The Li Family's Top Priority: Getting Married and Having Children

[The 51st year of the Li Family.]

Li Xiang looked at the time in the game, then at Li Yunbing, who was now twenty-one. The corner of his mouth twitched.

Everyone in the Li Family was stunned too.

Li Yunbing was good in every way. It was just that his Heart of an Innocent Child trait meant he rarely went out. He was either cultivating or being tossed into the Death-Stilling Heavenly Coffin to train.

At such a young age, he had already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining and was about to enter seclusion to break through!

Even nine-year-old Li Yunlie, one of Li Yaotie's seven children, knew about matters between men and women. But Li Yunbing still didn't understand a thing.

"Sex education can't wait."

Li Xiang rubbed his chin, wondering whether he should replicate the scenes from adult films onto Spirit Stones and bring joy to his descendants at the next grand sacrifice, sending the Li Family's young men charging into the Western world.

Soon, Li Dalong and Li Yaozu pulled Li Yunbing aside and began explaining something to him.

Li Yunbing listened with a dazed look, nodding gravely and earnestly the whole time...

Li Xiang suddenly wished Li Yunbing would be a little more roguish. Now he was starting to worry about the boy's prospects for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, Li Yaotie had already gathered his five sons.

"As a man who's been around the block, your father will teach you how to find a wife. It's simple. When you see a woman you like, squat outside her house for a few days. Don't be shy. We're not afraid to fight powerful enemies, so why should we be afraid to tangle with women?"

Li Yaotie even lifted his chin proudly. "Once she's gotten used to having you around, tell her you might be dead tomorrow. Then she'll be so overcome with sympathy..."

"Ah!!!"

Before he could finish, Li Yaotie's ear was already pinched between Bai Rourou's fingers. She glared at him, her face dark as she watched him howl. "Do you have a death wish? So that's how you did it back then! You can forget about sleeping in our bed this month!"

"Wifey... I swear I didn't! I'm teaching the kids, really! I'm sincere with you! Besides, you were the one who let me into the house back then!"

"You dare bring that up?"

For a while, everyone in the Li Family watched the couple bicker, laughter filling the house.

Li Xiang, the family's Ancestor, had been fretting himself sick over the family's growth. Seeing Li Dalong and his wife urging their children to marry too, he finally let out the breath he'd been holding.

And ever since the Raging Fire of the Ancestor appeared, he'd understood even more clearly how important the Li Family's descendants were. The Ancestral Tablets carried by a dozen or so members could already make two False Core Stage cultivators flee in panic. If there were a hundred tablets...

Instantly killing False Core cultivators and looking down on Golden Core cultivators would be no dream!

There was more.

Li Xiang had done the math. Including their wives, the family now had sixteen members, earning him four thousand Incense every year.

His Incense was being spent faster and faster.

Making babies couldn't wait!

After urging them to marry, Li Xiang began checking the spoils from the battle. Li Yaowen's people would probably gain quite a bit when they crossed the county line to plunder the Dragon Tiger Sect. But the journey was too long, so they wouldn't be able to harvest its spirit mines or medicinal fields.

The Dragon Tiger Sect's people didn't have anything the Li Family wanted, either. Their weapons were all ordinary magical artifacts.

Their cultivation technique, however, came as a pleasant surprise to Li Xiang.

"Now that's a good find!"

[Yellow-Rank Technique: Life-Sleeve Blood-Guiding Technique]

[The closer the blood ties, the greater the power. The deeper the cultivation, the greater the might!]

"So that's the technique the Dragon and Tiger Brothers used! Hahaha! You two are practically the Li Family's lucky stars!"

When they'd just fought with the Ancestral Tablets, Li Xiang had felt it himself.

The Dragon and Tiger Brothers had used some unknown technique to unleash a Boiling Blood combination skill. They'd nearly shattered one of his Ancestral Tablets!

And there were only two of them.

The Li Family had nine children... Li Yaotie's seven children were the closest in blood. If all seven cultivated this technique, their power would be limitless!

Li Yaotie gave the technique to his children, and Li Yunbing practiced it too.

Even Li Yunlin, far away at the Litian Sect, received a copy.

At that moment.

At the Litian Sect.

Li Yunlin had long since become a direct disciple.

Outer disciples served in his courtyard, while inner disciples ran errands for him.

Now, he'd received a thick stack of letters from home.

Only when night fell and all was quiet did Li Yunlin dare open them.

Seeing how much his family cared for him, Li Yunlin's eyes reddened.

He'd already heard that the Dragon Tiger Sect had invaded the Li Family. He'd even left the sect to go home that very day, but halfway there, he received news that the entire Dragon Tiger Sect had mysteriously vanished. So he turned back.

And now...

The letters said nothing about the difficulties the family had faced. They only told him to focus on his cultivation at the Litian Sect, assuring him that the Li Family would always be his strongest support.

Even his father had written that he should stay away unless there was a good reason to return.

How could Li Yunlin not understand? His father was afraid he'd be ambushed by the Xuanwu Sect on the road home!

The letters also included a copy of the Life-Sleeve Blood-Guiding Technique.

There was also a letter from Third Uncle, saying women were easy to fool and telling him to hurry up and marry and have children. If he really couldn't win a woman over, he should tell her he'd be dead tomorrow... Such utter nonsense. His younger brothers had probably all heard it by now, too. He wondered which fool would actually believe it.

That night.

For the first time, Li Yunlin had someone bring him spirit wine. He drank until he was dead drunk and vomited all over the place.

"Ancestor, Grandpa, Grandma, Father, Uncles and Aunts, Yunlin will come back. The Litian Sect isn't my home. They only value me for my talent. I understand that."

"But only at the Litian Sect can I secretly learn everything they have and bring it back to the family. The world is in turmoil now, and I have to make good use of the Litian Sect to help my Li Family ward off disasters and troubles."

"Your descendant... begs the Ancestor's protection..."

In the resplendent room, Li Yunlin looked at all the precious things around him. Yet the letters he hugged as he slept felt more precious than the entire Litian Sect. It was the most peaceful night's sleep he'd ever had.

[The 52nd year of the Li Family]

In the blink of an eye, the new year had arrived.

Li Xiang's urging had indeed worked!

Among Li Yaotie's seven children, Li Yundou was already seventeen and very much his father's son. Not just in build—everyone in Li Yaotie's branch was broad-backed and strong, the women included. They all had temperaments just like their parents. If this world had its own heroes of Liangshan, those seven would surely have claimed a place among them.

Li Yundou took after him in other ways, too. He'd really taken Li Yaotie's words to heart.

[Your third-generation descendant, Li Yundou, fell in love at first sight with a beautiful woman in the village. He immediately told her to bear him a child and got slapped. Someone reported him to the Li Family, and Li Yaowen sentenced him to three lashes and seven days of kneeling before the Ancestor.]

[Li Yundou made another attempt to win her over, saying he'd be dead tomorrow and asking her to take him inside. He was beaten again and punished by being hung up in the village for three days.]

[In October of that year, Li Yundou reached the seventh level of Qi Refining.]

[When the Chen Family of Tailin was beset by Qingyun, they joined the Black Blood Hall to help the Chen Family resist the enemy alongside its members. But they were pursued by a Foundation Establishment Early Stage expert. While fleeing, Li Yundou faced life and death together with Chen Lin of the Chen Family. In the end, he was saved by the Ancestor's Tablet, and during their ordeal, he and Chen Lin fell for each other.]

[In November, the Li Family sent a betrothal gift to the Chen Family.]

"Finally! Someone in the third generation has done us proud!"

Li Xiang leaped up in excitement!

No wonder he'd been so worried.

Li Yunlin was already thirty-one, and there wasn't even the slightest sign of progress. The Litian Sect was full of women as beautiful as Heavenly Immortals, yet the boy wouldn't even look at them. If Li Yunlin didn't also keep his eyes off handsome men, Li Xiang would've nearly suspected something!

Li Yunbing had listened, but he was shy by nature and rarely spent time with people outside the family. Some women had thrown themselves at him because of his looks and standing, but could he really accept just anyone?

Before long.

The scene was already decked out with lanterns and decorations. Even though the world outside was in chaos, the Li Family still brought people to Tailin Town for the wedding. The Chen Family was even more eager than the Li Family. Its family members had nearly been wiped out once already, and the reason they'd managed to establish themselves in Tailin Town was that the Li Family had stood by them.

Now, with the two families joined in marriage, the perfect match of bride and groom were in love with each other. The Chen Family was so excited, it nearly changed its surname to Li on the spot.

At the wedding feast.

Chen Chuang, who'd first formed ties with the Li Family, now had white hair. He was the Chen Family's head, as well as Chen Lin's grandfather.

Though it was supposed to be a joyful occasion, he wore a worried expression. Taking advantage of the banquet, he said to Li Dalong, "Brother Li, the people from Qingyun County are growing more and more brazen. They've already seized all the mines our Chen Family owns outside Tailin Town, and their appetites will only grow. Our Chen Family... sigh, I'm afraid we can't hold out much longer."

The Su Family's patriarch beside him shook his head and sighed. "It's the same for the Su Family. A few months ago, two False Core cultivators came to harass us in the middle of the night. They battered our formation until it was in ruins. If we didn't have another trump card in reserve, the Su Family would've been destroyed at my hands."

Li Dalong narrowed his eyes.

He knew the two families must be asking for something, or they wouldn't be airing their troubles in front of him. So he smiled and said, "Speak plainly, both of you. Our three families have known one another for years. We know each other inside and out, and we've always stood together against outside threats. There's no need to beat around the bush. You know what I'm like."

"Fine. Since you've put it that way, I won't hide anything!"

Chen Chuang gritted his teeth. "I want the Chen Family to survive, Brother Li. I don't need Tailin Town anymore. Our foundations and resources have been all but destroyed anyway. I want to take everyone and whatever we can carry, and leave Taiqing County!"

Li Dalong furrowed his brow even deeper and looked toward Su Yun.

Su Yun gave a bitter smile. "Same here."

"You're leaving?!"

Li Dalong had thought the two families needed something from them. He hadn't expected to hear this. His eyes widened like copper bells. "Can you really leave behind your family businesses of so many years?"

"What else can we do? Sit around and wait to die?"

Chen Chuang drained a jug of wine in one gulp. "We can rebuild after losing our businesses. Once people die, they're gone for good. After we leave, the Li Family will have to be careful. Everything our two families leave behind, and all of Tailin, will belong to the Li Family. I hope you'll take good care of the people of Tailin. This place isn't our roots—it's theirs."

Hearing this, Li Dalong could tell their minds were made up. He had nothing to say to change them.

Now that his old friends were leaving, he could only watch his grandson get married with a heavy heart, trying to distract himself.

At that moment, at the wedding feast...

Li Yundou looked at Chen Lin, who wore a red veil and barely reached his chest, and burst into tears on the spot.

The Li Family members frowned, wondering if they should tell him that women were supposed to cry, and that it looked ridiculous for a man to cry like that.

This nine-foot-tall man looked so aggrieved and pitiful as he faced his brothers and sisters and shouted, "Dad's a real piece of work! Don't you ever listen to him, or you'll end up just like me!"

"He also said that if you kept pestering a girl and told her you'd be dead tomorrow, you'd end up with a beautiful wife."

"It was all lies! I've suffered so much this past year..."

"But at last, I found Lin'er!"

Li Yaotie, seated some distance away, had seemed to be laughing. Now he was as rigid as stone, his face slowly darkening. He held a cup of wine, unsure whether to drink it or set it down.

As everyone watched, he glared through gritted teeth at Li Yundou, who was getting married.

"Stop talking, or I swear I'll beat you up right here on this happy day!"

In an instant, the wedding feast erupted with laughter.

Hearing her husband's complaints, Chen Lin lifted her veil, revealing a delicate face like a snow lotus. Then she reached out and fiercely pinched Li Yundou's ear. "What did you say? You dared to hit on other women?"

"Ah!"

Li Yundou grimaced in pain. "No! That was before, when Dad tricked me. I swear I haven't since!"

"Hahaha!"

Everyone in the Li Family and all the guests wore smiles.

On the screen, Li Xiang watched as the words "The couple bowed to one another and entered the bridal chamber" appeared.

The corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears.

[Congratulations! Your third-generation descendant, Li Yundou, has married Chen Lin!]

[You have gained 100 Incense!]

And there was more...

As the newlyweds entered the bridal chamber, candlelight flickered in the darkness, mingling with the moonlight beyond the window.

[Your descendant Li Yundou and his bride Chen Lin were newly married and quickly became insatiable. Seven times in one night was no longer a mere legend. Their bout surpassed the battle in which Li Yundou and Chen Lin fought enemies together in Tailin Town.]

[At the crow of the rooster, Chen Lin, the Li Family's third-generation daughter-in-law, carried the Li Family's child!]