When Li Chijing woke, the lamplight before his eyes flickered dimly. Beneath him was a soft bed, and his senior sister, Yuan Tuan, was gently dabbing ointment onto his back. A cool, soothing sensation washed over his wound; the pain had already mostly subsided.
"Ugh..."
He struggled to lift his head. Seeing the room filled with medicine jars and alchemy manuals, he knew this was his senior brother Xiao Yuansi's loft. In a raspy voice, he asked, "Where is Senior Brother?"
"He went to Yuanwu Peak," Yuan Tuan answered softly. Her silky hair fell like a waterfall, its dark tips brushing lightly against his neck. "You're only in Embryonic Breathing and can't bear those healing medicinal pills. I treated your injuries with a spell, and with this ointment applied, you'll be well by tomorrow."
Li Chijing was still worried about Xiao Yuansi and asked with some urgency, "Did Senior Brother go to Yuanwu Peak alone?"
"Master went as well." Yuan Tuan smiled and explained, "Even if that Deng Qiuzhi hails from a prominent clan, he cannot bully our Qingsui Peak like this."
"There is something wrong with that man," Li Chijing said in a muffled voice, lowering his head.
"The people of the Deng clan are all erratic and fickle like that. Pay him no mind." Yuan Tuan put the ointment away, then added softly, "The Deng family's cultivation method originally lacked an essential qi, called the Night Moon Chilling Qi. Through generations of Deng ancestors throwing themselves into adapting and cultivating it, it finally became cultivable over this past century. However, it left behind an aftereffect that twists the mind. Once mastered, one always turns moody and unpredictable, acting entirely on whim."
Li Chijing froze for a moment, then asked, "What rank is this formula that the Deng clan insisted on cultivating it?"
"Fifth rank," Yuan Tuan replied flatly. Seeing the shock written across Li Chijing's face, she laughed. "I was stunned when I first heard of it, too. Leaving aside the sect's secret transmissions, even the Qingchi Sect's most famous Yuanqing Rain-Governing Formula is only fourth rank. To think a subordinate clan possesses a cultivation method one rank higher."
Placing the packed ointment onto a shelf, Yuan Tuan continued, "I heard that their method originated from the superior sect, Yuehua Yuan Mansion. Hundreds of years ago, the Yuehua Immortal Mansion frequently bestowed this Night Moon Chilling Qi. Our Qingchi Sect also possesses a similar formula known as the Moon Lake Autumn Reflection Formula. It is likewise fifth rank, but because that Immortal Mansion withdrew from the world and sealed itself off, it also lacked an essential qi, and no one has been able to cultivate it since."
"I know," Li Chijing nodded, replying, "Senior Brother told me before. The missing qi for that formula is called Taiyin moon essence. I only heard that someone on Moon Lake Peak once obtained some by sheer stroke of luck."
"In Lake Wangyue," Yuan Tuan softly affirmed, a look of envy surfacing on her face. "Over the past few centuries, all five strands of Taiyin moon essence obtained across the Three Sects and Seven Clans came from Lake Wangyue—be it from predecessors' remains, ruined formations of ancient abodes, or inherited secret realms..."
Li Chijing stared blankly at the pillow in front of him. His heart gave a sudden jolt; a private suspicion rushed to the surface of his thoughts, but he swallowed it back down at the edge of his tongue.
"Senior Sister, I want to return home for a visit."
"Mm?"
"In their letters, my brothers said our father's health has been declining with each passing year. I... would like to see him a few more times."
Yuan Tuan looked down in surprise. After pondering for a few breaths, she replied, "In a few months, I'll be heading to the Xunlin Plain to collect tribute. Mount Dali lies to the west of the Xunlin Plain, so stopping by will be quite convenient."
"Alright. Thank you, Senior Sister!"
Li Chijing thanked her with a smile, then lay back down, his mind turning quietly over his thoughts.
***
Li Xuanxuan had cultivated through the night. Early in the morning, after casting a spiritual rain spell, he stepped out of his courtyard and walked along the flagstone path. Villagers carrying hoes smiled and greeted him from the roadside, one after another calling him "Little Immortal Master."
More than ten years had passed since the Li family found the mirror. A new generation of laborers had grown up across the villages, and the people had gradually grown accustomed to the Li family's rule. Among the villagers, the one they feared was Li Xiangping, the one they revered was Li Tongya, and the one they felt close to was Li Xuanxuan, whom they had watched grow up from childhood.
Hardly any of the younger folk remembered Li Mutian holed up on the mountain, save for a few stewards who went up regularly to deliver reports and held him in deep awe. Only when the old folk gathered beneath the eaves to chat about bygone days would anyone recall the veteran soldier.
After walking for a while, Li Xuanxuan pushed open a gate and entered the courtyard. Inside stood a lacquered wooden platform about half the height of a man, resembling a large bed. Scattered across it were bits of straw and withered, yellow rice leaves, alongside several small nests shaped from specially planed wood shavings and fine dirt, looking quite curious.
"Aunt."
He smiled and bowed with cupped hands to Liu Rouxuan, who was observing the platform closely by its side, and asked, "How come neither of my uncles is up on the mountain?"
"Your second uncle obtained that Mingshen Powder and took the Sheyuan Pill from home to enter secluded cultivation, aiming to break through to the fifth layer of Embryonic Breathing, the Yujing Wheel. He should be coming out soon." Liu Rouxuan chuckled, putting down a few spirit rice leaves in her hand. She patted Li Xuanxuan's head and explained, "The spirit fields across the villages are already fully utilized, so your third uncle thought to search the neighboring Meichi Mountain to see if he could survey any spirit fields there."
"I see!"
Li Xuanxuan nodded. Just as he was about to speak, a light knock sounded at the courtyard gate, followed by a voice calling from outside:
"Is Clan Brother in the courtyard? The young clan head has orders."
Li Xuanxuan hurried over and opened the gate. Seeing Li Qiuyang and Li Yesheng outside, he asked, "What happened?"
"We'll talk as we walk."
Li Qiuyang took him by the hand, apologized to Liu Rouxuan for the intrusion, and followed Li Yesheng as they hurried up the mountain.
"The young clan head spotted an anomaly on Meichi Mountain and sent Uncle Yesheng to summon us. Word has it there's a formation on the mountain."
"A formation?!"
Li Xuanxuan halted, asking in utter astonishment, "Meichi Mountain has always been desolate and abandoned. Wouldn't that formation be centuries old at least?"
"Exactly!" Li Qiuyang nodded and murmured, "With any luck, it's some immortal's abode, so our family can reap some gains."
Li Xuanxuan was only eight or nine years old after all, so keeping pace with two grown young men proved difficult. Furrowing his brows, he formed an incantation seal for the Divine Movement Technique. White light flared in his palm as he slapped it onto his leg, allowing him to effortlessly match their strides. Only then did he add, "Still, we must be careful of concealed traps! The teacher always said that pies never fall from the sky for free."
After climbing the mountain for about an hour, they saw Li Xiangping seated on a large green stone, regulating his breath. Seeing the three arrive, he smiled and said, "Watch this."
With that, he stood up, took the dark-gray longbow from his back, stepped onto the green stone, drew an arrow, and nocked it. Pulling back the glistening white bowstring, he narrowed his eyes and aimed toward a nearby slope.
*Whoosh!*
A streak of white light shot from his hand. Just as it was about to strike the hillside, ripples spread across the empty air. The arrow seemed to collide with an invisible barrier, clattering down to the ground.
"What a fast arrow," Li Qiuyang praised first before turning his gaze back to the slope in contemplation.
"This bow is a magical artifact; I call it the Qingwu Bow." Li Xiangping gave a chuckle, then grew solemn. "There should be an illusion formation beneath that slope, and perhaps also a spiritual formation specifically meant for defense."
Chapter 53