Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 50: One Year

After understanding Li Shiqingʼs intention, Li Zhirui also calmed down and asked, ”Why have you chosen me?”

”Because I have no other choice but you,” Li Shiqing didnʼt reveal the real reason, only telling Li Zhirui that it wasnʼt that he chose him, but that there was no choice, it had to be him.

Li Shilian was also getting on in years, Li Shiting was cold in nature, Li Shiren was not shrewd enough, and as for the other clan members, if they werenʼt hopeless in breaking through to Foundation Establishment, they were a long way from achieving it. Only Li Zhirui was the right fit.

Of course, if it were simply a matter of being suitable, Li Shiqing wouldnʼt have chosen him, but he didnʼt want to utter those words of praise, lest Li Zhirui become arrogant.

”I have been transferring power to the Elders recently, so when you take over as Clan Leader, you wonʼt have to work as tirelessly as I have,” he explained. At the same time, this was also a constraint, a test.

It was to restrict Li Zhirui and future Clan Leaders, to prevent them from making decisions based on their personal likes and dislikes; it was a test to see how Li Zhirui would maintain the duties of Clan Leader without being undermined by the Elders who held real power.

”Can I refuse?” asked Li Zhirui.

He wasnʼt very interested in managing the entire family. Heʼd rather create more and better pills, improve his own cultivation, travel to see the wide world out there. He was willing to contribute to the familyʼs development, but he didnʼt want to be tied down by this responsibility within the family.

Li Shiqing was taken aback, having decided on Li Zhirui as his successor quite early on, but it seemed he had never asked Li Zhirui for his thoughts. He had assumed Li Zhirui would take on the responsibility, after all, judging by his behavior, he seemed to have deep feelings for the family.

Li Zhirui sighed softly in his heart and said, ”I am willing to take over this responsibility after Foundation Establishment, but I wonʼt become the Clan Leader, only acting in the capacity of the Clan Leader until you come out of seclusion or another more suitable candidate emerges.”

His previous refusal was just to express his attitude, and Li Zhirui knew he couldnʼt really refuse!

As Li Shiqing said, the family had no other choice in the short term unless he gave up his seclusion and the opportunity to break through to the Golden Core.

But Li Shiqing was no longer young!

Even though he was of the same generation as Elders like Li Shile and Li Shize, by their ages, Li Shiqing, the second eldest of the ʼShiʼ generation, must be just over a hundred years old.

But in reality, it wasnʼt so. Between the second eldest, Li Shiqing, and the fifth, Li Shize, there were actually many people, only they had fallen due to an accident.

It was even because of that accident that the Li family dared not worship them, and their names were stricken from the family annals, as if they had never existed in the Li family.

It was also because of this accident that the Li family encountered a crisis and nearly faced extinction. Only after Li Shiqing took over did he think to establish a separate branch to preserve the Li family bloodline.

So, in fact, Li Shiqing was several decades older than his contemporaries; he was almost one hundred and seventy or eighty years old by now.

It seemed as though Li Shiqing had a few more decades until the lifespan limit of Foundation Establishment, so there was no need to rush, but breaking through to the Golden Core was not so easy, was it?

To seize this last opportunity, Li Shiqing had to entrust the family to Li Zhirui, and for the sake of Li Shiqingʼs Core Formation and for the Li family to advance further, Li Zhirui had to shoulder the responsibilities of Clan Leader.

”It was my lack of consideration; I forgot about your feelings,” Li Shiqing sighed.

Why had he forgotten? The family had trapped him for over a hundred years, and now he was trying to trap another person for decades, someone who was even more likely to break through to the Golden Core than himself.

Li Zhirui, however, smiled and said, ”Then, Clan Leader Grandfather, you must succeed in forming your Core.”

Li Shiqing didnʼt speak, only nodded heavily.

”If thereʼs nothing else, then Iʼll go back first.” Seeing that Li Shiqing agreed, Li Zhirui turned and left the main hall.

After returning to his own courtyard, Li Zhirui let out a heavy sigh and said, ”Being part of a family, some responsibilities are inescapable.”

Da Qing looked over, puzzled and unaware of what had happened, but detected that Li Zhirui was in a bad mood.

Squeak!

Da Qing comforted Li Zhirui in his own way, which happened to be a stream of water that he spurted out, not with a spell, but by holding water in his mouth and then spraying it out, or in other words, it was his saliva.

Li Zhirui, caught between laughter and tears, raised his hand to block it with a screen of water, but thanks to Da Qingʼs actions, the negative emotions in his heart were also dispelled.

Squeak!

Da Qing, with his limited intelligence, couldnʼt grasp complex expressions; all he saw was a smile on Li Zhiruiʼs face and thought his method had worked, so he sprayed several more mouthfuls of saliva at Li Zhirui.

Li Zhirui played around with Da Qing for a while and then took him into the space, saying, ”Since you like playing with water, you can help me water the Spiritual Medicine from now on.”

Previously, Li Zhirui didnʼt dare let Da Qing handle the task because he couldnʼt control the power of his spells very well, but after training for such a long time, Da Qing had become very adept.

Squeak!

Da Qing chirped happily, and following the direction of Li Zhiruiʼs finger, he summoned a large Spiritual Cloud over a Spirit Field where Shuirun Grass was planted. A gentle Spiritual Rain fell, nourishing the area with Spiritual Medicine.

”Very well done!” Li Zhirui praised generously, and after Da Qing had finished watering, he led him to another Spirit Field.

With Da Qingʼs help, the chores that normally would have kept Li Zhirui busy for an hour or two were completed half an hour earlier today.

”Good job.” Li Zhirui patted Da Qingʼs head, fed him two Jade Spirit Pills, and left him in the space to assimilate the Spirit Pills while he departed alone.

For a considerable time afterward, Li Zhirui spent his days engaged in alchemy, cultivating, tending to Spiritual Medicine, and playing with Da Qing.

Although he was busy every day, Li Zhirui felt very fulfilled, and he didnʼt neglect his own cultivation either. His Mana was growing steadily, but it would still take some time to break through the ninth layer of Qi Cultivation.

Moreover, had made major progress in the art of alchemy. He had learned how to do a lot of Water Refinement Pills, and after several practices, the success rate of producing Jade Spirit Pills had reached ninety percent.

Aside from Li Zhirui, the Li family had also seen significant development in various areas over the year.

Another member of the family had learned how to refine Jade Spirit Pills, and even though Water Refinement Pills were now widely sold in Yunqing Marketplace by many forces, it remained the familyʼs largest source of income each month.

The business of Cloudtop Pavilion sustained a decent level, serving as the second largest source of income for the family.

The expansion of their Cloud Fish holding, after fleeing Bailang County and encountering them on the road, also allowed the family to exchange some with their members or use them as rewards. However, due to the preciousness of Cloud Fish, the Li family did not dare to sell them in the market.

Although Li Zhirui had two pairs of Cloud Fish, he had not yet had the chance to taste their delicacy due to the small scale at the moment.

So when the family listed Cloud Fish for sale, he immediately ordered two to taste, and indeed, Cloud Fish lived up to its reputation. The meat was tender and melted in the mouth, with Spiritual Energy that was very pure and easy to assimilate.

If it werenʼt for the limited availability of Cloud Fish and the clanʼs regulation that one person couldnʼt buy them all, Li Zhirui would indeed spend all his Contribution Value to enjoy two Cloud Fish every day.