Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

三 days after the beast tide ended, all the clanspeople gathered on Da Rong Island to hold a funeral for the five members of the clan who had sacrificed themselves to the water devils.

That day was drizzly, adding a touch of melancholy to an already solemn and grieving atmosphere.

At the end of the funeral, Li Zhizhun, as the clan leader, promised that the family would take good care of the wives and children of the five and provide them with generous compensation.

Li Zhirui stood by, watching the women and children cry inconsolably, and thought to himself: If one day, he were to be met with misfortune, would there be anyone grieving for him as these people were?

He hadn't come up with an answer when the funeral ended.

As he walked down the hill that would be used to bury clan members in the future, Li Zhirui looked back at the five new graves and the people kneeling before them, wailing in sorrow, with the foggy mountain rain seemingly painting the world with a mournful shade of grey.

——

Time is the best medicine for healing sorrow, and in the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.

"Big Brother, what are you doing?" Li Zhirui, having entrusted the recently refined Consolidating Yuan Pills to the family for consignment, ran into a travel-worn Li Zhizhun on his way back and curiously asked.

After the beast tide, the Li family, like other powers, was in a period of healing and recovery; it seemed unlikely anything significant would be happening.

"It's good that you're here, so I don't have to send someone specifically to call for you. Come with me to the main hall, there is something I need to announce," Li Zhizhun did not explain and went ahead to notify the other elders using a jade token.

Full of questions, Li Zhirui followed him to the main hall. He had merely shut himself away for a few days to refine a batch of Hundred Herbs Pills and ponder over the Pill Recipe for Spirit Clearing Pills. Had he missed some important news?

"I'll speak after everyone has arrived," said Li Zhizhun, then took out a jade slip, sat at the head of the hall, and seemed to be recording something.

Li Zhirui could do nothing but sit bored in his chair, waiting for the other elders to arrive, and to their inquiries, he could only shake his head, indicating he was also in the dark.

"Big Brother, everyone is here," Li Zhirui called out.

Li Zhizhun instantly withdrew his Divine Sense from the jade slip and, after confirming that all the elders had arrived, spoke up, "I have convened all of you here to make an announcement."

"A few days ago, the Yuanming Sect announced that they are going to host a trading gathering and have invited various nearby powers to participate. Moreover, Elder Shize has found out that the Yuanming Sect has been preparing for this event since last year and has invited many trade caravans to join."

"A trading gathering?" Li Shile didn't quite understand and asked, "Is it another form of auction?"

Li Zhizhun shook his head; he had thought the same at first, but after delving deeper, he realized it was entirely different.

"The main purpose of a trading gathering is to display Spiritual Objects to attract buyers, not to bid for them."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhirui pursed his lips and said, "It looks like the Yuanming Sect has created some good items and wants to announce it to the world under the guise of a trading gathering, while we are just brought along for the ride."

Of course, the trading gathering had its benefits for the Li family as well; at the very least, they could further promote the family's various Spiritual Objects to attract more buyers.

"Zhirui is right, but we still need to prepare diligently for the event. According to the information Elder Shize has gathered, not only will large powers like Shen Leishan and Wood Spirit Sect participate, but commerce associations like the East Sea Commerce Association and Xuanfa Pavilion will also send representatives," Li Zhizhun continued.

The crowd was startled upon hearing this; the powers Yuanming Sect had invited covered nearly all major forces within tens of thousands of miles!

"What has the Yuanming Sect created…" Li Zhirui muttered to himself, "If I remember correctly, the Yuanming Sect's most skilled craft should be Artifact Refining, right? Could it be that Master Mingling is also a third-order Artifact Refiner?"

"If it were just a third-order Artifact Refiner, the Yuanming Sect wouldn't make such a fuss," Li Shilian shook his head. "Powers like Shen Leishan and the Wood Spirit Sect would definitely not be lacking third-order Artifact Refiners."

Li Zhirui thought it made sense; Shen Leishan was a Nascent Soul power a hundred years ago, and the Wood Spirit Sect had inherited a part of that legacy. As for those trade associations, their strength was formidable; a third-order Artifact Refiner was nothing to them.

"Why ponder so much?" Li Shiren said dismissively, "What the Yuanming Sect does is irrelevant to our family. We just need to consider what Spiritual Objects from our own family to bring to the trading gathering."

Li Zhizhun followed up, "What do the elders think the family should bring to participate?"

He had been busy recording to tally the family's Spiritual Objects and already had a draft in mind.

"Bring them all," Li Shile sighed with a troubled expression, "Because of the beast tide, the breeding of our Spirit Beasts suffered horrendous losses, and it will take a year or two to recover to the previous size, unable to meet the demands of Cloudtop Pavilion."

With the increasing number of Loose Cultivators residing in Yunping State, Cloudtop Pavilion's business had improved significantly. Before the incident with Spirit Lake, they had needed to purchase some sea fish to ensure sufficient ingredients, all the more so now.

"The revenue from Cloudtop Pavilion will inevitably decrease. We will have to find ways to earn more Spirit Stones for the family through these Spiritual Objects," he added.

They could expand the procurement scale, but the wild Devil Beasts compared to the Spirit Beasts bred by the Li family differed significantly in terms of meat quality and Spiritual Energy. Cloudtop Pavilion ability to become the Marketplace's busiest tavern was a significant reason!

"Elder Shile makes a good point. We should take this opportunity to establish good relations with some smaller commerce associations and sell other Spiritual Objects from the family," Li Shiqi chimed in with support.

Li Zhirui sat to one side, listening to the elders discuss animatedly, with no intention to interject, because the only Spiritual Objects the family could present with confidence were the Consolidating Yuan Pills he had refined!

Even that was just picking the tallest out of a group of short ones; when truly presented at the trading fair, it would still go unnoticed. The Li family was likely just there to make up the numbers this time.

However, he was very interested in the trading fair; after all, with so many major powers participating, there were bound to be some precious Spiritual Objects on display. Even if Li Zhirui couldn't afford them, it would be good to broaden his horizons.

"The trading fair will commence in half a month at the Marketplace and will continue for seven days. Those who are interested can head to the Marketplace on their own, but for safety reasons, the family will have spirit boats shuttle people daily."

After all, Li Zhizhun and Li Shile, along with a few elders, had to attend the trading fair daily to promote the family's Spiritual Objects and attract merchants, so taking along some clan members wouldn't hurt.

After the meeting, Li Zhirui returned to his small courtyard to count the money he had on him because there were many things he wanted to buy: second-tier Water Refinement Pill Recipes, second-tier Alchemy Furnaces, second-tier Spiritual Medicine he hadn't collected yet, Water-Wood Attribute Grade Three Spirit Beast Eggs, or younglings. He had to know how many Spirit Stones he could offer first.

Li Zhirui had never thought about getting all of them because he definitely couldn't afford that many Spirit Stones right now!

Since the number wasn't large, the count was soon completed. He had a total of over ten thousand Spirit Stones, more than ten bottles of Consolidating Yuan Pills and Hundred Herbs Pills, not counting other miscellaneous items.

The Hundred Herbs Pill was more effective than the Consolidating Yuan Pill; even at four hundred Spirit Stones per bottle, there were buyers, but Li Zhirui couldn't sell them. Those bottles of Consolidating Yuan Pills could be sold for a thousand or two thousand Spirit Stones, though.

"While I still have quite a few Spiritual Medicines on hand, I'll refine a few more batches of Consolidating Yuan Pills in these two days," Li Zhirui murmured softly.

Having said that, he cleared his mind of distractions and began the process of pill refining.

A few days later.

Chirp!

Da Qing crawled over to Li Zhirui, calling out in a low, tired voice.

"What's wrong?" Li Zhirui straightened up from the Spirit Field and looked at Da Qing blankly, not understanding why it had suddenly become like this.

Chirp chirp!

Da Qing chirped twice more, unable to withstand the exhaustion from deep within, and its pair of small eyes slowly closed.

If it weren't for the fact that Da Qing still had a breath, hadn't been injured in these days, and the soul contract in the Sea of Consciousness was still there, Li Zhirui would have thought it had passed away.

Li Zhirui examined Da Qing carefully with his Divine Sense, his eyes filled with excitement; he never expected that Da Qing would be breaking through to Foundation Establishment at this time!

After the excitement passed, Li Zhirui quickly took out a set of Formation from his storage bag to protect Da Qing, ensuring that the Giant Spirit Poison Bees from the space wouldn't disturb its breakthrough. He also placed a large number of Spirit Stones around it to prevent a shortage of Spiritual Energy.

Looking at the curled-up Da Qing, Li Zhirui whispered softly, "Once Da Qing reaches Foundation Establishment, I can go out and gain experience!"

He had not ventured out previously, not only because of family affairs but also to provide Da Qing with a stable environment for breakthrough.

In truth, the speed of Da Qing's breakthrough was rather slow. If it were any other Spirit Beast of the same rank, with the large number of Spiritual Objects Li Zhirui provided, it shouldn't have taken so long. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Though Li Zhirui complained before, he had never forced Da Qing to break through quickly, because he understood that Da Qing was accumulating more Spiritual Energy to solidify its foundation, which would be greatly beneficial to its future development.

In the following days, after using up his Spiritual Medicines, Li Zhirui stopped forcing the growth of Spiritual Medicines to refine pills, instead sitting beside Da Qing, working on deducing the Water Refining method for the Spirit Clearing Pill Recipe.

Perhaps because of the high difficulty of the Hundred Herbs Pill, once he began working with the Spirit Clearing Pill, his progress was rapid. He had already deduced the correct dosage for various Spiritual Medicines, and it wouldn't be long before he could try his hand at it.

However, he faced a problem - he ostensibly didn't have Ghost Grass in his possession!

Therefore, if he truly managed to refine the Spirit Clearing Pill, he could not openly make it available for other Foundation Establishment cultivators in the family to use.

But to Li Zhirui's surprise, an opportunity regarding this matter soon presented itself!

On the day the trading fair opened, like many of his clan members, Li Zhirui boarded a Spirit Boat heading for the Marketplace. Seeing Li Shilian sitting to one side, he walked over to strike up a conversation to pass the time.

As they chatted, Li Zhirui brought up the subject of the Spirit Clearing Pill and said regretfully, "I'm almost finished improving the Pill Recipe for the Spirit Clearing Pill, but I'm lacking Ghost Grass and can't refine the Spirit Pill."

He was setting the stage for his return from his excursions with the Spirit Clearing Pill in hand. As for the source of the Ghost Grass? Naturally, he would say it was discovered accidentally during his travels.

"Actually, the family has never given up on cultivating Ghost Grass over the years," Li Shilian said with a complex expression.

The significance of Ghost Grass to the family was great, so naturally, they would try everything possible. However, Li Shilian's complicated expression left Li Zhirui puzzled.