Chapter Thirty-Three: Cultivating Life and Vitality Together

The village martial arts arena was bustling with activity. Any villager within the age bracket, regardless of whether their surname was Li, was eligible to participate. Even those who failed to place would receive a participation prize worth around three thousand yuan; in a sense, this served as the clan’s version of "New Year's lucky money," just distributed in this specific form. On one hand, having the crowd gather in such a lively atmosphere to watch the clan’s future generations showcase their skills was an undeniable way to boost morale and foster unity. After all, people age and eventually pass away; only by having a thriving younger generation can a family or clan have a future. Thus, the annual clan military trials were always highly anticipated.

However, the Li family village had shallow roots. Even now, there were only about a hundred young people between the ages of fourteen and eighteen; twenty years ago, that number was barely fifty. Of course, compared to many villages on the verge of becoming ghost towns, this was already a significant figure, as some villages had fewer than a hundred people under the age of eighteen in total. But when compared to the major clans near Tiannan that had existed for centuries, a hundred-odd people was considered thin on the ground. Those major clans could easily gather nearly a thousand youths and tens of thousands of clansmen at any given event. Power, undoubtedly, lay in numbers, and these major clans acted as local warlords. As for government policies, all the key local positions were filled by their own people. This was an unavoidable reality—when individuals are too weak to resist powerful forces, they cannot be expected to weaken themselves; this is the fundamental contradiction between local authority and imperial power. If you do not claim certain things, others will; if you are weak, others will seek to consume you.

Currently, the martial arts arena in Li Village held several thousand people. At the center of the massive field stood a platform about 1.5 meters high, measuring five by five meters, constructed with a steel frame topped by wooden planks nearly twenty centimeters thick. These planks were aged wood that had been soaked in tung oil for years and finished with heavy lacquer; even a blade strike would leave only shallow marks. The wood was resilient, ensuring the floor wouldn't easily crack under the force of someone stomping on it. Within a five-meter radius around the platform, there was nothing but a massive LED screen, followed by concentric rows of seats extending outward, totaling thousands of chairs. The arena was built on such a grand scale that even with so many seats, it still felt vast. The first two rows—about a hundred seats—were reserved for the contestants, though there was no strict protocol for the seating order among them.

Behind them were the village elders, seated based on seniority: the older they were, the closer to the center they sat, while the younger ones sat toward the periphery. Aside from this, there was a two-story pavilion overlooking the arena, furnished with a few chairs—a space reserved exclusively for Li Changqing, from where he could survey everything below.

"It’s a fine day today," Li Changqing remarked. He had already arrived at the pavilion. He did not sit, but instead leaned against the railing, gazing out. It was not yet time for the event to begin, but the area below was already teeming with people. Several men followed behind him, including Li Tianxing, yet no one spoke.

Li Changqing continued to himself, then said, "Tianxing, you handled yesterday’s matter beautifully. The world is full of wolves and tigers; to survive, one must band together, resisting external enemies while unifying brothers internally. Of course, one must distinguish between true brothers and wolves in sheep's clothing. If there are black sheep, they must be pruned early. In governing a family, the greatest taboo is being soft-hearted. Soft-heartedness may seem like a regard for kinship, but in reality, it chills the hearts of the rest of the clan—that is the path to ruin."

Li Changqing offered this guidance, then added, "Of course, you must maintain a balance. Those uncles of yours, while incompetent, have put in some effort. Do not indulge them, but do not be overly ruthless and wipe them out—that would be too harsh. After the New Year passes, just push them out of the inner circle and let them keep a bit of their wealth."

"The elder's teachings are well-taken," Li Tianxing nodded. Having recently taken control of the group, and with the elder watching over him, he had naturally been suppressing dissenters and fostering his own loyalists. To act as a saint and do nothing would truly be the path to ruin. Once the elder passed away in a few years, the massive group would inevitably fall apart. His suppression was not born of wanton abuse of power, but was conducted through evidence and the righteous path of heaven, acting with openness and integrity. During this time, he had collected enough evidence to send several of his own family members to prison for decades. Such things could hardly be hidden from the elder. In fact, the elder had long known about their corruption but chose to feign ignorance to pave the way for the new leader. If a successor does not wield thunderous methods, they cannot hope to intimidate those below.

"As long as you understand, that is good," Li Changqing said. "In governing a family, one must walk the path of uprightness at home to ensure everyone is of one mind. Using schemes and tricks within the family will never last. Of course, when dealing with the outside world, there are no such taboos—be as ruthless as necessary."

"I was once worried about the family, but now, with Li Qi in the picture, you two—one representing the pen, the other the sword—one managing the clan's affairs and the other holding the force—complement each other perfectly. In this world, there are always things that intellect cannot achieve; that is when raw strength is required. As for what lies beyond that... the shifting of fate is beyond human control. Whether one creates glory or returns to dust..."

The sun was bright, and Li Changqing sighed. Perhaps because his heart had felt lighter in recent days, he found himself becoming more sentimental.

On the other side, Li Qi had already taken his seat in the first row. He occupied the center seat without hesitation. In truth, he was not the first to arrive, and there was no strict rule for seating, yet others instinctively sat further away. This, undoubtedly, was the weight of strength. Without it, forcing oneself into that seat would only be seen as childish petulance, but when one is strong enough, everything happens naturally, and no one dares to object.

Li Qi felt a sense of poignancy. In the past, he had always sat on the edges; with a weak spirit and small ambitions, he had no heart for competition. What people call will and charisma are things that naturally develop once one becomes strong. Conversely, trying to force a fighting spirit only leads to what others call "having a heart as high as the heavens but a life as thin as paper." Fate and vitality—the cultivation of both heart and life—must be combined to accomplish great things.

As Li Qi thought this, his mind gradually settled. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he appeared increasingly languid. At a glance, he looked like a large cat at rest, devoid of any lethal intent. If not for the fact that everyone here had watched the video recordings from the past few days, they might have actually believed it. This was no house cat; it was a ferocious tiger.