Chuting

"Xiao Guiluan." Clad in a black robe, Li Yuanjiao strolled along the moonlit flagstone path, his heart churning with indescribable feelings. His wedding was drawing near, yet he had not even seen his bride's face once. Filled with both anticipation and unease, he kept his lips pressed together in silence. After walking for a while, the small courtyard appeared before him. He gently removed his jade crown, allowing his jet-black hair to scatter and dance in the wind. Li Yuanjiao's hair was identical to his mother Mu Yalu's, lustrous and supple. Leaving his hair loosely draped over his shoulders, he stepped forward and tapped softly on the wooden door. "Mother." The clatter of brisk footsteps approached at once, and with a creak, the courtyard's wooden gate swung open. A maidservant ushered him in. Mu Yalu stood in the courtyard with a warm smile, her voice gentle: "Jiao'er." Entering the courtyard, Li Yuanjiao sat down softly, took the tea bowl offered by the maid, dismissed the attendants, and asked in a low voice: "Did Mother... give you any trouble?" "Mother" naturally referred to the primary wife, Lady Dou. Although Li Yuanjiao shared deep affection with Li Yuanxiu, he worried that Lady Dou might take her grief and resentment over losing her son out on Mu Yalu. "She hasn't." Mu Yalu shook her head, a glimmer of pity flashing in her eyes as she murmured, "She knows about your adoption. Though she lost Yuanxiu, she still has Yuanping to look after, so she has treated me quite well... She is exceptionally sharp. Knowing that Yuanping may well have to rely on you in the future, she naturally treats me with kindness." "That is good, then." Li Yuanjiao nodded slightly, continuing, "The family has arranged a match for me with a woman named Xiao Guiluan... She is a concubine-born daughter of an aristocratic immortal clan's direct line, possesses a spirit aperture, and is said to be at the fourth layer of Embryonic Breathing as well." "What? An aristocratic immortal clan?" Those words spun through Mu Yalu's mind, instantly throwing her into a flutter. Only after a long pause did she mutter, "Could... could this immortal clan woman be haughty and domineering? As her mother-in-law, how am I even supposed to face her..." "I do not know either." Seeing her reaction, Li Yuanjiao could not help chuckling and teasing her with a few lighthearted remarks. Yet after calming down for a few breaths, Mu Yalu's expression suddenly turned solemn and anxious. "Jiao'er... are you truly not going to be the family head?! The situation is no longer what it was before; you must think this through carefully... You are already the foremost of the Yuan-Qing generation. Yuanping was born with deficiencies and can never compare to you. On top of that, you are marrying a woman from an immortal clan. If you do not take the seat of family head, what will others think?" Li Yuanjiao shook his head and said quietly, "I have no heart for such things. It is better to leave it to Yuanping." "As for what others think—" Li Yuanjiao laughed, slapped the sword at his waist onto the table, and said in an undertone, "Once I break through to Qi Refinement, I will find a place of my own to cultivate. If I rarely come down the mountain, there will be few troubles." "And as for Yuanping managing the household..." Li Yuanjiao smiled, shook his head, and gestured for Mu Yalu to lean closer before whispering, "Mother, do not forget my concubine-born brothers. Every one of them oversees a town now. What they dread most is me taking charge of the family, yet they also dread the position falling to another branch. Having Yuanping in charge suits them best. With their backing, who could possibly stir up trouble?" Mu Yalu nodded, secretly sighing. She held back countless words, not knowing where to begin. She was hardly worried that Li Yuanping could not manage the household—with Li Xuanxuan and Li Yuanjiao around, even if Li Yuanping were a simpleton who could only say yes, he could sit securely in that seat. She mused to herself: *The greatest danger is actually my own child. The brothers are on good terms now, so naturally there is no issue, but who can guarantee that future generations will remain filial and brotherly for all time? With one branch overwhelmingly powerful while the other three are frail, coupled with such a formidable maternal family, it is truly perilous.* Mulling it over and feeling deeply unsettled, Mu Yalu spoke softly, "Jiao'er... Yuanping will naturally have no problems, but Xiao Guiluan comes from a profound background, and you are the leader of the Yuan-Qing generation. With three branches frail and ours alone overwhelmingly strong, yet another branch occupying the position of family head, what if our descendants harbor ambitions..." "Mother!" Li Yuanjiao abruptly cut her off, as if knowing what she was about to say, and smiled. "Our family breeds no such craven wretches." *** Xiao Chuting stood quietly in the freezing north wind high in the sky, gazing toward the Qingchi Sect in silence. The divine abilities of Purple Palace cultivators clashed midair, radiating waves of colorful light. He exhaled softly, the divine ability within his body stirring with anticipation. "More than three hundred years..." He looked into the distance. Qingchi Peak flickered in and out of view amidst the clouds, wrapped in the bleak desolation of autumn. From time to time, streamers of magical power circled back across the sky, while mortal peddlers hawked their wares in the streets below. Across the five commanderies, countless commoners and clan scions—three hundred years of the people's blood, sweat, and flesh—had been channeled into the Qingchi Sect year after year, all to foster the cultivation of others. When Xiao Chuting was twelve years old, he had stood in this very spot beside his second uncle, Xiao Xianyou. Xiao Xianyou had explained in detail how the Qingchi Demonic Sect used all manner of bloody means to leech upon everyone from commoners to rogue cultivators and clans, remarking with a laugh: "I have heard that the Shanyue have an immortal foundation called 'Drinking the People's Blood.' What a truly fitting name! If that divine ability were ever forged into a gold nature, escaped the hands of those two, and witnessed the sight of this realm, it would surely laugh its head off and feel thoroughly outdone!" Young Xiao Chuting had listened in half-comprehension and asked, "I once heard there was a battle between immortals and demons in this world, fought at Pingming Ford, where many exalted immortals fell. Could it be that this great war broke the order of heaven and earth..." Xiao Xianyou had fallen silent. Taking a sip of wine from his gourd, he said dejectedly, "Things have always been this way." Filled with indignation, Xiao Chuting had said in a low voice, "Why must it be so? If I were to lead the family, I would support rogue cultivators on the outside and unite the clan on the inside, ensuring that disciples till the fields themselves and cultivators love the people, overthrowing Qingchi to bring forth a brand-new sky!" Xiao Xianyou had merely smiled without answering. Xiao Chuting had felt embarrassed at his own boastful outburst. Later, Xiao Xianyou died, Xiao Chuchou left in anger, and the fortunes of the Xiao family plummeted. When it was finally Xiao Chuting's turn to lead the family, he realized at last that the Xiao family also lived by drinking the people's blood—only less cruelly, less brazenly. If Xiao Chuting wished to change all of this, he would have to slaughter his uncles and brothers, eliminate his aunts and sisters, and watch the Xiao family collapse before his eyes—only for new clans to sprout from this soil, drinking blood with even greater cruelty and brazenness. The mountains and rivers of Lixia Commandery rose and fell before his eyes. That bloody disaster seemed to have passed; commoners bustled through empty alleys, while various wolves and jackals roamed outside the city walls, waiting with glowing green eyes. That catastrophe had fed them well, leaving them with an enduring craving for human flesh. Colorful light from his divine ability gradually rose from Xiao Chuting, swirling across the sky like ripples spreading across a lake after a stone had been tossed in. His voice reverberated through the air, carried in every direction by the divine ability: "Xiao Chuting of the Lixia Xiao family has attained the Purple Palace today! In accordance with custom, the Xiao family severs its ties with the Qingchi Sect and establishes itself as a Purple Palace immortal clan! In three months' time, we shall institute rites and conduct sacrifices—all fellow daoists are welcome to attend!" *** Watching Li Qiuyang step forward and receive it with both hands, Li Tongya instructed: "Your breakthrough failed, leaving your body worn and exhausted. This talisman water was condensed from my immortal foundation and cannot be kept for long. Take it twice every three days and carefully regulate your breathing; perhaps it can salvage some of your progress." "Thank you, Clan Uncle!" Deeply moved, Li Qiuyang accepted that...