Li Xiangping looked down with a chuckle. Just as he was about to reply, he saw Li Yesheng respectfully entering the cave dwelling. Turning his head, he asked, "What is it?"
Li Yesheng said in a low voice, "Patriarch, more than a dozen children from the Wan family have arrived at the foot of the mountain. They say... as we were once allies and friends, now that their clan has fallen and their lineage is broken, they hope to seek shelter under our protection."
The two froze for a moment, then set down their teacups. With a complicated expression, Li Xiangping asked softly, "Are there any among them with spirit apertures?"
"Qiuyang went to see them. He reported that their leader is at the Xuanjing Wheel, the first layer of Embryonic Breathing, while the rest are all mortals."
Li Yesheng answered in a low voice. From the head seat, Li Xiangping fell silent for a few breaths before saying gravely, "Disperse these Wan family members and integrate them into the various villages. Distribute land to those in their teens so they can form their own households; foster the children under ten in the academy for now; and for the even younger ones, find local households to foster them.
"As for their leader, bring him up to see me first."
***
Wan Tianjing had sheltered among the mountains for a whole night with the children. When he watched the grand formation on Mount Huaqian collapse with a thunderous roar, his final glimmer of hope died. Remembering the words of his clan uncle when sending him down the mountain, he wiped away his tears and stumbled westward.
He walked on in silence, his heart as dead as cold ash. The children trailing behind him, both older and younger, had been warned by their families before departing. None of them fussed or cried out loudly; they simply walked along in silence, making the occasional stifled sob sound all the more desolate.
Wan Tianjing avoided the usual village settlements along the way, foraging for fruit and catching wild hares to feed the children following him. Stumbling into the Li family's territory, he made inquiries with a few locals, and soon the Li family cultivator stationed in the area arrived.
This Li family cultivator appeared to be barely in his early twenties. Named Li Qiuyang, he was a concubine-born cultivator of the Li family. His manner was courteous enough, and upon hearing of the Wan family's fate, he too felt sorrowful. As he led Wan Tianjing toward Meichi Mountain, he chatted with him in a low voice.
"Have any of you cultivated?"
Li Qiuyang asked softly. The third layer of the Embryonic Breathing Realm was the Zhouxing Wheel. Having lingered in this stage for two or three years without finding the opportunity to break through, and with few fellow cultivators in the family to compare himself against, he was curious to see Wan Tianjing's cultivation.
"I have stepped onto the immortal path and currently possess Xuanjing Wheel cultivation."
Seeing that Wan Tianjing looked about fourteen or fifteen, Li Qiuyang relaxed considerably, thinking to himself, *It seems not everyone cultivates at godspeed like Li Xuanxuan—cultivating for seven years and reaching the third layer of Embryonic Breathing by fourteen or fifteen.*
The Li family worked with great efficiency. Wan Tianjing had barely exchanged a few words with Li Qiuyang when a dignified middle-aged man came to escort him up the mountain. Keeping his head down, he followed the stone-paved path uphill. The middle-aged man bowed respectfully and led him into the cave dwelling.
Wan Tianjing glanced up slightly and saw a middle-aged man with a robe draped over his shoulders sitting in the center of the hall, reading with head bowed.
"Patriarch, this is the one."
At the sound, the middle-aged man raised his head. His narrow, elongated eyebrows lifted slightly, and eyes like a falcon's locked directly onto Wan Tianjing's gaze. Startled and thoroughly unsettled, Wan Tianjing dropped to his knees with his head lowered, his heart pounding in terror as he thought to himself, *One look is enough to tell this man is no ordinary figure. He must be the Li family's Patriarch.*
Li Xiangping nodded and rose to his feet. Setting down the wooden slip in his hands, he silently observed Wan Tianjing.
Cold sweat poured from Wan Tianjing without stop, but then a gentle voice drifted down from above:
"Raise your head."
Wan Tianjing felt as if granted amnesty. Raising his head, he realized another man was standing beside the Li family Patriarch. This man looked gentle and scholarly, bearing a precious sword at his waist and holding a blue-green talisman brush in hand, gazing at him with a warm smile.
"What is your name?"
The middle-aged man in the seat of honor finally spoke. Wan Tianjing fell silent for a few breaths as grief and hatred surged in his heart. Gritting his teeth, he answered, "Wan Tianchou! My name is Wan Tianchou!"
Li Xiangping nodded and inquired about a few details concerning that night on Mount Huaqian before waving Wan Tianchou and Li Yesheng away. Exchanging a glance with Li Tongya, he remarked flatly, "Cowardly and lacking in strategy, yet possesses some sense of duty and affection. He can be put to use, though he falls far short of Wan Tiancang."
Li Tongya chuckled and shook his head, saying softly, "In the Wan family, only Wan Xiaohua and Wan Tiancang were worth fearing. As long as one of those two had managed to escape, the Wan family would still have had a chance to stage a comeback. Unfortunately, both died on Mount Huaqian."
Li Xiangping waved a hand and said in a heavy voice, "Unless their ancestor Wan Huaqian crawls back out of the earth, the Wan family's destruction is sealed. Let us consider matters of the future instead!
"Second Brother, are you prepared to break through to the sixth layer of Embryonic Breathing?"
Li Tongya nodded and answered, "After regulating my breath for a few days, I will be ready to enter seclusion."
Pouring a pot of clear tea, Li Xiangping swept aside several wooden slips on the table, picked up a brush to make markings on a cloth scroll, and said gravely, "Second Brother is about to break through to the sixth layer of Embryonic Breathing, the Lingchu Wheel, and I have found the opportunity to strike for the fifth wheel. Aside from us, Second Sister-in-law, Li Qiuyang, and Xuanxuan are all at the third layer of Embryonic Breathing; Wan Tianchou possesses first-layer Embryonic Breathing cultivation; and Xuanfeng and Chen Donghe have just stepped onto the immortal path.
"Without counting Jing'er, our Li family's present strength is already on par with the Wan family back then."
"Indeed," Li Tongya agreed with a nod. But then, recalling another matter, he said in a low voice, "A few days ago, I heard from our subordinates that herds of beasts have often been migrating without cause in the western mountain forests. A demonic beast even fled out from there. Fortunately, its cultivation was not high, and Qiuyang took some village militia to dispose of it."
"I fear it bodes ill."
Li Xiangping pondered for several breaths before answering, "Though the scouts sent out haven't spotted any trace of the Shanyue, Shanyue tribes have roamed the west in the past after all. It is likely their doing. We must remain on guard."
"I have already ordered men to investigate deeper into the territory; perhaps they will turn up some news."
Li Tongya put away the talisman ink on the table and walked out of the cave dwelling side by side with Li Xiangping, heading toward Mount Lijing as they conversed.
***
Having sorted through the wealth of information surfacing in his mind, Lu Jiangxian sent his divine sense wandering outward, catching sight of the familiar stone altar and skylight.
The cracks on his mirror surface showed no major change, but a ring of lustrous white lines had lit up across the mirror body. The white qi from the jade pendant had not augmented the Taiyin Mysterious Light; rather, it had endowed the magical mirror with a new ability.
The mirror could use the talisman qi obtained through the Sacrificial Extraction Primordial Seizing Method, combining it with Taiyin moon essence to condense a talisman pill. Cultivators could take only one pill per major realm; it could break through bottlenecks and advance cultivation. Depending on the amount of talisman qi within the pill, greater quantities could even produce wondrous effects for Foundation Establishment and the Purple Palace.
However, just like the Xuanzhu talisman seed, consuming this pill would leave a secret talisman seal in the host's soul dwelling within the Shengyang Mansion, accelerating their rate of absorbing spiritual energy. Upon the host's death, it would exhaust their essence and vital energy to convert it back into talisman qi, feeding it back into the mirror.
*The magical mirror's style remains as ruthlessly pragmatic as ever, squeezing every bit of value from its tools...*
Lu Jiangxian could not help but sigh inwardly with a touch of helplessness.
He had obtained the Sacrificial Extraction Primordial Seizing Method years ago, yet due to its harsh prerequisites, he had been unable to extract any talisman qi. He could only wait until Li Tongya broke through to Qi Refinement to test it again.
Chapter 77