"Lijing Village: two hundred twenty-nine households. Lichuankou: one hundred and one households. Jingyang Village: two hundred ninety-seven households. Lidaokou: one hundred fifty-eight households. Totaling seven hundred eighty-five households, four thousand two hundred eighty people."
Li Tongya and the others sat upright in the main courtyard of the Li family residence, while Li Yesheng stood below them in the yard, reading aloud the charcoal characters written upon the cloth scroll.
"Four thousand two hundred eighty people. With three able-bodied men per household, we should be able to scrape together at least one or two possessing spirit apertures," Li Xiangping murmured in a low voice, leaning against the wooden table.
"The elders of the Ye clan came to visit me last night... hoping to restore their ancestral surname," Li Yesheng said with a wry smile, looking up at the men seated above.
"Ancestral surname?" Li Tongya looked up, puzzled.
Seeing the bewildered expressions on the two brothers' faces, Li Mutian coughed and offered an explanation.
"The ancestors of the Ye clan were originally a branch of our Li family. Later, however, they committed an offense, and the entire branch was expelled from the family and forced to take the surname Ye.
"Originally, neither side ever spoke of the matter. But now that our Li family has obtained immortal fate, the Ye clan naturally came yearning to curry favor and reclaim their ancestral surname."
Li Yesheng nodded at his words. He had only learned of this old secret the night before from the elder's tearful lament. That Ye elder had wept profusely, tears and snot streaming down his face; had he not come groveling right after the Li family found immortal fate, Li Yesheng might genuinely have believed the man was loyal to the main branch.
"If any branch of the Ye family produces someone with a spirit aperture, that branch will be permitted to take back the Li surname and become a branch of our Li family," Li Xiangping replied at once to Li Yesheng after hearing Li Mutian's explanation, instructing him to answer the elder with those terms. He then turned to Li Mutian and asked, "Father, as for the overseers of the villages..."
"Chen Erniu is shrewd and capable, and he came here as a refugee from Lichuankou, so send him there. Jingyang Village is the most populous and prosperous, so we must send someone close to us—have your Uncle Ren go look after it."
Li Mutian took a gentle sip of tea and continued, "Lidaokou is right next to Guli Road. Many displaced refugees pass through, making the situation the most complicated. That Xu Wenshan is sly and cunning; let him take his band of refugee brothers there."
"Father has thought of everything," Li Xiangping said with a nod, holding and examining the scroll on the cultivation of spiritual plants. "The top priority is still to use the Spirit Seeking Art in this scroll to inspect the earth veins across the villages, locate the spiritual fields, and plant the spirit rice and Baiyuan fruit as soon as possible."
***
Standing upon the flying shuttle, Li Chijing watched the vast earth, the ant-like houses, and the magnificent cities all recede into the distance below. His homesickness was instantly cast aside, and his heart surged with excitement.
*A true man should ride the wind to pluck the moon and roam the world with sword in hand!*
After flying for roughly four hours, a towering mountain range rose before Li Chijing's eyes. Pavilions, terraces, and towers stretched endlessly through the mountains, presenting the grand spectacle of an immortal abode.
Flocks of immortal cranes and white birds wove through the peaks. In front of him, Si Yuanbai ceased his meditation, flicked a medallion forward through the air, and waited quietly.
"Ah, it turns out Martial Uncle Yuanbai has returned."
A white crane alighted slowly before Li Chijing, holding the medallion in its beak, and spoke curiously, "Who is this lad?"
It was the first time Li Chijing had ever seen a talking immortal beast, and he was too nervous to speak. Si Yuanbai smiled faintly.
"A newly accepted disciple of my Qingsui Peak."
"Congratulations, Martial Uncle," the immortal crane said. With a gentle flap of its wings, a transparent barrier of light slowly parted to open a gap before the two.
Only then did Li Chijing realize that a nearly invisible dome spanned heaven and earth, firmly encasing the mountain gate of the Qingchi Sect and sealing off the spiritual energy within from the world outside.
Stepping through the mountain gate of the Qingchi Sect, Li Chijing immediately felt a wave of refreshing comfort wash through his whole body.
*What an incredible concentration of spiritual energy.*
Seeing Li Chijing's astonishment, Si Yuanbai chuckled softly. "This is the Qingchi Sect's Tianyuan Unified Spirit Array. Incomparably wondrous, it seals off the interior from the outside, allowing the spiritual veins of Mount Qingchi to be enjoyed exclusively by our sect. With the power of this array, so long as a Foundation Establishment cultivator oversees it, even Purple Palace cultivators would find it difficult to breach."
"How truly wondrous," Li Chijing echoed, though in his heart he secretly thought, *I wonder if this array can be learned, so I could set one up on the hill behind my home too.*
Seeing Li Chijing dazed in thought, Si Yuanbai assumed he was awestruck and continued, "The hundred arts of immortal cultivation: arrays, pills, magical artifacts, talismans, beast taming, vein prospecting, and the like. Their subtleties are endless, and it is best to choose one to cultivate."
"Master, which of the hundred arts of cultivation do you practice?" Li Chijing asked curiously.
"Among Qingchi's thirty-six peaks, Qingsui Peak has always been famed for its swordsmanship..." Si Yuanbai lifted his head proudly and answered.
"Oh, I see." Li Chijing nodded in sudden realization, looking toward the precious sword at Si Yuanbai's waist.
"So... your master cultivates the Dao of Talismans."
Looking at the stupefied Li Chijing, Si Yuanbai continued somewhat awkwardly, "Your grandmaster died early, and your master never got to start on the path of sword immortals. Yet Qingsui Peak needed subsidies for its household expenses at every turn, so I had no choice but to learn some talisman crafting first. Who would have thought that the more I learned talismans, the more proficient I became..."
"Oh, oh." Li Chijing nodded repeatedly to show he understood.
"First, I shall take you to meet a few of your senior brothers and sisters."
Si Yuanbai guided Li Chijing through the peaks, winding about until they found the modest, low-lying Qingsui Peak. As they touched down upon the peak's summit, a man and a woman approached them.
"You rank seventh among disciples under my tutelage. This is your Third Senior Brother, named Xiao Yuansi, at the seventh level of Qi Refinement. That is your Fourth Senior Sister, named Yuan Tuan, at the third level of Qi Refinement."
Li Chijing bowed respectfully to the pair. Xiao Yuansi, with thick brows and large eyes, appeared dashing and generous. He offered a jade slip and said, "This is a sword manual I acquired by chance while abroad. Consider it a greeting gift for Junior Brother."
Yuan Tuan also smiled faintly and offered a jade pendant, saying, "This jade pendant can soothe the spirit, steady one's thoughts, and aid in entering meditation. It is an excellent tool for the Embryonic Breathing realm, and I present it to Junior Brother as well."
Li Chijing naturally thanked them one by one, then asked curiously, "Are the other senior brothers and sisters in closed-door cultivation?"
Si Yuanbai smiled faintly and answered, "Your Eldest Senior Brother possessed outstanding talent. Last year, he achieved the great perfection of Qi Refinement. But in his closed-door breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, he failed, and his body perished while his Dao dissipated."
Si Yuanbai's answer clearly caught Li Chijing off guard. Li Chijing let out a soft "Ah," gazing at Si Yuanbai with a conflicted expression.
"As for your other senior brothers and sisters, some died at the hands of demonic beasts, some perished fighting over treasures, and some succumbed to inner demons at bottlenecks. All are buried on this peak. Come with me to pay respects to them."
Seeing the sorrowful look on Li Chijing's face, Si Yuanbai gave a cold laugh and spoke:
"Cultivating immortality is inherently a path of fierce contention! You must fight, and you must fight to win, fight to prevail! If you cannot win, you die—what is there to pity?!
"You, Li Chijing, must fight; if you fail to win, you die! Your Li family must fight; if you fail to win, your clan will be wiped out! My Qingsui Peak must fight; if we fail to win, our heritage will be severed! The world is fundamentally one where the weak are meat for the strong—what is there to conceal?!"
Chapter 22