[Congratulations, Li Family! All the villagers of Zhien Village have pledged their loyalty to you. The entire village is willing to face death alongside the Li Family!]
[Incense +300!]
[Your descendant Li Dalong has won the people's hearts and earned the faith of Zhien Village's villagers. He has gained the trait: Hope of the Whole Village]
[When fighting for the Lineage, combat power +20!]
In front of the screen, Li Xiang watched over everything happening to the Lineage.
His blood boiled too. All this time, he had never counted the villagers of Zhien Village as fighting strength. Only now did he understand that, as the Li Family had built itself up, it had won the loyalty of the entire village!
In this battle for the Lineage's fate, it wasn't just the Li Family fighting. There were also three thousand villagers!
"What's there to fear from the Wang and Hu families? Let's do this! Let's kick their asses!"
"Ding-dong."
Just as he was getting excited, his phone rang. A message from school asked why he was late. He glanced outside and realized he'd been playing the game for two whole days without noticing.
He was about to turn off his phone when his teacher called.
"Li Xiang, has something happened at home? Even so, don't drop out! Only by studying hard can you change your life..."
"Sorry, teacher. Please help me withdraw from school. Don't you think that with my abilities, staying in school would be a waste of time? I have to go. I'm busy with something important. I'll have someone take care of the withdrawal paperwork later."
"What the hell are you talking about—"
Before the teacher could finish, Li Xiang hung up and switched off his phone.
Why the hell go to school?
As the Li Family's ancestor, I'm going to lead the Lineage in a glorious battle!
Li Xiang stared intently at the screen.
As time sped up, the once-bustling Zhien Village gradually fell quiet. In the past, the men would take their families to work the fields, or raise chickens and ducks along the streets.
But now,
only the elderly, the weak, women, and children could be seen throughout the village. Some of the women were even sharpening knives at their doorways, guarding their homes.
In the Li Family's courtyard, only a group of maids remained to guard the carriages. Li Yunlin and his younger brother sat in one of them.
"Little brother, don't be afraid. The ancestor has always protected our Li Family. Our family will surely return safe and sound."
Li Yunlin stroked his brother's head.
Suddenly,
he and Li Yunbing both stared in astonishment toward the Ancestral Hall.
"Boom!"
A tremendous sound erupted as a colossal object burst from the ground. Against the radiant sun, it gleamed brilliantly in the sky!
"This is... the ancestor manifesting his power!"
Li Yunlin had been right!
Li Xiang had manifested his power!
Now he sat in his room, gazing at a 500-inch screen with bloodshot eyes and a grave expression, his hands poised over the keyboard and mouse, ready to act at any moment.
[You are controlling the War Puppet.]
[Diagnostics: Mechanical Arm functionality at 100%, Laser Cannon charged to 100%, Laser Sword at 100%, War Barrier ready to activate...]
[Low-energy spirit power consumption mode activated. Spirit power reserve: 99%!]
Li Xiang had used the War Puppet to wander around this world before.
But this was the first time he had ever actually fought with it!
"Open the map!"
With a click, a map appeared in the upper-right corner.
More than a thousand little green dots had appeared around the map of [Tailin Town]. The Li Family's forces had already set out for Tailin Town ahead of him!
He fixed his gaze on the Wang Family's location on the map.
"You're the ones!"
Li Xiang narrowed his eyes. Spirit power surged through the War Puppet, which streaked toward the Wang Family with its tail fins blazing!
Before the war began, the strongest would strike first.
He would use the War Puppet to draw the attention of every expert in Tailin Town away from the Li Family!
Meanwhile, in Tailin Town,
the experts of the Hu Family and Wang Family sat in the Hu Family's main hall.
The heads of the two families drank tea together, smiles on their faces.
The Hu Family's head said, "Heaven is helping our two families. The Chen Family dared to cooperate with the Li Family, and now they've gotten what they deserved. They had no idea that one of our Hu Family disciples is an inner sect disciple of the Tianhu Sect in Taiqing City. With just a little trickery, he made the Chen Family Elder incur the Tianhu Sect's enmity and die in Taiqing City!"
"Hahaha!"
The Wang Family's head laughed loudly. "We owe it all to Brother Hu. With the Chen Family gone, the Li Family is no threat at all! I thought that in less than ten years, once your family's ancestor broke through to Golden Core Stage—or my Wang Family produced someone at False Core Stage—we could pay the Li Family a visit. Even that giant snake said to be at the peak of the spirit beast realm would be nothing to worry about!"
"But who could've guessed the Li Family would be such a reckless bunch, coming to Tailin Town to die?"
As it turned out, the two families had known about the Li Family's approach for some time. They had never stopped sending spies to Zhien Village.
"This time, we've laid a tight net around Tailin Town. Once the Li Family is wiped out, we can rest easy!"
The Hu Family's head could hardly contain his delight.
The Li Family of Zhien Village had grown too quickly, enough to make even them feel threatened. But now, everything was settled.
"Come, everyone, have some tea. We just have to wait for those country bumpkins of the Li Family to walk into our trap. Everything they have will be ours!"
The group raised their cups.
"Rumble!"
An explosion boomed through Tailin Town. Their expressions changed, and tea sloshed from the cups in their hands.
"What's going on?"
By the time they stepped outside,
the Wang Family members were staring wide-eyed. High above Tailin Town, a monster forged of steel flew through the air, blasting the Wang Family with its cannons.
"This is bad! Its aura is so powerful. It's twelve zhang tall, at least as strong as someone at False Core Stage!"
The Wang Family's head had never imagined the Li Family possessed such a monster. He didn't dare waste a moment and hurriedly led his clansmen back to the family compound to defend it. "Brother Hu, hurry and notify your ancestor. Bring down that monster!"
"Understood!"
The Hu Family's head didn't dare delay. He gazed gravely at the War Puppet in the sky and called to his clansmen, "Go summon our ancestor! I never expected the Li Family to have another trick up their sleeve. It's trying to draw our attention. Everyone else, stay alert. The Li Family may have other methods too!"
At the same time,
the Chen Family and the people of Zhien Village had gathered outside Tailin Town on all sides, but they still hadn't made a move.
Even though they were going to war against Tailin's two great families, they knew they had to scout the town first.
But they discovered formations everywhere in Tailin Town and tight defenses around both families. Clearly, the enemy had already learned of their attack and was waiting for them to walk into a trap.
Just when they didn't know what to do,
"Look! What's that?"
A villager armed with a sickle, a kitchen knife, a hoe, a woodcutter's axe, and a dung fork pointed at the sky above Tailin Town, eyes wide as bells.
The Li Family members had already spotted it too!
"The ancestor has made his move!"
"The ancestor has manifested! He's controlling the War Puppet and helping us in his own way!"
"Hahaha! With our ancestor watching over us, what have we got to fear?!"
The Li Family members were overjoyed.
All these years, the ancestor had been with them as they grew, giving them tremendous courage at every turn. And now, after so many years, he had struck again, heading straight for the most dangerous place!
"Men, the ancestor has already made his move! He's breaking through Tailin Town's traps for us. Get ready—the moment of life and death is upon us!"
"Rumble!"
Piloting the War Puppet above the Wang Family's estate in Tailin, Li Xiang launched his first attack!
A cannon on its shoulder armor aimed squarely at the Wang Family and unleashed a Laser Cannon blast.
But at the same time,
the Wang Family truly lived up to its centuries-old foundations. The instant the Laser Cannon fired, a grand array appeared around the Wang Family. The Laser Cannon, powerful enough to kill someone at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, only cracked the yellow barrier of the Wang Family's defensive array—and the crack quickly healed!
[Second-Order Array detected.]
[Spirit power fluctuations under analysis. Spirit power consumption: 5%. The opposing side is replenishing spirit power. Rate: 5% every 3 seconds.]
Li Xiang stared at the diagnostic data before him.
That was the beauty of the War Puppet: it could monitor the enemy's energy, helping him find the best possible strategy!
"A Second-Order Array capable of withstanding a full-power attack from someone at Foundation Establishment peak?"
Li Xiang gave a cold snort. "Then let's see how long you can keep that up—and how many Spirit Stones you can burn through!"
Li Xiang knew perfectly well that arrays like this usually needed a steady supply of Spirit Stones or some powerful magical artifact.
"Boom!"
He fired the Laser Turret on its shoulder armor again!
[Laser Turret energy remaining: 97%.]
Every part of the War Puppet had its own independent energy supply. Li Xiang coolly piloted it through the sky, bombarding the target over and over while keeping its energy consumption as low as possible.
Gradually,
he spotted red dots appearing around him on the map!
Wherever he looked,
cultivators stood in the Wang Family's compound, staring at him in terror. The War Puppet's enormous frame and combat strength had clearly frightened them.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Li Xiang kept firing.
At last,
"Hmph. I never expected a mere backwater family to have the means to control a puppet like this."
"No wonder you had the nerve to come to the Wang Family. But to come here alone—is that confidence, or sheer arrogance?"
Two old men and three cultivators flew toward him on swords, surrounding the War Puppet in an instant!
[Analyzing enemies—]
[Two at Foundation Establishment peak, one at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, three at Foundation Establishment Early Stage!]
[Analyzing weapons and equipment—]
The War Puppet's eyes glimmered. Its built-in AI Brain analyzed everything for Li Xiang, who was far away in the real world.
He could even see the enemies' auras.
Not only that,
Li Xiang in the real world was clicking his mouse, and he could see some of the enemies' information too.
These were all the Wang Family's hidden strength!
Between the two old ancestors at Foundation Establishment peak, a seal the size of a human head floated in the air.
[Low-grade Spirit Artifact detected. Analyzing spirit power and material composition—]
[Space, weight, hardness...]
Information appeared before him one line at a time.
But as soon as the Wang Family members had surrounded the War Puppet, they launched their attack!
Techniques from Foundation Establishment cultivators hurtled toward Li Xiang!
"Hmph!"
Li Xiang wasn't flustered in the slightest. At a tap on the keyboard, the War Puppet's core activated, and a pale blue energy shield enveloped him, blocking every Foundation Establishment technique!
[War Shield, Laser Sword, and Laser Cannon engaged!]
[Combat mode activated!]
"Foundation Establishment cultivators, huh? Spirit Artifacts, huh?"
Li Xiang looked at the grave expressions on the Wang Family members' faces and grinned. "The times have changed!"
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