Sleet and snow drifted across Hanyun Peak, settling upon the youth's white robes. His bright eyes gazed steadily at the intricately patterned Cloud-Gathering Southern Sky Array.
The Fei brothers did not keep Li Tongya waiting long. In a mere dozen breaths, the gleaming white light of the Cloud-Gathering Southern Sky Array swiftly faded, and a figure emerged from within to receive him.
The man had gentle features and a cultivation at the sixth level of Qi Refinement. Bearing some resemblance to Fei Wangbai, he rode the wind forward, bowed respectfully in a grand salute, and lowered his eyes, saying:
"Junior Fei Wangjiang greets Senior! Senior's sword struck down Yu Xiaogui and saved our entire clan. We shall never forget your great benevolence as long as we live..."
Hearing this, Li Tongya waved his hand and replied, "Fellow Daoist Wangbai and I shared a deep friendship, and our two families have long watched over and aided one another. Doing this was only right."
Fei Wangjiang was already middle-aged in appearance, yet facing Li Tongya's youthful visage of sixteen or seventeen, he dared not show the slightest carelessness. He respectfully ushered him down, and the two descended lightly onto the mountain peak.
The summit of Hanyun Peak was already packed with members of the Fei clan, ranging from centenarian cultivators to young children who had only just attained Embryonic Breathing. Weeping and shedding tears, they all knelt together and called out in unison:
"We reverently welcome the Ancestor..."
Li Tongya stepped aside to avoid receiving the full salute, walking forward with his sword held in his arms. Two young men came up to greet him. The one at the front was twenty-five or twenty-six, with a face handsome as polished jade and an uneasy, anxious demeanor. Dressed in grey robes, he bowed low:
"Junior cultivator Fei Tongyu greets the Ancestor!"
Li Tongya swept his gaze over the haggard faces of the Fei clan. Years ago, they had been an immortal clan of the snowy peaks, draped in light and graceful white robes. Now, however, every one of them was steeped in grief, looking utterly bereft of hope.
"Rise."
Only then did he notice that the Fei clan, who had always favored white garments, had all hastily switched into grey robes. The clothes on several children were clumsily wrapped, clearly thrown on in a rush—undoubtedly out of fear of clashing with his own white attire.
"On my way up... why did I not see Fellow Daoist Wangbai...?"
Li Tongya parted his lips, feeling a faint pang in his heart as he asked, feigning ignorance.
"Ancestor... he has passed!"
The moment Li Tongya mentioned Fei Wangbai, the Fei clan members broke into mournful sobs. Fearing they would disturb him, Fei Tongyu hurriedly led Li Tongya into the courtyard.
The white-robed youth stood cradling his sword, listening quietly as Fei Tongyu recounted in detail the circumstances surrounding Fei Wangbai's death. Only then did Li Tongya offer a respectful bow, step forward to the pitch-black coffin, and give it a gentle push.
*Creak...*
Soft light spilled across Fei Wangbai's dignified, noble face. Fei Tongyu had arranged his garments neatly, and his expression looked just as it had in life. Li Tongya lifted aside the white cloth and stared at the gruesome wound.
"What dao complements exist for 'Byway Brocade'?"
Li Tongya asked in a gentle voice. Fei Tongyu hesitated. The dao complements of their clan's immortal foundation were supposed to be an ancestral secret, but Li Tongya had just saved the Fei family, and the lives of the entire clan were in his hands. He could only speak:
"The clan records mention 'Jade Court General,' 'Azure Jade Cliff,' and 'Dao Conforming Truth'... As for the rest... I truly do not know."
"'Jade Court General'..."
Li Tongya came to a sudden realization. The immortal foundations of the several families around the lake indeed shared the same root nature. No wonder Yu Yufeng had been murdered before, and within a few years, Fei Wangbai had died as well...
Fei Wangbai's meaningful gaze at the Yu family's lake gathering years ago was still fresh in his memory, yet now the man had become an icy corpse. A chill crept into Li Tongya's heart, and he mused:
*'Vast Sea' from the River Unity Qi Formula and 'Jade Court General' from the White-Headed Inquiring Scripture must be practiced sparingly, and even if mastered, one must never use them to achieve Foundation Establishment...*
*Xiao Chuting is on good terms with our family, and when the Lengyu Sect fell, a vast number of cultivation methods circulated outward, so there are quite a few who cultivate 'Vast Sea,' which makes it somewhat safer. But this 'Jade Court General' must never, ever be cultivated!*
Over here, seeing him remain silent, Fei Tongyu assumed he had discerned something. With tears in his eyes, he stepped forward and said, "Our family has operated on the northern shore for many years and dealt with the Three Sects and Seven Gates as well as several powers in the State of Xu, yet we still cannot fathom where this person came from!
"There are no major sword sects in the State of Yue either! It could only be sword cultivators of the Three Sects and Seven Gates... Yet Changxiao Gate is magnificent and grand, Tangjin Gate is peerlessly sharp, and Ziyan Gate moves like a rainbow; not a single one matches..."
Fei Tongyu was perturbed and uneasy, gazing hopefully at Li Tongya. The hatred in his heart surged like a river with nowhere to settle; he only wished to obtain a definitive answer from him.
He and his younger brother had secretly discussed it in private as well. After filtering through candidates time and again, they had even cast their suspicions toward Li Chijing in Nanjiang, but hearing that Li Chijing's sword was like moonlight, winding and graceful as the wind, it still did not match.
"Could it be that our ancestor... inadvertently offended some rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator...?"
Listening to Fei Tongyu finish through his tears, Li Tongya gently raised his hand, brushing across the wound at Fei Wangbai's neck, and pinched out a pale white sword ray as if catching a swimming fish.
This sword ray possessed an innate spirituality, darting and thrashing inside his grasp, constantly striking his palm, yet unable to break free. Li Tongya pressed his two fingers together, taking a full two breaths to grind it away.
"This person's sword dao is even above mine."
Li Tongya slowly closed his eyes as the figures from the Three Sects and Seven Gates he had seen years ago at Xiao Chuting's dharma conference surfaced in his mind one after another. He murmured:
"Ethereal and transcendent, yet endlessly self-renewing."
He suddenly stopped. Only after a long while did he exhale a deep breath, turning back to look at Fei Tongyu, and said gently:
"This person was confident your family would never recognize him, which is why he killed only Fellow Daoist Wangbai."
Though Fei Tongyu was somewhat weak-willed, he was by no means a fool. Hearing Li Tongya say this, his heart instantly turned hollow, and he rasped:
"This junior cultivator understands."
As the two spoke, with the sword qi no longer obstructing them, Fei Wangbai's corpse and severed head inside the coffin slowly rejoined on their own, and his dull, lifeless eyes slowly opened.
Neither Li Tongya nor Fei Tongyu found this strange. The body of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was nurtured by their immortal foundation and far from ordinary, rivaling standard spiritual materials; if exposed to dark, yin places for too long, it could even foster anomalies.
"How does your noble clan intend to handle Fellow Daoist Wangbai's remains?"
Li Tongya asked softly, whereupon Fei Tongyu respectfully raised his head and replied:
"Our family has always practiced 'Byway Brocade.' Three of our ancestors attained Foundation Establishment in the past, so there is already precedent.
"In the first three years, 'Byway Brocade' causes a cultivator's teeth, hair, and nails to fall out one by one, turning into jade stone, while the eyes turn into cinnabar. In the next three years, the flesh and skin all turn into gauze and brocade, and the internal organs turn into gold and silver. In another three years, whatever remains turns into quicksilver, leaving nothing else behind."
Li Tongya nodded slightly, a contemplative expression on his handsome face. Having cultivated for many years, he had also heard rumors of such transformations after Foundation Establishment. Fei Tongyu said respectfully:
"Afterward, according to tradition, everything will be collected together in a jade box to receive offerings from the clan."
"It is good that you have an established custom."
Li Tongya nodded. Fei Wangbai had been a friend of his, after all, and the Fei family was currently in dire straits; there was no telling if someone might use his remains for some sordid deed. Now, hearing Fei Tongyu explain it clearly, his mind was put at ease.
He then closed the coffin, stepped down a couple of paces, bowed low once more, and said softly:
"All of you, come in."
At his voice, the courtyard gate swung open on its own with a creak. Fei Wangjiang and Fei Tongxiao stepped inside together and bowed respectfully.
*Here it comes!*
Fei Tongyu's heart thumped wildly. He waited uneasily for Li Tongya to speak, clutching and releasing the talisman inside his sleeve. Even knowing that against Li Tongya it was nothing more than a joke, a profound sorrow welled up inside him.
*If the Fei family is to perish today, blood must be spilled right here on the spot. The family fell in my hands... my only choice is to take my own life to apologize to the clan... Brother Xiao's talent is far better than mine. With him to shelter the family hereafter, lying low for a hundred years... perhaps there will come a day to rise again.*
Chapter 319