Help Me Have a Child

"They can fight, but the losses may be heavy."

In front of the screen, Li Xiang had also heard the Chen Family's intelligence. After all, they'd been wiped out by those two families; no one understood their enemies' strength better than the Chen Family did!

He could also see how eager the Li Family members were to fight.

None of his descendants were cowards. Why should he, their ancestor, be afraid?

As long as they had a fifty percent chance of defeating the enemy, it was worth a try!

Those two families had Ancestors at the False Core Stage and a Spirit Artifact, but the Li Family's fighting strength was no small matter either. He had the Temple Guardian Beast, the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python.

Before, he hadn't known just how powerful the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python was. But after controlling the War Puppet, Li Xiang had felt its strength firsthand. It was unquestionably one of the strongest spirit beasts, with power comparable to the False Core Stage!

As for the Golden Core Stage... perhaps he could barely survive against a Golden Core cultivator, but fighting one was absolutely impossible. The gap between major realms was as wide as heaven and earth.

Next was the War Puppet.

Its main purpose was for large-scale battles in interstellar warfare, but the War Puppet also had the strength to fight False Core Stage cultivators. Li Xiang was especially confident he could control it and defeat one!

As for Foundation Establishment...

"What we're really lacking right now are Foundation Establishment cultivators. The Qi Refining cultivators are no match for these two families."

Li Xiang furrowed his brow.

In the Li Family, only Li Dalong and his wife had Foundation Establishment strength.

Years had passed, yet the Li Family still had only four spirit beasts. Among them, the Eight-Leaf Flower Demon was still one of the weakest spirit beasts in a fight.

As for their Qi Refining cultivators, they were far inferior to Tailin Town's as well.

Li Yaozu was the strongest. Thanks to the Beast Blood Fruits and various spirit herbs, he had now reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

The siblings Li Yaoqing and Li Yaotie were both at the seventh layer of Qi Refining. As for Li Yaowen... she didn't count.

Among the third generation, twelve-year-old Li Yunlin was exceptionally gifted, but he had only reached the peak of the third layer.

Their Spirit Beast Pavilion did have a decent number of spirit beasts: 102 of them could fight Qi Refining cultivators.

As for the 150 members of the guard troop trained by Li Yaozu, barely twelve had reached Qi Refining... and even the strongest among them was only at the second layer.

Li Xiang was confident he could win at the very top level.

But in the middle and lower ranks... even if the Chen Family agreed to fight alongside the Li Family, they would still be crushed.

"Is this what the Chen Family Ancestor meant by their foundation?"

Li Xiang found the situation thorny. And this was only the gap in the number of cultivators.

The Hu and Wang Families had developed for centuries. They possessed a great many magical weapons, formations within their clans, and all kinds of other methods.

As for having the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python and the War Puppet blockade Tailin Town, that was even less realistic.

They couldn't move as nimbly as cultivators. If Tailin Town surrounded them, they'd be little more than sitting ducks.

"I can only hope my hands are fast enough to control the War Puppet and use 'Ancestral Patriarch's Fury' at the same time."

Li Xiang narrowed his eyes.

This battle was unavoidable. The Li Family had only the resources they had now; without more, their growth would be slow and eventually hit a ceiling. But Tailin Town would only grow stronger. The longer they waited, the more passive their position would become!

"If I could draw them all to Tailin Town, and have the Ancestral Spirit Array Diagram ready, that would be ideal."

Li Xiang pursed his lips.

While Li Xiang calculated the strength of both sides,

the Li Family didn't rush straight to Tailin Town. They remained sufficiently levelheaded, clearly understanding the gap between them and Tailin Town.

But not one of them was a coward!

The moment hope for revenge appeared, they could no longer suppress themselves. Perhaps this was the courage and will the Li Family had gradually forged through years of growth.

That day,

the whole Li Family seemed to go about their daily routines as usual.

Li Yaowen sat beneath the peach tree in the Li Family courtyard, still holding a book. She seemed unconcerned about the life-and-death battle the Li Family was about to face, but her fingers tightened ever more around the book.

"If we turn a blind eye, the Li Family will slowly die out and eventually be settled with by Tailin Town. If we lose, I'll be the Li Family's sinner."

No one knew the burden this seemingly calm woman carried when she had proposed in the Ancestral Hall that they fight!

But she had to seize the best opportunity and make the best choice for her family.

Just as the family and the ancestor had never looked down on her for her frail body and inability to fight, and had always supported her!

As she thought, several maids loyal only to Li Yaowen arrived, bringing a gloomy-looking boy and leading a child by the hand.

"Aunt."

Li Yunlin bowed to Li Yaowen with his younger brother.

Li Yaowen nodded slightly. "Yunlin, the family has something important to do. If anything goes wrong, take Yun Bing and run. They'll take care of you, but remember: you'll always be members of the Li Family."

"Aunt... what happened?"

Though young, Li Yunlin knew that unless the clan faced the threat of annihilation, his aunt would never say such things.

"Nothing. Just a big battle." Li Yaowen waved the two brothers over and patted their heads. "Go on, children. The ancestor will always protect the Li Family's children. You don't need to worry."

Only after watching the maids take the two children away did Li Yaowen let out a long breath.

Even with a powerful enemy at their door, she had made arrangements for the worst.

"Let's hope so."

In the Spirit Beast Garden, Li Yaoqing was preparing her spirit medicines as usual.

She stroked the enormous Beast Blood Fruit Tree and looked over the spirit herbs she had nurtured day by day in the Spirit Herb Garden.

Footsteps sounded behind her.

Fifteen boys and girls approached. "If I don't come back, burn the Beast Blood Fruit Tree and every spirit herb in the Spirit Herb Garden, then disappear under assumed names. But remember: when the two young masters of the Li Family grow up, they'll be your masters."

"Yes, master!"

Seeing the children she had raised over the years nod, Li Yaoqing finally felt a little more at ease.

She gazed at the Spirit Herb Garden, reluctant to leave it.

She had devoted nearly her entire life to these spirit herbs, but some things were more precious than them: the family she cherished, her clan!

Remembering all these years,

Li Yaoqing couldn't help but smile faintly. Everyone in Zhien Village said she was aloof and cared only for spirit herbs.

But they had no idea why she was so interested in medicinal ingredients and seeds.

It was because, after her father had her, she had lived through a year of severe drought.

That year, the vegetables her family had worked so hard to grow withered day by day before her eyes. Her father and mother said that if they couldn't get vegetables to eat, her older brother wouldn't grow tall, and her younger brother would turn into a little dwarf.

So she had cried in fear. Could anything be more terrifying than her brothers turning into winter melons?

As she slowly grew up, she wanted to grow the most delicious vegetables so her family would never go hungry. Fortunately, her older brother grew even taller than she did, and her younger brother became as strong as a bull. Only her younger sister... her younger sister had been frail and sickly since childhood.

So she began growing spirit herbs, hoping her younger sister could have the very best and never fall ill again.

"Yaowen still never got to take my medicine."

Li Yaoqing shook her head, then looked over the Spirit Herb Garden once more. Her expression gradually turned cold. "But if the family is gone, outsiders won't get to eat these spirit herbs either!"

"Hey, Rou Rou, your husband's here! Open the door!"

Dusk was falling.

Li Yaotie had been waiting outside Bai Rourou's door for a long time. He could sense that woman—beautiful and sturdy as a black panther—leaning against the door, as if afraid he would barge in. He chuckled. "Rou Rou, I might not have much time left to live."

The door shifted, but didn't open.

Li Yaotie's gaze grew hazy.

"People from Tailin Town have been bullying our family all this time. Of course I have to fight them. Fourth Sister was right, too. The Chen Family's been wiped out. If we don't fight them now, our family will be next."

"I'll be honest with you. I really want you to have a whole houseful of kids with me. They can grow up as strong as I am and protect the family alongside me."

"Heh, I know you look down on me. I'm just a brute, shameless from morning till night. All I do is forge iron."

"But do you know? Even when I was little, I knew we needed weapons. My dad had to go into the dangerous forest to get meat for us. He had a kitchen knife, but it got so blunt from chopping in the forest, and he didn't replace it for two whole years. My older sister had to cut grass. Do you know how she did it? With a little knife."

"I grew this strong thanks to all the meat and vegetables they gave me. Back then, I thought that when I grew up, I'd make them sturdy iron tools."

"When I got a little older, I realized weapons weren't enough. We needed magical weapons—powerful ones. The best would be weapons that could fight like the ancestor himself. Otherwise, those bastards from outside would destroy our Li Family's way of life. I also trained my strength, because my younger sister couldn't fight, and I couldn't let people bully her."

"Heh, see? I do have a heart..."

Before he could say anything more,

"Creak—"

The door opened. Li Yaotie turned and saw Bai Rourou's deeply furrowed brow. She probably hadn't washed her hair or face, and she wasn't as pretty as yesterday. But Li Yaotie was still overjoyed. "Rou Rou, you... you opened the door without kicking me this time!"

"Have you said enough?"

Bai Rourou seemed caught in a momentous decision. After a long while, she kicked Li Yaotie lightly. "Get inside."

"Huh?"

Li Yaotie froze.

"Get inside and make a baby!"

"Huh?"