vstars Chapter 1: The Clan is About to Be Destroyed, the System Awakens
Chapter 1: The Clan is About to Be Destroyed, the System Awakens
Qingyun County, Black Stone Mountain.
The night rain fell like a curtain.
Outside the Li family's ancestral home, torches stretched out in a line, and shouts of battle echoed through the valley.
"Break down the door!"
"The Li family's sacred land will return to the Wang family tonight!"
"Charge in and seize the warehouse first!"
Dozens of black-clad cultivators approached with knives, their spiritual light flickering in the rainy night.
Half of the ancestral home's courtyard wall had already been destroyed, and injured guards lay scattered on the ground, their blood mixed with rainwater flowing into the mud.
The Li family is in imminent danger.
⸻
The atmosphere inside the council chamber was oppressive and suffocating.
More than ten members of the clan looked ashen and were injured.
In the main seat, a middle-aged man sat with difficulty, bloodstains still wet on his chest, his breathing disordered.
Li Tianheng, the patriarch of the Li family.
Qi Refining Level 9.
He is also the only pillar of the Li family now.
Just half a day ago, he was ambushed and seriously injured by the head of the Wang family, his meridians were damaged, and his combat power dropped drastically.
Below, an elder's voice trembled:
"Chieftain... the protective wall won't hold for much longer."
"There are only three spirit talismans left in the outer courtyard."
"There are only twenty-six spirit stones left in the storehouse."
Another tribesman gritted his teeth and growled:
"The Wang family has gone too far!"
"If they hadn't cut off my trade routes and suppressed my grain prices, the Li family wouldn't be in this situation!"
The people in the hall looked on in despair.
The Li family was originally just a minor clan of the ninth rank in Qingyun County, barely making ends meet with ten acres of low-grade spiritual land.
For the past three years, they have been suppressed at every level by the local tyrant, the Wang family:
They seized trade routes, intercepted medicinal herbs, poached clansmen, and suppressed grain prices.
Now, they've even taken advantage of the rainy night to storm their door, intending to completely devour the Li family.
⸻
in the corner.
Li Xuan slowly opened his eyes.
The excruciating pain in my mind had not yet subsided, and countless unfamiliar memories surged forth.
He crossed.
He transmigrated into the body of the young patriarch of the Li family, sharing the same name and surname, eighteen years old, and at the third level of Qi Refining.
The original owner had just fainted from excessive fear.
Li Xuan glanced at everyone in the hall and quickly understood the situation.
The family is doomed.
He had just transmigrated when he was caught in the act of ransacking someone's home.
"That's a ruthless start."
He muttered to himself.
⸻
At that moment, the hall door was suddenly kicked open.
A guard, covered in blood, rushed in and knelt down.
"Chieftain!"
"The east wall is breached!"
"The Wang family has broken in!"
Chaos erupted instantly in the hall.
Several women burst into tears on the spot.
Someone said in a trembling voice:
"It's over..."
"The Li family is finished..."
Li Tianheng suddenly stood up, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but he still forced himself to muster his spiritual power.
"Shut up, all of you!"
"I'm not dead yet!"
He picked up his knife and was about to leave when he stumbled and almost fell.
The hearts of everyone sank even deeper.
Even the clan chief couldn't hold on any longer.
⸻
Just then.
A calm voice suddenly rang out.
"What's the panic?"
Everyone was taken aback and looked over.
The person who spoke was none other than Li Xuan, who had been silent all along.
In the council hall, where the sounds of rain, shouts of battle, and cries mingled, the boy's voice, though not loud, was exceptionally clear.
Li Tianheng frowned.
"Xuan'er, step back."
In his memory, this nephew was of average talent and rather dull in temperament, and had never presided over any major events.
Stepping forward at a time like this will only cause more trouble.
Li Xuan walked slowly into the hall, his expression unusually calm.
How many people from the Wang family came?
Everyone was stunned.
One of the guards answered instinctively:
More than thirty people.
"Three are in the late stage of Qi Refining, more than ten are in the middle stage, and the rest are low-level cultivators."
Li Xuan continued to ask:
"Has the head of the Wang family arrived yet?"
"No... only his younger brother, Wang Xuanhu, came."
Li Xuan nodded.
I've already made up my mind.
The Wang family wants to swallow up the Li family, but they are unwilling to pay too high a price.
The fact that the truly powerful ones didn't come shows that they were also afraid of getting hurt.
Since that's the case—
There's still a chance to fight.
⸻
【Ding! 】
A mechanical voice suddenly exploded in my mind.
[Host detected taking over family crisis]
[Family Development System Activated]
Current Family: Li Family (Ninth Rank)
[Family Status: On the verge of extinction]
[New player rewards are being distributed...]
Li Xuan's pupils shrank.
System, we've arrived.
The next instant, a semi-transparent panel appeared before our eyes.
⸻
Family Development System
[Host]: Li Xuan
[Cultivation Level]: Qi Refining Level 3
[Family]: Li Family (Ninth Rank)
[Family Fortune]: 3 (Decline)
[Industry]: 10 mu of low-grade spiritual land (endangered)
[Number of clan members]: 47
[Opposing Force]: The Wang Family (Dominator of Qingyun County)
[New Player Rewards]:
1. Basic Qi Observation Technique
2. A simulation of a family crisis
3. Upgrade opportunities for one acre of spiritual land
⸻
Li Xuan's breathing became slightly shallower.
This system is not a personal sign-in system.
It's a family-run business!
With a thought, he used it directly:
"Crisis simulation"
⸻
[Driving simulation in progress...]
[Outcome 1: They stubbornly defended their ancestral home, but their clan was exterminated after only a stick of incense had burned]
[Outcome 2: The entire clan fled, and half of them were hunted down and killed]
[Outcome 3: Attack the granary with fire to draw the enemy's forces away, thus securing a chance of survival]
Li Xuan's eyes suddenly lit up.
There's a road!
⸻
The people in the hall were still in a panic.
Li Tianheng gritted his teeth and said:
"Xuan'er, don't just stand there, take your mother and go out the back door!"
Li Xuan looked up at the middle-aged man who was covered in blood but still protecting his people.
A slight stirring in my heart.
This family is not bad.
There's just a lack of roads.
"We can't leave."
"But we can win."
The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.
Li Tianheng stared intently at him.
"What did you say?"
Li Xuan's gaze remained calm.
"What the Wang family wants are spiritual fields, granaries, and warehouses."
"Then let's burn the granary first."
"They will surely descend into chaos."
"Uncle Yuan Lie led his men in a surprise attack from the side courtyard."
"The clan chief is stationed at the main gate, pretending to be on the defensive."
"I'll go open the sluice gate behind the mountain and use the rainy night to flush the courtyard."
"Tonight——"
His voice grew colder.
"Let half of the Wang family stay here."
Everyone was stunned.
Is this still the usually silent young clan leader?
Li Tianheng's eyes widened in shock.
This composure, this judgment...
He doesn't seem like a teenager.
Like a true game-changer.
⸻
Outside the courtyard, another roar echoed.
"Bang!"
The gate was knocked so hard it was on the verge of collapse.
Wang Xuanhu's wild laughter pierced through the rain.
"Li Tianheng!"
"If you don't open the door, I'll slaughter your entire family!"
The faces of everyone in the hall turned deathly pale.
Li Xuan slowly turned around and looked towards the door.
The corners of her mouth turned up for the first time.
"Good timing."
"I'm desperately need a battle to establish my authority."
⸻
The system flashed in my mind again.
[Main Quest Released: Protect the Li Family]
[Task Reward: Clan Luck +20]
[Bonus Reward: Spirit Field Transformation]
[Punishment for failure: Extermination of the entire clan]
Li Xuan stepped outside.
The rainy night was chilly.
The fate of the Li family began to be rewritten from this moment on.
End of Chapter One