The Li Family of Huaye Island was a nascent clan, having established its roots in the Abyssal Marsh for less than five hundred years.
The family currently had two Life Talisman Cultivators: one serving as an Outer Elder in the Yinluo Sect, and one guarding the family estate.
Although it was a nascent clan, outwardly thriving, its internal factions were just as prone to scheming and infighting as those of any long-established family.
The competition between the main and side branches, in particular, had reached a fever pitch.
The main branch maintained a stranglehold on the family’s cultivation resources, funneling them toward a select few disciples of "esteed" status. This had long since sparked discontent among the side branches, leading to widespread resentnt.
Furthermore, the main branch hadn’t produced any outstanding prospects for several generations. Instead, spoiled by their elders and relying on the family’s power, its disciples had beco arrogant and overbearing. They neglected their duties and frequently caused trouble for the clan.
The side branches, on the other hand, had several promising Immortal Seeds, but they were hamstrung by a lack of resources and had been unable to produce a Life Talisman Cultivator.
The strategy of Patriarch Li and the Clan Elders Council was actually quite simple: keep waiting. They would wait until the main branch finally produced a talented Cultivator.
Just one would be enough to perpetuate the main branch’s control over the clan.
After all, Life Talisman Cultivators had a lifespan of three hundred years. They could afford to wait.
The Li Family’s foundation was never its two publicly known Life Talisman Cultivators, but rather the network of connections the main branch had spent five hundred years building within the Yinluo Sect.
If a Life Talisman Cultivator were to erge from a side branch, it wouldn’t necessarily make the Li Family much stronger in the short term, but it would undoubtedly plunge the clan into even more severe internal strife.
Li Yan Nian was a disciple from one of the Li Family’s side branches.
His blood ties to the so-called brothers and sisters of the main branch were distant, well beyond the accepted bounds of close kinship.
Fortunately, his talent for cultivation was decent. After joining the Yinluo Sect as an Outer Disciple, he beca single-mindedly focused on passing the trial to enter the Inner Sect. He wanted to learn the sect’s High-level Techniques and Divine Techniques and change his destiny.
But the trial to enter the Inner Sect was no simple affair.
Throughout the Yinluo Sect’s history, only two or three out of every ten Outer Disciples managed to pass the trial and enter the Inner Sect.
Li Yan Nian knew that a bit of talent for cultivation wasn’t enough. He needed more of an advantage.
So ti ago, a powerful figure had shown him a clear path forward.
If he succeeded, not only would he marry a fair-skinned, beautiful, and charming Female Cultivator, but this woman was also a Tier One High-grade Array Master!
He would also obtain a shop in the Yinluo Sect Marketplace and a complete set of Tier Two Array inheritance!
As for the fortune in Spirit Stones that Wen Zhiyan—the Array Master who had run his business in the marketplace for many years—had accumulated, no one yet knew the extent of it.
With such a boon, he could very likely break through to the Ninth Layer of Sensing in a short ti and master several more Divine Secret Skills. When the ti ca for the Inner Sect trial, his chances of success would be much higher.
Although Li Yan Nian looked down on Wen Qianqian for being the daughter of a re Loose Cultivator, he was willing to swallow his pride and marry her for the sake of her father’s inheritance.
Besides, Wen Qianqian’s looks, figure, and temperant were in no way inferior to the beauties of the great clans.
But a few days ago, things hit a snag.
First, the Female Cultivator refused all his advances, whether gentle or forceful, which dealt a severe blow to Li Yan Nian’s pride and sense of possessiveness.
Then, she played her trump card, claiming to be the concubine of Fang Cheng, an Outer Disciple of the Yinluo Sect. This completely thwarted all of Li Yan Nian’s sches.
Li Yan Nian wouldn’t have given a common Outer Disciple a second thought, but how could he underestimate soone backed by that powerful figure from the Ye Family Elders’ eting?
And so, that led to today’s eting.
At that mont, Li Yan Nian quietly watched Fang Cheng. For so reason, a flicker of jealousy arose in his heart, making him feel agitated and restless.
"Junior Brother Fang, I ca here today to ask you a single question."
Li Yan Nian composed himself, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, and spoke in a calm voice.
Fang Cheng replied unhurriedly, "Please, Senior Brother, go ahead."
Li Yan Nian’s gaze was as sharp as a blade as he stared at Fang Cheng. "Have you," he asked coolly, "taken a Loose Cultivator nad Wen Qianqian as your concubine?"
Fang Cheng nodded, feigning surprise. "Senior Brother, you know Qianqian?"
Li Yan Nian’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t expected Fang Cheng to admit it so readily.
’Aren’t you the Ye Family’s matrilocal husband...?’
’Since when did a kept man get to be so cocky?’
An image then flashed through his mind: that dignified, beautiful young woman writhing in pleasure beneath the man before him. A sharp pang of jealousy stabbed at his heart.
’That shaless pair...’
’What right do you have?!’
Watching Li Yan Nian’s expression shift unpredictably, Fang Cheng asked, "Is there anything else, Senior Brother?"
Li Yan Nian forced down his anger. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he said in a low voice, "I hear that your Sword Technique is outstanding, Junior Brother. I’d like to ask for a few pointers."
He had long since taken a disliking to Fang Cheng, and now that his plans had been thwarted, he couldn’t resist the urge to teach the brat a lesson.
’It would be best to use a ’friendly spar’ as a pretext to humiliate him in front of everyone!’
Fang Cheng chuckled in amusent. He raised his hand, palm open, to reveal an object. "Senior Brother," he said, "what do you make of this?"
Li Yan Nian looked over in surprise. Focusing his gaze, he saw a fingernail-sized insect in Fang Cheng’s palm. Its body was as black as Demon Jade, and its two pinprick-sized eyes glowed a bright, striking scarlet.
"Is that... a Gu Insect?"
Li Yan Nian frowned, wondering why Fang Cheng was changing the subject.
Fang Cheng nodded. "That’s right. This is called a Poison Gu. To refine it, I’ve already fed it two highly venomous Tier Two Demon Beasts. It won’t be long before this Poison Gu reaches the tier two level."
Li Yan Nian’s heart leaped in alarm, and a sudden chill ran up his spine.
He hastily held his breath as an aura of spiritual light flared around him, and he adopted a defensive stance.
"Fang Cheng, are you trying to poison ?!" he roared.
Fang Cheng looked at Li Yan Nian and said calmly, "Senior Brother, this insect can turn the area within a ten-zhang radius into a toxic domain in an instant. If you have a tier-two Rejuvenation Talisman, I’d be happy to spar with you. If not, well, I wouldn’t want to bully you. We can always spar another day."
Over the past few days, the Poison Gu had devoured the poison sac and blood of that Tier Two Poisonous Toad. Reaching tier two was now only a matter of ti. An ordinary Tier One Upper Grade Rejuvenation Talisman would be completely useless against its virulent poison.
With a flicker of movent, Li Yan Nian shot up into the sky beyond the cliff, his face filled with dread as he looked down at Fang Cheng.
Although Fang Cheng’s expression was calm, even amiable, Li Yan Nian could clearly sense the biting killing intent radiating from him.
Life and death hung on a single thought.
Fang Cheng lowered his hand. The jade-black Poison Gu vibrated its wings, BUZZING as it flew around him. It seed unremarkable, yet it exuded a heart-stopping sense of danger.
Li Yan Nian clenched his jaw, his face alternating between flushed and pale. Finally, he said, "Fine. I will co back another day to witness your brilliant techniques."
With that, his Escape Light flared, and he turned and flew off the island.
Fang Cheng gave a carefree smile and returned to the Jade Tower.
As for Li Yan Nian, the more he thought about it after leaving Cangwu Mountain, the angrier he beca. Thoughts of Wen Qianqian and the shop tangled in his mind, becoming an impedint to his Dao Heart.
Just as he was about to fly out of Xiaocang Island’s Sealing Grand Array, he suddenly grit his teeth, abruptly reversed his Escape Light, and flew back toward Cangwu Mountain.
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