[Your descendant, Li Xinjue, has led his clansmen in carrying out assassinations in Silver Moon City for many years.
The Silver Moon Branch has gradually grown in power, leading the descendants to live a life where mining is their main profession, and murder is their side job.
The entire clan is united in purpose. With the support of the family, he has gradually broken through to the Peak of the Nascent Soul realm.]
The moment the Nangong family provoked Li Xinjue...
Li Wei knew that the Nangong family had truly kicked an iron plate.
If it weren't for the fact that the Nangong family were in-laws to Li Xinnian, Li Xinjue would likely have taken action the moment they started harboring designs on the Silver Moon Branch!
The Nangong family believed they could infiltrate their bloodline into the Li Clan unnoticed, thinking they could deceive Li Xinjue.
Little did they know that Li Xinjue had seen it all within this Silver Moon City.
The Nangong family bullied the Silver Moon Branch, presuming them to be weak.
Yet they failed to observe that in the incredibly complex environment of Silver Moon City, no one dares to provoke Li Xinjue.
The reason is simple: everyone is well aware that any ore veins Li Xinjue sets his sights on eventually fall into the hands of the Silver Moon Li Clan, while those who covet them die in silence!
At this moment, having returned from the Nangong family, there was not a trace of joy on Li Xinjue's face; instead, he looked fraught with worry.
He still retained the appearance of a young man. Knitting his brows, he muttered,
"The Main Family still hasn't said a word about the Wu Tribe invasion, and Father hasn't mentioned anything about Northern Border City either."
The suppression of the Nangong family was a trivial matter.
Nangong family possessed no more than two Divinity Transformation realm cultivators, one of whom was a newcomer to the realm.
For Li Xinjue, dealing with them felt like an effortless task, especially given the assistance of the Asura Army.
Instead, it was the Wu Tribe and the Demon Race that weighed more heavily on Li Xinjue's mind.
It had been merely two years since the Wu Tribe's invasion, yet even he could sense that something was amiss.
The Northern Border was incredibly distant from the Central Plains, yet members of the Wu Tribe had already been sighted here.
Furthermore, as the fires of war ravaged the Central Plains, the Demon Race had also begun to exert pressure on the Northern Border—there had even been sightings of Mahayana realm figures.
Li Xinjue vividly remembered last year when the "Demon Emperor Xuweng," appearing like a god, manifested in the clouds above Northguard City.
Even the Grand Tutor had personally intervened, declaring that if Demon Emperor Xuweng dared to cross the border, he would have to bear the consequences of both the Human and Demon races perishing together.
Only then was the Emperor driven away.
However, although Demon Emperor Xuweng had left, the Demon Race had become even more ferocious, and the Northern Border was now in a state of emergency.
"What has this world come to?"
Li Xinjue sighed. "I must cultivate diligently; otherwise, how can I face such unknown predicaments? My realm..."
As he spoke, Li Xinjue extended his hand. A wisp of mist appeared in his palm.
Though it appeared to be mist, it was actually metal—the spiritual item "Traceless Mist Gold" he had found in the mine all those years ago.
This item had accompanied him for over a hundred years, granting him a special physique, and it was sufficient to support his cultivation up to the Divinity Transformation realm.
"But with my current strength, when will I be able to break through to the Fifth Grade Divinity Transformation?"
Li Xinjue frowned. To a Divinity Transformation cultivator, nothing was more important than the heaven-bestowed Primordial Spirit Technique.
The reason the Fifth Grade Divinity Transformation was so formidable lay in the astonishing power of its Primordial Spirit Technique.
At the peak of the realm, the difference between the Fifth Grade and the Fourth Grade was like the distance between heaven and earth.
If he had been willing to settle for a standard Divinity Transformation breakthrough, he would have done so long ago.
As he spoke, he glanced outside the stone castle in the direction of Northguard City.
"I wonder what level my clan brother has reached in his cultivation. His aptitude was never poor; he was merely a bit mischievous. I hear that in the last hundred years, he has finally begun to apply himself. That is good."
A rare smile appeared on the face of Li Xinjue, a man usually given to few words.
...
Northguard City, Demon Suppression Grotto-Heaven.
Unlike Silver Moon City with its ubiquitous strange rocks, here, cultivators clad in black armor could be seen walking everywhere.
It was precisely the time when the army had returned in triumph from the Demon Race's territory; the air was thick with the scent of blood.
The corpses of demon beasts littered the ground, and cultivators were busy dissecting them.
Li Zhijing, having returned from Azure Cloud Prefecture to the Demon Suppression Branch, could be seen wandering about.
She had reverted to her unruly nature; clad in leather armor and wielding a long whip, she made everyone who saw her regard her with the fear one might hold for a tiger.
They busily processed the demon beasts, terrified that this "she-devil's" whip might land on them.
"Hmph, a bunch of useless things!"
Li Zhijing made no attempt to hide the disdain and contempt in her heart.
In truth, most of the cultivators within the Demon Suppression Grotto-Heaven shared some blood ties with her. However, these were all descendants born of her grandfather's "routine duties."
Her grandfather had complex relationships with his many concubines, and the clansmen in Northguard City numbered over a thousand. Yet, her grandfather never bothered to manage them.
Now that she had been back for two years, this responsibility had fallen onto her shoulders.
At the very least, Clan Uncle Xinnian had told her that reasoning with them was useless.
Only by suppressing them with martial force could they be made to understand that biting the hand that feeds them leads to death—and only then would they learn what it means to respect their family elders!
"This kid isn't bad. Hmm... this one is acceptable too; his maternal family, the Xu Clan, is fairly obedient... this one is also decent; he saved the life of a clansman on the battlefield..."
As Li Zhijing walked, she muttered under her breath, tallying up the trustworthy clansmen she could groom.
The more she counted, the more irritable she became.
In her eyes, managing the family was far worse than killing enemies on the battlefield.
She couldn't help but grumble, "So troublesome. Clan Uncle said the situation in the Northern Border is complex.
These marriage alliances are just a means for the Grand Preceptor to win over his subordinates.
The people of the Northern Border only recognize the Grand Tutor—even my own clansmen are no exception.
"At the same time, these people report intelligence from their respective families back to the Grand Tutor.
That is the only way the Northern Border remains as impenetrable as an iron bucket.
"Unless I can confirm they are completely trustworthy, taking them back to the family would be no different from bringing back the Grand Tutor's pawns.
It would be exactly like bringing home spies."
"Argh, I'm done thinking about this!"
Li Zhijing rubbed her head in irritation.
Gazing into the Grotto-Heaven, she saw over a thousand soldiers of the Asura Army returning.
They were suppressing a colossal spider, a thousand meters tall, under a barrage of talismans and Spirit Artifacts.
Li Zhijing's eyes lit up instantly.
"They've sent another Demon Beast! It's one at the Transformation Stage!"
After returning from Azure Cloud Prefecture to the Demon Suppression Branch, Li Zhijing felt as if she had returned to paradise.
Not only could she do exactly as she pleased, but whenever the Northern Border Army charged into Demon Race territory, they would bring back powerful demon beasts to bolster her combat strength.
Before long, that Transformation Stage Demon Beast was brought under control right before Li Zhijing's eyes.
She focused briefly on her own techniques.
The Natal Demon Beast inside her body, the "Black Dragon," possessed absolute suppression over demon beasts of ordinary bloodlines.
Before long, the beast had been suppressed, and she successfully branded it with her mark.
"Ten. The Talisman Seed I cultivate allows me to place a seal on only ten Transformation Stage demon beasts," she mused.
"The Black Dragon within me makes me comparable to the strongest Body Cultivator in the Nascent Soul realm. The Family's cultivation methods are truly formidable.
"Then there is the Beast Soul Refining Method from the family elders.
As long as I use twenty beast souls to refine my own soul, my chances of withstanding the Five-Five Divinity Transformation Thunder Tribulation will increase by thirty percent."
"I wonder what Father is doing. He's been in seclusion for over a hundred years—I've never seen him so diligent before."
Li Zhijing turned her head to gaze at her father's seclusion chamber, a hint of resentment in her eyes.
She didn't know what had happened, but even though she had returned to Northguard City, her father still didn't dare to see anyone.
She wondered just who had bullied her old man to the point where he had become so paranoid...
---
Donate on Ko-fi ➡️ [https://ko-fi.com/darktea] ⬅️
Get Early Access to 90 Chapters: Search for "Dark Tea" on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!