Li Zhouwei pondered deeply and replied, "The cultivation method you obtained, My Lady, has spanned a hundred years from start to finish. It began in the sea and then moved to the lake, every step neatly arranged. The dragons cannot set foot on land, and Luoxia cannot control the sea. If there were divine abilities interwoven behind all this, who could possess such tremendous authority? Perhaps... you truly carry a karmic mandate upon you."
Having said this, Li Zhouwei seemed merely to be lamenting Li Qinghong's circumstances, yet to the ears of both, the words took on a completely different weight.
*Who could possess such tremendous authority?*
Both held the answer in their hearts, but it was something neither dared to speak, nor even dared to dwell upon. Since suspicion lingered, they could only insist upon a karmic mandate, not daring to mention anything else.
Li Qinghong immediately said in a gentle voice, "This matter... began with the strife between the North and South. Back then, the grotto-heaven of the True Qi Path opened wide. Though on the surface it seemed the True Monarch had departed beyond the heavens and left the Violet Palace masters to act as they pleased, in truth, the Jinyu Sect took the lead by the immortal decree of True Monarch Taiyuan, probing the status of the True Qi Path's attainment.
"Once the grotto-heaven opened, three strands of the Tianwu True Qi Divine Fiend Nature emerged. Word had it that they belonged to True Monarch Tianwu himself... and from that, everyone knew... True Monarch Tianwu was ailing."
Li Qinghong took some tea leaves from a white porcelain jar beside her and shook them into the teapot, her slender hands complementing the jade vessel. Li Zhouwei asked doubtfully, "Merely based on three strands of golden nature, they could ascertain news of a True Monarch?"
Li Qinghong said in a low voice, "When Anhuai Heaven was first established back then, True Monarch Tianwu awed an entire realm, bringing all demons and fiends to their knees. He brought out three suits of armor and erected them in three places across Anhuai Heaven, leaving behind a single statement before departing beyond the heavens."
"What statement was that...?"
With a look of slight reverence on her face, she said, "'When the armor lives, the Divine Fiend stands; when the armor dies, the Tianwu True Qi hangs vacant, inviting future generations to ascend.'
"Over the following decade, flesh and skin grew upon those three suits of armor one after another—two men and one woman. Their features and voices were completely indistinguishable from living beings, and all attained vast divine abilities, guarding Anhuai until Anhuai was sealed and the State of Ning fell, after which they vanished without a trace.
"During the strife between the North and South, the various Violet Palace cultivators charged into Anhuai Heaven, only to find it entirely deserted. There was no sign of the armors—only three strands of the Tianwu True Qi Divine Fiend Nature remained."
She shook her head and said, "This thoroughly fattened Jiangbei. One portion was claimed by Mount Changhuai of the State of Wu, another was won by Ziyan, and the last slipped away due to Real Person Chengyan's negligence, which even cost the life of a Violet Palace cultivator from the South Sea.
"All three were items of supreme importance. It was one thing for the other cultivators... the various Violet Palace masters, but the Jinyu Sect, having gained nothing at all, was particularly furious with him. Even Mount Changhuai and the dragonkind, who had obtained portions of True Qi, showed him no kindness. Those with fouler tempers—like Hengli of Hengzhu and Pingyan of Yinzhou—clamored openly to hunt him down and slay him."
Li Zhouwei shook his head repeatedly and answered, "No wonder it is said that Chengyan finds it difficult to move about openly and does not dare leave the mainland. So that was why."
Li Qinghong continued, "That golden nature even transformed into a monstrous fiend. It is exceedingly vicious—since it was left behind by True Monarch Tianwu, it carries a trace of a True Monarch's status. With no one occupying that attainment, it is all the more terrifying; even Violet Palace cultivators must steer clear of it... And having formed from one of those three suits of armor, its cunning and intellect are by no means inferior to an ordinary mortal's. Right now, no one knows where it has hidden itself, and it refuses to show its face."
Li Zhouwei let out a long exhale upon hearing this, remarking, "Even a single suit of armor possessed such might. Ascending to attainment should be like True Monarch Tianwu—leaving behind garments to guard the world while seeking higher heights for oneself, with no regrets even in death."
Li Qinghong gave a slight nod, clearly holding True Monarch Tianwu in high regard as well. She said, "He was a genius of the near-ancient era, and a forthright, magnanimous figure. I heard that when his biological younger sister fell and her name was inscribed upon the registers of the Nether Bureau, despite his nobility as a True Monarch, where he could have used a divine ability to detain her soul, True Monarch Tianwu respected the order of the Nether Bureau and refused to act out of self-interest. Later, he personally made a journey to the Nether Bureau to trade for her return."
Li Zhouwei sorted through the information for a moment, then an uncertainty struck him, and he asked, "True Monarch Taiyuan holds an active, manifest seat in this era and is frequently involved in worldly affairs; cultivators of the Jinyu Sect can even enter and leave grotto-heavens to cultivate. Since Jinyu came away empty-handed and the golden nature transformed into a monstrous fiend, why did the True Monarch not intervene in person to capture it?"
Li Qinghong had evidently pondered this long before. After all, there were still True Monarchs residing both within and beyond the seas, and there was no reason to let something that even a Golden Core would covet roam freely as a fiend. Thus, she replied, "I have already inquired about this. It concerns the Nether Bureau. Once a golden nature becomes a fiendish monstrosity, it must be captured and retrieved by the Nether Bureau. If the Nether Bureau does not dispatch someone to apprehend it, not even a True Monarch has the authority to step in... That falls within their jurisdiction... Should True Monarch Taiyuan take action, it would be an act of profound disrespect."
Her willowy brows furrowed as she seemed to search for words to convey the gravity of the situation. Drawing an analogy, she said, "It would be akin to going to Luoxia, standing at the foot of the mountain, intercepting the forty-eight rays of sunset radiance as they fly in succession across the vault of heaven so they cannot return to the peak of Mount Luoxia, and stealing one or two away in the process."
"Ah..."
Li Zhouwei understood at once. Both Luoxia and the Nether Bureau were powers in a league of their own. Luoxia was more manifest in the world and inspired greater reverence, but the Nether Bureau gathered all fiends and evils under heaven, and its overbearing reach was not to be underestimated either.
Just as Li Qinghong finished speaking, the tea before them came to a boil, the lid of the jade pot rattling faintly. She poured a cup for Li Zhouwei; the tea was surprisingly pale purple. She said softly, "This comes from a tea bush named Dongshengluo gifted by someone. I planted it in Liehai, and this is the first harvest of the year."
Li Zhouwei offered his thanks and looked into the cup first. The tea leaves had veins of gold and silver against snow-white foliage. Taking a careful sip, he felt a numbness spread all the way from the tip of his tongue down into his stomach. Immediately afterward, a surge of rich spiritual energy rushed upward, sweeping away all fatigue.
Yet the flavor was purely numbing—it could hardly be considered pleasant to drink. Li Zhouwei swallowed and replied, "Excellent!"
Li Qinghong was quite enthusiastic and asked, "This is the first thing I have ever grown. Though my sense of taste is now vastly different from that of ordinary people, I can still roughly guess the flavor... It ought to be quite good."
"Mm-hmm, yes."
When first poured, the tea was merely ordinary spiritual tea, but this Thunder Pool was an extraordinary, miraculous place. Drawn by the tea, the power of thunder between heaven and earth gathered rapidly. Li Zhouwei vaguely felt a tingling at the Baihui acupoint atop his head, as if a lightning bolt were about to strike from the heavens.
*I can't keep holding this teacup...*
Li Qinghong, of course, was unharmed; there was no lightning in heaven or earth that would strike her. Li Zhouwei set down his cup calmly yet swiftly. Seeing Li Qinghong press her lips into a smile, he shook his head in slight embarrassment.
Her pale violet almond eyes blinked, and her vermilion lips parted with a smile. "If it doesn't taste good, just say it doesn't taste good. You cannot tell lies in this place. When the ancients swore oaths to the heavens, retribution was always delivered by lightning. Within the Thunder Pool, falsehoods are forbidden. It is only because you carry a karmic mandate upon you that the lightning did not strike down immediately, as it would have for anyone else.
"If you praise it, I will use it to entertain others in the future. Once the guests are numbed senseless, they will probably chime in and say it is excellent too..."
Unable to contain her amusement, Li Qinghong refilled his cup with tea and said, "If Xizhi were to visit, he would surely praise it as well. And if lightning struck down... Xizhi could endure it, but Wushao's frail little frame couldn't withstand thunder. Even though with me here it wouldn't be reduced to ash, it would still end up a roasted snake."
Li Zhouwei nodded awkwardly. Seeing Li Qinghong topping off his cup again, his tongue already began tingling faintly. Unsure whether he should drink, he hurriedly changed the subject. "Has Grand-Aunt heard any news of the Real Person?"
Only then did Li Qinghong set down the jade pot and reply, "That day, he was pursued all the way here. I intervened with full justification and intercepted Changxiao. Changxiao is cunning to a fault; the moment he saw me, he feared offending the dragons and held back his moves, hesitating so much that once he skirted around, Ming'er was nowhere to be found.
"We did not fight for long. He had little will to battle in the first place, and the more we fought, the more he sensed something amiss. He fled in one breath, and now he is hiding in some corner observing the situation—a nuisance and a menace."
Li Qinghong's expression turned solemn as she said, "He has offended your family to the point of no return; between you now lies a feud that ends only in death. While he dares not harm you, he has no such reservations when it comes to harming Ximing...
"As for Ximing... he was struck by a Douxuan spell. At first I was somewhat worried, but who knew that after only a few years, he would be full of vigor once more? He sent a letter home and has even allied himself with the Dantai clan!"
Li Zhouwei breathed a sigh of relief. After pondering for a breath, he said, "There is, however, one matter I must trouble My Lady with."
He drew a jade box from his sleeve and placed it upon the table, saying, "When I ambushed and slew Situ Mo, I also seized a magical artifact from the disciples of Changxiao Gate. It belongs to the Fushui Path and is of rather fine quality. After studying it and consulting others for quite some time, I discovered an imprint left by Changxiao Gate inside it. It was placed through exquisite means and can be detected by Changxiao disciples within a certain range...
"Moreover, this Fushui artifact possesses some degree of renown. Keeping it in hand poses the risk of discovery. While I myself have nothing to fear, it cannot be passed down to our clan's juniors, and trading it away would severely devalue it. I have my eye on another artifact, but the trade has been held up on account of this."
He raised his head, his hand resting on the teacup before letting go again, and said, "If you have a suitable artifact here to exchange, that would be most convenient."
Li Qinghong cast a glance over it and answered, "Take it out and let me see, sparing you the trouble of running about. Since there is something you have your eye on, resolving the hazards of this item is naturally best."
She smiled, then changed her tone. "Of course, this place of mine was established in haste, so I have no artifacts to trade with you either."
Li Zhouwei nodded and opened the jade box. Inside lay a small, shimmering cyan gourd, its radiant light dazzling yet suppressed by the Xuan Thunder above, appearing faintly dim.
Li Qinghong extended her slender hand, and drawn by the power of primal magnetism, the gourd immediately landed in her grasp. She inspected it for two breaths.
*Rumble!*
A bolt of celestial thunder crashed down from the sky with a roaring blast, striking squarely upon the gourd. Bathed in the baptism of purple lightning, a plume of deep-black vapor gushed forth from the gourd, dissipating instantly within this thunder-suffused realm.
The small cyan gourd was instantly refreshed, even the imprint of its previous master thoroughly purged. Li Qinghong nodded. "This item is indeed quite wondrous; it must have been handed down from ancient times. It seems it was originally being refined toward an exceedingly sophisticated Lushui artifact, but halfway through, whether due to a lack of materials or some unexpected mishap, it was shifted to Fushui."
She paused briefly and called softly, "Yuanzi!"
The white-clad maid who had led him inside earlier entered from outside the pavilion. Kneeling firmly on the floor, she received the gourd with both hands from Li Qinghong. Li Qinghong instructed, "Deliver this artifact into the hands of the Yingshou tribe at the sea bottom. Instruct them to modify it—see if they can alter its color and appearance while maintaining or even increasing its power, then return to the Thunder Pool with their answer.
"Zhouwei... do you have any requirements?"
Yuanzi nodded respectfully and stood to the side holding the artifact. Only now did Li Zhouwei truly feel a sense of being in a dragonkind domain, and he quickly said, "I have few requirements—just ensure this item does not conflict with Taiyin or Kanshui!"
Li Qinghong shook her head with a smile and said, "Liehai was originally part of the outer sea, unremarkable and merely an appendage to the Reef Sea. The Reef Sea only sent subordinates here to exploit the area, leaving the local beasts and cultivators to lead bitter lives.
"After the Thunder Pool was established, they all came under my jurisdiction. With one less layer of exploitation and modest demands from me, they are deeply grateful. Send the artifact to them; they will surely refine it to perfection for you."
Li Zhouwei gave a heartfelt smile and nodded. "There is no need to trouble them too much. After all, it will eventually be traded away to someone else. If too much is expended on it, I might be reluctant to part with it."
Li Qinghong turned her head and said, "There is no need to make it too extravagant. Follow the young master's wishes."
"Understood!"
Yuanzi bowed and retreated with the artifact in her arms. Li Zhouwei then said, "According to what you said, the golden nature is currently in the hands of Mount Changhuai and Real Person Zipei. But Real Person Zipei has already reincarnated..."
At this point, a look of hesitation crossed his face. Li Qinghong cut in, "Real Person Zipei of Ziyan Gate obtained a portion of True Qi, yet she did not use it for her reincarnation; in the end, she gave it to the dragonkind. Purple Qi and True Qi are very close, yet she refused to take it... According to the dragonkind, first, she was striving for the Purple Qi attainment and was unwilling to leave a compromise in her heart that might hinder her ascent; second, she had no choice but to give it up. Even if she reincarnated, she would never have achieved her wish. Ordinary golden natures might be one thing, but this portion... was enough to make a Dragon Lord intervene in person! Perhaps it would have even wrought boundless slaughter."
Li Zhouwei nodded in understanding, but Li Qinghong's expression took on a touch of unease as she replied, "However, according to the dragonkind, Zipei's exchange seems to have enabled the completion of my Thunder Body. Had it not been for her, after swallowing the lightning, it is quite likely nothing would have remained of me. They hope that if I encounter cultivators of Ziyan Gate in the future, I will look after them...
"If our family finds an opportunity, we should do our best to maintain good relations with this sect... or at least avoid conflict. Not only would being caught in the middle make things difficult for me, but I also fear others with ill intentions might take advantage of it."
Her words came as quite a surprise to Li Zhouwei. His expression turned solemn, and he nodded. "I shall find an opportunity to mention this to the family... To think this golden nature was so vital... that it could even move a Dragon Lord to act?"
Li Qinghong replied, "Now... the re-attainment of the True Qi seat is a foregone conclusion, so this golden nature is naturally of great importance. A few years ago, when Dragon King Muhai paid a visit, he mentioned an even more crucial point..."
With a complex expression, she answered, "As for True Qi... the dragons do not merely hope to have a share; they must have a share. In fact, Dragon Lord Xiyang's intervention in True Monarch Shangyuan's affairs was partly to allow this True Qi to descend upon the mortal realm..."
Li Zhouwei hesitated, lost in thought, and asked, "Could it be... that True Qi serves a crucial purpose for the dragonkind's further advancement?"
Li Qinghong nodded and leaned forward slightly. Her voice, though gentle, carried the weight of thunder as she recited:
"'The nature of the Tianwu True Qi Divine Fiend: divine mystery illumined within, fierce majesty overflowing without; upright nature restraining excess, benevolence and might boundless; dwelling not in isolation, abiding not alone; intertwined serpents forming its aspect, balanced Yin and Yang as its heart—slaying demons and fiends with baleful qi, wielding martial might to preserve the True!'
"True Dragons, True Dragons...
"How could they do without the 'True'?"
Chapter 820