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Chapter 683: Chapter 689: Handover
The clan members patrolling the skies above Wanxian Island were startled by the rush of azure light and hastily blew their whistles in alarm.
The next moment, a beam of Spirit Light shot up into the sky as someone shouted, "This place is the Li Clan territory of Wanxian, all comers must stop!"
"You little brat! You don’t even recognize me, your ancestor?" Xiaoqing knew he had been a bit too rash, but he wasn’t about to admit he was wrong. Pretending to be angry, he retorted.
"Ah! It’s Ancestor Qingpeng! Hehe, it’s just that Ancestor is too powerful, causing the junior to look away." The Golden Core disciple was not afraid of Xiaoqing getting angry and explained with a chuckle.
Truth be told, before Xiaoqing had his breakthrough to the fourth stage, he was always in cahoots with some of the mischievous clansmen, often frolicking together; they were very close. Even after his breakthrough, he didn’t put on any airs and maintained the same relationship with them.
"Alright, alright, I’ll go back and rest for now. I’ll come find you guys to play when I have some spare time."
As he spoke, he took out an Identity Jade and entered Wanxian Island directly.
"Ancestor Qingpeng is back? Ancestor Rui should be just behind."
Indeed, after a short while, a Spirit Boat bearing the Li family crest appeared in front of everyone.
"The juniors pay respects to Ancestor Rui!"
Li Zhirui nodded and said, "You have worked hard."
"It’s not hard at all, this is what we should do."
Compared to the approachable Xiaoqing, who could frolic with them, Li Zhirui was regarded by these clansmen with reverence and fear.
Especially those who had been taught by him, they couldn’t help but tremble at the sight of Li Zhirui.
This was because his teaching methods were incredibly strict, even harsh!
But Li Zhirui was like this for their own good, after all, whether it was concocting Spirit Pills or cultivating, there was no room for even the slightest mistake!
At the lighter end, it could mean ruining the pills and exploding the furnace; at the worst, it could damage the foundation. If he wasn’t strict, who knows how many problems might arise.
Perhaps because his methods of instruction were effective, his approach quickly became popular across the whole family, causing the younger generation to be terrified.
As the ’culprit’ behind this, Li Zhirui naturally received great awe and respect from the clan members, not to mention that he was now the Li family’s oldest and highest in cultivation.
"Alright, you all go rest."
After exchanging a few words with the pair, Li Zhirui went straight to the family’s great hall, where he handed over all the Spiritual Objects obtained by Li Chengsheng and the others from their trials, as well as the Spiritual Objects he had purchased in the Central Domain, to the Clan Leader Li Darong.
"You have worked hard, old ancestor." Li Darong said languidly, raising his head from the piles of documents on the long table.
Li Zhirui’s eyebrow twitched. Although being Clan Leader was busy, it shouldn’t be to this extent. Upon a little thought, he realized that Li Wenli, who always followed him, was not present.
"Where did Wenli go?"
"That kid went into secluded cultivation to break through to the Golden Core a few days ago."
When mentioning this, Li Darong managed to find some humor in his misery, saying, "Once he breaks through to Golden Core, I’ll have nothing to do."
The family allowed cultivators in the later stages of Foundation Establishment to exchange for Sky Cleansing Pills and Golden Ganoderma Pills even if they lacked Contribution Value, as long as they repaid it in the future.
For candidates like Li Wenli, in line for the position of Clan Leader, if he successfully assumes office, he won’t need to repay, as it’s a form of reward. After all, taking the position of Clan Leader means having to give up on one’s path to a certain extent.
And how about those cultivators who fail their Tribulation Transcendence and die?
The Li Clan shows unusual compassion in this matter – they simply write off the debt!
Unlike many other powers where, even if one dies, the debt is passed on to the direct relatives.
However, the Li family has extremely high requirements for clansmen who overdraw to exchange, including investigations into their nature, foundation, mana consolidation, and more. It is not simply a matter of approving anyone who applies.
In this respect, they are essentially conducting a round of scrutiny and judgment on them before they exchange for Spiritual Objects, assessing how likely they are to achieve a breakthrough.
Only those whose comprehensive assessment results exceed forty percent will obtain the Spirit Pill.
Don’t think that forty percent is low, the success rate is actually quite good. You must know, the probability of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator breaking through is less than twenty percent!
But speaking of which!
Li Zhirui, upon hearing Li Darong’s words, couldn’t help but laugh. He knew that Li Darong was lazy and lacked ambition, wanting only to live like a wealthy mortal, indulging in food and drink, enjoying leisure activities, and traveling whenever he wished.
Moreover, when Li Darong took the position, it was only as an emergency interim arrangement, so him being willing to voluntarily resign early was a good thing.
"By the way, I also had an unexpected gain from this trip."
As he spoke, Li Zhirui released the Jade Dew Grass Devil.
Li Darong’s eyebrows twitched as he said, "Ancestor, this Great Devil..."
"It was a Jade Dew Grass that became a devil, most suitable to be a Spiritual Plant Cultivator, so I brought it back," Zhirui explained.
Seeing that he was still worried, Zhirui reassured him, "Don’t worry, its life hangs on my thoughts. There won’t be any danger."
As for the Grass Devil itself, it had gained an understanding of what it would be doing up ahead during the journey and even learned some knowledge of a Spiritual Plant Cultivator.
However, as Zhirui didn’t have much understanding of this area, he would still need to arrange for it to learn in the family for a period, which was another reason he told Li Darong, as he needed the Clan Leader to arrange a new Identity Jade for it.
In this way, it could not only demonstrate its identity to other clan members, but when it later ran around the various Spirit Fields on the island cultivating Spiritual Medicine, it would be more convenient.
After repeatedly receiving assurance, Li Darong nodded and agreed, "I will have someone make the Identity Jade as soon as possible."
"The blood of Jade Dew is in the jade vial."
This is the most crucial material for making the Identity Jade, without which the Jade Token cannot correspond to a person. If it were lost, it would be unusable even if someone else found it.
"Well, I won’t bother you any longer then."
With that, Li Zhirui took back Jade Drew and turned to leave.
——
While Li Zhirui entered his family’s grand hall, Li Chengsheng first sent a message to Jiang Fengwu to allay her worries.
"Why have you returned alone? Where is Shuo?"
"Mother, Shuo wished to remain in the central region for training and to seek opportunities for breakthroughs as well as Spiritual Objects for the evolution of Spirit Beasts," he replied.
Jiang Fengwu immediately frowned, "How dangerous the central region is! How could we allow Shuo to stay there? Isn’t the eastern region sufficient for her training? What was your father thinking!"
Li Chengsheng dared not speak, especially in response to the last question—as a filial son, how could he comment on his father?
After talking for a good while, Jiang Fengwu finally stopped and looked at her eldest son, "You’ve also had a tiring journey. Go and have some rest first."
Li Chengsheng, feeling as if pardoned, said, "Then, mother, I’ll take my leave."
After speaking, he left as if fleeing the scene.
When Li Zhirui returned, he saw a stern-looking Jiang Fengwu, "What’s wrong? Did Sheng do something to upset you?"
