Chapter 4: Arrival

The journey of over twenty thousand li, even when traveling by spirit boat, would still take some time to complete.

As the spirit boat flew halfway, tiny specks of white light suddenly flickered before Li Zhirui’s eyes, instantly startling him out of his sleepy state.

"Uncle Ren, look at what that is outside!" Li Zhirui quickly sent a voice transmission.

Li Shiren, who was piloting the spirit boat, looked in the direction Li Zhirui indicated. When he saw clearly what the white light was, he froze for half a breath, his face immediately filled with pleasant surprise.

"It’s Cloud Fish!" After giving a hurried reply, Li Shiren couldn't spare any more attention for Li Zhirui and quickly activated a communication talisman to inform Li Shiqing on the other boat.

Li Zhirui felt as though he had heard the term "Cloud Fish" somewhere before, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't recall it.

It wasn't until all the cultivators were awakened, the spirit boats hovered in place, and the three Foundation Establishment cultivators moved to capture these Cloud Fish that he saw their appearance and finally remembered what they were.

Cloud Fish are a type of extremely precious and rare first-grade spirit fish. Although their grade is very low, they possess immense value!

Because Cloud Fish grow amidst the clouds and mist, feeding on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, their bodies contain not a single trace of impurities. They are incredibly pure; besides being used for cooking, they can be swallowed directly to increase a cultivator's mana, and unlike medicinal pills, they do not cause drug resistance or toxin buildup.

However, due to their rarity, they are seldom seen for sale on the market. There were even rumors that Cloud Fish had gone extinct, which was why Li Zhirui couldn't recall them despite thinking for so long.

Half an hour later, the Cloud Fish in the area had been completely swept up by the three Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Hahahaha..." Li Shiren returned to the spirit boat laughing. He came to Li Zhirui’s side, patted his shoulder, and said, "Good lad! If it weren't for you, we might have missed out on this great opportunity!"

"I was too flustered earlier to properly acknowledge your breakthrough to the late stage of Qi Refining, and I never expected you to make such a huge contribution to the clan again." The clan leader, Li Shiqing, looked at Li Zhirui with eyes full of relief and appreciation.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Since you were the one who discovered these Cloud Fish, I will reward you with two pairs. Consider it a celebration of your breakthrough."

"These were caught by you and the others, Clan Leader; it has nothing to do with me." Li Zhirui quickly declined. Such precious Cloud Fish—he was worried he wouldn't be able to keep them alive.

"If it weren't for you, how could we have caught them?" Seeing that Li Zhirui was still trying to refuse, Li Shiqing waved his hand and said in a tone that brooked no argument, "That’s enough, it’s decided!"

"Thank you, Clan Leader." Seeing this, Li Zhirui had no choice but to accept the two pairs of Cloud Fish, thinking that once they reached their destination, he would ask Uncle Jiu, Li Shiling, who was the family's expert in beast rearing, for advice.

The rest of the journey was very peaceful, without any further accidents. However, this only made the clansmen of the same age as Li Zhirui even more envious of his good luck.

Currently, there were thirteen clansmen in Li Zhirui’s generation. Ranked by age, Li Zhirui was ninth, with four younger siblings who were still minors.

As for the eight older brothers and sisters, the eldest was already thirty or forty, while the youngest was only a few months older than Li Zhirui.

"Ninth Brother, you really have good luck." Li Zhihao, who was ranked eighth and was on relatively good terms with him, leaned over to Li Zhirui’s side and said with an envious expression.

Li Zhirui smiled, "Eighth Brother, your turn for good luck will come soon enough. Don't be anxious."

"Hahahaha, then I'll take your word for it." Li Zhihao laughed heartily, looking particularly happy.

At the same time, this caused many other clansmen to look away.

"We're arriving at Big Banyan Island soon!"

Li Shiren’s words immediately drew everyone's attention, and one by one, they couldn't wait to walk to the edge of the boat to gaze at the island in the distance.

"Uncle Ren, Big Banyan Island looks quite large! Why wasn't it occupied by other families before?" Li Zhirui asked, somewhat puzzled.

Big Banyan Island was three hundred li long from north to south and over one hundred and fifty li wide from east to west. One could vaguely see a high, rising mountain range to the east, along with tall banyan trees covering the mountains and plains.

Li Shiren did not answer the question immediately, but instead asked, "Do you remember your Fifteenth Grand-uncle?"

Li Zhirui nodded. He remembered this grand-uncle, but if he recalled correctly, hadn't he passed away a few years ago?

"The reason Big Banyan Island wasn't occupied by other forces is that the spirit veins on the island are hidden too deep. If it weren't for Fifteenth Uncle’s Spirit-Seeking Beast, we wouldn't have known that there were three first-grade spirit veins hidden on the island."

Li Zhirui didn't have much of a reaction to this number, because as far as he knew, White Wave County not only had more spirit veins, but also a second-grade spirit vein.

"All first-grade spirit veins? Then the spiritual energy on the island probably isn't enough for the clan's cultivators to practice, right?"

The grade of a spirit vein corresponds one-to-one with a cultivator's realm, from the lowest first-grade to the highest ninth-grade, corresponding to Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, Void Refinement, Integration, Mahayana, and Tribulation Transcendence.

The spiritual energy produced by one first-grade spirit vein can satisfy the cultivation needs of at most fifteen Qi Refining cultivators, but for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it can satisfy at most one!

The three first-grade spirit veins on the island couldn't even satisfy the Li family's Qi Refining clansmen, let alone the fact that the Li family also had four Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Don't worry. Since the family is migrating entirely to Big Banyan Island this time, the spirit stones we brought can promote one of the spirit veins to the second grade."

Li Shiren patted Li Zhirui on the back and said with a huff, "You're so young, don't think so much. We elders are all still alive!"

"I understand." Li Zhirui knew he had a habit of overthinking, but it was something he had carried over from his previous life, and he couldn't change it overnight.

...

"Who goes there!"

The moment the two spirit boats hovered over Big Banyan Island, a shout full of vigilance erupted from within the island.

"Second Brother, it’s only been a few years, have you already forgotten your younger brother?" Li Shiren flew off the spirit boat, pretending to be heartbroken.

Li Zhirui and the other juniors stared blankly at this Uncle Ren. Although Li Shiren usually lacked the dignity of an elder, this was the first time they had seen him act so unseriously.

"Ahem." Li Shiqing stepped forward to remind him, then said, "Let's enter the island first. We'll talk after the secular clansmen are settled."

When Li Shijue heard this and saw the figures on the spirit boats, he knew the family had encountered a crisis—a very serious one at that. Otherwise, they wouldn't have brought so many clansmen to Big Banyan Island. He immediately opened the formation to let the spirit boats enter quickly.

"Fifth Brother, did something happen in White Wave County?" Li Shijue asked with a worried expression.

Li Shiren sighed and recounted the sequence of events in detail. At the end, he forced a smile and said, "This is for the best, at least now all the clansmen are together, and we don't have to wait ten years to see each other."

To prevent the clansmen on Big Banyan Island from drifting away from the main family, the clansmen stationed there were rotated every ten years, with the excuse being that they were out traveling.

Moreover, for the sake of secrecy, only a few core high-level members of the family knew the full route.

"That's true, and Big Banyan Island isn't necessarily worse than White Wave County," Li Shijue echoed.

At this moment, the cultivators stationed on the island also heard the commotion and rushed over. Seeing their clansmen whom they hadn't seen for years, their first reaction was surprise, but they soon felt that something was wrong.

Just as they were about to ask, Li Shiqing said, "Let's go to the main hall to talk."