The Dragon Tiger Sect Invades

[Your descendant Li Yunlin has gained the Litian Sect's recognition and been granted an identity: True Disciple!]

"After being oppressed for twelve years, has that brat really become this shrewd?"

Watching Li Yunlin, who had been punished with five days of wall-facing, set up an altar on the Cliff of Reflection and gently place his tablet upon it, Li Xiang felt a pang of emotion.

He still remembered everything that had happened before.

When Li Yunlin's mother was driven out of the family, he had cried all night in Li Xiang's ancestral hall. For a long time afterward, Li Yunlin would come to the ancestral hall every so often to cry, even on the day Daoist Huolin took him away.

Then there was the mad look he'd worn just now in the Litian Sect's main hall, daring to draw his sword even in front of hundreds of experts.

He was like a true Lone Wolf, erupting after years of silence!

"Ancestor."

After setting the tablet in place, Li Yunlin finally smiled, his eyes reddening. "I did it. Now I have a firm footing in the Litian Sect and have received my master's inheritance. With my master's standing in the sect, I can bring even more support to the Li Family!"

It was a fine thought.

But Li Xiang had never considered the Litian Sect a trump card—not even a friend. When Li Yunlin had been down on his luck and had done nothing wrong, the sect sentenced him to five years facing the wall. Now that his talent had emerged, he'd committed a serious offense, yet they'd punished him with only five days facing the wall.

In the end, it was all about self-interest. Any feelings between powers were a sham. But if even the feelings one had for one's own people were false, then... honestly, Li Xiang couldn't stand that sort of attitude.

Still, seeing his descendants grow was enough to put Li Xiang at ease. He only hoped Li Yunlin wouldn't let the sudden adulation blind him.

Then he switched the view to Zhien Village and sent word of Li Yunlin's news back home.

The Li Family members were delighted for Li Yunlin, too.

Next, as Li Xiang watched Li Yaoqing, his brow furrowed.

[Your descendant Li Yaoqing has joined a group of Litian Sect disciples and found the Thunder-Fire Demon Cave!]

Li Xiang immediately clicked on the Thunder-Fire Demon Cave map.

It was called a demon cave.

But it was really no different from an ordinary city. The sky beyond was bright and clear, yet dark clouds hung over the Thunder-Fire Demon Cave. Bones and wreckage littered the surrounding land, where not a blade of grass grew. Moss crawled across the ruined walls everywhere.

Li Xiang clearly saw that the hundred-strong Demon-Extermination Squad had gathered. Every member was frowning and wrinkling their noses, presumably because a stench was coming from inside the cave.

A moment earlier, all had been calm.

But when two Foundation Establishment cultivators took to their flying swords, hoping to rise into the air and use their compass artifacts to investigate, a red thread at the cuff of one female cultivator's sleeve led straight into the Thunder-Fire Demon Cave.

"Rumble!"

Heavenly Thunder suddenly boomed, like a swimming dragon winding across the dark clouds. Pale ghost fires rose from the ground all around the cave.

They had no choice but to retreat.

After making several more attempts, the hundred gathered cultivators

finally withdrew, unwilling to waste any more time.

Li Yaoqing had been slacking off with the group all along. Whenever she had a moment, she wandered around the grass near the cave, evidently finding unfamiliar medicinal herbs easier to deal with than all these unfamiliar people.

"Ancestor, looks like we'll be staying here for a long time."

Li Yaoqing took out her token and gave a bitter smile.

[The Demon-Extermination Squad has run into trouble. The cave has been laid with countless formations and filled with demonic miasma over the years. Every blade of grass and tree here is dangerous. Your descendant Li Yaoqing speculates that rooting out the demonic cultivators and finding the entrance beneath the cave will be a long-term undertaking, unless they can bring in a Golden Core Realm expert.]

[The Litian Sect disciples are urgently seeking help from formation masters, talisman masters, and temples in various places.]

Li Xiang wasn't surprised to see this.

In the cultivation world, Foundation Establishment was only the beginning: sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, using spells, and flying through the air.

But once a power had a Golden Core expert, it was another matter entirely.

They had countless methods at their disposal.

If the Pig Demon King of Silver Iron Forest hadn't insisted on guarding the forest, Monk Shancai probably wouldn't even have dared to touch an inch of its land.

And a human power with a Golden Core expert... that was even harder to deal with.

They had accumulated thousands of years of history. No ordinary small power could compare. Who knew what formations, spiritual treasures, and the like they had hidden in their territory?

That was why the two great sects had been fighting for a hundred years.

Just as Li Xiang was wondering whether to have Li Yaoqing come back so the Li Family could send people to the cave themselves,

a message on the screen made him freeze.

[Your family's business in Tailin Town is under attack!]

[Special Event]

[Yunshu Wanghai Pavilion of Qingyun County has led three towns and six families and sects from Qingyun County to Taiqing County to seize resources. Your Tailin Town and Hongye Town are the first to be targeted!]

Li Xiang narrowed his eyes and asked Yuexian to get him a fridge full of milk tea.

"Yunshu Wanghai Pavilion, huh? Zhien Village's grand stage is open. Come at us if you dare!"

The view switched to the Li Family's residence.

He quickly informed the Li Family members.

Everyone in the ancestral hall was already fully equipped.

Li Yaowen looked apologetic. "Ancestor, it was my failure. I didn't receive any news of the attack from Qingyun County, and you had to use your great power to divine our fortune."

Li Xiang gave Li Yaowen a dose of Love from the Ancestor.

This wasn't Li Yaowen's fault at all. The world was in chaos, and the Li Family didn't have the power to keep watch over Qingyun County.

Li Xiang clicked on the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python's portrait.

[If they dare come, make sure they never leave!]

As the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python delivered the order,

the Li Family members immediately found their backbone.

"Yes, Ancestor!"

Then, young and old alike, everyone in the Li Family's ancestral hall picked up an ancestral tablet and stuffed it into their robes. With heads held high and chests thrust out, they began preparing for the trouble ahead.

Li Yaowen had also made preparations in advance, having the villagers of Zhien Village dig cellars.

In these circumstances, the old, the weak, the women, and the children all went into hiding.

Li Xiang, watching from in front of the screen, wasn't very nervous.

After the Li Family had finished preparing, time sped forward to midnight. Figures began moving about in Zhien Village, and another alert appeared in the game.

[The forces from Qingyun County have entered Taiqing County and split up. They are organized and have a clear purpose!]

[The Dragon Tiger Sect is approaching Zhien Village!]

[They knew long ago that this village was no ordinary place. They knew the Li Family had once wiped out two families single-handedly. Though they'd also heard the accurate report that the Li Family had secured its victory by persuading the Su Family with underhanded words, the Dragon Tiger Sect had still decided to give it everything and put on a good show in front of its allies from Qingyun County!]

Li Xiang took a long pull from his drink.

"Your intel's outdated, brother."

"Our family's already prepared to face a Golden Core expert."

In the game, the ancestral tablets bounced about. Compared to before, their purple light shone even brighter. Dark shadows even appeared behind them, throwing punches furiously!

Zhien Village was utterly quiet at night.

Clouds drifted across the night sky. Two figures on flying swords could just barely be seen, hovering in the air.

They were the Dragon Tiger Sect's two brothers, the Dragon and the Tiger.

The pair looked much alike, both broad-shouldered and rugged-featured.

Kuang Long wore a thick, curly beard. Listening to the insects chirping in the forest around Zhien Village and watching the kitchen smoke rise from the handful of homes beneath the night sky, he grew more and more confident. But he still waited cautiously for a long while. Even after seeing someone making the rounds through the village at night and watching the lights in every house gradually go out, he still didn't think it was safe enough.

"They're so rich, Brother Long. Can you believe this family power has only been thriving for a little over fifty years?"

Kuang Hu stared at the Spirit Fields beneath the Li Family, where spiritual energy shimmered in the night, and practically drooled. "Looks like they're all asleep. Let's hurry up and wipe them out! Once we've got some spoils and built up our wealth, we can buy pills and try to break through to Golden Core!"

"Wait a little longer." Kuang Long still had doubts. "Zhien Village is too hostile to outsiders. We came to investigate a month ago, but couldn't get anyone inside the Li Family compound behind the village. We still don't have the full picture."

"What could there be that we don't know?"

Kuang Hu raised an eyebrow. "If you ask me, we've already seen right through them! They wiped out two families and got rich, that's all. Let me run down what we know. They hired a ninth-rank formation master to set up a large formation in town. Their Black Blood Hall knows the Spear Forest Array, but they're all just Qi Refining cultivators..."

Kuang Hu knew the Li Family's intelligence like the back of his hand!

"At night, they have no idea we're coming."

Kuang Hu continued, "With our strength, we can stop them from even activating their formations. Especially since all the Li Family has left is a Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python at the False Core Stage. Heh, Brother Long, we're both at the False Core Stage, and after a hundred years working together, our strength is already far beyond that of ordinary cultivators at the same stage."

"If you ask me, you're just too cautious, Brother Long."

At that,

Kuang Long didn't hear a word. It was his caution that had led the Dragon Tiger Sect step by step from a minor sect to what it was today!

At last, in the dead of night,

Kuang Long's eyes lit up!

Deep in the vast grounds of Zhien Village, outside the Li Family compound with its pavilions and towers, stood the Martial Practice Tower. A sturdy young cultivator had just walked out and was washing the sweat from himself in a pool.

Especially within the Li Family compound,

he could see that the maids had finished their day's work one after another.

A man came out of the Li Family's master bedroom. Who else could it be but Li Dalong?

Kuang Long clearly remembered Li Dalong's appearance from the intelligence report!

Then,

he saw Li Dalong enter a rather mysterious building.

"Dong!"

The sound of a bronze bell rang out, seemingly adding a touch of color to the quiet night.

Then, a faint shimmer of spiritual energy spread from the center of the Li Family, reaching beyond the entire village of Zhien.

"Hahaha, Little Hu, did you see that?"

Kuang Long slapped his younger brother's shoulder in delight. Pointing at the scattered motes of spiritual light that spread over Zhien Village and its surroundings, visible through their Spiritual Sight, he laughed. "We haven't attacked a power in so long that you've almost forgotten: they stay on their guard even in the dead of night!"

"This is a magical artifact the Li Family uses to detect outsiders. I'd guess it's a supreme-grade artifact. Before they use it, they're at their most cautious, since they might still have guards stationed all around."

"Once they activate it, they'll actually let their guard down."

"As long as we break in with the speed of lightning, before they have time to react, that's the safest way!"

Kuang Hu looked at his delighted big brother and finally admitted defeat. "You really are something, Big Brother."

Kuang Long parted his lips and drew in a deep breath of cold air beneath the moonlit sky.

The night was so beautiful that even his voice softened.

"This Li Family can help our Dragon Tiger Sect make its name. They won't have lived in the dust of history for nothing."