Half a month later.
On the screen, The members of the Li family gradually emerged from the ancestral hall once more. This time, they took with them all the precious items from within.
Their eyes no longer held the grief of half a month ago, only suppressed rage and a fearless determination to face the future.
"Divine Tree, we apologize for the inconvenience."
Li Dalong, holding the Spirit tool, the Spirit Storing Scroll, walked towards the Primordial Blood Tree.
The Primordial Blood Tree opened its crimson eyes, a hint of reluctance in its gaze.
[The Primordial Blood Tree has grown accustomed to being rooted in the Li family's land. It senses that this will be a long separation. It asks if you can allow it to remain alone at the family estate, guarding everything. It is willing to sacrifice its life for this.]
"At a time like this? You're a tree of such advanced age, so stop being so attached to home."
Li Wei chose "No" without hesitation.
Having received a negative response, the character "approved" appeared above the Primordial Blood Tree's head. It was unclear who it had learned this from, but it certainly looked imposing.
Then, the caves within the Silver Iron Forest were all retrieved and stored within the spatial rings.
One by one, the spirit beasts of the Silver Iron Forest gathered under the influence of Bai Rourou's Demon King Blood Core.
About a hundred spirit beasts, including four peak-level spirit beasts, were all collected into the Spirit Storing Scroll.
The Spirit Storing Scroll now resembled an ancient painting, depicting a towering old tree with its branches filled with spirit beasts. These spirit beasts were actually animated, occasionally scurrying about on the branches and leaves, causing the Primordial Blood Tree's branches to shake with agitation.
All the items within the family estate that were ranked eighth-grade or higher were collected and stored away.
Li Tianyi and Li Tianming followed along.
Li Tianming was still alright, his mouth agape as he watched the elders collect the valuable items.
Li Tianyi, on the other hand, was different. He nagged incessantly to his elders, no longer afraid of their scolding.
"Ah? Grandpa, I was never allowed to enter your forging hall before. Only now do I know what's inside."
Li Tianyi gnashed his teeth. "Grandpa, thirty eighth-grade spirit puppets! That's equivalent to thirty peak Foundation Establishment cultivators! And over there, six spirit puppets with the strength of False Core Formation cultivators! Heavens! Isn't that the legendary war puppet bestowed by our ancestor? Why does it have the aura of a Golden Core cultivator?"
"Didn't you tell me before that our family wasn't strong enough and that I shouldn't provoke others, and that I should take good care of my younger siblings?"
"I actually believed it! Poor me, I've worked so hard my whole life, painstakingly preventing my younger siblings from causing trouble, always afraid they would provoke others. I was even scolded by a Qi Refinement eighth-level cultivator from the neighboring Golden Core family, and I didn't even retaliate, all because I was afraid our family wasn't strong enough to fight back?"
"With this kind of strength, what do I have to fear? Grandpa, you've kept me in the dark for so long!"
"..."
Ignoring his grandson's chatter, Li Yaotie pretended not to hear anything. He silently retrieved the spirit puppets and stored them back into his spatial ring, then casually kicked Li Tianyi, sending him flying into the wall. This grandson was good in every way, except for his loose tongue.
After struggling to free himself from the wall, he walked over to Li Yaozu. He was no longer afraid of Li Yaozu eating children.
He watched as his great-grandfather opened hundreds of small formations within a cellar.
In an instant, countless treasures came into view.
Spiritual energy filled the air.
"hight-grade spirit artifacts... eight of them? And two top-grade spirit artifacts? Didn't our family only have one life-saving spirit artifact formation disk?" Li Tianyi was dumbfounded.
Li Yaozu still intended to leave a good impression on his nephew. He tossed the mid-grade spirit artifact, which resembled a pearl, in his hand. "Oh, you mean this Sky Pearl? Your uncle sent it back again. It's not bad."
Indeed, it was not bad.
Li Yaozu then opened the grand formation within the hundreds of smaller formations. Spiritual energy surged, and two objects came into view.
"A high top-grade spirit artifact... and a supreme-grade spirit artifact?!!"
Li Tianyi suddenly felt a pang of heartache. His expression quickly shifted from grievance to helplessness, then to utter collapse.
Li Yaozu frowned. "You youngsters are still too young to know too many secrets. Spirit artifacts have become the protective treasures of Foundation Establishment families, and we must prevent outsiders from coveting them. This high top-grade spirit artifact was sent back by your Fourth Grandaunt, and the supreme-grade spirit artifact was sent back by your Second Grandaunt."
"...Oh." Li Tianyi was dumbfounded.
If he didn't know that Great-Grandfather had a bad temper and would definitely hit him harder than Grandpa, he would have complained a bit.
When he went to complain to his great-grandparents, he found his great-grandparents organizing various spiritual objects, elixirs, herbs, potions, formation diagrams, and cultivation techniques...
"Five sets of Profound-grade techniques and martial skills? I thought our family only had two: the Phantom Shadow Steps and the Su family's Rain Transformation technique."
Li Tianyi scratched his head vigorously. "And there are pills too! Three seventh-grade Realm Breaking Pills that can help Golden Core cultivators break through to higher realms! And these elixirs, two types of seventh-grade elixirs. Herbs... why are there so many seventh-grade heavenly treasures?"
"Why... why did I never know our family was so wealthy???"
Li Tianyi burst into tears. While others would be thrilled by such sudden wealth, he was filled with sorrow.
He even suspected that his family was wealthier than the legendary Skyveil Sect.
But he had always believed that his family was so poor that they only had the elixirs sent back by his Second Grandaunt, the 50 fruits produced every ten years by the eighth-grade Blood Spirit Fruit Tree, and the natural treasures from the Silver Iron Forest.
"Hmm?"
Seeing his great-grandson crying so sadly, Li Dalong was taken aback. "Didn't you know?"
"Child, our family has always been wealthy."
He then looked at Li Yunbing, who was looking around nervously. "Second Grandson, didn't you tell Tianyi?"
"Ahem." Li Yunbing coughed lightly. "Grandma, you and Grandpa have always taught us that our children should be raised in a poor environment. Tianyi is only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment; it's already good enough that he has the Great River Dragon General Diagram. I've also been teaching my seven younger siblings the same way."
"That's true."
Li Dalong shook his head and chuckled. "Child, it's alright. When your great-grandfather was your age, he was still slaughtering pigs in the mountains. Your elders too, at your age, were all striving for the family. You just need to work hard, and you'll have everything eventually."
"..."
Watching his elders busying themselves with packing up their belongings, Li Tianyi pursed his lips and walked to a corner. Facing the wall, he buried his head in his left arm and pounded the wall furiously with his right fist. "I'm such an idiot, the biggest idiot in the family!"
Seeing Li Tianyi's behavior, Li Tianming became anxious. "Big Brother, why... why are you crying so sadly?"
Li Tianyi wailed even louder, reaching a state of such intense grief that even men were moved to tears.
"Tianming, you have no idea! I always... always thought our family was poor, so I started learning grave robbing at the age of twelve! I heard from Grandpa Wang Ergou in the village that grave robbers have the most spirit stones!"
Li Tianyi pounded the wall even harder. "If I had known our family was so wealthy and didn't lack spirit artifacts or natural treasures, why would I have bothered working so hard? The point is... after all these years, the most impressive thing your big brother has ever stolen is just a ordinary tool!"
"Tomb passages are truly dark. The ghosts and corpses inside are truly terrifying."
"..."
Listening to his elder brother's grief-stricken accusations, Li Tianming felt a pang of sympathy and decided to offer some comfort. "Big Brother, you don't need to be sad. You could have just asked me."
"Hmm?" Li Tianyi abruptly turned his head towards Li Tianming, his face still streaked with tears, and gritted his teeth. "They told you, but not me?"
"No, I could figure it out. I'm not stupid."
"...Get lost, ah!!!"
On this day, at the Li family residence, there was one more heartbroken person.
Li Tianyi finally understood why his family didn't provide resources to his younger siblings, and only rewarded him when he achieved something. So that was it... This was the family's unique educational approach. As long as they worked hard enough, the family would provide for them.
He had foolishly resorted to grave robbing and foolishly given all the resources to his younger siblings.
No wonder the elders in the family didn't make a fuss when they saw their children lacking resources, but instead encouraged his younger siblings to venture out into the world. Every time he sent resources, those elders would send them back and scold him. He even had to give them secretly, like a thief.
"Sigh."
Hearing Li Tianyi's mournful cries from outside, Li Yunbing sighed, but his voice was filled with relief and comfort. "Back then, everyone said I was foolish; I was even known as the biggest fool in the family. Now it's alright. My youth is over, but there's someone to carry on the torch."
Hearing these words, Li Yaotie raised his silver arm and gave a thumbs up, the metal gleaming brightly. With utmost seriousness, he declared:
"The waves behind drive on those before."
---
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