Chapter 22

In the wilderness, Luli carried Luling and ran at a fast pace. At that moment, he didn’t feel anything, but now Luli felt a chill all over his body. He had killed three people; it was his first time killing, and his head felt a bit dizzy.

Luling didn’t try to comfort him. Every martial artist had to go through this stage, and Luli needed to resolve the knot in his heart on his own. In fact, although Luling always appeared calm, she was a delicate woman, and her heart was also hard to calm down.

The two siblings ran silently on the mountain path. The road was indeed very safe; they ran for over twenty miles without encountering any mystical beasts or wild animals.

"Let’s rest for a while. There’s a river over there. Go and wash your clothes; otherwise, how can we go to Wuling City?"

Luling suddenly spoke, and Luli came to his senses, running toward the small river. By the river, he put Luling down and splashed cold water on his face several times.

Luli took out a clean robe from his bag and handed it to her, saying softly, "Do you feel very uncomfortable? This is a process that must be experienced on the path of martial arts. In the Northern Desert, it is so cruel. Once you step into the world of martial arts, there’s no turning back. Either you rise to the top, or you die in the wilderness. There’s no second path. If you didn’t kill them today, we would be the ones to die!"

Luli took a deep breath, turned around, and forced a smile at his sister, nodding, "Sister, I understand. You don’t need to worry about me."

Luli took off his robe, jumped into the small river to wash, and then put on the clean robe. Luling wiped off the small amount of blood on her body and looked toward the northwest, saying, "Let’s go. We need to get to Wuling City as soon as possible. Once we’re in the city, we’ll be much safer."

Di Ba and his group were far away at the periphery of the Ice Abyss. Even if they received the news and immediately pursued, they wouldn’t catch up in a short time. Of course, they still needed to be cautious. Di Ba was now an outer hall elder of the Zhao family, and they needed to go to Wuling City and join the Liu family immediately.

The Liu family was the dominant force in Wuling City. If Luli joined the Liu family, Di Ba would have to think twice before making a move. Besides, Luli was about to awaken his bloodline and cultivate mystic power. At that time, he would certainly be valued by the Liu family. Unless Di Ba wanted to be hunted by the Liu family, he wouldn’t dare to cause trouble for Luli.

Thinking of this, Luli felt a bit relieved and quickly carried his sister, running at a fast pace. The road was very safe, and there were no mystical beasts or wild animals, indicating that the beast tide had been largely suppressed.

...

Wuling City was a hundred miles from the Dilong Tribe. The mountain path was difficult to walk, but Luli’s speed was very fast. Carrying Luling, he arrived outside the city by the afternoon.

Luli had been to Wuling City many times before. He used to hunt wild animals and mystical beasts, obtaining spirit materials to sell in Wuling City, so he was quite familiar with the city.

Wuling City was a county-level city, overseeing a dozen small towns and nearly a hundred tribes within a thousand-mile radius, with a population of a million. The city was large, covering ten square miles. It was surrounded by a towering city wall, and at that moment, the city guards, wearing the Liu family’s black armor, were standing on the wall, looking imposing.

At the city gate, there were several city guards checking the people entering and leaving. Luli put Luling down and held her hand, walking toward the city.

"Wait!"

Luling took out a white veil from her bag and covered her face. Her beautiful face had once brought her trouble, and she had become lame because of it. She didn’t want to cause any trouble in Wuling City.

"Stop!"

Two soldiers walked over, looking at Luli with a wary expression. "Why do you have such a strong smell of blood?"

Although Luli had washed, the smell of blood was still very strong. These guards, who were used to living on the edge, could smell it immediately.

Luli bowed and said, "Sir, on the way, I killed a few wild animals and got some blood on me. My name is Luli, and Lord Liu Wu and Miss Yi know me. This sword was given to me by Miss Yi."

Luli handed over the sword, and the guards looked at it and relaxed. The sword had the Liu family’s mark, and Luli could name Lord Liu Wu and Miss Yi, so it seemed there was no problem.

Luli put away the sword and thought for a moment, then asked, "Sir, is Miss Yi in the city? She told me to come to Wuling City to find her."

"Miss Yi?"

The guard frowned and shook his head. "Miss Yi went to the Ice Abyss with a group yesterday and is not in the city."

"Oh no~"

Luli’s face changed. Without Miss Yi, how could he join the Liu family? If he didn’t join the Liu family, how could he resist Di Ba and his group if they came to kill him?

"Let’s go into the city first."

Luling spoke softly, and Luli could only take her into the city. After entering, Luling said, "No fighting is allowed in Wuling City; this is a rule set by the Liu family. The city is safe. However, let’s go to the Liu family first. If we can join immediately, that would be best."

Luli knew where the Liu family was, in the largest mansion in the center of the city. He nodded and quickly led Luling forward. After walking for a while, Luling spoke again, "Luli, if you can join the Liu family, you should choose to become a guest scholar and not join the outer hall."

"Huh?"

Luli scratched his head, not quite understanding Luling’s meaning.

He knew a bit about large families. The Liu family, Zhao family, Lu family, and even all the large families in the Northern Desert had a similar structure.

Large families were generally divided into the inner hall, outer hall, and guest hall.

The inner hall consisted of the family’s martial artists, who had the most resources and power, forming the core strength of the family. The outer hall was made up of strong people recruited from outside, such as Old Hong and many of the Liu family’s guards. They relied on the Liu family, fought for them, and received corresponding salaries and resources based on their strength, status, and achievements.

The guest hall consisted of guest scholars, who nominally belonged to the family but had a lot of freedom. They didn’t need to do anything for the family normally and only acted in critical moments.

Guest scholars had a very low status in large families and received very few resources and salaries, unless they were exceptionally powerful.

Because guest scholars could enter and leave the family at any time, without constraints or management, and could even leave the family to join others, no family would invest a lot of resources in cultivating guest scholars. What if they left after being cultivated? What if they joined an enemy family?

The status of guest scholars in the family was very low. If Luli joined the Liu family as a guest scholar, the Liu family wouldn’t value him or cultivate him. Even if Luli got into trouble, such as if Di Ba wanted to kill him, the Liu family might not intervene to help him.

Luli and Luling had caused a massacre in the Dilong Tribe and came to Wuling City seeking the protection of the Liu family. Now Luling wanted him to become a guest scholar? No wonder Luli was confused.

"Sister..."

Luli wanted to explain, but Luling waved her hand, saying, "You don’t need to say more. I understand your concerns. You must remember, when you join any family or organization in the future, you can only be a guest scholar and not join the outer hall. Because—there are more important things for you to do, and you can’t stay in these families for a long time. Also, these small families don’t deserve your service."

"Don’t deserve?"

Luli was stunned again. What was he? It was already good that the Liu family would take him, and Luling actually said they didn’t deserve it? The mighty Liu family, the dominant force in Wuling City, was considered a small family by Luling?

"Yes, they don’t deserve it!"

Luling nodded seriously and, after a moment of silence, said, "Your identity is extraordinary, and these small families don’t have the right to have you serve them. I’ll tell you more about it later. Let’s go to the Liu family first."

"Extraordinary?"

Luli scratched his head, even more confused. However, with so many people around, he didn’t dare to ask much and could only walk forward with a head full of questions.

The streets of the city were very noisy because of the beast tide, but the city wasn’t very peaceful. However, with the intervention of powerful figures from the super families, the beast tide was said to have been suppressed, and the city didn’t fall into chaos.

After a few twists and turns, Luli and Luling finally arrived at the northern square of the city, in front of a luxurious and imposing mansion.

"Move away, no loitering!"

Luli and Luling were dressed poorly and were not martial artists, so the two Liu family guards at the door immediately drove them away.

Luli stepped forward and bowed, saying, "I am Luli. Miss Yi said to come to Wuling City to find her. She said she could recommend me to join the Liu family. This is the sword given to me by Miss Yi."

Luli handed over the sword, and the guard looked at it, then scanned Luli a few times, waving his hand and saying, "Miss Yi is not here. She will return in three days. Come back in three days."

"Three days?"

Luli’s face changed slightly. In three days, Di Ba would probably already be leading people to Wuling City.

...

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