Li Xihong had been wandering around in the forest for a full day, with the clan soldiers complaining incessantly, feigning illness and refusing to move any further. Li Xihong continued on his own, with only a little over forty percent of the soldiers and horses remaining, until he finally arrived at the hillocks adjacent to the Li Family's territory.

In these hills, there was a Spirit Jasper Vein at the Qi Cultivation level, controlled by five Fetal Breathing Clans jointly. They mined for the Xiao Family and were called the Spirit Jasper Five Families.

After traveling a few more miles and entering the territory of the Rui Family, which lay next to that of the Li Family, Li Xihong saw two small Spiritual Fields. The remaining troops dispersed even more, rushing into the fields to uproot the Spirit Rice, leaving only a little over a hundred people following him.

"This is Spirit Rice!"

Four groups of clan soldiers had passed by earlier without causing any harm to the Spirit Rice, but now, it was being utterly ravaged in the blink of an eye. Li Xihong reined in his horse and symbolically shouted a few times.

Though Li Xihong cared for the younger generation of his clan and often supported them with money and grain, his assistance was aimed at those talented brothers within the clan. He had little fondness for those who tarnished the family's reputation through their profligate ways and simply rode on, muttering to himself,

"The lazy and stupid ones ran off on the road, and now, another batch of greedy and stupid ones has been sent away. What's left..."

As he was considering this with his spear in hand, a troop of soldiers came up to him and said respectfully,

"Young Master, the formation has been broken. Please ascend the mountain!"

Li Xihong nodded, surveyed the terrain, and urged his horse forward, wondering aloud,

"If a great mine like the Spirit Jasper can be produced here, why is the Earth Vein and Spirit Mechanism in this area so barren!"

Such poor Spiritual Fields as these were looked upon as wasteland in the Li Family, never considered for theft. Yet, the Rui Family cultivated Spirit Rice on them, clearly indicating how scarce the Spirit Mechanism was in their territory. Li Xihong thought to himself,

"Don't even mention harvesting twice a year, it would probably take seven or eight years for a single harvest! No wonder none of the five families beside this Spirit Jasper Vein have managed to become Qi Cultivators over so many years."

Rui Family Peak. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The Great Formation on the minor peak of the Rui Family had already been forcefully breached, not even by the Li Family members but as a mere formality. After Chen Mufeng made several symbolic attacks and shouted out the name of the Li Family, the other side hurriedly opened the formation.

Remembering the instructions from his family, Li Xihong first went to inspect the Spiritual Spring at the top of the mountain.

The Spiritual Spring on Rui Family Peak was a pool of aquamarine water, slightly chilly to the touch, with Spiritual Energy that was a bit lower than that of the spring on Huaqian Mountain in his family's territory. Unsure if it was suitable or not, he filled a small Jade Bottle to take back for examination.

After taking care of the most important matter, Li Xihong then crunched his way through the snow and entered the grand hall of the Rui Family.

Standing before him was a young man in armor, holding a Long Halberd— none other than Chen Mufeng. He had been waiting there for Li Xihong since conquering the mountain and stood within the hall, flanked by rows of clan soldiers with drawn blades, their presence chilling.

Chen Mufeng was a junior relative of Chen Donghe and a disciple and son-in-law of Li Qiuyang. Although there weren't many Spiritual Aperture Seeds in the Chen Family, those who had them were exceptionally talented. At the age of twenty-seven, Chen Mufeng had already reached the Fifth Layer of Fetal Breathing and had a cultivation level of Yujing Wheel.

Even though he had only recently broken through and his cultivation was not very stable, he had the potential to reach the Qi Cultivation level thirty times over. Consequently, he was valued and promoted by the Li Family, becoming one of its most sought-after members.

As Li Xihong came in, numerous Rui Family members came tumbling down, prostrating themselves before him. The white-haired elder at the head, holding the Jade Seal high, bowed his head and said,

"The Rui Clan respectfully welcomes the noble clan general, offering up this green seal, willing to serve as dogs and horses for the powerful clan, to run errands and serve indefinitely..."

This old head of the Rui Clan, evidently the highest in cultivation level within the Rui Family with a mere Fourth Layer of Fetal Breathing, was not even on par with Chen Mufeng, let alone daring to offend the solidly established, multiple Qi Cultivator possessing Li Family. He merely held up the Jade Seal representing "Green Pond rule."

Having been a servant in the marketplace before returning to slaughter the Shanyue nobility and becoming a General, Chen Mufeng was worldly-wise. Seeing the Rui elder's lips move, he deduced that the act of surrender was all too familiar to the man, and he spoke with disdain,

"Pretty words indeed!"

"Hmm."

Li Xihong, however, did not respond; he looked around the hall and noticed two small piles of Spirit Rice set aside as tributes, meager and pitiful, not even as much as his family's clan rations. He glanced at them and moved on.

What caught his attention were the round, tender-looking pinkish items arranged on a Jade Disk on the floor, glistening white and rather cute, along with five or six Jade Bottles brimming with blood.

Although Li Xihong had spent a few years in Eastern Shanyue and was familiar with many Spiritual Objects, he had little exposure to the dealings of Cultivators behind closed doors. With some bewilderment, he asked,

"What are these items?"

The Rui elder hurriedly presented them; the plump, tender items seemed adorable as he said reverently,

"These items are known as 'Rice Flesh.' The Yu... the Yu scoundrel had once demanded that they be offered up as Tribute."

Li Xihong watched for a moment, feeling inexplicably creeped out, and waved the elder away. Chen Mufeng, who had already inquired about these things, came over with a grim expression and whispered,

"The so-called 'Rice Flesh' is raised on rice, a euphemism for commoners, likely refined through a Secret Technique. Then there's 'Blood Tenderloin,' which is simply a more elegant term for blood essence."

Li Xihong's face alternated between shades of pale and green, but his composure remained intact, and he didn't speak. The Rui elder, noticing the reaction of both men, immediately realized he had committed a faux pas and braced himself to continue,

"This humble one was not aware that the noble families dislike such things, fearing that it may have caused offense. Please forgive me, my lord! My name is Rui Qiongcuo; my ancestors... were enlightened by the Xiao Family."

By mentioning his ancestors' connection to the Xiao Family, Rui Qiongcuo was attempting to ally with a more powerful backer. Chen Mufeng glanced at him but remained unconcerned.

Both the Rui Clan and the other families surrounding the Spirit Jasper Vein had been cultivated by the Xiao Family in previous years to mine ores for them. To put it nicely, they were vassals; more bluntly, they were mine slaves. Now that they had surrendered, they showed no shame in their subservience.