Chapter 56 Past Events

The eighth day of the first lunar month, nine in the morning.

A grand procession consisting of more than thirty vehicles forged its way into the mountains.

The New Year hunt was a tradition of the Li family. Naturally, participants were strictly limited to three types of people: direct descendants of the main bloodline, those who had made significant contributions to the clan, and individuals who had distinguished themselves exceptionally through either literary or martial prowess.

In the past, Li Qi naturally belonged to the first category. Relying on his close bloodline, he had secured a spot every year since he turned twelve.

The art of governing a family—so-called leveling a bowl of water evenly—did not mean absolute equality among all clan members. Instead, it meant maintaining a balance between equality and intimacy; forced equality was, in fact, far from beneficial.

At this moment, Li Qi sat in the same car with the old patriarch, and the driver was none other than Li Tianxing. Aside from the three of them, there was no one else in the vehicle.

Naturally, this was a privilege he had never enjoyed in the past.

However, having achieved success in his cultivation and possessing a firm and steadfast mind, Li Qi felt no unusual emotions regarding all these changes, accepting them as entirely natural.

"In the Tiannan region today, there are three major clans: the Mu, the Zhang, and the Li. However, truth be told, my Li family moved to Tiannan only a little over a hundred and fifty years ago. Originally, our ancestral home was in the Huainan area, but later, as the times grew turbulent, our ancestors relocated here to escape disaster, choosing to live near the mountains and far from civilization to avoid the ravages of war..."

The old patriarch narrowed his eyes slightly as he spoke in a measured, unhurried tone.

"Unlike my Li clan, the Mu and Zhang families were long-established prominent clans of Tiannan. Back then, there were the Five Great Surnames of Tiannan: Wang, Zhao, Zhou, Mu, and Zhang. For centuries, these five surnames stood unshaken. Even when dynasties rose and fell and the banners atop the city walls constantly changed hands, the five families remained as steady as monoliths. Many key local positions were entirely occupied by people from these five surnames, and no one could ever contend with them. If not for that, I wouldn't have had to travel far away from home in my youth."

"More than a hundred years ago, the Wang family made their living through the medicinal herb trade in Mount Qi. Mount Qi is perilous, but rare medicinal herbs always grow there. Yet in those days, herb gatherers—even when they found precious medicines—received barely one percent of their actual value..."

"I started going deep into the mountains when I was eight years old, and by twelve, I was gathering herbs alone, yet I still almost starved to death..."

"At fourteen, knowing this could not go on, I left with people from my village to brave the outside world."

Li Changqing recounted the events of yesteryear.

"Of course, back then, my name wasn't Li Changqing either; it was Li Gou. After all, cheap names are easier to raise."

"The group of us set out imposing and high-spirited, numbering over twenty in total. By the time we reached our destination, only five of us remained. A few years later, only I was left."

"I survived, on one hand, because of good luck, and on the other, because I was shameless enough and ruthless enough. When I met powerful figures, I would drop to my knees and acknowledge them as masters; when I met the weak, I would take a bite out of them..."

"Those three incomplete stances of the White Tiger Seven Kills were obtained by kneeling and kowtowing to become a disciple. Some might consider that a humiliation, but striving to survive is nothing to be ashamed of. If anything was shameful, it was the era itself. If heaven wanted to devour men and men had to beg just to live, who wouldn't want to stand tall with dignity?"

Li Changqing spoke of the past with a calm demeanor.

Li Qi listened, yet he understood that while the present Li Changqing truly no longer felt that kneeling before powerful people in his youth was a humiliation, the young Li Changqing must have cared deeply in his heart; otherwise, the memory would not have remained so profound.

"This era is wonderful. The Saints joined forces with the Monarch to sweep across the world, compiling martial classics and widely disseminating martial arts. Although only foundational chapters are circulated in the world, those who achieve success will naturally find ways to pursue even further realms. Even the sects of the world have been forced by this to widely spread their foundational martial arts to the common folk, lest all the talents of the world be gathered by the imperial court."

"Yet precisely because of this, the people of this world have grown less appreciative of martial arts..."

Li Changqing let out a long sigh, recalling the era he once lived in, when countless people would break their heads just to acquire a shred of meager martial arts.

"Apart from that, technological development has brought unprecedented material abundance, and ordinary families can now afford the necessities for practicing martial arts. But it is precisely this great technological advancement that has brought more temptations from the dazzling world, leaving very few among the younger generation willing to endure hardship."

Li Qi listened quietly, sensing that the underlying principle here was likely that things only became truly cherished when they were scarce.

In the past of this world, martial arts were difficult to obtain and survival was harsh, making them the stepping stones to ascend to the heavens; hence, countless people fought desperately for them.

Now, with survival no longer an issue, many people had lost their persistence and treated martial arts as ordinary.

However, Li Qi thought of the knowledge of mathematics, physics, and chemistry from his previous life. Those subjects were, in reality, also stepping stones to the heavens. If one could truly immerse themselves in learning them, they would never have to worry about their future path. Yet precisely because they were so easily accessible, very few people were capable of studying them with grueling diligence.

His own single-minded pursuit of the transcendent nowadays, aside from having a system, stemmed mainly from having experienced a world devoid of the transcendent—an ordinary life—which made him yearn all the more for transcendence...

"I've strayed somewhat from the topic," Li Changqing said.

"Although far too many people fail to cherish martial arts, in this era, the population is much larger, and even more people practice martial arts. Compared to a hundred years ago, the martial world is more than a hundred times more prosperous, and there are far more powerhouses and freaks."

"As for the Five Families of Tiannan, Li Qi, if anyone with ulterior motives approaches you in the future, they might very well be the remnants of the Wang, Zhao, and Zhou families. You must keep your guard up."

"Some matters are too bloody and are not recorded in the clan register. Although the Wang, Zhao, and Zhou families were exterminated by me back then, it is entirely possible that a few fish slipped through the net!"

At this point, a faint flash of red light flickered in Li Changqing's eyes.

Li Qi felt not the slightest surprise at what Li Changqing had said. He was no longer some naive child; although certain events were unrecorded, he could perceive the whole from minor details and had long since deduced them from various clues.

For instance, how the old patriarch had actually gone about carving out the family enterprise back in the day.

The local area had been thoroughly monopolized, and the only way Li Changqing could establish a foothold locally was to physically eliminate a portion of the obstacles.

As for the five great clans, with three of them wiped out in one fell swoop, one could easily imagine just how bloody those events must have been.

"An outsider wishing to establish a foothold locally generally has to go through the process of hosting banquets and being reduced to acting like a dog. However, I refused to submit, so I exterminated the Wang, Zhao, and Zhou families, and then reduced the Mu and Zhang families to my dogs. Only then did the subsequent tripartite balance come to be..."

Li Changqing spoke in a flat tone.

And what Li Changqing described closely matched what Li Qi had guessed.

This world was fundamentally different from his past life; history had long since veered in a different direction. Although the timeline was similar, many things were entirely distinct.

Three hundred years ago, the Chongzhen Emperor relied on the supreme arts of the Sovereign of Yu to extend the national destiny of the Great Ming by another hundred years. One hundred and fifty years ago, the era of global maritime exploration began, with major nations casting covetous eyes toward the East, marking the onset of utter chaos.