Tuoba

Xu State. The cultivators of the Qingchi Sect had mostly assembled, while to the north, only occasional demonic glints and colored lights streaked across the sky, obscured deep within the dense haze and impossible to make out clearly. Yet Li Xizhi had already received word: both the Shakya and demon cultivators of the north were gradually converging on Xu State. Three of the seven paths had already arrived, accompanied by a host of demon cultivators from Yan State, all quietly scouting the surrounding perimeter. Mount Bianyan was shrouded in white mist. Li Xizhi had been here for several days and had learned much. Both he and Li Xuanfeng were stationed toward the eastern flank, at a moderate distance from their own Lake Wangyue. "Stationed along this front, the petty Shakya and demonic stragglers pushing south are of little consequence. The real threat comes from two major factions. "The Dayu Dao and the demonic Tuoba family of Yan State..." Li Xizhi was already quite formidable, and ordinary cultivators could never hope to pin him down. Only the Foundation Establishment experts emerging from these sect-level powers posed a genuine threat to his life, prompting him to keep an exceptionally sharp watch. "At Baixiang Valley, where I am bound, demon cultivators make frequent appearances. Direct descendants of the Tuoba family have even shown their faces..." He calculated the time. The cultivators from the rear would soon arrive as well. Landing within the formation, he watched fellow cultivators come and go on all sides, waiting a moment before locating Yang Ruizao. His brother-in-law was seated upright in a courtyard, reading a small letter with his brow tightly knit. Seeing Li Xizhi approach, Yang Ruizao promptly swept his sleeve to put away the letter, took a step forward, and murmured, "Xizhi... the deployment orders for the various peaks have been handed down. The cloud vessels have likely arrived by now." "How fares the family...?" Li Xizhi inquired at once, to which Yang Ruizao replied, "Lake Wangyue has been assigned to the Ning family's Moon Lake Peak... Though it is merely returning to its original overseer, I hear the Ning family pulled many strings to elbow aside several other peaks that had designs on it." 'So it fell to Moon Lake Peak after all.' Having somewhat anticipated this, Li Xizhi felt a headache coming on. He mused inwardly, 'Yet the Ning family is already stretched thin deploying men to Yuanxing Peak and Dongquan Peak. Piling Moon Lake Peak on top of that... how could they possibly have enough men? 'Short on hands and tasked with guarding these several territories... they will inevitably demand a full levy from my family...' Pondering a moment longer, Li Xizhi swiftly formed a lucid judgment of the broader game: 'Moon Lake Peak got what it wished for in securing Lake Wangyue, but was that not Chi Zhiyun's deliberate design all along? Short on manpower, the Ning family will have to incur our clan's resentment by aggressively drafting our people... 'When casualties mount because the Ning family fails to hold the line, drawing severe censure from the sect, they will harbor private grudges against my clan for not pulling our weight. Meanwhile, as our deployed kin suffer losses, the Ning family will only demand more reinforcements, breeding inevitable hatred back home...' He felt the thorniness of the situation. 'Shifting the sect's internal friction onto the prominent families... what a troublesome move.' With Li Xijun guarding the home front, Li Xizhi did not fear a total falling-out between the family and Moon Lake Peak; it was merely a matter of how far they would have to compromise. After all, if the Ning family collapsed, his own clan would reap no good harvest either. Seeing through it clearly, Li Xizhi remained silent. Yang Ruizao stared at his letter with knitted brows and remarked in a low, heavy voice, "As for the various lands within the sect... resentment is running high... The Ning family even intends to send people to my side to borrow men... What kind of reasoning is that?" Qingchi had apportioned the various territories among its peaks, leaving each peak to conscript men for the north. Before departure, it was announced that forty to fifty percent would be mobilized, and the peaks took their orders and boarded the ships accordingly. Yet upon arriving at the front, they found a vast, unbroken expanse of territory to defend. Aside from the peaks backed by the great commandery clans, how many could actually fill their lines? They were forced to turn back and demand sixty to seventy percent. In the case of small, backless clans, it had reached eighty to ninety percent—virtually forcing entire families to migrate en masse. Li Xizhi was well aware of these developments. Over the past few days, he had witnessed many scenes of grief within the formation. He paused for a moment and said quietly, "Chiefly, it is because the sect prioritizes the Eastern Sea. The fellow disciples out there are still holding the islands and have not been recalled, leaving manpower desperately short everywhere." Understanding his point, Yang Ruizao whispered, "These past two days, grumbling among the cultivators has been rampant. Yet this mountain range must be held. Once the Shakya and demon cultivators cross the great river, they certainly cannot breach Mount Qingchi, but a storm of blood and slaughter would inevitably engulf most of Jiangnan." Li Xizhi nodded. Having obtained the information he needed, he said, "I shall depart for Baixiang Valley now. I came to bid you farewell." Yang Ruizao's deployment post was different from his. Hearing this, he rose hurriedly from his seat, his expression solemn as he murmured, "Your destination is Baixiang Valley. I have already made inquiries. Rumor has it that it directly faces the Tuoba family's front. That clan has been orthodox demon cultivators since ancient times and has even produced a Golden Core Demon Lord... "Though they have fallen on hard times, a wrecked ship still holds three jin of iron. Exercise utmost caution. With your cultivation, so long as you remain vigilant, you should not suffer grave injury under any circumstance." Having made inquiries of his own, Li Xizhi gave a silent nod, wished him safety, and took to the wind, leaving Mount Bianyan and heading due east. After traveling a hundred li, the sky suddenly brightened, sunlight pouring glaringly over the earth. Li Xizhi reined in his rainbow light and flew past several cities on the southern flank, eventually catching sight of a canyon. The valley was filled with golden-yellow maple trees. Several streaks of escape light drifted slowly from north to south across the sky, while the formation below radiated protective light. Li Xizhi descended amidst radiant auroral clouds, just in time to spot several figures resembling demon cultivators peering suspiciously at the edge of the formation. Li Xizhi descended with consummate concealment arts. The intruders noticed nothing and continued slipping through the valley's thickets. With a flick of his sleeves, he released several streams of multihued auroral light. Gentle and ethereal, they wheeled through the woods, each darting toward one of the infiltrators. The cultivators in the rear were caught entirely unprepared. Bound fast in an instant, they tumbled helpless to the ground. The demon cultivators at the front wheeled around sharply, but possessing only Embryonic Breathing cultivation, they were utterly outmatched and knocked flat one after another, rolling like gourds on the ground. Only the leader, who was at the mid stage of Qi Refinement, reacted a fraction faster. He drew his dharma sword, which glowed with a crimson sheen, and parried the red ray with a backhand stroke. Clang! A crisp chime rang out, and the demonic leader stumbled backward. The rainbow light recoiled barely an inch before striking toward him again. "What kind of trick is this! Could it be a spell?" Hailing from Zhao State, this demon cultivator had spent the first half of his life battling Shakya cultivators and had never encountered an immortal cultivator. He was stunned for a full breath—only to see a Daoist tread forth upon glowing clouds right before his eyes. "Not good!" The figure flickered in his vision for only an instant before the precious sword vanished from his grasp, appearing in the Daoist's hand. Before the terror in his heart could even subside, he found his body bound tightly, unable even to conjure an escape light. Li Xizhi examined the dharma weapon he had seized. As expected, it was crude beyond measure, forged through accumulated blood qi and souls. It cast a faint bloody sheen in his palm, with nothing worthy of praise. Treading the clouds to the front of the formation with the captives bound in the auroral light behind him, Li Xizhi produced his token to open the barrier. Inside, a shockingly tiny market street stood in the valley, and several figures flew over on the wind to receive him. At best, this market amounted to a few rudimentary courtyards, rough and meager. The grand formation appeared quite new, likely erected recently by the Qingchi Sect. Arriving before him, the group bowed in homage. Li Xizhi took a closer look: one at the mid stage of Qi Refinement, three at the early stage of Qi Refinement, and the rest merely at Embryonic Breathing. "What a wretched state of affairs." He felt somewhat exasperated, yet the cultivators of Baixiang Valley were so overjoyed they had not slept for nights, eagerly addressing him as "Peak Lord." The elderly man at the mid stage of Qi Refinement appeared to be the head of Baixiang Valley. Deeply moved and emotional, he said, "Lord Peak Lord... we have long heard that the immortal way flourishes in Jiangnan, and now you have come tens of thousands of li to our aid... Old Bai is endlessly grateful... I kowtow before you..." Li Xizhi paused, asked a few questions, and realized that these men were all surnamed Bai—local cultivators of Xu State. Apart from setting up the formation here, the Qingchi Sect's reinforcements had yet to arrive. He smiled, shook his head, and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, 'Of course... Baixiang Valley is a key defensive point... They wouldn't leave me with only a handful of Qi Refinement cultivators. I was simply made paranoid by the Chi family's scheming...' Since the others had not arrived, Li Xizhi was in no rush to interrogate the demon cultivators. He had the Bais clear a room for him and waited quietly. Barely a night passed before two streaks of escape light flew over in succession. The first to arrive was a white-haired elder whose robes were immaculately tidy. He appeared even older than Li Xuanxuan, with late Foundation Establishment cultivation. Though bearing the appearance of a centenarian, by the reckoning of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's lifespan, he was likely over two hundred years old. Just as the old man cupped his hands in greeting, a middle-aged man arrived right behind him. Possessing mid Foundation Establishment cultivation and a neatly trimmed beard, he stepped forward and announced in a clear voice, "Quan Yi of Linghe Peak greets both fellow Daoists." The elder followed in a raspy voice, "Yu Yuwei of Panqi Peak. This old Daoist has three disciples who will arrive one by one over the coming days." Li Xizhi was unfamiliar with the middle-aged Quan Yi, but he certainly knew of the Yu family's Panqi Peak. Nodding to both, he smiled and said, "Li Xizhi of Changtian Peak." After exchanging names, Li Xizhi pointed toward the demon cultivators on the ground and said, "Seniors, having arrived a bit earlier, I happened across these demon cultivators sneaking about outside and captured them on the way." Quan Yi smiled faintly and replied, "I happen to know a few arts. It is just the right time to question them." A ghostly blue flame flared in his hand. Pressing it against the brow of the captive leader, he interrogated him in a low voice. In less than the time it took to finish a cup of tea, he remarked in disappointment, "Just petty cultivators hoping to pick through the spoils! They are not from the Tuoba family." As he drew back his hand and rose, the captive slumped over in a daze. The surrounding captives turned pale with terror, yet bound by the auroral light, they could not budge an inch. Thorough as ever, Li Xizhi picked up the demon cultivator's storage bag and searched through it. Indeed, it contained only vials of blood qi, scraps of clothing, and a few ragged cultivation manuals. Hidden within the clothing was a letter. Opening it before the other two, he found it to be merely an old family letter with faded, blurred handwriting. Quan Yi turned away, thoroughly disappointed. All three were well aware of where the primary danger lay. Yu Yuwei shook his head gently, stroked his beard, and said, "Fellow Daoist... if these truly were scouts from the Tuoba family, they would never leave behind any evidence. The Tuoba family's techniques regarding the soul are exceedingly profound and nearly impossible to detect... While our Qingchi's arts are formidable, in this specific domain, they are likely inferior to theirs." Though these words showed little regard for Quan Yi's pride, Quan Yi took no offense. Nodding in agreement, a flash of realization crossed his face, and he casually struck the captives dead with a wave of his hand. The captives barely gasped in terror before perishing instantly. Only then did Quan Yi smile and say, "It was my rashness. Senior has seen much and served as Peak Lord for many years, hailing from an established clan to boot. Regarding this Tuoba family... could you enlighten us a bit?" Yu Yuwei nodded slightly and said, "This Tuoba family possesses an immense pedigree. Though diminished today, they were once a paramount clan... Are you both aware of Northern Qi superseding Wei, followed by the Great Liang overthrowing Qi?" Both nodded naturally. When Northern Qi superseding Wei was mentioned, Quan Yi cast a subtle glance at Li Xizhi. Yu Yuwei continued softly, "Emperor Taiwu of Liang was surnamed Tuoba, personal name Xuantan." "So they are an imperial clan of the former Northern Dynasties." Quan Yi's expression gradually grew grim, clearly shaken by such prestige. Li Xizhi had not expected the Tuoba family to possess such a grand lineage either, and fell into quiet contemplation. Yu Yuwei murmured, "Later, Emperor Liang fell, and the Shaoyang Demon Lord perished as well. The Great Liang went from peak to ruin, tumbling precipitously. "The lands of Liang were shattered, and the Tuoba family suffered devastating losses. Only by relying on that 'Shengle Heaven' did they rest and recuperate over many years, until today they hold a foothold in Yan State." "They even have a grotto-heaven!" With a conflicted expression, Quan Yi looked between the two, counted on his fingers, and whispered, "The three of us, plus Senior's three disciples—if only one Tuoba arrives, we might hold them off... If three or five come... we need not put up a futile struggle. Taking a punishment from the sect is far better than throwing our lives away..." Yu Yuwei burst into laughter at this, patted his shoulder, and replied, "Fellow Daoist worries too much! So many years have passed... The Tuoba family's glory is long gone. Even if one or two favored geniuses emerge in their clan, they would never be sent to a place like this... "If merely hearing a surname could shake our resolve, consider how many people in this world bear the names Li, Fuqi, Tuoba... or even Xie and Wang..." Quan Yi merely waved his hand and nodded, saying, "Senior speaks the truth... yet my heart remains ill at ease." His spirits remained low. After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, he found an empty room to meditate in. With a few calls, the old man who seemed to be the patriarch of Baixiang Valley hurriedly yielded his own dwelling to him. The elder Yu Yuwei took the opportunity to stroll over to Li Xizhi's side and asked, "Is Fellow Daoist Xizhi from the Lake Wangyue Li family?" Seeing Li Xizhi nod, Yu Yuwei smiled and replied, "What a coincidence." Li Xizhi was somewhat puzzled, but the old man continued leisurely, "Years ago... my Yu family was very close to the Ning family, and there were Ning members cultivating on Panqi Peak. By generational standing, one of them was my Martial Uncle. "Later, the seat of Moon Lake Peak fell vacant, and my Martial Uncle became the Lord of Moon Lake Peak. Back then, while cultivating over the lake, he flew past on the wind and suddenly spotted a woman of Embryonic Breathing cultivation, remarkably fair of face." He smiled faintly and went on, "He was of a romantic disposition, so he wooed the lady. After a night of passion, unwilling to part, he brought her back to the sect. A splendid run of romantic nights it was, though it drew no small amount of gossip. "In the end, the woman's talent was too meager, and she eventually passed away. Before her death, she entrusted her clan to him, and my Martial Uncle agreed. Later, after Martial Uncle himself passed, Moon Lake Peak wished to have little to do with the affair, subtly viewing it as a scandal, and merely took minimal care of the woman's elder brother." Yu Yuwei looked up with a reminiscing air and murmured, "He seemed to be named... Lu Sisi! Has Fellow Daoist ever heard of him?" Li Xizhi fell silent, then whispered, "I have heard of him..."