"This!"
The moment Wang Xun spoke those words, both brothers were stunned, secretly clicking their tongues in astonishment. Wang Xun was, after all, the descendant of a Golden Core immortal; what qualified as a spirit root in his eyes belonged to an entirely different league than anything the Li family possessed.
The Li family's Shejiao tree only ranked between Embryonic Breathing and Qi Refinement, yet Wang Xun offered something of the Foundation Establishment level right off the bat, striking them both into silence. Looking entirely oblivious to their shock, Wang Xun explained:
"This Wanling Flower possesses the power to dispel sorrow and sustain life. When it blooms, its petals resemble red jade. Consuming it regularly settles the mind, purges wayward thoughts, and enhances one's cultivation. Should one reach the threshold between life and death, chewing and swallowing this blossom can preserve the physical vessel and cling to life.
"According to my family's many years of experience, even a so-called Foundation Establishment cultivator can be kept alive for several days. The more one consumes, the less effective it becomes, but with an adequate supply, half a month is easily secured."
Hearing this, Li Yuanjiao was instantly tempted. Gazing at the yellowish-red, almond-sized seed, his mind raced as he thought, *Our Mount Huaqian happens to have a spirit spring. I wonder if it can sustain this spirit root. Eating this flower daily aids cultivation, and using it as gifts or selling it to prominent clans would be a fine path.*
After all, clinging to life for several days merely postponed death for a minor clan like the Li family, seemingly of modest value. Yet for major clans, it was a truly formidable spiritual treasure. Paired with certain pills and talismans, it would suffice to bring home a Foundation Establishment cultivator who was otherwise mortally wounded.
Great clans like the Xiao family possessed countless wondrous pills and panaceas. So long as a single breath remained, whether in preserving one's cultivation or one's life, the odds of survival increased tremendously.
Seeing both men lost in thought, Wang Xun gave a faint smile.
"As for Suiyuan Pills, my Wang clan has them as well, alongside even finer medicines. It is just that such things are useless to me, so I never carry them on my person—save for a few bottles of Suiyuan Pills meant for rewarding subordinates."
With that, he drew a jade bottle from his storage bag and flicked his finger. A pill flew out, glistening snow-white and radiating a pleasant, pure fragrance. Wang Xun smiled warmly and said, "This Suiyuan Pill has full potency and is by no means an inferior product. You two may examine it. However, exchanging only these few pills would likely cause my clan to accuse me of bullying the weak and abusing my authority, which would hardly be proper."
Taking a Suiyuan Pill for the first time increased the chances of reaching Foundation Establishment, and it was also an exceptional medicine for daily cultivation. In truth, the pill itself was not inherently scarce, nor were the ingredients required to brew it particularly exorbitant. It was simply that the recipe and materials were monopolized by the Three Sects and Seven Gates, dispensed solely as rewards to disciples, making them exceedingly rare within the State of Yue.
In Wang Xun's eyes, it was merely an everyday auxiliary pill, hardly worth mentioning, which was why he felt it improper to offer that alone.
Li Yuanping merely looked at it closely, intoxicated by the fragrance filling the room. But when Li Yuanjiao caught sight of the pill, his eyes went wide, gripped by sudden terror as a chill crept up his spine. He blurted out, "This is a Suiyuan Pill?!"
The Li family had seen a Suiyuan Pill before; Li Tongya had taken one in the past, and a record remained within the clan. Li Yuanping was not adept at cultivation and rarely studied such records, so he was unaware, but Li Yuanjiao had read and committed them all to memory.
The Suiyuan Pill obtained by the Li family had been white with curling gray veins across its surface, inducing dizziness with a single whiff. The Suiyuan Pill before him now was luminous, smooth, and refined like a pearl of jade, suffusing the chamber with fragrance—utterly unlike the former.
He was deeply shaken, struck speechless, leaving only one horrifying question echoing in his mind:
*If this is a Suiyuan Pill... what in the world did the Old Ancestor take back then?!*
Wang Xun cast a thoughtful glance at Li Yuanjiao and nudged the small cup on the table.
"The name Suiyuan carries the meaning of fulfilling one's essence and stripping away superficial garnish. Its primary ingredient is the Blue Amber Spirit Herb, combined with twelve supplementary herbs and nurtured with the lower three fires..."
Wang Xun evidently understood pharmacological theory and alchemical techniques, reciting them in a measured tone as he watched Li Yuanjiao's expression. Recovering his senses, Li Yuanjiao felt his back turn cold as he asked in a low voice, "Senior, if a pill possesses curling gray veins, radiates imposing spiritual qi, yet exhibits medicinal effects similar to a Suiyuan Pill, would Senior happen to recognize what kind of pill that is?"
"Gray veins?"
Wang Xun pondered for a breath. His expression turned somewhat cool, and he said in an undertone, "Jiangnan is rife with the technique of different cauldrons, same furnace, fond of using human blood qi as medicine. When mortal beings mingle with spiritual essence, such veins appear—it is likely an elixir brewed from the vital essence of other people! In both yield and quality, this craft far exceeds ordinary alchemy; it is the technique of different cauldrons, same furnace.
"If the veins appear gray, then it even incorporated a certain immortal foundation. Such pills are mostly employed by the direct line of demonic sects. Consuming them causes one's cultivation to surge tremendously with astonishing potency."
Though spoken softly, the words landed like a thunderclap. Li Yuanjiao stumbled back a step in a daze, looking at the youth before him in sheer disbelief. A breath stuck in his throat before he choked out, "Many thanks, Senior! We shall choose that spirit root!"
Though he gave his consent aloud, comprehension finally dawned in his head, resolving most of the questions buried in his heart while chilling him to the bone.
*Granduncle once said that his talent was mediocre, and he had believed reaching Foundation Establishment was a near-certain death, never expecting it to happen as smoothly as water carving a channel. It turns out... it turns out there was something wrong with the pill?!*
*No wonder... no wonder Granduncle broke through to Foundation Establishment so easily back then! No wonder... That's it! To make Granduncle bait for the Maha, he had to succeed in Foundation Establishment. Had he failed and perished, the Maha would surely have sought that destiny elsewhere, and the bait would have been lost...*
Wang Xun continued conversing with Li Yuanping, retrieving a jade box to properly store the heaven-and-earth spirit root before handing it over. He said in a quiet voice, "I shall cultivate right here in this side courtyard for just a few days. The Clan Head is welcome to stay by my side; there is no need to worry that I will flee with the sword..."
Li Yuanjiao listened blankly as the two exchanged polite pleasantries. Before he knew it, he had stepped out of the side courtyard, still lost in a daze as Wang Xun's words echoed endlessly in his mind:
*"Jiangnan is rife with the technique of different cauldrons, same furnace, fond of using blood qi as medicine, which is why veins appear. It is likely an elixir brewed from the vital essence of others..."*
Wang Xun had spoken vaguely, but the look in his eyes and the underlying implication were unmistakable. What vital essence into elixirs? To put it plainly, they were human elixirs! They were made using the blood qi and vital essence harvested through slaughter year after year!
He walked numbly into the main hall. Seeing the look on his elder brother's face, Li Yuanping called out to him repeatedly in deep concern. As though jolted from a dream, Li Yuanjiao hurriedly unhooked the storage bag from his waist.
With a grim gaze and an ugly complexion, Li Yuanjiao patted the storage bag, retrieving several jade bottles that clattered across the table. Paying no heed to the mess, he picked up one bottle and tipped a pill into his palm.
This pill was the Yuya Pill, the most common variety among the Qi Refinement stage. Most of them originated from Yundan Peak of the Qingchi Sect. The Qingchi Sect's pills were of notably superior quality and highly praised by rogue cultivators, making them easily recognizable.
The Yuya Pill was a faint yellow, appearing unremarkable on the surface. Li Yuanjiao swept his spiritual sense across it over and over until he finally discovered faint, curling veins.
The alchemist's craft was exquisite, rendering the veins virtually imperceptible. With no color of their own, they were even harder to spot.
With slightly reddened eyes, Li Yuanjiao hastily dumped out every bottle from his storage bag. After rummaging through them for a while, he finally located the Sheyuan Pill refined for the Li family by Xiao Yuansi the previous year and hurriedly tipped one into his palm.
This pill was light red and a size smaller than the previous one, but its surface was smooth and rounded. Li Yuanjiao inspected it over a dozen times, yet could not find a single vein.
"As expected! As expected! No wonder the Qingchi Sect collects blood qi and grievance qi year after year—most of that blood qi is being used here!"
"The Qingchi Sect releases thousands upon thousands of pills each year to supply the region, with over half the State of Yue serving their clan alone... Just how many of them circulate on the open market?"
Li Yuanjiao slowly closed his eyes. Who among the Li family had never consumed a pill? Only a few children of the Xi-Yue generation, having just embarked upon the path of cultivation, had yet to take any...
Before him, Li Yuanping watched his elder brother's strange behavior with growing anxiety. Li Yuanjiao lowered his voice and murmured, "Brother Ping, all the pills released by the Qingchi Sect are refined using mortal blood qi as medicine... Their techniques are merely so profound that they extract the grievance qi, leaving only pure blood qi and vital essence, turning it into just another medicinal ingredient that nobody can detect...
"The pill Granduncle took back then was not a Suiyuan Pill at all! The Chi family knew Lord Chijing would never consume that pill himself and would leave it for our family. They specifically refined it using someone else's immortal foundation... It might very well have been... the 'Vast Sea'!"
Once Li Yuanjiao explained his reasoning in detail, Li Yuanping stood rooted to the spot, staring at his elder brother without uttering a word for several breaths. He slowly slumped into the seat at the head of the hall, his eyes clouded with utter bewilderment as he muttered:
"We ate them. Everyone ate them. How many cultivators in the State of Yue have never taken pills?..
"For five full centuries under the Qingchi Sect, rogue cultivators, sect cultivators, and clan cultivators alike—whether they knew or not—have been eating them for generations. We ate them, our grandfathers ate them, and our ancestors ate them too.
"You and I are cannibals as well, the disciples and scions of cannibals."
Only after a long while did he digest the staggering revelation. His voice trembling, he asked, "In your view, Brother... do the major families know?"
"I do not know."
Li Yuanjiao slowly shook his head, his expression conflicted. "The Yuan family is hard to say, but Xiao Yuansi is a gentleman; he certainly does not know of this. As for the Xiao family, having dominated for so many years... to say that person knows nothing is something I cannot bring myself to believe."
***
Atop Mount Lijing.
Li Qinghong's pale, slender hand tightened slowly. The greenish-gray surface of the mirror faintly reflected her handsome features. Amplified by the magical mirror, her spiritual sense more than covered the entirety of Lijing Town, allowing her to hear their conversation with absolute clarity.
"So... that is how it is."
Recalling the few pills she had consumed, she wondered how many men and women, how many children and elders had contributed to that blood qi, and felt a sudden wave of nausea. Beside her, Lu Jiangxian was equally stunned, his heart dropping.
*The Qingchi Sect... what kind of trick is this?! Wonderful. Now the entire State of Yue—no, the whole of Jiangnan—has swallowed these medicines...*
For a moment, he could hardly process it. Having come from a society where the rule of law flourished, Lu Jiangxian had drawn a firm line in his heart for the Li family:
*No slaughter, no blood sacrifices... after all, I truly cannot stomach such things... If the Li family joins that filth, I might as well blast them to ash with a bolt of Mysterious Light.*
*Yet how is this to be judged?!*
Lu Jiangxian's limited knowledge currently lay in sorcery and talismans, while his understanding of alchemy remained confined to those few manuals; naturally, he had failed to recognize the issue with these pills.
Not to mention that when Li Tongya took the pill back then, Lu Jiangxian had been nothing more than a complete greenhorn. Had Wang Xun not spoken up, he would never have detected the problem either.
*Forget it, forget it. If someone unknowingly eats human meat buns, can that truly be counted as a crime?..*
He buried himself back into the mirror. Brilliant Mysterious Light burst from the surface, clearing the minds of the people at the foot of the mountain and jolting them awake from their encroaching inner demons and growing mental barriers.
Watching them gradually regain their clarity, Lu Jiangxian found himself troubled once more. If the Li family members were to knowingly consume these blood-refined pills in the future... how would that be judged?..
*Logically speaking, if I ignored it before, intervening now would make the inconsistency far too obvious. Furthermore, since these pills are refined from pure blood qi, they will not trigger any warning from the talisman seeds, and I cannot watch over the Li family every single moment.*
Lu Jiangxian sighed softly, curling his body inside the world within the mirror, and murmured, "The world is filthy; how could anyone climb to the top completely clean? One step at a time. Now that the Li family has its own alchemist, there is room for maneuver. Let us see how they handle it first."
***
While the Li family members were reeling from the revealed truth, Wang Xun in the side courtyard had slowly lifted the longsword before him. He remained motionless for a while, a pensive look crossing his face.
*The Li family can still be considered righteous. Under the rule of those figures in Jiangnan, that is rare indeed... Yet I wonder how long they can endure in this turbid world...*
The youth's brow twitched slightly, revealing a trace of sorrow and compassion. When even his Wang clan could do nothing but live in seclusion, what could a mere Foundation Establishment family hope to achieve?
The affairs of the world were like a raging torrent. Even the True Monarch of his own clan could do no more than preserve their kinsmen; how could anyone look after anything else?
*The Heavenly Dao is flawed, and we are powerless to change it... Had our Wang family's Dao method not consistently advocated seclusion, we would likely have perished in that great catastrophe long ago.*
Wang Xun joined two fingers and lightly stroked the greenish-white sword. The clear, bright blade reflected his eyes—pure and kind, yet laden with pain and guilt.
Though born of a prominent clan, he had traveled the world; he was merely unfamiliar with southern etiquette. Knowing the Li family dared not offend him, he could easily have brushed them off with a few pills to minimize karmic entanglement.
Yet along his journey, only the Li family's territory was filled with laughter and governed by strict laws. Finding the Li family endearing, he had wished to give them something better, which was why he had brought out that heaven-and-earth spirit root as a gift in return.
*Jiangnan is truly just as the books describe: swept up by multiple factions, where everyone is driven against their will. Only the Xiuyue Sect can still be considered upright.*
At this thought, doubt crept into Wang Xun's mind, and he pondered, *That True Monarch is no benevolent figure either. Yet for so many years, the Xiuyue Sect has followed the rules scrupulously, treading with utmost caution without daring to step an inch out of line, upholding the rules laid down by the Immortal Monarch. It is truly bizarre.*
He turned it over in his mind, unable to make sense of it. Born with a sword heart, Wang Xun was ill-suited to unraveling conspiracies and intrigues, so he shifted his thoughts, sensing the indignant grief and sorrow lingering in the spirit of the Qingchi Sword.
*That Li family sword immortal truly died a wrongful death.*
Wang Xun gave a bitter smile. He had traveled through the north, where Buddhism held sway; from top to bottom, it was lifeless, unchanged year in and year out. The Mahas remained Mahas for eternity, and the pariahs remained pariahs for eternity—a scene of utter despair.
Jiangnan, however, was the complete opposite. It was in perpetual turmoil, rife with deceit and slaughter. One day, someone would break through to Qi Refinement, forge an artifact, and annex another clan; the next day, they would be slain, their Dao extinguished and their clan annihilated. Truth be told, life here was no easier.
Resting the Qingchi Sword across his knees, Wang Xun formed a hand seal and channeled his art, drawing out wisps of white sword intent one after another. He murmured softly:
"Yet if I had to choose, I would rather be born in Jiangnan. At least here, there is a path forward."
Chapter 336