Meeting an Old Friend

Nearly half a month had passed since the uproar stirred up by the Li family. The autumn chill upon the lake grew ever deeper, the waters turning darker and more fathomless. Along the shores spread a mantle of crimson and gold, and the air gradually took on a crisp chill. Having reaped their gains, the Fei family holed up on the northern shore in stony silence. Jiang Heqian, dreading that Yu Xiaogui and Yu Yufeng might nurse a grudge and lie in ambush to take revenge, no longer showed himself on the eastern shore. In their corner, the Yu family quietly licked their wounds. For a time, all was remarkably tranquil; save for the silent ruins of the collapsed Yu family market, an atmosphere of peace prevailed. "How are things?" Seated at the very head of the hall, Yu Mugao looked utterly worn out, his complexion gloomy, yet his voice carried a faint trace of lightness. He propped his forehead with one hand while the other gently tapped the shaft of a brush against the desk. An envelope, unsealed not long ago, lay before him. He directed his question to the man standing below. "Elder Xiao'ou is indeed dead. In the name of colluding with the enemy, we have stripped the numerous properties under those men's names, and there were no objections raised," the man below answered. A fleeting flicker of reluctance passed over Yu Mugao's face. Yu Xiao'ou had watched him grow up as well. Yu Mugao had originally intended for more of those useless fools to perish on Mount Lijing, never expecting that when the Fei family breached the Yuting Defense Formation, Yu Xiao'ou would be lost as well. The Yu family had lost far too many direct-line descendants and cultivators in the market, throwing both their domains and clan into great turmoil. Taking advantage of the demise of Yu Xiao'ou—who had been a leading figure among the old clan elders—Yu Mugao had taken drastic measures against a host of his uncles and cousins, purging them thoroughly. Rid of these parasites, the Yu family as a whole surprisingly radiated an unprecedented vitality. "Just as well. I no longer have to persuade Father to give up the market." Losing the market brought Yu Mugao a sense of relief instead. The characters "Qingchi" on the letter in his hand were striking. Yu Mugao thought to himself: *The Ancestor will likely never return... Father is in secluded cultivation again, so the clan has finally fallen into my hands. Rid of that flock of fools, it is far more comfortable.* Aside from flowing into the hands of those uncles and cousins, the Yu family's resources had also gone toward paying tribute and supporting Yu Yufeng. With two drains suddenly gone, Yu Mugao found himself with ample breathing room. Yu Yufeng was very likely unable to keep his life, yet Yu Mugao felt little grief, only lamenting: "Had those people been purged forty years earlier, and had Father and the Ancestor not recklessly meddled with blood sacrifices and lake meets but obeyed my command instead, how would we ever have suffered such a grievous blow!" Looking upon the young cultivators he had promoted below, Yu Mugao was filled with confidence instead. The Yu family of old had been powerful, yet authority had been fractured across multiple factions, and the family had been bled dry by Yu Yufeng, with Yu Mugao forced to bow his head and obey. Now, though the Yu family was far weaker than before, it was a Yu family that belonged to him alone. "Once I spend two years consolidating... so long as Muxian remains on Yuanwu Peak, I can gladly play around with Li Xuanxuan and Fei Yihe..." Yu Mugao slowly lowered the letter in his hand, his eyes fixed on the words written within as he lightly traced them with a vermilion brush. The autumn sunlight was warm and pleasant, casting golden rays upon the paper and making the red ink gleam like blood. "Decades have passed without his return, nor has there been any word... Master once said that the demon king of Nanjiang loves to feast on moon essence; I fear he may have already met with misfortune." "Senior Brother will be heading to the lake... I am about to enter secluded cultivation; Foundation Establishment is in sight." ──── "Brother Xuanfeng! I hear a senior of your clan has newly attained Foundation Establishment. Congratulations indeed!" Liu Changdie drifted leisurely on the wind. Before him, the glittering golden longbow, Jin Geng, strapped across Li Xuanfeng's back made his eyes sparkle. Even as words of congratulation fell from his lips, he thought to himself: *This bow must be Jin Geng! In my past life, when I reinforced formations for Qingchi Sect and the monsters attacked, I only ever saw that golden beam of light, never the bow itself. Today I've truly had an eyeful!* Li Xuanfeng chuckled and replied, "Brother Changdie is well-informed as always. You're far too kind." Liu Changdie looked at Li Xuanfeng's aura and found he had already reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement. With both admiration and sighing envy, he offered further congratulations: "Brother Xuanfeng is not yet thirty-five, right? At Qi Refinement layer seven, you might be able to attempt a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment when you're forty or fifty!" Li Xuanfeng smiled without speaking, arching a sharp brow before replying, "Brother Changdie isn't far behind either. You're already at Qi Refinement layer six; Foundation Establishment is well within your grasp." The two exchanged pleasantries as Mount Huaqian appeared beneath their feet. Li Xuanfeng led him into the courtyard, where a youth dressed in black came forward to greet them with light steps, cupping his hands in salute: "Greetings, Senior!" The newcomer wore black robes, with sharp, well-defined features and slightly narrow eyes that naturally carried a ferocious edge. It was none other than Li Yuanjiao. How could Liu Changdie fail to recognize him? With an odd expression, he swallowed down the "Brother Jiao" that had nearly escaped his lips, just as Li Xuanfeng introduced: "This is the son of my eldest brother, Li Xuanxuan, named Li Yuanjiao. He is currently cultivating here on Mount Huaqian!" Seeing the youth before him, Liu Changdie felt a mix of awkwardness and the joy of meeting an old friend. He quickly forced a smile and said: "You must never call me Senior! Seeing how remarkable Yuanjiao's bearing is, I admire him greatly. Let us address each other as peers... yes, as peers..." Li Xuanfeng's expression turned slightly peculiar. He and Liu Changdie treated each other as brothers, yet Liu Changdie wanted to be on equal footing with Li Yuanjiao—wouldn't that throw generational seniority into chaos? For a moment, he fell silent. Li Yuanjiao, having only just arrived at Mount Huaqian, was all the more baffled and repeatedly insisted he could not accept such an honor. Seeing he could not push the matter openly, Liu Changdie could only relent: "With Brother Xuanfeng here, let us leave it at that, but privately, Brother Yuanjiao and I shall address each other as equals." Li Xuanfeng could only nod, sending a voice transmission with his magic power to Li Yuanjiao: *Liu Changdie has a good nature and superb skill in formations, but he has quite a few eccentricities. As long as it causes no harm, just humor him...* They all sat down together, and servants served tea. Not wasting words on idle chatter, Li Xuanfeng got straight to the point: "Fellow Daoist Changdie, if we wish to lay a formation upon Mount Huaqian, given the earth veins and spiritual energy here, what sort of power could such a formation achieve? And how many spirit stones would it cost?" Liu Changdie nodded and replied: "A few years ago, when I set up the Sun Dial Profound Light Formation on Mount Lijing, I made some observations. Mount Huaqian's earth veins are missing several corners, and the mountain itself is low and squat. Only Wan Huaqian back then managed to set up a formation capable of fending off peak Qi Refinement." He gave a wry smile and continued: "I used to think I could rival Wan Huaqian, but looking closely at Mount Huaqian, I only now realize her mastery of formations was still above mine. If I were to set it up, it would likely only have the power to resist the late Qi Refinement stage. Before a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I'm afraid it wouldn't even hold out for the time it takes an incense stick to burn..." Li Xuanfeng calculated the distance between Mount Lijing and Mount Huaqian in his mind; the time it took an incense stick to burn would be more than enough. He answered: "The time of an incense stick is sufficient. May I ask... how many spirit stones will it require?" Seeing Li Xuanfeng agree, Liu Changdie nodded and said: "If your clan lacks spare formation flags, we can only use a formation disc to lay it. With Wan Huaqian's stellar example before me, I can simply pattern it after her Huaqian Earth Lock. It will take about fifty or sixty spirit stones." Li Xuanfeng was no longer the inexperienced youth of his past; he naturally knew this price was unimaginably cheap. Furrowing his brows, he asked: "If it's only fifty or sixty spirit stones, how could there be any profit left for Brother Changdie?!"