"Fight, my ancestral tablets!"
Before the screen, Li Xiang's blood boiled as he fought for the Beast Blood Fruit.
[Ancestral Patriarch's Fury] X5!
Li Xiang controlled the five ancestral tablets in the game. He had already figured it out: the ancestral tablets possessed strength equivalent to the peak of Qi Refining. Clicking on a tablet let him control its path; pressing A attacked a target, while pressing R unleashed its ultimate move—
Explosion!
Whenever an ancestral tablet's light dimmed during its battle with the Thunder Python, it meant the tablet's energy was about to run dry. That was the moment to press R.
Though this Thunder Python had thick hide and tough flesh, with astonishing lightning-element energy—
It could not withstand the attacks of tablet after tablet.
By the time all five tablets had been exhausted, the Thunder Python was already covered in wounds.
"Hiss-roar!"
After the last tablet exploded, the Thunder Python was completely enraged. It roared at the Li Family, vowing to swallow Li Dalong's entire family to vent the hatred in its heart.
"Still dare to act wildly?!!"
Li Xiang's eyes widened.
Another tablet appeared before the Thunder Python. The enraged serpent abruptly froze, then was so frightened by the tablet, barely an arm's length wide, that it reared upright on the spot.
Then, astonishingly humanlike, it lowered its body before the ancestral tablet, its eyes brimming with the desire to survive.
Meanwhile.
The Li Family did not remain idle either.
"The Ancestral Patriarch won! This giant python is no match for our Ancestral Patriarch!"
"Long live the Ancestor!"
As the Li Family watched the defeated Thunder Python and rejoiced—
The huge nets they had used earlier to capture other demonic beasts had also caught the Thunder Python's two children.
[The descendants of the Li Family have felt the Ancestral Patriarch's mighty power. Incense +30!]
"Hisss~"
The Thunder Python's eyes became even more lifeless.
A diamond-shaped crystal filled with arcs of lightning emerged from the center of its head.
[The Thunder Python has become fearful and begs you to spare it and its children. It offers up its life-bound core.] [Would you like to spend 50 Incense to contract the Thunder Python as a Temple Guardian Beast?]
"Hmm?"
Li Xiang raised a brow at the information on the screen. This was the first time such a situation had appeared.
It was only when the Thunder Python's life-bound core touched the tablet that this happened. This game seemed to have many more functions waiting for him to uncover!
"Yes!"
Without hesitation, Li Xiang clicked "Yes." The Incense his clansmen had just offered was barely enough for him to contract the Thunder Python.
[You have contracted the Thunder Python as a Temple Guardian Beast. It will guard the ancestral temple, protect your tablet, and convey messages from the Ancestor for you!]
Above the tablet.
Purple light shone over the Thunder Python. A circular icon also appeared in the upper-left corner of the game screen, engraved with the image of a python roaring toward the sky.
Li Xiang clicked it open and found the Thunder Python's information.
One entry in particular thrilled Li Xiang—
[Please enter the message you wish to convey—]
"I can speak to the Li Family's descendants now?!!"
Li Xiang could not wait to test it.
He immediately conveyed: Have my descendants bring the Beast Blood Fruit Tree home and cultivate it.
The Thunder Python on the screen seemed to sense a message from nowhere. It froze for a moment, then dragged its wounded body around the ancestral tablet, circling the Li Family.
Finally, it crawled before Li Dalong, who was still standing there in a daze, and affectionately rubbed its massive head against him.
Right afterward, it began circling around the Beast Blood Fruit Tree!
The Li Family looked at one another.
"The Ancestor has subdued this giant python."
"Dad, it seems to be trying to say something."
"Long live the Ancestor!"
In the end, eight-year-old Li Yaoqing looked at the Thunder Python, then at the ancestral tablet. Tugging on Li Dalong's sleeve, he said, "Dad, is the Ancestor telling us to bring this tree home and plant it?"
At those words, lightning instantly flashed above the Thunder Python's head as it nodded furiously.
"It nodded! It can communicate with the Ancestor!"
Li Dalong was overjoyed. "Come on, let's pick the fruits first and bring all the spoils from this trip home. This tree is too large—we'll have to make a long-term plan!"
Nice!
Seeing that his descendants understood what he meant, Li Xiang excitedly rose to his feet.
All this time, he had only been able to use Love from the Ancestor to convey his meaning roughly.
But now, through the Thunder Python—
There was much more he could do!
Next, the Li Family returned to their Lineage's territory with bountiful spoils.
On the screen's action panel, the spoils left Li Xiang dazzled.
And in the days that followed.
The Li Family began developing at a mad pace!
[Li Family, Year 16. Xu Cuihua has completely tamed all the spirit beasts and brought them to "Wild Boar Forest" for free-range breeding. Wild Boar Forest has been renamed—] [Spirit Beast Garden]
Ever since Xu Cuihua married Li Dalong, she had remained obscure, bearing children and doing farm work. But now, Xu Cuihua's contributions to the Li Family could even stand shoulder to shoulder with Li Dalong's!
She had quietly grown stronger. After learning the Beast Taming Technique, even Li Xiang was amazed by her.
At this time, the Spirit Beast Garden already contained more than thirty species, as Xu Cuihua frequently entered Silver Iron Forest with Li Dalong.
However, after the chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, vegetables, and herbs in the Spirit Herb Garden that Xu Cuihua raised and planted were no longer enough to feed all these demonic beasts, she no longer dared to easily tame more.
But these demonic beasts had already become a hidden force of the Li Family!
These demonic beasts were not merely being raised. They also helped the Li Family's development in countless ways.
Iron-Hoofed Oxen plowed the land, Buze Birds watered it, Baili Pigeons and anteaters removed pests. The Li Family's farmland grew ever larger, saving the family considerable effort.
Tracking Hounds followed Li Dalong on hunts, while a Swift Leopard hunted alongside him. With Iron Forest Horses pulling the carts, Li Dalong returned with a full haul from Silver Iron Forest every time!
Eleven-year-old Li Yaozu had not been idle either.
He was more passionate about martial arts. More than a dozen highly aggressive demonic beasts had become his sparring partners, and his combat skills improved every day.
Li Yaoqing, meanwhile, remained as interested in plants as ever.
Inside the Spirit Beast Garden, under the protection of demonic beasts, she had opened a medicinal garden.
At its center grew the most eye-catching large tree—the Beast Blood Fruit Tree!
Li Yaoqing simply built a grass hut beneath the tree and watched over its growth every day. For some reason, the fruit tree that had once been laden with fruit in Silver Iron Forest had not blossomed even after a year.
Every day, she drew blood from the demonic beasts, yet she could only maintain the fruit tree's vitality.
Instead, various herbs beneath the tree began to sprout, growing lush and sturdy.
As for Li Yaotie, the most talented among the Li Family, he was only seven this year. Unlike his older brothers, who enjoyed fighting and killing, he became deeply interested in forging after meeting a passing blacksmith.
Now.
A simple forge had been specially built in the Li Family's courtyard for Li Yaotie to work iron.
At his side, the Flame-Tailed Spirit Cat captured from Silver Iron Forest and the Raging Flame Lizard, which could breathe flames, used beast fire to help Li Yaotie temper his ironwork. Nearby, Ice Spirit Fish raised in water could spit out a mouthful of solid ice into the water trough at any time, cooling the red-hot metal.
Everyone in the family was working hard to contribute to the Li Family.
Only the youngest, Li Yaowen, enjoyed peaceful Years. This two-year-old little girl seemed quiet by nature. At such a young age, she was already dipping a brush in water and writing crooked characters on stone. Every morning, Li Yaowen's faintly milky, slightly unclear reading voice could be heard.
[Li Family, Year 17. Li Dalong has broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining!] [After more than ten years of hunting, during one hunt, Li Dalong seemed to suddenly feel himself merge as one with the forest. Trait acquired: Forest Ranger!] [Trait: Forest Ranger] [Wood spiritual roots receive a minor enhancement in forests. Years of hunting experience have made him more familiar with the forest. Within forests, combat power increases by 100%!]
Although Li Dalong's aptitude remained poor even after being altered by the Heavenly Secret Spirit-Replenishing Pill—
After consuming five Beast Blood Fruits and digesting them over two years, he finally began to break through!
Especially with his three traits, which seemed to make up for Li Dalong's deficiency in aptitude.
And not just him.
This year, every member of the Li Family had grown considerably stronger!
Other than Li Yaowen, who was still young but could already hold a brush to write many characters and read clearly, everyone in the Li Family had advanced by a minor realm.
Even after giving twenty Beast Blood Fruits to the Thunder Python, they still had more than half remaining!
"Not bad development."
Li Xiang had been watching the Li Family's development on the screen, a fatherly smile appearing on his face.
From time to time, he dealt with bandits and robbers who came to harass the Li Family during the years of great drought. Over the course of two years, he had only encountered cultivators twice, and had used Ancestral Patriarch's Fury only once.
"I wonder when the Thunder Python will wake up."
The ancestral temple the Lineage had built for him had become the finest building in the territory. Beneath the towering tablet, the Thunder Python slumbered. Its skin had split open—it was breaking through!
During this period, Li Xiang had been unable to convey messages to the Lineage.
Of course, Li Xiang could awaken the Thunder Python, but he did not know whether disturbing its molting would cause any adverse effects.
[Li Family, Year 18. The great drought has continued for ten years, yet the farmland around the Li Family remains green and lush, while Wild Boar Forest has gradually come back to life. More and more people have discovered that this may be a prosperous land. Though the rumor that every bandit entering the Li Family dies is terrifying, great numbers of bandits have still set their sights on this rich territory!]
"Dad, someone has broken into the Spirit Beast Garden!"
On the screen, Li Yaoqing, who had been stationed in the Spirit Herb Garden, hurried home with the demonic beasts. "They eat whatever they see in the Spirit Herb Garden. I picked all the spirit herbs, and they're heading toward our house!"
The Li Family gathered together.
A perceptive Baili Pigeon flew onto Xu Cuihua's shoulder and cawed beside her ear.
Xu Cuihua's expression quickly darkened as she said to her family, "There are cultivators among them. They're stronger than any of the people who have come to harass us before."
"Hmph! If they dare come, we'll make sure they never return!"
Li Dalong took a step forward and stood before the courtyard gate, gripping two great chopping blades. He possessed the imposing bearing of one man guarding the pass, holding back ten thousand.
Behind him, every member of the Li Family brimmed with fighting spirit. Demonic beasts prowled behind them, seemingly ever vigilant against the enemies about to invade the Li Family.
A demonic wind swept through the territory, kicking up dust, yet it could not blow away the fighting spirit the Li Family had accumulated over the years.
Li Xiang's tablet in the Li Family Ancestral Hall shone brilliantly.
Li Dalong raised his chopping blades high.
"Ancestors, bless the Li Family—"
"Invincible in every battle!"
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