Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

"I was originally going to tell you during the zombie calamity, but then someone interrupted us," Li Shilian sighed and said, "But it's not too late to tell you now."

As he spoke, under Li Zhirui's astonished gaze, Li Shilian set up a sound-isolating formation.

"Do you know why our family chose to establish a branch on Da Rong Island initially?"

Li Zhirui was stunned; he had never really thought about this question. After pondering, he said, "Because there are three Spirit Veins on Da Rong Island."

"That's only part of the reason," Li Shilian said. "There's another very important reason. Deep underground on Da Rong Island is a cavern. At the bottom of the cavern, there's a faint Yin Qi!"

"Because of this, for years, the family has buried all secular human corpses in the cavern, hoping to use the Yin Qi from the corpses to turn the cavern into a true land of Yin."

"This..." Li Zhirui had never imagined this reason and, hearing what Li Shilian said, the matter had already been going on for nearly a hundred years!

He understood why so few in the family knew about this matter and why Li Shilian had not told him before; after all, the use of corpses was something many people couldn't accept and might outright condemn as demonic without explanation.

Fortunately, Li Zhirui had a relatively strong tolerance and knew that the purpose of doing this was for the benefit of the family.

More importantly, he could legally craft Spirit Clearing Pills in the future!

"How about the cavern? Can we start planting Ghost Grass now?" Li Zhirui asked curiously.

Li Shilian looked at Li Zhirui with surprise, seemingly not expecting him to accept this matter so quickly. "During the Earth Dragon Turning Over a few years ago, not only was a Spirit Vein born on Da Rong Island; the land of Yin was also fully formed."

They couldn't figure out what caused it, only knowing that the land of Yin, which was supposed to take many more years to cultivate, had formed ahead of schedule and the Yin Qi was exceedingly rich.

"Does that mean, in a few years, the family will be able to harvest Ghost Grass?" Li Zhirui asked with a hint of excitement.

Ghost Grass, a second-tier Spiritual Medicine, has quite stringent environmental requirements but only needs five years to grow, making it one of the faster-maturing Spiritual Medicines.

"Correct," Li Shilian nodded, affirming his question, and they wouldn't need to use the bodies of secular clansmen anymore.

"Once the Ghost Grass is mature, I can start crafting Spirit Clearing Pills. Then everyone could consider contracting a second Devil Beast!"

Everyone knows that contracting a Devil Beast fitting your attributes will boost your cultivation speed. Although the benefit seems slight, over time, it adds up to a significant amount!

"Have you thought about what Spirit Beast you want to contract?" Li Zhirui asked, a bit curious, as he had been considering this issue recently.

This time, he planned to find an offensive Spirit Beast that could also carry people while flying, which would save him the expense of buying a Flying Artifact.

However, Spirit Beasts that can battle and carry people are the most sought-after type, even the first choice for cultivators, and not commonly found on the market.

Not to mention, Li Zhirui had other requirements, such as the Beast must be of high grade, at least not lower than third-tier, and must be an aquatic or wood-attribute Spirit Beast.

"I'm not like you, an Alchemist with ample resources to nurture two Spirit Beasts," Li Shilian shook his head with a wry smile.

Even with the Spirit Clearing Pill, among the Li family's few Foundation Establishment Cultivators, probably only Li Zhirui himself would choose to cultivate more than one Spirit Beast.

Although Li Shiren has also learned a skill and is equally second-tier, the likelihood of him nurturing a second Spirit Beast is also not high since Array Masters don't make money as quickly as Alchemists.

With resources for nurturing Spirit Beasts, it's better to invest in oneself and accelerate one's cultivation.

As for contracting Spirit Beasts speeding up cultivation? Those still struggling in the Foundation Establishment Stage, and even those who may never break through to Golden Core in their lifetime, might find the slight boost less valuable than using Spiritual Objects directly.

Of course, if one feels that reaching Core Formation is hopeless, they might consider nurturing a second Spirit Beast to strengthen themselves.

Li Zhirui fell silent for a moment, then awkwardly changed the subject, asking, "I remember Li Zhiyue was also learning Water Method Alchemy, how is she doing now?"

Since he had stepped down as Clan Leader, he no longer actively inquired about various family matters. He only knew Li Zhiyue was learning Alchemy because he used to advocate for the development of Alchemy and talisman making.

"She has some talent. She used forty to fifty sets of materials before she barely managed to craft a Jade Spirit Pill," Li Shilian teased, "which is far behind you."

Li Zhirui offered a sheepish smile; everyone thought he only used ten sets of materials, but in reality, he used more than fifty. If we talk about talent, he was no match for Li Zhiyue.

"By the way, weren't you more concerned about another young girl before?" Li Shilian suddenly remembered someone, and his gaze swept to locate Li Zhixuan, who stood by the boat's rail holding her sword.

With a touch of regret, he said, "Your initial judgment was indeed accurate; the girl Zhixuan has excellent talent in Sword Dao. It's a pity that the family doesn't have a suitable Cultivation Technique for her, which has hindered her."

Li Zhirui looked over and couldn't help but laugh, "Her cultivation speed is still quite fast; she's about to break through to the sixth level of Qi Cultivation."

If Li Zhixuan had lived at the Li family of Bailang County during that era, with her aptitude, she would have never been able to cultivate so rapidly.

At that time, the Li family was not as prosperous as it is now, didn't earn that many Spirit Stones, and couldn't provide their clansmen with ample resources to speed up their cultivation.

Therefore, Li Zhirui didn't take Li Shilian's regret seriously. Everyone has their own path, and now the family has already provided a solid foundation for them.

Just as they arrived at the marketplace, Li Shilian retracted the formation with a gesture, and both clansmen strode toward the location of the trading fair together.

Although the trading fair was said to be inside the marketplace, it was actually no longer within the original boundary of the Great Array; this open plain was newly incorporated into the territory of the marketplace.

Apart from a resplendent great hall in the center, other areas were simply furnished with tables and chairs, so the participating powers could display their spiritual objects.

The closer a display table was to the great hall, the larger it was. For a Foundation Establishment family like the Li family, their spot would likely be a bit toward the periphery.

"Are you, dear fellow Daoists, from the Li family of Da Rong Island?" A Foundation Establishment cultivator came forward to greet everyone.

Acting as the Clan Leader, Li Zhizhun stepped forward to converse with him, saying, "Good insight, fellow Daoist. We are indeed from Da Rong Island."

"Please follow me, dear fellow Daoists."

The appearance of Li Zhirui and others was not to say widely known throughout Yunping State, but at the very least, cultivators from various powers had them memorized; his previous inquiry was not out of ignorance but rather a way to better engage in conversation.

Under his lead, the group arrived at their location in the middle of the exhibition area. "This is the spot allocated for the Li family to participate in the trading fair. Are the fellow Daoists satisfied with this?"

Li Zhirui was somewhat surprised; he had thought it would be quite good for the family to secure a decent position on the fringe, but unexpectedly, they had been placed right in the middle.

"We couldn't be more satisfied. Many thanks to the Supreme Ancestor for your generous regard!" Gratitude was written all over Li Zhizhun's face.

The man nodded in satisfaction upon seeing this reaction. After handing over the jade token necessary to activate the display table's formation to Li Zhizhun, he said, "Should there be nothing else, I won't disturb fellow Daoists as you arrange your display."

Each display table was equipped with a small formation. Though its defensive power was weak—breakable by any Qi Cultivation cultivator—its primary function was to prevent theft and to mark anyone who forcibly broke the formation.

Li Zhirui and his party were not among the earliest to arrive. Many Foundation Establishment powers had already settled in, even displaying their spiritual objects.

As he passed by, Li Zhirui glanced over and noticed that they had mostly first-order spiritual objects—common ones like spirit pills, talismans, and magic artifacts. This caused him disappointment.

Of course, the Li family could only offer such common spiritual objects as well.

On the outermost fringe of the exhibition area were the domains of the Qi Cultivation families and Loose Cultivators. They had the most populous tables, crowded with various spiritual objects or items indistinguishable for what they were.

"May I ask, fellow Daoist, what is the purpose of that great hall?" Li Shiren inquired with interest.

"That is for holding the auction event, as well as the actual trading for the fellow Daoists," the man explained. "During the trading fair, an auction will be held at noon each day, featuring treasures provided by the Yuanming Sect among others, like Shen Leishan. If fellow Daoists are interested, you can take a look inside when the time comes."

"I see, thank you for the information, fellow Daoist."

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The man, seeing no one else asking questions, turned and left.

"The Yuanming Sect certainly has grand ambitions," Li Zhirui blurted out involuntarily, his voice filled with awe. He had thought this was just a trading fair for the Yuanming Sect to promote their own spiritual objects, but now it seemed there was more to it.

But what were their reasons for such a grand event? Li Zhirui was quite curious about the Yuanming Sect's elaborate arrangements.

"Let's arrange our spiritual objects now."

The Li family had taken out all their stored spiritual objects for this trading fair. Soon enough, their display table was crammed full, a careful arrangement of various first and second-order spiritual objects.

"Those who want to wander can go ahead," said Li Zhizhun, looking at the restless clansmen with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"But remember, this is not Da Rong Island. Be careful, and it's best to move in groups."

Li Zhizhun cautioned the younger clansmen, "Do not initiate conflicts. Of course, if someone deliberately bullies you, the family will back you up!"

"That would leave us imposing on big brother and the elders." Li Zhirui said with a slight smile before turning to leave.

Li Zhirui first visited the display tables of the Golden Core powers. The amount of spiritual objects they offered wasn't large, but at least all were second-order, with many third-order spiritual objects as well.

Especially those rare spiritual medicines which made Li Zhirui extremely envious, he wished he could snatch them all up, but regretfully his pockets were not deep enough to afford such substantial financial power.

And more than these spiritual medicines, there were more important spiritual objects that Li Zhirui needed to buy.@@novelbin@@

Li Zhirui bypassed the displays of various Golden Core powers but stared wide-eyed as he passed, memorizing each spiritual object he had never seen before; were it not for the sake of his own dignity, he would have liked to pull out a jade slip right then and there to directly inscribe the information.

Only when he reached the Rare Beast Pavilion's display table did Li Zhirui slow down, quickly scanning over the dozen or so third-order devil beast eggs or cubs presented on the table.

The Rare Beast Pavilion, a mid-sized commercial association from Green Mountain State, was said to be backed by a Golden Core family adept at Beast Taming. Relying on special methods, they could even employ wild adult devil beasts in battle.

Certainly, they also sold devil beast eggs and cubs.

This differed greatly from the Li family's forte in Beast Taming, which focused on rearing and nurturing spirit beasts. Meanwhile, the Golden Core family specialized in controlling devil beasts.