Chapter 29: Fierce Battle

"Whoosh!"

A gust of wind swept by, and the mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert from the Hu family, who had been besieging Li Xiang, was severed at the waist!

[Energy consumption has reached 56%!]
[Left arm sustained severe damage; spiritual energy in the shoulder-mounted laser cannon is depleted!]
[Warning: Do not use Blade Storm again, as it will cause catastrophic damage to the chassis!]

The Wang family was more troublesome than Li Xiang had estimated. They possessed a wide array of hidden cards; just moments ago, they had deployed ten magical artifacts onto a grand formation, dealing significant damage to his war puppet mecha. Fortunately, while the war puppet was heavily damaged, the two remaining peak Foundation Establishment experts of the Wang family were also covered in wounds.

On the map, Li Xiang could see that the members of the Li family were also locked in a brutal struggle.

Xu Cuihua led the spirit beasts in the first charge, aiming only to breach the traps of Tailin Town. They were met with the Hu family's ancestral "Forest of Spears" formation, which linked the spiritual energy of every Hu family member, causing countless long spears to rain down like an overwhelming deluge. In an instant, over a dozen slow-moving spirit beasts were caught off guard and perished.

Close-quarters combat followed immediately. Facing the various traps, arrays, talismans, and magical artifacts that the Hu and Wang families had laid out in Tailin Town over centuries, the spirit beasts the Li family had spent years cultivating seemed incredibly fragile.

However, soon after the Forest of Spears formation was breached, the villagers of Zhien Village, led by Li Dalong, surged forward!

The Li family guard unit launched their first wave of attack. Although most were ordinary humans, their years of training combined with superior equipment allowed them to land effective strikes against Qi Refining cultivators. They halted, drew their bows, and let arrows fly. The black iron-forged arrows poured down in a volley; each archer carried fifteen iron arrows in their quiver.

Following their barrage, the nearly one thousand villagers of Zhien Village were not to be outdone. Once the attacks from within Tailin Town ceased, they rushed forward. Instead of foolishly engaging in melee combat with the cultivators, they followed Li Yaotie’s lead and produced their own weapons. Suddenly, the scene was filled with villagers hurling kitchen knives, wood axes, and other blades toward the direction of the enemy cultivators.

Following this, all the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Li family, along with their three spirit beasts, seized the opportunity to storm into Tailin Town!

Li Xiang could not keep an eye on everyone. He could only fend off the two peak Foundation Establishment masters while waiting for notifications from the game interface!

[A villager from Zhien Village is in critical condition...]
[One of your family’s spirit beasts has been severely wounded!]
[Villager killed...]

"Damn it!"

Sitting in his room operating the war puppet while observing the interface, Li Xiang gritted his teeth. Having played this game for so long, he had already realized that these were likely living, breathing people. Seeing one vibrant life after another extinguished before his eyes was agonizing, yet he knew he had to maintain his composure.

[Incense Value: 1342]

The cruel reality was that even with a significant amount of Incense Value, he could not save everyone. He could only focus on the Li family members to ensure they didn't fall.

[Skill 'Charge, My Children' activated, consuming 115 Incense!]

This was not the first time Li Xiang had used this skill, which boosted all attributes of family members by 10%. However, the cost increased as the members grew stronger—costing 50 points for a Foundation Establishment expert, but only 5 for a Qi Refining cultivator.

"It's the Ancestor!"
"My power has increased!"
"With the Ancestor helping me, let's see how you die!"

The Li family members who had breached Tailin Town felt a surge of powerful true energy transmitted from the ancestral tablets they carried. Indeed, the Li family members now carried a spirit tablet of Li Xiang in their bosoms, fighting alongside their ancestor! Although Li Xiang could use his skills without the tablets, carrying their ancestor's tablet into battle had become a noble tradition of the Li family.

...

"Boom!"

Within the Hu residence, amidst the chaos, the Chen family ancestor and his kin used a secret family technique to shatter the Hu family's protective barrier!

At this moment, Hu Wei—who had ordered the attack that left Li Dalong severely wounded—was standing amidst the ruins, accompanied by several Qi Refining experts. "Hahaha! Overestimating yourselves! That brat of the Li family actually wants to avenge his father? Look at your status before you try!"

Within the ruins, Li Yaozu stood with difficulty, sword in hand. From the moment he entered the Hu residence, he had sought out Hu Wei without hesitation. Not a day had passed in these years that he hadn't yearned for revenge! He had killed a ninth-level Qi Refining guard protecting Hu Wei and broken through the perimeter, but he hadn't been able to evade the Hu family's true foundation: their vast array of magical formations.

"Men, kill this reckless boy. A mere village bumpkin thinks he can kill me?" Hu Wei sneered, looking down at Li Yaozu.

Facing the incoming cultivators, Li Yaozu, despite his heavy injuries, was unfazed. He reached out with a left hand that revealed bloody bone, gripped the ancestral tablet in his shirt, and suddenly grinned, looking like a demon crawled up from hell.

"You think only you have a foundation? The Li family does too!!!"

"What?" Hu Wei’s expression shifted. As Li Yaozu roared, the ancestral spirit tablet he held began to glow with a white light, and his wounds began to heal at a visible speed!

[Consuming 100 Incense to use 'Ancestor's Embrace' to heal Li Yaozu!]

With his wounds vastly recovered, Li Yaozu gripped his sword and walked toward Hu Wei with a grim expression. "Today, I take your head to avenge my father's near-death!"

...

"The head of the Li family is nothing but a village bumpkin. He only knows a few mortal blade techniques and footwork stolen from my Hu family, yet he dares to run wild in our home!"

Inside the Hu residence, Li Dalong wielded his long blade against the fierce onslaught of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert. Despite his four traits, as the expert said, his Foundation Establishment was indeed lacking. The techniques he had learned were all common, and he hadn't had the time to master any advanced arts since his breakthrough. He was no match for a standard Foundation Establishment cultivator, possessing nothing but raw true energy. At best, he could only hold his own against an early-stage expert. Now, facing a mid-stage master, he was in dire straits after only a dozen exchanges.

"Today, I will take your head and place it under the threshold of my Hu family, so that all my descendants will tread upon your skull when they come and go!"

As the opponent's attacks grew more ferocious, Li Dalong, whose movements had been chaotic, suddenly became increasingly calm. This made the Hu family cultivator suspicious. "Still daring to counterattack? Where do you get the courage?"

Li Dalong grinned. "The courage comes from the Ancestor!"

In an instant, the ancestral spirit tablet in Li Dalong's bosom floated out and appeared before him!

"What kind of magical artifact is this?" The mid-stage expert was stunned. Who would go into battle carrying an ancestral tablet?

But then, a terrifying sight unfolded! The spirit tablet split into ten, each one rushing toward him before exploding! Each explosion was equivalent to that of a peak Qi Refining cultivator; even he was forced to defend himself.

The same scene played out for all the Li family members. Xu Cuihua, who had been struggling against a mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert, saw her ancestral tablet emerge and deliver a critical strike to her opponent!

Li Yaotie, wielding his iron hammer, roamed the battlefield like a reckless brute. He charged wherever an equal-level Qi Refining expert was found. As long as there was no opponent stronger than him, he dared to dive into any crowd. An ancestral tablet appeared by his side, always managing to instant-kill any Qi Refining expert attempting to ambush him.

Compared to the others, Li Yaoyue was more relaxed. She sat atop a giant eagle spirit beast, aiming her bow at enemies. A mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator had been tracking her from behind but dared not approach, as Li Yaoyue’s poison powder kept drifting backward. She was conducting her own harvesting operation.

"Hmph, you despicable Li family vermin, do you think you can escape?" The Foundation Establishment cultivator, frantic, finally used a secret technique to appear before Li Yaoyue like a phantom. Yet, Li Yaoyue remained unmoved, calmly drawing her bow. Then, two ancestral tablets flew from her bosom, launching a lethal attack on the cultivator, followed closely by her poison-tipped arrows!

...

On the battlefield, one ancestral tablet after another rose into the air. The two Wang family ancestors, locked in combat with the war puppet, naturally noticed the trend.

"So they have special magical treasures!" The Wang family ancestor continued his assault on Li Xiang, yet he remained unruffled. The appearance of these tablets could not change the tide of the battle; they had the numbers and the stronger experts. Victory would inevitably tilt toward them as time passed.

"I admit we underestimated your Li family. Perhaps no single family in Tailin Town could have fought you alone," one Wang family ancestor laughed, attempting to shake Li Xiang’s resolve. "But it is a pity your family is too foolish. To dare to walk into the web we laid in Tailin Town with your own strength—you are destined to be wiped out today!"

Before the screen, Li Xiang remained unmoved. He admitted that entering Tailin Town was reckless and difficult. But... he slowly clicked on the map and looked at the only family member not yet in the fight. "It’s all up to you. If you don't come now, I really won't be able to hold on!"

As his words fell, agile figures suddenly appeared, leaping over rooftops within Tailin Town! In the sky above the battlefield, several experts arrived, traveling on flying swords! They plunged into the fray, joining the Li family's side!

A flying knife cut through the air; though the Wang family ancestor dodged in time, his right arm was still sliced off. Both Wang family ancestors turned to look behind them. A middle-aged man in purple robes retrieved the flying knife that had just severed the ancestor's arm!

"Su Yun, you scoundrel, what are you doing?!!"

Seeing the scene, Li Xiang let out a sigh of relief. Far away, at the Su estate, Li Yaowen was being pushed by a maid; she sat in a wheelchair, a relaxed smile on her face. To her left and right, the Su family disciples surged out, weapons in hand!