Chapter 29 The Re-division of Power in Liangxi County

A few days later, the servant returned.

In the main hall, Lu Xilou was listening to the servant's investigation report.

"Family Head, the Zhu Family of Lingchuan County didn't suffer much loss; their high-level combat power is basically intact. The Zhang Family of Lingchuan County was charged by two Fourth-level Demonic Beasts into the Family's core area, suffering heavy casualties. The Family Head is dead, and the remaining Cultivators are all at the Qi Refining First Layer and have abandoned their Family status..."

"The Wang Family of Liangxi County suffered heavy casualties, the Family Head is dead, and the remaining Cultivators are all at the Early Stage of Qi Refining and have abandoned their Family status..."

As Lu Xilou listened, he realized two more Qi Refining Immortal Clans were gone, leaving only nine.

Furthermore, most families had suffered many casualties. Lu Xilou felt the situation was tricky; if the tribute taxes to the Golden Core Family above were not lowered, he didn't know how many more people would leave.

...

In Liangxi County, after the rampage of Yao Beasts, some Mortal villages and towns were overrun by first and second-tier Yao Beasts. Like a plague of locusts, the destructive power was far beyond imagination, and the casualties were numerous.

Some Mortals who were lucky enough to survive had already developed thoughts of migrating.

Inside the Yun Family's main hall, Yun Tiancheng no longer had his former spirit; his hair had turned white overnight. He sat absentmindedly in the main seat.

A younger clansman at the Third Level of Qi Refining spoke up, "Family Head, news came from the Luo Family saying that Zitong is also gone."

Hearing this, Yun Tiancheng's heart sank again; it was yet another piece of bad news.

Every time he thought about it, Yun Tiancheng felt deep regret—a hundred years of foundation!

If he had known, he wouldn't have tried to save those Spirit Stones; if he had opened the Formation Array earlier, so many people wouldn't have died.

In the past few days, he still hadn't moved past this loss; it was all due to his wrong decisions as the Family Head!

"I understand. Is there anything else?" Yun Tiancheng replied with a sorrowful tone.

"Some of the spiritual plants in the Family's spirit fields were destroyed by those Yao Beasts and need people to be arranged for replanting. The deceased clansmen have been buried with honors. There are two Non-Clan Cultivators at the Third Level of Qi Refining who wish to leave the Family; they will provide some compensation as repayment for the resources used to nurture them over the years."

Yun Tiancheng was silent for a long while before saying, "Go and handle it!"

The Third Level of Qi Refining Cultivator also fell silent for a moment upon hearing Yun Tiancheng's words, then nodded.

"By the way, you have handled the aftermath these past few days in an orderly fashion. You shall temporarily take over the position of Family Head and handle internal affairs."

The Third Level of Qi Refining Cultivator tried to refuse repeatedly, but in the end, he couldn't decline.

Yun Tiancheng said, "All my cultivation resources will be given to you, and the Family resources will prioritize you. Breakthrough to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining as soon as possible! I have failed the Yun Family's hundred-year legacy!"

"Family Head, why go so far!"

...

At Black Magpie Mountain, only after Chen Li heard that the Nascent Soul Elder of the Beast Hunting Sect had turned the tide and single-handedly forced back the Yao Beast army did he disperse the Formations around the perimeter of Black Magpie Mountain.

The two spirit jujube trees in front of the door had already reached two meters, lush and green.

Some of the three acres of spirit rice on Luoxia Mountain were destroyed, so he spent some time setting up a Second-Tier Defensive Array and sowing spirit rice again.

Inside the mountain, Brother Ox was still looking after the herb fields and spirit rice fields.

Inside Concentric Heart Hall, after Zhu Lingyue fed the third and fourth children, she watched the eldest and second children chasing and playing down the mountain, shouting from time to time, "Run slower!"

At Zizai Pavilion, Chen Li was making and drinking tea as usual, as if the Yao Beast chaos had never happened.

...

News was received a day ago that the Wang Family Head had died, and the remaining Wang Family Cultivators had abandoned their territory, leaving the various families sighing in lament.

The Luo Family, An Family, Yun Family, and Chen Li were to meet tomorrow at Baifeng Mountain to discuss how to divide the territory.

The Wang Family had been here for over a hundred years, located in the west of Liangxi County, with five mountains and over twenty acres of spirit fields, governing more than a dozen Mortal villages.

To think they had plotted a murder case together back then!

Who would have thought that after only a short time, the Wang Family would be gone? The affairs of the world are truly unpredictable!

The next day, the group arrived at Baifeng Mountain once again. This time, four people came. The small mountain pavilion was still the same, but the people had changed.

Seeing them again, Chen Li felt particularly emotional, especially regarding Yun Tiancheng. What a sharp and spirited Family Head he used to be! Now, he had become a white-haired, listless old man.

The An Family Head was the same, with visible white hair, and while the Luo Family was slightly better, the wrinkles on his forehead had increased.

Chen Li sighed; it was no longer like when they plotted to kill the Foundation Establishment together. Back then, everyone was full of vigor, feeling as if any great difficulty could be resolved.

"The Wang Family's five mountains and twenty-four acres of spirit fields are distributed as eight acres on Qingfeng Mountain, four acres on Dilou Mountain, four acres on Anmian Mountain, four acres on Feiyan Mountain, and four acres on Sishan Mountain," someone stated.

The mountains with four acres of spirit fields were easy to divide. After drawing lots, Chen Li chose Feiyan Mountain. The four Mortal villages attached to Feiyan Mountain came under Chen Li's management, marking his first batch of Mortal villages.

The remaining eight acres of spirit fields on Qingfeng Mountain were the main prize. A few years ago, these families would have certainly fought over it, but now everyone was facing their own crises and had no heart left to compete.

Thus, they used the simplest method: the highest bidder wins. After all, it was 300 to 500 Spirit Stones per acre.

At this time, neither the An Family nor the Yun Family had any intention of buying; only Luo Sheng and Chen Li were interested.

In the end, Chen Li bought Qingfeng Mountain, with its eight acres of spirit fields and seven attached Mortal villages, for three thousand Spirit Stones.

These families were not surprised that Chen Li could produce three thousand Spirit Stones; his Third-Tier Attack Arrays sold for seven or eight hundred a set, and they had even bought some before the Yao Beast incident.

After paying the Spirit Stones on the spot, these families divided the stones among themselves right then and there.

With this, including the previous Luoxia Mountain, Chen Li now possessed four mountains in total, and the number of Mortals under his jurisdiction reached over four thousand.

As the sun set over Black Magpie Mountain, Chen Li told Zhu Lingyue about the additional territory. In a few days, he would take Brother Ox over to familiarize him with the land and check on those Mortal villages.

...

In the Boundless Forest, that Nascent Soul Cultivator with the fan had already been fighting Red Gold for several days and nights. Red Gold looked at the Boundless Forest below, which had been caught in the crossfire, feeling angry but helpless.

Red Gold quickly said, "Stop fighting, alright! I admit defeat!"

He had been suppressed and beaten for the past few days, which was miserable. Upon hearing this, the Nascent Soul Cultivator also stopped, and the two held a secret discussion there.

A day later, news spread from the Beast Taming Sect.

The Beast Hunting Sect's decennial Great Hunt would no longer be held in the form of a Sect event; those who wished to hunt beasts could set out on their own. Furthermore, Red Gold's Yao Beast forces would retreat ten thousand li into the Boundless Forest and no longer harass the territories of the Nanwu Kingdom area.

This peace agreement was thus reached. After the news spread, the Cultivators who had intended to migrate out of the Nanwu Kingdom's territory stayed behind.

Another day later, more news came from the Beast Hunting Sect.

In view of the Yao Beast calamity, the tribute items for the Golden Core Families could be reduced by thirty percent at their discretion for the next twenty years. The Golden Core Families were also required to reduce the tribute items for the various Foundation Establishment Immortal Clans in the counties under them, and so on down the line.

When these two pieces of news spread, the Cultivator families of the Nanwu Kingdom were overjoyed; they could finally rest and recover.

Everyone realized how terrifyingly powerful a Nascent Soul Cultivator truly was!

A single person could decide the peace and the rules of an entire region. Many people were full of gratitude toward this Nascent Soul Cultivator who had been away from the Sect for a hundred years.