Fei Qingyi rode the wind across the expanse of Lake Wangyue. Below her, the waters rippled and islets lay scattered. Cultivators came and went with jade pendants swaying at their waists, while banners fluttered proudly along both shores. She looked up at the dense forests of Mount Yuting, Mount Huazhong, and Hanyun Peak—all now marked by a single surname: Li.
She had not returned for several decades. When she left, the three clans had held a pact on the lake, personally arbitrated by Yuanwu Peak, forbidding any mutual conflict. Now, everything belonged to the Li family.
Fei Qingyi felt the wind over the water turn chilly as she reached the northern shore. The people who came forward to receive her did not recognize her, greeting her deferentially as "My Lady." She waited in silence for Fei Tongyu.
Soon, an old man came limping up to meet her. His face was weathered with age, his eyes slightly protruding, his fingers mangled and missing. One leg hung suspended, clearly not yet fully healed. From a distance, he looked utterly wretched—a mirror of the Fei family's current state. She had been only six years old when she left home, and the old man before her felt terribly alien. Blinking back her tears, she followed her father inside to a small courtyard planted full of plum blossoms, and asked, "How is it that I don't see my uncles?"
"Died by the river,"
Fei Tongyu answered dismissively, showing no trace of melancholy. Raging flames of hatred burned in his eyes; his mind was consumed entirely by the sword-wielding foe by the river. He pressed urgently, "Did you find out clearly?! Was that person Si Yuanli?! The Qingchi Si family?! And Yuanxiu? How many people does the Si family have, how great is their power, and what is their heritage?"
His questions poured down in an unrelenting barrage. Fei Qingyi answered them one by one, yet sheer terror gripped her heart, and beneath her white sleeves, her slender hands clenched until the knuckles turned white.
Fei Tongyu's lips trembled in anger.
Seeing that he paid no heed to the latter half of her answers, she wept, "Father, that is the Si family! And whose grand array lies beneath our feet—do you not have the slightest apprehension in your heart?!"
"Of course I know the array is amiss, but over these years, who in the Fei family hasn't cursed in bitter fury? If it truly possessed eavesdropping abilities, disaster would have befallen our family long ago! Besides, there is another array right inside this courtyard!
"Si Boxiu traverses high across the heavens—why would he bother probing the thoughts of a junior like you?!"
She fell silent for several breaths, then said heavily, "I have seen Tang Yuanwu. That is a Violet Palace! In their eyes, we are not ants, but instruments, mere objects. Father, what we think, he can discern with a single thought, and what he thinks becomes our very thoughts. Father, that is a Violet Palace...
"Yuanwu could not even compare to Perfected Yuanxiu, and Master Si is a great cultivator in the late Violet Palace realm. Fine—suppose you make the Fei family hate, suppose you make me hate, and then what? The moment I enter the sect, Si Yuanli might not notice, but Master Si will know immediately—and then an inexplicable catastrophe will strike, culminating in the extermination of our clan!
"It was merely because at that time, anyone cultivating the Jade True Dao was destined to die—whether our master or Yu Yufeng, it was forced by the greater momentum! You may be dissatisfied with our clan's plight, but from the moment True Monarch Shangyuan decided to sprint for the Golden Core...
"Father, the deaths of our forebears are already enough. It was forced by the greater momentum. The Jade True Dao Foundation could have been consumed by Shangyuan; he might not have done so, but the various sects could not fail to guard against it...
"Without the Si family, there would have been others. The Li family is terrifying indeed, but have you ever considered: how could Yu Mugao and Yu Muyuan of the Yu clan have been any worse? Why did the Xiao family and the numerous forces behind them all choose the Li family?
"Whether it is the Fei family or the Yu family, both were kicked off the lake's table long ago, destined to decline.
"Father... it is already enough. Qingyi feels it is already enough. Rest well, forget these matters, and stop tormenting yourself—leave a breath of life for our family, won't you?"
Her words left Fei Tongyu completely stunned. He frowned as her voice echoed through his mind, freezing him in place.
White snow drifted down over Hanyun Peak. Fei Tongyu stood motionless like a broken stone statue. Fei Qingyi waited in silence; after a full half a cup of tea's time, she finally rose and said softly, "Father, I must return to report."
Fei Tongyu remained unresponsive. The young woman paused, turned back to brush every speck of snow from his shoulders, and only then rode the wind away, disappearing to the south.
***
Out on the lake, Li Xizhi and Yang Ruizao were pressed for time, having only surveyed the grand array on the lake before preparing to depart. Fei Qingyi, having concluded her visit home, respectfully caught up with them.
Fei Qingyi raised both hands. A flash of white light emerged, revealing a miniature jade mountain.
The jade mountain was only the size of a fist, exquisitely carved and strikingly beautiful, adorned with cranes, ancient trees, and swirling mists that accentuated its crystalline, translucent jade luster.
"An object on this lake once belonged to your noble clan. In the past, it fell into other hands and was never returned. As luck would have it, it ended up in my possession. Coming here today, it is only right that it be returned to its proper owner!"
Li Xijun accepted it and examined it closely. On the waist of this Jade Smoke Mountain was a shallow sword mark.
"As expected, this mark was likely left by Li Tongya of Yueque?"
"Indeed. This artifact was forged from Xiaming Darkjade, extraordinarily sturdy and impervious to a myriad of arts. Only a figure of his caliber could have left a mark upon it."
Li Qinghong stared at the sword mark, unable to look away. Fei Qingyi's words were half right and half wrong; now that the Jade True Dao had returned to its proper place and jade flourished, the Jade Smoke Mountain was naturally impervious to all kinds of magical power among Foundation Establishment artifacts. Back then, it was perhaps thirty percent inferior, but its true resilience in those days was no longer verifiable.
This artifact held special significance for the Li family, yet Li Xizhi was in no hurry to claim it. Looking toward Li Xijun, the youth in white softly remarked, "This object was borrowed by Yu Su, and today can be considered returned. But the Jiang clan was carved up by foreign surnames; very few of their direct line remain, and most have married into our Li family. It would be better to keep it here for now, to await future descendants."
Though the Jiang family's destruction was closely intertwined with the Li family, they had ultimately been partitioned among foreign surnames, and their descendants no longer carried the surname Jiang. Li Xijun adopted a gracious tone as he took the Jade Smoke Mountain into his care.
Seeing him accept it, Fei Qingyi breathed a sigh of relief. She quietly settled into a corner of the vessel. Li Xizhi glanced at her with mild interest and offered a few courteous words before the spirit boat turned south, carrying them back toward Qingchi Sect.
***
The Li family's troops had already entered Mount Jiumen to catalog and inspect the various households. Li Chengliao and the others would handle the cleanup, sparing the Foundation Establishment seniors another journey. Li Xijun and his companions saw the spirit boat off across Lake Wangyue, then turned their winds toward the lake's central islet.
An Siwei flew over on the wind, followed by several figures, all wearing respectful expressions. He said in a deep voice, "My Lord, the masters have all arrived."
Li Xijun slightly raised his brows, observing the five array masters before him. All of them possessed Qi Refinement cultivation and none were young, their garments unremarkable and their dharmic power merely average.
The Dao of formations was as vast as the sea, among the most intricate of the hundred arts of cultivation. If a rogue cultivator achieved proficiency in array methods, they were almost certainly fated never to reach Foundation Establishment.
Even among the array masters of the immortal sects, rarely did anyone boast exceptional cultivation; after all, not everyone could be Wan Huaqian or Liu Changdie. Li Xijun did not look down on them for their cultivation, asking politely, "Have the masters inspected the grand array?"
The men nodded in succession. One of them, visibly thrilled, said in a hushed tone, "We are all cultivators of the State of Yue and have long heard of the Forbidden Grand Array here. As avid students of array arts, we came to inspect it in our younger years, so we are well acquainted with it. Upon hearing that your noble clan intends to crack this array, we could not be more delighted!
"To be able to unravel such an ancient forbidden array is Lin's great fortune!"
Li Xijun calculated the time and remarked with mild surprise, "So prompt?"
"We were searching several market towns for someone capable of cracking the Forbidden Grand Array, and these gentlemen immediately presented themselves, all very courteous and eager."
Master Lin appeared the oldest and clearly held the highest standing among them. Following half a step behind An Siwei, he said respectfully, "In reply to Your Lordship: we have conferred for a time. Such a forbidden lightning domain should be suppressed and broken using objects of Metal virtue. It would be best to employ both Geng Metal and Dui Metal, as these two paths are among the rare spirit substances capable of neutralizing lightning."
Li Xijun listened and nodded inwardly, asking, "Our family also cultivates the Lightning Dao. I have only heard that Earth virtue can extinguish lightning, but never that Geng Metal can do so as well?"
Master Lin was momentarily taken aback. Some matters were unrevealed secrets of his heritage, but faced with the questioning of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, how could he deflect? He could only explain in a low voice, "As the saying goes: 'Abundant thunder vanishes into earth, lingering lightning falls into metal.' The forbidden domain formed after the array was shattered and consists of lingering lightning. Cultivation methods do not make this distinction, but array arts do."
'Abundant thunder vanishes into earth... No wonder!' Li Xijun thought, enlightened. 'The dragon kindred devour lightning, and it is commonly said that Qingxuan belongs to Earth virtue. Yuan Tuan and the other all cultivated Qingxuan, and that they could serve as keys to unlock the Lightning Cave-Heaven is likely inseparable from this principle.
'However, while Qingxuan belongs to Earth virtue, it has always bordered on prayers and shamanic arts, for reasons unknown...'
Li Xijun kept this thought in mind, nodded, and asked, "To break this array, what is required?"
"To break this array, a tool of Metal virtue is needed as a core, along with several kinds of Metal-virtue spiritual items—half Geng Metal, half Dui Metal—deployed together in the array. It will likely require the combined efforts of several Foundation Establishment cultivators."
"How many spiritual items are needed?"
"The more the better: four, six, or eight, paired evenly between Dui and Geng.
"This array is passed down through my heritage, specifically designed to break this kind of forbidden residual lightning. According to the ancient texts, half of the Dui Metal items will be transformed into Geng Metal. If your noble clan possesses precious or vital Dui Metal spiritual items, do not casually bring them out to use."
"How many Foundation Establishment cultivators?"
"It depends on the grade of the deployed artifacts and spiritual items... If an outstanding Foundation Establishment artifact of Metal virtue is used, the number can be reduced to eight or nine. If the spiritual items are of better quality, it can be reduced to four or five. If there are none of these, it will probably require more than ten.
"It is not that this humble one lacks skill; ancient forbidden arrays have always been difficult to unravel. If one wishes for an even more expedient method, one would likely have to invite high cultivators from the immortal sects."
The several array masters still wore anxious expressions, evidently unfamiliar with the connections of an established clan. Master Lin muttered inwardly, 'I fear he underestimates the fine artifact I spoke of; an ordinary Foundation Establishment artifact simply won't do. I worry I might embarrass him when the time comes...'
Yet Li Xijun was not worried in the slightest.
An artifact of Metal virtue? In the vast Jiangnan, aside from the treasures of a few immortal sects, what Geng Metal weapon could compare to the Shenbai Spirit Bow, which had been refined by the ancient shamanic artifact 'Qingjun Zhi Jin Fu' and Li Xuanfeng's entire cultivation, holding the rightful station of Metal?!
Moreover, even if the Shenbai Spirit Bow proved insufficient, the Li family still had another treasure in hand—though it had lost much of its marvelous efficacy, its core substance was of an exceedingly high rank.
The Li family naturally possessed many spiritual items, a large portion of which had been brought out by Li Xuanfeng. Originally, he had thought that if they were not enough, they could borrow more from a few friendly clans, but these words made him furrow his brows...
Among the spiritual items Li Xuanfeng had brought out, there were Dui Metal items like Zimu Dark Metal and Mind-Moving Metal; the family itself possessed Wuxuan Gold of Geng Metal; borrowing one more Geng Metal item would assemble exactly four kinds.
And the clan was hardly lacking in Foundation Establishment cultivators; there were four currently at home, and even more could be invited. After tallying it up, he was already full of confidence.
Chapter 626