[Congratulations! Your family has added a new clansman. Your descendant, Li Xinghuo, has named him "Li Xinri".]
[Inherited the bloodline of the Northern Border cultivation family, the "Jin Family"— Metal Bloodline. Born with a natural Single Metal Spirit Root.
Cultivation speed for metal-attribute cultivation methods increased by 30%; power of metal-attribute techniques and martial arts increased by 30%.]
[Due to a gift from Grand Tutor Lin Jiu, acquired Trait: Mystic Yang Body. Cultivation speed increased by 200% before the Nascent Soul realm.]
Another child of the "Xin" generation had been born.
In the Ancestor Space, the Li clansmen gathered, all congratulating Li Xinghuo.
After the joy had settled, Li Xinghuo spoke in a deep voice to his elders, "This child wishes to take a principal wife from among the family's subordinate powers. I ask Uncle Chang'an and Grandfather Kuangren to help select one for me."
"Xinghuo, your child has just been born. Why this?"
Even someone as traditional as Li Dalong did not scold Li Xinghuo this time.
This was simply because after Li Xinghuo became the Grand Tutor's godson, all his women had been forced upon him by the Grand Tutor, just as it was for the Grand Tutor's other adopted sons.
These godsons married women from the Northern Border's aristocratic Clans to consolidate the various factions, ensuring the Northern Border remained an impenetrable stronghold for over a hundred thousand years.
"This child has sixteen concubines, and they constantly vie with one another to become the principal wife.
Jin Qiaoqiao is backed by the Jin family, who are the Grand Tutor's staunchest loyalists.
Sooner or later, she will demand the position of principal wife. She is accustomed to scheming and fighting, and this child fears..."
Li Xinghuo glanced at Li Xingchen and Li Xinnian, hesitating to speak.
The clansmen looked thoughtful. The current children of the family had all come from difficult times; they didn't care about the distinction between legitimate issue and concubine-born children, nor did they care who became the Family Head.
But Li Xinghuo's situation was different. His concubines were all from great outside families, and heaven only knew what the forces behind them might be thinking.
They were not like Feng Chunlin, whose life goal was solely to protect the Azure Cloud Region.
Li Xinnian's expression was complex, not because of the Jin family or his newborn cousin, but because his uncle was looking out for him and his father at every turn.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Li Chang'an smiled and said, "Xinghuo, just wait for news in the Northern Border. I will look for someone for you tomorrow. In half a year, you can prepare for the auspicious day."
"Yes, this child understands." Li Xinghuo merely nodded slightly, showing neither joy nor sorrow.
Afterward, the clansmen discussed the harvests of recent years.
To them, although the birth of Li Xinghuo's son was a joyous event, the top priority now was to gather Spirit Stones and resources to break through to the Void Refining realm.
This was the true foundation for the family's survival in this chaotic world.
The clansmen dispersed from the Ancestor Space.
Li Chang'an took Li Xinnian along, flying on a sword out of Merit City.
Amidst the vast sky, Li Chang'an smiled and asked, "Xinnian, do you know why Xinghuo did this?"
"Xinnian knows."
Hearing this, Li Chang'an nodded with gratification. "Many years ago, I was still a fisherman in a small village. I remember that was the first time your father and I met Xinghuo."
"That child was alone and helpless. He had fled from Eternal Sun Prefecture, and no one knows how he survived those years. When he saw us, he didn't cry or make a fuss.
The first thing he said to us was that he had finally found us, and that as long as the clansmen were still alive, we could restore the family's glory."
Li Xinnian had heard many stories about his uncle, but this was the first time he had heard this one.
He couldn't imagine how a ten-year-old child had managed to survive that long and arduous trek, or what kind of loneliness and danger he had experienced along the way.
"It's a pity I never had the chance to meet his father, Li Changge," Li Chang'an said.
"If the man who raised Xinghuo were still alive, I fear there would be few in this world who could compare to him.
I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, child, but it was also because of those words from Xinghuo that I took your father to become a pirate and set foot in Spirit Province."
"Many years have passed, and Xinghuo is still forging ahead.
He ventured to the Northern Border and became the Grand Tutor's godson.
Who in the clan doesn't know the Grand Tutor can't be trusted? And who would willingly acknowledge a villain as their father? Yet your Cousin-Uncle did it.
He went, and he has remained there until today.
He never spoke of his reasons, but I know that there is a rift between our family and the Grand Tutor. Only by becoming the Grand Tutor's godson could he stabilize him and secure a sky-high backer for our Li family."
Li Chang'an let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
"Xinghuo has a backer, and now he has a son. If he wanted to contend for power, no one in the family could beat him.
Today, he intends to take a principal wife, and he does it for you—so that no one will contend with you, no one will fight you for it."
"This child understands." Li Xinnian felt a stinging sensation in his nose.
He said in a grave voice, "This child will not let Xinghuo and the elders down."
"You must bear this in mind."