Yujing

"This formation looks sturdy and difficult to break. I'm afraid it already surpasses the Embryonic Breathing realm." Li Xiangping loosed two more arrows. Seeing the array remain completely unyielding, he let out a soft sigh. "Young Clan Head, our Li family has no heritage in array Dao, so breaking this formation will truly be no easy task. Why not coordinate with the Wan family...?" Li Qiuyang looked around for a while and paced back and forth on the mountainside. Unable to see any trick to it, he promptly ventured a question. "Out of the question." Li Xiangping shook his head and said in a low voice, "Second Brother is on the verge of breaking through to Yujing. Things are bound to take a turn for the better then, so why share this with the Wan family? If we involve them, whether we succeed in breaking the formation or not, we will have to grant them a share of the spoils. "And if any precious spiritual items appear, the two families might even turn on each other and become bitter enemies. Why take such a risk?" "The Family Head speaks truly!" Li Qiuyang offered an apology and quietly stepped back behind him with a calm expression. "I called you all here because I have also made several arrangements." Li Xiangping waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Yesheng, go prepare some manpower from Jingyang Village. Discuss it thoroughly with Uncle Ping'an. In the coming years, start carving out mountain paths and building courtyards on this mountain. Make sure these plots of land are marked out and guarded well. "I surveyed the surrounding earth veins. The land around the mountainside is rich in spiritual energy—a vast tract of spirit fields. Sowing two crops of spirit rice every five years will yield at least a hundred jin of spirit rice. From now on, Qiuyang, I will entrust it to your management." "Understood!" Li Qiuyang acknowledged the order in a low voice. At Li Xiangping's signal, he walked down the mountain with Li Yesheng to negotiate with Ren Ping'an at the foot of the slope. "Adding that to the three hundred jin our Li family currently yields, we can also have a surplus of two or three spirit stones every five years. In a few more years, our hands will be much freer." Watching the two descend the mountain until they disappeared from view, Li Xiangping turned to look at the beaming Li Xuanxuan and chuckled, "What is it?" "Uncle truly places great trust in Brother Qiuyang." Li Xuanxuan smiled, looking up at Li Xiangping. Li Xiangping laughed out loud and murmured, "Li Qiuyang's household is discreet and sensible. In particular, his father, Li Chengfu, knows when to advance and when to yield. You and I can use them with complete confidence. Right now, our Li family has vast territory and few people; there is no need to hoard authority. Boldly let them handle things. "Though he might reach Embryonic Breathing, he might not necessarily reach Qi Refinement. Even if he reaches Qi Refinement, he might not father descendants blessed with spirit apertures. He could never rival our main lineage, so there is no need to guard against him growing too powerful at this moment. As for the Jingyang Liu family, they have already become in-laws to our Li family, and their only immortal cultivator has become one of our own, so there is even less need to say." Seeing Li Xuanxuan's thoughtful expression, Li Xiangping leaned down close to his ear and whispered with a laugh, "Besides, who said I truly trust him blindly? His father and older brothers are all at the foot of Mount Lijing. Li Qiuyang has a shallow cultivation and is still young, and Jingyang Village has Ren Ping'an and Li Yesheng keeping watch. What kind of waves could he stir up?" Li Xuanxuan's brows instantly smoothed, and after mulling over those words in his heart, he smiled. "Your nephew has learned much!" Only then did Li Xiangping straighten up, a slight warmth entering his furrowed brow as he said solemnly, "Stay by my side and learn well. Sooner or later, the Li family must be placed into your hands. I was already sixteen or seventeen when I entered the Dao and began cultivating, so I won't outlive you. What is more, life and death are fickle and unpredictable, and the monster beasts in these mountains grow more numerous by the day. No one knows what might happen. Our Li family must race against time, and you, Li Xuanxuan, must race against time as well." "Life and death are fickle and unpredictable..." Li Xuanxuan repeated the phrase in a murmur. The thought of the father he had never seen suddenly surfaced in his mind, and an ache of sorrow washed over him. *** "The essence of Embryonic Breathing lies in Yujing. The Yujing Wheel resides in the Shengyang Mansion and is the fifth wheel of Embryonic Breathing. After this, one condenses the sixth wheel, the Lingchu Wheel, in the Shengyang Mansion, allowing one to swallow a breath of heaven-and-earth spirit qi and advance to Qi Refinement." Li Tongya slowly woke from meditation, his heart filled with immense joy. Feeling the spiritual sense he had just birthed wandering around his body, the world before him was completely different now; he could see threads of roaming spiritual energy drifting about him. When his spiritual sense covered the formation flag before him, the Lost in the Mist Array on Mount Lijing shuddered. Li Tongya felt an effortless mastery over it, as if directing his own limbs. Everything on and below the mountain fell within his grasp, and the blood marks left in the formation flag by the other cultivators in the family could be wiped away in an instant. "After condensing the Yujing Wheel, it will no longer be easy for mortals to harm me." He carefully adjusted the layout of the Lost in the Mist Array across the mountains, ensuring it completely covered the newly created paths and outlets from recent years. Li Tongya picked up a small piece of bluestone from the ground and effortlessly crushed it to powder. Everything within a ten-foot radius appeared before his mind with pristine clarity. He could easily dodge swift concealed arrows and channel magic power to catch gleaming blades bare-handed. A Yujing Wheel cultivator could effortlessly defeat dozens of mortals, and through fluid hit-and-run tactics, could even rout an army of hundreds or thousands. Pushing open the heavy door to the backyard, Li Tongya saw Li Xiangping sitting cross-legged in cultivation in the courtyard. Under the probe of his spiritual sense, the four spirit wheels on his brother's body shone as brilliantly as points of starlight. *So this is how spiritual sense perceives cultivation: four spirit wheels represent the fourth layer of Embryonic Breathing, the Qingyuan Wheel.* Watching Li Xiangping slowly open his eyes, Li Tongya smiled. "Congratulations, Third Brother, on breaking through to Qingyuan." Li Xiangping gave a wry smile and replied, "Is this the spiritual sense of the Yujing Wheel? You saw through me with a single glance." Li Tongya laughed heartily, exchanging a look with Li Xiangping. Both saw the eager anticipation shining in each other's eyes. The two walked through the backyard and entered the rearmost cottage. Li Mutian was already sitting inside, watching the two stride in together. "Father, I have birthed spiritual sense and can now inspect this magical artifact." Li Tongya cupped his hands. Seeing the old man nod slowly, he stepped forward carefully and reached out with his spiritual sense to touch the mirror. Lu Jiangxian had already awakened when Li Tongya broke through to the Yujing Wheel. Sensing the power feeding back from the Xuanzhu talisman seed, he estimated the might of his Taiyin Mysterious Light in his heart. *It's equivalent to a full-force strike concentrating all the vital essence of an Embryonic Breathing peak Lingchu Wheel cultivator. Caught off guard, it should be capable of killing an early Qi Refinement cultivator.* *My current magic power can probably support three consecutive uses. Once exhausted, it will take several days of absorbing moon essence or spiritual energy to recover.* Feeling Li Tongya's spiritual sense gently enter the mirror, Lu Jiangxian felt as though he had been poked by a little tentacle, reminiscent of the days when the girl sitting beside him at school would secretly poke him with a pen during class. After a fleeting moment of melancholy, Lu Jiangxian refocused his thoughts on the young man before him. Cooperatively releasing a dazzling white light, he rose slowly from the stone pedestal. Pure white moon essence surged forth incessantly, wreathing the mirror's body. Pale white moonlight spread downward like mist from the stone pedestal, submerging nearly half the room before spilling out from the windows and threshold, finally dissipating like smoke outside the cottage. Li Xiangping and the others were instantly awestruck by this grand spectacle of flashing white light and flowing moon essence. Feeling the cool, refreshing moonlight wash over their wrists and ankles, their minds grew exceptionally clear, and their eyes turned toward the stone pedestal with fervent anticipation.