This Is the Foundation of the Li Family

"Kill!"

In the Li Family training grounds, Li Yaozu was practicing his swordplay. Whenever his inner peace was disturbed, he always liked to use his sword techniques to vent the emotions in his heart.

Not long after.

He finally stopped his training and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Having reached his current level of cultivation, he was already capable of sensing movements in his vicinity.

He sensed that his two sons had arrived.

"Yunlin, Yunbing, come before me." Li Yaozu sat on the edge of the training ground, watching the two children approach with their heads bowed and faces full of reverence. He didn't mind; ever since the incident with Qu Xiaoxiao, these two children had been closer to their fourth aunt than to him.

He said in a low voice, "I know you resent me—resent me for driving your mother and her family out of the house."

"Father, we don't." Li Yunlin kept his head down and shook his head.

Li Yaozu laughed. "I am sorry that I am not a qualified father. Especially you, Yunlin. I was ignorant back then; when your mother was pregnant with you, I was only fifteen and couldn't distinguish right from wrong. If the Old Ancestor hadn't intervened, your grandfather would have crippled me for sure."

"All these years..."

As he spoke, Li Yaozu's smile vanished, and he frowned. "I haven't become a competent father as time has passed, either."

"But moving forward, Yunlin, I want to ask you for a favor. If something happens, you must protect your younger brother no matter what."

Hearing this, Li Yunlin finally raised his head abruptly, a trace of worry flashing across his face. "Father, my aunt came to see me, and now you are too. Has something happened to the family? I am already at the fourth level of Qi Refining; I can contribute to the family too!"

Li Yaozu's gaze gradually softened.

"As long as you grow well, you are contributing the most to the family. Go now, take Yunbing and wait for news."

Li Yunlin wanted to say more, but he was dismissed by Li Yaozu.

In truth, he had a thousand words he wanted to say to Li Yunlin, but the words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't bring himself to say them. He harbored so much guilt in his heart that he didn't dare to look at the two brothers.

These two boys must be terrified of me, right?

Li Yaozu's expression was calm. "If something really happens, Yunlin, you must pick up your sword, just as I did before."

He remembered the day the bandits entered the Li Family. Back then, the Li Family wasn't this large; they only had a small, dilapidated shack, and the family had to scramble everywhere just to find something to eat.

His father and mother had both charged out, and he, in his ignorance, had also picked up a blade.

That was the first time he saw his gentle mother kill a living person as easily as slaughtering a chicken.

Later, his father told him that the moment he picked up the blade, he had become a man capable of protecting his younger sister and brother.

Just like him today, he could not allow the family they had worked so hard to build to suffer even the slightest harm. Even if it were her wife, if there was the slightest sign of a threat to the family, it had to be nipped in the bud!

He picked up his sword again and practiced fiercely.

"If I can become stronger, I can shoulder more of the burden for the family!"

In the bedroom.

Li Dalong and Xu Cuihua snuggled together, remaining silent for a long time.

"Dear, so many years have passed, and our family has grown stronger and stronger. Have you ever looked down on me for being a farm girl? Have you ever wanted to marry a few young ladies from wealthy families?" Xu Cuihua looked at Li Dalong with a scrutinizing gaze.

"I have!"

Li Dalong grinned. "Don't look at me like I'm old now; every man wants to have a house full of concubines. Besides, we sleep in the same bed every day—who wouldn't want a change of pace?"

Xu Cuihua glared at him.

Li Dalong chuckled. "But a thousand, no, ten thousand beautiful girls wouldn't equal a fraction of you. Where else could I find a good woman like you, who could bear me four wonderful children? As soon as I see you, all other women seem like chaff, so I don't think about it anymore."

"You old rascal."

Xu Cuihua rolled her eyes. "Are you afraid I'll beat you? After all, I'm stronger than you."

"Xu Cuihua, you are a tough one." Li Dalong couldn't help but laugh foolishly. "After I came out of seclusion, I thought I had truly become the pillar of the family, but how did you end up stronger than me?"

Xu Cuihua smiled without answering.

But her smile gradually became proud, and carried a hint of... bitterness.

She still remembered those days back then. She was just a farm girl in a village who met Li Dalong on the street—a very sturdy hunter. He was dark-skinned and unkempt, but he was far better than those oily, slick-haired fellows.

He was honest, kind-hearted, and had a masculine charm.

The days that followed proved how right she was to marry Li Dalong against her family's wishes.

After they married, her husband was attentive to her every need. The only bad thing was that Li Dalong always felt a bit inferior, saying that because he was of slave origin and a hunter, he couldn't give her the life she wanted.

That was why her husband went hunting every day to improve their household.

Every time her husband returned, he was covered in scars, which was heartbreaking to see. Even as the family gradually became wealthy and they had children one after another, she still felt the pain; her husband was still covered in scars. If it weren't for the protection of the Old Ancestor, perhaps her husband would have...

Xu Cuihua didn't dare to think about it.

However, thanks to the Old Ancestor, although she lacked the aptitude for cultivation, the Qi Refiner Cultivation Manual allowed her to find a different path.

She began to interact with chickens, ducks, pigs, and dogs—wasn't this the innate talent of a farm girl? Slowly, she began to understand the thoughts of animals.

Until now, she was finally able to stand on her own, facing the dangers of the future together with her family.

Even if it meant dying for the family and the children!

"Husband, do we... have a chance of winning this time?"

Xu Cuihua held Li Dalong even tighter.

Li Yaolong frowned, not knowing how to answer, when a commotion sounded outside the house.

The couple stood up.

"What is that noise outside?"

Li Dalong and Xu Cuihua dressed quickly, and after stepping out of the house, they saw that the young and old of the Li Family had already left their courtyard, looking toward the outside with them.

It was already late at night.

Yet, outside Zhien Village, the area was brightly lit.

When the Li Family members reached their gate, they saw that the villagers of Zhien Village had gathered in front of the Li residence. Everyone held torches high, illuminating the sky of this once-rural land with a fiery red glow!

The elderly village chief of Zhien Village stepped forward. After Qu Changming of the Qu Family was dismissed from his post for corruption, the position had long been filled by the elder most respected by the people of Zhien Village.

The village chief had a pale face and white hair, and his expression was one of visible fury as he shouted:

"Master Li, I heard that the Li Family is going to war with Tailin Town. Why did we, the people of Zhien Village, know nothing about it?"

Hearing the village chief's questioning.

Li Dalong was stunned for a moment. In his memory, this old village chief had always been soft-spoken, and he had rarely seen him look so aggressive.

Just as he was about to say something, he heard the old man continue:

"After years of drought, our three thousand people in Zhien Village had our grain stolen by bandits and were forced to eat tree bark. Which family here hasn't lost loved ones? If not for the great kindness of the Li Family, providing us a place to live and gifting us grain and livestock, where would Zhien Village be today?"

"Now that the Li Family is going to Tailin Town for a life-or-death struggle to fight for the clan's destiny, you do so in silence. Where does that leave us, the people of Zhien Village?"

"Our Zhien Village has plenty of fine young men. If the Li Family is going to war, we have weapons too. Even if we don't, we have kitchen knives and pitchforks at home!"

Li Dalong finally understood the intentions of the Zhien Village villagers.

He looked at the villagers crowding in front of the Li courtyard, holding their torches, and a look of gratitude appeared in his expression.

Yet, he shook his head at the villagers and said loudly:

"I, Li Dalong, accept your kindness. But this trip to Tailin Town involves facing cultivators. It is a place of life and death, and we are fighting for the destiny of the Li Family. Please, everyone, go back."

"What a joke!"

The old village chief was displeased, his eyes wide with anger. "We have received great grace from the Li Family. If my children were to know that our benefactor suffered such a disaster while I, this old man, said nothing, then when I am buried in the earth and they come to burn incense for me, they would only say that I, their elder, was a heartless wretch, and I would never find peace even in death!"

As soon as these words were spoken.

The villagers all laughed loudly.

"The village chief is right! We have cheap lives. If Master Li is going to fight, then I, Wang Ergou, will follow Master Li and go fight those bastards!"

"That's right, count me in! I know how to hunt, and I can kill people too!"

"Back when I couldn't afford a meal and thought I would die on the street, it was Master Li who gave me a bite to eat. Now I have a house and a few acres of good land; I can hear the chickens and ducks the moment I step outside. Now my wife has given me three children, and this life is enough. Master Li, it is time for me to pay you back with my life!"

"..."

The villagers of Zhien Village shouted, but Li Dalong did not feel any noise; his eyes were red.

When his wife asked him if they could win earlier, he was afraid. He was afraid that his impulsive actions would destroy the decades of the Li Family's hard work.

But now...

He was not afraid anymore!

Recalling his life, he was once a slave and never imagined he would have today.

But the ancestors were watching over him; he obtained the method of cultivation, could hunt in the mountains, fill his stomach, and never had to be bullied again.

He married the best woman in the world, had children who made him feel his life was not in vain, and his two grandchildren were also very well-behaved.

And there was this Zhien Village.

Because of his past kindness, these kind villagers were willing to face a powerful enemy with him, regardless of life or death.

I already have a life that ordinary people dare not dream of, and I have so many people who support me. What the hell am I afraid of?!!

At this moment.

Li Dalong narrowed his eyes. He found the feeling he had during his first hunt, facing those fierce wild beasts!

"Hahaha!"

"Good!"

Li Dalong raised his arms and shouted, "Everyone in Zhien Village, it's no laughing matter to say this, but I, Li Dalong, am just a mountain villager, and I have my moments of fear too. Seeing you all cheering for me tonight, I realized I really have grown old!"

"To hell with Tailin Town!"

"To hell with the Wang Family and the Hu Family!"

"Everyone, grab your weapons! I, Li Dalong, don't want any path of retreat. I want the blood of those two families to pave the way for us to move forward!"

The stars were bright and the moon was clear tonight.

The villagers of Zhien Village were all shouting in unison with the Li Family.

The torches they held high almost turned the deep night a fiery red.

The group from the Chen Family, who had slowly recovered from their injuries, watched the fanatical villagers of Zhien Village in shock; even ordinary people driven to madness could make a cultivator feel fear!

The Chen Family Ancestor let out a long breath, "Get ready, we follow the Li Family to slaughter our way to Tailin Town!"

Upon hearing this.

Chen Chuang hesitated for a moment, "Ancestor, our Chen Family only has this many people left..."

But before his voice could fade, the Chen Family Ancestor slapped him across the face.

"Is the mettle of our Chen Family not even equal to that of these villagers?"

Chen Chuang dared not say another word.

The Chen Family Elder finally revealed a smile, looking at the Li Family members and the villagers of Zhien Village who were still shouting toward the sky, "I take back what I said before, this..."

"Is the true foundation of the Li Family!"