xiang finished setting up the operating system.
Talk about perfect timing!
Li Xiang took the goods he'd asked for from Boss Qi. After glancing at the man sipping tea, he tossed him a Storage Ring. "Boss Qi, those twenty Beast Blood Fruits last time were our foot in the door, and you moved them quickly. Now I'm giving you another eighty. Let's see what you can do."
"Eighty?"
Boss Qi froze for a moment, then smiled. "Looks like the Li Family still doubts my abilities. But that's fine. Young Master Li's Beast Blood Fruits are in high demand. Give me three days, and I'll sell all eighty."
"Three days?" Li Xiang frowned.
He'd already worked it out. The Li Family could supply him with at least 3,000 Beast Blood Fruits a month. If Boss Qi could only sell eighty in three days, how long would it take to sell them all?
Seeing Li Xiang's expression, Boss Qi wasn't offended. On the contrary, he looked pleased. It meant Li Xiang might have a large supply of Beast Blood Fruits. He hurriedly explained, "That's right. First, these fruits are new to the market, so I have to let buyers learn about their effects and benefits. Buyers will introduce more buyers, and that'll create competition in the market. Then the volume we can sell will keep growing, and the price might even... go higher!"
"So that's how it works." Li Xiang finally relaxed. After all, he really had no experience selling things.
As he walked Boss Qi out, Li Xiang asked, "Boss Qi, what about that... thing we agreed on?"
"Certainly. But it's expensive. I've already had someone bring it back from beyond the borders." Boss Qi sounded intrigued.
"How many Spirit Stones?"
Boss Qi held up two fingers. When he saw that Li Xiang didn't seem concerned, he added, "But let me be clear: once you get your hands on it, Young Master Li, just play around with it. Don't let anyone find out, or I really won't be able to protect you."
"Don't worry." Li Xiang grinned. "If I get caught, I'll tell them I didn't get it from you."
"..."
Boss Qi simply dropped the subject. He glanced at the old woman lingering outside the Li Family's gate and asked curiously, "Isn't that the twelfth-ranked artifact refiner? Young Master Li, have you gotten yourself into trouble?"
Li Xiang shrugged. "Oh, I asked her to refine something for me before. You know her, right?"
"That explains it." Boss Qi clearly knew Grandma Ling's "illustrious record." "Did Young Master Li make her take a loss? Couldn't she get the better of you over your Spirit Artifact?"
"I got someone to help. She doesn't dare go after me. Look at me—I'm weak, pitiful, and helpless. She can only take it out on me."
Li Xiang waved a hand.
"Don't worry, Young Master Li. I have a way to handle this."
Only then did Boss Qi leave the room.
As Li Xiang closed the door, he vaguely heard Boss Qi laughing outside.
"Ah? Auntie Ling? What are you saying? How could I possibly know Li Xiang? No, no, I don't know him. Right, this has nothing to do with me."
"...You bastard."
The muscles in Li Xiang's face twitched violently. He'd thought Boss Qi had a way to soothe Grandma Ling. Turns out the crafty merchant only had a way to get himself out of there without Grandma Ling dragging him into the mess.
"Fine."
He wasn't in a hurry. Boss Qi was only a business associate; there was no need to drag him into his trouble. Besides, these days, if a few experts weren't keeping an eye on you, you couldn't really claim to be making your way in the world!
Back in his room, Li Xiang got to work installing the 500-inch LCD screen. The whole wall looked like one giant display!
Even for this era, this thing was an antique. It had to be custom-made.
Li Xiang's game was getting bigger and bigger, and a small screen could no longer satisfy him. A bigger screen would also let him see more of the map and make it easier to control.
Especially...
[You have activated the War Puppet's operating system!]
[Can be activated manually!]
In an instant, Li Xiang chose to activate it.
The next moment, his mind went hazy. His view appeared inside a pitch-black cellar. He couldn't feel anything around him, but he could sense the War Puppet's condition!
It was just like operating a mecha during a training course at school.
The strangest part was that he had another point of view: the real world. He was still operating the mouse and keyboard there, moving the camera around!
He looked down.
He could see the mechanical arms. With a single thought, Li Xiang could make them move. Then the legs... the whole body!
Not only that.
He could also sense the hidden weapons on the War Puppet.
[Laser Sword/A]
[Left Arm Laser Cannon/S]
[Right Arm Laser Cannon/D]
[Flight Mode/Q]
[...]
"You can do this, too? This is so much fun!"
Li Xiang suddenly burst out of the cellar, startling Li Yaotie, who was worshipping in the ancestral hall. The burly man, weighing more than two hundred pounds, gaped at the flying robot. "The Old Ancestor has manifested! This is the kind of romance a man dreams of!"
He wasn't the only one. Everyone in the Li Family saw the mecha take flight!
Li Xiang piloted it around the Li Family's grounds and up through the clouds. Although he couldn't truly feel the air around him and the people in this world still looked like animated characters, everything felt more and more real.
He even stood before his descendants, watching them look as tiny as little animals, listening to them speak, and seeing their astonished expressions. It all felt stranger by the moment.
"It feels like a real world."
At last, after the War Puppet had used up most of its spiritual energy, Li Xiang piloted it back into the cellar, and his consciousness returned to the real world.
But what interested Li Xiang most wasn't the point of view. Plenty of VR games could do that now.
What truly mattered was that he could operate the War Puppet himself and draw out its full combat strength.
It wouldn't fight automatically like a regular War Puppet, firing two Laser Cannons at the enemy and then activating its light sword, wasting energy.
Before long, the game reached [Year 33 of the Li Family].
After years of severe drought, the world beyond the Li Family's territory was improving.
The Li Family could also expand its farmland outward. Although they couldn't venture any deeper into the Silver Iron Forest, they occasionally hunted around its outskirts, and the number of demonic beasts was increasing.
Zhien Village, however, had gained no new villagers.
That was another downside of the drought ending.
Wasn't it better to farm in Tailin Town than in a place like Zhien Village? Especially now that Tailin Town was becoming more vigilant and helping commoners rebuild their livelihoods, while the Hu and Wang Families were spreading rumors that Zhien Village was a gathering place for demons and monsters.
At the same time, cracks had appeared among Tailin Town's four great families. The Hu and Wang Families were furious about the trade between the Chen Family and the Li Family, but the Chen Family continued to do as it pleased.
After three years of trade, the Chen Family had already reaped considerable benefits.
The Body-Tempering Powder and Seven-Flavor Soup refined by Li Yaoqing had greatly benefited their cultivators. Every so often, Li Yaotie sold them scattered parts from the Black Iron Beast Blood Armor. They could even buy demonic beasts from the Li Family, along with all sorts of miscellaneous spirit herbs.
The two families' cooperation grew closer and closer.
The Chen Family even wanted to arrange a marriage alliance with the Li Family. Unfortunately... when Li Dalong and Chen Wudi, the Chen Family head, agreed to introduce Li Yaoqing to the Chen Family's eldest young master and help the two cultivate a relationship—
Whenever Li Yaoqing ate with him, she'd ask if he knew about spirit herbs. Why didn't he eat them? Eating pills increased the body's resistance to medicine and harmed the mind, so what did he think about medicinal mixtures?
When they went shopping, she'd ask, "Excuse me, what spirit herbs grow best in a shady alley? In a busy district full of noise and dust, what spirit herbs could improve the environment?"
If you don't understand spirit herbs, how can you understand me? Would the children we have be born with defects?
After spending just three days together, the Chen Family's eldest young master never wanted to see Li Yaoqing again. He even thought that marrying her would ruin family harmony.
Next, the poor Chen Family heir was matched with the Li Family's fourth young lady, Li Yaowen.
Well, this time, the Chen Family heir had found love at last.
Li Yaowen was breathtakingly beautiful, and the Chen Family heir fell in love at first sight. Though she was frail and often ill, she was learned, reasonable, gentle, and kind. Everyone who met her felt as if a spring breeze had brushed past them.
The Chen Family heir had even picked out names for their future children.
Li Yaowen had even agreed to marry him.
But before the betrothal gifts could be sent, three of the Chen Family's maidservants and the concubine of a Chen Family Elder came to Chen Wudi. All four were pregnant with the Chen Family heir's children. The news spread throughout Tailin Town, sending Li Dalong into a rage. He rejected the marriage on the spot.
Chen Wudi was mortified and felt deeply indebted to the Li Family. That very day, he broke the Chen Family heir's legs and sent the Li Family a generous gift as an apology.
He never dared bring up a marriage alliance with the Li Family again.
"The Chen Family thinks they can form a marriage alliance with our Li Family? How presumptuous."
In the ancestral hall, Li Yaowen reported to Li Xiang's Ancestral Tablet with great pride. "Old Ancestor, I followed your instructions and used a little trick to put an end to the Chen Family's hopes."
"Hahaha, that's right!"
Li Dalong, who'd been furious before, now beamed. "They're all a bunch of crooked melons and cracked dates. The Old Ancestor was right. When it comes to marriage, character comes first, followed by family background, looks, and potential."
Lying in bed and watching the 500-inch screen, Li Xiang wore a sinister smile.
Marriage alliances really were a bad idea... Almost none of those couples had any affection for each other. It was all self-interest and backstabbing. Li Xiang didn't want to bring that kind of thing into the family and create unnecessary trouble.
What the Li Family needed now was steady development!
Although they'd found a way to refuse the Chen Family's marriage proposal,
Li Yaozu had also decided not to marry after parting ways with Qu Xiaoxiao.
The one who surprised Li Xiang most was hiding behind a tree, gazing adoringly at a woman running while carrying a rock. She stood nearly 1.9 meters tall and wore a shirt in the blazing summer heat that showed off her biceps. Even her eight-pack abs were exposed, and sweat covered her dark skin.
She was a bona fide bodybuilding Amazon.
Li Yaotie, spying on her, drooled.
"What a strong, well-built woman. If she had my children, she'd surely give birth to real heroes and heroines."
"Slurp~"
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