Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 234 The Cao Family System
After passing through several checkpoints, the Li family's convoy finally entered the heart of Qingliang Mountain.

The presence of cultivators here was ubiquitous, and almost every one of them was accompanied by a spirit pet, which greatly shocked the Li family.

It's important to know that, as external objects used to assist in combat, spirit pets are not as widely circulated as talismans and magical artifacts.

Conversely, many independent cultivators never have the opportunity to own a spirit pet in their entire lives.

The reason is that spirit pets are too expensive.

Even in a Foundation Establishment family like the Li family, the number of cultivators who possess spirit pets is very small.

Until the Li family transformed into a beast-taming family and established a beast-breeding center.

The number of spirit pets in the home gradually increased.
However, the scale is still limited.

In Qingliang Mountain, one can find spirit pets everywhere.

"This is the foundation of the beast-taming clan."

Li Chenglu sighed.

"Not all of them are cultivators from the Cao family."

Li Xiangming added in a low voice, "It is said that the Cao family moved all its affiliated forces to Qingliang Mountain to coexist with them."

The Li family and the Cao family had little interaction, or rather, before moving to Pu County, the Li family had never dealt with the Cao family, who lived far away in Qingshui County.

Even now, despite the close cooperation between the two families, the only entity that can actually connect with the Li family is Yuyuan.

Therefore, the Li family had virtually no impression of the Cao family of Qingliang Mountain.

However, Li Xiangming learned a lot of information about the Cao family from Cao Yanjun.

The Cao family is a thousand-year-old family with a long history, a large population, and many cultivators.

They strictly enforced the system of separating immortals and mortals, concentrating cultivators on the mountains for cultivation, while mortals lived in the basins and valleys at the foot of the mountains, which was quite similar to the Li family's practice.

However, the Cao family was far larger than the Li family, which had fled to exile.

According to Cao Yanjun, in addition to the main family, the Cao family also has four branch families.

These branch families were originally scattered in various places, but after the main family obtained the spiritual vein of Qingliang Mountain, they all moved back.

Therefore, the Cao family actually consists of five families: the Cao family of Cuiwei Peak, the Cao family of Yunyin Peak, the Cao family of Bixiao Peak, the Cao family of Yaoguang Peak, and the Cao family of Youlan Peak.

Among them, the Cao family of Cuiwei Peak is the main family and also the family to which Cao Yanjun belongs.

However, even though they belong to the main family, there is still a distinction between the main lineage and the branch lineages within the main family, and the treatment of the two is not comparable.

The division between the main branch and branches of the Cao family differs from that of the Li family.

The Li family classifies all the descendants of the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the past into the main lineage, while all others are classified into branch lineages. This method of classification is relatively simple and direct.

The Cao family, on the other hand, is more traditional, with the eldest son of the ancestors forming the main branch and the other brothers and sisters forming the branch.

The eldest grandson born to the eldest son continues as the main line, while other offspring belong to the branch line.

Only when the main line of male heirs is cut off will the main line of male heirs be transferred to other brothers of the same generation.

Therefore, the main lineage always has only a very small number of people, while the branches are extremely large.

Although Cao Yanjun was a cultivator from Cuiwei Peak, he was a member of many branches and was largely ignored for a long time.

So she couldn't even protect the four-eyed Suanni cub left by her father.

Fortunately, Cao Yanjun was unwilling to be mediocre. He worked hard to study the art of beast taming and became an outstanding beast tamer. He then applied to go to Pu County to establish Yuyuan Garden, thus getting away from the control of the Cao family. He gained the family's attention through Yuyuan Garden.

However, Cao Yanjun ultimately failed to gain the freedom she desired and was used as a tool for a political marriage to marry into the Li family.

To serve the family, or rather the main branch, is an inescapable fate for the offspring of the branch.

The main branch holds the position of family head, and with five Cao families, there are five family heads.

The head of the Cuiwei Peak family, Cao Minghui, is also known as the head of the Cao family of Qingliang Mountain.

The clan leader is responsible for presenting the Cao family's image to the outside world, a crucial role.

However, within the Cao family, the patriarch's authority was not as ideal as it appeared to outsiders.

This is because the Cao family once had a history of division, and the current four branches are all traces left over from that history.

The Li family also split up, but it was caused by enemies.

The Li family moved from Libeidao to Puxian in Linandao.

It wasn't until more than a decade ago that the brand "Danggui Mountain Plum" was established.

However, the Li family of Danggui Mountain has always claimed to be the legitimate successors of Tianzhu Mountain.

Tianzhu Mountain no longer exists, so the Li family is now the undisputed head family.

The Cao family thought the same way. Whether it was the Cao family of Cuiwei Peak or the other branch families, they all believed themselves to be the legitimate heirs and demanded that the other families obey their orders. How could that be possible?
If negotiations fail, then fighting is the only option.

In their struggle for legitimacy, the Cao family members fought each other relentlessly, showing no mercy.

This phenomenon naturally aroused dissatisfaction among some insightful people.

Just then, the Wuliang Sword Sect was about to attack the Nanbin Demon Clan.

The head of the Cao family on Cuiwei Peak seized the opportunity and joined the Wuliang Sword Sect in the battle.

They eventually captured the vast Qingliang Mountain.

Qingliang Mountain has a second-grade superior spiritual vein, which is far better than the original residence of the Cao family on Cuiwei Peak.

Without hesitation, they moved in and invited the other branches of the family to discuss the family's future plans.

Tempted by the spiritual vein, the other four families acknowledged Cuiwei Peak as the main family, thus resolving the centuries-long division within the Cao family.

However, due to the peaceful negotiations, the four major entities have continuously fought for their own rights and interests, and still maintain a high degree of autonomy.

Even the bases were spread across five different hilltops.
Therefore, the clan leader cannot order the branch clans to split up as easily as the main lineage cultivators can command the branch lineage cultivators.

The Cao family of Qingliang Mountain is more like an alliance among cultivators of the same clan.

The situation within the Cao family is complex and multifaceted, but that's not all.

The relationship between the Cao family and its affiliated forces is also complex.

Due to the unique nature of the Beast Taming Clan, the Cao family maintains strict control over the outflow of their spirit pets.

They sell spirit pets, but like the Luo family, they don't sell to just anyone.

The Cao family also has a tradition of training beast tamers for affiliated forces to enhance their own scale and strength in beast taming.

Therefore, the Cao family's affiliated forces are basically all beast-taming sects or families.

In order to better control the production and flow of spirit pets, the Cao family chose to relocate them all to Qingliang Mountain.

This made Qingliang Mountain a large beast-taming base.

The Cao family is renowned for its beast taming skills. Within its sphere of influence, Qingliang Mountain trains countless beast tamers and spirit pets every year, profoundly impacting the spirit pet market in Qingshui County and even Ling'an Prefecture.

This is also the fundamental reason why the Seven Mysteries Sect, and the Pure Heart Sword Sect behind it, attach so much importance to and even rely on the Cao family, a Foundation Establishment family.

After listening to Li Xiangming's explanation, Li Chenggeng frowned slightly.

No wonder there are so many cultivators and spirit pets on Qingliang Mountain; it turns out that most of them don't have the surname Cao.

The Cao family's move certainly strengthened their power.

However, managing such a large group of cultivators is by no means an easy task, and the Cao family is probably in a complete mess.

The Li family's entourage was quite large, and the blue-backed demon lizards they rode were particularly eye-catching.

Many passing cultivators stopped to observe, and one of them, a middle-aged cultivator wearing a crown, said with a solemn expression, "The Blue-backed Demon Lizard is a rare demon species, how come these people have it?"

"Judging from their appearance, they seem to be a wedding procession, but I wonder which family they have chosen."

Another person chimed in, his gaze drifting over the carriages of the Li family's convoy, which were filled with valuable betrothal gifts.

"In recent years, the Cao family has had quite a few beautiful female cultivators marry off."

At this moment, another person chuckled and said, "And only the Cao family of Cuiwei Peak has Blue-backed Demon Lizards for sale."

Upon hearing that it was the Cao family of Cuiwei Peak, the person in front immediately withdrew his gaze and left the scene without looking to the side.

There are many families with different surnames in Qingliang Mountain. They all moved here at once, and it's hard to say what kind of relationship they have with each other.

There are also many examples of conflicts arising from this.

The Cao family is often good at mediating disputes.

If they are relatives of some unknown clans, it wouldn't be unreasonable to keep an eye on them.

But if the Cao family is caught, the whole clan will be implicated, it's not worth it!
After walking for a while, the Cao family had fully learned of the Li family's arrival.

Several cultivators were dispatched to welcome the Li family.

The leader was Cao Fuyi, who was still staying on Qingliang Mountain.

"Haha, I've been waiting for you for so long, and you've finally arrived."

Cao Fuyi laughed heartily and embraced Li Qianyou, who was in charge of the wedding arrangements.

He then bowed to Li Chenggeng and said, "Fuyi greets Uncle Li San."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

(End of this chapter)