Taiqiu Mountain is covered with different colors from top to bottom. Looking from a distance, it looks like a piece of colorful dyed cloth is draped directly on the mountain.
The mountains further away blocked most of the rays of the setting sun, and by the time the remaining pale golden afterglow fell to the top of Taiqiu Mountain, it already looked a little dim.
It was from this dusk that Li Xuangang appeared. When he passed through the thin clouds and landed next to Li Changqing, the latter withdrew his gaze to the east.
"Xuan Gang has met my fifth uncle."
Before his black clothes stopped completely in the wind, he bowed slightly and saluted.
The evening breeze blew gently, the clouds dispersed, and the top of Taiqiu Mountain was covered with peach blossoms.
Li Changqing walked to the stone table and sat down, minding his own business, and stretched out his hand for Li Xuangang to come over.
The latter straightened up, his eyes wandering around the top of the mountain. When he took it back, he was a little surprised, because he didn't notice the aura of his eighth uncle Li Changji here.
After he also sat down opposite Li Changqing, Li Xuangang asked softly:
"Fifth uncle, is there something wrong with Xuan Gang?"
Li Changqing put his right hand on the stone table, tapped the table with his bony fingers a few times, and looked at him.
After a moment, he spoke:
"I may have to go to Hengduanfang City in a month. After that, I will not be able to return to the family for nearly two years. So during this period, Xuangang, you will take charge of some things in the family. If there is anything
If you are unsure about anything, you can discuss it with your seventh uncle."
The tone was gentle and neither impatient nor impetuous. It seemed like an extremely ordinary chat between the elders and the younger generations.
But just such a passage made Li Xuangang feel a little surprised. He thought that the fifth uncle called him up this time to ask about his breakthrough to a third-level alchemist, but he did not expect that he would be asked to take charge of family affairs for two years.
time.
This responsibility was so great that for a moment Li Xuangang did not dare to open his mouth to accept it. His throat thrummed several times and he stopped talking.
Seemingly sensing his doubts and worries, Li Changqing's face softened slightly and he began to explain the reason for his remarks.
"The family has received an edict from the Corpse Ghost Sect and requires me to go to Hengduanfang City as a guest elder to assist them in a task that will take about two years."
"Not long ago, your eighth uncle was sent to Wanxingfang City to take charge of other matters. He won't be able to come back in a short time."
"Xuan Yuan is performing a family mission in Mangshanfang City. He will not return to the family until he completes it."
"As soon as I leave, you will be the only one with the highest cultivation level on Taiqiu Mountain, so I may have to work hard on you."
After saying that, Li Changqing stopped talking, and Li Xuangang nodded after a short silence.
He opened his mouth and said:
"Don't worry, Fifth Uncle, I will definitely handle all family matters properly before you or Eighth Uncle come back."
After saying that, he solemnly stood up from the stone bench and bowed once again to salute.
The petals of some peach blossoms on the ground have withered and are extremely soft when stepped on.
Li Changqing raised his hand to signal him to get up, then took out a black token from his storage bag and handed it over, and said:
"This is the warehouse token of the Family Good Work Hall. You will keep it for the next two years."
Li Xuangang looked at it and reached out to take it.
In fact, he had seen this token in the hands of his eighth uncle before, but this was the first time he had personally held it.
The first thing I felt when I got the token was that it was a bit heavy. Li Xuangang turned over one side and looked at it carefully, but he couldn't tell what kind of material the token was made from.
This Shanggong Hall warehouse token is not big, only about the size of a palm. One side is engraved with the word "Taiqiu", and the other side is covered with mysterious black lines.
Both the fonts and the patterns engraved on it are all gilt black, reflecting a slightly deeper color under the afterglow of the setting sun.
Li Xuangang took the token and rubbed it in his hand for a few times. He knew the "weight" represented by the token, so after making a promise to his fifth uncle, he carefully put it into his storage bag.
.......
After explaining the matter, Li Changqing did not let Li Xuangang leave, but asked about his progress in cultivation.
The latter also took this opportunity to raise some problems he encountered in cultivation.
It was not until night began to cover from the east that Li Xuangang resigned from his fifth uncle Li Changqing, left the top of the mountain, and returned to his cave.
...
One day, while Li Xuangang was still practicing in the cave, a cave on Taiqiu Mountain opened.
A black figure walked out from inside. He was wide and fat, with a gentle face. The black mysterious clothes on his body did not look straight at all, but instead looked a bit bloated.
This figure is none other than Li Xuanshan, who has completely stabilized his realm in the early stage of foundation building.
Li Xuanshan walked out of the cave, turned his head left and right to look at the surrounding scenery, and then stretched greatly.
After he finished stretching his body, he turned around and closed the door of his cave with a flick of his sleeves, then turned into a ray of light and flew to the top of the mountain.
"Xuanshan has met my fifth uncle."
Seeing Li Changqing coming out of the cave, Li Xuanshan quickly bowed and saluted.
After sensing his current cultivation level, he found that it was quite solid. Li Changqing showed a smile and told him not to be polite.
Li Xuanshan straightened up, his plump face full of smiles, his eyes twinkling, and followed Li Changqing. Before the latter could even sit down, he said:
"Fifth Uncle, how have you considered the matter I mentioned before?"
His tone was urgent, with a hint of worry and a bit of longing.
So Li Changqing turned around, looked at him, and said:
"This matter is a family matter. I handed it over to your Ninth Brother yesterday. You can just ask for his opinion."
Upon hearing this, Li Xuanshan's eyes changed first, and then a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
"What does Fifth Uncle mean? Does he want Ninth Brother to take over the family affairs?"
He didn't have time to think about it carefully, since the matter had little to do with him anyway, so after confirming that what he wanted was now decided by his ninth brother Li Xuangang, he immediately surrendered to his fifth uncle Li Changqing.
And when the other party nodded, he quickly fled from the top of the mountain.
When he appeared again, he had already appeared at the door of Li Xuangang's cave.
I tidied up my clothes that looked a little messy due to the rush, and then practiced my expressions.
Finally feeling that it was almost done, he released a paper crane for communication into Li Xuangang's cave.
Waiting respectfully in front of the cave's door, when the cave's protective restrictions disappeared and Li Xuangang's figure was not completely revealed, Li Xuanshan ducked and stepped into the cave.
"Brother Ninth."
...
Li Xuangang had not seen Li Xuanshan since he went into seclusion. This time Li Xuanshan came a little unexpectedly, which made him feel a little surprised.
However, his surprise did not last long. After a simple salute, Li Xuanshan made his intention clear.
"Brother Ninth, how about you let me take charge of the family treasure ship instead of Uncle Six?"
...
About half an hour later, Li Xuanshan left Li Xuangang's cave with satisfaction, his fat face full of smiles.
Obviously, after his hard work, Li Xuangang agreed to his request.
Of course, the latter did not agree to this just because of his request.
The treasure ship is an important property of the family. Since the fifth uncle has entrusted the family affairs to himself, he naturally has to pay attention to it and cannot make any mistakes.
Li Xuangang knew his fifteenth brother Li Xuanshan well and knew that he looked rough but was actually extremely delicate. He had been able to play both sides of the family's caravan trade since he was a child.
If he were to take charge of the family treasure ship in place of his sixth uncle, he would definitely be able to do the job, and he might even be able to better complete the trade tasks that the family assigns to the treasure ship every year.
The only disadvantage is that although Li Xuanshan has stabilized his cultivation now, he is still just a monk who has just entered the early stage of foundation building, and may not be strong enough to control the entire treasure ship.
So after some consideration by Li Xuangang, he finally decided to let Li Xuanshan select a group of clan members in the late stage of Qi refining to board the treasure ship, and then let his sixth uncle Li Qingshu take him with him for a period of time, waiting for him to explain the various affairs of the treasure ship.
After he was familiar with everything, he handed the treasure ship over to him to take charge of.
This plan is feasible. Li Xuangang ignored Li Xuanshan's nonsense, but considered his plan in his mind while he kept asking.
It was not until finally that he agreed to Li Xuanshan and explained the arrangements to him in detail.
Seeing that Ninth Brother relented, the latter quickly stopped nagging and looked at Li Xuangang with extremely sincere eyes.
And no matter what he said, he always agreed, patting his chest repeatedly as a guarantee.
...
Watching Li Xuanshan go away, Li Xuangang stood at the door of the cave for a while. After a moment of pause, he turned and walked into the cave, sat cross-legged on the stone bed, and once again took out the Shanggong Hall's warehouse token from the storage bag.
He stared at the token with a complicated expression, while stroking it in his hand, he murmured to himself:
"The fifth uncle deliberately sent away the eighth uncle and Xuan Yuan... and gave me this token to take charge of for two years..."
His expression changed from complicated to profound, and his tone changed:
"I don't know if this is the fifth uncle's personal intention... um... or the family's intention? Do the seventh uncle, eighth uncle and others know about this decision?"
After thinking for a while, he didn't come up with any results, but since the fifth uncle had already handed over the token to him, he had no choice but to continue it in the next two years.
He turned over his hand and put away the token in his hand. When Li Xuangang raised his head again, the doubts in his eyes had completely disappeared, replaced by a determination that he had never seen before.
.......
The day after Li Xuanshan left Ninth Brother Li Xuangang, he began to issue tasks in the Shanggong Hall in the name of the family elder, summoning clan members who were in the advanced stage of Qi Refining and above to board the family's treasure ship with him.
After several days of "stalking" and "coercion" against the clan members who were still in the family, when he finally left Taiqiu Mountain and prepared to go to the port of Tianhefang City to board the family's treasure ship, he was actually arrested.
He gathered seven clansmen who were in the late stage of Qi refining.
Among them, even Li Xuanting, who was still on the Puppet Peak and continued to master the puppetry technique, was forcibly pulled down by him and joined this mission.
I don’t know what Li Xuanshan told him before Li Xuanting agreed to transfer him from the cave on Puppet Peak to the cabin on the treasure ship.
...
Not far from Tianhefang City, a team of monks all dressed in black mysterious clothes were walking through the mountains.
Li Xuanting, the twenty-seventh son of Li Jiaxuan in Taiqiu Mountain, walked at the back of the team. He was tall and tall, exuding a completely different quality from Li Xuanshan.
If Li Xuanshan is a member of the Li family of Taiqiu in the dark night, then Li Xuanting is a member of the Li family who is completely exposed to the bright sunlight.
Li Xuanting looked at Brother Fifteen who was walking at the front of the team, and then recalled the promise he had made to himself a few days ago.
Although he still has some doubts about whether Brother Fifteen's promise can be fulfilled, if it can really be realized, then his trip this time will still have some meaning.
Everyone hurried on in silence, only Li Xuanshan kept talking in the front and drawing cakes for the seven tribesmen behind him.
Twenty days after leaving Taiqiu Mountain, Li Xuanshan successfully led seven people to Tianhefang City and settled down in his family's shop in Fang City.
They are waiting for the family treasure ship to arrive at the port!
...
As time goes by, Li Xuangang officially takes over the family from his fifth uncle Li Changqing, and the deadline for taking charge of various affairs of the family is getting closer and closer.
According to the Fifth Uncle's own arrangement, tomorrow he will leave for Hengduanfang City to participate in this mission of the Corpse Ghost Sect as the elder of the guest.
Guessing this time, Li Xuangang woke up from the cave under the rock wall in time. After giving a few instructions to Zheng Da, he left the Jieyuan space and returned to his cave on Mount Taiqiu.
However, he did not stay in the cave for too long. He put the Jie Yuan Pearl away, opened the door of the cave, and walked towards the Shanggong Hall on the mountainside.
After entering the Shanggong Hall, he took out his token to open the guard ban in the innermost side room, and walked to a wooden table and sat down.
It was exactly the position that my eighth uncle Li Changji occupied on weekdays!
Li Xuangang took out one of the books from a stack of books, opened it at random and started browsing.
Tomorrow, when his fifth uncle leaves, he will officially take over the family affairs. Although he only has two years, he must be cautious, so he wants to come here to sort out the family's various arrangements for the next two years, as well as his future training plans.
...
By sorting out the classics on the wooden table, he learned the whereabouts of most of the family members:
Uncle Wu is about to go on a mission to the Corpse Ghost Sect, which will take about two years.
The seventh uncle has always stayed on the Weapon Peak, focusing on the construction of the Weapon Refining Pavilion and the training of future generations of clan members in the Weapon Refining Path.
The eighth uncle went to Wanxingfang City to implement the fifth uncle's plan there. He was accompanied by his second uncle Li Qingyang and his seventeenth uncle Li Qingshui. According to inference, the eighth uncle should stay there in the short term until everything is over.
All are on the right track.
The third uncle, Li Qinghuan, was on duty in Tianhefang City, practicing while guarding the city.
The fourth uncle, Li Qingjing, gathered in Lingshan to manage the family income there.
The sixth uncle, Li Qingshu, is in charge of the treasure ship and has been carrying out the tasks assigned by the family. Now Xuanshan has also boarded the treasure ship. After he becomes familiar with the operation of the treasure ship, the sixth uncle can replace him and return to the family to make other arrangements.
The thirteenth brother Li Xuanyuan is performing a family mission in Mangshanfang City, and he doesn't know how long it will take to complete it.
The twelfth brother Li Xuanyu is still in seclusion in the cave to stabilize his state, but since Xuanshan has been released from seclusion, it won't be long before he comes.
...
...
Li Yuheng broke through the realm of foundation building in seclusion.
Li Xuankun was active in the Hengduan Mountains.
Li Xuanting followed Li Xuanshan and boarded the treasure ship.
Li Yuxian continued to improve his alchemy skills while practicing on the Dan Peak.
Most of the clan members in the middle and later stages of Qi Refining are scattered around to perform family tasks.
A small number of clan members who are in the middle and later stages of Qi refining stay in the family to practice in seclusion.
...
After understanding the current general distribution of the family's personnel and plans, Li Xuangang had a clearer picture of how he would manage family affairs in the next two years.
So after a brief summing up, he put the classics back in his hands and began to think about his cultivation plan.
More than two years have passed since his five-year agreement with Du Shouying of the Corpse Sect. If he didn't want the Eight Spider Green Light Sword to become scrap metal, he would have to consider the matter of the third-order venom spider king.
In addition, there are also tasks he released in Shanggong Hall regarding the blood essence of third-level high-grade monsters...
After thinking about it, Li Xuangang made a rough arrangement for his cultivation in the next two years.
In addition to the normal handling of family affairs and the two tasks he issued, he also needs to practice the Qingling Demon Transformation Technique, refine the third-level elixir Wanqi Pill for the family, and most importantly: maintain his practice and improve his realm!
...
A crescent moon hangs in the sky, surrounded by countless stars.
After Li Xuangang sorted out his family's affairs and his own affairs, he left Shanggong Hall and returned to his cave.
He sat cross-legged on the stone bed, immersed in cultivation, and waiting for the next day.
But he never expected that in the middle of the night, a ray of light would rush out from the north, instantly pass through the protective light curtain of Taiqiu Mountain, and fall on the mountain.
Li Jiaxuan ranks thirteenth in his generation. Li Xuanyuan, who has advanced foundation-building skills, completed his mission ahead of schedule and is back!