Exploration

Li Tongya rode the wind alongside Xu Yangping and his wife out of the market, heading straight south for several hours. He had little fear of an ambush or coordinated assault by rogue cultivators. After all, rogue cultivators practiced first-grade cultivation methods and inhaled impure qi; much like those Shanyue Qi Refinement practitioners, even three or five of them encircling him would not be able to pin him down. Furthermore, his River true essence was abundant and swift, so he decided to see the situation firsthand before determining his course. Discussing the details thoroughly with the couple along the way, he was surprised to learn that this cave abode was situated on the southern shore of Lake Wangyue, barely over two hundred li from the Li family's Lichuankou. 'The world's fortunes are truly unpredictable. My Li family has cultivated the southern shore meticulously for decades without discovering this cave abode, yet Xu Yangping and his wife merely stopped to rest on an islet in the lake, happened upon a great drought, and stumbled into this windfall.' Pondering this for a few moments, Li Tongya saw craggy, jagged rocks rising ahead on an islet. Amid them sat a plain-looking man, meditating quietly with a long saber resting across his knees. "Brother Zhang!" Landing on the ground, Xu Yangping cupped his fists with a smile and called out, then turned to introduce him to Li Tongya: "This is Brother Zhang Yun, at the third level of Qi Refinement. He has studied formations extensively, arrived at the Lake Wangyue market just a few days ago, and is willing to lend us a hand." Zhang Yun hastily rose and cupped his hands in greeting. He stared silently at the River true essence circulating around Li Tongya for a moment as Xu Yangping introduced Li Tongya in turn. Li Tongya returned the greeting with cupped hands. Seeing the clear purity of the man's true essence as he drew in his cultivation, and noting his claim of formation expertise, Li Tongya secretly assessed him: 'This man is likely no rogue cultivator. Nor is there any prominent Zhang family in these parts. If he isn't using a fake name, nine times out of ten he is tied to the Three Sects and Seven Gates!' While Li Tongya remained secretly on guard, Zhang Yun appeared exceedingly modest, though he could not hide the excitement on his face. Pointing toward the water beside the islet, he explained: "While you were gone, I examined the cave abode for a while. It appears to belong to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, dating back at least two to three centuries!" Hearing the age, Xu Yangping's eyes went wide with thrill, and he exclaimed repeatedly: "That is rare indeed!" Zhang Yun nodded and explained: "I have heard that in ancient times, Lake Wangyue was called Dayue Marsh, spanning ten thousand li of mountains and wetlands rich in spiritual energy. It was the site of the Yuehua Yuan Mansion, so cave abodes were naturally plentiful. Later, the landscape shifted and the waters gradually dried up, leaving behind only the present Lake Wangyue." Lin Jingyi could no longer contain her eagerness and quickly asked, "Brother Zhang, do you have a way inside?" "Of course." Zhang Yun nodded. The group formed water-repelling seals and plunged into the lake, coming to a halt at a fracture in the lake bed. Raising the long saber in his hand, Zhang Yun struck with a slash. A multitude of formation patterns and seals abruptly surfaced upon the rock wall before them, and a formation gleaming with stark white light appeared in their view. Zhang Yun swiftly formed hand seals, flicking three long, slender jade wedges from his hands to pin them directly into the formation. With a backhand grasp, he pulled out three thin, pale-white chains, each connected to one of the jade wedges and radiating a faint luminescence. "Catch, fellow Daoists." Zhang Yun tossed two of the chains to Li Tongya and Xu Yangping. The three men each channeled their dharmic power, pouring it into the jade wedges. 'This fellow truly knows what he's doing.' Li Tongya's horizons were broadened. Even as he poured in dharmic power, he grew increasingly certain that this man's origins were anything but ordinary; he might very well have come prepared from the start. Li Tongya began surveying their surroundings, mapping out an escape route in his mind. Wary and cautious, Li Tongya husbanded his dharmic power. The group ground away for an entire day, until finally, as darkness fell, the silvery formation began to flicker erratically. After wearing it down through the night, a crisp crack resounded, and the silver formation shattered with a boom. A pitch-black cave entrance appeared before them. A torrent of lake water immediately rushed to flood inside, but fortunately, having prepared in advance, they cast several water-repelling arts against the opening one after another, holding the lake water firmly at bay. Looking at the shadowy entrance, all four paused in unison, exchanging glances that laid bare each other's hesitation. "Friends... then I shall go first!" Zhang Yun chuckled. Patting his storage bag, he summoned a pale yellow wooden shield. Behind him, Xu Yangping glanced at the dharma treasure in Zhang Yun's hand, his expression grave, and quietly fell in behind Li Tongya. Only a few steps in, a foul, sickening stench washed over them, nauseating the couple so badly that they nearly retched and quickly held their breath. Li Tongya, however, had already ceased breathing before entering the cave abode and was completely unaffected. Li Tongya glanced down at Xu Yangping; both saw the wariness in each other's eyes. Their true essence surged, ready to strike at a moment's notice. 'Xu Yangping likely knows nothing of Zhang Yun's true background. If they were colluding to deceive me, he wouldn't have brought Lin Jingyi along, giving me an easy hostage... Now he too senses something is wrong and is secretly on guard.' Even as this thought crossed his mind, Xu Yangping's spiritual sense voice transmission sounded beside his ear, anxious and uneasy: "Brother Li, I fear this man is far more than a simple rogue cultivator. Our judgment failed us; we are likely to suffer for it." Ahead, Zhang Yun appeared completely at ease. Glancing around the cave abode, he caused the spell light in his hand to blaze brightly, illuminating everything within sight. The cave abode was vast. Right in the center stood a colossal pillar of crystal several zhang high, coiled by a gigantic serpentine skeleton. Its grim white bones and interlocking fangs looked eerie and menacing. Within the skeletal jaws, a blood-red bead floated in midair. The bead bobbed gently, glistening with faint specks of crimson light. Lustrous and translucent, it made quite an exquisite sight. On the ground nearby, a snow-white spear remained planted upright, gleaming with silver radiance. The spiritual energy inside was dense, on par with the cave abode at Meichi Mountain. However, the entire place was a grim, expansive karst cavern spanning over ten mu, its far end invisible from the entrance, exuding a chilling, oppressive yin qi. "Ha, turns out it's the abode of a monster general!" Kicking aside a piece of rotten bone on the ground, Zhang Yun turned back toward Li Tongya's trio and spoke with a touch of disappointment. "I wondered what kind of Foundation Establishment cultivator would build a cave abode underwater—it was just a snake demon!" Xu Yangping and the others also showed disappointment. While Foundation Establishment monsters possessed humanoid forms and could learn a measure of formations or alchemy, they still preferred to swallow spiritual items whole to slowly digest them and rarely cared to leave behind any legacy, which naturally meant far fewer gains to be had. "There were many snake broods in this cave as well, all drained of their essence blood by this brute to serve as cultivation resources." Stepping past dense heaps of serpentine bones, the group searched the cavern. Everywhere lay skeletons and ash, from both humans and beasts, but all storage bags once carried by the corpses were gone. "Eh?" Sweeping his spiritual sense, Zhang Yun actually uncovered two jade slips from the ash and dirt. Scanning them in front of the others, he tossed them onto the ground in disappointment and turned his head to speak: "What a destitute monster. It probably converted all its wealth into spiritual items and elixir pills in a desperate attempt to break through to the Purple Palace realm. These two jade slips bear secret seals and couldn't be sold off, so they were left here to gather dust." With a sudden laugh, he added: "As if breaking through to the Purple Palace were so easy!" "May I ask..." Xu Yangping cupped his hands, addressing Zhang Yun with marked respect, "what arts are recorded in these two jade slips?" Zhang Yun glanced at him and smiled. "One is my Jinyu Sect's Xuemo Dharma Book, and the other is the River Daling Classic, lost after the fall of Lingyu Gate. The former requires the secret seal of the Jinyu Sect, while the latter requires a secret art to decipher. You two shouldn't bother getting your hopes up." Xu Yangping and his wife exchanged stunned glances. Nearby, Li Tongya had already stepped back several paces, holding his longsword tight. Faint specks of white light leaked from the blade; the Lunar Crescent Sword Arc, gathered for so long, stood primed to strike. "No need to be nervous, Brother Xiao." Zhang Yun smiled at Li Tongya, casting a wary glance at the still-sheathed, humming sword in his hand, and continued: "The River Unity Qi Formula. I can recognize the Xiao family's cultivation art; back then, my father himself delivered it to the Xiao family." Li Tongya was caught off guard, but showed a flicker of shock on his face just in time. Without hesitation, he tossed out a question as a cover, frowning: "Did Brother Zhang come here specifically to recover the Xuemo Dharma Book?" "Not so..." A hint of awkwardness surfaced on Zhang Yun's face as he explained: "I was ordered by my sect to search for a cave abode. I had no idea Brother Xiao was here seeking the River Daling Classic, and merely stumbled in by chance." Hearing this, Li Tongya was even more startled, but his mind raced like lightning as he took over the conversation, adopting a slightly displeased expression and lowering his voice: "I searched for over ten years before locating this cave abode. I never expected these two to discover it first, and seeing Brother Zhang here, I assumed your sect was after it as well." "Far from it! Given the relationship between our two factions, how could the Jinyu Sect covet the River Daling Classic?" Zhang Yun waved his hands repeatedly. Xu Yangping and his wife were struck dumb, their legs trembling and foreheads dripping with cold sweat. Believing they had inadvertently stepped into a clash between two great powers, they wished they could turn and run immediately. 'Damn it all! This Li Tongya is from a great sect as well! Now the two of us are lambs waiting to be slaughtered!' The two quietly backed away a few steps, preparing to flee at once, but caught Zhang Yun's notice. He turned his head and fixed them with a beaming smile. "Allow me to resolve the trouble for Brother Xiao first!" Zhang Yun chuckled sinisterly and slashed his saber at Xu Yangping. Xu Yangping's hair stood on end, and he pulled Lin Jingyi back as he retreated frantically. Yet Zhang Yun cultivated an orthodox art of at least third grade, absorbing pure heaven-and-earth spirit qi. Xu Yangping had only recently broken through to Qi Refinement, practiced common, low-grade methods, had no decent qi-gathering formula, and swallowed crudely refined impure qi. How could he possibly be a match for Zhang Yun? Just as Li Tongya had effortlessly slain the Ji family's Qi Refinement cultivator back then, Zhang Yun took off his head in barely a dozen strikes. Ignoring Lin Jingyi's desperate pleas for mercy, he cut her down with a casual swipe, then turned his head to smile at Li Tongya: "These rogue cultivators are truly useless." Li Tongya kept a calm exterior, but a chill ran down his spine. Watching Zhang Yun quietly collect the pair's storage bags, he gained a profound appreciation for the supreme dominance of the Three Sects and Seven Gates in the cultivation world. He thought to himself: 'If Jing'er had not brought home an orthodox art from within his sect, I too might be slaughtered like these rogue cultivators, treated no better than weeds.' Zhang Yun smiled and said, "The cultivation arts are settled then. As for this inner core and the dharma treasure, who among us gets first pick?" With an arch of his brow, before Li Tongya could reply, he added eagerly: "Why don't we exchange a single blow, one saber against one sword, and whoever wins chooses first!" Having just seen Zhang Yun strike down Xu Yangping, Li Tongya judged that his method was not noticeably superior to his own Mystic Water Sword Art and River Unity Qi Formula. Moreover, with the explosive power of the Lunar Crescent Sword Arc as his trump card, he thought to himself: 'At this moment, I must not show the slightest weakness.' He slowly raised the sheathed longsword at his hip, intense white light bursting from the seams of the scabbard, and laughed aloud: "Very well!" With that, he drew his sword and struck. A moon-white sword arc shrieked forth, drawing an indignant cry from Zhang Yun: "You cheat!" Yet Zhang Yun's own saber qi had secretly gathered for just as long, surging up fiercely. As sword qi and saber qi collided, the thunderous blast whipped their clothes wildly in the gale. Li Tongya stumbled back a step to disperse the impact, while Zhang Yun took the force head-on without flinching. Zhang Yun let out a muffled grunt, clearly having suffered a minor internal injury, yet smiled nonetheless: "You stepped back!" "We take our respective arts. I'll take this peak Foundation Establishment demon beast inner core, and this Foundation Establishment-grade dharma treasure goes to your family." Not wishing to linger or complicate matters, Li Tongya nodded and said in a deep voice: "Agreed. As long as I obtain this art, I have fulfilled the elders' instructions." Each taking his share, Zhang Yun and Li Tongya emerged from the cave abode one after the other. Zhang Yun chuckled softly: "Your sword art isn't bad!" Just as Li Tongya was about to offer a modest reply, Zhang Yun spoke in a swift, hushed murmur: "The Jinyu Sect's promise to Perfected Master Chuting still stands. As soon as that old ghost Chi Wei dies, the Jinyu Sect will stand behind the Xiao family. Please urge your noble clan to give it thorough consideration." Li Tongya was profoundly shaken, shock crashing through his mind like thunder. 'Perfected Master Chuting?! Xiao Chuting has already reached the Purple Palace realm?! No wonder the Jinyu Sect is so courteous toward the Xiao family...' 'A promise? Once that Patriarch Chi Wei of the Qingchi Sect dies, their strength will likely dwindle drastically. What game are the Xiao family and the Jinyu Sect playing...?' Zhang Yun gave a sly wink and murmured further: "Even if you aren't of the Xiao family, it makes no difference. Whatever Foundation Establishment cultivators your family has, get them all ready. Turmoil will come sooner or later." Li Tongya shook his head with a faint smile. "Brother Zhang must be joking." Zhang Yun laughed heartily, patted his brocade pouch, and flew away upon a flying shuttle. Left behind, Li Tongya pondered for several moments. Fearing Zhang Yun might still linger nearby, he simply sat cross-legged and cultivated until night fell again. Casting a breath-concealment art, he flew toward Lixia Commandery for a while before looping back to the Li family. Flying over Mount Lijing, Li Tongya caught sight of a sea of plain white mourning robes below. His heart sank instantly, knowing something terrible had occurred. Stepping through the wind, he descended upon the mountain. Seeing white banners fluttering across the courtyard and Li Xuanxuan clad in coarse mourning clothes, he asked in a raspy voice: "What has happened?" Li Xuanxuan shuddered involuntarily. Seeing Li Tongya, he faltered and dropped to his knees, untying the Qingwu Bow from his waist and presenting it with both hands, his voice choking with sobs: "A few days ago, Chen Donghe and the others returned. They said... Uncle was killed by a curse..." Li Tongya stood frozen for a breath. The satisfaction of acquiring the secret formula and dharma treasure vanished without a trace, his lingering premonitions and omens turned into stark reality. He murmured softly: "I understand." Turning his face away, he and Li Xuanxuan stood atop the mountain in prolonged silence. Only then did Li Tongya speak: "Take some of his everyday clothes and inter them in the family cemetery, buried alongside your grandfather and father." Seeing Li Xuanxuan nod, Li Tongya wiped the corner of his eye and quietly instructed: "Remember to follow the proper order. Leave a place in the middle for me." "Yes."