The Wolf Demon

“Mount Bianyan in the State of Xu, a wolf demon newly entered into Foundation Establishment...” Li Xuanxuan looked at the short letter in his hand, feeling rather uneasy. He did not know how strong this wolf demon was, nor whether it had any hidden backing. The five sects of the State of Xu were warring against one another, coupled with rampant demonic cultivators and traveling monks of the Zen Buddhist Sect, throwing the place into complete chaos long ago. The sects could barely protect the few towns beneath their own mountain gates, while everywhere else, demons and devils danced in frenzy. This beast had seized Mount Bianyan deep in Xu's mountains to declare itself king, styling itself the Bianyan Monster General and living quite a carefree life. After all, it was a Foundation Establishment beast cultivating on its own among the mountains, so for the time being no one bothered with it. It was only known because it occasionally came out to reap some plunder and devour a few cultivators. Li Xuanxuan pondered for a moment, smacked his lips, and said hesitantly, “Matters regarding these beasts still need to be asked of that fox. Send it up first for Second Uncle to take a look.” The servant below stepped forward to take it and assented before heading up the mountain. Li Xuanxuan lowered his head and began drawing talismans. The Yu family was now in complete disarray, and the Li family had just annexed two mountains. Dividing manpower and allocating spirit fields all required his supervision. Li Xuanxuan’s innate talent was not high, so he often remained down the mountain to draw talismans and manage affairs. “Jiao'er’s wedding is also in these coming months. Making things look respectable will be no easy task.” The Xiao family’s representative had already come several times—it was none other than Xiao Jiuqing. With an exceptionally slick tongue, he considered every detail thoroughly and arranged everything cleanly, saving Li Xuanxuan a great deal of trouble. Looking over the congratulatory missive handed to him, Li Xuanxuan could not help but click his tongue in praise. “This man is silver-tongued and capable. If our family had someone like him, it would save us a lot of trouble.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than Li Xuanxuan could not help thinking of Li Yuanxiu. A pang of sorrow washed over him, and he thought to himself, *I should have arranged a wife for the boy sooner...* “Patriarch.” While Li Xuanxuan was lost in thought, Li Xiewen hurried up from below and said respectfully, “Master Liu Changdie has repaired the array, bade farewell to Second Master, and departed on the wind toward the north.” “Oh,” Li Xuanxuan responded, then instructed, “I understand. How is the selection for the Jade Court Guards coming along?” “Reporting to the Patriarch, three are surnamed Li, one surnamed Chen, and one surnamed Xu. All are trusted kin and confidants.” Li Xuanxuan nodded and answered, “Keep a close watch on them. In a few days, the ancestor will want to meet them in person as well.” Watching Li Xiewen nod and withdraw, Li Xuanxuan set down his vermilion brush. He suddenly thought of Li Xuanfeng, which truly put him in a difficult spot. When cultivators progressed too quickly in their cultivation, their chances of having offspring grew ever slimmer. Li Xuanfeng already had no children to his name, and now he stayed far away from women. How could this not trouble him, the elder brother? “Though Donghe married into our family, Jingtian only gave birth to a single daughter, Qingxiao, and there seems to be no sign of further children. In the future, Qingxiao will likely be married off to the Xiao family. With Xuanfeng in his current state, won't that leave Uncle without any heirs to continue his line...” Li Xuanxuan sighed softly. Though he was the eldest brother, his disposition was gentle and unassertive, and he had no sway over Li Xuanfeng. He could only plan to find a day to ask Li Tongya. The talisman brush in his hand traced light, delicate strokes. The talisman beneath his brush burst into brilliant radiance, finally coalescing into a shimmering glow that flowed across the smooth talisman paper. Li Xuanxuan let out a soft laugh and murmured, “It is done!” This talisman was a Qi Refinement rank Primary Shield Talisman. The two talisman arts obtained by the Li family were *Lingzhong Talisman Art* and *Jinqiu Talisman Refining Notes*. The former was brought back by Li Chijing years ago, containing three Qi Refinement rank talisman techniques, and the one Li Xuanxuan had just drawn was one of them. The latter also focused mainly on Qi Refinement talismans, but its difficulty was higher, and Li Xuanxuan had not yet succeeded in crafting one. “Succeeding in one or two out of ten is already quite good.” Li Xuanxuan put away the talisman in his hand. Although his talent in talisman arts was the highest in the Li family, it was not exceptionally high and could hardly be considered good; his ability to craft Qi Refinement talismans relied entirely on his own sweat and toil. Feeling gratified, he smiled and said, “With these talismans, the younger generation will have greater security when fighting.” *** Mount Lijing. At present, Li Tongya was the only cultivator remaining on Mount Lijing. Li Yuanjiao and Li Xuanfeng had been dispatched to Mount Huaqian, while the father and daughter Li Xuanling and Li Qinghong had gone to Mount Huazhong. A few Qi Refinement cultivators of outside surnames were busy below eliminating beasts and surveying spirit fields, freeing up time for the others to cultivate. The combined spiritual qi of the two peaks, Meichi Peak and Lijing Peak, finally allowed Li Tongya to cultivate without holding back. The spiritual energy across the whole of Mount Lijing was not dense; having received the Vast Ocean Leviathan Talisman, Li Tongya inhaled and channeled qi like a whale drawing in the sea, making sustaining his cultivation more demanding than that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Holding a purple jade slip, Li Tongya sat on the couch reading carefully. Beside him, Liu Rouxuan, her hair completely white, slept groggily. Li Tongya was now sixty-three years old, and Liu Rouxuan was roughly the same age. But after repeated failed breakthrough attempts, her lifespan had withered and her vitality dwindled. The Li family could not produce any spiritual materials that could prolong lifespan, leaving them to helplessly watch her approach death. Liu Rouxuan did not have much time left, and with her origin injured, she spent more time asleep than awake. Li Tongya no longer secluded himself for cultivation, coming instead to sit by her couch to read, wanting to spend a couple more days keeping his wife company in her final days. “Ancestor.” Li Xiewen crept up softly to Li Tongya from below, presenting the small letter in his hands. Li Tongya took it, glanced at it, nodded, and put the letter away. Tucking in the bed curtain, he then stepped out of the courtyard and murmured, “I know.” With that, he rose upon the wind and flew out of the array. The speed of a Foundation Establishment immortal cultivator was astonishing; crossing the dense, overlapping forest beneath his feet, he landed beneath a colossal white banyan tree in mere moments. All around was dead silent, without so much as a single strand of fox fur in sight. Li Tongya was in no hurry either. Sitting cross-legged beneath the tree, he cultivated quietly for a brief while, until a fiery red figure flew hurriedly across the horizon and landed before him. “You've come looking for me.” Looking downcast and dispirited, the fox gave a low cry, squeaking, “You made quite a huge ruckus on the lake. We all know about it. That's two fewer foraging grounds, leaving the beasts of the Northern Foothills rather dissatisfied...” “What do you mean by that?” Li Tongya asked in confusion. The fox replied, “Those man-eating beasts only had to change their shapes, slip into towns quietly, cast a few spells, devour a few humans, and leave immediately. Practitioners never used to bother with them. After all, it was just the death of a few lowly commoners; as long as they didn't provoke the prominent, wealthy households, eating a few people was effortless.” The fox sat down on the ground, threw out its paws in an expressive gesture, and continued, “Ever since your Li family rose to power, well, isn't this splendid? Even if they go into the territory to eat a few commoners, someone relentlessly interferes, bringing out all manner of track-finding and illusion-breaking arts! The careless beasts who linger in town are dragged out and beaten to death within days. Even the cautious ones who flee immediately after eating—a mere Embryonic Breathing minor demon eating a few people, yet you actually send Qi Refinement cultivators to chase them all the way into the mountains! It really makes no sense at all!” Li Tongya was struck dumb. The fox rambled on regardless: “As your Li family rose, human flesh and blood across the entire Northern Foothills grew increasingly precious. Many beasts became unwilling to take the risk and turned to eating other beasts instead, making an utter mess of things—dog eating dog, wolf biting wolf—without a moment of peace for days on end. “Over the past half year, your Li family expanded once more, costing these beasts two more foraging grounds. Naturally, they are rather disgruntled.” Li Tongya could only shake his head. Then he saw the fox say, “I went to that monster cave and heard that pig demon talking about this, saying it was going to teach your family a good lesson. I merely tried to talk it out of it with a few words on your behalf, yet that idiotic pig demon actually threw me out of the cave...” “I have troubled you, Fellow Daoist.” Li Tongya was caught between tears and laughter, but his attention caught on the pig demon, and he asked puzzledly, “The monster cave and the Qingchi Sect belong to different factions. Could that pig demon actually lead monster troops to launch an attack? Or is it planning some underhanded scheme to harm my family?”