Lu Jiangxian sat at the foot of the mountain as the moon-white stone spirits scampered back and forth before his eyes. These spirits he had awakened worked diligently within the mirror. The faint blue halos atop their heads cast flickering, erratic shadows upon the ground. Most of the structures within the mirror world had already been repaired, looking far more pleasing to the eye.
Aside from studying shamanic arts, Lu Jiangxian's life within the mirror consisted of observing the affairs and disputes of the Li family outside. It was not merely tranquil, but bordered on dull. Such was life, ricocheting endlessly between helplessness and boredom.
"Now that I have made some headway in shamanic arts, these past few years haven't been entirely wasted."
He had not only devised several curse techniques, but also worked out arts of blessing and tracking. Still, for an artifact spirit confined to a mirror, they were of little practical use.
Even so, Lu Jiangxian increasingly sensed the connection between Shanyue shamanic arts and the magical mirror. As his comprehension of the shamanic arts deepened, controlling the mirror—which had previously required cumbersome maneuvers—became more and more effortless. He could even execute many operations through it that had once been impossible.
His divine sense drifted out from the mirror's body. The stone door ground open with a heavy rumble. Li Xuanxuan and Li Xuanling entered, leading several children by the hand. A refreshing scent of burning incense wafted through the air, yet the children showed no reaction whatsoever. Their five senses had all been sealed by mana, and they held their elders' hands, not daring to utter a sound.
Before Li Yuanjiao's eyes was pitch darkness. He could hear nothing, and though he opened his mouth, no sound came out. He could not help tightening his grip on his father Li Xuanxuan's hand. Feeling a gentle pat on his shoulder, he hurried to kneel on the ground as his father had instructed beforehand, feeling something soft beneath his knees—it seemed to be a smooth, plush prayer cushion.
Li Tongya had long been waiting in the stone chamber, staring pensively at the magical mirror atop the stone altar without a word. Once all four children had knelt, he lowered his gaze to glance at Li Qinghong, raised no objection, and spoke with solemn reverence:
"The Li family of Lijing respectfully offers pure libations, fine delicacies, and cold-food sacrificial rites. Here kneel our four scions, reverently requesting the wondrous Xuanming Dharma to govern their destinies and settle their spirits, so they may serve the Dao and cultivate. To receive it is our fortune; to miss it leaves no rancor. We shall record their merit according to the seasons and never betray our pledge. Burned alongside the talisman registers, our lives are dedicated in gratitude to the Taiyin."
With a stir of Lu Jiangxian's divine sense, a colorless, invisible ripple swept across the room. Atop each child's head, nearly transparent rays of white light sprouted.
On the far left was the eldest brother, Li Yuanxiu. Endowed with a spirit aperture, his innate talent was quite respectable. Though he could not rival the previous generation's Li Xuanfeng, he was still better than Li Xuanxuan, and the white ray atop his head measured six inches.
This white ray signified a person's affinity with the Xuanzhu talisman seed. Someone without a spirit aperture whose white ray reached one foot could cultivate just like one possessing a spirit aperture upon swallowing the talisman seed. If they already had a spirit aperture, it could double their cultivation speed. Li Yuanxiu's six-inch ray meant that swallowing the talisman seed would increase his cultivation speed by sixty percent.
In the middle were Li Yuanjiao and Li Yuanyun, one clad in black robes and the other in white. Li Yuanjiao possessed a spirit aperture, and his aptitude appeared even better than Li Yuanxiu's, with a white ray reaching seven inches—exceedingly fine indeed.
Li Yuanyun had no spirit aperture, though his white ray was also seven inches. Lu Jiangxian sighed inwardly and ruled him out.
It was the last child, Li Qinghong, who made Lu Jiangxian's eyes light up. This girl possessed a spirit aperture, and her innate talent was almost identical to Li Yuanxiu's, but the white ray above her head measured a full nine inches! It gleamed brilliantly, resembling a faint pillar of light.
"Li Yuanxiu was originally a decent choice, but judging from the scene dozens of years in the future that the Great Derivation Heavenly Mystery Talisman deduced for Liu Changdie, there was no trace of Li Yuanxiu in the Li family at all... Investments carry risks, so caution is warranted..."
Pondering for a moment, Lu Jiangxian felt like an old farmer sowing seeds at the onset of spring, deliberating which seed would yield the greatest harvest in the coming year. The mirror body levitated above the stone altar, emanating a faint white radiance.
"Though Li Tongya wished to bestow only a single talisman seed upon the Yuan generation for fear that there would be none left in years to come, he doesn't know that I still keep three talisman seeds hidden within the mirror. This matter is not up to him—I want both Li Yuanjiao and Li Qinghong!"
The twelve seal script characters upon the magical mirror lit up one by one, making the eyelids of Li Tongya and Li Xuanxuan twitch. They half-expected a surge of boiling, white moon essence to burst from the mirror's surface. Lu Jiangxian gathered his mana and spat forth two Xuanzhu talisman seeds.
"Here stand descendants of the Li family, who cast off desires, halt transgressions, and sever the roots of evil. We bestow the wondrous Xuanming Dharma to bring forth their Dao cultivation, to pass from mortal to transcendent, from inception to fulfillment, beginning first with precept registers and proceeding then to true ascension. We bestow one scroll of the Taiyin Breathing and Wheel Nourishing Scripture, and one path of the Tracing Art."
Two white spheres leapt from the water-like mirror face, round and radiant, flashing with white light that bathed the entire chamber in pure ivory. The children, their senses sealed, perceived nothing, but Li Tongya was left briefly stunned.
One after another, the two Xuanzhu talisman seeds descended upon the Shengyang Mansions between Li Yuanjiao's and Li Qinghong's brows. Because neither of them had practiced the Reception Method, the seeds did not travel down the meridians to settle into the sea of qi acupoint; instead, they nestled quietly within the Shengyang Mansion, concealed until the children circulated the Reception Method to merge them into their sea of qi.
Li Yuanjiao only felt a cool touch between his brows, as if something were reflecting inward. Li Qinghong also furrowed her brow slightly. A radiant lunar mark appeared between each of their brows, flickering several times before fading into nothingness.
Li Xuanxuan was likewise dumbfounded. He had never imagined the magical mirror would bypass Li Yuanxiu to choose Li Yuanjiao and Li Qinghong instead. Turning to look at Li Tongya, he whispered:
"This...!"
"Take the children out first."
Li Tongya shook his head and had Li Xuanling lead Li Yuanxiu and the other three away. Only then did Li Xuanxuan speak anxiously:
"This... how do we handle this... Li Yuanxiu is the eldest brother and possesses a spirit aperture. The family will ultimately have to be handed over to him! How... how can we keep this from him?"
"There is no need to hide it... Yuanxiu is generous and gentle; he won't harbor jealousy toward his younger brother and sister."
Li Tongya stepped out of the stone chamber alongside Li Xuanxuan, yet a shadow of worry remained on his face. He said in a deep voice:
"It is not Yuanxiu I am concerned about."
"Yuanxiu possesses a generous heart, but our future descendants may not all take after him. There are only one or two talisman seeds for each generation... Those who receive one will inevitably grow proud. In worldly affairs, people have never worried about scarcity, but about inequality. In the long run, if you and I fail to keep order in the house, unrest will surely erupt."
Li Xuanxuan fell silent as well. The two men stood on the mountain ridge for a while as cold northern winds buffeted their faces. Li Tongya murmured:
"From now on, whenever a child of our direct lineage in the main branch awakens a spirit aperture or receives a talisman seed, let them be informed of the magical mirror... And have them swear the Xuanjing Spiritual Oath together to prevent any leak of the secret."
"Each additional person who knows means an added risk of exposure... And Uncle knows as well that the Xuanjing Spiritual Oath is not entirely without loopholes."
Li Xuanxuan replied respectfully. Li Tongya shook his head and said:
"We can only take things one step at a time. At the very least, we must ensure no hidden seeds of division are left for the next generation. Systems must be refined from generation to generation; there is no method that, once established, remains trouble-free for ten thousand ages."
***
Lixia Commandery.
The men of the Tangjin Sect had long since withdrawn. The blood and corpses in the commandery city had already been gnawed clean, leaving behind only sparse traces of hearth smoke and white, withered bones strewn across the ground.
The hollow city wailed in the wind, as though weeping silently. The corpses throughout the city had rotted, decayed, and been devoured clean by wild beasts. Not a single traveler had walked Lixia Road for over a year, and wild weeds were gradually creeping over the thoroughfare.
Above Lixia Commandery, the sky was cloudless for ten thousand li. A figure flew in from the south like a shooting star.
Five or six medicine pouches hung at the man's waist, and a longsword was strapped to his back. His face was weathered with age and hardship, bearing a faint blade scar on his left cheek. Looking down at the hollow city beneath him, he let out a sorrowful sigh and murmured softly:
"Twenty years. The Qingchi Sect is finally willing to let me return... It seems Clan Uncle has also weathered the sect's probes."
"The enterprise of our Xiao family has finally reached the hour to rise."
Crossing the deserted city, Guanyun Peak loomed before his eyes. He felt a mixture of joy and sorrow—joy that he had escaped the Qingchi Sect's clutches and returned to his familiar home, but sorrow that he still had to deliver the belongings left behind by his junior brother. He shook his head and murmured:
"Now, how am I to face Jing'er's family...?"
Chapter 158