48: Chapter 48 Meeting the Clan Chief

With his Divine Sense retracted and returned to his body, Li Changqing opened his eyes; the surrounding scenery of the lake and mountains remained the same, yet the world appeared completely different in his eyes.

Foundation Establishment not only brought about a qualitative change in his Spiritual Qi, but also bestowed upon him this profound ability that transcended the five senses and allowed him to perceive the finest details.

He stood up with his hands behind his back, knowing deeply that from this moment on, his path of cultivation would enter a new, more subtle, and vast realm.

After tidying up slightly on Xuanling Island, Li Changqing took flight on his sword, transforming into a streak of light as he flew straight toward the Family's territory, Qingfeng Mountain.

The night was as dark as ink, and all was silent.

Deep within the Li Family residence, the courtyard of Clan Chief Patriarch Li Huaping was still lit, with the aroma of tea curling in the air.

He was discussing matters related to purchasing supplies in Huangfeng Prefecture with a peer from the Foundation Establishment Stage, Clan Leader Li Huaming, when he suddenly heard steady, powerful footsteps approaching from outside the courtyard.

"Clan Chief, Changqing requests an audience."

Li Changqing's voice rang out from outside the door, calm yet containing a trace of irrepressible excitement.

Patriarch Li Huaping was slightly taken aback, a trace of surprise rising in his heart.

It was already deep into the night, and Li Changqing should have been on duty at Xuanling Lake; his sudden return made him wonder if something had happened.

"Come in." Patriarch Li Huaping put down the Jade Slip in his hand and said in a deep voice.

The courtyard gate was gently pushed open, and Li Changqing stepped inside. Patriarch Li Huaping's gaze instinctively lingered on Li Changqing for a moment, and then his pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw Li Changqing walking with steps as steady as a mountain, his aura perfectly rounded and restrained. Although he had deliberately concealed his sharp edge, that faint sense of "solidity," completely different from the Qi Refinement Stage, was like a flickering candle in the dark, impossible to hide.

This was definitely not an aura that a Cultivator of the Qi Refinement Stage could possess! As a Foundation Establishment Initial Stage Cultivator, Patriarch Li Huaping was all too familiar with this aura—it was the sign that Spiritual Qi had been tempered to the extreme and had begun to merge with the Physical Body and Divine Soul, forming a stable cycle of circulation; this was the genuine mark of the Foundation Establishment Stage!

"Changqing... you..." Patriarch Li Huaping's voice came to an abrupt halt. He slammed his teacup down, his body leaning forward involuntarily, his gaze like a torch, locking onto Li Changqing as if he wanted to see right through him.

Li Changqing stepped forward two paces, bowed respectfully to the two elders in the room, and said in a solemn tone: "Clan Chief, Eighth Uncle, your nephew successfully achieved Foundation Establishment by a stroke of luck while out a month ago."

As his voice fell, the room fell into a deathly silence.

Although Patriarch Li Huaping had already sensed the truth through his aura, hearing Li Changqing's report with his own ears still caused waves to rise in his heart, leaving him deeply shocked.

Beside him, Clan Leader Li Huaming was stunned for a moment, his face full of disbelief.

Foundation Establishment? When he had met this nephew at the Family meeting five years ago, his cultivation was only at the eighth layer of the Qi Refining stage. In just a few short years, he had actually caught up to them and broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage?

The Li Family had been established here for nearly a thousand years, and generations of Clan Chiefs had worked diligently, yet there had always been very few Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Patriarch Li Huaping himself had exhausted a massive amount of the Family's resources and spent over a decade in closed-door cultivation before finally struggling to enter the Foundation Establishment Stage ten years ago, and his cultivation had remained at the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage ever since, unable to make any progress.

Clan Leader Li Huaming had also only barely broken through in recent years. One had to know that both of them were nearly sixty, having struggled until they were almost sixty years old to break through to Foundation Establishment.

And Li Changqing, at this moment, was only thirty-nine! This had completely shattered the record for the youngest Foundation Establishment Cultivator since the founding of the Li Family.

For low-level Cultivators, the difficulty of Foundation Establishment was harder than ascending to the heavens; the accumulation of Spiritual Qi, the realization of one's state of mind, and the coincidence of Opportunity were all indispensable, and it was a cruel gamble of resources and time.

Shock swept through Patriarch Li Huaping's heart like a tidal wave. Many guesses flashed rapidly through his mind:

Could it be that Li Changqing had encountered an ancient ruin and obtained a Heaven-Defying Legacy? Or had he fortuitously met a high-level Cultivator who favored him, bestowing high-level Spirit Medicine or even more precious assistance? Or perhaps... he possessed a special Bloodline or hidden talent that had never been revealed before?

Countless questions surged in his heart, but Patriarch Li Huaping was, after all, the Clan Chief. He quickly suppressed his shock, took a deep breath, tried to keep his voice steady, and asked in a deep voice:

"Changqing, can you tell us the reason why you were able to succeed in Foundation Establishment so quickly?"

Li Changqing then recounted the story he had practiced countless times in his mind:

Three months ago, while out purchasing supplies, he had encountered three demonic Cultivators blocking his path in a remote area. At the critical moment of life and death, he used Talismans and his Spirit Beast to fight back and kill them, and accidentally discovered several stalks of two-leaf purple lingzhi, a Profound Rank spirit technique, and some other cultivation supplies in the Storage Pouch of those three demonic Cultivators...

After returning to Xuanling Lake, he took advantage of this Opportunity and risked taking the foundation establishment pill along with the purple lingzhi to break through the Bottleneck. Relying on his indomitable will, he was finally lucky enough to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The two elders of the "Hua" generation remained silent for a long time after hearing this.

Patriarch Li Huaping looked at Li Changqing with a complex gaze; his eyes held both incredulous surprise and a trace of inquiry, but more than that, it was a sense of relief from the bottom of his heart.

The sudden addition of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to the Family, especially a Genius who was so young and had achieved Foundation Establishment in such a way, meant that the overall strength of the Family would see a qualitative leap.

Especially in the current grim situation where a beast tide was approaching, with every additional Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator sitting in charge, the confidence of the Family members would be greater, and the hope of the Li Family surviving this catastrophe would be greater.

Patriarch Li Huaping and Clan Leader Li Huaming looked at each other and did not ask any more questions.

In the world of cultivation, some things are better left unsaid, and everyone understood this tacitly.

As long as they confirmed later that Li Changqing's Physical Body and Divine Soul were in no danger and that he was indeed of pure Li Family Bloodline, then the greater the Opportunity he obtained, the happier they would be for this junior from the bottom of their hearts.

According to the Li Family's ancestral teachings, opportunities obtained by Family members while outside belonged to the individual.

Now that Li Changqing had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, in terms of Family status, he was already at the same level as them, so even if he didn't explain a single word, it was his right.

After a long while, Patriarch Li Huaping slowly spoke, his voice low and full of authority: "This matter... do not spread it for now, so as to avoid causing unnecessary turmoil. Changqing, since you have achieved Foundation Establishment, come with me to the Family ancestral hall to pay respects to our ancestors and comfort the spirits of our forefathers."

Li Changqing looked solemn, cupped his hands, and replied: "I will follow all of the Clan Chief's arrangements!"

The Li Family ancestral hall was located in the deepest part of the Family's ancestral land, with a Spirit Mountain at its back and a spirit spring in front, like a pearl embedded in a place with good Feng Shui.

The entire building was constructed from precious second-tier spirit wood. After hundreds of years of wind and rain, and the day-and-night infiltration of Spiritual Qi, the surface of those thick beams and pillars had lost their original roughness, revealing a luster as warm and smooth as jade, as if every inch of the wood grain was breathing and exhaling.

Pushing open the heavy carved wooden doors, the interior space suddenly opened up, revealing an atmosphere of solemn and ancient simplicity.

The hall was deep and secluded, and the floor was paved with bluestone that could faintly gather Spiritual Qi. With every step taken, one could feel the faint coolness and spiritual rhythm coming from beneath one's feet.