Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 14 Capturing the Pig Demon

The sandstorm stopped abruptly just before it reached the ox knee flower, as Li Xiangming did not want to harm this precious plant.

But he still achieved his goal; the two pigs were startled and darted away in a flash.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Xiangming revealed himself, plucked a rhizome flower, put it in an empty jade box, and placed it in his storage bag.

If it is an immature spiritual material, he will record it and consider it as family property.

But once it's matured, it's naturally taken into our possession. This is a hidden perk for members of the Police Department, which goes without saying.

Seeing Li Xiangming's actions, the pig demon flew into a rage, panting heavily as it charged forward.

"They're quite rampant."

Li Xiangming leaped away from his spot, his hands moving like magic as he unleashed over a dozen water arrows that struck the pig demon.

The water arrow wasn't real water, but rather magical energy. It was quite powerful. The pig demon was in pain, its eyes widened even more frantically, and it roared to the sky, unleashing a deafening sonic boom.

The wild boar next to him let out a miserable cry and collapsed to the ground. Even Li Xiangming hurriedly retreated to avoid the attack.

However, seeing that Li Xiangming was weak, the pig demon did not slacken its efforts and chased after him with all its might, wanting to avenge the theft of the treasure.

"To have such skill at the early stage of spirit summoning, I cannot let you live today."

With a thought, a light blue flag suddenly appeared in Li Xiangming's hand and swung back and forth.

Water cannons, even more powerful than water arrows, gushed out one after another, blasting the woodland in sight to smithereens.

The pig demon roared repeatedly, darting left and right amidst the chaos, yet still unable to escape the pain of being beaten.

Such a low-level demon cultivator, who does not know how to conceal his demonic power, had his cultivation level clearly revealed to Li Xiangming; he was at the early stage of the Spirit Summoning Realm.

The early stage of Spirit Summoning corresponds to the early stage of Qi Refining for cultivators, meaning the pig demon is a whole minor realm lower than Li Xiangming.

When someone bullies a smaller person, Li Xiangming naturally retaliates with a heavy blow.

Before long, the pig demon was covered in wounds and lay on the ground panting heavily.

Li Xiangming stepped forward, intending to end its life.

Keeping some demonic beasts in the Yin District is not a problem; this is also the tacit approval of the Police Department. They can also serve as a barrier to protect Danggui Mountain, or be used to train young clansmen.

But monsters are obviously out of the question. They are uncontrollable and pose too great a threat. It is also the duty of the police officers to eliminate both large and small monsters in the jurisdiction.

However, upon seeing Li Xiangming make a move, the wild boar that had woken up not far away became anxious and rushed in front of the boar demon, squeaking loudly.

Do you want me to let it go?
Li Xiangming shook his head. Suddenly, he thought of something and carefully examined the wild boar. He found that it was very similar to the boar demon except for its skin color.

Could it be the offspring of this pig demon?
Li Xiangming examined it carefully and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

At the same time, a question arose: if he was the offspring of a pig demon, why wasn't he kept by his side?
He's seen plenty of wild boars; this guy's a regular in the Yin District.

Could it be caused by his womanizing?
Li Xiangming squatted down and fiddled with the pig demon's large, fan-like ears. The pig demon stared with wide eyes, still unconvinced.

"Interesting. I'll let you off this time."

Li Xiangming planned to bring the pig demon back to his family. All those who become demons will experience a decline in their reproductive ability, and this is especially true for those with higher cultivation levels.

However, there are exceptions. Some species absorb spiritual energy from their wild animal stage and do not undergo significant changes when they become demon beasts, or they retain their original habits even after the changes, which may allow them to maintain their original reproductive ability.

Such monsters, once they awaken their intelligence and transform into demons, can still reproduce in large numbers.

If the pig demon is also in this situation, then it's like finding a treasure.

We'll find a way to breed them and produce some piglets.

The mountain of Dangui is rich in spiritual energy, and it's possible that a batch of demonic beasts could be artificially spawned there.

Monsters grow by feeding on spiritual energy, and their flesh is of great benefit to humans. Whether consumed by one's own family or sold in the market, it is a worthwhile endeavor.

But should we hand the pig demon over to the Fourth Branch or the Police Department?
Li Xiangming couldn't help but hesitate.

In terms of personal relationships, it should definitely be handed over to the Fourth Branch; in terms of duty, it should be handed over to the Police Department, since I captured the pig demon within my jurisdiction.

Don't be fooled by the fact that both represent the Li family; things are actually quite complicated.

The head of the police station was Li Xiangren, whom Li Qianxiong had been grooming, while the deputy head was Li Xiangru, his former chief scribe and absolute confidant. Both of them were quite famous within the clan, but in order to ensure that they completely controlled the police station, Li Qianxiong even resorted to trickery, only allowing young people of the "Xiang" generation to join.

This also indirectly shows that the police station was Li Qianxiong's private domain, representing the interests of the head of the family.

However, the head of the family is actually the embodiment of the family's will. If the pig demon is handed over to the police department and there are positive results, it will benefit the entire family.

Giving it to the fourth branch is different. Although the fourth branch are all members of the Li family, their bloodlines vary. The things belonging to the fourth branch will not be distributed to the first, second, third, or even branch branches. Even if they are to be distributed, it will have to wait until the fourth branch has eaten its fill.

In other words, the pig demon in the hands of the fourth branch of the family benefits the fourth branch first, then other direct branches, and finally the branch branches.

These two distinctions reveal the three major contradictions currently facing the Li family: the contradiction between the direct line and the branch line, the contradiction between the direct line and the direct line, and the contradiction between the direct line and the family.

The so-called family is actually the head of the family who represents balance.

The direct line was too powerful, which had long aroused Li Qianxiong's dissatisfaction.

Li Xiangming was unaware of these things before because he did not know the family head's stance.

Ever since Li Xiangru told him that the head of the family had put him in the Green Seedling Courtyard to test the attitude of the fourth branch, he knew that Li Qianxiong was willing to ease the conflict between the main branch and the branch branches.

But in the end, Li Xiangming came to the police station, which meant that the fourth branch or the entire direct lineage did not accept it.

With such a resolute stance, and given Li Qianxiong's fiery temper, open and covert struggles are inevitable in the future.

Thinking about this, Li Xiangming couldn't help but feel a headache. What should have been a simple matter became a thousand times more complicated once interests were involved.

"Whether it's the police station or the fourth branch, they are my backers. Even if I don't want credit, I can't let them know my stance."

The way of survival for a junior cultivator is to be moderate. If he sides with the police department, Li Chenglu will definitely be dissatisfied with him, thinking that he does not love the fourth branch enough.

If the money were handed over to the fourth branch of the family, and this reached Li Qianxiong's ears, he would be seen as greedy for petty gains and disregarding the bigger picture.

These are not what he wants.

After a moment's thought, Li Xiangming decided not to give it to anyone, but to keep the pig demon under the pretext of practicing beast taming techniques, and to make further plans later.

He happened to be hitting a bottleneck, and his cultivation progress was slow. Learning some unorthodox methods to protect himself might bring unexpected surprises.

Thinking of this, Li Xiangming twisted tree bark into a rope, lifted the two pigs, and strode back to Tailai Peak.

That concludes today's patrol mission.
-
The Li family's sutra repository is located in the inner courtyard, and it is guarded by the seventh uncle, Li Chengzhi.

Li Chengzhi was greatly surprised to see Li Xiangming: "You're at the age where you should be sincerely cultivating the Tao, why are you learning these heretical paths?"

Although Li Xiangming's talent wasn't among the top tier in the Li family, his cultivation at the sixth level of Qi Refining at only eighteen years old was definitely not bad.

Li Chenglu of the fourth branch of the family encouraged him a lot for this, and the elders of the other direct branches also knew about it.

"The young man has hit a bottleneck, so he wants to take a break and learn some skills to support himself."

Li Xiangming cupped his hands in greeting: "Please rest assured, Seventh Uncle, I will not neglect my cultivation."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengzhi frowned, then sighed softly. It was unavoidable for cultivators to encounter bottlenecks, and sometimes getting stuck on a rut wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"Since you're going to learn a skill, why learn beast taming? My Li family has a full range of unorthodox methods, but we excel in alchemy and weapon crafting. If you learn these two things, you can receive guidance from the family."

Li Xiangming chuckled dryly. He had been home for several months, so how could he not know the situation at home?
The Li family was once a Golden Core family. Although it has only existed for four hundred years, it was once very wealthy and left behind a considerable legacy.

Whether it's pills, formations, artifacts, talismans, or beast taming, puppets, spiritual plants, or healing poisons, there are people who study them all.

But the Li family isn't good at any of them.

Presenting oneself in fine pills and vessels is nothing more than self-aggrandizement.

Of course, such words cannot be spoken aloud. The Li family also has its own unique characteristics, namely, magic.

Thanks to the inherited technique of Hunyuan Ruyi Jin, the Li family members have a far greater understanding of magical power than ordinary cultivators.

Therefore, they often have more impressive combat performances than outsiders.

It was only after witnessing Li Huinan's famous skill, the Flying Flame Wheel, that the Hengyue Sect decided to recruit the Li family and give them a place in exile.

(End of this chapter)