Li Xiangping was suddenly taken aback when he saw Wan Yuankai's beaming face. As thoughts whirled through his mind, he thought to himself,
"This Wan Family is perhaps too enthusiastic; I must be wary."
Despite this, he maintained a smiling facade as he bowed slightly to Wan Yuankai and shook his head, saying,
"Your father is too kind! I cannot accept this!"
Wan Yuankai shook his head, pulled out a small pine box from his sleeve, and lifted the smoothly polished little lid to reveal a green-white fruit cushioned inside with cloth.
The fruit had a smooth surface like snake scales, appearing greenish-white and reflecting light under the sun, presenting quite an attractive sight.
However, Wan Yuankai's face bore an embarrassed expression as he whispered,
"My Wan Family is struggling both internally and externally, with expenses exceeding income every year. This Pine-Exceeding Fruit could benefit the shaping the Chengming Wheel a bit, but it's a mere trifle. Please accept it, Brother Li. Only then can I return and report."
As Li Xiangping scrutinized the fruit, Wan Yuankai suddenly realized something and hastily explained,
"Just cut open the skin with a small knife and drink the juice inside."
Li Xiangping looked at the fruit, all the while weighing his options, as he thought to himself,
"If the Wan Family is struggling both inside and out, why bother telling me? Isn't it just inviting envy for nothing?"
"Forget it! Regardless of what tricks they're playing, I'll just observe the situation for now!"
"Then I shall humbly accept it!"
Li Xiangping laughed heartily, and as he watched Li Yesheng step forward to receive the box, carefully holding it as they walked off, Li Xiangping's tone then shifted as he said solemnly,
"There is one thing for which I must trouble Brother Wan."
"Just call me Yuankai, please speak," said Wan Yuankai, gesturing with his hand repeatedly.
"I, from the Li Family, have just arrived and know nothing of the surrounding families. Brother Wan, would you be willing to enlighten me?"
"Certainly."
Wan Yuankai nodded, watched as Li Yesheng took paper and pen, and then drew a fine line on the paper with his sleeves rolled up, saying,
"This represents the ancient Lidao."
He then drew a circle in the middle of Lidao and wrote the character "Li." Li Xiangping nodded, took another pen, dabbed it in ink, and drew a circle above and below the "Li" character, writing down Wangyue Lake and Da Li Mountain.
"My Li Family is backed by Da Li Mountain and faces Wangyue Lake, with ancient Lidao running straight through it."
Wan Yuankai nodded and then drew a smaller circle to the right of the Li Family, explaining,
"To the east is my Wan Family."
He then drew a large circle above the Wan Family and spoke earnestly,
"This represents the Tang Jin Sect's Ji Clan."
"The Tang Jin Sect's Ji Clan?" Li Xiangping's heart tightened as he echoed the name.
"Indeed! The Tang Jin Sect is a powerful Immortal Sect from northern Daxu, with strength comparable to our Green Pond Sect. Wangyue Lake is vast, and heading north across the center of the lake, you will find the mountain gate of Tang Jin Sect, the Tangdao Mountain. The Ji Family is one of the Tang Jin Sect's subordinates."
Li Xiangping nodded to Wan Yuankai, signaling him to continue, while he mentally sighed,
"It's really whatever you're afraid of will come."
"For the past decade or so, there have been continuous frictions between the Tang Jin Sect and the Green Pond Sect. Although the two sects haven't started a war, over ten families at the border have perished, and tens of thousands of mortals have been displaced. Both sides are just testing each other."
Wan Yuankai seemed uneasy as he voiced worries that had been troubling him for a long time.
"This Ji Family has repeatedly launched attacks, encroaching upon our Wan Family's territory, making life very hard for us. Just a few years ago, the Ji Family head, Ji Dengqi, achieved Qi Cultivation, while my father has only recently advanced to Yujing; he is no match for him."
"Every time our Spirit Rice ripens, those from the Ji Clan would cover their faces, pretend to be Loose Cultivators, and raid our villages. For years, we have had no choice but to retreat to the mountains, allowing the Ji Clan to plunder our Spirit Rice."
At this point, Wan Yuankai's eyes were turning slightly red as he clenched his fists tightly.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangping had already guessed Wan Yuankai's intention, and his expression turned somewhat unpleasant as he said,
"My Li Family is of minor influence and limited strength, I'm afraid we may not be much help."
Seeing Wan Yuankai's pained and angry expression, Li Xiangping quickly asked,
"How many Immortal Cultivators does the Wan Family have left?"
Wan Yuankai momentarily froze, hesitated as he looked at Li Xiangping, and then gritted his teeth before saying,
"My father is at the peak of the Yujing Wheel, and I have only just formed the Green Pond Wheel. There are also two younger members in the family who have just achieved the Xuanjing Wheel. As for the Ji Family, besides that old thief who has attained Qi Refinement, there are also two at the Zhouxing Wheel, one at the Chengming Wheel, and as for the Xuanjing Wheel, there should be a few, but they always come to plunder."
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangping asked with some confusion,
"I have been told by those within the sect that if we encounter an enemy attack, we can use the Jade Seal to ask the sect for help, and they would send a Foundation Establishment Immortal Cultivator to resolve our urgent need."
"How could we possibly summon a Foundation Establishment!"
Wan Yuankai exclaimed sharply, his teeth clenched and fists tight, looking like he bore great enmity.
"Even when we activate the Jade Seal, it takes at least two hours for the Qi Cultivators from the city to arrive. By then everything will be too late, not to mention all of the Spirit Rice will be gone, and repeatedly asking for help will needlessly offend those who come to our aid!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than, seeing Li Xiangping about to speak, Wan Yuankai hurriedly continued,
"Now my father has sent me to visit you all, also hoping to form alliances, to borrow the strength of your noble clans..."
Li Xiangping sighed inwardly and, now that Wan Yuankai had already spoken, gave up on trying to pry more information and replied with a wry smile,
"It's not that I'm unwilling, but truly incapable! The members of my Li family are few and far-between. Only this year have we entered the realm of Immortal Cultivation. My father had four sons; my eldest brother passed away early, my youngest brother, although higher in cultivation level, has already gone to the Immortal Sect to cultivate, and my second brother and I are of low Cultivation Levels, not even as high as yours, so how could we contend against the Ji Family?"
"Isn't there still your respected father?"
Wan Yuankai looked at Li Xiangping with a face full of hope, eagerly saying.
"To tell the truth, my father is just an ordinary mortal..."
"Impossible! How could an ordinary mortal father three offspring with Spirit Apertures, my father, at the Yujing Wheel Cultivation Level, sired seventeen children before he got me."
Wan Yuankai's face was immediately filled with skepticism. Li Xiangping was greatly startled and, with thoughts flashing in his mind and almost no hesitation, continued Wan Yuankai's line of thought with a wry smile,
"In his early years, my father fought with someone and was stripped of his cultivation..."
At this, Wan Yuankai's expression changed, and he replied with some shame,
"I was reckless! Your father must have established a great foundation in his path and I, Yuankai, have been too abrupt."
After saying this, he sat back down in his seat, his eyes full of sorrow.
On the other hand, Li Xiangping was also feeling terrified. Wan Yuankai's outburst had truly made him break out in a cold sweat, and he almost lost his composure.
"It turns out that the higher a Cultivator's level is, the higher the probability that their children will have Spirit Apertures. I almost gave myself away on such an insignificant detail!"
Seeing Wan Yuankai's dejected look, Li Xiangping calmed his own emotions and said,
"Then, at the end of this Lidao road, to the west of my Li family, does Brother Wan know what the situation is like?"
"To the west of Lidao..."
But Wan Yuankai was taken aback, gazing thoughtfully at the map, and said pensively,
"The terrain of Da Li Mountain leans to the west, and Lidao further west mostly leads gradually into the mountains. I've never heard of anyone living in that stretch, though I have heard..."
"Heard what?"
Li Xiangping quickly asked.
"I heard from my father that our ancestors explored to the west and encountered Shanyue moving about in Lidao toward the west."
"Shanyue?"