Li Xicheng choked on his words, shaking his head helplessly. Drawing the jade slip detailing the sect regulations from his robes, he handed it to Li Xijun and said softly, "The new system was only just drawn up, and most of the offices remain vacant. Uncle Ping is still managing the household's affairs, using these titles to keep the subordinates dangling for now, but they will have to be distributed sooner or later. Take a look for yourself."
Hearing his words, Li Xijun glanced at his elder brother in surprise. Taking the slip, he read it carefully.
"The dual clan-lineage system..."
Li Xijun understood the later section on the reciprocal checks among the peaks just by skimming the headings, but he turned back to study the opening part on the dual clan-lineage system with great care. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "Uncle... Clan Uncle... Dispersing the four branches, blending them into individual peaks, and setting up an administrative government... Is... is this even a family clan anymore?"
Startled by such treasonous words, Li Xicheng shuddered and said in a grave voice, "What kind of talk is that?!"
Li Xijun's expression turned grim as he replied, "Going by this method, it becomes a Lijing Sect! Not the Lijing Li family! The harmony of a family clan lies in generational succession. If we disperse into various peaks, where is the family clan in that?!"
Li Xicheng looked at him in silence for a moment before murmuring, "What do you propose to do?"
"It only needs a slight adjustment."
Li Xijun reviewed the jade slip in his hand once more, still sensing something amiss. He replied, "This document contains only sect regulations, not clan regulations. External surnames and collateral branches can be scattered among the peaks, but the main and lesser branches cannot."
With a flick of his sleeves, he rode the wind into the air and headed straight for the central hall.
***
Mount Lijing.
Li Yuanping had laboured for over a year, finally drafting all the numerous regulations. Seeing business gradually settle down and results beginning to show, his heart felt considerably lighter.
*Elder Brother has entered secluded cultivation. I wonder how long it will take him to break through, and what his chances are.*
Just as he was pondering this, a commotion arose outside the central hall. Dressed in white robes, Li Xijun entered the great hall in a hurry, his brow tightly furrowed. Bending down in a deep bow, he said solemnly, "Nephew pays his respects to the Patriarch!"
*He's here!*
Li Yuanping had been waiting for him for quite some time. With his current authority within the family, who else would dare criticize the new laws? Only these few juniors had the nerve to speak up. With a warm smile, he asked, "What insights do you have, Jun'er?"
Li Xijun's bright eyes met his clan uncle's gaze. No words were needed; he naturally would not point things out so bluntly as to embarrass Li Yuanping. Instead, he simply replied, "Your nephew has a request!"
"Speak."
Li Yuanping enjoyed speaking with this nephew most of all. Li Xijun always managed to raise his objections tactfully without putting anyone on the spot, so Li Yuanping tilted his head attentively.
"Your nephew requests that we renovate the serpent demon cave dwelling on the lake, fill the lake to create an islet, and establish a separate division. We should move the main lineage and the talented lesser branches there to cultivate, establishing it as the Li family headquarters."
He lowered his voice and said, "Jun'er understands Clan Uncle's intentions. What your nephew means is: with a dual clan-lineage system, we should not dissolve the clan into a sect."
"The Li family on the lake, the peak offices on the shore..."
Li Yuanping smiled faintly and nodded. Li Xijun took a step forward, pressing his hand against the map, and whispered, "The lakeshore is merely territory for governing and draining the strength of external surnames, as well as protecting mortals. Meanwhile, in the lake, the four main branches and the talented lesser branches will reside together..."
"The day we unite Moon Gazing, we can relocate onto the finest islet in the lake—the Lake Central Islet market ruins. From then on, we will be an immortal clan on the lake, with the surrounding shores divided into commanderies..."
Li Xijun's ambitions were actually even greater. His gaze was resolute, and Li Yuanping listened with eyes gleaming with fascination. Li Xijun whispered, "Your nephew went to investigate it. Although crops cannot be grown in that cavern, it is quite spacious, and the spiritual qi is dense. It is precisely a fine place for cultivation!"
"There is no defensive array protecting that cavern, and our clan's personnel were gradually pulled back after Ancestor's death. Putting it to use now, would that not be perfect?"
Having said this, Li Xijun lowered his eyes and said, "These are merely this junior's crude thoughts..."
Li Yuanping shook his head with a laugh. "What crude thoughts! My father already set out for Shanji Commandery to the east to hire cultivators from the Xuanyue Gate to move a mountain and build an islet! It was only out of caution against ambushes that no news was disclosed!"
Li Xijun was genuinely taken aback, then said with delight, "So Clan Uncle already had this plan! It was this junior who worried excessively and spoke presumptuously out of ignorance!"
"Nonsense!" Li Yuanping chuckled. "Do you still remember that Rui family?"
Drawing a vermilion brush, he circled an area on the map and explained, "The earth veins of this mountain are weak, but its water veins are abundant, and atop it sits a spiritual spring. I intend to ask the men of Xuanyue Gate to move this mountain and place it on the lake to serve as our main peak!"
"First, it will allow us to break free from the influence of the Cuiyuan copper essence and utilize this spiritual spring, saving our family from buying more. Second, it adds another peak to our domain. Is that not wonderful?"
Years ago, the Li family had obtained a vein-seeking art called *Tingcha Diting* from the An family, and so they understood the clan's earth and water veins with absolute clarity. Having heard him out, Li Xijun replied, "Whether these earth and water veins can still be used after being moved, and whether the spiritual spring will vanish, will still depend on what the Xuanyue Gate cultivators have to say."
"No matter," Li Yuanping said with a smile. "Currently, a full twelve families along the eastern shore have submitted and pay tribute to us. We need only pick the most suitable mountain to move over, then offer a bit of compensation to that family. It will not cost much."
"Clan Uncle's wisdom is discerning." Li Xijun let out a sigh of relief, a smile returning to his face. Straightening his posture, he said, "This junior was overly anxious."
"Ah!" Li Yuanping's smile faded, and he sighed softly. In a hushed voice, he said, "Jun'er, Seventh Uncle will say something he probably shouldn't. Your father passed away early, and among the Xi-Yue generation, there are many lesser branches but few in the main line. If anything untoward happens to me, the family will have to depend on you."
"Xicheng is your own brother, so I won't say much about him. Ximing has failed to live up to expectations. As your elder, this is as much as I can do."
After years of relentless toil, his complexion had worsened considerably, and his smile appeared strained. In a mild, measured tone, he added, "Once this matter is settled, I will gradually let go of the family's affairs. You will have to see to things yourselves."
***
Mount Yuting.
Li Ximing sat cross-legged. As the true essence of the *Golden Hall Huangyuan Formula* circulated within him, the dark room was flooded with radiant light, glowing in a brilliant hue of gold and crimson.
He slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a wisp of golden qi.
Perhaps out of caution regarding the divine ability of the Old Man on the Creek, the elders' punishment had been unbelievably lenient. It was merely a confinement to his quarters; everything else continued as before. Pills and cultivation resources were still supplied, and family affairs no longer bothered him.
He was locked in this solitary little courtyard, with all resources available on demand, and Li Xijun would come visit him from time to time.
It felt as though a thousand-jin burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Feeling exceptionally relaxed, Li Ximing saw his cultivation advance by leaps and bounds. He thought to himself with relief, *This is truly for the best.*
Every day he cultivated, and whenever he had free time, he read alchemy texts. Li Xijun had understood his inclinations, naming his pavilion the Alchemy Pavilion and frequently sending in spiritual materials for him to practice with.
He had no need to manage anything in the family; his life consisted entirely of refining pills and cultivating. He poured all the guilt in his heart into these pursuits.
By nature, he was not a particularly resolute person. In his youth, crushed under mounting pressure, Li Ximing had often fantasized about turning into a dharma treasure—a dharma treasure that only knew how to cultivate and refine pills, serenely seated atop a fire vein.
He would only need to give silently, without worrying about whether he would disappoint his father.
*Now, this state I am in is hardly different from my childhood dream!*
Li Ximing lightly patted his storage bag. The alchemy furnace flew out and landed on the ground with a dull thud. Pitch-black and adorned with intricate patterns, its body was carved with depictions of surging waves and ferocious beasts. Standing on three legs, it bore a small inscribed name:
"Jiangzhong Furnace."
Turning his wrist, he produced a pale yellowish-white block of wood. It was an Embryonic Breathing spiritual material: Baozhu wood.
Bringing his hands together, he summoned a pale golden strand of alchemical fire. Li Ximing nodded to himself in private admiration:
*This Golden Hall Huangyuan Formula truly lives up to its name as a fourth-rank cultivation technique; it is extraordinary indeed. Its true essence is pure yang, and the alchemical fire it produces is a cut above what I had before.*
"To refine the Yangqing Pill, one should pair Baozhu wood with the Jiaori Three-Nine Method."
These were all insights that Xiao Yuansi had accumulated bit by bit over time. Li Ximing tossed the block of wood beneath the furnace, produced a jade box, drew out a Yangqing fruit with magic power, and dropped it into the furnace.
Slowly extracting the essence, he then took out several supplementary herbs and cast them into the furnace one by one.
Finally, he continuously refined it with alchemical fire. After about an hour, six pale red pills were spat out from the spout of the furnace.
"The Embryonic Breathing elixir, the Yangqing Pill—it is complete."
These six pills represented the power to command the service of six Embryonic Breathing cultivators for several months, yet it had taken him merely an hour to produce. Storing them away using specialized techniques, Li Ximing felt considerably better in his heart.
"Father... Ximing has not entirely failed our elders after all."
Had his primordial yang remained intact, the chances of forming the pills would surely have been half a point higher. At this thought, he lowered his head in silence, retrieved various spiritual materials from his storage bag, and prepared to brew another batch.
***
Shanji Commandery, Xuanyue Gate.
Having migrated from the State of Xu, the Xuanyue Gate had settled in Shanji Commandery. Most of their members cultivated earth-element mystic arts, and they were guarded by only a single Real Person Changxi. Their territory spanned merely one commandery, but fortunately, Shanji Commandery was vast, and the Xuanyue Gate had no shortage of disciples.
When Li Xuanxuan had his arrival announced, two outer disciples received him with polite courtesy. Among the Three Sects and Seven Gates, the Xuanyue Gate was on the weaker end, possessing barely a handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators, so their disciples carried little arrogance.
After Li Xuanxuan waited at the foot of the mountain with the old monkey for a short while, a cultivator descended to welcome him.
This man was dressed in white robes and had reasonably handsome features, marred only by moles on both cheeks that spoiled his bearing. Draped in jade ornaments of various sizes, he landed and said with a smile, "Kong Yu of Xuanyue greets fellow Daoist. May I ask which senior of Lijing you are?"
"Li Xuanxuan of the Li family."
This Kong Yu was actually at the peak of Qi Refinement, yet he was exceptionally courteous. Feeling flattered, Li Xuanxuan quickly returned the greeting. Kong Yu asked with a smile, "Might I ask how Moon Crescent Sword is related to you...?"
"He is my own second uncle!"
Hearing that they were so closely related by blood, Kong Yu nodded repeatedly and said, "When Senior Tongya severed the Maha with his sword, our sect's Real Person was present as well. He once praised your noble clan's swordsmanship, saying that even if this Li family sword art were placed in the Wanyu Sword Gate, it would still rank among the very best."
"Senior was overly generous with his praise," Li Xuanxuan demurred modestly.
Kong Yu sighed. "If not for the Wanyu Sword Gate constantly clashing with Chunyi Dao and Chijiao Island over the Qingsong Daoist Temple ruins, and the current turmoil caused by demonic cultivators, people would have gone to your noble clan long ago to seek instruction. It cost Senior Tongya the opportunity to spread his renown, which is truly a pity!"
*A pity?*
Li Xuanxuan muttered inwardly:
*Currently, the best swordsman in our clan is Jiao'er, who is merely comparable to Ling in those days. How could he possibly measure up to Second Uncle, who comprehended sword qi while only at the Yujing wheel? If not for the sudden eruption of the demonic disaster, our reputation would have been thoroughly disgraced long ago...*
Seeing that Li Xuanxuan did not wish to dwell on the subject, Kong Yu asked directly, "Fellow Daoist, do you wish to alter earth veins and relocate an immortal mountain?"
Li Xuanxuan nodded. "I have heard that your immortal gate is most adept at this craft, truly second to none in Jiangnan. Mount Changxi itself was moved here from the State of Xu, forging Xuanyue's renown. I wonder if we might engage one or two fellow Daoists to assist us..."
Kong Yu agreed repeatedly. His sect had made its name through this craft; calling them the best in Jiangnan was mere flattery, but claiming the title of best in the State of Yue was indisputable. He said softly, "We can! Naturally we can! The price depends on the earth veins, and we must inspect the ground before settling on a figure. If fellow Daoist has made up your mind, I will immediately ascend the mountain to fetch the dharma tools."
Li Xuanxuan allowed him to ascend. Before long, Kong Yu hurried back down, a coil of golden glowing ropes wrapped around his waist. He said excitedly, "Let us go! Let us go!"
Kong Yu was an easygoing man by nature. Riding the wind alongside Li Xuanxuan, he said with a laugh, "It is fortunate my martial brothers were not around, or this business would have been snatched away! Sitting idly on the peaks is miserable work! How could it compare to traveling in style while earning cultivation resources on the side?"
Li Xuanxuan chuckled. Having seen many sights along the journey, he indeed felt far more at ease than when confined to the clan. After chiming in with a few agreeable remarks, he heard Kong Yu sigh, "To be frank with you, Brother Xuanxuan, your demeanor truly resembles my eldest martial brother. In his early years, he managed the sect, but later he was slain by ghosts. Seeing Brother Xuanxuan's appearance makes me feel an instinctive kinship."
Li Xuanxuan shook his head and offered a few comforting words, but Kong Yu waved them off dismissively. Seeing that Kong Yu was heading due west, Li Xuanxuan asked, "Why not pass through Yufu Commandery? There are hardly any demonic cultivators left there... Although you hail from an immortal gate and possess formidable strength, there is no need to court so many unnecessary troubles..."
Not a few disciples from the Three Sects and Seven Gates had perished during the demonic calamity. Li Xuanxuan had raised the point tactfully, yet Kong Yu shook his head vehemently and replied, "We cannot go there! The sect has issued a strict prohibition: Yufu Commandery must not be touched under any circumstances for the next three years. Fellow Daoist had better listen to me; if you head through Yufu Commandery, I fear you will meet a gruesome end!"
"What?"
Li Xuanxuan's face turned pale. When he came, he had traveled with the old monkey straight through Yufu Commandery, and it had been completely peaceful. Gripped by sudden terror, he asked, "Why is that? Just now, I came directly through Yufu! Could I have brought calamity upon myself?!"
Kong Yu stepped back several paces through the air, his expression turning ghastly and his voice wavering in fright. "Did fellow Daoist linger there? Did you speak with anyone? Did you happen upon any injustice and save someone's life? I heard Senior Li Tongya had deep ties with Real Person Chuting; how could you not have received word?"
Li Xuanxuan shook his head and replied, "No... I did not. I only passed through. When I left home, the Old Ancestor was still alive..."
"Then all is well!"
Kong Yu let out a massive sigh of relief, a smile returning to his face. "No need to worry. So long as you have no acquaintances in that commandery and did not speak, this karmic entanglement will never drag you in, and you will be completely safe. But had you touched upon it even slightly, you would have ended up as nourishment."
"If one does not know the crucial crux of the matter, whole families and clans can be wiped out."
He stepped forward, the numerous jade pendants and buckles on his person clinking together, and said with an air of great secrecy, "I heard that even Qingchi's personnel have mostly pulled out of Yufu Commandery. The three Real Persons—Yuanwu, Yuansu, and Yuanxiu—are seated together in the Great Void, all to ensure this star of calamity is sent out of Jiangnan safely and obediently, back to its Mount Luoxia!"
Li Xuanxuan was utterly mystified, and could only ask, "Could fellow Daoist explain this in detail?"
Chapter 371