"They are becoming increasingly arrogant, even daring to encroach upon spiritual objects and killing a batch to bolster the family resources."

Li Qinghong, who had never managed the family affairs and was inexperienced in strategies, furrowed her brow and asked:

"Why not kill them all and send our own people to Shanyue instead? Why keep this herd of mountain pigs?"

"Big sister,"

Li Yuanping replied with a gentle smile:

"If we replaced them with our own, they would be just as greedy. Plus, we would have to waste manpower from the Clan Head Courtyard to oversee them. If all the branches got hold of the benefits and joined hands, it would be troublesome to kill or uproot them."

"Oh,"

Li Qinghong's frown deepened as she spoke with a clear voice:

"But during my recent return to the mountain, I observed that all the branches below have nothing to do except take wives and concubines, indulge in games, and walk their dogs. I fear that this is not proper."

Li Yuanping nodded in agreement and continued:

"Big sister has seen the impropriety as well. These fellows are not only complacent but also shamelessly arrogant and predatory behind our backs. They encroach on the commoners' fields, extort their wealth, and some even join forces with the merchants, becoming powerful through wealth and influence."

"In the past, their numbers were few, and the Clan Head Courtyard could suppress them. But now the family is in straits, and the number of relatives is increasing. Cultivators need to free up their hands to cultivate spiritual objects and cannot waste it on them... This is the second matter at hand."

He then turned back to pour tea for Li Yuanjiao, his smile bright and full:

"The matter brother spoke of—I've found an opportunity, but I need to visit the families on the East Bank."

He fetched a gray map from the case, speaking in a hushed tone:

"To the north of our family lies Huazhong and Jade Court, bordering the Yu Family. To the east of Jade Court is the boundary with the families of the East Bank. There are two families adjacent to ours, one named Rui, the other named Pu."

"Both of these families only have Fetal Breathing Cultivators whose ancestors were enlightened by the people of the Xiao Family. They occupy a small broken mountain, and together with a few other families, they take turns sending out cultivators to mine the Spirit Jasper Vein for the Xiao Family."

Li Yuanping paused for a moment before explaining to his siblings:

"Do you still remember the Ding Family?"

"Of course,"

Li Qinghong answered after sipping her tea:

"A small clan buffering the Yuan Family and our Li Family, nestled between three powers."

"Correct,"

Li Yuanping nodded and continued:

"At least the Ding Family had a few Qi Cultivators, and even Ding Xiding in the Qi Cultivating Late Stage. Initially, both families paid tribute to the Ding Family. But after our ancestor made a breakthrough in Foundation Establishment, Ding Xiding of the Ding Family came to pay respects, so threatened that he dared not claim the two families adjacent to ours."

"As a result, those two families stopped their tributes and sent a few gifts to our family. Seeing no reaction from our family, they began to enjoy their freedom. Over the past few years, they've been quite comfortable, but they've had many conflicts, attacking each other and plundering the commonfolk."

"Plundering the commonfolk?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanjiao had a bad premonition. Li Yuanping obviously had a clear understanding of the situation and whispered:

"I found it strange too, so I sent people to inquire."

"It turns out that the Xiao Family only wanted the Spirit Jasper Ore and didn't demand any tribute, while the Ding and Yu Families did, so since ancient times, the East Bank families have always been short-handed, with heavy tribute burdens. Commoners are the only resource that doesn't require the Spirit Mechanism yet yields a lot..."

As Li Yuanping spoke, everything became apparent, given that it was the Demon Sect's territory. Li Yuanjiao had heard of such practices, similar dealings were conducted by Loose Cultivators and the Yu Family, and even got used to it, silently nodding in acknowledgment.

"I intend to intervene in the lands of the East Bank families, supporting one or two small Fetal Breathing Qi Cultivating clans. I will use this opportunity to draft over two thousand people from the branches, picking out specifically the sneaky playboys and idlers."

Li Yuanjiao suddenly nodded in realization, his slim eyes filled with satisfaction, while Li Yuanping's grey-black eyes were rounder than Li Yuanjiao's, resembling Li Qinghong's, equally cunning and astute.

"At that time, I'll deliberately send Xihong to lead these troops. Xihong is kind-hearted and gentle, unable to bear scolding them. These playboys aren't good to start with. Once they leave the boundary and enter another's domain, whether they follow orders or not, when they attack the mountain, how many will be able to resist revealing their true nature?"

He sipped his tea and said softly:

"At that time, we kill some, purge some, and release others. Which Clan Elder or uncle would dare to utter a word in the face of such crimes? After this battle, we will have at least forty years of clear governance."

————

At the foot of Yi Shan City.

"Drip-drop."

Being adjacent to the Southern Border, Yi Shan City had abundant rainfall. Torrential rain fell from the sky, mingling with blood on the ground, turning the earth into a reddish-grey mess.

The young man's grey-black eyes stared at the city walls, his clothes in tatters and soaked with mud, stinking unbearably and indistinguishable among a group of slave soldiers.

"In half an hour, we'll be able to leave the city..."

Jiang Boqing, with his Metal Nature, had whisked Jiang Yan all the way to Yi Shan City, his state extremely poor. He nearly drained Jiang Yan dry, his cultivation level significantly depleted, barely recovering in time.

Jiang Yan fell among the camp of the city's slave soldiers, lying atop a corpse, rigid for a while before gradually coming to. He looked up to see a white Great Formation covering the sky, knowing he was in South River's foremost city.

Despite endless confusion in his mind and no opportunity for explanation, he sat barefoot and displaced within the camp. Jiang Yan was filled with bewilderment:

"They confused my father, killed my mother, all for the sake of cultivating the two Witch Talismans within me. Why end up in this state in the end?"

With Jiang Boqing dead, Jiang Yan was both grieving and perplexed. He dared not contemplate further, only knowing that if he continued to stay in this place, someone would eventually notice him.

The Great Formation within Yi Shan City was established by the Immortal Sect and could not possibly be breached forcefully. Jiang Yan could only disguise himself as a slave soldier, waiting in the camp for half a month before encountering a monster attack on the city.

"How ridiculous."