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"The food has gotten cold. I will ask them to be replaced," Nie Li said. After getting their agreement he shut down his privacy device and sent a message to the servants.

One of the girls opened the door. She must have been waiting outside.

"Yes, umm, lord Nie Li?" It was practically their first day on the job and they hadn't even been told what to call him yet.

"Yes, can you replace the food? With the talks, we forgot about it and it had gotten cold." Nie Li wouldn't have cared if the food was hot or cold, but he was the host in his house so he must show his hospitality to his VIP guests.

"Sure, lord Nie Li" this time she said the word lord more easily.

Quickly the cold food was taken away and new ones were brought in. This time girls acted more confidently. They didn't want to make fool of themselves in front of the patriarch again. Soon they were finished and left again closing the door.

Nie Li and his guests ate and drank while making some small talk. They hadn't touched the serious matters or this food could become cold as well. After an hour during which they were served many other foods as well, they ended their meeting.

Nie Li asked the servants to show the elder Nie Wei to one of the guest rooms and invited the patriarch and Nie En to his study for a personal meeting.

Nie Wei's face contorted. He was being excluded from a sensitive meeting. But he couldn't do anything about it. He had been slighted, but what can he do about it? He played his cards and failed. But who would have expected that a 13-year-old kid would outplay him? His information about the kid was completely wrong. He shouldn't have been so hasty. Now he hoped that it won't cost him his position in the clan.

So he didn't make trouble and left following the servant girl after asking permission from the patriarch. Maybe he should try to recruit some servants to inform him about the events here. No, it could be dangerous. Or maybe leave Xaori here? His face brightened. If he gets close to the kid like the patriarch's grandnephew it may be beneficial to his branch. And he would be more informed about the situation.

Nie Li led the patriarch and Nie En to his study. When they sat down he again activated his privacy device. Now that they were alone they could talk about real sensitive matters. But there was one matter to solve first

"Elder Nie En, do you have anything from my parents?"

"Yes I saw them before coming here. They sent these letters." Nie En said and passed two letters to him. One was from his father, that asked about his studies and told him to work hard. There were also a couple of his common pieces of advice. His mother's letter, on the other hand, asked about his well-being while worrying about his health.

Nie Li smiled after finishing them. He felt much lighter. After inheriting the memories of his old self and transmigrator from another world, he was worried he would be changed. He was afraid that he may not love them anymore as he did before the event. Or that they would be somehow changed and won't love him anymore. It was an irrational fear but he couldn't help himself.

Meanwhile, Nie En and the patriarch were also watching Nie Li's reaction. They had some worries about Nie Li. He had changed so much since They saw him almost two months ago. So there were some suspicions about him. But seeing the kid getting so emotional from a couple of letters from his parents their fears alleviated. The kid was still homesick despite being so fierce to protect his interests against the grand elder.

"I want them here." Nie Li said.

"I think that can be arranged." Nie En easily agreed after looking at the patriarch.

"My uncle's family as well," Nie Li added. He missed them, especially little Yu.

"Hm, I don't think that would be a problem either," the patriarch replied instead of Nie En. Actually, every worker on the farms was important but they couldn't alienate Nie Li.

"I know the situation of our clan" Nie Li said knowing what they were thinking about. "That's why I will donate this 5 million yaolinbi to the clan." He passed a storage card towards them.

The elder and the patriarch were astonished. They quickly checked the card and became excited. It was five years' worth of the entire revenue of their clan! They had expected that they would be forced to beg for some scraps from Nie LI's table, but he just gave them so much money without any effort on their part. Both of them could admit that it was the largest amount of money they had held in their hands until now. The patriarch was especially excited. With this money, they could participate in the recently announced Hong Yue Auction House's Treasure Auction and buy many cultivation resources for the younger generation.

Until now, they avoided such auctions and it hit their family's reputation hard. He wanted to see the faces of Jiang Ming(Silver Tiger Family) and Lei Zhuo(Tie Men Family) when he bought some expensive things in the auction.

He was not wrong about Nie Li's character. He was a nice boy, completely loyal to the clan. Nie En also looked at the kid proudly.

"Thank you Nie Li. Your donation would greatly improve the situation of our clan," the patriarch said benevolently.

Nie Li looking at the faces of two smiling adults inwardly sighed. It was just too easy to please them. They must become more hardened if they wanted to play politics in the high leagues of the city in the future.

"If you wanted to buy pills from the Alchemy Association don't bother. I have connections with them so I can buy them cheaper and easier." Nie Li said.

Nie Hai and Nie En looked at each other. That was the first thing they wanted to do. The recently released elixir was very beneficial for the bronze rank cultivators and they wanted to buy some for the clan youths. But if Nie Li had connections to the Association then it was even better.

"Actually, I think we could create a branch that would make business with the Alchemy Association and other organizations here in the inner city. My father and uncle could lead it. For example, we could sell the herbs from our lands to the Alchemy Association directly without an intermediary."

The patriarch and the elder looked interested. Without a middleman, their profits will rise. Although it wouldn't be much compared to Nie Li's donation, every bit counted.

"That's a good idea. If we could raise more cultivators in the future a stronger presence may be required," the patriarch added. Their family was the only one among the noble families, that didn't have a residence in the inner city. But Nie Li's mansion even though it wasn't their clan's mutual property, it could serve as a representative branch of their clan here.

"Is there anything you wanted to talk about?" Nie Hai asked.

"No, I haven't even started." Nie Li sighed. "It's not just about our family. It's about a threat to the entire Glory City."

The elder and the patriarch became ramrod straight. "What kind of threat?" Nie En asked.

Nie Li told them about the Dark Guild's plans and their connection to the Sacred family. The more Nie Li talked, the grimmer his clansmen's faces became.

"Are you sure about that?" the patriarch asked when Nie Li finished his tale.

"Yes, I am telling all of this to you because in the future our family is going to play more important role in the city and I don't want you to act uninformed"

"That would explain some things." The patriarch muttered. "A representative from the Sacred family approached me recently. They were asking about the possibility of a marriage between Nie Li and some branch member of their family. They even offered several candidates."

"The sister of the Sacred family's current patriarch is our teacher at the school and his younger son is my classmate so they know some things about me," Nie Li didn't tell them that most likely he was at fault here. Him showing up Shen Xiu in that lesson about the inscription patterns must have attracted the attention of the Sacred family.

He still didn't know why he thought that it was a good idea at the time. Most likely the integration of Robert's memories wasn't finished by then, so he made that 'brilliant' plan to attract the attention of Ye Ziyun. His hormone-addled teenage brain thought that without impressing Ye Ziyun he won't be able to get close to her. And without blaming the founder of the Sacred family for plagiarism, he would avoid their animosity.

Unfortunately without that animosity, Shen Xiu started to pay attention to him even more closely. In the novel, she ignored him because of their mutual hatred. But this time Nie Li was afraid that she may have taken Shen Yue's reports from the Expedition seriously because her current attitude towards him was just too nice.

"I hope you didn't agree to their offer," Nie Li said.

"Of course not. I didn't want to make such a big decision for you without your consent. Also, they wanted you to join their family leaving ours." By then he got reports about Nie Li from Nie Wen so he didn't want to lose their best chance to turn the fate of their clan. "Of course, I couldn't say no to them directly considering our clan's position compared to theirs. So I told them that it would depend on your decision." He said looking at Nie Li. "They may try to pressure us if they think that it's worth the trouble."

Nie Li agreed with the patriarch. Luckily they didn't know much about Nie Li. If they knew about his current cultivation they would have offered someone from the main branch. Maybe even one of the daughters of Shen Hong. Also, Shen Hong was currently cultivating in seclusion and the Main Affairs Elder of the Sacred family didn't have much authority on these matters.

"We could use that to our advantage" Nie Li had an idea. "It's related to the next thing I wanted to talk about. You must have heard that I have been to the ruins of the Ancient Orchid City?"

Nie Hai nodded after some hesitation. He didn't want to implicate that his grandnephew reported everything to him, especially considering his last reports were very scarce for information. The fact his grandnephew decided to keep Nie Li's secrets from him was a serious sign.

Nie En on the other hand was a bit clueless. He didn't have any reliable eyes at the school so he hadn't gotten any reports about the events other than Nie Li's letter.

"I have found an underground palace. It was big so I wasn't able to explore it completely. I think there could be some treasures. It would be great if you could send an expedition there."

"After the news about your expedition spread, almost everyone is ending expeditions to the ruins again. Most likely someone else already explored it if others also knew about it." Nie Hai said regretfully. He had heard that the auction organized by the Chen family reached the hundreds of millions in the cost of the treasures sold there.

"Not likely. Only three people know about that location and the other two won't tell anyone. There is still a possibility that it had been found by someone, but that possibility is low."

"Oh, are you sure about that?" Nie Hai and Nie En became excited.

"Yes, and send seriously defended group, because there were some strong silver rank demon beasts in the ruins" Nie Li warned them. "If they find something interesting I want the right to buy them first."

"Of course, Nie Li" his two clansmen easily agreed.

"Especially something like this one." Nie Li took out Temporal Demon Spirit Book's page from his pocket. "I will pay ten million for one such page."

"What is this?" asked Nie En looking at a slightly transparent page with glowing symbols. Nie Hai on the other hand looked astonished. His hand went to the locket around his neck.

"It's a page from a very powerful book." Nie Li said as if he had not noticed the actions of the Nie Hai. "I have some inclination where another two pages could be, but the rest is still a mystery to me."

"Did you find it in the ruins as well?" asked Nie Hai.

"Yes. In the tomb of an ancient expert from the Sacred Era called Emperor Kong Ming. I am planning to gather all of the pages of the book."

Nie Hai stared thoughtfully at the page. Nie Li didn't interrupt him. After some time he took out his locket and sent some power into it. A small box appeared in his hand. He opened the box and took out something wrapped in red cloth. He unwrapped the cloth revealing another page. He then put it next to the page Nie Li brought out. They were completely identical.

Nie Li didn't have to fake his astonishment. Even though he knew about the page from the novel, he was surprised by the coincidence. How many generations of his ancestors must have carried it so that one of their descendants could get his hands on it after getting reincarnated? Well if that was not a fate then Nie Li didn't know what it was.

"I think you don't have to look for it for long." Nie Hai said looking at the pages in wonder.