Following Shen Yanqing down to a small mountaintop, Li Qinghong saw an old man wearing a bamboo conical hat, his long, slender beard snow-white, holding a fishing rod that dangled into the sea of clouds.
Li Qinghong shifted her gaze slightly. 'Old Man by the Creek' was the very first Violet Palace lifebound divine ability the Li family had ever encountered, leaving a deep impression on her. The sight of a fishing rod made her somewhat uncomfortable, so she looked away. The old man before her spoke first:
"Who goes there?"
Shen Yanqing pursed her lips in a smile, saving him face before an outsider, and said, "Senior Lingyanzi, guests from the Li family have arrived!"
"Oh!"
Lingyanzi leaped up on the spot, the fishing rod in his hand striking the ground with a clatter. With a flick of his sleeve, he put it away, grumbling in disappointment, "And here I thought an actual disciple had come knocking at my door."
"Li Qinghong of Qingdu greets Senior."
Li Qinghong cupped her hands in salute. Lingyanzi was now at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm. He raised his brows to glance at her, remarking with a tinge of regret, "Fellow Daoist Tongya's passing is truly a pity. I was in seclusion cultivating at the time and couldn't pay my respects. By the time I broke through my seclusion, I was no longer allowed to leave the sect at will... What a profound shame."
Whether this was a mere excuse or heartfelt sentiment, Li Qinghong gently acknowledged it first. Shen Yanqing tactfully took her leave, and Lingyanzi guided Li Qinghong inside. Sitting down together, he smiled and said, "Back then, your family saved my life, and that memory remains fresh in my mind even today. Who would have thought that seventy or eighty years would flash by, and even his descendant has reached Foundation Establishment."
Lingyanzi peered closely at her, and his expression suddenly twisted. He hastily sprang up to shut the doors of the immortal's cave before asking with palpable trepidation, "Fellow Daoist... bah... Qinghong, is what you cultivate the *Purple Lightning Secret Origin Method*?!"
Perplexed, Li Qinghong replied, "Indeed it is."
Lingyanzi was instantly terrified. He asked with utmost caution, "This cultivation method... have you told anyone it came from me?!"
Li Qinghong answered in a low voice, "Naturally, I would not speak of such a matter carelessly... Senior, what is the meaning of this...?"
"That's good! That's good!"
Lingyanzi exhaled a long breath and whispered, "If anyone ever brings it up, you must never, ever say it came from me! It would be the death of me!"
Li Qinghong stared at him, immediately sensing that something was amiss. She pressed in a heavy tone, "What is the truth behind this method? I ask Senior to speak plainly!"
Lingyanzi let out a mournful sigh. "You have no idea... Back then, I was ignorant and naive, completely unaware of the sheer weight of Leiyun Temple."
He slowly recounted the tale:
"Back then, I was only at mid-stage Qi Refinement, a commoner with no background in the sect. Wanting to seek out a fortuitous opportunity of my own, I recklessly set out for the Eastern Sea. I wandered the waters, heading southeast all the way until I unexpectedly reached the Qunyi Strait.
"At that time, I ventured deep into an undersea ruin, and somehow tripped an unknown mechanism, stumbling right into a grotto-heaven!"
"Ah?"
Li Qinghong was taken aback, looking at him with suspicion. Lingyanzi snapped in exasperation, "Don't look at me like that! I have no great destiny upon me! It was pure coincidence.
"That grotto-heaven was filled with lightning everywhere. Back then, I didn't even know it was a grotto-heaven. Timid as a mouse, I dared not touch anything, only scavenging a few scraps from a nearby pavilion before hastily fleeing."
His face was filled with remorse as he muttered, "Stupid! Too stupid! I've bottled this up in my heart for nearly a century, never daring to tell a soul, never daring... not even the Real Persons."
Li Qinghong nodded, doubts lingering in her mind, and asked softly, "Senior could deceive a Real Person?"
"Let me finish."
Lingyanzi shook his head and whispered, "After emerging from Qunyi, I flew all the way into the heart of the State of Yue, where I ran into those two fools from outside lineages in Changxiao Gate. They set their sights on my Ziyan Spiritual Shroud and pursued me relentlessly... They nearly ran me ragged.
"Later, your grandfather and I killed them and disposed of their corpses. When I rode the wind back to the sect and inquired, I learned that while barely a few months had passed inside the grotto-heaven, ten whole years had elapsed outside!"
Li Qinghong fell silent in astonishment. Lingyanzi gave a bitter smile and continued in a hushed voice, "What was even more terrifying was that no one could divine my fate anymore. Thus, the Changxiao Gate incident simply faded away, and nothing was ever traced back to me.
"Real Person Zimu personally attempted a divination, yet he couldn't divine my whereabouts in the slightest. His Reverence said I was entangled with a high cultivator and could not even question me using divine abilities. In the end, he could only keep me confined to the sect, whiling away my days in boredom on this mountain."
Li Qinghong watched him intently, pondering his words, and said in a low voice, "So Senior means... aside from you and a few members of my family, not a single person knows the origins of the *Purple Lightning Secret Origin Method* I practice, nor has anyone else cultivated it."
"Precisely..."
Having unburdened his heart, Lingyanzi looked considerably relieved, though he still smiled bitterly. "I dared not speak of it to the Real Person. His divine abilities are formidable; if he found out I was connected to a grotto-heaven, wouldn't he skin me alive and swallow me whole? I could only drag it out day after day."
Li Qinghong looked at him, then grew thoughtful. Her eyes swept across the empty corners of the cave, and a sudden shiver ran down her spine. In a low, tense voice, she said, "Senior, since you know the Real Person pays close attention to you, and now that an old acquaintance has come to visit... how can you be sure the Real Person hasn't crossed the Great Void to enter this formation, hiding himself to listen in on our conversation...?"
Lingyanzi froze, his aged eyes staring wide at her. A few dry chuckles hitched in his throat before he gasped, "Eh?... Ah!"
In an instant, the old man broke out in a cold sweat. His face fell, and he frantically waved his hands. "No, no! I'm easily frightened, don't scare me like that!
"Something happened in the Eastern Sea, and the Real Persons have all rushed there! Otherwise, how would I ever dare to speak of this? Besides, if the Real Person knew, would the two of us still be sitting here in peace? He would have revealed himself and arrested me long ago.
"Furthermore, the Real Person doesn't actually value me that much... Cases like mine aren't entirely unheard of. Compared to that shit-stirrer Liu Changdie, I'm like a firefly next to the bright moon. In the early years, he watched me closely, but now he assumes I merely crossed paths with some Golden Core cultivator by chance, and he has gradually forgotten all about me."
Li Tongya had repeatedly stressed the matter of Liu Changdie. Even though the Li family had not understood destiny back then, they knew that man was extraordinary, so Li Qinghong was not particularly surprised. Wiping the sweat from her brow, her almond eyes flickered as she looked back from the empty corners of the cave, murmuring:
"Senior truly dumped a massive mess onto my family... If anything goes wrong with you, I'm afraid I will be dragged down with you."
The temptation of a thunder art grotto-heaven was immense—enough for the Real Persons of Ziyan Gate to disregard any background behind the Li family. They might even coordinate with Xiao Chuting, pulling him in to share a slice of the spoils and divide the thunder grotto-heaven among themselves.
As for Li Qinghong, who cultivated this secret method, and Lingyanzi, who had visited the grotto-heaven, the best possible outcome would be surviving unharmed. Li Qinghong might rely on Xiao Chuting to gain a tiny scrap of benefit, but the risk she would bear was boundless.
If that group of Violet Palace cultivators sought a way to open the grotto-heaven, Li Qinghong and Lingyanzi would be trapped at the heart of the storm. Knowing how perilous that would be left lingering dread in their hearts. Lingyanzi shut his mouth, and Li Qinghong remained silent. The two looked at each other, not daring to utter another word.
After taking a few breaths to steady herself, Li Qinghong lowered her voice: "This thunder art came into my hands purely by chance due to the destiny upon my grandfather... When he saved Senior all those years ago, all he received were a few spirit stones and a medallion permitting our clan's descendants to join Ziyan Gate."
"Yes, yes, yes, exactly, exactly."
Lingyanzi nodded profusely, bowing and scraping like a junior. "Qinghong speaks the truth!"
Chapter 438