Li Xuanxuan returned to the mountain laden with worry, only to find a middle-aged man standing in the courtyard. Clad simply in a crisp gray robe, he held a sword in hand, gazing lost in thought toward the sky.
"Uncle, you have emerged from seclusion!"
Delight instantly washed over Li Xuanxuan's face. Li Tongya nodded slightly and said in a soft voice, "The breakthrough went quite smoothly. After four years of accumulation and cultivation, breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement was only natural."
Counting the years, Li Tongya was forty-six years old this year. Benefiting from the Vast Ocean Leviathan Talisman, he had already reached the sixth layer of Qi Refinement. Reaching the peak of Qi Refinement before sixty was now within reach, which meant Foundation Establishment was a real possibility. Had he lacked the Vast Ocean Leviathan Talisman, reaching the peak before sixty would have been truly difficult, leaving him with even less certainty of attaining Foundation Establishment.
After all, clan cultivators like them were not like the disciples of great sects who could cultivate peacefully within their sect grounds. They constantly had to fight and clash with others. As the years wore on, the body suffered greater wear and tear, often plagued by stagnant blood and qi, or invaded by fierce qi and sinister energies. Lacking precious medicines and miraculous elixirs to heal themselves, their cultivation speed grew ever slower.
"Has anything happened at home? How is the situation with the Yu family's market?"
Li Xuanxuan hurriedly recounted everything one by one, concluding with the matter of Yu Mujian that had occurred just as Li Tongya had entered seclusion. Li Tongya nodded with a smile.
"This Yu Mujian is likely the most talented among all the disciples of the Yu family. Cultivating at home year in and year out, devoted solely to the sword, he maintains a pure nature. Being born into such a great family is a blessing for him."
Li Xuanxuan nodded in agreement, then shifted the topic with a faint smile. "The Yu family's market had been open for just over a month, and all their manpower was concentrated there, when news broke that someone was attacking the defensive array at the Yu family's main residence in Milin Commandery. The Yu family had no choice but to send people back to reinforce it."
Li Tongya raised an eyebrow. Exactly as he had expected, he took up the conversation: "A simple yet practical overt scheme. I imagine the moment they left with their front foot, someone arrived on their heels to attack the market, did they not?"
"Uncle speaks the truth!"
Li Xuanxuan was visibly animated as he brought this up, chuckling as he said, "The moment the Yu family's manpower departed, two Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived at the market and directly struck at the array. Although the Yu family had prepared in advance, leaving behind Yu Xiaogui and even bringing out two Foundation Establishment–grade talismans to hold off those bandits, it still threw everyone into panic. Over half the patrons fled. On top of that, countless troublemakers seized the opportunity to steal and loot in the chaos, leaving behind an enormous mess of bad debts that gave them an immense headache."
Li Tongya nodded slightly. After pondering for several breaths, he explained, "I fear over half of those opportunists were planted by the other clans. Having calculated the timing precisely, they intended to make the Yu family suffer a grievous loss."
Li Xuanxuan found Li Tongya's reasoning very sound. Pausing a moment, he continued, "Though the Yu family was furious, they were utterly helpless and could only swallow this loss in silence. In the months that followed, foot traffic at the market dropped by more than half, and it has not recovered to this day."
"Did our family's disciples participate in any of it?" Li Tongya asked with some concern.
Li Xuanxuan nodded and assured him, "I kept Uncle's instructions firmly in mind, strictly forbidding the family disciples from leaving the grounds, let alone heading to that market to stir up trouble."
"Good," Li Tongya praised, patting Li Xuanxuan's shoulder. He then instructed, "Winter will soon be upon us. I shall head into the mountains to find a few Qi Refinement demonic beasts to prepare for the sacrifice, and seek a wisp of talisman qi for you all."
"Understood!"
Li Xuanxuan was overjoyed at the news and responded repeatedly in affirmation. Watching Li Tongya take to the wind and take flight, his lips moved, but in the end, he did not voice the suspicions hidden in his heart.
"Forget it, forget it."
Li Xuanxuan lowered his head with a bitter smile and took a few steps into the courtyard, murmuring to himself, "I should have a talk with Jingtian about this matter to see how she recorded it. It would naturally be best if it were not written in the Clan History. If it has been written, I had best plead with her not to record it. That way, the child Yuanjiao might have an easier time of it, and this branch can face less criticism and slandering in the future..."
***
Meanwhile, Li Tongya flew away from Mount Lijing. The autumn leaves of Mount Dali had all fallen, leaving the ground blanketed in gold and brownish red. Following the mountain's topography, he searched for a while. In his memory, the green had completely receded from the cliffs, exposing the brown earth.
Only that large banyan tree with pale white leaves still stood upon the slope. The fox was pushing a battered two-wheeled wooden cart, waddling back and forth with its head tilted. The cart was packed full of fox kits—white, gray, red, and pink—chattering and whining ceaselessly.
"Fellow Daoist is truly prolific," Li Tongya chuckled softly as he landed beneath the tree.
The fox hung its head dejectedly and squeaked, "Far from it... Winter is coming and food is scarce. Many foxes in the mountains have died. These kits would mostly starve or freeze to death, so I brought them back to raise."
Looking up at Li Tongya, the fox called out, "Three hundred and eighty li to the east, under a great scholar tree, there is a stag king that has attained Qi Refinement. It fits your requirements. The deer herds will likely migrate for the winter, so if you go too late, you will probably make an empty trip."
Li Tongya nodded. Seeing that it was overwhelmed with busyness, he tossed a sack of spirit rice to the ground, cupped his hands in farewell, and flew east riding the wind.
After searching for an hour, Li Tongya finally spotted the great scholar tree. A herd of wild deer was gathered beneath it. The moment he descended, the wild deer scattered in panic.
Looking down at an unidentified beast whose bones had been gnawed completely clean on the ground, Li Tongya took to the wind to give chase, thinking secretly, *This deer is quite ferocious. Once it became a demon, it learned to feast on flesh and blood, and it is fairly alert as well.*
Riding the wind, he pursued it for several dozen li until he locked onto the remaining beast: a tall, robust stag brimming with demonic qi. Traces of gore still clung to its coral-like antlers.
The deer was only at the second layer of Qi Refinement. How could it possibly outrun Li Tongya, who was flying through the sky and unrestricted by terrain? Before long, he caught up to it.
Li Tongya wished to capture the demon alive, so without drawing his blade from its scabbard, he struck its head hard with it. The deer staggered sideways, yet persisted in running. Li Tongya struck its waist and back again. The deer leaned crookedly to the side and whipped its head around to snap back viciously.
Li Tongya unsheathed his sword and swept upward. A flash of white light severed the demon deer's antlers cleanly. With a mournful cry, the deer collapsed to its knees, rolling across the ground and staining it with blood.
"It is merely an unguided wild beast, incapable of even a single spell. This was effortless indeed."
Using his Dharmic powers, Li Tongya lifted the beast, sealed the bleeding wounds atop the stag's head, and returned toward Mount Lijing.
***
In the dim, shadowy world within the mirror, layers of gray mist drifted high in the air. Below lay a riddled, battered earth and countless crumbling ruins of pale gray buildings, where heaps upon heaps of crescent-white crushed stone lay strewn. Lu Jiangxian stood alone amid the ruins, holding a gleaming white spell in his grasp.
He had studied alone in this world within the mirror for several years, breaking down Shanyue sorcery and gaining much inspiration from it. Finally, he had achieved some results. His somewhat illusory figure moved slightly, and with a gentle lift of his hand, that brilliant white spell showered down like rain, scattering across the crescent-white crushed stones before him.
*Crack, clatter...*
The crescent-white stones instantly trembled and bounced, enveloped in a faint white halo. Whirling and circling at Lu Jiangxian's feet, they stacked into small humanoid figures complete with limbs.
Crowned with white pebble-shaped heads, these crescent-stone figures stood blankly in place, gazing up at him. Lu Jiangxian flicked his fingers, conjuring several wisps of pure white Taiyin moon essence, and tapped the crowns of their heads. The pebble-shaped heads instantly lit up.
In a flash, all the crescent-stone figures, heads glowing brightly, began to move. Some dug earth, others hauled bricks, working in seamless concert to repair the battered, pale gray ruins.
"This spell..."
Lu Jiangxian had read many of the Li family's incantations, and he felt this spell was entirely different from ordinary methods. With the Li family's incantations, so long as one formed the hand seals and cast the art, the conjured technique took a set form, rigid and predefined. His own spell, however, flowed according to his whims. It possessed no fixed outcome and was governed entirely by his will.
With a thought, Lu Jiangxian appeared atop a mountain peak. In the center of a smooth platform stood a massive tree with white leaves, its roots twisting and gnarled. Beneath it sat antique stone tables and chairs.
Pricking his ears, Lu Jiangxian heard a buzzing murmur drifting from outside the mirror's body, speaking in a reverent, humble tone:
"Here stands the Li clan of Lijing, reverently offering pure wine and diverse delicacies, cold feast and sacrificial animals. Year after year the incense never ceases. Settled upon the northern spur of Mount Li... Eliminating evils and equalizing the fields, at the three primes and six festivals, no reverence has been neglected. In times of feast and on days of offering, the rites endure unbroken... Honoring with smoke and fire, presenting blood sacrifices, serving the divine to invite auspicious blessings."
*So they have come to seek a talisman.*
Chapter 140