This thought merely flashed through Li Ximing's mind before doubts arose within him:
"If that is so... the bloodlines and lineage ties between the two sects and four gates may be even closer than previously thought... Nine times out of ten, the Jiangnan orthodoxies trace back to Qingsong. What does that truly signify?"
"When I broke through to Violet Palace, there was the matter of congratulations, as well as the custom of paying formal visits to the three houses... Are these matters merely rules and constraints of Jiangnan... or are they a... privilege unique to the Jiangnan factions!"
Li Ximing pondered for just a brief moment before nodding in assent. In that single instant, the eastern portion of Shanji Commandery—the core territory of Xuanyue—was sliced away. Kong Guxi only had enough time to feel relief that Li Ximing had nodded.
Though Cheng Jinzhu harbored doubts in his heart, so long as the matters assigned by his sect were settled, it was enough. It was inappropriate to talk too much before a Real Person, so he answered:
"This spiritual artifact was borrowed when the former Sect Master Kong Tingyun accompanied our Real Person. Since the current sect master is unaware, perhaps there was something left unaddressed or unexplained."
Li Zhouwei keenly caught Kong Tingyun's name. Raising an eyebrow, he asked:
"I wonder what wondrous power this spiritual artifact possesses?"
Cheng Jinzhu thought for a moment and replied:
"I have never seen the true form of this spiritual artifact myself. I only heard that in Douxuan Grotto-Heaven... the true body of this spiritual artifact was placed at the foot of the first layer of mountains as ornamentation. When manifesting its original form, it is as massive as a mountain, snow-white and translucent. It can awaken the spirit, unlock wisdom, clarify the mind, and calm the qi."
Li Zhouwei noted this in his heart, exchanged a glance with Li Cheng, and dropped the subject, asking:
"I once spoke with Real Person Lingmei regarding array formations. I wonder if the Real Person has any word on that?"
Li Ximing had brought up this matter to each of the several Violet Palace cultivators he had visited, so Cheng Jinzhu was prepared and answered:
"The Real Person already sent a letter to an old friend in the sea, but the reply stated that the friend is in secluded cultivation, so there will be no opportunity in recent years."
He paused briefly. Li Zhouwei waved Kong Guxi away, and only then did Cheng Jinzhu continue:
"There is also Real Person Tinglan of Ziyan. The Ziyan orthodoxy excels in formations. Though she is not capable of setting up a brand-new array personally, she can adapt to local conditions—shifting, altering, and relocating an already established Violet Palace grand formation to a different position... The power would change somewhat, but it would remain at the Violet Palace level."
The moment these words left his mouth, everyone immediately understood his meaning.
'He's referring to the Xuanyue mountain gate!'
Li Ximing indicated that he understood, and Cheng Jinzhu took his leave. Once he had exited the hall, Li Ximing said:
"Minghuang, Wanyu does not seem to be lying about this. I have met Lingmei before; though his ideals run contrary to the elders in Wanyu and he harbors the ambition to sweep away the old and establish the new, he does not seem like the type to resort to such petty tricks."
Li Zhouwei responded:
"This matter has little to do with our family, but it should be investigated and clarified as soon as possible. Whether it is true or false, so long as the Sword Sect does not end up blaming our family, it will be well."
After all, the Li family currently could not produce a spiritual artifact to compensate them. Li Ximing exhaled and said:
"That old fellow Changxi refused to speak plainly even on his deathbed. I shall make a trip to the Xuanyue mountain gate. From the sound of it, this spiritual artifact belongs to Earth Virtue; perhaps it is assisting Kong Tingyun in her breakthrough."
When Li Zhouwei had asked about Kong Tingyun earlier, he had hinted at precisely this possibility. Seeing that Li Ximing had caught on, he nodded in farewell, watching as Li Ximing stepped onto the heavenly light and broke through the Great Void to depart.
***
Mount Zhijing.
The pill furnace before Li Ximing swayed slightly as clear qi floated upward. The furnace mouth shifted, and six dark yellow pills gushed forth.
He reached out to catch them. These Xuanque Heart-Passing Medicines were each the size of longans, devoid of distinct patterns, and a refreshing fragrance assailed the nostrils. Li Ximing took out a jade bottle and stored them away.
On Mount Zhijing, a rain of blossoms drifted on the wind, tumbling across the ground in bright white sheets. He admired the sight for a moment, then his figure re-emerged on the southern slope.
At a hollow on Mount Zhijing, the original small pool had already transformed into an Earth Fiend spring. Blackish-red Earth Fiend gushed forth, with purple fire rippling through it, only to be contained by the white array runes along the edge of the pool, pooling there like liquid.
Li Ximing gave a light beckoning gesture.
*Splash!*
The pool stirred violently. The water surface formed of Earth Fiend and purple fire surged in tumultuous ripples, and a palm-sized bottle flew out from within.
The bottle was purplish-red, embossed with glazed patterns resembling scorched fire. The moment it landed in Li Ximing's hand, he immediately sensed its condition.
"Refined by Mingyang purple fire and gathering Lihuo, this bottle is nearing saturation."
This pool contained the Earth Fiend fire vein born alongside Li Ximing's attainment of the Dao. Primarily composed of Mingyang fire, Lihuo, and Earth Fiend, it was exceptionally potent, but it carried far too heavy a fiend qi to be used for pill refinement. However, the Mystic Pattern Bottle could absorb and refine the Mingyang fire and Lihuo from the fire vein. Every six months or so, Li Ximing would retrieve it and refine it.
Regardless of how much flame was inside the bottle, he simply channeled Valley Wind Draws Fire and his Mingyang divine ability. In no time at all, the flames within were refined entirely clean. Looking closely, its power was already considerable among Foundation Establishment standards.
"What a truly peculiar magical artifact."
Even now, Li Ximing could not discern which orthodoxy this item belonged to. Moreover, his sacrificial refinement using Mingyang and Lihuo was far from reaching its upper limit, leaving plenty of room for further cultivation.
"I wonder if it can be refined into a spiritual embryo. It would be a waste to discard it, so I might as well keep refining it until something else can replace it."
While Li Zhouwei and the others were stationed in the wilderness, Lake Wangyue was not idle either. Li Jiangqian had already mobilized all available manpower across Lake Wangyue to construct a high platform beside Chengqing Gate, one of the six gates around the lake.
This high platform had not been commissioned without reason; it was the grand sacrificial platform described in *Guanxie Divine Ability Refined in Fire*. Li Ximing had checked on it earlier and found that it was already fifty to sixty percent complete.
"Once matters here are settled, I shall first visit Xuanyue, then head to Chengyun Gate... They are close neighbors after all, and having delayed for so long, I can also take the opportunity to inquire about Mount Xiaoshi."
Tossing the Mystic Pattern Bottle back into the pool, Li Ximing melted into the Great Void and traversed it without lingering, reappearing in the wilderness.
Li Zhouwei was not in the hall. Instead, Li Cheng and Kong Guxi were in the middle of a discussion. Li Ximing tossed the pills into Li Cheng's hands, grabbed Kong Guxi by the collar, and took off.
The man was frightened out of his wits, but fortunately, Changxi had brought him into the Great Void before. Still shaken, he steadied himself within the heavenly light and cupped his hands:
"Real Person..."
His voice had barely sounded when the rest of his words were choked back into his throat by a mere nod from Li Ximing. Before long, they dropped back into the mortal world, arriving at the Xuanyue mountain gate in Shanji Commandery.
The night was thick. The white halo of the Xuanyue mountain gate still flickered in the sky, faintly outlining the silhouettes of the peaks. Yet unlike the bustling scenes of the past, as far as the eye could see, it resembled a dead mountain, devoid of any rising or descending evasion lights.
A bitter taste filled Kong Guxi's mouth as he heard Li Ximing instruct:
"Open the array."
"Yes!"
Unclasping the command medallion at his waist, he shone it toward the array, forming a hand seal that emitted a brownish-yellow radiance. After a moment's hesitation, an opening was finally breached in the grand array before them, faintly revealing the jade-crafted mountain gate and bright yellow lanterns within.
Just as this portal-like gap appeared, Kong Guxi felt his feet lighten. Below lay an undulating landscape of dark mountain ranges, dotted with flickering lights. Only two or three scattered figures could be seen moving about, their streaks of light darting past like shooting stars.
He had seen this vista countless times, and they had now arrived above his own sect's mountain gate. Li Ximing's back blocked his view. The newly ascended Real Person stared intently at the immortal pavilions below, filling Kong Guxi with a spine-chilling dread.
Tucking in his neck and sliding his hands into his sleeves, he followed Li Ximing as they flew a circuit around the sect grounds, hearing the Real Person praise:
"Your noble sect possesses profound foundations and excels in moving mountains to reshape terrain. Spiritual energy flourishes everywhere across this land, and there are many extraordinary spiritual mountains... Of the Twelve Qi, five are complete, and of the Five Virtues, eight lineages are present, including three of Earth Virtue. Rare... truly rare!"
Xuanyue Gate might fall short of other immortal sects in other regards, but when it came to spiritual mountains, it was by no means inferior. For centuries, Changxi had labored diligently, moving mountains into Xuanyue like a mole preparing for winter. This mountain gate was truly alluring!
'No wonder Ye Gui coveted the mountain gate so intensely whenever it was mentioned. His Baiyedu Immortal Dao was newly founded after all; gaining this single mountain gate would save him centuries of effort!'
Li Ximing toured the area. The disciples were pitifully few, with figures only visible inside the main hall. His own junior, Li Jianglong, was holding a jade slip and reading carefully, books piled beside him higher than a man.
Li Ximing gave a slight nod, having no intention of meeting him. Completing this circuit, he had observed various secret realms, but he had found no trace of any spiritual artifact, nor anything even remotely related to the Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain.
He came to a halt only upon reaching the front of the Xuanyue treasury. Pausing, he clasped his hands behind his back, turned his head, and asked:
"Sect Master... is the Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain truly not inside?"
Kong Guxi already understood the reason for his visit. Falling to his knees, he said:
"Guxi has truly never known of any Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain! If I have hidden even a shred of truth, may I immediately suffer death and the destruction of my Dao!"
Li Ximing had not really believed that Real Person Changxi would leave such a spiritual artifact sitting in the treasury anyway; in that case, there would have been no need to conceal it from him. Thus, he said:
"Take me to the seclusion grounds."
Kong Guxi's face turned visibly pale. Complying respectfully, he asked in a low voice:
"May I ask... which person the Real Person wishes to see?"
Li Ximing said offhandedly:
"Kong Tingyun."
Kong Guxi merely nodded, leading him as they wound through the mountains. Presenting his medallion to open illusory formations, turning left and right, he descended underground beneath a spiritual mountain, bypassed another illusory array, and finally brought them before an immortal cave.
Stepping onto a stone platform within the cave, Kong Guxi used his medallion to unlock the array. Only then did a tightly shut stone door emerge upon the cave wall. Without uttering a word, Kong Guxi dropped to his knees with a thud and curled into a ball.
Li Ximing naturally understood his meaning. If he insisted on searching for the Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain, the barrier would have to be forced open. Once that stone door opened, Kong Tingyun would almost certainly lose her life...
He did not enter, falling into puzzled thought instead:
"Cheng Jinzhu indicated that once the Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain is deployed, it is as massive as a mountain. Most likely, it cannot be hidden inside this tiny secret chamber... Even if it could, it would be easy for me to detect..."
He paced back out, while Kong Guxi repeatedly kowtowed behind him. All the way out of the area, Li Ximing remained utterly baffled.
Evidently, the Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain could not be found within the Xuanyue mountain gate. Real Person Changxi had employed unknown means to keep this spiritual artifact as some hidden contingency. Since he had not told Li Ximing, searching for it now would be difficult in the extreme.
'He promised the southern shore of Salt Lake and the eastern portion of Shanji to the Sword Sect... This couldn't be more obvious: it was Changxi's arrangement for affairs after his death. That being the case, whichever location the related Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain was left in, the old fellow must have calculated it in advance...'
Li Ximing could only step outside with regret, noting in his heart:
'And Lingmei made a point to mention it, so clearly there is no rush. That old fellow Changxi lived for over four hundred years; he couldn't have pinned all his hopes on me alone. I shall wait for future developments.'
Li Ximing also held the secret of the demonic fetus obtained by Sumian. Such matters still required careful inquiry and could not be used rashly, lest they yield the opposite result.
'No matter how much of a peacemaker Sumian acts like today, he is still a veteran Violet Palace cultivator. If pushed too far, the threat he poses would be not a whit less than Ye Gui's.'
Emerging from the mountains, Kong Guxi was thoroughly frightened, following numbly behind without knowing what to think. Li Ximing set him down at the edge of the wilderness and said:
"Dispatch a few people back to search. If this spiritual artifact cannot be found, you will have a hard time giving an account to Wanyu."
Kong Guxi could only bow and scrape in agreement. The countenance mirrors the heart; in this short span of little over a month, his beard and hair had rapidly turned gray. Where once he had retained some youthful semblance, he now appeared entirely middle-aged, even showing hints of decrepitude.
Li Ximing gave him an extra glance, suddenly struck by how remarkably he resembled Li Xuanxuan during the years when Xuanxuan was plagued by inner demons. Though they were two men of entirely different appearance, their expressions gave them a strange resemblance.
"Every family has its own burdens... When misery strikes, none bear a lighter load than any other."
Pulling his gaze back, he traversed the Great Void and headed north. As he approached the borders of Chengshui Marsh, the Great Void turned noticeably rugged. Li Ximing secretly marveled:
'What tremendous fortune... The most quintessential land in all of Jiangbei is Chengshui Marsh, and he swallowed it all by himself.'
Breaking out back into the mortal world, Li Ximing saw a vast expanse of shimmering waters in the distance. Gazing down from midair, countless dark dawn redwoods stood erect within the marsh, rustling softly as a gentle breeze blew over.
"Chengshui Marsh..."
Li Ximing's gaze was somewhat complicated. This place was a renowned great marsh, beneath which who knew how many bones of northern and southern cultivators lay buried. He swept his spiritual sense across it:
'Chengshui Marsh was originally a place of Heshui, yet the Wood qi here is so abundant that even when flooded by Heshui, so many dawn redwoods managed to grow. Compared to Lake Wangyue... it resembles a marshland more closely. Perhaps in another century, it will become a blessed land of Fushui.'
The things of this world were in perpetual transformation; nothing remained immutable. Lake Wangyue was deeper, its body naturally belonging to Kanshui and already very stable—otherwise, the remnants of Lingyu Gate back then would not have chosen that location.
The four shores surrounding Lake Wangyue were closer to Fushui marshland, with water levels similar to Chengshui Marsh, though naturally far inferior in spiritual vitality. Riding his light through the air, Li Ximing emerged at the bustling market town upon Chengshui Marsh.
The Li family also maintained a foothold in Chengshui Marsh. Back then, when their junior Li Quewan was to enter Qi Refinement, the material transformation spiritual energy she required had been gathered from Chengshui Marsh under the cover of a shop in the market town. Even now, the family still had personnel stationed here.
'It seems someone from the He family is in charge of this place.'
Li Ximing pinched an incantation gesture. To him, the array protecting this ridge market of Chengshui Marsh was practically nonexistent; passing through the array via the Great Void, he descended into the interior of the market town.
After all, let alone Chengyun Gate, not even Jinyu Sect was so extravagant as to protect a market town with a Violet Palace grand array. Nearly ninety percent of the market towns across Jiangnan were completely undefended against a Violet Palace cultivator. Li Ximing looked down at the bustling crowds below, which seemed exceptionally lively.
With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he heard the clamor of news from all around with crystal clarity.
'Minghui Lianmin of Lotus Temple has led the cultivators of Lotus Temple... to Chengshui Marsh to debate the Dao with Real Person Chengyun?'
Chapter 736