Over Six Hundred Half-Saints

Night fell, with a bright moon and sparse stars.

In the Li Lineage courtyard, Li Xiao quietly listened to the reports from Gu Chungang and the others.

"Young Master, we recruited a total of six hundred and eighty guest elders for the Li Lineage today, all with cultivation at the Half-Saint Realm or above."

Li Xiao's eyes lit up, and he nodded.

"Not bad, not bad. Over six hundred Half-Saints, together with some of the Li Lineage's existing elders-that makes a decent force."

Gu Chungang and the others gave bitter smiles.

These six hundred-odd Half-Saint cultivators represented the combined strength of most of the factions throughout the Upper Realm.

Such a force could be called unprecedented, a milestone on the soil of the Upper Realm.

Yet in the young master's eyes, it merely counted as decent.

As though he knew what they were thinking, Li Xiao said mildly,

"Don't think I'm joking. In the Upper Realm, this force is indeed unstoppable, but what about up above? I'll leave this Upper Realm sooner or later. Up there, our strength could only be called bottom-tier."

Hearing Li Xiao's words, they froze. Up above?

Everyone looked up at the heavens, longing appearing in their eyes.

Seeing this, Li Xiao continued,

"If you want to go up there, you need sufficient strength. Otherwise, once you get there, anyone could casually slap you to death. What would be the point? So cultivate diligently."

At his words, their gazes grew resolute. If they wanted to keep pace with the young master, they could only cultivate with everything they had. Otherwise, they would be the ones eliminated.

"Young Master, most of today's cultivators came from the major factions. I'm afraid..."

"Afraid they'll retaliate? There's no need to worry about that. Whoever comes, we'll destroy them."

Li Xiao paid them no mind, making the remark casually.

"Let's go take a look at the guest elders we recruited today."

With that, Li Xiao strode toward the training grounds.

The training grounds were now packed with the cultivators recruited that day. With over six hundred Half-Saints gathered together, an intangible sense of pressure arose.

"Greetings, Young Master."

They dropped to one knee and saluted Li Xiao, their thunderous voices ringing through the clouds.

Li Xiao nodded.

"Rise. Now that you've joined the Li Lineage, the Half-Saint Realm will be your starting point. The Li Lineage has no shortage of resources. If you have the ability, we'll spare no effort in nurturing you. Go back and cultivate diligently."

With that, Li Xiao headed outside the gate.

Outside the gate.

Beneath Long Aotian, the divine beast's golden egg trembled, giving off waves of terrifying presence.

"Grandpa Long, is Eggy about to burst?"

The little girl licked her candied hawthorn skewer and stared at Long Aotian's shaking body, her eyes lighting up as she asked dazedly.

She had kept watch here day and night these past few days, all to wait for the moment the egg cracked open.

Now her wish was finally about to come true.

Beside her, Li Dan ignored the strange movements of the golden egg, staring fixedly at the little girl's candied hawthorn skewer as he swallowed.

"Tong'er, your big brother Dan is hungry. Could you let me have a bite of your candied hawthorn?"

Li Dan pulled the little girl aside, his gaze lingering on the candied hawthorn covered in saliva.

Li Tong puffed out her chubby cheeks and thought for a long time before handing over the candied hawthorn skewer.

"Only one bite."

With the little girl's permission, Li Dan paid no heed to the saliva on the candied hawthorn and bit down.

Then he narrowed his eyes in enjoyment.

Damn, was this what luxury felt like?

This spirit pill candied hawthorn was amazing. No wonder Tong'er loved eating it so much. He'd been craving it for ages.

He would hold it in his mouth and savor it, slowly wearing away its medicinal potency bit by bit.

Beside them, Long Aotian lifted his eyelids and watched Li Dan's behavior with some disdain.

This brat was so fucking shameless. He even tricked little children.

Li Tong had stayed in front of him every day lately. Even an idiot could have seen that the candied hawthorn was extraordinary.

He was certain this candied hawthorn was the young master's handiwork. Though he wanted to taste it himself, how embarrassing would it be if the little girl let it slip?

Though he had already lost enough face sitting here hatching an egg.

Just as Li Dan was carefully savoring it, he suddenly felt someone kick him in the rear.

He turned around angrily, but upon seeing who had come, he hurriedly swallowed the candied hawthorn in his mouth and put a smile back on his face.

"Young Master, you attend to countless affairs every day. What brings you here?"

A dangerous gleam shone in Li Xiao's eyes as he glanced at Li Dan.

"Was the candied hawthorn tasty? You've utterly disgraced the Li Lineage. You'd even snatch a child's snacks."

Listen to that. Was that something a human would say? Snacks?

He wanted snacks like that too.

Of course, Li Dan dared not say any of this to his face. He could only mutter,

"Tong'er gave it to me willingly. I didn't snatch it."

Li Xiao did not dwell on the matter and waved a hand casually.

He had as much of this stuff as he wanted.

The next moment, the golden egg beneath Long Aotian shook violently, golden light bursting forth in the darkness.

Long Aotian's expression changed.

"Young Master, it's coming out."