Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 193 - 179 Attacking Shanyue
Shamo Li lifted his head and stepped out of the courtyard, but did not see his large group of beloved wives and concubines, as the courtyard was empty. Only a few leaves lay scattered on the ground, and a middle-aged man stood in the courtyard, quietly leaning against the stone chamber and looking at him.
"I am Chen Donghe. I've had the pleasure of meeting the great king and congratulate the great king on his breakthrough in Qi Cultivation,"
Chen Donghe said softly, and Shamo Li, called "great king" twice, felt extremely pleased, nodding his head. With one sweep of his Spiritual Sense, he could tell that this man had a Cultivation Level of Qi Cultivation's second layer. Shamo Li had seen him before beside Li Yuanxiu but did not know his name. Now, he greeted him with cupped hands:
"I've met the Taoist Fellow."
But Chen Donghe did not pay him any mind, bowing respectfully and said with a solemn voice:
"Uncle, this person is Shamo Li."
Shamo Li was taken aback, only then noticing that there was another person in front of him. He was so startled that cold sweat broke out, and he was inwardly alarmed.
This man was clad simply in a grey robe, his eyebrows gentle and long, and he bore a majestic aura. There was a sword wrapped tightly in cloth on his back, but he also carried another sword at his waist, which was quite peculiar. His Cultivation Level was already at the ninth layer of Qi Cultivation.
"Shamo Li... has met the elder."
At that moment, Shamo Li knew that the person before him was the Li Family's ancestor Li Tongya. He half-knelt on the ground and clasped his fists in silence, his heart filled with trepidation.
Li Tongya gave him a glance and said softly:
"Gather your True Yuan for me to see."
After examining the Secret Thunder True Essence in Shamo Li's palm, Li Tongya slightly nodded. The "Purple Thunder Secret Essence Technique" was indeed extraordinary, powerful, and carried the rare Thunderbolt Force. No wonder the required Xuanyin Thunder Liquid was so difficult to gather. If Shamo Li had cultivated using pure nature's spiritual energy, he would have been considered a strong contender even among the early stages of Qi Cultivation.
Li Tongya's Spiritual Sense surveyed Shamo Li for a while and then said:
"Get up. I will send you back to the Shanyue Region to be your great king."
Although Shamo Li was prepared, he was still overwhelmed upon hearing the words. He repeatedly kowtowed on the ground, expressing his gratitude. When he raised his head again, Li Tongya's figure was no longer in sight.
Before Shamo Li could react, several people quickly entered through the courtyard gates. They stripped him of his eastern attire and adorned him with various standards of animal bones and Jade Stone. Shamo Li's hair, styled like an eastern person's, was untied, and the jade hairpin removed. His long hair cascaded down, giving him the appearance of a Shanyue person.
"This..."
With his long hair tickling him, and having spent a long time in eastern lands, Shamo Li had internally scorned such a disheveled appearance and now felt extremely embarrassed, laughing awkwardly.
After changing into new clothes and accessories, he was escorted from the courtyard. Upon seeing the multitude of Shanyue people kneeling on the steps before him, prepared by the Li Family for him, Shamo Li quickly stepped down and called out:
"My brethren, you are all my pillars of strength. Please rise!"
As soon as Shamo Li uttered these words, they did not seem fitting for a Shanyue king. Everyone looked at him with strange expressions but obliged and rose to their feet. Shamo Li then jubilantly made his way through the crowd, stepping onto a chariot pulled by two mighty horses.
"Rustle..."
Shamo Li's flags were raised, and he was escorted by a host of armed men as they began their grand departure towards the outskirts of the town.
Shamo Li lay in the spacious chariot, listening to the clanging of weapons and the sound of footsteps, caressing the comfortable fabric repeatedly, and popping a piece of fruit into his mouth, a smile curling at the corner of his lips.
"This is life indeed! What on earth were those past decades..."
Without warning, the curtain was flung open, and in came an old man with white hair and beard and a face full of jowls. His round eyes fixed on Shamo Li, startling him so much he choked. Shamo Li quickly adjusted his posture and pretended to question:
"Who might you be, sir?"
The old man, with a Cultivation Level at the Fetal Breathing Peak, was dressed in eastern garments. The white whiskers on his face pointed upward, and the jowls on his face slackened, showing his age as he said:
"It's right that the great king knows. I belong to the Shanyue tribes that formerly occupied the land of today's Eastern Shanyue. We were defeated by Ganixi's advance and submitted to the eastern people. I also followed General Xiangping in and out of the Shanyue Region seven times, accumulating many merits, and it has been twenty-one years now."
"Ganixi's opponent?!"
Upon hearing this man's boasting tone, Shamo Li was genuinely startled. To know that a figure like Ganixi could be considered a heaven-ordained leader in the Shanyue Region, and that his own father had been merely one of Ganixi's generals, he immediately felt respect and said reverently,
"May I inquire about the senior's name?"
"Ah Huila!"
The old man grinned, revealing yellow teeth, and looked into Shamo Li's face with both eyes before slowly saying,
"I am but a humble servant, honored to be the Great Shaman of the king, overseeing hunting, medicinal shamans, and cultivation of various families."
Shamo Li stiffened instantly. The position of the Great Shaman in Shanyue was akin to a vice-king. Here he was yet to comfortably sit on the throne, and the Li Family had already arranged everything, leaving him feeling extremely awkward, yet he dared not show it and managed a smiling face as he earnestly said,
"I will need a lot of assistance from the Shaman in the future!"
"Naturally."
Shamo Li looked at Ah Huila's cleanly tied hair and felt uncomfortable all over, fidgeting until he could bear it no longer. He quickly tied his own hair up and used a jade chopstick from the table to secure it in place before he could breathe a sigh of relief, then said with a smile,
"I really can't stand this barbaric look."
Ah Huila laughed heartily, proudly lifting his head and said earnestly,
"The rituals of the Easterners are complicated, and there is much more for the king to learn!"
"Indeed!"
Shamo Li nodded solemnly.
————
"Brother, have you thought of a method to govern the Shanyue Region?"
Li Yuanjiao stood on the shaky chariot, looking down the rugged mountain path. Unlike Shamo Li's chariot, the one he and Li Yuanxiu rode was a battle chariot designed for charging into battle with a wide field of view, and the cold wind hit them in the face. Thankfully, both of them were second level Fetal Breathing Cultivators and felt no cold.
"Hmm."
Li Yuanxiu nodded slightly and leaned one arm on the support, saying softly,
"The citizens of Shanyue will be under Shamo Li's control, while we stand behind the scenes. We will govern as usual, with all positions related to the Immortal Path controlled by our people. Once the Eastern Shanyue is taken, we will immediately measure the land and calculate the Spiritual Fields."
"These Spiritual Fields and Spiritual Objects will naturally belong to the Li Family. Our family will send people to plant and harvest them... The Eastern Shanyue region is vast; there will likely be no shortage of Spiritual Fields."
Li Yuanjiao nodded and said in a low voice,
"Our Cultivators may not be enough; we will only be able to plant the more fertile Spiritual Fields first."
Li Yuanxiu smiled, glanced at Shamo Li's chariot ahead and replied,
"The Eastern Shanyue have over two hundred thousand people; they can support how many Fetal Breathing Cultivators. Even though these people are not adept at Spell Battles, there's no issue with them cultivating a type of Spiritual Field. Even if these Shanyue people are not good at farming, after living in the east for a few years, they will naturally learn eagerly."
The brothers exchanged a smile, having seen over the years many Shanyue people from Dong Lai influenced by the luxurious and refined lifestyle of the east, spontaneously donning robes and hair crowns, and speaking fluent official language, even looking down on the Shanyue more than the natural-born Easterners. They were naturally confident in changing these people.
"When Shanyue enter our Eastern lands, they will adapt to become Easterners!"
Li Yuanxiu laughed and patted the longsword in his hand, saying in a low voice,
"The more unattainable something is, the more precious it becomes. Once we control the Eastern Shanyue, we will strictly limit the migration of the Shanyue eastward, so that the Shanyue nobility would have to spend all they have for a chance to see the east. This way, there will be a top-down trend of revering the east in Shanyue. Within twenty years, they will be no different from the Easterners!"
