"This Moon Lake Autumn Reflection Formula was once passed down from the Immortal Mansion and is extraordinarily wondrous. It requires two kinds of heaven-and-earth spirit qi: the first is called Taiyin moon essence, and the second is called Golden Autumn in the Lake. The sect maintains some reserves of the latter, but as for the Taiyin moon essence, it has not been seen for hundreds of years, ever since the Immortal Mansion withdrew from the mortal world."
"Centuries ago, the Peak Master of Moon Lake Peak managed to cultivate this formula only after receiving a fortunate reward from the Immortal Mansion. Ever since his death, no one has succeeded in mastering it."
Li Chijing had heard a little about that Immortal Mansion—rumored to be a colossal power spanning several kingdoms, though it had not shown itself in hundreds of years. Suppressing a quiet sigh, he nodded and offered his thanks: "So that is how it is. Many thanks for clarifying, Senior Brother!"
***
Lu Jiangxian's divine sense extended from the surface of the mirror, watching the child currently practicing the Reception Method.
A faint white luminescence hovered above the boy's head, roughly seven inches long, gleaming with a soft, delicate radiance.
*The boy's compatibility with the Xuanzhu talisman seed is fairly good. I wonder what his cultivation aptitude will be like, though.*
As Lu Jiangxian withdrew his divine sense from Li Xuanxuan, he felt a sudden, violent jolt within his soul. His vision blurred, and a disc as pure and white as jade seemed to rise before him. Realization struck him at once:
*That boy Li Chijing broke through to the Yujing Wheel!*
A profound, unfathomable force traversed tens of thousands of li along the connection between the Xuanzhu talisman seeds, softly sinking into the greyish-green mirror resting on the stone pedestal. Lu Jiangxian felt his spirit lighten as a streamer of moon-white light surfaced.
Originally, Li Tongya and Li Xiangping's breakthroughs had fed small trickles of power back into Lu Jiangxian's mirror. Combined with Li Chijing's successive advances, and now drawing on the feedback from his breakthrough to the Yujing Wheel, Lu Jiangxian had finally condensed the Taiyin Mysterious Light.
*This mysterious light roughly carries the power of a full-force strike from the Yujing Wheel realm, yet its attack range is immense, even exceeding the current reach of my divine sense.*
Having mastered this light, Lu Jiangxian found that his divine sense had expanded to cover the entirety of Lijing Village. Thrilled, he felt the mirror's body grow slightly warm, and a faint sense of attraction once again surfaced in his mind.
*With my divine sense expanded, I can perceive things even farther away!*
Lu Jiangxian carefully sensed the direction and pondered:
*It still seems to be out across Lake Wangyue, only much farther than before. Should I hint to the Li family to go take a look?*
*No.* Lu Jiangxian checked himself, thinking silently:
*Judging by the location, it seems to be in the market on the lake. Better to wait until the two Li brothers have reached the Yujing Wheel before going to investigate.*
The door creaked open, and Li Mutian entered the room alongside the two brothers. Li Xiangping patted Li Xuanxuan on the shoulder and said gravely, "Are you ready?"
"I am!" Li Xuanxuan nodded vigorously, returning the wooden slip to Li Xiangping's hands.
Li Mutian watched Li Xiangping put away the slip before reverently placing the mirror onto the table and lighting several sticks of incense.
"Li family descendant Li Xuanxuan respectfully petitions the wondrous Xuanming Dharma to command my destiny and settle my spirit as I receive the Dao and cultivate."
"I shall render merit in due season, never betraying this pledge of faith; as this talisman is consumed in flame, my mortal form offers gratitude to Taiyin."
The moment Li Xuanxuan finished speaking, Lu Jiangxian activated the formula. Radiant, colorful light flared on the mirror's surface, waxing and waning like a breath, before abruptly spitting out a white sphere.
Li Xuanxuan hurried to sit cross-legged, guiding the formula to receive the talisman seed.
"Liu Rouxuan reached the Xuan Scenery last night, and in another few months Xuanxuan should achieve it as well. Counted up, our Li family will soon have six cultivators," Li Tongya said softly, glancing toward Li Xuanxuan on the floor as he turned to pull the door firmly shut.
"Two Zhouxing Wheels, three Xuanjing Wheels, and Chijing at the immortal sect should have already reached the Yujing Wheel." Li Xiangping looked at the greyish-green mirror overflowing with radiant hues on the table and continued, "Our main family still lacks cultivators of higher cultivation. Never mind Ji Dengqi, who is in Qi Refinement; even the neighboring Wan family possesses peak Yujing Wheel cultivators."
"Only when a cultivator reaches the Yujing Wheel and awakens spiritual sense can they refine pills, craft artifacts, lay formations, and use storage bags—and only then is entering markets safe."
As Lu Jiangxian listened to their conversation, his divine sense suddenly twitched. He faintly detected an unfamiliar aura arriving from the west, prowling and circling not far away.
Lu Jiangxian's perception was divided into two tiers. The first tier was called visual sense, which had an immense range, vaguely covering the Li family's entire sphere of influence from Lichuankou to Lidaokou. This visual sense was equivalent to a mortal's "looking"; it could only observe and gather broad images, but the advantage was that this probing generally went undetected. Even Si Yuanbai, back when he was at Foundation Establishment, had never realized he was being observed.
The other tier was divine sense, which could cover roughly Lijing Village, equivalent to a mortal's "touching." Within this range, Lu Jiangxian could use divine sense to thoroughly scan an entire person, but depending on the relative strength of the two parties, the target would feel a distinct sense of being watched. Likewise, within the range of his divine sense, he could unleash the Taiyin Mysterious Light to strike enemies.
Now, his visual sense perceived that this aura had roughly the strength of the Yujing Wheel, furtively lingering near Lichuankou. Feeling an inkling of unease, he thought to himself:
*Why would a cultivator at the Yujing Wheel realm be lingering around here... Better to alert the Li family.*
With a shift of his thought, silvery-white moonlight surged forth from the mirror's surface, gathering into strands of moon-white silk that coalesced in midair.
This sudden transformation startled Li Tongya and the others considerably. Seeing the silver light constantly converging in the air, they exchanged bewildered glances.
Li Mutian narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Don't panic. Look closely first."
"It seems to be a map of our Li family's lands," Li Tongya said, rubbing his chin with some hesitation.
Sure enough, the moonlight gradually condensed into a brilliant white map. The villages of Lichuan, Lidao, and Jingyang were all clearly depicted, extraordinarily exquisite. Yet on the map, only Lichuankou pulsed with silver light continuously.
"Lichuankou?" Li Xiangping muttered to himself.
***
Having managed affairs in Lichuankou for several years, Chen Erniu had put on a layer of weight and grown a beard along his chin, finally looking unlike an ordinary peasant.
Having tallied the field accounts for the day and mediated the dispute between the two brothers over their plots, he stretched out comfortably on the couch and began planning tomorrow's itinerary.
*Those few plots east of the village are fairly decent. Tomorrow I'll dispatch a few men to clear them and lay claim to more ground.*
Lichuankou and Lidaokou bordered each other closely, but unlike the other adjacent pair, Lijing Village and Jingyang Village, there was no administrative hierarchy between them. Naturally, it fell upon a manager like him to vigorously contest every matter on reasoned grounds.
That Xu Wenshan had wanted to open a trade route, but who would have thought the Wan family would lose even Guli Road to the Ji family? With the eastward path cut off, Xu Wenshan had been terribly irritable for the past few months, picking fights with Chen Erniu over every little thing.
*What a nuisance.*
Just as he was thinking this, Chen Erniu heard a loud clamor outside. His eldest son, overcome with panic, burst inside in a frantic rush, crying out at the top of his lungs:
"Father, it's terrible! Father! Someone's dead at the village entrance!"
Chen Erniu sprang from the couch at once, blurting out, "What?"
Chapter 39