Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 708: Chapter 291: Infighting in Long Mountain, Li Tiancheng’s Caution

Li Xuanping was not only the eldest son of Li Tiancheng, but also the head of the Li family’s ”Xuan” generation. Being reprimanded by Li Xuanling like this, his pride was clearly damaged, and he retorted sarcastically, even omitting to address her as leader.

Li Xuanling was the youngest of the ”Xuan” generation in the Li family, and although the term ”youngest” was not incorrect, Li Xuanping was obviously intending to embarrass her by using it in front of so many Cold Resistance Level individuals.

The expressions of all the Cold Resistance Level individuals present froze slightly, and the hall fell silent, the atmosphere suddenly becoming tense.

Though Li Xuanling did not speak for a long time, the anger in her eyes as she stared at Li Xuanping was evident to everyone.

”Youngest, don’t look at me like that. After all, you’re just a woman. I admit you have some talent in cultivation, and your strength is unmatched in Long Mountain. Catching up to my father, or even surpassing Uncle, in the future is not a big problem.

But being the leader of Long Mountain requires more than just talent in cultivation. You’re too emotional. When these outsiders complain a little to you, you hand over military power to them. Now that problems have arisen, naturally, you must take responsibility.”

”So, according to your opinion, who should be the leader?”

After speaking, Li Xuanling sat back in her chair and casually glanced towards the left at Li Xuantian.

As expected, Li Xuanping stood up directly and addressed everyone:

”Of course it should be the second young master, Xuantian. He narrowly escaped death at Yangyuan Peak and brought back the vital Holy Sun Pill, a significant contribution to Long Mountain. Moreover, since the eldest young master failed to inherit the leadership position, by order of succession, the position should rightfully go to the second young master. Don’t you all agree?”

Li Xuanping directed his final inquiry to the left side, where the core members of the Li family were, clearly trying to drum up support.

The core members of the Li family immediately understood and chimed in one after another:

”That’s right, the young master is a woman, unsuitable to lead.”

”The second young master should inherit the leadership position, I agree.”

”Since the eldest young master lost the position, it should naturally pass to the second young master.”

”The eldest young master was originally the designated successor. Since he is not taking the position, and given the order of seniority, it should go to the second young master.”

”Although the young master is strong, she is ultimately still a woman and will eventually marry off. It’s appropriate for the second young master to be the leader.”

......

A flash of fatigue crossed Li Xuanling’s eyes as she looked at the group of core Li family members beneath her, feeling both pity for their short-sightedness and deep concern for the future of Long Mountain.

Long Mountain was not decided solely by the leader; it implemented the council system left by her father, Li Tianhua. In simple terms, anyone who reached the Cold Resistance Level automatically became a council elder, joining the council to participate in discussions and decisions on all major camp matters.

As Long Mountain grew stronger, the council also expanded, and gradually began to split into factions of the core Li family and outsiders.

The core faction, led by Li Xuanping, the eldest son of the second uncle, included the core Li family members and the in-laws from the Cheng, Song, and Yang families, holding thirty-four seats;

The outsider faction was represented by Zhou Yuan, Meng Ying, Yue Qian, Jiang Ping, Sun Yan, and He Tu—six of the Longshan Eight Great Vajra who had not intermarried with the Li family, holding eighteen seats.

The conflict between these two factions was not new, but when her father Li Tianhua was present, he could control the situation, so the factions rarely dared to openly clash.

However, since her father Li Tianhua left, the second uncle Li Tiancheng, lacking authority and somewhat biased towards the core family, saw tensions between the factions heighten, and the situation gradually began to spiral out of control.

She was well aware that ever since she took on the leadership role, Li Xuanping and the core members of the Li family had been opposed to her, even approaching the second uncle Li Tiancheng multiple times to advocate for her replacement.

Yet she never expected that these people would be foolish enough to challenge her at such a critical moment.

Long Mountain had been severely damaged, the Zhaoyang Blood Guard Army had been entirely wiped out, Great Xia remained watchful and hostile, and in the face of a great enemy, these Li family members were not considering how to deal with others, but instead were using this opportunity to eliminate dissidents, even attempting to oust her as leader.

The key point was that they were endorsing Li Xuantian.

Li Xuanling turned to look at Li Xuantian, who had adopted an indifferent, uninvolved stance, causing a chill to rush through her heart.

In early May, Li Xuantian and over four hundred Longyou Army soldiers escaped death from Yangyuan Peak to return to Long Mountain. Although they had passed the silver and Solidified Fire Oil tests, Li Xuanling and the second uncle Li Tiancheng remained wary of him.

Particularly regarding the Holy Sun Pill, even though she had taken it and personally experienced its rapid enhancement of abilities, Li Xuanling remained uneasy.

The Dan Medicine posed no problem, but that didn’t mean the person was also without issues.

Mainly because the night at Gourd Valley, when Wu Xiong was controlled by the White Dew Gu, left a significant psychological shadow on her, coupled with the natural human fear of deceitful monsters, she couldn’t bring herself to fully trust Li Xuantian.

Who knew if this Li Xuantian was still her original second brother?

She had already secretly discussed with the second uncle Li Tiancheng that since the camp was free of the Dewdrop Plague, as long as Li Xuantian didn’t display abnormal behavior and was willing to provide the Holy Sun Pill to strengthen Long Mountain, they would temporarily let their guard down.