Chapter 51 : Chapter 51
Chapter 51: A New Mission Triggered, The Five Great Families Attack
【The System has detected that the family bound to the Host is facing grave danger. A system mission has been triggered!】
After lying silent for a long time, the System’s voice rang out within Li Xingge’s mind once more.
Li Xingge’s eyes lit up. At last, a system mission had arrived. Every time he completed a system mission, the rewards the System provided brought immense improvement to the family. He had long been looking forward to this.
【Current Mission: Annihilate the four invading forces (Song, Yan, Shen, Lu)】
【Mission Progress: 0%】
【Mission Description: The rise of the Li Clan has brought a severe sense of threat to the four great families. At the urging of Song Zhong, the Song Clan’s Supreme Elder, the four great families have joined together and are preparing to combine their strength to destroy the Li Clan.】
【After completing the mission, the following rewards will be granted:】
【Reward 1: The family will obtain three first-tier Spirit-Gathering Arrays. Each first-tier Spirit-Gathering Array can only be used by one person for cultivation. (These are Spirit-Gathering Arrays constructed by a first-tier formation master. They gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and cultivation within a first-tier Spirit-Gathering Array increases cultivation speed by 100%.)】
【Reward 2: The family will obtain one first-tier clan-protecting grand array. (This is a protective grand array constructed by a first-tier formation master. Once activated, it can withstand a full-force strike from an Early Innate Realm cultivator.)】
【Reward 3: The family will obtain 100 Body Tempering Pills. (These are medicinal pills refined by a first-tier alchemist. After consumption, they can rapidly increase the cultivation of Physical Body Realm cultivators.)】
【Reward 4: The fortune of all family members will increase by 2%.】
【Reward 5: The Host will obtain one Early Innate Realm Cultivator Experience Card. After use, it grants the power of an Innate cultivator for the duration of half a quarter of an hour.】
【Reward 6: The cultivation speed of all Body Tempering Realm and Physical Body Realm cultivators within the family will increase by 20%.】
Looking at the system rewards, Li Xingge was not surprised in the slightest.
The System truly was exactly as he had expected.
System: Whatever the System produces is bound to be top quality.
...
Outside Qingfeng Valley.
The moon hid behind the clouds, and the world was pitch black.
Within the darkness, agile figures rapidly drew closer to Qingfeng Valley. Killing intent silently approached.
“Senior Song, just as you predicted, we struck suddenly, and the Li Clan did not put up even the slightest defense.”
From atop a small grassy hill, the Yan Family Head looked toward the completely undefended Qingfeng Valley in the distance and smiled warmly.
Song Zhong let out a cold laugh. “Everyone, after tonight, there will no longer be any Qingfeng Li Clan in Baihe County!”
The crowd burst into loud laughter.
For the battle to destroy the Qingfeng Li Clan, the five-family alliance had poured out its full strength and sent forth all its elites.
Among them, there were six Qi-Blood Realm cultivators, seventy-seven Physical Body Realm cultivators, and three thousand Body Tempering Realm cultivators.
This was a force great enough to turn Baihe County upside down.
In everyone’s eyes, beneath such overwhelming strength, the extermination of the Li Clan was only a matter of time.
Yet no one noticed that the Chen Family Head, standing at the very back with his head lowered, was wearing a strange smile at the corner of his lips.
The group quietly infiltrated the valley.
WHOOSH!
From the slopes on both sides of the valley, a burst of light shot into the sky with a shrill scream, then exploded overhead. The brilliance of the blast turned the black night into broad daylight.
The hidden figures of the invaders were instantly exposed.
Archers, who had already been lying in ambush for some time, revealed themselves on both sides of the valley. They drew their bows and loosed their arrows, wave after wave, like torrential rain.
Although such arrows could not inflict effective damage on Qi-Blood Realm and Physical Body Realm cultivators, their killing power against Body Tempering Realm cultivators was immense.
With each rain of arrows, more than a hundred men were shot down and stripped of their lives.
“What is going on? Why is there an ambush?”
The several Family Heads swept their eyes across the surroundings, shocked and furious.
Song Zhong’s expression also grew exceedingly ugly.
“Who was it that leaked the information?”
The men looked at one another, suspicion flashing in their eyes.
Seeing this, Song Zhong inwardly cursed his luck. If suspicion took root among them, then they would have already lost half the battle before it had truly begun.
He immediately barked, “Why panic? So what if there is an ambush? This old man is still here!”
Hearing this, the crowd steadied their hearts. Song Zhong’s Minor Accomplishment in the Qi-Blood Realm was there for all to see. He was the pillar anchoring their morale.
After stabilizing the army’s spirits, Song Zhong stepped forward. His peerless, overbearing aura exploded outward without restraint. Behind him, Song Tianbo and the four Family Heads likewise unleashed their own strength.
The overwhelming aura of six Qi-Blood Realm cultivators converged into one, pressing down upon Qingfeng Valley like a great dragon.
For a time, wild winds tore through the valley, sand and stones flew, and chaos broke out everywhere.
Those in the valley whose cultivation was low only felt as though an invisible hand had seized their hearts and squeezed so hard they could scarcely breathe.
Sensing that surging aura, Li Xingge and the Li Clan elders within Qingfeng Valley suddenly raised their heads.
Li Xingge gave a faint laugh. “They’ve come. Elders, follow me and meet the enemy!”
With those words, he stepped forward. After a few flickers of motion, his figure disappeared from the spot.
The Li Clan’s bronze bell rang out nine times in quick succession. When all the Li Clan members heard the bell sound nine times, their expressions immediately turned grave.
The last time the bell had rung nine times was more than a century ago, when the Li Clan had faced the calamity of extinction.
In one small courtyard,
an old man with a bent back, a face full of wrinkles, and snow-white hair heard the bell and took out the treasured saber that had lain hidden at the bottom of his chest for many years.
He stripped away the red cloth wrapped around the blade. Rust mottled its surface, yet the cold gleam along its edge made the old man stroke it with deep affection, as though he were looking upon his beloved from long ago.
“Old partner, today we can fight side by side once again!”
the old man murmured. With that, he tried to sling the saber across his back, only to find it rather difficult. He was old now, so old that he could barely lift the blade anymore.
“Old woman, help me. Strap the saber onto my back!”
Behind him, an elderly woman with a gentle face wiped away her tears and fastened the saber behind him. The instant the blade rested upon his back, the stoop that had bent his waist for so many years suddenly straightened. It was as though he had returned to his youth, to the days when he had wielded that treasured saber to carve a bloody road for the family.
Without a backward glance, the old man strode out of the courtyard with unshakable resolve.
“This old man may be old, but I can still eat three dou of rice. My treasured saber may be rusted, but it can still cut down every enemy for the family!”
...
“Husband, you have already lost one arm for the family. Can you not stop? The family does not lack one man like you. If anything else happens to you, what will Chen’er and I do?”
A woman knelt on the ground, clutching the leg of a one-armed man as she sobbed and begged him. The man turned around, and with his one remaining hand, gently stroked his wife’s tear-streaked face. Then he suddenly pried her hands from his leg.
“The family gave me life and raised me. I must repay it. If I die, then the family will raise my wife and children in my place!”
With that, he strode out of the house without looking back.
Behind him rose the heart-wrenching wails of his wife.