🥳 New Year Mass Release + News
Hi everyone!
To celebrate the New Year, I've decided to publish 10 chapters today, December 31! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
I also have some updates regarding my Ko-fi. As of today, the number of early access chapters available there has increased from 60 to 70.
As you guys may know, the subscription price has remained €15 since the beginning, when the tier only offered 30 chapters. Now that the archive has grown so much, it's time for an adjustment.
Starting January 7th:
The number of early chapters will increase to 80.
The monthly price will increase from €15 to €20.
If you want to subscribe, you can join beforeJanuary 7th to lock in the current 15 price!
Happy New Year!
........
"You all still remember things from hundreds of years ago?"
Seeing the laughter of his clansmen at the banquet, Li Wei chuckled.
Hundreds of years ago, when Li Yaoqing was at the Thunderfire Demon Cave, she had truly played a nasty trick on Li Yunlin, causing him to pick up the Ancestral Spirit Tablet to tattle.
As the laughter subsided, the eyes of everyone at the banquet burned with intensity as they walked together toward the Ancestral Hall.
At the same time, descendants scattered across the world, earning Spirit Stones and gathering resources for the family, all gazed in the direction of Merit City.
The Ancestral Spirit Tablets on their persons began to glow. The Old Ancestor had said that the Li clan would finally have a Void Refining expert of their own!
[Year 580 Great Ceremony Begins!]
[Your descendants offer sacrifices to you—]
[Void Refining Corpse x1]
[Void Refining Soul Core Secret Treasure x1]
[Void Refining Space x1]
[You are using the "Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Technique" to break through to the Void Refining realm (False)...
Using Baimei's soul to trigger the Void Refining Lightning Tribulation...
Shielding heavenly secrets, occupying the Dao of the Void Refining Space...
Acquiring Rule Mana: Extreme Cold, Time...]
[Acquired Void Refining Technique: Extreme Cold Seal]
...
Time in the Azure Dynasty passed quickly.
Li family members scattered across the world continued their arduous efforts to acquire resources.
As for the children of the new generation, with Li Xinnian assuming the role of Family Head and Li Xinghuo establishing a branch family in Northguard City, the young ones began to marry and have children of their own.
Quietly and without fanfare, the Li clan was growing and flourishing.
Merit City remained a paradise beyond the mortal world.
With Li Xinnian as Family Head, the family acquired more and more Spirit Veins, and the open spirit fields within the city grew ever vaster.
Among the hundreds of thousands of commoners in Merit City, more than a dozen had even cultivated to the Nascent Soul realm on their own. Yet, no matter how high their cultivation base, these fellows continued their idyllic, pastoral lives, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
The Inner City, on the contrary, was not as bustling as it had been in the past.
The Azure Cloud Region, the Azure Cloud Prefecture, and the numerous major powers subordinate to the Li family had gradually grown accustomed to surviving under the Li family's protection; they no longer needed to report every single matter to the Li family.
By the street side, Zhuo Linlin and the Martial Emperor—two seniors at the Void Refining realm—could be seen leisurely sipping tea and playing Chinese Chess, a game passed down by the Li family's Old Ancestor.
Yet, within the game, the aura of Void Refining cultivators could be seen clashing in the match.
The cultivators who were once part of Skynet had long since grown weary of a life of fighting and killing.
They had opened restaurants, tailor shops, and calligraphy and painting shops in the Inner City.
In their idle moments, they would chat about cultivation matters, and when they truly found themselves short on resources or Spirit Stones, they would simply lend the Li family a hand to make ends meet.
Those who came from Azure Cloud Prefecture to the Inner City of Merit City mostly kept a low profile; otherwise, any random person pulled from the street might turn out to be a Guest Elder of the Li family.
And this tranquility, along with the monolithic unity of Azure Cloud Prefecture, was due in no small part to the efforts of the Li Family Head, Li Xinnian.
Inside the Li family's main courtyard.
Before the Old Tree stood the Secret Stele of Dao Transmission.
A dashing young nobleman stood before it, with a graceful and virtuous lady by his side.
The current Matriarch of the Li family, Nangong Qingya, wore a conservative black dress. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the jade tablet in her husband's hand.
"Xinnian, are you thinking about the children again?"
"Sigh."
After decades of life as the Family Head, Li Xinnian bore the weathered air of one who had seen much of the world.
"Heng'er has the Heart of the Innocent; he's been thick-headed since childhood.
Thirty years ago, he married Sun Sixiu, the daughter of the Sun family from the Duravia Trade Prefecture, and they had three children.
Now, even those children are starting to get married. The clan elders say that starting from my generation, our family finally looks like a normal worldly family, reproducing generation after generation. Yet, I am worried."
Nangong Qingya smiled. "With the house full of children and grandchildren, what is there for you to worry about?"
Li Xinnian gave a bitter smile. "Heng'er cares nothing for worldly affairs; he has become a Daoist priest, wholeheartedly dedicated to seeking the Dao.
As for the three grandchildren of the 'Yuan' generation:
Yuanling married into the Feng family.
Yuanwu, with his martial obsession, insisted on going to Broadlake Region to start his own family and career, as if I don't know he just wants to fight the hordes of demons in Broadlake Region Mountains to cultivate his martial path!
And then there's Yuanshang, who refuses to cultivate either the literary or martial arts and insists on becoming a traveling merchant.
I truly do not know when I will ever be able to hand over the heavy burden of Family Head to my descendants."
"Why? Do you also want to be like Father-in-law, taking Mother along to run away and roam the world?" Nangong Qingya teased.
Li Xinnian's face turned black on the spot.
More than twenty years ago, his father had left behind only a single letter.
The gist of it was that he was finally free and was taking his wife to elope, galloping across the seas to fulfill the dreams of his youth.
It was so carefree and unrestrained that Li Xinnian couldn't sit still with peace of mind for months.
"Never mind, never mind, let them do as they please. We are still here to manage this vast family estate."
With that, he led Nangong Qingya toward the family's main hall.
Most of the clan elders were out earning Spirit Stones for the "Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Technique" to achieve the state of "False Void Refining."
The children of the "Zhi" and "Yuan" generations also had their own ambitions.
Thus, the great undertaking of the family was still managed by Li Yunbing, Li Kuangren, Li Chang'an, Li Changyao, and Li Xinnian.
The five of them gathered in the main hall.
Nangong Qingya served the tea. Unless the elders asked a question, she did not interject with even half a word. After all, the Nangong family stood behind her.
Nangong Qingya understood that if she were to interfere in the family's affairs, even if her clansmen didn't think too much of it, if her Nangong family heard of it, they would likely try to leverage her influence.
"The Duravia Trade Prefecture is fairly stable. The Zhao family's Immortal Domain has been expanding continuously over these past few decades, consuming a massive amount of Spirit Stones."
Li Yunbing spoke with a hint of confusion.
"It is just that the Immortal Zhao Clan has a million clansmen. When they first arrived in the Duravia Trade Prefecture, they could hardly fend for themselves, yet they prioritized building the Immortal Domain to shelter mortals.
Even if their goal was to attract mortals to obtain more Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi, the cost they are paying is rather excessive. Yet the Hall of Heavenly Principle hasn't uncovered anything."
"Eldest Uncle Tianyi and the others have already gone to the Immortal Domain to investigate," Li Kuangren said with a smile.
"Second Grandfather need not worry too much. Just because the Hall of Heavenly Principle cannot find anything doesn't mean Eldest Uncle and the others cannot.
As long as the three of them set their minds to it, there is nothing they cannot achieve."
"Speaking of which, the fact that they broke through to the Divinity Transformation realm together a few years ago was truly a magnificent feat."
Mentioning the Three Thieves of Heavenly Secret, Li Yunbing smiled. "Then let us see what they are capable of."