The Demon Cultivators Run Amok

Li Dalong's steely resolve was truly rare.

Otherwise, he could never have led his family step by step from the countryside to such prosperity, relying on nothing but a copy of the Qi Refiner Cultivation Manual during a year of severe drought.

If it had been anyone else, Li Xiang figured he would have had to trigger Ancestral Patriarch's Fury every single day.

[Trait: Achieve Greatness]

[Late bloomers. Cultivation speed increased by 20%. Having broken through demonic obstacles, your mind is now open and your comprehension has improved, making it easier to successfully master techniques and martial arts!]

After Li Dalong returned from Tingfeng Town, he immediately burned incense and bowed in worship.

Li Xiang glanced at the incense he currently possessed—

.

"Still a long way to go."

Li Xiang raised an eyebrow. As the Li Family's descendants grew in number, he could basically count on receiving 3,000 incense each year, and even more when special events occurred.

He had long been coveting the Earth-grade technique Phantom Heavenly Cluster Steps from the Litian Secret Canon.

Even after years of cultivation, Li Yaozu, who had practiced it the longest, had only reached 28% progress.

"By the time Yaozu truly masters this technique, it'll probably take 100,000 incense to replicate it."

Li Xiang pondered how best to use his incense.

[Your family has built a large training hall, named the Three-Story Martial Practice Tower!]

He followed the prompt in the event bar and looked over.

There, at the center of Zhien Village, stood a three-story pagoda. Only after looking into it did Li Xiang understand: built by a master the Li Family had hired at great expense, the Martial Practice Tower had become a large magical artifact in its own right. As long as nobody dug into the tower, they would never discover the Martial Practice Spirit Pearl inside.

The Martial Practice Tower could conjure the phantoms of experts to demonstrate techniques and martial arts around the clock, provided it had enough Spirit Stones. It could also increase the spiritual energy inside the tower.

Qi Refining practitioners at the third layer could enter the first floor, and the same rule applied to each floor above.

The Li Family members immediately infused the tower with their insights into thirty-six techniques and martial arts, including the Wang Family's Body Tempering Art, Dragon Wandering Footwork, and Clear Wind Art.

These days, the Li Family placed even greater emphasis on cultivating the Litian Secret Canon.

After dealing with the Martial Practice Tower, the Li Family members gathered together. For them, eliminating Tingfeng Martial Pavilion had only been the beginning!

Li Yaowen turned to Li Dalong, who sat in the main seat at home. "Father, we handled Tingfeng Martial Pavilion's affairs cleanly. Nobody suspects us. You used the Thunder-Attracting Heavenly Scripture of Litian Sect, so Xuanwu Sect suspects Litian Sect was behind it."

"Mm."

Li Dalong gave a slight nod. The past had blown away like the wind, and now he was as steady as an ancient tree weathering a gale. "Let this matter end here. We won't speak of it again. Our Li Family is just a small family—that's the best disguise."

"Understood, Father."

Li Yaowen took a sip of tea and said solemnly, "We'll have to call off our plan to go to Qingting River Valley."

Before Li Dalong could reply, Li Yaoqing blurted out, "Why? Has something changed? What about the Heavenly Heart Grass?"

The Li Family had been doing more than simply plotting against Tingfeng Martial Pavilion these past days.

As the family grew, they did business far and wide. They had friends, but they had enemies too.

Now was the time to settle accounts.

Qingting River Valley, which Li Yaowen had mentioned, was one such target. The sect based there had a large supply of Heavenly Heart Grass.

It was also the main herb missing from the new medicine Li Yaoqing wanted to develop!

"Demon Cultivators."

Those two simple words from Li Yaowen made the Li Family members' expressions change.

Demon Cultivators existed in the world, and they were often unlike ordinary cultivators. In their pursuit of rapid advancement, their cultivation methods often defied the natural order.

Some offered human blood as a sacrifice; others used people as furnaces for cultivation.

It was like people eating people—and not even refined into something palatable, but something like eating a person's brain raw. Just as Li Xiang knew that cannibalism could make people sick, cultivation like this drove them mad, irritable, bloodthirsty, and greedy.

They could be thought of as cultivators who were high on drugs every moment of every day.

"I got the news from the Su Family. The small sect we had our eyes on was beaten to the punch."

Li Yaowen continued, "The unique aura of Demon Cultivators remained at the scene, and their methods were thoroughly unorthodox. They were cunning to the extreme. They took advantage of the two sects being too busy with their war to pay them any mind, then vanished without a trace after getting what they wanted."

"My Heavenly Heart Grass!"

Li Yaoqing knew that once the Heavenly Heart Grass fell into the Demon Cultivators' hands, she would never get it back. She slumped, instantly disheartened.

Just then, a guard affiliated with the Li Family's Black Blood Hall hurried in to report. He held a token in his hands, and the sight made everyone's expressions turn solemn.

A token from Litian Sect!

Li Dalong took the token, and a streak of white light entered his mind.

The message had been left inside the token by an expert from Litian Sect, using spiritual power.

A moment later, Li Dalong narrowed his eyes.

"There's news about the Heavenly Heart Grass."

[Special Event]

[Demon Cultivators Run Amok]

[With the two sects at war, the experts of Litian Sect have no time to attend to worldly matters in Taiqing City. Hearing that Demon Cultivators are wreaking havoc, the sect's disciples have descended the mountain to gain experience. They invite experts from all factions to help Litian Sect eliminate the demons!]

After receiving Litian Sect's orders, Li Dalong went to the Ancestral Hall to report.

Li Xiang saw the information too.

"So, they're eliminating demons and defending the righteous?"

In a way, it was rather amusing. Sects like Litian Sect and Xuanwu Sect all claimed to be upright and honorable.

But just look at how many lives had been lost after they opened the Ancient Tomb.

The two sects waged war every so often, stirring up turmoil wherever they went.

But could they really be called evil...

When Demon Cultivators started harming people, they seemed to know their place.

As Li Xiang pondered this, Li Dalong was already kneeling and bowing. "Ancestral Patriarch, your child is here to bid you farewell. I can only offer incense to you from afar next year, during the grand sacrifice!"

At his words, the Li Family members fell silent.

Li Xiang frowned too. From what Li Dalong had said, it seemed he intended to take part in this operation to eliminate the Demon Cultivators.

Just then, more small words appeared above Li Dalong's head.

"Litian Sect's disciples have found the Demon Cultivators' hideout: Thunder-Fire Demon Cave! If the Temple Guardian Beast is to transform, there's Heavenly Thunder and Earthly Fire inside the Thunder-Fire Demon Cave!"

No wonder Li Dalong was getting involved.

Li Xiang was tempted too.

For the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python to advance to Demon King, Heavenly Thunder and Earthly Fire were one of the requirements!

But...

The mission site was far away, and the journey would take more than a day. Eliminating the demons would already be difficult enough. The Litian Sect disciples gaining experience were greenhorns who might not even know the Demon Cultivators' numbers or strength. The danger was already high.

While Li Xiang was wondering whether they should take the risk, the Li Family members in the Ancestral Hall had already started deciding who would go.

"The Temple Guardian Beast is the strongest being in our Li Family. If it can transform into a Demon King, it'll be a blessing for us."

Li Dalong looked around at everyone, then fixed his gaze on Xu Cuihua. "Wife, while I'm away, you'll have to take a greater hand in the family's affairs."

At this, the Li Family members grew anxious.

"Father, how can you go? You're the head of the family, and everyone's counting on you!"

"Exactly, Father, let me go! I've got nothing to do at Black Blood Hall anyway."

"Husband, you can't go, no matter what. The family can't do without you. I'm the one who should go. With the Tianjun Seal, I can fight a False Core Stage cultivator. Besides, I've moved my Spirit Beast Pavilion to Silver Iron Forest, and Old Pig is there to watch over it. I have no pressing duties."

They all knew that even with Litian Sect's disciples leading the way, the journey would still be fraught with danger.

"Enough!"

Suddenly, Li Yaoqing—usually a quiet, taciturn woman—raised her voice, and everyone fell silent.

Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Li Yaoqing rubbed her messy hair. A smile spread across her dirt-smudged face, showing off her bright white teeth. "Father, you really shouldn't go. Big Brother is right: all these years, you and Fourth Sister have been the ones appearing in public. The families we secretly control only recognize you. If you're gone too long, trouble will follow."

"Mother shouldn't go either. You're a Demon Cultivator, after all, and that would make things inconvenient."

Then she glanced at her eldest brother, whose expression had relaxed.

"Big Brother shouldn't go either."

"Hm?" Li Yaozu furrowed his brow.

"Fourth Sister's plans require Black Blood Hall, and Big Brother is the one most familiar with its people. Besides, you can't expect Father to drag Black Blood Hall all over the place, can you?"

As she finished speaking, she looked toward Li Yaotie. The big man was already standing tall with his chest puffed out.

Li Yaoqing rolled her eyes. "Third Brother..."

"You have seven children, and they're still young. Do you want them to have forgotten what you look like by the time you return? And there's the Forging Pavilion. After all these years, you're the only artifact refiner in the family. Everyone's counting on you to forge a top-grade magical artifact."

That hit Li Yaotie right where it hurt.

Everyone turned to look at Li Yaoqing.

"Second Sister, are you going?" Li Yaowen asked, her expression complicated. Everyone else in the family had volunteered, but she was a frail woman without a shred of cultivation. All she could do was watch anxiously as her family faced danger.

Whenever moments like this came, she questioned whether she had chosen the right path.

"What? You think your second sister can't do it?"

Li Yaoqing teased her. Her usually carefree face suddenly turned serious as she looked at her many loved ones. "I'm the most suitable person to go. I've run out of medicines to make. The fifteen apprentices at my Spirit Herb Garden can all prepare ordinary medicines, and I have an alchemist whom I adopted as a child and carefully trained over the years. She's already reached ninth grade. That's enough to meet the family's needs."

"Qing'er..."

Li Dalong had been about to dissuade her.

But Li Yaoqing cut him off. "Father, you know I can't match you in ability. But with medicines on hand and the new skills I've recently learned, I can survive."

"I can't match you in intelligence either... except Third Brother. But after all I've been through, I know how to deal with outsiders."

"Especially since I'm a woman. Outsiders will underestimate me, and that's the best disguise of all."

"Besides..."

"I'm not stupid. My goal is to find the demon cave and learn what the Heavenly Thunder and Earthly Fire are like. I'm not going there to get myself killed. If danger comes, can't I run? Those Demon Cultivators even stole my Heavenly Heart Grass. I want revenge too!"

Her arguments were so reasonable that the Li Family members were left speechless.

Li Yaoqing immediately bowed before the Ancestral Tablets and said solemnly:

"Ancestral Patriarch, please allow your child to take on this great responsibility!"

[Agreed.]

Li Xiang silently clicked the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python's portrait. Li Yaoqing had convinced him.

And so, at the end of the year, with the Li Clan Grand Sacrifice drawing near,

Li Yaoqing stood at the entrance to Zhien Village in the cold wind, wearing her everyday clothes and accompanied by four spirit beasts borrowed from Silver Iron Forest.

She took the Ancestral Tablet from her robes.

Then she smiled at her family, who had come to see her off at the village entrance. "Don't worry. I'm taking the Ancestral Tablet with me. Whether it's Litian Sect or the Demon Cultivators, with the Ancestral Patriarch protecting me, I'm not going to get myself killed. I'll show them that there's a Li Family in Taiqing County."

"The Li Family has a daughter, Li Yaoqing!"

At her words, the Li Family members laughed.

"Well said!"

Li Dalong squinted. "Yaoqing, the major factions of Taiqing County will be there too. Don't be afraid to stand your ground. If any trouble comes up, send us a letter."

"Father, I'm forty-two, not a child."

Li Yaoqing gave a wry smile.

Then, under everyone's gaze, she slowly turned around and headed toward Taiqing County, waving goodbye.

Beneath the setting sun's afterglow, the girl looked like a celestial maiden shining with light. Her clothes, usually smudged from working in the Spirit Herb Garden, and her slender figure only made the glow around her more radiant.