Li Qinghong settled down and recounted in detail everything that had happened over the years. Li Xuanfeng listened by her side, then said softly, "I was away from home all these years and couldn't help with anything. It has been hard on all of you."
With that, he lightly brushed his dark-gold, tiger-faced belt, and a shimmering jade slip appeared in his palm. He said, "This is an art of talismans I obtained in the Southern Border. Take it back for your Eldest Uncle to study. The State of Yue is well-suited for the study of talismans, and our family can strive to make greater progress along this path."
Li Qinghong took it and voiced her thanks, though she was puzzled by his words. "The State of Yue is suited for cultivating talismans… This is the first Qinghong has heard of it."
Li Xuanfeng paused slightly, then lowered his voice. "This is not something to discuss lightly, but fortunately we are inside my cave dwelling. It is likely because the Qingchi Sect's True Monarch holds the Lushui divine fruit, which is closely tied to the Dao of talismans. Since his Dao grounds are in the State of Yue, the realm produces talismans in great abundance."
Without his mentioning it, she would never have realized, but now that he pointed it out, Li Qinghong indeed recognized that nearly everyone in the State of Yue knew a few talismans. Talismans were everywhere. While profound masters were just as rare as elsewhere, they were vastly more numerous than masters of alchemy and artifact crafting. Even rogue cultivators kept a few bottom-of-the-trunk talismans at the ready.
Li Qinghong nodded silently. This reminded her of the True Monarch she had glimpsed earlier by the sea, but she hesitated and held her tongue.
'Rumor has it that the one from the Xiuyue Sect is foremost among the Three Sects, so his divine abilities must be even more terrifying. Since I don't know where the boundaries lie… it's better not to speak of it! No sense courting trouble.'
Looking at the jade slip Li Xuanfeng had handed her, she saw faint brushwork on its surface spelling four words: *Notes on Shangya*. The author was Chen Gao of Mount Douxuan, and it recorded various extended applications of the talisman arts.
'Mount Douxuan must also be an ancient sect.'
Li Qinghong skimmed through it and noticed that the end contained methods for crafting talisman swords. Only then did she understand Li Xuanfeng's intention, nodding in agreement. "Indeed. Our family has many sword cultivators. We can forge some talisman swords for the younger generations to pass down through the ages and anchor the clan's fortune."
Li Xuanfeng nodded. He then retrieved two jade bottles, one large and one small. The larger bottle was cyan-blue, with liquid seemingly swirling inside, while the smaller one was the standard size for holding pills. He explained, "These are Yuwa Stone Liquid and Changmu Spirit Pills, used to assist Foundation Establishment cultivation. There are five portions of Yuwa Stone Liquid and ten Changmu Spirit Pills. Using these two items in cultivation will be of great benefit to advancing your cultivation."
A small portion of these items had been obtained from the Southern Border, while most had been saved by him over the years. Placing them on the table, he said softly, "If there is anything else the family needs, take the time to look around the market, and I will procure it all for you."
Li Qinghong looked at the two jade bottles on the table and reached out to take them. The Yuwa Stone Liquid was a pale cyan, translucent, sparkling fluid, while the Changmu Spirit Pills were dark indigo, ten in total.
She gently tilted the small bottle, letting one pill roll into her palm. Inspecting it closely, she examined the patterns on its surface and probed it with her spiritual sense before finally replying, "Second Uncle… these are vital-blood pills."
"What?"
Li Xuanfeng paused slightly. Li Qinghong gathered her thoughts and whispered, "Uncle… these pills… were refined from vital blood. This practice is now rampant both inland and overseas, yet shrouded in total secrecy. Day after day, year after year, Qingchi gathers vital blood largely for this very purpose…"
She recounted the full story from beginning to end. Li Xuanfeng listened in silence, not speaking for a long time. Only after a while did he exhale a heavy breath.
"I learned all sorts of news in the Southern Border, yet this was the one thing I never knew… It shows just how tightly the Qingchi Sect controls information within its city walls…"
His gaze swept over the two jade bottles. Waving his hand, he said quietly, "The Yuwa Stone Liquid is fine to use. As for these Changmu Spirit Pills, I will have Ning Heyuan trade them away."
Li Qinghong nodded, and finally asked about the Ning family. The matter was rather sensitive, so she kept her eyes lowered and murmured, "Can the Ning family… be trusted?"
Li Xuanfeng paused before answering, "Not completely, but they can be relied upon as backing. The Ning and Chi families are not as intimate as the outside world believes. The Ning family holds tremendous influence within the Qingchi Sect. If our family wishes to swallow Wangyue, we must have the support of the Ning family and True Person Yuansu!"
"I inquired within the sect about Yuanwu Peak. True Person Yuanwu values Yu Muxian greatly, even giving him his daughter in marriage. If this matter cannot be covered up in the end… we will also have to bear Yuanwu's wrath."
Li Qinghong understood he was referring to Yu Muxian. She sighed, "We may not even be a match for him, let alone dealing with True Person Yuanwu afterward. Elder Brother takes this matter very seriously. He only hopes to lure him out and resolve it by his own hand, rather than letting it drag out until Yu Muxian attains the Violet Palace…"
"It will probably be very difficult to lure him out."
Li Xuanfeng shook his head. "I asked Hemian about him. That man is entirely dedicated to immortal cultivation, devoid of desire or affection. He holds nothing in his heart except the pursuit of immortality; everything else is merely baggage, and he observes no taboos… His cultivation technique leads straight to the Violet Palace, so he will not leave the sect without cause."
"His Foundation Establishment art is an ancient art, agonizingly painful to cultivate. At every moment, golden blades circulate through his meridians, and over the past century, he is the only one who has mastered it… Rumor has it he is calm to the point of cruelty, and he possesses a technique to refine dharma artifacts with soul blood, having amassed quite a formidable foundation."
Listening attentively, Li Qinghong heard Li Xuanfeng recount several tales circulating within the sect regarding Yu Muxian. A clear image of the man gradually took shape in her mind, and worry tinged her expression.
'A seeker of the Dao who is devoid of emotion, detached, and utterly rational… is the hardest kind of opponent to deal with…'
Seeing her look, Li Xuanfeng said in a deep voice, "You don't need to worry. I will have my subordinates dig deeper. Stay here for a few months, and when the time comes, take me to see Yuanjiao as well."
"Alright."
Li Qinghong agreed naturally. She had several matters to attend to on this trip: first, calculating the days to collect lightning, and second, venturing to the Qunyi Strait to investigate that grotto-heaven. She spoke up, "I only fear alerting the enemy."
"No matter," Li Xuanfeng answered. "The Yu family and ours bear an old feud. In the eyes of others, making inquiries about him is only natural."
Hearing this, Li Qinghong added, "Could Second Uncle also please ask Ning Heyuan about something? Our family discovered a couple of treasures, and it is most suitable for an elder to broach the subject."
Their clan had discovered an underground river in the mountain ranges of Dajueting, alongside a red ore the size of a table and chairs, covered in white veins, accompanied by a golden stone flake. They had no idea what kind of treasures these were.
Li Qinghong did not know the grade of these treasures and feared that asking carelessly might create future trouble. She thought it wiser for Li Xuanfeng to ask. After all, with a Violet Palace backing him, there would be room to maneuver no matter what treasures they turned out to be.
After hearing her description, Li Xuanfeng nodded. With a shift of his spiritual sense, a man promptly stepped forward—it was none other than the eldest son of the Ning family, Ning Dingbo. Li Xuanfeng waved a hand and said, "Go invite Ning Heyuan over."
Ning Heyuan's grand hall was very close by, and the man soon strode into the room, smiling and greeting them both. Li Xuanfeng nodded slightly and asked, "What movements have there been from Yuanwu Peak in recent years?"
Ning Heyuan was taken aback for a moment before a look of realization dawned on him. He replied, "Brother-in-law, Yuanwu Peak cultivates the metal attribute. As for the matter of Qingsong Temple… it is said that True Person Yuanwu is quite interested."
'It really does tie back to Qingsong Temple!'
Li Qinghong's heart settled, while Li Xuanfeng reminisced for a few breaths before saying gravely, "If I remember correctly… Qingsong Temple was renowned for Dui Metal and Fire Virtue… Most of what lies within its ruins should be cultivation methods, right?"
"Precisely," Ning Heyuan said softly. "There are actually many ancient arts within the temple, but the techniques of Dui Metal and Fire Virtue are from a more recent era and the most numerous. Most of them can still be cultivated, making them the most coveted."
"And that ruin is only waiting for a few specific individuals to open it. All the sects are making preparations."
Li Xuanfeng had heard vague rumors of this, but he had never looked into it deeply and knew little. He said in a low voice, "Tell us the whole story from start to finish."
"Very well." Ning Heyuan nodded and began to explain in detail.
"This matter begins with 'Blazing Fire Spear' Chu Yi."
"The True Monarch of the Luoxia Grotto-Heaven possesses vast divine powers and thoroughly comprehends the profound mysteries of heaven and earth. His fruit position entered the mortal world, reincarnating as a human and making his way north. Though minor cultivators like us had no idea of his purpose, we witnessed many anomalies born from the void at the same time, stirring countless karmic mandates."
He spoke in rather cryptic terms, but feeling that his words fell short of his meaning, he stated bluntly, "That is to say, when the True Monarch's reincarnation descended into the mortal world, numerous supporting characters, big and small, were born to complement him, rising up across the lands. Endowed with karmic mandates, they were the favored darlings of heaven."
'So that was how Xu Xiao came to be…'
Li Qinghong realized in an instant that Xu Xiao, Tu Longjian, and the others were originally merely supporting characters in the True Monarch's script. A great deal became clear to her. Ning Heyuan continued:
"In the end, the True Monarch's reincarnation returned to Mount Luoxia in an offhand manner, leaving this crowd of destiny's chosen wandering south and north of the river, stirring up all sorts of turmoil."
Li Xuanfeng frowned slightly and asked, "Could the True Persons tell them apart?"
Li Xuanfeng believed that, given the nature of the Three Sects and Seven Gates, such individuals were rare, top-grade materials. At the very least, they were sharp blades to be used, and the sects would never let them slip by.
Ning Heyuan gave a wry smile and murmured, "Even the True Persons couldn't recognize them. They only knew that a batch of such people had arisen among the common folk."
"Though the True Persons couldn't identify them directly, nine times out of ten, those who stood out from the crowd were the ones bearing karmic mandates. The sect paid close attention to several of them… recording every one of them in the sect archives."
Pausing there, he smiled. "That Xu Xiao of your noble clan is likely one of that kind, and he just happened to form a bond with Chijiao Island…"
Seeing that neither of them seemed eager to dwell on that matter, he tactfully glossed over it and said softly, "Qingsong Temple sits on an island, and entering or leaving that temple has always depended on the word 'affinity.' How could the True Persons tolerate such uncertainty?"
"Later, True Person Tianyuan of the Jinyu Sect took the lead, deciding to herd this group together and find a way to dump them all onto Qingsong Island. Their destinies are naturally entangled with one another; after ten days to half a month, one of them is bound to open the grotto-heaven."
"The Qingsong Temple grotto-heaven cannot accommodate the Violet Palace, so the direct disciples of the various Violet Palace masters need only wait for the right moment to file inside."
Only then did Li Xuanfeng and Li Qinghong understand. The many scattered events before and after gradually linked together. Li Qinghong frowned and asked, "Then… why not take these people of destiny into the sects… send them out under the name of sect disciples, and formally accept them into the ranks afterward?"
Ning Heyuan looked somewhat awkward and whispered, "These people… are to be carved up together by the True Persons afterward… Putting the sect's name on them would look terrible. Besides, taking them into a sect requires bestowing dharma artifacts. If they are left to roam as rogue cultivators, they will instead discover many grotto-dwellings, large and small, and the artifacts on them won't be any worse… In the end, the sect gets a free haul…"
"So that's how it is… What a… splendid scheme."
Li Qinghong fell silent. This host of destiny's chosen were riding high and enjoying their glory on the surface, but who could have guessed that they would ultimately be guided into a fight to the death on Qingsong Island, falling entirely into the grasp of the Violet Palace masters and serving merely as keys to unlock the ruins? She could only shake her head in silence.
Ning Heyuan let out a breath and said softly, "This isn't the first time such a thing has happened… It was originally the reward promised to Jiangnan by the Luoxia Immortal Sect…"
With everything laid bare, the scattered clues had all become clear. Li Xuanfeng paused, then said in a low voice, "It seems karmic mandates still have their limits… unable to contend with the divine abilities of the Violet Palace… Since you say this has happened more than once, has no one ever managed to escape?"
"Nothing is absolute… Naturally, someone did."
Ning Heyuan let out a laugh. "Two hundred years ago, what the Violet Palace masters of Jiangnan sought to open was the Douxuan Grotto-Heaven on the Qunyi Strait. One child of destiny actually bewitched a fairy from an immortal sect, saw through the hidden schemes behind it all, joined hands with another bearer of destiny, and penetrated deep into the grotto-heaven. Relying on courage and his karmic mandate, he made a clean getaway."
"That man was named Guo Shentong, the current master of Chijiao Island, and his Dao companion is Fairy Tianwan of the Jinyu Sect. As for the one who joined hands with him, his original name can no longer be traced, but his Daoist title was Changxiao."
He gave them both a deep look and said softly, "He secluded himself overseas, quietly cultivated to the Violet Palace, and returned to Jiangnan openly and honorably to establish a sect—the very Changxiao Gate of Jiangnan today!"
This revelation carried immense weight, leaving both of them utterly speechless. Even Li Xuanfeng raised an eyebrow, showing a flicker of disbelief. Li Qinghong asked in astonishment, "Then those two sects… regarding the matter of Qingsong Temple… did they step in to stop it?"
"In the matter of Qingsong Temple, those two sects are also taking part today."
Ning Heyuan wore a mocking smile and murmured, "When profit is at stake, who would stand in its way? Should they set these children of destiny free, only for them to follow in their footsteps, establish sects, achieve the Violet Palace, and squeeze their own living space? Naturally, the two True Persons would never agree."
Ning Heyuan laughed. "I only heard from my uncles that those two… are the most wary of children of destiny among all the Violet Palace masters! True Person Changxiao resides inland, so I won't speak on what I don't know well. But True Person Guo alone has personally crushed two. He took action himself, using the power of the Violet Palace to ruthlessly batter those two clamoring Embryonic Breathing youths until their bodies and spirits were utterly extinguished."
He spoke as if telling a joke, yet with a hint of schadenfreude, unaware of the envy in his own tone. He chuckled, "I saw it with my own eyes that year. That Embryonic Breathing youth had just relied on his karmic mandate to overcome all difficulties and was preparing to flee the inland realm, when True Person Guo tore through the Great Void and descended, combining his divine ability with a sixth-grade spell. He gave the boy no chance at all, exterminating all nine degrees of his kinship."
Ning Heyuan shrugged. "Having achieved his divine abilities through karmic mandate, he understands the power of destiny better than anyone. How could he be careless? He would never let them off…"
Chapter 445