Spirit Continent.
Unlike Li Xinghuo, at this moment, Li Xingchen and his father, Li Chang'an, were resting atop a high tower.
The area around the tower was a scene of ruins, within which not a few cultivators were gathered around bonfires, deep in discussion and sorting through their spoils of war.
It was clear that a battle had recently taken place here.
Li Chang'an was as fastidious about cleanliness as ever; the moment he was stained with a bit of dust, he began to bathe frantically, only stopping after he had also used a technique to cleanse himself thoroughly.
[Your descendant, Li Chang'an, after many years of life at sea and many more years of battling with cultivators on the Spirit Continent, has increasingly come to prefer a refined and delicate lifestyle. Trait Acquired: Obsession with Cleanliness]
[Effect: If his body becomes dirty, he will fall into a frenzy. Combat Power increased by 20%; Sanity reduced by 50%.]
Having changed into a brand-new set of clothes, Li Chang'an stood atop the high tower, feeling the cold night wind blow past.
He glanced down at his son, Li Xingchen, who was grasping a large beast leg, his face covered in oil and grease from his meal, and couldn't help but feel a flicker of disdain.
Immediately, he turned his gaze away from the untidily dressed cultivators below, looking instead towards the distant direction of the Azure Dynasty.
"The clan, all these years," he murmured, "how on earth have they managed to get by?"
His original purpose for setting out to sea had been to seek treasure, yet he had never expected to become a pirate, nor that he would discover this new continent.
Since arriving on the Spirit Continent, in order to contest for territory, he had been forced to engage in one great battle after another at regular intervals.
The new friends he had made on Spirit Continent all said that he and his son were unafraid of hardship, that they even dared to oppose the imperial dynasty of Spirit Continent itself...
Everyone praised them as first-class heroes of the current generation. Yet only Li Chang'an himself knew that everything they had faced here was, in comparison, nothing much at all.
"I hear that back then in Azure Cloud," he thought to himself, "not a single one of the enemies the clan faced was a simple character."
"There was the Azure Cloud Pavilion, which had existed for over a hundred thousand years and contended against an entire region with its own strength.
There was the Region Prince, Feng Qingyang, who maintained his disguise for several hundred years, deceiving even his own children.
Then came the Wu Clan... and now, this Tian Xing..."
"Any single one of those foes, taken at random, is stronger than this entire Spirit Continent combined."
As he mused on this, a complex expression crossed Li Chang'an's face.
On the one hand, he wished he could have been there to experience all of that alongside his clansmen. On the other hand... he was afraid.
Since learning of his own identity, he had also come to know the experiences of his father, Li Kuangtu.
He also understood why his mother had wanted them to remain in that small fishing village; he understood her actions.
His mother had been afraid that he would be just like his father and sacrifice his life for the clan.
He wasn't afraid of that, though. No matter what others might say, he knew that what his father did was right.
The only thing he was afraid of... was that he himself would not be good enough, that he would be unable to keep pace with his clansmen, just as it had been when they had first set out to sea.
His mother had told him not to become the next "Warrior Li Kuangtu," but he... he wanted to do even better!
"One hundred years," he vowed to himself. "To conquer the entire Spirit Continent. That is the most I can do."
Li Chang'an let out a long breath. "Although I have never met this Tian Xing," he said, "and do not know how truly powerful he is... if my own father were here, he too would surely not fear an unknown enemy. He would use his greatest effort to strive for a sliver of hope, a chance for the family to survive."
Li Chang'an had inherited Li Kuangtu's handsome features and strongly resembled him, yet he also possessed a measure of scholarly elegance and a meticulous, perfectionist nature that his father had not.
The clear night wind blew past, lifting his long, smooth hair and obscuring the firm, resolute contours of his cheeks.
Below the high tower, Li Xingchen, who was laughing and carousing with the other cultivators, seemed to sense his father's gaze upon him. He slowly raised his head and rolled his eyes at his father.
"Brother Xingchen, what are you looking at?" a cultivator beside him asked with a smile.
"Oh, right, I heard you mention before that you wanted to go adventuring, to travel the entire sea region?"
"Just a passing thought," Li Xingchen said.
He resembled his mother; he did not possess Li Chang'an's scholarly elegance, but had, on the contrary, more of a sailor's untamed spirit. He waved his hand dismissively.
"Just look at my old man," he said. "He's planning to wage a war. As his son, I can hardly just abandon him. By the way," he added with a grin, "when the time is right, I'll take you all to see my hometown. Hehe, this brother of yours has some enemies back in the old country... You all will have to help me out then."
"That's easy to say! Hahaha! Just say the word, when do we do it?"
"Probably in about a hundred years," Li Xingchen replied.
"...Damn it, I'd have to live that long first!" the cultivator exclaimed.
The two members of the "Xing" generation, Li Xingchen and Li Xinghuo, possessed personalities that were, in fact, diametrically opposed.
[Your descendant, Li Xingchen, has befriended numerous fellow Daoists on the Spirit Continent, addressing everyone he meets as a brother. Trait Acquired: Hearty]
[Effect: Probability of gaining the favor of others increased by 10%.]
...
All the descendants of the Li family, scattered throughout the world, were spending their lives growing stronger, all for the sake of a common goal.
A period of several decades, or even a century, is a time of great length for ordinary people, an age of oceans turning into mulberry fields. For the majority of the Li family members, however, it was but the blink of an eye.
Take Li Dalong, for example. He cultivated ceaselessly on that ancient battlefield, and for many years, the only people he saw were Lei Dong and You Baiyin.
It was only when he was within the Ancestor Space, upon seeing his fellow clansmen, that he would inquire about the state of the children, and dote on Xu Cuihua for a little while.
Xu Cuihua, for her part, had also achieved great things in her own studies; cultivating at the side of the Fox Sage, she had acquired more of an otherworldly, transcendent air.
This married couple, one suffused with the aura of death, the other like a celestial fairy, truly made for a peculiar pair.
That fellow Li Yaozu, on the other hand, had not changed one bit.
Every time Li Yaoqing saw him, she would invariably grab him and ask about Fang Linglong's condition, and every time, that boy Li Yaozu would only ever give the same reply: "Still alive."
This never failed to make Li Yaoqing roll her eyes in extreme exasperation.
As for the married couple, Li Yaotie and Bai Rourou, the events of that year had dealt the heaviest blow to the two of them.
Li Yaotie's personality had changed completely, and Bai Rourou's hair had turned white.
In the old days, they had been the fiercest, most formidable couple in the entire clan. Now, they were both silent and said a few words.
In the Ancestor Space, they would always be found huddled close together, and at such times, no one would ever disturb them, hoping that the two of them could, in their own time, soothe the deep wounds in each other's hearts.
[Year 300]
One day, the Old Ancestor vanished from the Ancestor Space.
A full ten days passed before he finally reappeared within it, sitting just as he always had, watching over the members of the Li clan.
"Old Ancestor," Li Yaowen began, "you... your aura..."
Although Li Yaowen no longer possessed a physical body, she was nonetheless the most unique existence within the Li family.
The moment Li Wei reappeared, she had instantly sensed something different about the Old Ancestor. Even though she could not perceive his aura directly, she could faintly sense that he had undergone some kind of change; he seemed... a little stronger!
In truth, over these many years, it wasn't as if she had never speculated about the true nature of the Old Ancestor's existence.
Eventually, however, she stopped guessing.
She knew with absolute clarity that although the Old Ancestor had always been shrouded in mystery, he was, without a doubt, the same as every other member of the clan: he was willing to sacrifice everything for the family.
And the will of the Old Ancestor was the will of all the clan members. Whatever command he might give, she would obey it unconditionally!
"Mm."
Seeing Yaowen's joyful expression, Li Wei gave a slight nod.
He let out a long breath and looked upon the clansmen gathered in the space, a palpable sense of pressure now radiating from his gaze!
"I am ready."
---
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