Chapter 31 - Li Huai

What abundant wealth!

Chen Xi picked up the inconspicuous storage ring and briefly searched through it, and he couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim in surprise.

This storage ring only had a space of an area of 33m and was obviously not of high grade. However, it contained a pile of 3,000 spirit crystals that contained dense spirit energy, and it was exchangeable for an entire 300,000 spirit stones!

“This stupid cow actually stored so many spirit crystals. Perhaps it’s for the sake of breaking through to the Violet Palace Realm in the future? Unfortunately, it’s instead benefitted me.” Chen Xi was extremely excited in his heart. Perhaps 3,000 spirit crystals were nothing to some of the great clans and institution in Pine Mist City, but to Chen Xi who was poverty stricken since young, this sum of spirit crystals was an absolutely astronomical figure. With these spirit crystal in his possession, he was completely capable of buying numerous magic treasures, spirit pills, martial skills, and even pay for all his expenses. He didn’t need to laboriously rush about to bring home the bacon.

However, Chen Xi still didn’t intend to leave his work as a spirit chef apprentice, because he’d promised the owner of Clear Stream Restaurant, Du Qingxi, long ago that within these three years, so long as he didn’t leave Pine Mist City, he would absolutely not quit his job.

A man is nothing without his word!

To cultivators, destroying one’s own promise for the sake of the small gain before one’s eyes was no different from destroying one’s Dao Heart.

Chen Xi still remembered that when he was four, the Su Clan who had a daughter betrothed to him since before he was born had sent more than 10 Golden Hall Realm experts to stand atop the sky as they tore his marriage contract to shreds before the eyes of everyone within Pine Mist City, then flew off after going back on their promise. Whereas his grandfather suffered endless mocking and ridicule. That humiliation and shame that was impossible to forget caused his young heart to suffer great harm and he was unable to forget it for his entire life.

And it was because of this that he cared and valued promises much more than others.

“Eh! What’s this?” Chen Xi’s thoughtlessly glanced at a corner of the storage ring, and he suddenly noticed a strange thing that was palm-sized. When he picked it up to take a look, he noticed that this was a black colored jade token that was the shape of a key, and three ancient words were written atop it — Nether Enlightenment Token.

Chen Xi could only give up after trying various methods and didn’t noticed any peculiarity about this Nether Enlightenment Token, then he hid the storage ring in his pocket before looking at the color of the sky for time. He didn’t dare stay here any longer, and he turned and left.

After 15 minutes.

Chen Xi had finally walked out of the Southern Barbaric Forbidden Area and returned to the dense forest.

Ji Yu who was dozing on the rattan chair slowly opened his eyes, his gaze swept Chen Xi and seemed to have already seen through all the secrets on Chen Xi, and he lightly laughed. “Your gains aren’t bad.”

Chen Xi thought about the various encounters of tonight, and he deeply agreed. “Only through a true life and death battle did I realize that I actually had so many inadequacies. If it wasn’t for my good luck of encountering a stupid Violet Rhino greater demon, I’m afraid I would have been in danger tonight.”

Ji Yu lightly smiled then picked up the azure skinned bottle gourd and drank too mouthfuls of the strong wine before smacking his lips. “This is the benefit of actual combat. It’s able to allow you to clearly recognize your own inadequacies. Let’s go. The sky is about to get light and we have to return.”

As he spoke, Ji Yu casually waved his hand, and at the next moment, the two of them vanished on the spot, only leaving a strand of faint wine fragrance in the air.

...

Li Clan Main Hall.

Numerous elders that stayed in closed doors had gathered together here today.

“Manager Wu, 30 of our Li Clan’s elite guards with cultivations at the initial-stage of the Congenital Realm all died at the hand of trash that only knows how to craft talismans? Truly absurd!”

The one who spoke was a black bearded old man. Although he had an aged face, his skin was like jade and had a pair of clear eyes. His body emitted a dignified aura that was frosty and stern. He was Grand Elder, Li Fengtu, who had the most profound cultivation in the Li Clan.

Manager Wu knelt down with a ‘thump,’ and his emaciated face sweated profusely as he ceaselessly repeated with a trembling voice. “This old servant is useless, this old servant is useless...”

“One month ago, because the General’s Estate’s Luo Chong and the Pine Mist Institute’s Meng Kong butted in, Li Han and his brothers died tragically in the Commoners District, and Chen Tianli’s young grandson, Chen Hao, was about to leave Pine Mist City. I can forgive all of this.”

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“But, I’ll absolutely not let today’s matter go. For the sake of obtaining the Nether Enlightenment Token in the possession of Old Freak Violet Rhino, my Li Clan has spent too much! I can’t bear such a failure, and the entire Li Clan can’t bear it!”

Grand Elder Li Fengtu’s voice was low, frosty, and stern; it contained boundless rage within. The atmosphere in the main hall became even more silent and oppressive, and no one dared make a single sound.

“It’s all my fault, I’ve always neglected monitoring Chen Xi...” Li Yizhen felt as if sitting on a bed of nails, his forehead dripped with sweat and his expression was guilty and uneasy. He was without even a shred of a patriarch’s dignified manner.

“Hmph.” The Grand Elder snorted coldly, and his expression eased up quite a bit. “The blame for this matter isn’t on you. For the sake of our current plans, we must seize the Nether Enlightenment Token as soon as possible, before the Southern Barbaric Nether Domain trails that’s three months from now. Otherwise, once this matter is known by the Dragon Lake City’s Su Clan...”

Dragon Lake City’s Su Clan!

Even though it was just a mere five words, but it was like a heavy hammer that fiercely smashed onto Li Yizhen’s heart, and his expression abruptly went unsightly, then he took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. “Don’t worry Grand Elder, I’ll reclaim the Nether Enlightenment Token even if I have to use all the strength of the Li Clan!”

Crack!

Right at this moment, the tightly closed door of the main hall was opened. All the elders present were enraged in their hearts. Who was so audacious as to dare enter arbitrarily?

Bang!

An enormous black silhouette crashed onto the ground, it was shockingly the corpse of the Violet Rhino that Chen Xi had killed.

“Old Freak Violet Rhino has been killed, that Nether Enlightenment Token ought to have fallen into Chen Xi’s possession.”

A tall figure accompanied by an icy cold voice that was indifferent, slowly walked in. He had sword shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, with hair that touched the shoulder, and he emitted a shocking killing intent as he walked with even steps.

Eldest Young Master!

He... When did he emerge from closed door cultivation in the Ancestral House?

The heart of Manager Wu that knelt on the floor couldn’t help but go cold, and was even more afraid of raising his head as he knelt there.

This person was precisely the person reputed to be the Li Clan’s genius figure that was rarely seen in a thousand years — Li Huai!

He started cultivating at the age of three, then advanced to the Congenital Realm at the age of nine, and attained the perfection-stage of the Congenital Realm at the age of 13. After that, he went into closed door cultivation in the Ancestral House for four years. At this moment, since he’d emerged from his closed door cultivation, he’d surely had already established his Dao Foundation in one go to step into the Violet Palace Realm!

The rage in the hearts of the people present instantly vanished when they saw the person was Li Huai, and the elders all revealed slight smiles. In their hearts, Li Huai who was like a favored genius of the gods had already possessed the qualification to participate in the clan’s discussions in the main hall.

“Father.” Li Huai lightly nodded to Li Yizhen, then he sat down at the side, seeming completely indifferent.

A burst of gratification and pride arose within Li Yizhen’s heart. With such a son, the Li Clan’s glorious future was not far off from being realized!

“Old Freak Violet Rhino was killed by that Chen Clan trash as well? Looks like this kid has grown!” Li Fengtu glanced at the corpse on the ground and his voice revealed a trace of astonishment.

Manager Wu who knelt on the ground said hurriedly, “Grand Elder really has eyes filled with wisdom. According to this old servant’s observation, not only has the qi refinement cultivation of that kid attained an extremely high level, but he’s also cultivated a profound body refinement technique that has already advanced to the Congenital Realm. If he isn’t killed as soon as possible, this kid will surely become a great calamity to our Li Clan.”

Congenital Realm in body refinement?

As soon as this was spoken, everyone present revealed a trace of astonishment. Among cultivators of the same cultivation, the school of body refinement crushed all the cultivators of the school of qi refinement, whereas within Pine Mist City, although it was rare to see body refiners advancing to the Congenital Realm, their might was something no one dared look down upon.

“I’ll go kill him right now!” Li Huai who sat there without moving suddenly spoke out, and heavy killing intent was contained between his handsome brows, seeming to be extremely repulsed and disgusted by Chen Xi’s growth.

Li Huai’s reaction seemed to have been within the expectations of everyone since a long time ago, and Li Yizhen hurriedly said when he heard this, “Huai, calm down. Chen Xi’s marriage contract with the Dragon Lake City’s Su Clan has already been destroyed. No matter how he improves, it would still be absolutely impossible for him to marry Miss Su Jiao.”

“Father, the Su Clan had once promised us that the Su Clan’s Patriarch would agree to marry Su Jiao to me on the condition that Chen Xi’s cultivation is crippled and we pay the price of humiliating Chen Xi to death. Now that this kid grown successfully, if we still don’t take any action, I’m afraid it will be too late.” Li Huai who had an icy cold and indifferent disposition seemed to have become a normal person when he spoke about this marriage that hadn’t been concluded.

“Huai is right, now that we can already be sure that the Nether Enlightenment Token has fallen into Chen Xi’s possession, since it’s like this, we should take action as soon as possible.”

Grand Elder Li Fengtu pondered slightly then slowly said, “Manager Wu, where does this kid live now?”

“Clear Stream Restaurant.”

Manager Wu hurriedly replied, “Since the assassination failed last month, that kid seemed to have noticed it was not safe and has stayed in the Clear Stream Restaurant ever since.”

“Clear Stream Restaurant? Hmph! It’s only a lousy restaurant that has good relations with the General’s Estate. Yizhen, arranged for some people to capture that kid and bring him back here tonight. Kill anyone that dares obstruct you!”

Li Fengtu coldly snorted, then slowly said, “I want to let everyone within Pine Mist City know that death is the only end for someone who offends my Li Clan.”

“Don’t worry Grand Elder, I guarantee to complete this mission!” Li Yizhen respectfully accepted the orders.

“Du Qingxi isn’t so easily bullied.” Right at this moment, a voice that was pleasing to the ear the chime of a bell which was accompanied by a delicate fragrance floated in from outside the main hall, seeming to give one an image of a delicate and graceful woman, and this caused the expression of everyone within the entire main hall to go grim.

Although the expression of the Grand Elder, Li Fengtu, didn’t change, but shock had arisen within his heart. Who? There was actually someone who was able to conceal themselves while eavesdropping from outside the main hall under my nose? What sort of level has this person’s cultivation attained?