“Written on the eve of the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month. Heavy snow blankets the lake. The one hundred and twenty spirit stones you mentioned are enclosed with this letter. All is well at home, save that Great-Granduncle Tian was slain by demonic cultivators, falling in the service of our clan.”
“My son should don mourning clothes and abstain from wine for three months. Strive diligently within the sect, advancing your studies in immortal formulas, profound discourse, and cinnabar alchemy. Request whatever resources you need from home.”
“Penned by your father, Jiao.”
Li Xizhi gazed at the small pile of spirit stones on the desk before him. Without a word, he clutched the letter in a daze, reading it over and over, more than ten times.
His father, Li Yuanjiao, was a man incapable of gentle words. Even the lines in the letter were stiff, concise, and direct, as if he could not be bothered to say a single superfluous word to him. Li Xizhi pressed his lips together as he read it again and again, blinking hard to force back a glimmer of tears.
Counting the days, if this letter had not been delayed at the Yuan family, it meant his family had scraped together these one hundred and twenty spirit stones in less than a month. Li Xizhi dared not dwell on what that had entailed. Carefully tucking the letter against his chest, he stepped out of his quarters and addressed Yuan Tuan, who stood in the courtyard:
“Master, Xizhi can now exchange for the Morning Glow Colored Qi.”
“How much was missing?”
Yuan Tuan stood quietly, cradling an azure civet cat in her arms, and raised her brows as she asked.
“One hundred and twenty spirit stones. It is fully gathered.”
Hearing Li Xizhi's reply, Yuan Tuan raised an eyebrow slightly and said, “Li Yuanjiao... is indeed a capable planner. To think he could actually scrape together another one hundred and twenty stones. Your family has only just become an established clan; it surely could not have been easy.”
Her habitually calm expression took on a tinge of sorrow, and she murmured, “If my family had been so harmonious and united of one heart sixty-odd years ago, I would not have had to compromise and swallow humiliation like this...”
Taking the spirit stones Li Xizhi offered, Yuan Tuan said no more and rode the wind away. Over half a shichen passed before the woman descended back onto the peak, her face frosty, holding a small jade bottle in her hand.
“Morning Glow Colored Qi. I searched the storehouse of Xieqi Peak for half a day; this portion is the purest. It was indeed harvested honestly according to the qi-gathering method over eighteen years, displaying two colors of crimson and gold.”
Her aura fluctuated erratically, and a faint pale-azure radiance flowed over her body. She had likely come to blows with the cultivators of Xieqi Peak, and the expression on her face remained icy cold:
“Those people of Xieqi Peak are growing bolder by the day. Demanding one hundred and twenty spirit stones was bad enough, yet they dared try to pawn off inferior goods on me... Just because I treat everyone with kindness in the sect, they think I am weak and easily bullied!”
Seeing her frosty demeanor, Li Xizhi cupped his hands, offered several words of thanks, and said, “Xieqi Peak is one of the lineage peaks, so they naturally treat us harshly. Master comes from an established clan of the Xunlin Plain and already possesses high status. If your disciple had gone himself, I fear I would not even have been able to climb up Xieqi Peak.”
Yuan Tuan nodded. She stared at him for a moment, then seemed to suddenly recall something. Smiling gently, she asked, “Xizhi, you are seventeen this year, are you not? Yet you have not taken a wife or fathered children. Marrying too late is not good. Have you taken a liking to any young lady from any peak? Your master can make the proposal on your behalf.”
Yuan Tuan jumped topics so abruptly that Li Xizhi started slightly. Words of refusal rose to the tip of his tongue, but then he thought to himself:
‘My father has only me as his son. Qingchi Sect is a den of wolves and tigers. If something were to happen to me here, wouldn't my father's line be severed? That would hardly do...’
Thus, he could only reply in a muffled voice, “I leave everything to Master's decision!”
Yuan Tuan nodded slightly, appearing to have planned this in advance. She said gently, “A Qi Refinement clan would hardly be a match, yet your family is recently in mourning, and marrying into an established clan without knowing their true nature might bring trouble from hidden motives. How about I go to Diyun Peak and request a lady of the Yang family for you...”
This was unexpected; her words implied no intention of forging a marriage alliance between the Yuan and Li families. Li Xizhi merely bowed his head in assent. Yuan Tuan continued:
“In the past, the King of Yue entered into marriage pacts with various established clans. Although his dynastic legitimacy has faded and dissolved into a single peak of Qingchi, marriages still take place from time to time, so there are established precedents to follow.”
“Then I shall trouble Master,” Li Xizhi responded.
Yuan Tuan smiled and said, “Back then, when Yang Tianya refined that jade seal, his army passed through Lixia Road and wiped out several Shanyue tribes on our Xunlin Plain. Thus, my Yuan family has some ties of friendship with Yang Tianya. This matter will be as easy as can be.”
***
The clans on the eastern shore were quite peculiar. Several dozen minor clans either held ties of sentiment and favor within the sect, had intermarried with established clans, or were simply vassals engaged in mining for the Xiao family.
These clans each paid tribute to neighboring established clans. With the destruction of the Xiao family's Guanyun Peak Market, the reach of the Xiao family's influence in the west shrank by a margin, and the Yu family subsequently declined, giving these clans some peaceful, prosperous days.
Yet as the demonic disaster swept through, the eastern shore clans, having enjoyed comfort for only a short while, were plunged once more into a flaming hell. Demonic smoke billowed, blood-red light surged, and wailing rose everywhere.
At the Rui family.
Li Qinghong's jade armor gleamed with a warm, soft luster. As her spear thrust forward, dazzling purple lightning struck down a demonic cultivator of the second layer of Embryonic Breathing fleeing in panic before her. Her spear struck like a dragon, skewering him through.
Purple thunder erupted, blowing the demonic cultivator to pieces in an instant. With a nimble flick of her spear, Li Qinghong accurately flipped a storage bag out of the mangled flesh.
With another flick of the slender spear tip, the storage bag floated gently into her slender hand. Li Qinghong looked back to see her elder brother Li Yuanjiao smiling broadly, while Li Xuanxuan stared at the corpse with heartache, muttering naggingly:
“The robe this demonic cultivator wore was blended with Purple Cloud Brocade. With Qinghong blasting it like that, it's ruined and unusable...”
Li Qinghong could only shoulder her spear and reply, “My mistake, my mistake!”
Li Yuanjiao waved his hand, cutting off the outpouring of gratitude from the Rui family patriarch, Rui Qiongcuo, and led his group without pause toward the next clan.
Cultivators of outside surnames were weak; not only would they take a share of the spoils, but any casualties would require compensation pensions. Thus, Li Yuanjiao had only brought cultivators of his own family:
Li Yuanjiao at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, Li Qinghong and Li Xuanxuan at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, and the old monkey wielding a jade pestle at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, sweeping through the demonic cultivators in this area together.
Even though the cultivation of the demonic cultivators in this territory was generally not high, Li Yuanjiao remained cautious. Dreading an ambush by demonic cultivators, he dared not split his family members up, preferring lower efficiency to sweep through them clan by clan.
As they ventured deeper, the demonic cultivators they encountered grew increasingly powerful, accompanied by many local cultivators who had converted to the demonic path. The Xuemo Dharma Book was not especially powerful, but it excelled at escape, so their progress slowed.
Feeling the eight or nine storage bags in his bosom, Li Yuanjiao said in a low voice, “All we've killed along the way are Embryonic Breathing cultivators! At this rate, the demonic cultivators further in will have finished plundering and ridden the wind away.”
He quietly touched the magical mirror and made a rough sweep of the area. Blood and fire everywhere immediately manifested before his eyes. He said in a deep voice:
“Southeast! Catch the big fish first!”
The two understood at once. Flying with the monkey for a while, they indeed saw three Qi Refinement cultivators hovering in the air, manipulating blood-red spells, while a grand array traced in blood appeared on the ground, linking the three in the sky.
Li Xuanxuan first looked back. Far off in the distance, smoke and fires on Guli Road were still visible, ensuring they would not miss any distress call from home. Li Yuanjiao had already whispered:
“Two mid-stage Qi Refinement, one late-stage Qi Refinement.”
Demonic cultivators differed greatly among themselves. Those like Qiu Ji who manipulated white vapor were especially formidable. Seeing that all three bore only blood-red light, Li Yuanjiao made up his mind and nodded to his companions.
Li Qinghong understood. Her willow brows curved, and clasping her fair hands together, she rubbed out a dense streak of purple radiance that coalesced between her palms—none other than the Purple Talisman Origin Light Secret Method!
These demonic cultivators were concentrating on tracing the array, completely unprepared for enemies flying straight toward them, and hurriedly brought out magical artifacts to defend. Li Qinghong waved her slender hand, sending the thunder talisman whistling through the air.
‘If not for the distance being too great, the ambush would have been even more effective!’
Qi Refinement cultivators possessed spiritual sense; unless one had specialized concealment artifacts, ambushes were exceedingly difficult. Li Qinghong had merely closed the distance to shorten the man's reaction time before smashing a thunder talisman right into the face of the one with the weakest aura.
*Boom!*
The mid-stage Qi Refinement demonic cultivator instantly coughed up blood and flew backward, the magical artifact in his hand scorched black. Li Qinghong pressed her advantage, her spear technique clinging to him like a shadow, while the rest of the Li family moved to engage the other two enemies.
Having taken a direct blow, the demonic cultivator's internal energy churned relentlessly. Fortunately for him, he was experienced and had used his artifact to deflect most of the force, sparing him from grave injury. Ferocity instantly flared across his face as vile curses poured from his mouth.
“Tough fellow!”
Li Yuanjiao drew his longsword, carving a bloody furrow across his opponent's chest. Turning his gaze, however, he noticed that far from panicking, the three enemies were sneering in silence, carrying themselves as if victory were already assured.
Li Yuanjiao immediately sensed something amiss and muttered in a low voice, “End this quickly!”
Dharmic power surged within him. With a turn of his sword light, he actually drew the other mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator into his orbit, relying on the deep, robust foundation of his River Unity Qi Formula to fight one against two.
Li Xuanxuan caught on at once, pulling back alongside the old monkey to pincer the wounded demonic cultivator together with Li Qinghong.
The black-robed late-stage Qi Refinement demonic cultivator sneered and scolded, “Audacious fools! Do you really take us for ordinary clan cultivators or rogues?”
The magical artifact in his hand whistled forth, while his other hand formed a blood-light incantation that struck at Li Yuanjiao with bone-chilling cold. The grey-robed mid-stage Qi Refinement demonic cultivator seized the opportunity as well, converging to attack.
Li Yuanjiao patted his storage bag, summoning an ochre oval shield. The six overlapping ridges upon it cast magical light, blocking both magical artifacts and reflecting bursts of white light against the blood-red incantation.
It was precisely the mid-grade magical artifact, the Six-Stone Cloud Disc.
As this mid-grade artifact was pushed to its limits, the dharmic power within Li Yuanjiao surged and ebbed like a tide, holding off their combined attacks by force.
“So you're relying on a superior artifact!”
The mid-stage demonic cultivator sneered. Clasping his hands, he pinched several incantation seals and spat golden, glittering flames from his mouth, crashing furiously into the Six-Stone Cloud Disc.
The drain on dharmic power grew even more intense. Li Yuanjiao had no choice but to put the artifact away. Retreating, he drew his sword; a Yueque crescent arc leapt forth, forcing the two back, though the red light brushed over him for an instant, bringing a faint chill to the tip of his nose.
While Li Yuanjiao suffered a disadvantage here, the demonic cultivator on the other side fared far worse. Black smoke billowed from his entire body, and cuts large and small covered him. Finally panicking, he screamed:
“Our reinforcements are arriving soon! Back off immediately!”
The other two demonic cultivators both looked furious, glaring fiercely at him, yet they could say nothing. Demonic cultivators were inherently selfish; the two of them only cared about tying down the Li family members and had never given a thought to the life or death of their companion.
As all of this cultivator's escape and life-saving arts were shattered by Li Qinghong and his life hung by a thread, he could no longer care about anything else. Desperate to force his attackers back, he shouted:
“You only covet my wealth! Killing me does you no good! When our people arrive, how will you keep your lives? Spare me, and we each get what we want!”
With that, he flicked the storage bag from his waist. Weathering their barrage while coughing blood, he barely managed to cast a spell. The storage bag shot away like a shooting star, while he drifted downward toward the ground.
Having taken several spells from the enemy, Li Yuanjiao had a faint trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. He said in a deep voice:
“Go!”
With a flick of purple lightning, Li Qinghong hooked the storage bag into her hand. Calming the surging dharmic power within her, her face turned pale, but she forcibly pinched out a wisp of purple lightning, channeling her secret method.
“Want to run?”
Shame and anger flared in the black-robed late-stage Qi Refinement demonic cultivator. His artifact hurled forth like a gale, determined to keep Li Yuanjiao from leaving.
“Fool! Do not chase him!”
As he gave full pursuit, the demonic cultivator below whose storage bag had been taken yelled at the top of his lungs, causing the black-robed cultivator to hesitate for a moment.
In that instant, Li Yuanjiao turned back with sword drawn, his spiritual sense plunging sharply into the magical mirror. The demonic cultivator felt the hair all over his body stand on end and a piercing chill envelop him. His form flowed like liquid blood as he cast a secret method and retreated violently, opening up a gap of several zhang in a flash.
Li Yuanjiao dared not unleash the Taiyin Mysterious Light in plain view; he had merely bluffed to intimidate him. Seeing no follow-up attack, Li Yuanjiao seized the chance to fly into the distance. All the anger on the demonic cultivator's face vanished, replaced by profound terror.
The mid-stage Qi Refinement grey-robed demonic cultivator beside him tried to pursue, but Li Qinghong's thunder talisman flew right at his face. Forced to summon his artifact to block, he could only watch them disappear amidst explosion and smoke.
The movement secret art had cost a great deal of energy, leaving the late-stage Qi Refinement demonic cultivator pale and hovering dazedly in midair. A figure flew up unsteadily from the ground—it was the demonic cultivator who had surrendered his storage bag. He sneered coldly:
“The two Fellow Daoists should rejoice that I saved your lives!”
The other mid-stage Qi Refinement grey-robed cultivator glared at him coldly with displeasure, while the leading black-robed cultivator, looking like a man who had narrowly escaped death, asked softly:
“Fellow Daoist hails from a great sect and is well-traveled. What did you notice?”
Having lost his storage bag, the cultivator seemed entirely unbothered, saying with lingering relief:
“I once saw records in my sect's archives. That man in black was clearly wielding the Qingchi Sword! That's the personal sword of a sword immortal! Who knows what kind of sword qi is stored within it?”
“Never mind the three of us; even if our lord were here, taking a strike of that sword qi would probably leave him recuperating for seven or eight years... Sword intent! Sword intent is no laughing matter!”
The black-robed cultivator let out a long breath, finding an explanation for his earlier terror. The grey-robed cultivator was secretly relieved as well, but unwilling to back down verbally, he sneered, “Fellow Daoist boasts quite a grand background, yet aren't you wandering about with the likes of us all the same? If you were truly capable, you would have established your foundation in your own sect instead of turning into a demonic cultivator to muck about with us!”
The black-robed cultivator waved his sleeve, cutting off their dispute, and said in a low voice, “Enough bickering. Let us wait quietly for our lord to arrive, gather the required blood qi across Lake Wangyue, and leave quickly for the Jinyu Sect.”
This Lake Wangyue was truly bizarre. To say nothing of this so-called sword immortal clan, there was a Foundation Establishment cultivator hiding on the opposite shore, and rumor had it there was even a Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Jiang lurking among these clans...
“What a cursed place!”
Chapter 366