125: Chapter 125 The Li Family in the Secret Realm

The news of Dan City participating in the Righteous and Demonic Grand Competition seemed to grow wings, spreading across the Southern Desolate Continent in just a few short days.

Just as Ancestor Qian Hun had envisioned, Dan City's participation motivated many factions that were originally uninterested in the Righteous and Demonic Grand Competition.

After all, one of the participants was the grandson of the City Lord of Dan City!

If one could lend a helping hand to the grandson of the City Lord of Dan City during the Righteous and Demonic Grand Competition or within the Soul Stone Secret Realm and earn the gratitude of Dan City, the potential benefits would be unimaginable.

Even if it meant sacrificing the lives of some Disciples under their command,

it would be worth it!

For a time, countless participation applications flew toward the Thousand Souls Sect.

At the northernmost end of the Southern Desolate was a vast ocean.

Beneath the endless azure, terrifying ocean Yao Beasts were nurtured.

Every time a wave rose, it might simply be an ocean Yao Beast rolling over.

This sea was constantly in a state of boiling, and the wind and waves on the water were enough to make anyone hesitate.

No one noticed that right above this churning coastline, there existed a Minor Mystic Realm invisible to the naked eye.

Within the Secret Realm lived a massive Hidden Family that had survived for generations—the Li Family!

The entire Minor Mystic Realm was only about a hundred square kilometers.

Various resources occupied the vast majority of the area, leaving less than ten square kilometers of space for the Li Family to live.

Consequently, the Li Family's buildings continued to rise higher, with the tallest one reaching a height of a hundred meters!

Even so, it could not house everyone in the Li Family; many members of the Li Family were distributed outside the Secret Realm.

Only by Awakening the Li Family's special Longevity Body or possessing peerless talent was it possible to bring those outside Li Family members back to the Li Family.

However, for those Li Family members returning from the outside, except for those exceptional Prodigies, the others were merely additions and were looked down upon by the Li Family members living within the Li Family Mystic Realm.

Bullying had become the norm.

Even the biological son of Li Xiangjun, who possessed the Longevity Body, was equally unwelcome and marginalized within the Li Family.

They just didn't dare to bully him blatantly.

But being ignored and cold-shouldered was enough to make one feel miserable.

Fortunately, Li Changsheng had a loving mother, a close wet nurse, and a milk-brother, Lin Hao, who grew up with him. Even if the rest of the Li Family ignored him, he was perfectly content.

He even felt quite lucky.

With no one to disturb him, he could quietly live his own little life, tending to flowers and plants in his courtyard, which was quite pleasant.

Li Changsheng was very satisfied with this peaceful life and wanted to maintain it forever.

But today, the sight of his mother being hurriedly called away by the Clan Chief gave Li Changsheng a faint, bad premonition.

“Li Changsheng, what are you thinking about?” Lin Hao, who was shirtless and revealing the terrifying muscular lines of his upper body, leaned in and asked in a booming, muffled voice.

Li Changsheng helplessly covered his ears. “Brother Hao, can you lower your voice a bit?”

Lin Hao spread his hands, looking quite helpless. “I’m already speaking very softly.”

Li Changsheng also knew that this was natural for Lin Hao.

“Then Brother Hao, talk to me from further away, okay? My ears can't take it.” Li Changsheng said with a bitter face.

Lin Hao laughed, his voice like a clap of thunder. “That won't do. If I move away, it won't be whispering anymore.”

Li Changsheng suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

“With a voice like yours, Brother Hao, you call that whispering? Do you have no self-awareness at all!”

Lin Hao chuckled. Li Changsheng pleaded, “Don't laugh, brother, please stop laughing!”

Green Willow's scolding voice came from by the stream, “Lin Hao! Are you bullying Li Changsheng again!”

Li Changsheng sighed; Brother Hao's voice was definitely inherited from his wet nurse!

He shouted back, “Nurse, he’s not!”

Lin Hao was also shouting—no, he was probably just speaking, but his voice easily drowned out Li Changsheng's.

“Mom, I’m not! I’m just making Li Changsheng happy!”

Green Willow's voice drew closer. “You little brat, do you think I don't know you!”

An old woman with silver-gray hair and a face full of wrinkles, yet who still walked with a steady and imposing Aura, appeared outside Li Changsheng's plantation.

Green Willow rushed to Lin Hao's side, her aged, wrinkled hand grabbing Lin Hao's ear and giving it a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree twist.

Lin Hao, who practiced body tempering, indicated that it was a small matter!

He still had a beaming smile. “Mom, gentler, gentler.”

Green Willow knew her son's temperament all too well and gave it another twist.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch...” Now Lin Hao felt the pain and repeatedly begged for mercy.

“Are you still going to bully Li Changsheng?” Green Willow asked with one hand on her hip.

Lin Hao waved his hands in surrender. “I don't dare, Mom, I really don't dare anymore.”

Only then did Green Willow let go. Lin Hao's massive body possessed an extraordinary agility as he darted behind Li Changsheng.

His huge, two-meter-twenty frame hid awkwardly behind the slender and weak-looking Li Changsheng, who was dressed in green robes; the sight was extremely comical.

Green Willow couldn't bear to look. “All you know how to do is hide behind Li Changsheng!”

Lin Hao was shameless and spoke with total conviction, “Well, who told you to only hit me and not Li Changsheng!”

“You...”

“Cuier, is Hao'er making you angry again?” Li Xiangjun heard the loud voices of the mother and son before she even got close, and she found it quite amusing.

Green Willow hurriedly turned and bowed. “Young Miss.”

Li Xiangjun quickly stepped forward to support Green Willow.

The two were of similar age, yet at this moment, they showed a massive difference.

Green Willow's hands were aged and loose, while Li Xiangjun's hands were as firm as a young girl's.

It wasn't just her hands; her face also seemed frozen in the prime of her youth, with skin like congealed fat and arched eyebrows. She looked entirely like a young maiden, making it hard to imagine that she actually had a son in his fifties.

However, the mature charm that occasionally flickered in her eyes would make one realize the truth.

Maturity and a sense of youth—two contradictory traits—were perfectly displayed in her.

“How many times have I said it? We should address each other as sisters; there's no need for such formalities.” Li Xiangjun's brows furrowed slightly, her eyes, like flowing waves, full of reproach and pity.

Green Willow shook her head, the depths of her eyes always carrying a sense of guilt when she looked at the Young Miss.

If she hadn't been so ignorant back then, how could the Young Miss have...

Li Xiangjun had always known about Green Willow's psychological knot, but she didn't know how to untie it.

Now, perhaps an opportunity had come.

She couldn't let Cuier pass away from this world carrying such guilt.

Li Xiangjun looked up, meeting her son's evasive gaze as he sensed something. A faint, amused smile crossed her youthful face.

The peace and quiet her son wanted was likely gone.

Li Changsheng felt a chill run down his spine.

“Li Changsheng.”

Li Changsheng covered his ears. “Mom, my Spirit Plants need watering, I...”

“Hao'er, stop him.”

Lin Hao immediately stretched out his thick arms, grabbing the fleeing Li Changsheng around the waist.

“Li Changsheng, you can forget about running while I've got you!” Lin Hao triumphantly tightened his arms, and Li Changsheng was perfectly submerged within the muscles of his arms.

In Lin Hao's arms, Li Changsheng looked like a puppet doll.

Green Willow immediately frowned, but Li Xiangjun grabbed her hand.

“I told Hao'er to do it; you're not allowed to scold him.”

Lin Hao triumphantly showed his mother a row of white teeth.

“This child...” Green Willow was fuming.