Chapter 1108: Chapter 1102: My Destiny Is Up To Me
Four generations gathered in the room.
Li Zhiheng brushed aside his sleeve and held a cup of tea.
Seated beside him was his mother, Nangong Qingya, and standing behind him was his wife, Sun Sixiu, dressed in a Daoist robe.
With the family elders in the Western Frontier, the task of mediating with the major factions in the Azure Cloud Prefecture was naturally handed over to Nangong Qingya.
As for Sun Sixiu, she had plenty to do as well.
She ran about constantly on regular days, arranging marriages and finding wives for the children of the clan everywhere.
It could be said that the family had so many clansmen today, all thanks to Sun Sixiu.
When it truly came to major family matters, as long as there were no errors, Nangong Qingya and Sun Sixiu did not interfere.
“For this trip to the Northern Frontier, we cannot ask Senior Zhuo Linlin to go.
The Supreme Elder Pu Ci of the Ethereal Immortal Sect is wavering, and Senior Zhuo Linlin’s presence in the open can also serve as a deterrent.”
“A thousand disciples returning from the Wu tribe’s rear, along with the seven family Ancestors who went there over a century ago and a legendary Senior of the family, will also be returning.”
“For family matters, I ask Great-Grandmother to temporarily assume my duties.”
Li Jianshu bowed to Nangong Qingya.
Originally, he wanted to hand over family affairs to his Grandmother, Sun Sixiu.
However, the Sun Clan held great power in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, and coupled with his grandmother’s soft-heartedness, it would be easy for the Sun Clan to develop ambitions.
As for the Nangong Clan… they were still exiled in Silvermoon City, unable to recover after the lesson taught by Great-Granduncle.
“Alright.” Nangong Qingya nodded serenely, looking at the dozens of Li Clan children in the hall.
These were all children cultivated by the family who could be of help.
Li Wei also glanced at the children.
Under the matchmaking of Sun Sixiu, the family’s ‘matchmaker’, a new generation emerged every twenty or thirty years.
These children grew up sturdy and strong.
The Azure Cloud Prefecture was too peaceful.
In the early years, when the family and their Daoist friends dominated the Azure Cloud Prefecture, they had essentially taken away all the foundations and best opportunities in the prefecture.
This made it difficult for later generations in the Azure Cloud Prefecture to produce the kind of geniuses rarely seen in a thousand or ten thousand years.
Let alone the Azure Cloud Prefecture, the entire dynasty was like this.
When hidden factions emerged, the first thing they did was completely clean out the resources in their own territory.
There were many old foxes in these hidden factions; if they didn’t use these heavy treasures and opportunities to cultivate their own people, were they supposed to leave them for outsiders to pick up and then use them to chop themselves down?
In today’s world, it wasn’t that there were no geniuses, but rather that they needed heaven-defying luck—like finding a needle in a haystack—to catch up to the members of major factions.
Among these children, only two made Li Wei see them in a new light.
[Li Qiuming]
[The illegitimate son of the merchant branch’s Li Jianguo, born after a drunken encounter with Imperial Capital dignitaries in a brothel.]
[His mother lost her looks less than a year after his birth, angered a playboy from the Imperial Capital, and lost her life. Li Qiuming was raised by numerous brothel women.
Until the age of twelve, he still served tea and water in the brothel, serving his numerous adoptive mothers. Acquired Traits: Grew Up in Hardship.]
[Due to growing up in a harsh place like a brothel, his mental resilience is increased by 30%, and his worldly wisdom is increased by 30%.]
[At the age of thirteen, having practiced martial arts for many years, his cultivation of a pirated ‘Qi Refining Art’ bought at age eight yielded no results.
While playboys fought out of jealousy in the brothel, he took a risk and stole a dead man’s spatial ring, consumed the playboy’s spiritual medicine, and used the other’s identity token to buy a cultivation method from the Heavenly Principle Hall as a young master.
He began to defy the heavens and change his fate, stepping onto the Dao path.]
[Having seen the low status and suffering of his numerous adoptive mothers, he swore to cultivate diligently and lead the brothel out of its current situation.
Acquired Trait: My Fate is in My Hands.
Believes that through his own efforts, he can change his destiny. Cultivation speed and comprehension are increased by 20%.]
[At the age of thirty-two, Li Qiuming’s cultivation was arduous. Seeing this, the women of the brothel pooled their money to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill, helping Li Qiuming break through to Foundation Establishment.]
[Emerged from seclusion at thirty-five, possessing dual Fire and Wind spiritual roots, with a spiritual root value over 60.
Upon emerging from closed-door cultivation, he learned that another woman in the brothel had lost her life at the hands of a playboy.
Enraged, he falsely used the identity token of the playboy he obtained at age thirteen to hire cultivators from the Heavenly Principle Hall for revenge.
Unexpectedly, he was exposed and nearly died under the blades of the Heavenly Principle Hall’s assassins.]
[The cultivators of the Heavenly Principle Hall discovered Li Qiuming’s bloodline aura.
He met Li Yuanshang and Li Jianshu, and was able to recognize his ancestors and return to the clan.
Acquired Trait: Ill-Fated. The probability of obtaining opportunities is increased.]
In the crowd, the handsome young man with lively, intelligent eyes was Li Qiuming.
Less than two years after being discovered back then, Li Qiuming had already been secretly sent back to the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
This was purely because that kid Li Jianguo was obsessed with his civil engineering grand enterprise, and his wife was a daughter of the Min Clan.
If Li Qiuming stayed in the Imperial Capital, heaven knows what would happen.
Now, Li Qiuming was around a hundred years old.
Because of his background, Li Zhiheng and Sun Sixiu, his great-grandparents, felt guilty and focused on cultivating him to the Heaven Core level.
And Li Qiuming had not disappointed the two elders.
[Your descendant Li Qiuming has cultivated in the Azure Cloud Prefecture for many years.
With the aptitude of a Heaven Core, while in the Golden Core realm, he has won multiple grand competitions and secret realm trials for the family.
Although his background is humble and his aptitude is inferior to many of his peers in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, he does not belittle himself because of it.]
[Years ago, while hunting Wu tribesmen who intruded into the Azure Cloud Prefecture, he encountered Li Chuyuan leading the disciples of the Eternal Immortal Sect.
He was injured by the ancient secret arts of a Golden Core realm genius of the Eternal Immortal Sect.
His junior, Li Chuyuan, not only watched coldly but also mocked him extensively, saying, ‘The Qiu generation is nothing more than this.’
Li Qiuming felt unwilling in his heart, burning with anger.]
[Acquired Trait: My Destiny is Up to Me.
He always believes that since he went from a fatherless and motherless brothel child to a cultivator, and then to a family genius, one day, he would rise high enough that no one in this world could blind him again—and Li Chuyuan would be nothing more than dust beneath his feet.
Cultivation speed increased by 20%, mental fortitude increased by 30%.]
Another child sat to the side, toying with a black handgun… It was a real gun, completely carved with runes.
Li Wei had sent the blueprints for this kind of thermal weapon to the family long ago, but this thing was only useful against Qi Refining cultivators.
At Foundation Establishment, a cultivator’s five senses could already track the trajectory of a handgun bullet, and even if their physical body was pierced, they could staunch the injury.
But that didn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.
[Li Chuxiu, son of family descendant Li Qiuxun. Li Qiuxun has mediocre aptitude and manages the medicinal gardens for the family.]
[Your descendant Li Chuxiu became the number one person in the family’s ‘Chu’ generation after Li Chuyuan became a disciple of the Eternal Immortal Sect.
Your descendant Li Chuxiu was once high-spirited. Under the family’s vigorous cultivation, his cultivation level once caught up to Li Chuyuan’s.]
[He inherited the ‘Hidden Edge Sword’ from Ancestor Li Yaozu, and with it, he cut down his enemies in silence.
With a single Fire spiritual root, he had once planned to walk the path of alchemy. Yet the moment the Hidden Edge Sword fell into his hands, his destiny shifted—he turned instead to the art of artifact forging.
Within the clan, whispers spread. Beyond it, throughout the Azure Cloud Prefecture, Li Yaozu is despicable.
But Li Chuxiu needed only a moment’s thought to see through it all.
Ancestor Li Yaozu was no despicable figure.
He was the greatest assassin in the world—a master of hidden weapons.]
[Out of reverence for Li Yaozu, he attempted to become an assassin. Unfortunately, Fire attribute techniques were too explosive, so he had to abandon the idea.
Through a fortuitous encounter, he obtained a method passed down by the Ancestor.
Seeing the ingenious construction of the hidden weapons passed down by the Ancestor, he immediately understood that the Ancestor must also be a grandmaster of hidden weapons, and that hidden weapons are the family’s true ancestral methods.]
“…”
Looking at the information on the interface, Li Wei’s vision went black.
He felt a sense of powerlessness, wanting to explain but having words stuck in his throat.
He had always been upright and honorable; Yaozu was the despicable villain.
[Your descendant Li Chuxiu began artifact forging, becoming an artifact refiner… Through your blueprints, he forged his first Dharma Artifact, the ‘Spirit Stone Gun’.]
[After studying in the Artifact Sect for many years, he became a Tier-7 artifact refiner, forging the low-grade Spirit Artifact ‘All-Beings Salvation’.
Under the twin guns gathering spiritual energy, even Golden Core cultivators would suffer disaster. Acquired Profession: Hidden Weapon Spirit Master.]
[In the world, there are those proficient in refining hidden weapons, mostly from the Heavenly Light Sect.
Only by combining the use of hidden weapons with meridians can one be a true Hidden Weapon Spirit Master.
His understanding of human meridians is unmatched by worldly people. Cultivation speed increased by 20%.]
[The year Li Chuxiu successfully became a Hidden Weapon Spirit Master, while executing a family mission to seek heavenly materials and earthly treasures to refine a new hidden weapon, he encountered the genius disciple of the Eternal Immortal Sect, Li Chuyuan.]
[Both of the ‘Chu’ generation, coupled with the family shining brightly in the Western Frontier, Li Chuyuan secretly hated Li Chuxiu for taking the identity and status that should have been his, and fought Li Chuxiu at the border.
Li Chuxiu was no match and was defeated.
In front of other Li family descendants, Li Chuyuan crushed Li Chuxiu’s Spirit Artifact ‘All-Beings Salvation’ under his foot and swaggered away.]
[For a full ten years, Li Chuxiu particularly remembered Li Chuyuan’s words: ‘Relying on these despicable minor paths, a piece of trash like you wants to replace me?’
Acquired Trait: Damaged Dao Heart.
Only after hearing that Ancestor Li Yaozu had slain Crown Prince Fei Heng with a hidden weapon in the Western Frontier did he steady his Dao heart and regain his resolve.]
[Acquired Trait: Undefeated Hidden Weapon.]
[Losing a fight is never the fault of hidden weapons; it only means he has yet to master them.
Until he defeats Li Chuyuan once more with hidden weapons, his unwillingness fuels him—granting a 30% increase in cultivation speed and a 50% boost in comprehension when refining hidden weapons.]
“Patriarch.”
Inside the room, seeing that Li Jianshu had no intention of taking him along, Li Qiuming’s expression darkened.
“Since the clan is heading to the Northern Frontier to face the enemy, how can I remain here in the Azure Cloud Prefecture?
Over the years, I’ve come to understand that it was Great-Grandfather and Great-Grandmother’s kindness that led them to dote on me so much.
But I am still a member of the family. I’ve seen plenty in the Imperial Capital—there’s nothing to fear, even in the Northern Frontier.”
“Your child feels the same.”
Li Chuxiu grinned, utterly lacking the cold sharpness one might expect from a hidden weapon expert. Instead, he appeared bright and carefree, flashing a wide smile of gleaming white teeth.
“I’ve long heard of the Ancestors’ might in the Western Frontier.
We may not be able to face almighty experts, but in the Northern Frontier, against the Qiu Clan, we can at least hold off one or two Golden Core cultivators.”
“Nonsense.” Li Jianshu snorted coldly, slamming his palm onto the table. The two immediately lowered their heads.
Li Jianshu transmitted his voice, “This journey to the Northern Frontier comes at a time when the family is short-handed. It is the perfect opportunity for you both to learn how to manage the clan.”
“This…” Li Qiuming and Li Chuxiu exchanged stunned looks.
Both came from humble beginnings, yet the Patriarch’s words—both implicit and explicit—suggested he intended for them to inherit the family in the future.
They had never even imagined such a possibility, and for a moment, found it difficult to believe.
Even Li Jianning, who overheard the voice transmission nearby, was taken aback. “Eldest Brother…”
“Jianning, after serving as Patriarch for decades, I’ve come to understand one thing.” Li Jianshu’s expression turned solemn.
“Hmm?”
“In our family, whoever becomes Patriarch must be sufficiently stupid and clumsy. No wonder Great-Grandfather never grasped just how deep the family’s foundations truly were.”
Li Jianshu let out a quiet sigh. “Only after shedding the title of Patriarch can one step outside the cage and see the family’s true face.”
“Only by leaving the Azure Cloud Prefecture can one stand alongside the Ancestors and become part of the family’s foundation.”
“So that’s how it is.” Li Jianning suddenly understood.
When he looked at Li Qiuming and Li Chuxiu again, his gaze subtly changed.
If his Eldest Brother’s words were true, then these two were indeed stupid and clumsy. Best to keep his distance—lest their foolishness rub off on him.
Yet suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
His grandfather, Li Zhiheng, patted him lightly and smiled. “Jianning, if you fail to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, you’d best stay behind and take over Jianshu’s position.”
“…”
Li Jianning fell silent for a long while. Under Li Zhiheng’s puzzled gaze, he finally spoke:
“No, Grandfather. Your child is actually very smart.”
—
Donate on Ko-fi ➡️ [] ⬅️
Get Early Access to 90 Chapters: Search for “Dark Tea” on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!