Li Ximing traversed the Great Void on his return and manifested atop Mount Zhijing. Listening to Li Wen's report, he inquired about news from Xuanyue.
"Reporting to Real Person, tremors shook Shanji Commandery at the midnight hour under an overcast sky. Xuanyue claimed to outsiders that their Real Person was moving a mountain."
The anomalies of Earth Virtue cultivators were tied to earth veins, leaving little trace in celestial phenomena. Moreover, Xuanyue was protected by a Violet Palace grand formation. Changxi using the excuse of moving a mountain was reasonable enough—outwardly, only one more mountain had appeared. But from within the Great Void, the truth was plain: someone had failed a breakthrough.
Li Ximing asked, "Where is Minghuang? Who is currently managing family affairs?"
Li Wen replied, "Reporting to Real Person, the Clan Master has gone to Bai River. At present, the Eldest Young Master is overseeing household affairs."
Hearing that Li Jiangqian was in charge, Li Ximing asked, "When I stepped out of the Great Void, I saw bustling crowds across the lake. What is happening?"
Li Wen answered, "Reporting to Real Person, the Eldest Young Master has relocated the declining clans from the islet to the lakeside, settling them beneath the Six Gatehouses, while bringing the direct line's Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment members onto the islet."
Li Ximing nodded and inquired about Li Zhouwei's sons. The publicly acknowledged eldest son, Li Jiangqian, was running the household; the second son, Li Jianglong, had already departed for Xuanyue; the third son, Li Jiangxia, was handling affairs on the East Shore; and the fourth son, Jiangliang, had only recently left the residence and was currently cultivating.
"And the youngest young master? Does he resemble his elder brothers?"
After listening all this while without hearing any word of Li Jiangnian, Li Ximing asked about him. Li Wen replied in a muffled rumble, "As the youngest young master has grown older, the color of his eyes has faded. He does not possess the heroic bearing and striking mien of the other young masters."
Li Ximing had not yet met the fifth son, Li Jiangnian. Yet for Li Wen to speak in such terms meant it went far beyond a mere shortfall in looks. Understanding the implication in his heart, Li Ximing simply dismissed him.
He had sat by the table for only a few quarters of an hour when Changxi's divine ability and dharmic power indeed manifested in the Great Void. Although the Li family had no Violet Palace grand formation and one could descend directly, Changxi still paused beforehand to greet him courteously before entering.
The old Real Person bore the appearance of a middle-aged man, with a piece of jade worn against his chest. His face was even ruddy, full of vigorous energy. Yet even though Li Ximing was no expert in divination or reading complexions, he could still see that Changxi's divine ability was leaking outward, stirring the earth veins into abnormal turmoil. His death was imminent.
At this point, no one dared agitate him. Li Ximing spoke gently and amicably: "Senior has arrived! I heard that the earth veins in Xuanyue's territory have been turbulent. May I ask what happened?"
Changxi took a seat across from him, his face utterly flat and indifferent as he replied, "Fu'en has fallen. My territory merely gained one more mountain."
Faced with such indifference, Li Ximing found it difficult to respond. After waiting a moment, Real Person Changxi said, "Zhaojing, I am about to pass into meditation and transform into a mountain. Where this mountain should fall—have you given it any thought?"
Li Ximing instantly realized that Changxi's condition was far worse than he had imagined. Perhaps he had suffered a devastating blow, or perhaps Juxin Chongxuan was steadily reaching its zenith. Less than two years had passed, yet the old man could no longer hold out.
*Fortunately, I didn't wander off abroad to that Shiqi Island... otherwise, if Changxi suddenly dropped dead, things would have become immensely troublesome.*
He let out a breath and began considering arrangements for Changxi's passing.
*According to what he said, he will transform into a mountain upon death. Since he is a Violet Palace cultivator after all, this mountain will likely be extraordinary, a treasured land in its own right.*
Li Ximing had little interest in preserving Shanji Commandery, and he had no confidence even in holding Xuanyue's sect gates. It would be ideal if Changxi passed away right here by the lake; his own family would gain an extra Gen Mountain.
*Still, I can hardly say: 'Might I trouble Senior to die on my family's land...'*
Such words could not be voiced aloud. Since Changxi had asked, he surely had more to say. Li Ximing could only reply, "Does Old Senior already have an arrangement? Everything shall be done according to Senior's wishes."
Changxi glanced at him and nodded. "Even if Zhaojing doesn't say it, I understand. Shanji cannot be held, and my sect's gates may not be defended either. We cannot enrich the enemy for nothing. Xuanmiao Temple also belongs to Earth Virtue. Fellow Daoist Su Mian invited me there to discuss the Dao at Baihai Creek. Seeing as my time draws near, I invite Zhaojing to accompany me."
With those words finished, Changxi retrieved a jade box from his sleeve. A plump, round white bead was nestled in its center, gleaming with fine rays of iridescent light and engraved with patterns of a tiger turning its head. It illuminated the surroundings with brilliant clarity. Changxi said:
"Keep this safe, Zhaojing."
This mid-grade Gen Earth spiritual artifact, the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger, pushed back and forth between them, had finally landed in Li Ximing's hands!
Li Ximing declined no further and reached out to take it. The moment the white bead touched his hand, an earth-fiend chill welled up. The texture of its engravings was distinctly palpable, even slightly coarse against the skin. As Changxi took the initiative to withdraw his divine ability and dharmic power from the artifact, relinquishing authority over it, the divine ability of the Mingyang lineage seeped in.
The Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger was a spiritual artifact, far more potent than the Chongming Dongxuan Screen refined by the Li family in earlier years. Had Changxi not actively transferred it, refining it alone would have taken who knew how long. Now that it was in his grasp, Li Ximing's divine ability naturally comprehended its workings.
The Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger inherently possessed the power of Gen Earth protection, serving as a fine defensive spiritual artifact. Not only could it unleash the Mountain-Driving Mystic Curtain to enshroud the body, but it also granted Li Ximing a layer of Gen Earth Spiritual Absorption, reducing divine ability damage he sustained from anything outside the Twelve Qi and Fire Virtue.
Furthermore, the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger possessed an earth-burrowing marvel known as the Sea-Crossing Mystic Escape, allowing the user to dive into the earth like an Earth Virtue divine ability cultivator and travel through earth veins at speeds beyond ordinary reach.
Lastly, there was the Gen Tiger Path, which could transform the artifact itself into a Gen Tiger that traversed the Great Void. Though it possessed little combat ability, it had the power of concealment; unless an array was laid in the Great Void to trap the Gen Tiger, at the slightest brush with most Violet Palace divine abilities, the tiger would plunge into the depths of the Great Void, making it exceedingly difficult to intercept.
Other minor marvels of Earth Virtue were numerous and intricate. The Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger was itself an emblem of Gen Earth at the Violet Palace level. If Li Ximing's cultivation grew profound, he could even use it freely to cast spells—just as Su Mian had once used Li Ximing and Changxi as symbolic manifestations to heal Ding Weizeng; if Changxi were absent, placing the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger beside him would serve the same purpose.
*What a fine spiritual artifact... Changxi has had little fame throughout his life, yet he possesses no shortage of treasured goods at the bottom of his chest... This artifact is truly practical.*
Though the pressure weighed heavier on Li Ximing, he remained very pleased with the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger.
He thus dispatched someone to notify Li Zhouwei, then rose with Changxi. The old man slipped into the Great Void alongside him, saying leisurely:
"Zhaojing, although the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger is a closer match for my divine ability and Su Mian's, it possesses no particularly extraordinary powers of its own, and overlaps heavily with the abilities of both of us. After discussing it with him, we felt it best to give it to you to wield."
"Should any head-on combat between Violet Palace cultivators occur hereafter, the burden will still primarily rest on your Yetian Gate."
He phrased it thus, but Li Ximing also understood that it was not really a matter of divine abilities. Yetian Gate was indeed a technique divine ability suited to combat, but at the root of it, it was because he himself had essentially reached an irreconcilable opposition with Ye Gui. He answered, "Zhaojing understands."
Changxi continued: "The Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger also shares the universal trait of Earth spiritual artifacts: it can be considered a thing of the demonic path. Not only can it be maintained with divine abilities, but refining it with blood qi, grievances, and the like is even more beneficial. Over years and months, it may even yield more wondrous transformations."
This left Li Ximing momentarily speechless, and suspicion immediately stirred within him. The Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger in his hand was of mid-grade; perhaps it had been upgraded while in Changxi's possession. But Changxi cut him off at once:
"In years past, I contemplated refining it, but this item was truly a bit of a chicken rib to me, and the quantities required were astronomical. Such materials are scarce within the inland realm; I was unable to secure much, and most of what I had went toward refining something else."
He pointed to the jade stone at his chest, which Li Ximing had actually noticed for a long time. Changxi said:
"It is this Qi Stone Demon Embryo. I began refining it two hundred years ago, expending most of my life's savings. If not for the constraints of the Juxin Chongxuan spiritual atmosphere and the water receding and thunder rising in the East Sea, I would not have ended up at this point."
Hearing this name, Li Ximing was secretly appalled, though his expression remained merely contemplative. Changxi chuckled:
"This method is a secret tradition of my lineage. It harms celestial harmony, yet extends longevity. In the end, it does no good for one's reputation and brings many detriments. Even when predecessors used it, they did so in secret."
*Why is he telling me this?*
Li Ximing paused slightly. Changxi had already turned his head, his voice growing deeper:
"In truth... the various clans are deeply wary of the orthodox Earth Virtue, especially cultivators who walk the demonic path. Other lineages can be overlooked, but Earth Virtue cultivators who are also orthodox demonic cultivators make all the clans somewhat fearful. Although the various clans profited from the upheaval of the Thunder Palace, no one wants to see it happen again."
Li Ximing did know some related information himself. Though unsure where Changxi's words stemmed from, he did not let the matter drop, pressing:
"I have also read of the technique of different cauldrons, same furnace. After the Violet Palace, there is actually little difference from the Violet Palace Golden Core... Orthodox demonic path... is it of the sort like Tuoba Chongyuan?"
"Not much different," Changxi said leisurely.
"The technique of different cauldrons, same furnace and the Violet Palace Golden Core are fundamentally the same thing—both are the demonic path of the present age. Ancient times likewise had demonic cultivators; otherwise, how would Kuai Li be a Demon Lord? The Tuoba family is also a branch of orthodox demonic cultivation."
The old man exhaled heavily through his nose and gritted his teeth. "Arts are not passed on lightly, and thus an orthodox line is established. An orthodoxy here, an orthodoxy there. Those seated upon fruit positions do not bestow their own cultivation methods, granting side paths instead. Once in our hands, we in turn use the Foundation Establishment sections to control those beneath us. Is it not all from the same source? Ordinary people shrink in stature before our direct lineages, and we shrink in stature before the orthodoxy, made into playthings—is that not the natural order?"
He seemed to recall the agonizing memories of his clan as a "family of a single incense stick." Exhaling twice, on the verge of demise, he forced himself to materialize on a dark black cliff and descended toward Xuanmiao Temple alongside Li Ximing. Coming to meet them was not Qi Qiuxin, but a pale, beardless, middle-aged man: Kong Guxi.
The people of Xuanyue had already arrived a step ahead.
Kong Guxi craned his neck, terrified like a plucked quail. His already large eyes widened even further, making the Daoist robe draped over his frame hang loosely, as though on a clothes hanger.
He drifted over, only to be swept aside impatiently by Changxi. Stumbling awkwardly, he knocked his head in an ungainly kowtow and wailed aloud. Changxi looked only toward Su Mian, the old temple master, who stood with hands tucked into his sleeves, fraught with unease.
Changxi asked, "Which courtyard? Has Fellow Daoist made the arrangements?"
Su Mian hurriedly led him toward the edge of the cliff, speaking with some anxiety: "Fellow Daoist... that item..."
"Oh!" Changxi took off the Qi Stone Demon Embryo from his neck, stuffed it into Su Mian's hands, and said, "No third person knows of this item."
Li Ximing had been standing to the side all along, lowering his gaze obediently and putting on an expression of restrained grief, though thunder roared in his heart:
*No third person knows of this item? You just told me about it a moment ago!*
*What does Changxi mean by this? Leverage? A hint? This Qi Stone Demon Embryo is bad for one's reputation and brings many detriments... Is he leaving me leverage so I can force Xuanmiao Temple to take the field in the future?*
Li Ximing's outward composure was decent enough; he showed no reaction to those words. Su Mian accepted it in silence and replied:
"I will certainly do my utmost to protect Xuanyue."
They had now arrived in that courtyard. Most of the surrounding hundred li had been cleared into a vast emptiness, obviously in anticipation of Changxi's death for a long time. It was a barren expanse of yellow earth, where only a few frail blades of grass sprouted, swaying in the spring breeze.
Stones were already beginning to drop from beneath Changxi's robes, clattering down and sending dirt and rubble flying. He descended into the courtyard in great haste, his robes billowing without a shred of elegance, resembling a sparrow flying into a net, and sat cross-legged upon the couch.
Xuanmiao Temple was austere and primitive throughout, and this courtyard was no exception. Sitting on the couch, Changxi looked as if he could not even stretch his limbs.
"Kong Guxi!"
Changxi called out. Kong Guxi hastily flew up, only to plummet from midair with a whoosh. Arriving before him, heedless of the humiliation of his clan's ancestor sitting withered in an empty yard, he craned his neck and looked at him in terror.
Changxi murmured, "Kong Guxi, my Kong clan rose from humble beginnings, never destined for the Violet Palace. A True Monarch reincarnated, slaughtered my kin, and thus fortune shifted onto me, requiring me to ascend to the Violet Palace only to serve as a stepping stone for another..."
At these words, Kong Guxi lowered his head in silence. Li Ximing frowned, and fear rose in Su Mian. Standing beside Li Ximing, Su Mian sighed:
"He's gone muddled with age! Such things cannot be spoken aloud..."
At this, Changxi seemed intensely feverish. He stretched out his legs, rolled up his sleeves, hesitated, and then said:
"Obey Real Person Zhaojing's commands."
Kong Guxi nodded once more. Changxi could no longer sit upright, tossing and turning upon the couch as rumblings echoed from beneath the earth. Finally, Changxi declared:
"Upon my death, I shall become a mountain, six hundred and twenty-one ren in height. To the north shall stand three peaks, a hundred paces apart; to the east and south, nine peaks in all, abundant in persimmon trees. Its sunny slopes shall hold abundant red copper, and its shaded slopes abundant white gold. Due south shall spring a fountain, spewing white jade, flowing southward into a creek that journeys toward the Salt Lake. Within its waters shall be many vipers and many dark turtles. My Kong clan descendants may bow to it from afar, but must never climb it."
Kong Guxi wept, "This junior has committed it to memory!"
Real Person Changxi gave a muffled groan and cried out:
"The agony kills me!"
His cry was like thunder. The earth veins beneath their feet swelled like a balloon. Monstrous white stones and towering mountains burst forth from the soil, peak after peak shooting up like bamboo shoots after rain. Kong Guxi could not even keep his footing.
His staggering, choked "Respectfully seeing off the Ancestor" was drowned out entirely amid the world-shaking upheaval, heard by none. The mountain range beneath their feet rose, the terrain instantly soaring. Red copper, white gold, and twelve peaks revealed themselves in succession; spring water gushed forth, trees rapidly thickened into shade, and faintly, the chirping of cicadas could even be heard.
Every word Changxi had spoken came to pass, without the slightest discrepancy.
The former courtyard and the old man seemed like mere illusions, leaving only a Daoist robe hanging on a treetop before Kong Guxi, drifting in deathly silence. The forest was terrifyingly still, cast everywhere with shadows thrown by branches.
He carefully pulled it down and took two dazed steps, finally hearing the exclamations and praises of the Xuanmiao Temple cultivators rising from the foot of the mountain.
Kong Guxi thought:
*There should be laughter as well, shouldn't there?*
Chapter 723