Lu Jiangxian circulated the *Xuanzhu Spirit-Sacrifice Art*. Following the formulaic phrasing in the art, he shaped several dharma decrees and cast them into Li Tongya's spiritual sense, transmitting some information while concurrently activating the Xuanzhu talisman seed.
The Xuanzhu talisman seeds in the Qihai acupoints of Li Tongya and the others stirred gently. In an instant, both men felt an inexplicable sensation of being connected by blood to the mirror before them. Even Li Xuanxuan, who was cultivating with closed eyes in the courtyard, felt a sudden intuition; he quietly opened his eyes and turned his head toward the mountain peak.
Looking up at the mirror above, Li Tongya felt a stir in his heart. The essential decree for receiving the method from the Reception Method suddenly surfaced in his mind. He bowed slowly and said respectfully, "Li family disciple Li Tongya, reverently bathed in profound grace, respectfully invokes the mysterious and luminous wondrous dharma, reverently bringing forth the Taiyin Mysterious Light to slay evil and treachery, banish filth, and subdue monsters!"
Only then did Lu Jiangxian slightly loosen his control over the Taiyin Mysterious Light. Li Tongya instantly felt heaven and earth blur; the stone altar, the mirror, and the white mist before his eyes all vanished.
His entire being seemed to drift high into the air. All of Lijing Village lay spread before his eyes, the noisy human voices, crowing cocks, and barking dogs below echoing clearly in his ears. With just a thought, the dazzling Taiyin Mysterious Light could strike any corner at the foot of the mountain in the very next breath.
*Truly miraculous.*
Guiding his spiritual sense, expanded countless times over, Li Tongya sped along the mountain paths, swept over the courtyard, flew past the paved flagstone road, and soon exited Lijing Village, until the world before his eyes gradually blurred, snapping him back to reality.
"Phew..."
Startled awake as if from a grand dream, the scene before Li Tongya slowly cleared. Seeing Li Xiangping and Li Mutian looking at him with deep concern, he wiped the cold sweat from his brow, rested for a few breaths, and then smiled. "Our family's mirror is definitely no ordinary magical artifact. It must have accepted our family now. We can invoke that white light, which is called the Taiyin Mysterious Light."
After closing his eyes to ponder carefully for a moment, Li Tongya spoke again. "The decree for receiving the method is just as I spoke it before. Each use of the Taiyin Mysterious Light requires an interval of about twelve days; once all twelve seal talismans around it light up, it can be used. After invoking the mysterious light, we must offer a sacrifice of spirit rice and beast flesh in thanksgiving to the mirror body."
"Splendid!"
Li Xiangping clapped his hands, unable to suppress a grin, and said, "Then so many problems can be resolved! We can try to break the formation on Meichi Mountain and trade for the Wan family's array heritage. And if any formidable enemy comes, our family will have a means of self-preservation."
Watching them discuss for a while and begin considering sacrificial offerings, Lu Jiangxian mused to himself, *This method of sacrifice is already wonderful. It preserves the wondrous mystique of the magical mirror without requiring me to personally intervene each time to unleash the mysterious light. It also imposes a dual cost of time and spiritual materials upon the Li family whenever they use the mirror, preventing them from bothering me over every little thing.*
*What's more, Li Tongya and Li Xiangping still remember that this mirror has an unknown origin and hold some wariness. After a few more generations, the magical mirror will become an ancestral heirloom sacrificed to every year by the Li family. Its sanctity and legitimacy will both be assured, making it something inherently cherished and venerated.*
His divine sense slowly ascended into the sky. Feeling the intense attraction from Lake Wangyue not far away, Lu Jiangxian was filled with anticipation.
*What will it be this time?*
In the courtyard.
Li Tongya and the others arranged the spirit rice, melons, and fruits for the sacrifice. Li Xiangping explained the formation on Meichi Mountain to Li Tongya in detail, and the two quietly deliberated.
Li Tongya looked down at the twelve seal talismans on the mirror body and saw that they were all glowing with pale white light. He thought to himself, *I invoked the Taiyin Mysterious Light earlier, but haven't actually discharged it yet. Why not test the waters on that formation?*
After conferring for a while, the two respectfully begged pardon from the mirror, then quietly picked it up and headed toward neighboring Meichi Mountain.
Meichi Mountain was adjacent to Mount Lijing; their mountain ridge was inherently one mass. Strictly speaking, they were two peaks of the same mountain. However, for centuries, Meichi Mountain had been under the jurisdiction of Jingyang Village, while Mount Lijing belonged to Lijing Village, so the villagers of both communities regarded the two peaks as two separate mountains.
Li Xiangping and Li Tongya slapped Divine Movement Techniques onto their legs. In less than an hour, they reached Meichi Mountain, gazing from afar at the small hillside Li Xiangping pointed toward.
Li Yesheng worked nimbly; after just a single night, quite a lot of timber and masonry were already laid out on the hillside, foundations had been staked out, and several plots of fertile ground had been demarcated.
Li Tongya projected his spiritual sense into the mirror. The mirror body slowly hovered into the air, and a dazzling white beam instantly pierced the dark night, descending with pinpoint accuracy upon that hillside.
Lu Jiangxian felt the Taiyin Mysterious Light collide with a thin membrane in the void. Unlike the previous time, when it had annihilated the monster like dry weeds crushed underfoot, this time Lu Jiangxian sensed a faint resistance, as though it were locked in a stalemate with the Taiyin Mysterious Light.
*However, although this formation possesses a large volume of spiritual energy, its quality is rather deficient.*
The pure-white Taiyin Mysterious Light was held at bay right above the hillside as ripples constantly manifested in thin air. After a few breaths of stalemate, a pale-gold formation finally revealed its shape, its corners suddenly spitting wisps of golden radiance.
Yet as soon as those wisps of golden light met the Taiyin Mysterious Light, they melted away like lingering snow under a blazing sun, unable to mount any decent resistance. Consequently, after flashing for only a few breaths, the formation was completely extinguished.
*Boom...*
The hillside shuddered, and a stone cave entrance finally emerged. A faint light filtered from within, where some implements could be vaguely glimpsed. A copious wave of spiritual energy swept out, prompting Li Tongya and Li Xiangping to inhale deeply, their eyes shining with vigor.
The hovering mirror gradually dimmed its white light as well. The twelve seal talismans extinguished one by one, and it fell back into Li Tongya's hands.
Li Tongya looked warily at the cave entrance and said to Li Xiangping, "I'll return the magical mirror first before we discuss anything else."
"All right," Li Xiangping nodded, then hurriedly added, "Remember to lead a goat over!"
Li Tongya nodded lightly, slapped a Divine Movement Technique onto his legs, and headed down the mountain.
Seeing his elder brother depart, Li Xiangping sat down on the ground, regulated his breathing for a while, and stared at the cave entrance, lost in thought.
***
Ten thousand li away, Li Chijing, who had just boarded the Rosy Dawn Cloud Vessel, felt the Xuanzhu talisman seed in his Qihai acupoint slowly rotate. Before his eyes appeared the image of his second brother, Li Tongya, standing before the stone pedestal with eyes gently closed.
"Second Brother broke through to Yujing."
He looked up and, through the transparent interior of the cloud boat, gazed into the distance toward the endless, cloud-shrouded Mount Dali, letting out a soft laugh.
Tightening his grip on the qi-gathering jade bottle he had requested from his senior brother before leaving the sect, Li Chijing tied a knot with red cord around the mouth of the bottle and fastened it to his waist.
Magical artifacts of this sort, meant for collecting qi and spiritual essence, usually could not be stored in a storage bag and had to be carried on one's person.
"Jing'er," Yuan Tuan said with a smile, speaking softly. "Once we reach Xunlin Plain, I will have my younger clansman escort you to Mount Dali. This Rosy Dawn Cloud Vessel will stop at Xunlin Plain for three days to collect tributes from various places. Just return within three days."
"Understood. Thank you, Senior Sister!"
Li Chijing hastily thanked her and began to wait with full anticipation.
Chapter 55