Li Yuexiang knelt in front, weeping uncontrollably. Li Xijun stood in the courtyard, the Hanyuan sword at his waist glowing quietly. His eyes were faintly red, his gaze circling over the shattered jade upon the floor.
A flurry of thoughts surfaced in Li Xijun's mind, drifting past one by one, until what appeared before him was unexpectedly Li Xuanxuan's aged face.
The lamps within the ancestral hall flickered. Li Yuexiang wept softly. As a gentle breeze stirred, Li Xijun revealed an exceedingly complex expression. He took a step back, turned, and left the ancestral hall. The heavy rain pattered down, gathering into streams beside his feet. Li Xijun took flight upon the wind, alighting before the Dan Pavilion. Tucking both hands into his sleeves, he stepped onto the stone stairs.
The courtyard before the pavilion was deserted and pitch-black. The only light came from the furnace fire within the main hall, casting jumping shadows upon the ground. Li Ximing sat upright before the pill furnace, forming hand seals, and looked up at him.
Li Xijun waved his hand without speaking. Only when Li Ximing finished refining the pill and stowed the furnace did Li Xijun take a step forward.
"Second Uncle's life jade has shattered," Li Xijun said softly.
Still immersed in his study of the pill formula, Li Ximing was instantly stunned. Looking up in disbelief, his voice broke. "This… that… how could this be!"
Li Xijun covered his face and retreated. Hearing Li Ximing's panicked cries behind him, he gently raised his head. The lamps on the auxiliary Fu Peak were still flickering.
The night was deep, yet Li Xuanxuan had not rested. Li Xijun could hardly bring himself to face Li Xuanxuan—to tell the old man that his last surviving son had also perished in the family's affairs.
"Let's delay it… delay it for now… Perhaps there is still a turn of events."
***
With Li Yuanjiao's death and the dissipation of his immortal foundation, the might of that Violet Palace spirit artifact soon swept over. Li Yuanjiao's body gradually vanished in Li Xuanfeng's hands, turning into azure rain that fell from the sky.
The phenomenon within the grotto-heaven was faint and subtle. The pale azure rain drifted for a time and soon dispersed, leaving only gray clouds fading away.
When a Foundation Establishment cultivator dies, their body usually returns to heaven and earth. In Jiangnan, there was a custom of burying loved ones, substituting their bodies with the spiritual items they left behind. Li Xuanfeng stood by and watched, his hands behind his back.
Li Xuanfeng's hands were empty now, leaving behind only a long sword, a jade bottle, and a plain black-patterned storage bag. Beside his wrist quietly lay a white jade buckle shaped like a small boat, exquisite, delicate, and unstained by blood.
He hung these three items at his waist, took out a jade box from his storage bag, and moved his lips. The azure rain in the sky immediately gathered into the box, coalescing into a box of azure-gray spiritual water that sloshed gently.
He watched in silence as he put away the jade box. The bleeding from Li Xuanfeng's hands had already stopped. Fastening the Qingchi Sword at his waist, he stood in a daze for a moment. Then he rode the wind downward, finding Xiao Yongling's corpse atop a mountain ridge.
Xiao Yongling had died the moment he was struck, his remains broken into two pieces. Sharp, fine golden needles flowed out from his meridians, littering the ground in bright, pine-needle-like gold.
Li Xuanfeng removed the feather robe. Xiao Yongling's lower abdomen was faintly heaving, covered in threads of blood. His once ethereal countenance was now like a fish sliced a thousand times, exposing raw red flesh. In his newly split eyes lingered bewilderment; his lips were slightly parted, drenched in blood.
"Back then during the slaughter of Lixia, you and Ruyu gave chase together, righteously slaying the people of the Situ family. It seems like only yesterday. In the blink of an eye, several decades have passed, and you are already vastly different."
Xiao Yongling continued hoarsely, "Back then, I only thought your sharpness was too exposed, too eager for glory and short-tempered, bound to suffer for it. I even thought of mentioning it to Tongya. But looking at you today, you surpass Ruyu in every way. It was my short-sightedness that made a laughingstock of myself."
"The affairs of the past are like a bronze mirror sunk in water, worn by sand and stone, hazy and obscure when looked upon again. Now thinking of the next life, it can hardly be hoped for!"
A muffled sound echoed from Xiao Yongling's abdomen. With the dissipation of the Gold Dissolving Cave, various magical artifacts emerged from his belly, leaping out one after another and tumbling in the pool of blood.
The magical artifacts ranged from peak Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment grade, none particularly remarkable, save for three shields and nine golden shuttles, which formed complete sets and were exceptionally precious.
Xiao Yongling's feather robe had suffered two piercing blows during the battle, shredded into tattered fragments. Clutched within the remnant sleeve was a pale purple circular object—some unknown trump card that he never managed to unleash before his death.
With a sweep of his sleeve, Li Xuanfeng collected the shattered feather robe along with that jade buckle in one breath. He then used his magic power to draw Xiao Yongling's storage bag, probing it with his spiritual sense to find it tightly sealed.
From the distance came clanging sounds. Tu Longjian, clad in white, slowly descended. Beside him, the black-red medallion was suppressing a gold ring, which trembled incessantly in the air, burned red-hot.
He stoked the flames. The two Violet Palace spirit artifacts clashed in the sky for several breaths until the Halting Warfare gold ring finally relented, puffing white smoke and ejecting a golden bead.
"Senior, your item is still inside this gold ring."
Li Xuanfeng glanced at it, only then recalling that his earlier first arrow had been caught by the gold ring, ground down by the spirit artifact, tempered by the combined fire and mu-fire, and struck by various spells until it was forged into this shape.
"Many thanks to Fellow Daoist for your devoted help. This person's storage bag is here, unopened."
Tu Longjian hesitated briefly, then opened the storage bag. Bading Combined Fire flared up, casually wiping away the restrictions and hidden contingencies upon it. He retrieved a jade box from the storage bag and tucked it into his pouch, took several other items, and handed the bag back. Li Xuanfeng then passed it to Lin Chensheng, saying softly, "Many thanks, Senior. Please select a few items to serve as slight compensation."
Lin Chensheng looked and said no more. Hesitantly, he gathered two magical artifacts from the ground, then looked into the storage bag. Pushing the storage bag over, Lin Chensheng retrieved a bright golden halberd and presented it with both hands, saying softly, "Earlier, the halberd Tang Shedu favored should return to its original owner."
Lin Chensheng pointed to the storage bag itself, noting it was a hot potato.
That halberd was an item of the ancient State of Wei; to say it returned to its original owner was not unreasonable. Li Xuanfeng accepted it on behalf of the Li family. Glancing briefly at Lin Chensheng, he took nothing else, but brought out the pale purple circular object from earlier and asked, "Could this item be a Violet Palace talisman slip?"
Lin Chensheng paused, unsure of how to answer, and could only say softly, "This item is not suitable for you to keep. Leave it to me."
Tu Longjian said softly, "I only hope to obtain this item to anchor my clan's destiny. The remaining items, I shall not take."
Seeing both of them nod, Tu Longjian said, "Regarding Senior Yuanjiao's matter, Longjian deeply regrets it. If Longjian is fortunate enough to escape alive and find a foothold in the East Sea, I will eventually rebuild Tujun Gate. One day I will come to pay my respects, exchange techniques, and fulfill the Tujun legacy. Two Seniors, I still have important matters to attend to and cannot accompany you out of the boundary. Please forgive me."
Li Xuanfeng was not aware of any deep ties between his family and Tujun Gate, assuming this was merely the reason Tu Longjian had lent a hand. Accepting on his family's behalf, he said in a deep voice, "I am not clear on the details. Perhaps it was Yuanjiao's personal fortune, but the juniors of our family will know your name hereafter and sweep the couch to welcome you."
Both Li Xuanfeng and Lin Chensheng knew that Tu Longjian exiting so openly would certainly land him in the hands of a Violet Palace, and both bade him farewell. Tu Longjian hesitated a moment, answered, offered words of condolence, and departed like a whirlwind into the horizon, sinking into the deep sea of clouds.
The wound on Tu Longjian's abdomen had remained. He had stood on no ceremony, taking precious herbs and spirit pills from the storage bag to swallow, and had applied several healing ointments to Li Xuanfeng's injured hands.
"My condolences..."
Li Xuanfeng waved his hand, grief flashing in his eyes for only an instant before turning into deep endurance. Lin Chensheng looked carefully at his face, saying softly, "The affairs of the past are like a bronze mirror sunk in water, worn by sand and stone, hazy and obscure when looked upon again. Now thinking of the next life, it can hardly be hoped for!"
Xiao Yongling's belongings were indeed high quality; Li Xuanfeng's flesh regrew at a speed visible to the naked eye. Though wounds remained on his hands, they were no longer as shocking as before.
Within the grotto-heaven, there was no alternation of day and night. Li Xuanfeng and the others regulated their breath for several days, each recovering somewhat, before opening their eyes. Although they sat upon the peak, their expressions were heavy. The turn of events had exceeded expectations, leaving them hesitant to speak, until a rumbling commotion resonated through heaven and earth, clouds rising and falling like tides.
"The grotto-heaven is closing!"
The remaining two took flight upon the wind, only to find everything around them slowly fading, the stars in the sky rapidly receding. Lin Chensheng waited a moment, finally unable to restrain himself, and said softly, "Dispel Cloud's traces cannot be found; it has already fled."
Li Xuanfeng shook his head deeply, in no mood to pursue the conversation. Just as he wanted to say a few polite words, Lin Chensheng suddenly drifted away, vanishing cleanly from head to toe as the stars, clouds, and mountain ranges all faded into the distance.
***
Qingsong Island.
Compared to the mostly restrained skirmishes inside the grotto-heaven, rogue cultivators had gathered together, locked in chaotic combat, slaughtering and looting one another.
Li Qinghong flew along the island's edge holding her spear. Radiance flowed over her jade armor, deflecting splashing blood. Purple lightning echoed around her, churning the seawater into white mist.
She had originally planned well in joining forces with the Han family of Dongliu Island. But the winds and clouds shifted between heaven and earth, spiritual energy blurred, and as various spiritual treasures were born, everyone was scattered in an instant, scrambling for treasures and quickly losing track of one another.
Here, the grotto-heaven and the mortal realm intermingled, giving rise to many bizarre gray clouds that obstructed spiritual sense, making it impossible to find the Han family. Li Qinghong only rescued a few Han juniors within her capabilities, quickly secured a haul, and sped away.
Being unable to join hands with the Han family was no great loss for Li Qinghong; after all, she was stronger, and relying on the Immortal Mirror alone she could reap plenty without sharing, which was far more liberating.
The seawater before her surged, and an object suddenly fell from the void—a lustrous black pebble no larger than a fingernail, floating quietly in the air, instantly drawing a crowd of cultivators.
Li Qinghong had broken through to the middle Foundation Establishment, ranking high among the cultivators present. Having secured multiple gains, she had already drawn numerous eyes; glancing around, several people nearby showed signs of joining forces against her.
Thunder flared brightly from Li Qinghong's hands. Stepping forward first, she swept her long spear across, forcing several opponents back repeatedly, snatched the newly born spiritual treasure into her hands, stored it in her storage bag, and quickly retreated.
Though Li Qinghong was fearless, she understood the wisdom of quitting while ahead. Riding lightning, she slowly withdrew, flying all the way to the edge of Qingsong Island's sea area, where figures in the sky finally thinned out. She raised her brows to look; all around was already filled with azure seawater.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, landed on a sea reef, and sank her spiritual sense into the mirror. Before she could survey her surroundings clearly, an azure light swayed out from the illusory void, roaming unsettled within the mirror, shedding its azure radiance to turn into an ordinary talisman seed that lingered inside.
Li Qinghong's hand gripping the spear suddenly tightened until her knuckles turned white. Standing blankly on the spot for a long breath, she hurriedly rode the wind, flying toward the small island where Li Xuanfeng had entered the grotto-heaven.
The island was desolate, with no human traces or signs of battle. Li Qinghong stood on the spot for a moment, wiped the corners of her eyes, and thought, *Since Brother has met with disaster, Seventh Uncle must be having a hard time too. I do not know what the situation is inside this grotto-heaven. It is best to wait here for him to emerge. If he is heavily injured, I can look after him.*
***
The grotto-heaven closed. At the foot of the mountain, beside their feet were familiar islands and sand. The formation laid down upon entering still faintly flickered. Lin Chensheng, clad in white, stood beside clutching his chest, crimson blood dripping steadily from between his fingers.
On the other side, Kan Ziyan collapsed to the ground with a thump, sitting cross-legged to immediately regulate her breath. Lin Chensheng's spiritual sense swept across the island, finding no trace of Zhong Qian, knowing in his heart that Zhong Qian was most likely dead; even if he had not perished in the grotto-heaven, he had likely fallen into the hands of a Violet Palace.
Though Li Xuanfeng did not find Zhong Qian, he saw a familiar figure, clad in jade armor, holding a long spear, eyes faintly red, staring at his hands.
"Qinghong!"
Li Qinghong nodded heavily. Not knowing the full situation, she dared not say much, only choking out a response. Having killed Xiao Yongling, Li Xuanfeng was even less willing to linger here. Cupping his hands toward Lin Chensheng, he rode the wind with Li Qinghong, speeding toward the Fenshan Island market.
He had just taken flight when he suddenly froze.
The Great Void before him tore open, shaking violently. A man clad in white-gold armor stepped out, a familiar halberd pointing through the void, and behind him stood a green-robed old man.
That old man had crane hair and a child's countenance, a high nose bridge, his eyes covered in golden patterns, with a long object strapped to his back, standing quietly in the air. Beside him, a golden short sword was humming, its tip pointing straight at Li Xuanfeng. That sword clanged, seeming to identify something, while in the old man's other hand, a familiar golden ring was slowly revolving, emitting a whooshing wind as if aggrieved.
Tang Shedu's aura was feeble, his armor broken in many places, even his halberd bearing two scars. His face was like golden paper, looking far weaker than when he had fled. In a raspy voice, he said:
"Reporting to Zhenren! It is precisely this person!"
Chapter 470