"Hmm."
Li Yuanxiu nodded, reading a letter in his hand while responding,
"The selection of a daughter from a minor clan to be married off to the west was made with great care, and the attendants sent with her were also loyal. When she returns, we must acknowledge their service."
The Li Family naturally wouldn't send a bride in the sa manner as Mu Yalu did when she married alone. The daughter from that clan wasn't just able to return ho each year but also brought with her many loyal servants.
After listening to his brother's explanation, Li Yuanjiao nodded in agreent before saying,
"Brother, Shamo Li has already broken through to the fifth layer of Fetal Breathing and has been persuaded to go back into retreat. The Spirit Fruit has also been delivered to him. After overcoming the challenge of the Yujing Wheel and with the assistance of Spiritual Objects, he should attempt to break through to Qi Cultivation within two years."
"Good."
Li Yuanxiu nodded slightly, pondered for a mont, and then said softly,
"I will also go to the mountain personally to speak about this and have our family prepare that mixture of Qi."
Li Yuanjiao chuckled softly in response,
"I've been listening from the outside for a while, and I must say, brother, your approach is indeed excellent. It will put pressure on the new king of the Shanyue. Regardless of whether he takes down one or two towns in the west, in the end, they will still belong to our Li Family."
The faces of Li Yuanxiu and Li Yuanjiao, similar in many ways, both showed a hint of a smile. Li Yuanxiu's expression, compared to the sharp features of Li Yuanjiao, conveyed a more relaxed deanor. He looked down at his younger brother and replied,
"You and I both know the family's sches. It's simply adding one piece to the puzzle. Since Witch Mountain is sealed off, the villages of the Western Shanyue will undoubtedly lose their reliance. According to the ssages we've received, Qi Mu also seems to harbor ambitions to move westward. I'm just giving them a pretext."
"Once he has swallowed up several more villages for us, and his troops have exhausted the people and depleted funds creating much slaughter, it will be much more justified for Shamo Li to replace him."
"It's your thorough thinking as always, brother."
Li Yuanjiao said with a smile, and Li Yuanxiu waved his hand in response,
"It's just taking advantage of the situation. It won't greatly affect the overall strategy, it simply makes subsequent calculations run smoother."
"What about the daughter from the clan we are marrying off? Who do you plan to send?"
Li Yuanjiao asked. Li Yuanxiu then shifted his gaze away from the letter and said softly,
"No one."
Li Yuanjiao was montarily surprised, but he quickly understood his brother's intention and said in a low voice,
"I understand your care for the clan mbers, brother, but is this really prudent?"
"Oh."
Li Yuanxiu smiled and nodded, and then he replied,
"Go to the town and find a reputable family willing to offer a daughter, train her and then send her. Whether Qi Mu realizes sothing is amiss or not, even if he suspects sothing is wrong, he'll have to hold his nose and accept it. Would he dare to complain? Once the Eastern Shanyue is under our control, we'll bring her back, and she'll gain the status of a side branch of the family. Naturally, many people will be willing to do it."
Li Yuanjiao slightly furrowed his brow, his care for clan mbers was different from Li Yuanxiu's—it was based on affection rather than bloodline. He would have preferred to actually send a daughter from the clan to appease Qi Mu, not wanting to risk the slightest chance of stirring trouble, but since Li Yuanxiu had made his decision, he simply nodded and said in a deep voice,
"If brother is confident, then that's good."
Li Yuanxiu looked at him, perceiving the disagreent in his heart. Li Yuanxiu put down what he was holding and said softly,
"Qi Mu is demanding a daughter from a minor clan. There are mainly five veins in the minor clans, which have been separate since our great-grandfather's ti. There are a few very senior elders who don't speak much, but we must pay attention to them."
"These people are closely related to us and are valuable in managing family affairs. Several clan elders have a say in front of our father and elder uncle. If we really sent a daughter from the clan away for nothing, there would be substantial objections from the family's elders... Harmony within the family is of utmost importance."
Li Yuanjiao pursed his lips and responded,
"Who cares what they think, they're just a bunch of mortals."
"Yuanjiao!"
Li Yuanxiu shook his head and said in a deep voice:
"The reason why families can stay tightly knit is first due to the orderly transmission of cultivation technique secrets, and second because of the humility and deference within the clan, respecting the old and cherishing the young. Once these two are compromised, what remains is endless bloody conflict and a disordered, dispersed clan, making the intelligence of the later generations useless."
"The younger ones are taught by example. What you do today, everyone keeps in mind. Don't think that the clan elders are always nagging, seeking benefits for their own descendants, they also understand the distinction between right and wrong and restrain their descendants from doing things that would bring sha to the family. The existence of the Clan Head Courtyard is credited to them."
Li Yuanxiu looked into his brother's eyes and explained:
"If these old folks see their children doing shaful things to the family, they would even go to the Clan Head Courtyard with their canes to report it, understanding the importance of the clan's ethos deeply and wanting the best for the clan."
"Besides, for the sake of the family, Uncle Qiuyang and several other small branch cultivators have been working diligently. If you marry off their children like this today and annihilate the Qi Mu tomorrow, it will cool their hearts."
Li Yuanjiao opened his mouth, not having realized Li Yuanxiu thought so far ahead. His opinion of the nagging elders greatly improved, and he nodded, saying softly:
"I have learned my lesson, younger brother."
Li Yuanxiu nodded approvingly and continued:
"In the past, the Main Vein lacked powerful cultivators, and it was natural to be wary of the small branches. Now, with the Main Vein flourishing and our granduncle's swordsmanship unparalleled on the lake, these small branches and families are valuable aids in managing the family. What you should do is draw them in and favor them, treating them as one of our own."
Li Yuanjiao nodded in agreent. The two brothers exchanged a smile, and after Li Yuanxiu asked after his brother's well-being for a while, he laughed and said:
"I have already broken through to the second layer of Fetal Breathing."
"Really?"
Li Yuanxiu had started cultivating earlier than Li Yuanjiao, who had quickly broken through the Xuanjing Wheel thanks to the Talisman Seed and advanced to the second layer of the Fetal Breathing Realm, Chengming Wheel, a few months ago. Given that Li Yuanxiu broke through a few months later, his pace could still be considered good.
"You, what is there to fake about this?"
Seeing Li Yuanjiao laughing, Li Yuanxiu estimated the ti and spoke with so difficulty:
"As the day of the sacrifice draws nearer and several elders are in retreat trying to break through, there's no arrangent for the sacrifice. I've already set things in motion on my end, but if the elders don't co out of retreat soon, we might miss the timing."
————
There were three stone chambers in the Cave Mansion atop ichi Peak, where Li Tongya, Li Xuanxuan, and Li Xuanfeng were each in seclusion, while Li Xuanling sat cross-legged on a cushion on the floor in the main hall, concentrating on his cultivation. He had been ditating there since the night before. The door to the Cave Mansion trembled slightly as two clan soldiers stationed by it stepped aside to let in a woman dressed in a white robe, poised with a gentle smile on her face.
"My husband."
Now at the third layer of Fetal Breathing, Lu Wanrong's strength was quite respectable among outside cultivators. She approached with a warm smile, carrying a bamboo-woven food box and placing it on the stone table. Li Xuanling spoke softly upon seeing this:
"It would have been fine to have them bring it up; you didn't need to trouble yourself to co here."
Cultivators in the Fetal Breathing Realm have abundant qi and blood through the first four layers, leading to an increased appetite. Once they break through the critical Yujing Wheel and transcend mortal bounds, their appetite suddenly decreases. After advancing to Qi Cultivation and becoming near-divine beings of longevity, Qi Consurs can subsist on wind and dew and only need to drink clean water. If they do eat, they require spiritual at and Spirit Rice. Mundane food can actually hamper the progress of their cultivation levels.
Li Xuanling, at the fifth layer of Fetal Breathing and just a step or two away from Qi Cultivation, naturally needed to eat—about once every one or two days. Now that his family was better off, he consud not ordinary grains but Spirit Rice and demon beast at.
Lu Wanrong opened the food box, removing two baskets—one filled with stead, white and clean Spirit Rice, and the other with several slices of tender red demon at.
Li Xuanling took the jade chopsticks from his wife's hand, chewed slowly, and savored the al before him. After he drank so tea that Lu Wanrong handed him, she spoke softly:
"Yuanyun hasn't co down from the mountain in over a year, and I'm always so worried. The child keeps silent, but his spirit is quite high; suffering such a blow and he doesn't even share it with us..."
Li Xuanling suddenly paused, his expression filled with helplessness and a hint of guilt, and said with a strained voice:
"Am I not aware of that!"
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