Settled

"Yu Xiaogui has passed away." Li Yuanjiao had already heard many rumors and had lived through the passing of his own family's ancestor. With a single sweep of his gaze, he instantly grasped the situation before him. The two families were blood rivals, so Li Yuanjiao naturally felt no sorrow. Instead, he felt that the dust had finally settled, and he let out a silent breath of relief. "Fei Wangbai fell to an unknown sword cultivator with merely a single sword strike. Yu Xiaogui fell to Great-Uncle with a Huashang Fruit and the Qingchi Sword, also in merely a single strike... The Foundation Establishment masters of the three lake families are now all dead." The Qingchi Sect would never spare the fat sheep beneath them just because a family's Foundation Establishment master had fallen. The required tribute still had to be paid—under the noble guise of 'the forebears' lingering grace,' leaving their status as an established family intact for fifty years. Once several decades had passed and every bit of their foundation was devoured clean, they would be kicked aside once more. Conversely, if the Li family were to produce several more Foundation Establishment cultivators one day and expand their territory, their tribute would likely increase as well—much like the Yuan family, whose tribute every time was several times higher than that of the Li family. The scene of Yu Xiaogui's demise was rather magnificent, with jades rolling all across the ground. Li Yuanjiao observed the scene for a time, then guided the magical mirror's perception out of the cave abode to circle over the Yu family's lands for a while. Life under the Yu family's rule was countless times better now than years ago; at the very least, people could make a living. Though Yu Mugao was sinister and ruthless, he was also willing to make drastic moves, boldly reforming the Yu family clan system and promoting several outsiders of commoner birth, turning everything toward improvement. Having gained a clear picture of the situation, he put away the magical mirror. The stone walls of his own cave abode reappeared before his eyes. Li Yuanjiao murmured in a low voice: "Chi Buzi's visit has truly left our family restless and on edge. There is no telling what lingering trouble it might bring." After such a nerve-wracking day, a breath of pent-up gloom remained stifled in his chest. Li Yuanjiao took down the Qingchi Sword from the rack and began practicing his swordplay. Drawing his blade, Li Yuanjiao immersed himself in his sword routines for the better part of a day. Only then did he feel the mountain-like weight crushing down on him ease considerably, with a faint hint of further refinement in his skill. Just as he sat cross-legged and began wiping down the azure edge, someone came up from below. Dressed in brown robes with a jade crown upon his head, his face beaming with a broad smile, the man said respectfully: "Clan Brother! Clan Brother! Wonderful news, Clan Brother!" This person was naturally Sha Moli. Beaming with joy as he stepped forward, he was actually older than Li Yuanjiao, but having learned worldly ways, he addressed him as 'Clan Brother' at every turn, sounding exceedingly close. He smiled and said: "Clan Brother! A report came from Lijing: Real Person Chuting appeared at Yushan, slew dozens of demonic cultivators hiding there, and has already returned to Peak Xianyou. The demonic cultivators in the Xiao family's territory have scattered and fled!" 'Xiao Chuting has returned!' Li Yuanjiao breathed a silent sigh of relief, unable to keep a smile from surfacing on his face. 'With Xiao Chuting presiding, the Xiao family's crisis is resolved, and they will not be hard-pressed anymore. By extension, our family will be that much safer.' Pondering this, he patted Sha Moli's shoulder and answered, "That is good news. Keep an eye on things here; I am going into seclusion to cultivate." Sha Moli nodded and quietly withdrew. *** The cultivators on the mountain breathed a sigh of relief. As the news spread, the mortals at the foot of the mountain were likewise jubilant. The common folk did not understand the undercurrents of the struggle; they only knew that the Xiao family was the Li family's backer, so the Real Person's return was naturally a great blessing. The clansmen of the Yuan-Qing generation were even more delighted. Members of this generation held key posts across various mountains and towns, and taking advantage of the opportunity to report on their duties back in Lijing, they gathered at Li Yuanping's central hall to offer their congratulations. Counting them all up, there had been over a dozen in the Yuan-Qing generation, and nine remained alive today. Aside from Yuanjiao and Qinghong on the mountain, and Yuanping who managed the household, the majority were Li Xuanxuan's children born of concubines—four sons and two daughters in total. The eldest was in his thirties and the youngest was merely in their teens, each serving in office across different regions. Among them were two spirit aperture bearers, though their natural talent was even poorer than Li Yuanping's, rendering them scarcely different from mortals. "Greetings, Patriarch!" When this crowd gathered in the hall, nearly half of the Li family's secular power was concentrated within this central hall. Li Yuanping walked down with a warm smile to help up his brothers and sisters. Compared to the untamed, rebellious attitudes of the brothers during Li Yuanxiu's time managing the family, every one of them now smiled with fervent devotion, their hearts firmly aligned with the family. This was not because Li Yuanping possessed greater skill or authority than Li Yuanxiu, but because these brothers had all taken wives and fathered children, establishing households of their own. After all, a spirit aperture bearer was a world apart from a mortal. Even if they had not yet fathered one, they strained with all their might to keep trying, and the children under their knees were no fewer in number than those of their father, Li Xuanxuan. According to the Li family's rules, children of the main clan's concubine branches who were tested and found to possess spirit apertures at six years old could ascend the mountain to cultivate. With their precious children cultivating on the mountain, what did a bit of mortal wealth and status matter? Naturally, their loyalties had shifted, and they had become steadfast supporters of the main branch. Li Yuanping was naturally crystal clear about the crux of the matter. Nowadays, he boldly put them to use, promoting several to key posts to lighten his own burden. Over these past few years, he had maintained warm and frequent contact with his brothers, causing their bond to deepen rapidly. Smiling, he now said: "This is indeed wonderful news, but there was no need for my brothers to make such a grand trip over it." The group offered their humble apologies and pushed forward the eldest man among them. His face was slightly broad and round, the eldest of Li Xuanxuan's sons by concubines. After chatting idly for a while about this and that, he said with a smile: "It is just that there are fine talents in the family who have yet to be put to important use by the clan. We have come to recommend them to the Patriarch!" "Oh?" Li Yuanping raised his head with interest, only to hear the man continue: "These two brothers are the sons of Guest Retainer An, and they carry our Li family's blood as well." He waved a hand, and two youths around thirteen or fourteen years old were ushered in from below. Their hair was bound up, robes draped over their shoulders, with gold rings around their wrists. With round faces and dark eyes, they appeared quite constrained as they bowed: "An Siwei and An Siming greet the Patriarch." An Zheyan and Li Feiruo had only these two sons. Full brothers, not only did both possess spirit apertures, but by age thirteen or fourteen, they had already cultivated to the fourth layer of Embryonic Breathing! Though both of their auras were fluctuating and appeared to have just broken through recently, it was still enough to leave everyone slack-jawed. Li Yuanping peered closely at the two of them and asked in astonishment: "This... could it be that you are cultivating the Court-Knocking Palace Guard Incantation?!" Seeing both brothers nod, Li Yuanping secretly let out a breath of relief. 'No wonder they advanced so quickly. The Court-Knocking Palace Guard Incantation is inherently a fast-track technique that is rapid in Embryonic Breathing but slow in Qi Refinement. Still, this is quite remarkable.' 'It cannot compare to An Jingming reaching Qi Refinement at fourteen... but it far surpasses all the collateral kinsmen of other surnames in our family. Not to mention the Chen clan, even our own children blessed with talisman seeds only advance at this pace!' He shook his head and said in a solemn voice: "With your current cultivation progress, there is no need to worry about being assigned important duties just yet." At these words, not only did the An brothers turn terribly embarrassed, but the surrounding brothers also froze. Yet Li Yuanping followed up: "I shall write a letter at once to secure a cave abode for you both on Mount Huazhong so you can focus on your cultivation. Strive to break through to Qi Refinement swiftly; the clan has grave responsibilities to entrust to you!" "Yes!" The two brothers were instantly overjoyed. Once Li Yuanping finished drafting the letter, they accepted it and respectfully withdrew. *** The Xiao family. Xiao Chuting breached the Great Void and landed lightly atop Peak Xianyou. The water of the cold pond remained as crystal-clear and icy as ever. He sat down slowly, staring blankly at the rocks across the bank. Exhausted in body and mind after matching wits and bravery, Xiao Chuting sat on the rock and suddenly remembered that his elder brother, Xiao Chuchou, was dead. His elder brother, with whom he had sat by the pond year after year discussing current affairs and shifting tides, had been consumed by Xiao Chuting, turned into a half-formed divine ability of his own. Xiao Chuting understood in his heart that even if he had not devoured Xiao Chuchou, the man was already so old that he had few days left to live. Xiao Xianyou had arranged everything so perfectly, making full use of every resource. 'And yet... there is no retreat...' With the demonic cultivators running amok, Xiao Chuting had made sure those Qi Refinement and Embryonic Breathing fiends lingering in Yushan met exceptionally wretched and humiliating deaths. Yet he still could not pursue and retaliate against the demonic cultivators fleeing toward Ziyan Gate; he could only vent his anger by slaying a few underlings. The land of Jiangnan was most nourishing to people, with profound earth veins. Planting a few sprouts into the soil yielded a bountiful harvest the following year. Though tens of thousands had died at Yushan, within a few generations, they would grow back just like crops. The Xiao family's actual loss was not truly severe. Yet the old man's expression remained dark and somber. In his life, he had schemed countless times to leverage small stakes for great gains, yet he had never been able to attain peace of mind. He simply lifted his white jade fishing rod and began angling in silence. Only after quite a while did someone come up from below to deliver a message, reporting that Clan Head Xiao Guitu had come to pay his respects to the Ancestor. Xiao Chuting gave a languid response. Dressed in everyday clothes and beaming with joy, Xiao Guitu hurried up the mountain path and said respectfully: "Your junior Guitu pays respects to the Real Person!" "Mm." Xiao Chuting glanced at him and asked gently, "Chi Buzi came looking for you, did he not?" Xiao Guitu bowed and replied, "With the magical artifact left by the Ancestor to protect me, Guitu did not break down before the Qingchi Real Person. Only... I was still influenced by his divine ability, and asked Guiluan about the Li family's Purple Palace master." Xiao Chuting shook his head and said softly, "No matter. Chi Buzi went to Lake Wangyue and returned obediently to the Qingchi Sect. Whether he was injured or not is unknown, but he was likely warned by the Purple Palace master behind the Li family and retreated in haste." Xiao Guitu nodded thoughtfully, then asked in puzzlement, "Could it be the monster cave in Mount Dali?" Xiao Chuting remained silent for a while and ultimately did not speak on it. Shifting the topic, he answered: "Send someone to the South Sea to relieve Xiao Yuansi and call him back, so Guiluan will not be left waiting." "Understood!" Xiao Guitu caught the meaning and withdrew in acknowledgment. At the foot of Peak Xianyou. Xiao Guiluan had stayed with the Xiao family for nearly half a month, asking former acquaintances to inquire about the situation in Yushan. Hearing that she was now Madam Xiao-Li, her father had adamantly refused to grant Li Qingxiao an audience. Yet the moment several dozen spirit stones were laid out, the door was promptly opened, and he warmly called her 'my girl' at every turn. Xiao Guiluan was not surprised. Her father was inherently greedy and harsh, working in tandem with her brother Xiao Guitu. The fact that the door could be opened was not just because of the valuable gifts, but also because Xiao Guitu had given his tacit consent. With connections inside the peak smoothed over with bribes and Xiao Guitu offering subtle backing, the matter of Yushan was naturally settled. Peak Xianyou even dispatched several guest retainers to stabilize the situation. Good news arrived one after another. Xiao Yuansi had not been at Peak Xianyou all along, and Xiao Guiluan had been wondering how long she would have to wait, when she suddenly heard word of Xiao Yuansi's return. Perhaps because Xiao Chuting had returned, manpower from Peak Xianyou could be reassigned, allowing Xiao Yuansi to be recalled from the South Sea. Xiao Guiluan hurriedly went to request an audience. Xiao Yuansi naturally agreed readily. Thus, Xiao Guiluan handed the pill furnace to Li Ximing, had him remain with the Xiao family, and took her leave. Returning to the Li family, she saw that the two pillars, Li Yuanjiao and Li Qinghong, had both entered seclusion. Understanding that the family must have stabilized with no major crises looming, she breathed a long sigh of relief. *** Two years passed in the blink of an eye. For two years, Li Yuanjiao waited, but heard no news from the Qingchi Sect, nor did any Qingchi Sect Purple Palace master come tearing through the void. After waiting day and night, he assumed that the Immortal Official had deceived the Qingchi Sect, and only then did he put his heart slightly at ease. The calamity of the demonic outbreak no longer resembled the earlier waves roaming en masse and devastating multiple commanderies. Demonic cultivators fleeing in all directions spread their wicked arts throughout the State of Yue and even into Wu and Xu, turning into a more frequent, ceaseless series of minor scourges. During this time, demonic arts also spread into the Li family's territory. However, under the Li family's meticulous household registration and strict scrutiny, demonic cultivators were often discovered after devouring merely one or two people and easily slain. Demonic cultivators in Embryonic Breathing were not powerful, proving quite easy to handle. Meanwhile, the Li family's five-year sacrificial ritual came around once again. With Chi Buzi's blood beads in hand, the preparations for this sacrifice were particularly grand. But Mount Dali could no longer be entered and exited at will. Having emerged from seclusion after breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, Li Qinghong began preparing for the ritual. The Li family did not lack Qi Refinement cultivators now, but the sacrificial rites were a secret matter. Asking outsiders for help would require concocting countless excuses, so they had no choice but to take matters into their own hands and search Lake Wangyue. At the bottom of Lake Wangyue. Ripples of light shimmered across the lake bed as dark currents surged, stirring up swirling eddies of murky gray silt. The two stood in the water, their magical auras deliberately subdued as they waited patiently. Li Qinghong's jade armor was an heirloom of the An family from years past, inscribed with water-warding incantations that allowed her great ease underwater. As for Li Yuanjiao, who cultivated the River Unity Qi Formula, he was all the more like a fish in water. Lake Wangyue was exceedingly deep, and there was no shortage of monsters that had achieved Foundation Establishment. The two searched cautiously for two months before finally locating a catfish monster without any backing. "Gurgle, gurgle..." Currents surged toward them from the distance. Li Yuanjiao and Li Qinghong exchanged a glance and gave a gentle nod. Out of the murky depths of the water swam a beast with extreme speed. As massive as a house, its long barbels whipped to and fro, and its cavernous maw gulped and spewed in the water. After swallowing a few times, it spat out several shards of bone. 'A broad, flattened forehead, low and sloping, covered in slippery mucus hard to restrain—it is indeed a catfish monster.' This catfish monster was merely at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement. Its bloodline was too poor, devoid of any heritage or intellect. Yet it happened to excel at water manipulation and swam at incredible speed; once startled, it would flee into the distance instantly, and the two naturally could not catch it underwater. Moreover, this monster possessed little intelligence and swam about erratically. The depths of Lake Wangyue harbored Foundation Establishment monsters; if it fled into the territory of some monster general, the two of them would be the ones in trouble instead. Li Yuanjiao had fretted over this for some time before renting a mid-grade Qi Refinement water-attribute formation plate from the Yuan family—the Murky Water Talisman Stream Formation. Taking advantage of the catfish monster's absence while foraging, they set it up in its cave and waited for the beast's return. Watching the catfish monster swim foolishly forward, Li Yuanjiao pinched his fingers, sending a ripple of blue light washing out. In an instant, a greenish-blue barrier of light rose from the lake bed, blending seamlessly with the surrounding water to sever the inside from the out. Startled, the catfish leaped and turned nimbly, darting away like an arrow. With a loud crash, it slammed into the Murky Water Talisman Stream Formation, causing the entire grand formation to shudder slightly. Being thick-skinned and tough-fleshed, the catfish monster suffered no real harm. It froze for a moment, shifted direction, and tried to flee once more. "It worked!" The monster clearly had no experience battling cultivators and knew nothing of formations. Li Yuanjiao had only been troubled by its water-gliding mastery. He let out a low cheer and drew his sword to advance at once. Buzz... The lake water was parted by bright white sword qi, leaving behind two long trails of frothing ripples. The catfish monster spat from its maw, coalescing waves into layered shields of water. The spell was exceedingly crude, clearly the work of an untutored wild beast possessing raw magical power and nothing more. The Yueque sword arc arrived with boundless force, tearing through the layers of water shields and gouging a small hole into the catfish monster's body. The catfish monster was massive, its scales hardened and protected by a coat of mucus and magical power, yet the sword arc still wounded its scales and bone. Thrashing in agony, it rolled about the lake bed. Just as Li Yuanjiao raised his sword to strike again, Li Qinghong could hold back no longer and called out: "Brother, your sword qi is too fierce; I fear you will slaughter the beast outright. My lightning techniques excel at incapacitating for capture alive—why not let me try?"