Li Xijun pondered up to this point and kept it in mind. Unfortunately, the inside of the jade box was bare, having no grooves or fixed protrusions—it was purely an empty jade case.
Before the two of them could discuss anything further, a streak of thunderous light galloped in and landed upon the islet. The purple radiance dispersed, revealing a feather-robed female cultivator holding a spear. Her voice was gentle: "I have already surveyed the islet. With adjustments and repairs, and counting the surrounding islets and marshes, it covers roughly a hundred li across."
"That is not small either."
Although Lake Wangyue was known as a vast three-thousand-li lake and the largest in the State of Yue, it had long ceased to match ancient times. Even including the narrow western reach beyond Mount Xiping and the eastern tributaries extending into the wilderness, the lake islets were flat reed marshes. Rising and falling with the seasons, the lake spanned no more than a thousand li during floods; an islet within the lake of this size was already exceptionally large.
Li Qinghong descended riding the thunder. The lightning within this forbidden grand array was like nothing to her, leaping intimately onto the Duruo Spear in crackling purple arcs. She spoke up, "Regarding this forbidden array, have you probed anything out?"
"Aunt."
Li Ximing, though an alchemist, came from a clan whose inheritance now touched upon arrays, pills, talismans, and artifacts. After studying it for several days, he had found clues. Cupping his hands, he said, "I examined this grand array, and it does not seem to be of later generations. The patterns are ancient. The four pillars in the array symbolize Combined Fire, Harmonious Water, Mu Fire, and Pin Water respectively. All four positions remain intact to this day, which is why it is so formidable."
Li Xijun took up the conversation and said softly, "It looks like an ancient array, not something set up by Chen Taoping. On the lake, the Fei family's Cloud-Gathering Tiannan Array is also an ancient array, perhaps originating from the same source. Thus, I sent someone to the Fei family to fetch the artifact that suppresses the array eye on one hand, and personally returned home to fetch this jade box on the other."
Li Xijun explained the circumstances. Li Qinghong took the jade box and examined it closely. The white jade case gleamed in her slender hands as purple lightning flickered across it. Before she could speak, a man and an ape descended from the sky.
This man and ape were naturally Fei Tongyu and the White Ape. With Fei Tongyu's strength, he could not enter the array on his own; the White Ape had been waiting for him outside the array.
Fei Tongyu had taken medicinal pills, and his complexion looked much better. Escorted by the White Ape, he passed into the array. As soon as he touched the ground, he dropped to his knees, holding up a small flag with both hands raised flat.
His two missing fingers were concealed behind the flag surface as he spoke respectfully, "The Cloud-Gathering Tiannan Array's array eye, the Suixuan Flag, is here."
The small flag displayed two colors of xuan and huang, its edges embroidered with dark silver patterns, emitting swirling wisps of dim, cloudy qi—a rather striking sight.
Li Xijun took the flag and answered warmly, while Li Ximing stepped aside to avoid the full bow, promptly helping Fei Tongyu up with a genial expression:
"What Jun'er says is right. Brother Fei is one of our own; there is no need for such formality."
Fei Tongyu exhaled a breath, his tone far more relaxed, and said respectfully, "Greetings, My Lords!"
Voluntary vassalage naturally required sacrifices of authority. Acquiring the array flag in this manner was far gentler than other methods; at least it would not wound the dignity of the rest of the Fei family, and Fei Tongyu would not be caught uncomfortably in the middle.
"This makes things much easier!" Li Ximing shook his head in admiration. "With an array eye object as reference, and by inviting an array master, with several Foundation Establishment cultivators joining forces, no matter how strong this grand array is, it is merely a forbidden array now. Breaking it won't be difficult."
Fei Tongyu gripped the hilt of his sword, lowering his voice slightly: "In response to My Lord: this array was where our ancestors resided. Tracing back in time, it dates to the era of the Great Liang, when cultivators from the State of Ning attacked this place. It was established by Ning cultivators guarding the river. As for the weakening of its power, clan history indeed records such a thing."
He paused, his white robes pristine as snow, his voice cool and clear, every word resounding: "Although this grand array is ancient, nothing went wrong for all these years—except back when our Old Ancestor was slain. That person passed straight through the array as if it were nothing; neither array disc nor array flag responded in the slightest, respectfully seeing him off."
Li Xijun suppressed his doubts, took the array flag, and compared it one by one with the patterns on the ground. After a long while, he spoke: "They should indeed be from the same hand. If I am not mistaken, the Cloud-Gathering Tiannan Array was also established during the Liang dynasty, which is why it employed Sui Qi. At that time, this array was quite formidable. Now that Liang has fallen, the array's power has likely diminished by more than sixty to seventy percent..."
Speaking of Sui Qi, this qi appeared in xuan and huang hues. Among the Li family, Li Xizhi within the sect was the most knowledgeable about it, having once fought Tuoba Chongyuan of the Sui Qi path. Emperor Wu of Liang had been the Heavenly Perfected Sui Qi Suxuan Zhenjun, a True Monarch of the Sui Qi path.
"The Cloud-Gathering Tiannan Array turns out to belong to the category of Sui Qi, which is rare in the south."
Li Xijun nodded and said softly, "Make a rubbing of these array patterns and send a copy to Brother Zhi as well to investigate within the sect whether there is any origin to trace. The Fei family's misfortune serves as a cautionary tale: these ancient arrays and ancient magical artifacts are indeed useful, but if one does not know who the original master was, one might find outsiders walking in and out of one's own home at will. Afterward, return the Suixuan Flag to Brother Fei. We only need the array patterns."
"Killing two birds with one stone," Li Ximing exhaled slightly, shaking out his sleeve as he replied. "This way, the secrets of the Cloud-Gathering Tiannan Array are also mastered by us. When the time comes, whatever happens, at least that grand array will be of no great threat."
Speaking of ancient artifacts, Li Ximing's eyes lit up. He took an object from his sleeve and tossed it into the air. It spun and expanded, turning into an incense burner as tall as a person.
The incense burner was cinnabar red throughout, its three legs carved with beast faces. The wall of the burner depicted a three-eyed beast, neither wolf nor tiger, all four paws treading upon clouds and mist, lifelike—it was the famed ancient Eight-Eyed Diaoshan Beast.
Only at the bottom of the burner were two characters stamped: [Da Ning], gleaming brightly. Having spent much time finally finishing the attuning of this object, Li Ximing was quite pleased:
"This burner is named Cuoxiang. It is an ancient Foundation Establishment artifact, distinct from modern artifacts as it is not meant for combat. This burner excels at nourishing fire and incinerating smoke; not only can it sustain multiple spiritual fires, but it can also suppress fire veins, transforming the fiend qi spewing from fire veins into spiritual smoke—such efficacy is unheard of."
With a slight pinch of an incantation in his hand, a flame had already leapt within the burner, transforming into the shape of a bird—clearly the Li clan's sole spiritual fire, the Changxing Primordial Fire, stored within.
Li Ximing's talisman qi, Valley Wind Fire-Guiding, could refine flames. Having demonstrated this fire-nourishing ability, he continued, "Even better, this burner possesses the ability to nourish qi, allowing it to store various spiritual qis without them interfering with one another. Most spiritual qis can be preserved within so they do not slowly dissipate over time."
"Ninth Brother is truly skilled with this sort of thing!"
The Li family currently had dozens of qi-harvesting arts, and each spiritual qi had different containment requirements. What was more, each spiritual qi required a specialized jade bottle; accumulated over time, this was no small quantity. Since these jade bottles contained internal spatial pockets, they could not be placed into storage bags.
Mount Wutu only had a single fire vein of middling heat, which was decent for alchemy but somewhat lacking for weapon crafting. Fortunately, the Yu family had deep reserves; Mount Milin possessed two fire veins, one for alchemy and one for weapon crafting, both with long histories. There was no fear that this magical artifact would go unused.
"Send it to Mount Yuting—no, better send it to Mount Milin. Later, we can establish a new department dedicated exclusively to harvesting qi."
"Cuoxiang is a clan treasure, and that painted screen is hardly inferior. Alas, refining it is too difficult; the magic power poured into it so far is like a stone sinking into the sea... Who knows when it will finally be refined."
Cuoxiang was in Li Ximing's hands, and the painted screen was naturally in Li Xijun's hands, still far from finished refining. As for the golden talisman and mercury drop, while the Li family did not understand them, Si Yuanli, who had gone to the Da Ning Palace together, most likely knew, and Xizhi had already set about inquiring.
Among Li Xuanfeng's remnants, there had been a letter obtained in the Da Ning Palace, written by a cultivator from the State of Ning to the Da Ning family, which had once mentioned a line...
The three descended toward the peak, where Li Xuanxuan came out to meet them, holding a letter, his brow tightly furrowed. Li Xijun was the first to speak respectfully, "Uncle."
The group entered the hall and sat down. The letter was passed around and returned to Li Xuanxuan's hands. He read it twice and said in a low voice: "Ning Hejing, Chi Fubo, and others, acting on the sect master's posthumous immortal decree, overnight enthroned Chi Zhiyan's son Chi Jiaxiao as Sect Master... promoting Chi Zhihu, Xia Yun, Ning Hede, and others to positions in the Hall of General Affairs, Xieqi Peak, and the Immortal Tribute Department..."
The letter stated that the Sect Master was merely a child of ten-odd years, only at the Qi Refinement stage.
"How could a Qi Refinement Sect Master appear!" Li Ximing's reaction was startlingly swift, yet the appointment was beyond expectation.
"Chi Zhiyun could never have left such a posthumous decree. If he could have foreseen today, his order would not have enthroned a child. This thing is definitely forged."
Most of the names in the letter were unfamiliar to everyone, except for a few familiar ones and Chi Zhihu from the Chi family's Zhong branch. The rest were presumably either remnants of Chi family loyalists or Ning family members.
"At midnight, Si Yuanli returned to Qingchi, claiming he arrived too late to render aid. Chi Jiaxiao did not hold it against him as a crime, and instead rewarded him handsomely."
Li Qinghong was silent after reading, while Li Xijun took the letter, frowning, "Another Sect Master enthroned. What were Ning Hejing and the Chi family thinking?"
"In truth, since Chi Zhiyun had not emerged from seclusion, there was no need for such haste. They needed only to promote Chi family members and confidants to control several key posts, win over the various clans, and watch the situation unfold..."
Li Xijun pondered this and guessed, "I would venture a guess: perhaps there was some compromise between Ning Hejing and the Chi family... Perhaps the Chi family did not trust Ning Hejing, and Ning Hejing feared being slaughtered once his usefulness ended. There are countless possibilities. In short, this roster—or Chi Jiaxiao himself—is the product of compromise..."
"That makes sense. Enthroned is enthroned, and having a Sect Master has its advantages; at any rate, it is better than doing nothing. Next, it will be Si Yuanli's headache how to break the stalemate."
"Looking at Si Yuanli's actions, at least Real Person Yuanxiu has no intention to intervene personally; otherwise, why would he bother entering the hall to confess fault?"
Of course, whether it was the Chi family's moves or the attitude of the clans and Taoists, all presumed that Real Person Yuanxiu, Si Boxiu, was missing or would not intervene—if Si Boxiu intervened, changing Qingchi from Chi to Si would be a matter of a single word.
Once sitting in that seat, whether surnamed Si or Chi, they shared the same stance. It was merely that the Li clan previously rendered meritorious service, so the Si family's attitude was gentler. But could they simply watch with open eyes as the entire lake fell into the Li clan's hands?
If the Si family had advanced like splitting bamboo and seized Qingchi's top seat in one breath under the Violet Palace Real Person's direction, then turning around, how much better would those overmighty clans fare in the Si family's eyes?
Although the clans were dissatisfied with the Chi family, Chi Zhiyun was skilled at winning people over, and the Taoists large and small within the sect still recognized the Chi family. Doing this now only made them appear weak.
No matter which clan it was, a catastrophic defeat that broke their main branch would bring decades of bitter grief, let alone the loss of a Violet Palace...
Everyone fell into deep contemplation. Li Xuanxuan looked at this situation, quietly taking it as a lesson, pondering the clan's institutional systems among branches. As the Li family's size grew increasingly vast, excessive centralization in the Jade Court Guard was not a good thing either; specialized offices had to be established for every facet. Li Xuanxuan had already begun setting up new institutions, intending to use the opportunity of relocating to Lake Central Islet to enact reforms.
The Li family had long known that Qingchi would fall into turmoil, but events rarely unfolded according to one's expectations. Who knew whether Si Boxiu would show himself in person? Who knew whether Ning Hejing and the others would sit and wait for death?
Li Xijun nodded and said softly, "Regardless, Qingchi Sect's turmoil has already begun. The Yuanxiu faction is deeply rooted and ambitious; the Chi-Ning faction possesses legitimacy, yet is a mixed bag of good and bad..."
"And our Li family."
In everyone's eyes, the current situation was exceedingly abnormal, yet Li Xuanxuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The furrow between his brows relaxed, his eyes darkened with resolve, and his tone shifted:
"We should seize the opportunity while the suzerain sect is in turmoil, rival factions fight, tributes lapse, and the clans are left unchecked, to fulfill our clan's century-long ambition!"
"Swallow the great lake, enter the Central Islet, become the head of the commandery, seize spiritual items, seek the Violet Palace—"
"And complete the work of three generations!"
Chapter 622