Family Management Game In Immortal Continent

Chapter 436: Year 210

[Year 210]

[Special Event—Flight for Survival]

[Event Update: The destruction of the Li Clanʼs main stronghold has not deterred Venerable Tian Xing from his relentless hunt to eliminate all survivors. Moreover, neither Eternal Sun Prefecture nor the Imperial Dynasty itself would raise any objection to seeing the Li Clan completely wiped out, down to the last root.]

[Clan status Update: Your surviving clansmen, now fugitives in faraway lands, struggle to confront their tragic past. Their morale is broken, their thoughts overwhelmingly grim; their spirits have descended into darkness, and fear compels them to hide their true identities and origins. Clan Trait Acquired: The Lost Clan.]

[Trait Effect: ʼThe Lost Clanʼ – Unable to come to terms with the fact of their near-extermination, your clansmen suffer the following: Cultivation Speed -10%; Combat Effectiveness -10%; Comprehension -10%... (Further penalties may apply.)]

...

Five years passed!

In the intervening years, allies of the Li family had journeyed to Merit City one by one. None of them knew precisely what had transpired on that fateful day. All that was known was that a mysterious group had stormed the Li Clanʼs stronghold, and since that time, not a single Li clansman had been sighted again within the Azure Cloud region. Merit City itself became a most enigmatic location; Region Prince Jiang decreed that no outsiders were to disturb its strange peace.

The city itself had come to symbolize a fleeting, glorious age – a time when the Li Clan spearheaded Azure Cloud regionʼs repeated triumphs over the Wu Clan. Now, Region Prince Jiang had taken up the Li familyʼs mantle, continuing to lead the Azure Cloud Region Army and the clanʼs allies in the ongoing struggle for the Azure Cloud region.

It was common knowledge that within Merit City dwelt one Huang Xiujin, eternally waiting beside the statues memorializing the Li family. What no one realized, however, was that within the Li familyʼs Ancestral Hall – still maintained in immaculate, dustless order – a solitary figure had remained seated in a silent, unmoving daze... for five long years.

Late autumn had arrived again. A dense morning mist shrouded the paths outside the Ancestral Hall. Through it, one could dimly perceive the Primal Blood Tree – outwardly appearing to burst with vigorous life, yet in truth, already desiccated and barren. A pall of mist hung over the Li family compound, and it seemed all paths to the future had vanished.

All of Merit City was suspended in time, forever, the day before the calamity. And Li Wei himself – was he not trapped in much the same state? He was like a wandering, lost spirit, having remained seated there, unmoving and vacant, for five long years.

The instant Venerable Tian Xing had appeared, all the aspirations he and his clan had cherished, all their dreams, had been rendered utterly absurd.

So many grand designs he had nurtured: for the family to flourish and put down deep roots in Merit City; their ambitious strategy to expand the three Azure Cloud regions into twelve; the meticulously crafted Thousand-Year Blood Exchange Plan; their ultimate goal of bringing all of Eternal Sun Prefecture firmly under their control...

He had envisioned a future where the clan would boast an unending stream of Divinity Transformation stage masters; where his descendants would establish themselves across every corner of Eternal Sun Prefecture; where Merit Cityʼs grand Martial Training Halls would echo with the shouts of Li children, competing every ten years, every hundred, vying to be acknowledged as the most exceptional talents of their generation...

He had declared to Venerable Tian Xing that nothing was over, that everything was only just beginning. But now... now Li Wei desperately wished the clinging mist outside would permeate the Ancestral Hall, wished it would cloud his vision. Then, perhaps, the relentless stream of notifications on the translucent panel before him – announcing the death of his kin, one after another – would cease to sear his eyes and leave him so utterly broken.

He knew not how long he sat there, but eventually, the bright sun ascended, its rays banishing the mist that lay thick outside the Ancestral Hall.

”Coo coo!”

An autumn bird called out. On the panel, notifications began to flash insistently, one after another, repeating themselves. The persistent alerts finally caused Li Wei to stir from his deep stupor, his awareness slowly returning.

[System Alert: Your descendant, Li Xinghuo, is currently being pursued by hostiles! He is clutching an Ancestral Spirit Tablet and desperately implores Your divine protection!]

[System Alert: Your descendant, Li Xinghuo, requests your protection!]

[System Alert: Li Xinghuo... requests... protection!]

”Li Xinghuo...”

Li Wei echoed the name, his voice a mere whisper, his eyes still unfocused.

He didnʼt even recognize this particular descendant. Yet the alerts flashed insistently, one after another.

Finally, with hands that trembled uncontrollably, he forced himself to open it – the clan roster, the list he hadnʼt dared to look upon for five long years. Line after desolate line of dimmed, gray names scrolled before him, each accompanied by those two brutal characters:

[KILLED IN ACTION].

It felt as if an executionerʼs icy hand had reached into his chest and was viciously squeezing his heart.

At last, his eyes found Li Xinghuoʼs name – still bright, not yet faded to gray. And then, for the first time in five long years, Li Wei rose and walked out of the Ancestral Hall.

[Li Xinghuo: Son of Li Changge]

[Li Changge (Status: Killed in Action)]

...

Brightmere Prefecture, Dawn City.

Deep within a mountain range, fallen leaves carpeted the ground. Behind a massive tree, a youth with delicate features cowered, a geomantic compass generating a protective aura around him.

He desperately clutched an Ancestral Spirit Tablet in one hand, his entire frame slick with nervous sweat, his clothes stained by it.

Not far from his hiding place, small, eerie paper figures rose into the air one by one. A faint light flickered upon their forms as they systematically searched the area.

”Old Ancestor,” Li Xinghuo prayed desperately, ”I implore you, please, manifest your presence quickly! Father always said that if I ever faced true peril, you would surely grant me your divine protection!”

Li Xinghuo clung to the Spirit Tablet for dear life, praying with all his might. Meanwhile, the paper effigies continued their relentless, frantic search!

Then, footsteps drew nearer. The dry, decaying leaves of the autumn forest floor rustled sharply under advancing feet.

The sound made gooseflesh erupt all over Li Xinghuoʼs skin, and his legs began to shake violently!

”Li Xinghuo!”

Just over twenty meters behind the large tree where Li Xinghuo hid, an elderly man stood, his fingers deftly forming intricate hand seals.

This was clearly the cultivator who had dispatched the paper figures; the spiritual power emanating from him was unmistakably that of Foundation Establishment Peak! His eyes fixed on the tree concealing Li Xinghuo, the old man sneered. ”Here in my Dawn City, you had the audacity to play games with me? Employing the ʼlure the tiger from its mountainʼ ploy to murder my disciple, were you?”

He was pinpointed! A bone-chilling killing intent washed over Li Xinghuo. His expression hardened with grim resolve; clamping the Ancestral Spirit Tablet firmly between his teeth, he stepped out from behind the tree, a sickle-shaped artifact now gripped tightly in both hands, his gaze locked fiercely on the enemy.

There was a desperate finality in his eyes. He remembered: when his father had sent him away, his final command had been to survive, no matter what, to one day avenge their kin and wash away the bitter hatred.

”But now... Father, forgive me!” Li Xinghuo thought, his mind flashing back to the disciple heʼd killed.

”This child... I saw that scoundrelʼs apprentice. A man, yet dressed like a woman! And he... he even tried to force the ʼPassionʼ upon me! I simply couldnʼt restrain myself – I had to kill him!”

”Such nerve!” the old man exclaimed as Li Xinghuo revealed himself.

The moment Li Xinghuo stepped out from behind the tree, the old manʼs eyes narrowed, glinting sharply. Without a single wasted word, his fingers flew, forming incantation seals. Instantly, the paper figures hovering in the air lunged towards Li Xinghuo as one.

True to his Li family heritage, Li Xinghuo, despite being merely at the pinnacle of Qi Refining, prepared to make a desperate last stand!

Yet even if he summoned every last ounce of his spiritual power, what hope did he truly have? The instant the oppressive might of the Foundation Establishment Peak expert neared him, Li Xinghuo felt as though his chest had been crushed by a colossal weight.

The meager technique he managed to cast shattered instantly, and even his twin sickle artifacts began to visibly splinter and crack!

Just then, as the Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator leisurely advanced upon Li Xinghuo, and as Li Xinghuo himself was succumbing to utter despair, his hopes turned to ash – both attacker and victim suddenly froze, their eyes widening in unison at something unseen.

The Ancestral Spirit Tablet clutched between Li Xinghuoʼs teeth suddenly blazed with light! An overwhelmingly potent Nascent Soul-level pressure, infused with the raw might of Heavenly Tribulation, erupted outwards. It instantly dispelled the spiritual defenses of the Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator.

Every single one of the paper figures was obliterated, reduced to scattered ash. Even the Foundation Establishment Peak expert himself was immediately engulfed in searing flames; in less time than a finger snap, his body, blackened like charred wood, fell as he died screaming, his face a mask of ultimate agony!

Li Xinghuo appeared not to have registered any of it, still poised in his desperate attack stance. He stared dumbfounded at the Ancestral Spirit Tablet hovering before him, then at the charred cinders of the Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator lying across the forest floor...

After what felt like an eternity, Li Xinghuo finally jolted back to his senses. Scrambling to his knees, he kowtowed deeply before the Old Ancestorʼs Spirit Tablet, touching his forehead to the earth again and again.

”Many thanks for your divine protection, Ancestor!” he cried out. ”The Ancestor has truly answered my prayers once more!”

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