Li Xiangping walked slowly into the courtyard and gently lifted the mirror from the stone altar with both hands. Inside the mirror, Lu Jiangxian jolted awake. His divine sense swept over Mount Lijing, and the changes of the past five years instantly registered in his mind.
*The younger generation of the Li family has grown up as well.*
Li Changhu's posthumous son, Li Xuanxuan, was reading in the courtyard, turning wooden slips back and forth as if weighed down by some trouble. Li Xiangping's eldest son, Li Xuanfeng, sat dazedly beside a gravestone halfway up the mountain, his hair hanging loose over his shoulders.
Tian Yun was in the courtyard smiling pleasantly as she accompanied Li Jingtian with her studies. Li Tongya was nowhere to be seen—counting the days, he was likely off to Guanyun Peak to pay their tribute—leaving Liu Rouxuan holding their child, Li Xuanling, chatting affectionately with him.
Slowly withdrawing his divine sense, Lu Jiangxian looked at Li Xiangping before him.
Li Xiangping's mind was in turmoil, a tumult of thoughts flashing through his chest. Stepping quietly into the side courtyard, he looked silently at Li Xuanxuan.
Li Xuanxuan had been restlessly sorting the wooden slips. Seeing Li Xiangping enter, he started and said, "Clan Head…"
Li Xiangping waved a hand to cut him off and asked in a heavy voice, "Tell me, if your uncle fails to return, what will you do?"
Li Xuanxuan froze. Not daring to dwell on what Li Xiangping's words implied, his voice choked slightly as he said, "Uncle… how could it come to that…"
Seeing Li Xiangping's furrowed brow, Li Xuanxuan had no choice but to rein in his emotions and compose his expression. Striving to remain calm, he answered, "Recover the magical mirror."
Li Xiangping nodded and asked, "And if you cannot find it?"
"Conceal the news. Announce that Uncle has entered secluded cultivation to break through, and immediately dispatch men to take command of the clan soldiers. Secure everything east of Lidaokou bordering the Wan family, and be ready to plead for help from the commandery at any moment…"
Li Xuanxuan's expression grew solemn, his words coming faster and faster. Li Xiangping held up a hand to stop him, speaking with a touch of gloom.
"That will do."
Patting Li Xuanxuan on the shoulder, he said in a deep voice, "Before your youngest uncle left home to return to the sect, he left me three talismans. With this magical mirror in hand, even if I cross paths with a Qi Refinement cultivator, I have a fighting chance. There is no need to worry overmuch about me.
"Someone from our Li family is cultivating in the sect. No matter how dire the situation becomes, the sect will step in to preserve our Li bloodline. As long as this magical mirror remains in our hands, our Li family will have the foundation to rise again.
"Go fetch Feng'er."
Li Xiangping had always strictly forbidden concubine-born descendants or practitioners with outside surnames from having contact with the direct line's children, precisely to hide whether the direct line possessed spirit apertures. Going to ambush Ji Dengqi now was fraught with mortal danger, so he needed to plant a talisman seed in Li Xuanfeng first, preparing for the worst.
Li Xuanxuan soon brought up the sullen Li Xuanfeng. Li Xiangping had no time for pleasantries; his magical power circulated through Li Xuanfeng's body, passing through the Qihai acupoint. As expected, it was completely empty.
Li Xiangping sighed inwardly. Yet as his magical power circulated through the rest of Li Xuanfeng's body, he suddenly froze.
Within the Shaofu acupoint on Li Xuanfeng's right hand, a churning vortex unexpectedly emerged. Li Xiangping was struck with shock, his mind going utterly blank. He murmured, "How… how can this be?!"
*Feng'er's spirit aperture is actually in the Shaofu acupoint of his right hand? Spirit apertures are not limited to the Qihai acupoint?! Does that mean they can exist in the Shengyang Mansion or the Niwan Palace as well?!*
Before he could think through the implications, a second thought sprang into his mind.
*From now on, if someone of our Li family's direct line possesses a spirit aperture, do we still bestow the talisman seed upon them?*
One had to be granted a talisman seed to cultivate the *Taiyin Breathing and Wheel Nourishing Scripture*. If those with spirit apertures could not receive one, wouldn't they be forced to cultivate the loose cultivator's *Qingyuan Wheel Nourishing Method* like concubine-born children? What sense did that make?
Carefully recalling the *Reception Method*, the astonishment on Li Xiangping's face grew deeper and deeper.
"The mysterious pearl is the true elixir. At the start of the first revolution, the elixir descends into the heart's vessels; hence it is said the elixir cave lies in the central palace, and the elixir's descent marks one revolution… Following the elixir's descent, holding the breath through nine intervals constitutes one sequence, repeated up to nine times nine, eighty-one, for nine sequences. Hence it is termed the repetition of nine…"
*It seems… it could originally be bestowed upon someone who possesses a spirit aperture all along…*
Above, Lu Jiangxian looked down at the dumbfounded Li Xiangping with a smile, already guessing his thoughts. He mused to himself, *Naturally, this Xuanzhu talisman seed of mine can be planted in anyone. Plant it in a mortal, and they step onto the path of immortality; plant it in someone with immortal apertures, and their cultivation yields twice the result with half the effort. But you, Li Xiangping—do you want two mediocre talents, or a single genius?*
*Still, for this Li Xuanfeng to possess a spirit aperture in the Shaofu acupoint of his right hand… it seems there is a profound secret behind these spirit apertures after all.*
Li Xiangping had no time to ponder further. Watching the moments slip away as the hour agreed upon with the Wan family drew near, he had no choice but to say in a heavy voice, "Feng'er, do you still remember the incantation your father had you memorize a year ago?"
Seeing the solemn expressions on both Li Xuanxuan and Li Xiangping, Li Xuanfeng grew nervous despite himself and answered in a low voice, "I committed every word to memory long ago."
"Come."
Taking Li Xuanfeng by the hand, Li Xiangping led him into the solemn ancestral hall in the rear courtyard. Li Xuanfeng opened his eyes wide, taking in the room he was ordinarily forbidden from entering.
His gaze swept over the tablets in the back row, and Li Xuanfeng saw his grandfather, Li Mutian, leaning on a cane in the room, head raised toward the stone altar in the center.
Following Li Mutian's gaze, Li Xuanxuan saw a pale white moonlight rolling off the stone altar like mist, with a grayish-green mirror hovering in the air.
Li Xiangping whispered into Li Xuanfeng's ear for a moment. Li Xuanfeng nodded and bowed, reciting in a childish voice, "Li family disciple Li Xuanfeng respectfully invites the Mysterious and Bright Wondrous Art to govern destiny and calm the spirit, to revere the Dao and cultivate the practice. When the time comes, merit shall be reported without breach of trust; burned with the talisman, the body offers thanks to Taiyin."
A round, gleaming white orb leaped from the surface of the mirror, shimmering with light that illuminated the hall in brilliant white, and sank straight into the crown of Li Xuanfeng's head.
Li Xiangping watched as Li Xuanfeng sat cross-legged and began guiding the Xuanzhu talisman seed within his body. Turning to Li Xuanxuan, he said in a deep voice, "Keep a close eye on Feng'er, and explain everything clearly to him."
Only then did he bow, respectfully retrieve the mirror, and gently slip it into his robes. With a complex expression, he let out a long sigh.
"The arrow is notched to the bowstring; it must be loosed."
***
Lu Jiangxian watched as Li Xiangping descended Mount Lijing alone, slapped a Divine Movement Technique onto his legs, and quietly left Lijing Village. He traveled along Guli Road for a time, stopping only when he drew near the Wan family's territory. Reaching inside his robes, he produced the mirror and whispered:
"Li family disciple Li Xiangping, basking in profound grace, respectfully invites the Mysterious and Bright Wondrous Art. I reverently invoke the Taiyin Mysterious Light to execute evil and treason, purify filth, and subdue monsters!"
With a shift of his divine sense, Lu Jiangxian shared his vision with Li Xiangping, only to find they were still quite far from Mount Huaqian—nowhere near the range of the Taiyin Mysterious Light.
Li Xiangping clearly noticed this as well. He proceeded with extreme caution, gripping his talismans tightly and periodically taking out the mirror to confirm his bearings.
As Mount Huaqian gradually entered the reach of his divine sense, distinct auras began flickering into perception, and Lu Jiangxian finally sensed that something was amiss.
"One, two, three, five… nine, ten."
*Ten Qi Refinement cultivators?!*
Chapter 68